The portion of egg tarts and milk custard sent this time was quite generous, and Liu Niang was very satisfied. With the new product—egg sponge cake added today—she said joyfully, “Now my Flower Moon Pavilion’s pastries are becoming signature items. Many distinguished guests really like them!”
Hearing this, Lin Shanyue was also very happy.
Liu Niang suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, when you left yesterday, you must have seen that the Imperial Academy’s senior instructor came to my place. That person happens to have the surname Pei. You mentioned before that your father’s old friend—what was his name again?”
“Pei Chen,” Lin Shanyue replied.
Liu Niang seemed to be thinking.
“It’s alright. My father was just an ordinary merchant. Back then, this person happened to pass through Yangzhou and was helped by my father. It might have been an alias. I never thought I would have any connection with the Hedong Pei clan.”
Seeing that Lin Shanyue was being cautious, Liu Niang smiled.
“You’ve misunderstood me. I’m not trying to discourage you from seeking connections. I’m telling you—you might actually have a chance.”
Lin Shanyue froze.
Liu Niang continued, “To be honest with you, the person you saw yesterday was the eldest son of the Xie family—he is the heir of the Duke of Wei in the capital city. Young Master Xie is a truly good person. Years ago, I was fortunate enough to help him once by chance, and ever since then he has taken good care of my Flower Moon Pavilion. He comes by from time to time, which is why my business is thriving, and ordinary men don’t dare cause trouble here.”
“Two days ago, the Zhao family came to make trouble. Yesterday, Young Master Xie just happened to be hosting a banquet for Instructor Pei, so he stopped by for a while. Did you notice whether the number of guests today was more than usual?”
Lin Shanyue nodded.
Liu Niang said, “That’s exactly it. This is the way of the world. I’m telling you all this for no other reason than to let you know—I overheard while serving tea to that Imperial Academy instructor yesterday that he mentioned a name that seemed to be ‘Pei Chen.’ I remember you mentioned it before, but I wasn’t completely sure, so I asked you today.”
Lin Shanyue felt a surge of excitement. Could it be that Pei Chen really existed—that her father hadn’t been lying?
“I see you’ve been living too lonely and unsupported here in the capital, so I wanted to tell you. If he truly is an old friend, maybe reconnecting with him could make your life easier. And there’s another good piece of news—the instructor really likes your pastries. He ate quite a lot of the egg tarts yesterday.”
Seeing how carefully Liu Niang was thinking things through for her, Lin Shanyue felt deeply moved.
The more moved she felt, the heavier her sense of guilt became over the past few days.
Liu Niang had helped her in every possible way, yet she was still hiding things from her.
After hesitating for a long while, Lin Shanyue seemed to make up her mind.
“Sister Liu… there is actually something I’ve wanted to tell you these past few days, but I was afraid you might be angry with me…”
Liu Niang looked at her curiously. “What is it?”
Taking a deep breath, Lin Shanyue revealed her entire background.
After hearing everything, Liu Niang was a little surprised, but soon she smiled.
“I thought you would take a bit longer to tell me. I didn’t expect you to do it so soon.”
Lin Shanyue was startled. “Y-you knew?”
Liu Niang smiled. “With that clumsy lie you told before, it might fool others, but your elder sister has seen all kinds of people. If I still couldn’t tell, I would be foolish. But I can see that you have difficulties.”
Lin Shanyue’s eyes reddened, and she turned her face away.
“Still crying? Tell me properly—what kind of grievances did you suffer in that marquis household?”
Lin Shanyue couldn’t speak anymore and only shook her head. Seeing this, Liu Niang felt a pang of heartache.
Just then, Fu Dong came to report, “Madam, someone has come looking for you. They say they are from the Marquis of Zhenbei’s household.”
Lin Shanyue was shocked and looked up in alarm.
Liu Niang patted the back of her hand. “Don’t panic. I’ll go take a look.”
The name of the Marquis of Zhenbei was well known, and naturally no one in Flower Moon Pavilion dared to be careless. Liu Niang went to receive them personally.
Lin Shanyue, however, felt extremely uneasy. Why would people from the marquis household come here? Could it be that Jiang Wanyer truly refused to let her go and wanted to completely cut off her path?
A sense of unwillingness and anger rose in her heart.
Not long after, Liu Niang returned.
Seeing Lin Shanyue looking like a frightened bird, she felt a little sorry for her, but still said honestly, “Fortunately, you told me earlier. Otherwise, I would have been completely confused and wouldn’t have known how to deal with them.”
“Are they here to ruin my livelihood…?” Lin Shanyue couldn’t help asking.
Liu Niang nodded seriously. “It seems that young lady from the marquis household is indeed very narrow-minded. Even though you’ve already admitted your identity as a married woman, she is still relentlessly pressuring you. Just as you guessed, they came to stop you from doing business with me.”
Lin Shanyue immediately became anxious. “I…”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Liu Niang quickly reassured her. “I didn’t agree to anything. I told them there is no one from the marquis household here, only a woman from Jiangnan—they must have come to the wrong place. They probably don’t want too many people to know your real identity, so they didn’t say anything more and left in the end.”
Lin Shanyue felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
She was glad she had told Liu Niang the truth instead of continuing to lie.
But she had not expected Jiang Wanyer to be so petty—so unwilling to let her go.
Liu Niang said, “I’ll give you two options. First, you completely cut ties with the identity of Lin Shanyue—change your name if necessary. Second, I will try to help you contact that Imperial Academy instructor as soon as possible and see whether your father’s old friend has any connections or influence.”
As she spoke, she looked at Lin Shanyue with sympathy.
It was truly tragic—clearly the truth, yet she had been forced to live in obscurity for so many years, and now she was still being relentlessly pushed around by a fake identity. What kind of parents would do this…
Lin Shanyue didn’t know what Liu Niang was thinking. After some thought, she said, “I won’t change my name. This is the name my mother gave me. I don’t want the Jiang family name anyway. But the second option… I want to try it. I’ll have to trouble Sister Liu to help introduce me.”
“That’s easy,” Liu Niang replied. “I’ve already found out the residence of that instructor. Listen to me, you should first…”
After returning from Flower Moon Pavilion, Lin Shanyue also told Chunlan about her background on the way.
Since they were already family, she felt there was no need to hide anything anymore.
Chunlan’s reaction was slightly stronger than Liu Niang’s, but like her, she did not blame Lin Shanyue for hiding the truth. Instead, she felt deep sympathy for her.
“I didn’t expect Madam’s background to be so difficult… that family is truly too much.”
Lin Shanyue smiled. “It’s alright. We just need to live our own lives well. Right, little Bao?”
These days, whether because he had been eating well or for some other reason, little Bao had become chubbier and more lively. He was chewing his fingers in his mother’s arms, and when he heard her speak, whether or not he understood, he still nodded vigorously.
This made both Lin Shanyue and Chunlan laugh.