Chapter 215: Rejection

Chu Hanyan, who had been burying her head on Chu Lingxuan’s shoulder, suddenly lifted her head and burst into tears. Every time she returned home, she would close her eyes and bury her head, just like playing hide and seek. When her father stopped, she would open her eyes again. Or when led by Mama Song, she would close her eyes here and open them again when turning back, just to see the two figures she was fond of, and the little silhouette would wave to her.

However, today, she saw nothing. Sobbing, she said, “Auntie, Dabao, why aren’t they looking at us anymore?”

Chu Lingxuan felt embarrassed and annoyed. When he hadn’t made any requests, everything was normal. But today, his implied meaning was obvious, and she had responded in such a way, which must have meant that she was unwilling. The thought that, for the first time in his life, he had feelings for a woman, and had gone to great lengths to please her, feeling almost certain of success and even discussing it with his elders, but was rejected by this woman.

With a “hmph,” he turned and walked toward Tangyuan.

Mrs. Wei and Mama Song, who were walking slightly ahead of them, noticed that the master, instead of standing under the tree for a while as he used to, was now striding back, while the young miss was crying loudly, and he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. They looked toward Fengyuan and guessed what had happened.

Dabao, who had been dragged back by Chen Feng, wiped away his tears and said, “Hanyan loves it when I wave to her, but today she didn’t see me waving, and she’s probably crying.”

Chen Feng said, “Okay, next time, I’ll have someone accompany you to wave to Hanyan.” Then she added, “Now, go and do your homework. If you don’t finish your tasks, Mr. Chu will be disappointed.”

Dabao was most afraid of disappointing his uncle Chu. After hearing this, he wiped his tears and went to the study.

Before Chen Feng could enter the upper room, she heard a knocking on the door—it was Mrs. Wei.

Inviting her into the upper room, Chen Feng poured some tea and listened as Mrs. Wei quietly said, “Ms. Feng, what happened today? Master is angry, and Young Miss is crying. You are a clever girl… Didn’t you notice the master’s intentions? Listen, prepare a nice meal tomorrow and personally go to Tangyuan to invite the master and Young Miss for dinner.”

She thought that Chen Feng must not have understood the master’s intentions and had unintentionally offended him. She was simply trying to offer a well-intentioned reminder. In her eyes, the master was the handsomest and most capable man in the world, and he cared for her so much. If Chen Feng understood the master’s intentions, she would surely agree.

Chen Feng spoke earnestly, “Mrs. Wei, you must not speak of this. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything. Besides, I don’t believe I’ve offended the master in any way. If he’s upset, it might be for some other reason.”

Chen Feng’s firm stance left Mrs. Wei with nothing more to say, so she could only smile awkwardly and say, “Oh, I must have misunderstood. You’re right, I’ll pretend I never said that.” Then she quickly left.

Upon returning home, she found that her father-in-law was still not back from serving the master, so she shared the events with her husband, Luo Xiao, and finally asked, “Do you think the master will still pay attention to Ms. Feng? Will Young Miss go back to Fengyuan in the future?”

Luo Xiao was also surprised to hear this. He, too, believed that the master’s interest in Chen Feng was a result of her accumulated fortune from past lives, and he couldn’t understand why she was being so careless. He said, “Let’s wait for my father to come back and see what he says.”

It wasn’t until midnight that Steward Luo returned. Upon hearing Mrs. Wei’s words, he frowned and reproached her, “Chen Feng has become shrewd. If you can see the master’s intentions, how could she not? Don’t try to be clever in the future.” After a pause, he lowered his voice and added, “The master has truly taken Chen Feng to heart. When Young Miss came home crying and disobedient, the master tried to console her, saying that Chen Feng must have been held back by something, which is why she didn’t wait there. After Miss went to bed, the master stayed in the study writing. When I came back, he was still writing.”

The Luo family knew that when the master faced something particularly distressing and couldn’t resolve it, he would write incessantly. He would copy the characters from Zhong Yao’s calligraphy, stroke by stroke, very slowly, until his emotions had subsided.

Luo Xiao said, “Ms. Feng is just a country girl. Even if Mr. Chen Shiying recognizes her, she is still just a bastard. Not to mention as a daughter of a magistrate, even a legitimate daughter wouldn’t be worthy of our master. It’s her good fortune that the master has taken an interest in her, but she’s acting this way.”

Mrs. Wei said, “Although Ms. Feng comes from a rural background, she’s very stubborn. According to her, if she can’t find someone suitable, she’s prepared to stay single for life.”

“Ms. Feng is too arrogant. If our master, who is so outstanding, isn’t suitable for her, does she expect to marry a prince or a king?” Luo Xiao said disdainfully.

Mrs. Wei said, “When I said ‘suitable,’ I didn’t mean she had to make an upward climb. In fact, if the man’s conditions aren’t too good…”

The steward furrowed his brow and said, “In the future, don’t call her ‘Miss Feng’, call her ‘Miss Chen.’ I don’t think Miss Chen is the one being arrogant, she probably feels that our master is too outstanding, and her status is too low. She is afraid to aim too high. Perhaps she thinks the gap between her and the master is too great. Could the master have thoughts of taking her as a concubine? She’s too smart for her own good. The master wanting to take a concubine wouldn’t have waited until now…” Then he added, “You all know the master’s temperament, he is not someone who retreats in the face of adversity. After all these years, he finally took a liking to a girl, and he won’t give up so easily. In the future, you must treat Miss Chen with even more respect…”

Later that night, after Chen Feng ensured that Dabao had fallen asleep, she went to her space. Whenever she encountered something bothersome, she would seek solace in her space. The golden swallow was sleeping outside, and its chirping was absent, leaving the space quiet and peaceful, filled with a delicate fragrance.

Leaning against the fragrant agarwood tree, she pondered. According to Mrs. Wei, Chu Lingxuan was far from pleased. Indeed, he came from an aristocratic family, held a third-rank official position, was very confident, and possessed a strong sense of pride. He must have thought that his show of goodwill towards a country girl like her would be met with enthusiastic and unconditional acceptance. Little did he know that she was a seasoned eggplant, scarred from love in two lifetimes. Her rejection wasn’t due to his lack of excellence, but his overwhelming excellence.

She hoped that, considering her role in nursing Chu Hanyan back to health, he would continue to treat her family kindly…

She also considered how outstanding this man was and how he seemed to care about her. She had the chance to be with him, but due to the painful lessons of her past life, she had to let go. Thinking of this, her heart ached. She pressed on her chest, the pain at this moment was far better than the hurt she might endure in the future.

Should she continue making clothes for him and his mother? Yes, she would. She would do it as if she were a subordinate or servant, showing filial respect to the master. Whether he accepted them or not was up to him.

It wasn’t until the middle of the night that she left the space to sleep.