Xiao Ci went back to find Ya Xing’s man to make him reveal Zhong Li’s current residence.
But Ya Xing’s man, seeing Zhong Li run away as soon as she spotted him, misunderstood that Xiao Ci bore a grudge against her, and resolutely refused to tell him anything.
He took out his Dali Temple token to show the man, but the man didn’t recognize it and, thinking he was a fraud, shouted that he would report him to the authorities and have him arrested.
Xiao Ci was not angered. Instead, he took Ya Xing’s man straight to the government office, where the county assistant verified his identity.
Upon hearing that he was truly a Dali Temple official, Ya Xing’s man’s legs suddenly went weak, and only then did he confess Zhong Li’s whereabouts.
After all this fuss, by the time he found Zhong Li’s new residence, it was near dusk.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door. Inside, the servant was very alert, not opening the door directly but instead sliding open a crack to ask who it was.
“It’s me.”
As soon as the voice fell, the door crack closed completely.
“Don’t come looking for me anymore,” Zhong Li’s deliberately lowered voice came from inside the door. “I may have lied to you, but I bore your child. I don’t owe you anything.”
“I never blamed you for the proxy marriage. Who exactly are you at odds with?” Xiao Ci pushed the door lightly and calmly said, “Avoiding the problem won’t solve it. Open the door—either you come out or I come in…”
“I won’t open it. Please leave.”
Xiao Ci was silent for a moment before saying, “Fine, then I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
He took a step back and turned to leave.
Inside, Zhong Li held the door tightly with both hands, listening for a long time.
No sounds came from inside afterward.
He really did leave, huh.
This servant was usually straightforward; if he said he was leaving, then he must have truly left.
Besides, he was such a proud and arrogant servant. Today, after being rejected by a lowly herbal gatherer like her, he must have long since lost patience. It was just that he rarely showed his emotions, always maintaining a calm, indifferent demeanor.
Zhong Li’s mind was in turmoil, thinking over many things. She reckoned it had been about fifteen minutes since he left when she suddenly heard the voice of the water seller in the alley.
Her household’s water jar had just run dry, so she opened the door, planning to get two loads of water from the seller.
The pinewood doorboard creaked sharply as it opened, due to long neglect and lack of repairs.
After returning to her hometown, she had guessed that Xiao Ci would send someone to find her, so she hurriedly found a new place and moved here with her grandmother.
Because the move was rushed, many parts of this small courtyard had yet to be repaired or improved. She was barely living here for now, planning to gradually fix things later with the help of servants.
Her skirt brushed the door sill as Zhong Li stepped outside, following the water seller’s voice with her gaze.
She saw Xiao Ci leaning against the wall beside the door, arms crossed, looking at her leisurely.
“Ah!”
He hadn’t left after all.
Zhong Li was startled and cried out, retreating back inside.
Xiao Ci was quicker than her; before she could close the door, he slipped inside and immediately pressed the door shut with his arm, trapping her between himself and the door.
“Don’t hide anymore,” his patience finally snapped, a few traces of weariness and impatience showing on his usually calm face. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
Zhong Li was trapped, knowing she couldn’t escape this time. She could only lower her head awkwardly.
“Who exactly is threatening you?”
Earlier in the alley, a subtle expression on her face had told him that someone was definitely using her proxy marriage against her.
Zhong Li fiddled with the edge of her clothes for a long moment before whispering, “I never willingly agreed to be a proxy bride. At that time, my late grandfather was seriously ill. I urgently needed money, so I agreed to the Summer family’s absurd request. A few days ago, I found out my grandfather had already passed away, and my grandmother is unwell and has no one to care for her, so I came back…”
“Is it just because of that? Or are you being threatened?”
“No, no one threatened me.”
“You’re lying.”
Dali Temple officials all knew some physiognomy and could read micro-expressions to tell if someone was lying. It was a basic skill for every Dali Temple officer.
“It’s the Summer family, isn’t it?”
If it were just those three thugs before, it wouldn’t have scared her so much.
She refused to answer. “Don’t ask anymore…”
It seemed clear the Summer family was making things difficult for her.
Xiao Ci was about to press further when an old voice came from behind. “A Li, who’s come?”
“Grandmother…” Zhong Li answered hurriedly.
Xiao Ci was a man who respected etiquette and rules. He wouldn’t be rude in front of elders, so he gave up questioning for the time being.
He turned around and respectfully greeted the elderly woman in the household: “Grandmother, I am…”
“Chun Shan!”
Before he could introduce himself, the old woman warmly stepped forward. “Is it really Chun Shan who’s come?”
Chun Shan…?
Xiao Ci glanced at Zhong Li with a puzzled look.
Zhong Li stepped forward and supported the old woman. “Grandmother, he isn’t Chun Shan.”
Xiao Ci’s brow twitched slightly: Chun Shan… brother?
Zhong Li looked at him and explained, her head a little muddled and her eyesight not very good…
“Not Chun Shan, huh?”
The old woman’s joy turned into slight disappointment. “I thought it really was Chun Shan.”
“Grandmother, I’m Xiao Ci.”
“Friend!”
“Husband.”
He spoke too fast. Zhong Li didn’t have time to stop him.
“Grandmother, when did you get married?”
Zhong Li could only say, “Grandmother, I’ve been married a long time. You’ve been ill, so you must have forgotten.”
“Ah… oh, I’m ill, huh,” the old woman babbled on. “What illness did I have again?”
“It’s nothing serious. Don’t worry. After you take the medicine later, you’ll be fine. I’ll help you back inside to rest…” Zhong Li said as she helped her grandmother back into the house.
Xiao Ci watched the old woman’s trembling figure and, judging by her memory loss symptoms, guessed she was suffering from the same illness as Minister Pei—the so-called Vermilion Bird’s Departure.
Those afflicted gradually lose past memories and become like children, unable to live independently.
Zhong Li’s return for this reason was understandable.
Xiao Ci followed them inside and into the main room.
As soon as the old woman sat down, she forgot again what she had just said. Her gaze regained brightness as she cheerfully said, “Chun Shan’s here. Has he saved up the bride price and come to propose to our A Li?”
Zhong Li’s face went pale, and she looked clearly flustered. “Grandmother, he’s not…”
A cold glare came from Xiao Ci, who interrupted her: “Grandmother, you forgot. We just told you that A Li and I are already married.”
“Yes, yes, I remember now. You’re already married,” the old woman laughed even more happily. “I’m such an old fool. The words I just spoke, I forgot in the blink of an eye. Chun Shan…”
Although she recalled the marriage, she still mistook him for “Chun Shan.”
Xiao Ci didn’t correct her this time but calmly agreed, “I am Chun Shan, Grandmother.”
“Look at me, such an old fool. The only thing I remember is telling you to save ten taels of silver as a bride price. I’m not after the money. I just wanted to see how sincere you were in wanting to marry our A Li…”
Xiao Ci pieced it together: the man called Chun Shan had once proposed to Zhong Li, and she called him “Chun Shan brother,” meaning they were very familiar—likely childhood sweethearts.
If they were childhood sweethearts in love, it fit with what she said earlier at the door.
She said she never truly agreed to be a proxy bride.
He had long known she didn’t agree willingly but didn’t expect that before the proxy marriage, she had already had feelings for someone else.
So his physiognomy reading had been wrong. She hadn’t been threatened by the Summer family; rather, she had been forced to separate from her true love, holding resentment all along.
After giving birth, feeling the debt was clear, she left him.
“Grandmother, stop,” Zhong Li said, sweat forming at her nose. Seeing Xiao Ci’s solemn expression and straight lips, she knew he was not as calm inside as he appeared. She quickly changed the subject, “I’ll go to the kitchen to prepare your medicine.”
She walked over to Xiao Ci, tugging on his sleeve, nervously yet bravely ordering him, “Come help me.”
Xiao Ci lowered his eyes, hiding the shadow within them, and followed her to the kitchen.
“Chun Shan brother is someone I’ve known since I was little. Our families had agreed on a match, but he remarried in the second year after I left. Now he already has two children. Don’t think too much…”
Xiao Ci twitched his mouth, but his eyes showed no amusement.
“You know this so well. Could it be you asked about him as soon as you came back?”
“No, I just heard a few things from old neighbors…”
“Do you feel regret?”
“I just feel I should have married someone like Chun Shan brother, not someone like you…”
“Zhong Li,” he spoke her name in a way that cracked ice and shattered jade, almost forcing the word out through clenched teeth, “Have I treated you badly all these years? That you still can’t forget your old flame after five years?”
She clutched her clothes, stammering to defend herself, “Don’t say that. That’s not what I meant.”
Xiao Ci stepped forward. “Then what do you mean?”
She stepped back, and he followed.
The kitchen was small; within a few steps, they bumped into the stove.
His determination to get to the bottom of this was like interrogating a prisoner, finally enraging the usually docile Zhong Li.
“Why do you have to speak to me like that? Am I your prisoner being interrogated?” she accused him with grievance. “I just want to marry someone like Chun Shan brother and live an ordinary married life. What’s wrong with that? I don’t like being Summer Zhi Yi. I don’t want to live constantly fearful and on edge. I don’t want my husband to treat me with cold politeness while harboring secret thoughts…”
Her anger mounted, unleashing all the pent-up frustrations she had stored over the years.
“Why must you keep pressing me? Have you never made a single mistake? You’re rigid and stubborn, thinking you’re doing good for me but never once asking what I truly want. You’re neither gentle nor considerate, always neglecting me. You’re old-fashioned and dull, always the same position in bed…”
She suddenly hushed with a “shh,” covering her mouth.
What had she just said?
How did it come to that?
She looked up at him, wanting to take back her words, but saw his eyes dark and deep, his cold expression frosted over.
“I… just spoke too quickly just now…”
Her pale, weak explanation only made things worse.
She shrank back, her courage drained like peeling silk, becoming once again a timid quail.
Not daring to meet his gaze, she tried to do something to break the awkward atmosphere.
“I—I’ll go prepare medicine for Grandmother…”
She tried to escape again, but once more, she failed.
Suddenly, her waist tightened. He lifted her onto the stove; her feet dangled, barely touching the ground.
Just like her heart hanging in the balance.
He raised a hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I’ve been a poor husband.”
“You should’ve told me those things earlier,” he lowered his head and sighed softly, his voice gentle now, “I’ll change from now on…”
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