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Chapter 57: Compromise
Perhaps, I ought to choose to let go?

The dock bustled with people, a lively, jostling crowd. Even the wind carried the warm, briny scent of the sea.

The Shi family had long sent people to receive them. As Yu Mingyao and her party arrived at the dock, they saw the Shi family’s chief steward waiting at the front, accompanied by her older cousins, Shi Zhuang and Shi Han.

Though the Shi family in Suzhou wasn’t a great aristocratic house, their days were still prosperous enough, and the household had always steered clear of concubines and illegitimate branches. Old Madam Shi had borne four sons and one daughter. Among the four sons, each had three sons of their own, and the youngest had additionally fathered a daughter.

By that count, Madam Shi had twelve grandsons and one granddaughter — a rather flourishing lineage.

Shi Zhuang ranked fourth among the Shi family’s grandchildren and was about twenty-two or twenty-three, a few years older than Yu Mingyao. Beside him stood Shi Han, the third son of the fourth branch, just slightly more than half a year older than Yu Mingyao.

As children, Shi Han had loved clinging to Yu Mingyao and Yu Jinnian to play together.

His temperament was much like Yu Jinnian’s — forthright and open. The moment he saw Yu Jinnian with a veiled hat covering her face entirely, he didn’t overthink it. Leaving Shi Zhuang behind, he strode straight over.

“Yao-jie’er, have you been well? Grandmother wrote to us earlier, saying you were attacked on your return journey. We worried all night long.”

His gaze, earnest and intense, locked onto Yu Mingyao — anyone could see the affection in his eyes.

Before anyone else could respond, Pei Shang, standing on Yu Mingyao’s right, wouldn’t have it. He cleared his throat twice, deliberately raising his voice louder than usual.

Once Shi Han and the Shi family’s people all turned to look, he straightened his back, wearing an innocent, friendly expression.

“Uncles and cousins, greetings. I am Pei Shang, Yao-meimei’s fiancé.”

With one simple sentence, Shi Han’s face immediately fell, and Shi Zhuang too cast a complicated glance toward Madam Shi.

Madam Shi smiled and nodded, then turned to Yu Mingyao. “Yao-jie’er, are you staying with Grandmother tonight, or will you return to the Yu family estate?”

Before Yu Mingyao could reply, Shi Zhuang stepped forward. “I’ve already sent people to tidy up the Yu residence. You and your brother will have a place to stay, whichever you choose — don’t worry.”

That said, when Yu Mingyao looked around, every pair of eyes brimming with enthusiasm clearly thought she would choose to stay with the Shi family.

After all, the Yu estate only held two cold, empty ancestral tablets — returning there would inevitably stir sorrow. How could it compare to the Shi family’s lively warmth?

Yu Mingyao raised her eyes and met Yu Jinnian’s gaze.

These siblings, inseparable since the womb, exchanged a glance and came to a silent understanding.

She knew her brother also wished to return and pay respects to their father and mother.

Lowering her eyes, the breeze lifted the veil over her face, revealing the graceful line of her jaw.

Her voice was soft — as light as a sigh carried on the wind.

“I think… I’d like to go back and see Father and Mother.”

“Ah, good child,” Madam Shi blinked away the moisture welling in her eyes and pressed it down.

Since the decision had been made, Shi Zhuang and Shi Han had nothing more to say. With a wave of his hand, a few young servants stepped forward to help carry their luggage. Yanyue, knowing where everything was, led the group back onto the ship.

“And this gentleman is…?”
Shi Zhuang turned his gaze toward Xie Zhuoguang and his servant, who had been quietly standing behind the group. As the most outstanding and mature among the Shi family’s grandchildren, Shi Zhuang’s eyes were sharp and discerning.

Xie Zhuoguang disliked dealing with people like this. In his previous life, he hadn’t much liked mingling with the Shi family either — merchants were always putting on airs, wielding borrowed authority. What’s more, many of the Shi grandsons harbored feelings for Yu Mingyao.

As the saying went, “Cousins are a match made in heaven.” He hated the idea that Yu Mingyao had any path other than him.

Lowering his gaze, Xie Zhuoguang remained silent, but Cheng Qing spoke up: “We’re friends of Brother Shang, from the Xie Duke’s household.”

A simple sentence — it established both their identity and their relationship.

Shi Zhuang nodded and invited them to join the group returning to the Yu estate. Along the way, though, he couldn’t help but wonder: Why would Pei Shang’s friends have tagged along? Just curiosity?

A convoy of carriages rumbled toward the Yu estate. Yu Mingyao, Madam Shi, and Yanyue sat in the leading carriage.

After two lives and several years, even the familiar paths of memory now felt somewhat strange. Seated in the carriage, Yu Mingyao only lifted the curtain to glance out a few times when they first boarded — after that, she said nothing more.

Seeing her beloved granddaughter suddenly so quiet, Madam Shi assumed she was simply mourning her parents, hence her gloom. Smiling, she drew Yu Mingyao into her embrace.

“No matter how sorrowful, life must go on. Promise Grandmother that you’ll stay here for a while — afterward, you and Jinnian can return home with me, all right?”

“All your cousins have been hoping you’d visit. And Min-jie’er has been looking forward to seeing you for ages.”

Shi Min was the Shi family’s only granddaughter, around the same age as Yu Mingyao. The two had always bickered as children. Shi Min often grew annoyed that her brothers all treated Yu Mingyao better than her and was terribly jealous.

At Madam Shi’s words, Yu Mingyao smiled.

It had indeed been a long time. The vivid, fiery girl in her memory — after parting in Suzhou in her last life, they had never met again.

Her lips curved with a gentle, lingering smile. “Then please send her my regards, Grandmother. I miss her too. But even so, I won’t go easy on her — she can blame her poor studies and her fondness for play.”

“You little rascal,” Madam Shi chuckled, her face wrinkling with laughter, and hugged Yu Mingyao tighter.

“Earlier, your Cousin Zhuang invited the young Duke Xie to our home without your permission… you’re not angry, are you?”

As she said this, she carefully observed Yu Mingyao’s expression, unwilling to miss even the slightest change.

Yu Mingyao’s smile froze. She straightened up and slowly withdrew from Madam Shi’s embrace.

“Grandmother, how could I fuss over such a trivial matter?”

Her face quickly returned to that soft, radiant smile, but everyone who knew her well could see her resistance.

Madam Shi sighed and said no more.

Silence spread within the carriage. Yanyue, glancing at both Madam Shi and Yu Mingyao — who pretended nothing was amiss — sighed softly too.

Though she often passed messages to Brother Cheng Qing, heavens above, please bless Miss’s marriage to Young Master Pei to go smoothly. She truly disliked that ice block of a young Duke Xie.

A woman ought to marry a husband who would cherish her. One who was cold and inarticulate? Absolutely not!

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