In years gone by, she would be adorned with the hair bun of an unmarried girl. Carrying an exquisitely woven basket, she was about to step out when she was abruptly pulled into a deserted corner by soone who had been waiting outside for a long ti.
She was not alard, simply following his footsteps.
"Ah Zhi, why have you co to find again?"
"I pull you along and you just co with , not even afraid I might be a bad guy."
She smiled faintly: "I knew it was you."
Sese always loved how Shen Zhi looked in his scholar’s attire.
"Have you just returned?"
"I stayed at the academy for nearly half a month. I was planning to go ho to bathe and freshen up, but I overestimated myself. I couldn’t wait, so I wanted to see you first."
As these words were spoken, both their faces flushed red.
Sese struggled to pull her hand free, to no avail. She simply let him hold it. Her head slightly lowered, blushes on her face, biting her lower lip, she softly acknowledged with a nasal sound: "Mhm."
"Mhm what?"
Suppressing her shyness, she said: "I understand your feelings."
Shen Zhi noticed the aroma coming from her basket.
"Are you going to the Daoist School?"
Sese: "I’m accompanying my cousin there to pray for a good marriage match."
She didn’t dare look at him: "It seems effective indeed, for I t you before even getting there."
But now, as he stood before her, she couldn’t recognize the man.
Sese dared not take another glimpse at the nobleman before her. She hurriedly created so distance between them. Her voice was as gentle as her appearance: "Thank you, young man."
Confronted with a stranger’s visage, her gaze no longer held the trust and attachnt of the past.
Upon his victorious return, Xie Xun had gone thousands of miles out of his way to secretly et Sese. And after coming back, he got utterly drunk with Ji Huo.
"The Duchess, concerned about your marriage affair, almost went door to door looking for a match, yet you’ve shown no enthusiasm. Be honest with , are you still thinking about that girl from before?"
"We’ve been brothers for many years, yet I know, you’ve had soone in your heart since years ago. You matured early, but still remain a lonely man."
He had no idea that Xie Xun’s heart had already changed.
Xie Xun, holding a cup of liquor, downed it in one gulp. Perhaps the alcohol was taking effect; his voice was low: "She is married."
"What did that matter to then? And how does it if she is married now? I could have taken her by force. Do you want to step in and help?"
As his gaze beca blurry, he repeated each word.
"Taken by force?"
Drunk and delirious, he had trapped himself in a dead end.
"Yes, if the apricot blossom does not leave the wall, then just pull it—"
His lips quivered.
"—out."
But upon sobering up, he only found the thought ludicrous. So things once missed are missed forever.
It was his fate.
He too had held onto hope once.
Like a bastard trapped in a sunless gutter, he thought, if Sese’s marriage turned out unhappy and her husband undeserving, then he would have a reason to bring her back to his side.
She would be his again.
But there was no such reason.
Sese’s mother-in-law was fierce, but hadn’t mistreated her much.
Her husband was not handso, yet he was considerate toward the beautiful Sese.
Her family wasn’t wealthy, but they did not want for food or clothing.
The smirk at the corner of Sese’s lips was real.
He had never expected to see her here again.
Xie Xun bent down to pick up a dicine pouch that had fallen to the ground, and handed it over.
"Why doesn’t soone from your household accompany you?"
Sese took it, her voice low: "My mother-in-law injured her leg recently; my husband is attending to her side."
There is a doctor in Fengzhou who specializes in treating leg injuries; her family had co here especially to seek his treatnt.
Xie Xun’s Adam’s apple moved, his eyes deepened.
Young man...
He averted his eyes abruptly and inappropriately.
After a while,
Xiao Sesu listened to his gentle voice, husky yet barely audible.
"Two months pregnant, the fetus is not yet stable. Madam must still be careful."
————
After Xie Xun went back, he beca incredibly reticent.
Shen Hua awkwardly twisted her handkerchief, but didn’t utter another word.
She didn’t attend the exhibition that took place in the following two days either. However, she heard that Shen Qu had not made an appearance from start to finish.
It was Shen He Wen who deliberately made a fuss.
But that day, his leg broke without reason.
And there were more than a few rchants who personally visited, intending to place orders.
Embroidery ladies also ca one after another.
Shen Hua took them all in, even generously covering the penalty fees they owed to their previous patrons.
"Shen Hua, you are truly despicable!"
"Blatantly poaching our people!"
"These are our embroidery ladies!"
So ca to her door just to curse. Their spittle was nearly enough to drown a person.
Shen Hua yawned, sitting demurely with her little hands resting on her knees. She uttered a soft "oh."
"I am vile and shaless, a lowlife’s behavior."
"You—"
Shen Hua was really worried that these elders would faint from anger. She thoughtfully offered her advice.
"People should move to higher places, as water flows to lower ones. From the beginning to the end, I never forced anyone. It’s a mutual agreent. You could also hire them back with higher pay, couldn’t you?"
She tapped her knee with her pinky finger, "I am also an embroidery lady; I know sitting for long harms the back and embroidering too long hurts the eyes. I can have a doctor co every fortnight to take their pulses. The als prepared at midday are never sloppy, with good at and vegetables that vary every day. I have prepared a variety of snacks in the hall every day to accompany them, however late they work, I work even later. Once a month, I take a day off to take them all out for a trip."
"I understand the hardships of embroidery, and my ladies repay my consideration with efficiency. Therefore, the high compensation I offer is well-deserved for them."
"If I can poach people, it’s my ability."
The girl declared: "Even if you offer double the price, if you can poach any of my people, I will call you Daddy."
After the exhibition, her outstanding performance made her famous.
Shen Hua was proud for a long ti, but she restrained herself, pressing down her lips to prevent them from curling up into a smile.
Orders were plentiful, but with black and white contracts, the delivery tis for the various rchants varied.
Those who gave the most were prioritized. Of course, Yifeng Hall was not included.
The rchants eat up this bandit-like behavior.
Seven days later, Xie Xun took Shen Hua out from the inner courtyard.
He said they had found the person.
Shen Hua’s expression of bla and grievance completely faded.
Soon, Shen Wei, bound tightly by the Hidden Guard, was brought before the siblings.
Dressed in grey, he was far from his previous wealthy appearance.
Shen Wei was shocked and fearful, thinking Xie Xun was sent by the second branch to kill him. He was tremulous all the way and never expected to see Shen Hua.
"Yangyang."
Just as he was about to approach, Xie Xun stopped him with his sword, preventing him from even touching the edge of the girl’s clothes.
Shen Wei looked displeased. These days, he had been wandering like a beggar, hiding here and there.
Now, his affectionate gaze didn’t move an inch away from Shen Hua’s side.
"Daddy didn’t expect to see you again."
"I am sorry you had to suffer."
"Child, fortunately, you’re unhard, and your complexion looks well now. I am relieved."
As Shen Wei expressed his concern one sentence after another, the sarcasm in Shen Hua’s eyes deepened.
"Relieved?"
"Old Master Shen truly is getting on in years, how could you forget that my chronic illness is thanks to your doing."
Shen Wei’s eyes widened, not knowing how Shen Hua could have learned such well-concealed information.
"You—"
His eyes flickered.
"I accept the bla, but there are always reasons. As long as the dosage isn’t increased, it wouldn’t be harmful to you. At most, you would just feel a bit weak. You are my precious daughter, would Daddy harm you?"
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