“You don’t?” Shen Xiabai asked.
Yu Feng sighed inwardly. There were only a handful of people in the entire residence. Although the mistress had not said anything, even if the master had no brains at all, he could still guess who had let the cat out of the bag.
Shen Zilan rubbed his nose, looking somewhat sheepish. “Uncle, if I say I didn’t mean to, will you believe me?”
He had truly run into her by chance today. She had asked, and he had answered without thinking. Besides, the steward had never told him beforehand. How was he supposed to know that his own uncle would use every trick in the book to coax the girl?
By the time he found out, he had already let the secret slip. He had hidden himself in the courtyard, not daring to come out.
“Do you think I’ll believe you?”
In Shen Xiabai’s eyes, Shen Zilan was no longer his nephew. He was the man A Chu had described as the thrilling target of an affair.
Shen Zilan felt utterly wronged. “Uncle, I admit that I did have feelings for Miss Cui in the past, but now… You two have already shared a bed, even if you’re not officially married. I’d have to be completely shameless to try to steal my own aunt.”
His words carried a double meaning.
Shen Zilan cared about his reputation. The person who was truly shameless was the one who had shared a bed with someone without being married.
Shen Xiabai’s brows drew together. “Who are you insinuating that about?”
“…”
Shen Zilan said, “No one. I’m just explaining myself.”
They were perfectly ordinary words. Why did his uncle always manage to interpret some hidden meaning into them?
“Get out.”
“All right.”
Shen Zilan turned around and pushed open the study door, ready to leave, only to see his own attendant standing outside with bags and bundles in his hands.
What was the meaning of this? He turned back in disbelief. “Uncle, are you throwing me out?”
“Until you find a girl you like, you’ll stay at the government office. You don’t need to return to the residence for now.”
At the end, he added, “I’m doing this for your own good.”
Shen Zilan: “…”
“Uncle, do you really believe that yourself?”
Was he truly doing this for Shen Zilan’s sake, or for his own?
“Uncle, does Miss Cui dislike you very much? Could it be that you abducted her?”
Shen Xiabai snatched up a book and hurled it at him. Shen Zilan dodged to the side and caught it.
“Then why are you so afraid? If you truly love each other, what are you afraid of?”
Even Yu Feng felt his scalp prickle. The thing his master could least tolerate was anyone suggesting that the mistress did not like him. The young master was truly determined to stab him right in the heart.
“Young Master, everything has been packed. Please leave quickly.”
Shen Zilan remained where he was.
Shen Xiabai fixed him with a cool, emotionless gaze. “You don’t like Miss Chen, do you?”
Shen Zilan choked. His gaze flickered away as he muttered softly, “We’re talking about you. Why are you bringing me into it?”
“Answer me. Do you like her?”
Shen Zilan forced himself to remain calm and straightened his back. “…I don’t. We’re just friends.”
Shen Xiabai’s mind suddenly returned to the time the two of them had scrubbed plates and washed dishes at Wangyue Tower, and to the way Shen Zilan had defended the girl. He smiled, nodded, and said, “Good.”
Shen Zilan: “?”
That was it?
Shen Xiabai said, “You may leave now.”
“I’m not leaving. This is my home. Why should I go? I’m going to see Grandmother.”
Shen Zilan stormed out of the courtyard and went to see Dowager Shen.
After listening to him recount the entire matter, Dowager Shen showed no particular reaction.
Shen Zilan said, “Grandmother, Uncle is throwing me out.”
Dowager Shen replied, “He’s only asking you to live elsewhere for a while. You can come back once he and Miss Cui are married.”
Shen Zilan froze. “Grandmother, you’re throwing me out too? You all distrust me this much? Am I really that kind of person?”
Dowager Shen was silent for several moments before saying, “But the two of them have indeed quarreled because of you. Zilan, be obedient. Stay at the government office for a while. You’ll be able to come back after some time.”
“I don’t want to.”
Shen Zilan was beginning to lose his temper. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
He sat down beside Dowager Shen. He did not notice the slight furrow between her brows.
“I heard that you’ve been getting along quite well with Miss Chen lately?”
Shen Zilan hesitated. “We’re just friends.”
“If you want to remain in the residence, you can marry Miss Chen.”
Shen Zilan was drinking tea. At those words, he froze completely and stared blankly at Dowager Shen.
Dowager Shen avoided his eyes. “Zilan, ever since you were young, Grandmother has indulged you in everything. Now that your uncle has finally found someone he loves, don’t interfere.”
“Miss Chen is a fine girl. You’ve spent so much time with her, so you must have some feelings for her. Marry her as soon as possible and fulfill one of Grandmother’s wishes.”
“Grandmother…”
Shen Zilan called out to her in a daze. “Is that really what you think of me? He’s my own uncle. Now that things have come to this, how could I possibly still have feelings for my own aunt? Why are you all questioning my character? Why won’t any of you believe me?”
Dowager Shen lowered her lashes. “If you don’t have those feelings, then marry Miss Chen.”
“…That’s not the same.”
Shen Zilan was growing angry. “She’s a fine girl. I have to take responsibility for her. I can’t marry her without making things clear first.”
Was his character truly so poor?
He was the nephew Dowager Shen had raised with her own hands. Why, now, was everyone questioning his morals?
So once his uncle married, he would have to marry as well if he wanted to keep living in the residence, simply to reassure them.
Dowager Shen frowned. “You yourself said that Miss Chen is a fine girl. If that’s the case, what’s wrong with marrying her?”
Shen Zilan shoved the teacup aside and abruptly rose to his feet. “Then don’t trouble yourself over me, Grandmother. If you all want me gone, I’ll leave.”
He stormed out of Dowager Shen’s courtyard.
The older servant woman hurried after him for a few steps, then helplessly returned. “Old Madam, was that a little too much?”
Dowager Shen sighed. “I raised him with my own hands, after all. Of course I’m heartbroken. But Xiabai has finally found someone he loves… At this point, my only wish is for him to marry and have children, and to live out a complete and happy life.”
“I owe those two—uncle and nephew—so much…”
People always said that the palm and the back of one’s hand were equally precious, but there were differences even between the two.
She had spent more than a decade making it up to Zilan. Xiabai had never asked anything of her all these years; he had relied entirely on himself. This girl was the only thing he truly desired.
The servant woman sighed and comforted Dowager Shen. “Please don’t be sad, Old Madam. Once Second Master is married, you can call the young master back.”
Dowager Shen nodded. “If he could marry as well, then I could truly die without regrets.”
“Old Madam, please don’t say such ominous things.”
…
Shen Zilan left the residence with his attendant, furious and miserable.
The government office had rooms specially set aside for officials to live in, though they were somewhat crude.
It was Shen Zilan’s first time staying overnight at the government office, and he found it deeply uncomfortable. He suddenly felt as if he had been abandoned, left utterly alone in the world.
He lay on the bed facing the wall in silence. Beside him, his attendant unpacked their belongings and tried to comfort him. “Don’t be angry, Young Master. Second Master is only upset for the moment. Perhaps he’ll send someone to bring you home tomorrow.”
Shen Zilan turned over and stared intently at his attendant. “Don’t you think Grandmother… perhaps she isn’t as good to me as everyone outside says?”
Everyone in the capital, both within and beyond the Shen residence, said that Dowager Shen doted on him most of all—far more than she did on his younger uncle.
It was true that his grandmother cherished him, but she had never allowed a tutor to teach him anything of substance. It was only later that his younger uncle hired a tutor for him.
Having learned from his grandfather’s experience, his younger uncle had found it difficult to enter the court at first. It was Dowager Shen who had exhausted the Shen family’s connections and resources to secure him a place in the imperial court, yet she had never done the same to pave the way for Shen Zilan.
His grandmother had said that all she wanted was for him to remain safe and healthy, to live happily and carefree—to be the young master of the Shen family and enjoy his uncle’s protection.
But his uncle had said that he ought not to live that way. He was a man, and as such, he should shoulder great responsibilities and hold up a corner of the world.
His uncle never spoke of it, but Shen Zilan knew that his smooth career in the Ministry of Personnel was entirely due to the support his uncle had given him behind the scenes.
They were his only two relatives. Both loved and cherished him, yet their ways of doing so were worlds apart.
Which of them was right?
“Young Master, don’t overthink things. From childhood until now, hasn’t Dowager Shen treated you wonderfully? You know that better than anyone. This matter concerns Second Master’s lifelong marriage, which is why she considers it so important. On the other hand, she probably wants you to start a family as soon as possible.”
Shen Zilan lay back down and stared at the beams overhead. “You’re right. Grandmother loves me so dearly. How could I ever have thoughts like that?”
As he spoke, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
