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Li Jinghuan’s gaze shifted slightly, passing over Fu Zhuangxue who stood beside him.
The initial flutter of attraction he felt was gradually being suppressed within his heart.
Perhaps it was the impending loss that made him cherish things more.
After the commotion, Li Jinghuan belatedly realized that between Fu Zanying and Fu Zhuangxue, it was the former he could not part with.
Only the former.
Whether A’ying was fragile, naive, or lacking in captivating personality, she was still his A’ying.
He would take good care of her.
Li Jinghuan bent down to meet Zanying’s eyes, his phoenix eyes full of affection, his voice soft and gentle. “A’ying, Brother Jinghuan promises you that there will never be any relationship between me and the second daughter of the Fu family. There hasn’t been in the past, and there won’t be in the future.”
“The eight mahogany chests in the Yuzhu Palace are still there; they were always your property and will remain so. No one will touch them. I’ve also prepared a coming-of-age gift for you. A’ying, let’s go back with me to see it, alright?”
If he had openly admitted his relationship with Fu Zhuangxue, Zanying might have thought better of him.
Hearing the latter part of his words, Zanying realized that Li Jinghuan had only heard about the return of the mahogany chests and that the accounts were likely still being prepared by Uncle Du and the stewards.
Without saying a word, she walked away.
As she turned her gaze, she saw Uncle Du standing by the roadside, holding something with both hands and quietly watching them.
Zanying hurried over, while Li Jinghuan instinctively reached out to stop her but missed.
When Zanying reached Uncle Du, she noticed that his face was streaked with tears.
She paused, quickly understanding. “Uncle heard it.”
She immediately stood on tiptoe, gently wiping Uncle Du’s tears with her sleeve, speaking softly. “It’s all just to scare them. Don’t worry, Uncle, I’m fine.”
The soft touch on Uncle Du’s face made his tears well up again, his throat choked with emotion.
He had come over when Zanying had asked Fu Zean if he believed in retribution.
Seeing her face the group alone made him want to cry.
When she saw him and immediately shed her cold demeanor to show a warm smile, he felt even more emotional.
If he had such a daughter, he would wish to shower her with all his affection, and even ten sons could not compare to a single smile from this young lady.
These Fu family members, except for the son-in-law, were all nothing but… for a daughter of ill fortune, they demeaned this young lady.
The old ones were obsessed with officialdom, the young ones pretended to be scholars, and the household still had an old, unworthy servant.
They were all shortsighted and callous.
Uncle Du wiped his tears and solemnly presented a roll of white silk. “Young lady, the accounts have been listed and are here.”
The accounts were written on the silk because there was no such thick ledger available.
Zanying took it with both hands.
She couldn’t fully unfold it but managed to peek at a corner, seeing two lines of text.
These two lines made Zanying smile.
“Uncle understands me.” She said this and then gracefully turned to return to Li Jinghuan’s side.
Seeing Aiying return, the smile in Li Jinghuan’s eyes was more radiant than ever, like dew on a lotus flower, making him feel emotionally unsettled.
He couldn’t help but approach her, thinking that things had taken a turn for the better.
As Zanying walked toward him still smiling, she laid the piece of silk in his arms and said word by word, “Look carefully, not a single item should be missing.”
Li Jinghuan’s handsome face mirrored the same smile, responding with a “yes.”
He was willing to give up anything to win her back.
He instructed Li Jian to hold one end of the silk and slowly unfold it.
However, the piece of cloth, untrimmed, was far longer than he had imagined.
By the time it was fully unfurled, Li Jian was already standing forty feet away.
A forty-foot-long piece of cloth.
For some reason, Li Jinghuan felt inexplicably uneasy and looked down.
He was petrified on the spot.
The top of the silk sheet was inscribed with clear, regular script:
Li Jinghuan recognized every item listed on the silk, and he immediately understood its purpose.
At this moment, the shock he felt could no longer be described as merely chilling.
He looked up at Fu Zanying, his gaze as unfamiliar as if he were looking at a stranger.
He remained silent, gritting his teeth as he walked, step by step, until he reached the end of the silk sheet and saw the last two items listed.
In comparison to the numerous items before, these two were the most insignificant.
A spring silkworm’s body contract.
Two taels of this silk.
If Li Jinghuan had been holding on to his composure before, seeing these last four characters made him burst into incredulous laughter, feeling utterly absurd.
Two taels of this silk, she wanted to settle accounts with him over this?
To insult him with such meticulous calculation?
Were they to account for even a piece of silk between them?
Just a day after leaving the palace, she had already been influenced by these lowly merchants to lose her position and discernment.
“Ah Ying, do you know what you’re doing? Have you gone mad?”
The remaining members of the Fu family did not know what was on the cloth, but upon hearing the crown prince’s words, they were all stunned and turned pale.
“What’s wrong?” Zanying had long since lost her smile.
From a distance of forty yards, she looked at him innocently and purely, as if she were once again asking him a question from the past. “Can’t you pay it back?”
“You’ve lived in the palace for over ten years, and now you turn around to settle accounts?”
Li Jinghuan, filled with anger and despair, lamented that she had become so petty and mercantile, tainted with a stench of copper, despite her upbringing in etiquette and education.
He scolded, “A’ying, you were taught etiquette and manners from a young age. When did you become so stingy and vulgar?”
Zanying’s eyes flashed with frost. “If you are so noble and detached, then don’t owe me even a penny. If you owe even one penny, I look down on you.”
On the silent mountain path, the quiet carriage, and the silent people.
In the dim, fading evening light, only the pearly white figure stood out, radiant and clean.
Her small frame was straight and graceful, her wide sleeves fluttering in the wind like a butterfly breaking free from its cocoon.
“A five-day deadline should be enough, right?” The young girl’s voice was innocent, “If it’s overdue, I hear that there are many poor students copying scriptures at White Horse Temple, and they can copy quickly and well for ten characters per penny.”
After finishing her words, Zanyu let out a long sigh.
She turned and gently bowed towards the carriage where Wei Yu was, then followed Manager Du back to the palace.
Under the archway, whether it was the Crown Prince, Vice Minister Fu Xiao, Fu Ze’an, or Fu Zhuangxue, they all stood like statues, staring at that resolute figure.
In their endless daze, there was also a vague, indescribable sense of panic.
If yesterday Fu Zanying’s departure from the palace had revealed a hint of frailty and weakness, today her demeanor had transformed into one of subtle sharpness.
But no one knew where this sharpness had come from or where it would be directed.
“Didn’t you hear?”
A voice came from the silent carriage, “Select two people, as instructed by the young lady, to follow Miss Fu step by step back to the Fu residence. If she takes one step less, break one of her legs.”
This chilling statement startled Fu Ze’an awake.
He bowed anxiously towards the carriage, “Please, Grand Marshal, spare us.”
“Fu Ze’an, Young Master Jiangli. I am not well-informed, it seems that the ‘King of Herbs’ in Qu Yuan’s poem was meant to describe you. I’ve gained new knowledge.”
The person behind the curtain remained unseen, only the words fell like shattered ice and jade, “It’s a pity the young master is not married and has no children yet. Otherwise, that unborn child would have become an orphaned child, which would be fitting for your father’s noble integrity, who did not forget his moral principles even while leading northern expeditions.”
The understatement of the words not only mocked the father but also threatened the son and cursed the grandson.
Upon reflection, it was almost a heart-wrenching insult.
Fu Ze’an’s hair stood on end, and he was covered in cold sweat.
The carriage passed him without stopping, and continued on past Li Jinghuan without pausing.
Li Jinghuan stood there, his fingers gripping the silk cloth tightly, stunned for a while before realizing that he had been ignored.
As the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, he now felt as insignificant as a blade of grass by the roadside, disliked by everyone.
Compared to Wei Yu’s usual arrogance, what made him even more heartbroken was Aying’s disdainful comment.
“Brother Jinghuan is so good, knows everything, understands everything.”
“And what about me in your eyes?”
“Well, like warm coals in the snow, cakes when hungry, something to be sought, looked forward to, and cherished.”
“You little greedy cat, saying all sorts of nonsense. You should grow up quickly.”
Once looking up to the heavens, now stepping into the mud.
Love and indifference can change in an instant.
Li Jinghuan clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly.
The Crown Prince’s feelings were no longer a concern for Zanying.
When she returned to the south hall of the palace, her steps were light and brisk.
Madam Ren, still fuming beside her, said angrily, “If it weren’t for the Grand Marshal’s bodyguard stopping me just now, I would have asked the Crown Prince directly, what is being petty and mercenary? What is the essence of the Eastern Palace? Why didn’t he say this when he married the Tang family? The young lady’s decision is truly brilliant. If he doesn’t eat the dust of the world, he should vomit out what he has consumed over the years. Really, not only does he criticize others for having a shallow well, but he also pretends to be upright. Who is he putting on an act for?”
When Madam Ren married Manager Du, Madam Tang had already passed away.
She never had the chance to witness Madam Tang’s grace, but she admired such a heroic woman.
It is said that Madam Tang once crossed the ocean to sell Central Plains silk and porcelain to India and traveled to the Western Regions to have a pleasant conversation with the queen of Han Panluo Kingdom.
For a merchant to reach such a level, especially a female merchant, how could it be simply defined by gender or profession?
Those born in palatial halls who consider themselves noble and pure, should not be envious of the Tang family’s wealth.
If one were to examine it closely, who is truly more mercenary?
She spoke with candor, but Manager Du quickly reminded her, “Ahm, Wife.”
Madam Ren realized her mistake when she saw Zanying looking at her with surprise.
She regretted speaking crudely in front of the young lady, “Please forgive me, young lady.”
Zanying, however, asked with interest, “Sister Ren, what is this talk about ‘a shallow well’ and ‘pretending to be upright’? Which book are these phrases from? And what does ‘pretending to be upright’ mean?”
Madam Ren blushed and stammered, “Young lady, don’t learn such things. They are just vulgar sayings from the marketplace, not appropriate.”
Zanying shook her head, “I’ve never heard these before, but I find them very refreshing. Sister, I’m not good with words. I wanted to scold them down the mountain, but I couldn’t find the right words. In the future, please teach me more.”
Madam Ren had heard every word of Zanying’s passionate speech on the imperial road and thought that such arguments were not clumsy at all.
Seeing the young lady’s pure and innocent eyes, she suddenly felt heartache.
The young lady had grown up without even seeing a five-copper coin or hearing a common saying, revealing how confined she had been in the palace all these years.
“Alright, alright. If the young lady wants to learn anything, I will teach you whatever I know.”
Madam Ren readily agreed, but Manager Du dared not let her teach everything.
He interjected, “It’s getting late. The young lady has been out all day and must be tired. Let’s have dinner first and then have a good rest.”
“Uncle Du,” Zanying looked at him, “There’s something I want to ask you.”
“Ten years ago, did the Grand Marshal ever want to take me out of the capital? What exactly happened back then?”
“About that year,” Manager Du was somewhat surprised, “Do you really not remember anything, Miss?”
Seeing Zan Ying shake her head, Manager Du glanced instinctively towards the direction of the eastern palace and, after some consideration, nodded. “Well, since you’ve left the palace, knowing this matter doesn’t make much difference.”
Madam Ren, upon hearing this, closed the door and withdrew.
Zan Ying invited Manager Du to take a seat.
After lighting bright candles in the room, Manager Du kneeled and began to recall.
“On that day, Lord Wei, or now the Grand Marshal, after making a mark with his spear in Empress Yu’s palace, did not leave directly. Instead, he went to the Yuzhu Hall, picked you up, and fled the palace before the internal guards could mobilize. He jumped onto a prepared carriage and headed straight for the North Gate, intending to escape Jiankang and disappear into Huai Nan, never to return.”
Manager Du knew these details so clearly because he was the one waiting at the palace gates.
At the time, Wei Yu and the Yu family were in intense conflict.
Wei Yu had come to discuss with him multiple times, saying that the agreement had been made with the Wei family, not the Yu family.
The Fu family was weak and merely attached to the Eastern Palace.
Now that Zhan Ying had no elders to speak for her, he was the closest person to her, and he was asked to assist in this matter.
“I swear by Heaven that I will treat A Ying as my own niece, raising her without worry. Even if there are no luxurious clothes or delicacies in the future, there will be ample care. I will fulfill this promise in my lifetime.”