By the time Shi Huai returned to the residence, the sky had already darkened considerably.
He jumped down from the carriage and straightened the collar the wind had tousled. He had just stepped onto the stairs when Old Liu, the gatekeeper, came to meet him.
“Young Master, the Marquis wants you to go to the study. He said you’re to see him as soon as you return. Don’t delay.”
Old Liu kept his voice low, a trace of unease in his eyes.
Shi Huai paused, his brows drawing together slightly.
He glanced at Old Liu’s hesitant expression but asked no questions. He merely nodded, then turned toward the main courtyard.
Qinghe followed behind him. After a few steps, he stopped her.
“You go back to Shou’an Hall first. I’ll go alone.”
Qinghe opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but when she met Shi Huai’s calm, quiet gaze, the words died on her lips.
She nodded and turned toward Shou’an Hall. After walking a few steps, she looked back, her eyes full of worry.
The study in the main courtyard was brightly lit.
Shi Yuanzhi sat behind the desk, a book spread open before him.
Yet his gaze had not fallen on the page once.
Shi Huai stopped outside the study and raised a hand to knock on the doorframe.
Shi Yuanzhi looked up at him, his eyes blazing with anger.
“Come in. Close the door.”
Shi Huai entered and shut the door behind him.
He walked to the desk and stood straight, offering a proper salute. Then he looked at Shi Yuanzhi’s gloomy face, already having formed a few guesses in his mind.
“Father sent for me?”
Shi Yuanzhi stared at him for a long while. Candlelight fell across that handsome, otherworldly face, illuminating every detail of his tranquil expression.
The fire in Shi Yuanzhi’s heart flared even higher.
“Madam Lin, Madam Shen, and Madam Fang came to the residence together today. You know about that?”
Shi Huai shook his head. “No. I just returned from the Imperial College.”
Shi Yuanzhi rapped his fingers heavily against the tabletop, producing a dull thud.
He leaned forward, narrowing the distance between them.
“They came to propose a marriage for you. Lin Wanqing of the Lin family, Shen Yuetang of the Shen family, and Fang Ruoyun of the Fang family. All three families came together and cornered your mother in the front hall, talking for half the day.”
Shi Huai’s brows drew together slightly, but his expression soon returned to its usual calm.
He looked at Shi Yuanzhi’s face, filled with anger and humiliation, and his lips moved faintly. He said nothing.
“You have nothing to say?” Shi Yuanzhi’s voice rose sharply, and his fingers struck the tabletop again with a heavy knock.
Shi Huai thought for a moment before replying in the same flat tone, “What does Father want me to say? What could I possibly have to say?”
Shi Yuanzhi was briefly rendered speechless. The fury in his eyes burned even hotter.
He shot to his feet. The chair was shoved backward several steps and slammed into the bookcase behind him.
Several books fell from the shelves, striking the floor with a series of sharp slaps.
“You didn’t know? You didn’t know they would come knocking? You didn’t know they would practically beg to marry their daughters to you?”
“Shi Huai, do you take your father for a three-year-old child?”
Shi Huai watched Shi Yuanzhi fly into a rage, his own expression utterly unchanged.
He bent down, picked up the fallen books, dusted them off, and returned them to the shelf.
“Father, if others want to come and propose, can I stop them? Their legs belong to them, and their mouths belong to them. I have no control over either.”
Shi Yuanzhi trembled with rage at Shi Huai’s indifferent attitude.
He walked around the desk and stopped in front of Shi Huai, looking down at the young man, who was half a head shorter than him. His finger came within a hair’s breadth of Shi Huai’s nose.
“Your mother said those families have no intention of marrying their daughters into our household. They want you to marry into theirs.”
“Do you know what that means? It means becoming their live-in son-in-law. Your children would bear their family name, and have nothing to do with the Shi family.”
At the words “live-in son-in-law,” Shi Huai’s brows finally furrowed.
He looked at Shi Yuanzhi’s flushed, furious face and remained silent for a moment.
“Does Father think I should marry into one of those families?”
The question nearly made Shi Yuanzhi choke.
At last, his finger jabbed Shi Huai in the shoulder with enough force to make him take half a step back.
“You think? What do you mean, you think? Listen to me, Shi Huai. You can forget about it.”
“My son becoming someone else’s live-in son-in-law? Over my dead body!”
Shi Huai lifted a hand and brushed the shoulder Shi Yuanzhi had jabbed, as though wiping away something filthy.
He looked at Shi Yuanzhi’s face, twisted with fury, and the corner of his mouth lifted faintly.
“Have you finished, Father? If so, I’ll be going. I have to get up early for the Imperial College tomorrow.”
Shi Yuanzhi was so enraged by Shi Huai’s impervious attitude that his mind went blank.
He reached out and seized Shi Huai by the arm, his fingers digging into the sleeve until his knuckles turned bluish-white.
“Stop! I’m not finished speaking!”
Shi Huai lowered his head and glanced at the hand gripping his arm. Then he raised his eyes to Shi Yuanzhi’s face.
“What else does Father require?”
Shi Yuanzhi drew a deep breath, trying to appear calm.
He released Shi Huai’s arm, stepped back, and leaned against the desk. Crossing his arms over his chest, he fixed his gaze on Shi Huai’s face.
“Your mother says you may already have this in mind—that you intend to marry into one of those families and rise to great heights in a single step.”
“Shi Huai, tell me the truth. Have you been plotting this all along?”
At the words “your mother says,” a chill flashed through Shi Huai’s eyes.
He looked at Shi Yuanzhi’s face, full of suspicion and anger, and a faint smile slowly appeared at the corners of his lips.
“Does Father think I need to marry into one of those families?”
Shi Yuanzhi was taken aback by the question. Then he let out a cold snort.
“How could you not? Don’t you know what state the Marquis’s residence is in?”
“If you married into the Lin, Shen, or Fang family, everything would be different. You’d have whatever you wanted.”
Shi Huai nodded as though he were seriously considering Shi Yuanzhi’s words.
He removed the book bag from his shoulder and set it at his feet, then straightened his wrinkled sleeve.
“Father is right. There really isn’t much worth staying here for.”
“A marquis in name only. A fallen household. A stepmother who schemes against me at every turn. And a biological father who tossed me into a side courtyard to die like a piece of rubbish. What exactly am I staying here for?”
