Zhao Huan stood where he was, listening to the two women trade barbs back and forth. The veins on his forehead throbbed twice.
He didn’t know either of them, but from their tone alone, he could tell they were trouble.
Xie Zhaolin jumped down from the carriage and walked over to Zhao Huan. He swept his gaze over the two women’s faces, then looked away.
Grabbing Zhao Huan by the sleeve, he lowered his voice and said, “Let’s go inside. Don’t stand around here.”
Zhao Huan took a deep breath and forced down the frustration lodged in his throat before following Xie Zhaolin through the gates of the marquis’s residence.
Behind them, the two women watched their retreating figures. They exchanged a glance, then curled their lips at the same time.
The woman in the lotus-colored beizi let out a cold snort.
“Every last one of them is here for that young master of the Shi family.”
The woman in the sapphire-blue beizi chimed in, “Exactly. Who knows what’s so special about that young master? He’s got all the young ladies in the capital completely under his spell.”
They continued talking as they boarded their respective carriages. Even after the curtains fell, their voices carried on, gradually fading into the distance until they could no longer be made out.
Zhao Huan strode down the marquis’s residence corridor, each step quick and heavy.
“Don’t you think those people are crazy? Shi Huai is still so young. And they’re already rushing to propose marriage?”
His voice was low, but there was no hiding the anger in it.
Xie Zhaolin followed behind him. “Why do you care whether they’re crazy? You’re not Shi Huai’s father.”
The words nearly made Zhao Huan choke. He stopped abruptly and turned to glare at Xie Zhaolin.
“Are you doing that on purpose?”
Xie Zhaolin almost walked into him, but stopped in time. His expression remained as indifferent as ever.
“I’m stating a fact. If you’re really worried about him, go ask him what he thinks. What good does it do to lose your temper at me?”
Zhao Huan opened his mouth to argue, only to realize that Xie Zhaolin was right.
He turned around and continued walking. This time, his pace slowed, but his thoughts were still racing.
In the courtyard of Shou’an Hall, Shi Huai was sitting beside a stone table, reading.
Tangerine was perched on the tabletop, its round eyes fixed on the occasional shadows of the moving characters across the page. Every so often, it would reach out a paw and swat at one.
When Shi Huai brushed it away, it didn’t get annoyed. It simply shifted into another position and continued to sit there.
The moment Zhao Huan entered the courtyard, Tangerine noticed him first. Its ears perked up, and its tail swept across the stone table.
Shi Huai lifted his gaze from the page. Seeing Zhao Huan and Xie Zhaolin enter one after the other, the corners of his lips curved faintly upward.
“Why are you two here? I thought you said you weren’t coming over today.”
Zhao Huan sat down on a stone stool without ceremony, picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup, and gulped it down.
“I wasn’t planning to come, but something happened on the way, so I stopped by.”
Shi Huai glanced at him without asking for details, then lowered his head and continued reading.
Xie Zhaolin sat down on another stone stool. His gaze swept across the courtyard before finally landing on Tangerine.
Tangerine was washing its face with one paw. Halfway through, it sensed that gaze and paused to look at him. Then it went right back to washing, acting as though he didn’t matter in the slightest.
Zhao Huan set down his teacup. His fingers tapped absently against the stone table twice. His lips moved several times before he finally forced out, “Shi Huai, do you know how many people came to your family’s residence today to propose marriage?”
Shi Huai’s fingers paused as he turned the page. He looked up at Zhao Huan’s face, which plainly said, I care very much, but I’m pretending I don’t.
“No idea. I didn’t count.”
Shi Huai’s unhurried manner left Zhao Huan feeling both anxious and itchy with impatience. He leaned forward.
“You don’t care? Someone wants to marry their daughter to you, and you’re not even going to ask who it is?”
Shi Huai closed the book and placed it on the stone table. Tangerine immediately stuck its head over and nudged the cover with its nose.
“What would asking accomplish? I’m only twelve. Marriage is still a long way off.”
Xie Zhaolin sat to one side without saying a word, but his eyes never left Shi Huai’s face.
He was waiting—for the right moment to speak.
Shi Huai’s words left Zhao Huan with a whole bellyful of things stuck in his throat. Unable to spit them out or swallow them down, he grew red in the face.
He picked up his teacup and took another gulp. This time, the tea was cold and bitter, making him frown.
“You’re right. Twelve is definitely too young. But those people don’t care about that. All they care about is pushing their daughters in front of you.”
Shi Huai scooped Tangerine off the table and placed it on his lap, gently scratching beneath its chin. Tangerine immediately began to purr.
“You’re exaggerating.”
Zhao Huan’s eyes brightened at those words, only to dim again a moment later.
He remembered what he had seen at the Imperial College that day. Shen Jinghong and the Third Prince had been standing there, both of them wearing expressions as though something had lodged in their chests, leaving them unable to breathe.
“Shi Huai, what do you think of Shen Jinghong?”
The question came out of nowhere.
The teacup in Xie Zhaolin’s hand paused. He turned his head and glanced at Zhao Huan.
Shi Huai raised his eyes and thought for a moment. “Brother Shen is a good person. He just talks a little too much.”
Zhao Huan’s mouth twitched.
“That’s it? Nothing else?”
Shi Huai tilted his head, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
“What else is there? What are you really trying to ask?”
Zhao Huan opened his mouth. There were too many things he wanted to ask, and he had no idea where to begin.
Xie Zhaolin spoke up then.
“What Zhao Huan means is that Shen Jinghong treats you too well. So well that it’s a little unusual.”
Shi Huai’s fingers paused beneath Tangerine’s chin.
“Brother Shen treats everyone well. He isn’t a petty person.”
At those words, Zhao Huan nearly shot up from his stone stool, but Xie Zhaolin silenced him with a single look.
Zhao Huan took a deep breath and forcibly swallowed the words, He doesn’t pay nearly as much attention to anyone else as he does to you, replacing them with, “You’re right. Shen Jinghong treats everyone well.”
Shi Huai nodded and lowered his head to continue scratching beneath Tangerine’s chin, as though the conversation had nothing to do with him.
Watching his calm, unconcerned expression, Xie Zhaolin once again felt that vague, indescribable emotion rise within him.
He couldn’t tell whether he was feeling sorry for Shen Jinghong or sorry for himself.
Or perhaps he simply couldn’t stand the way Shi Huai seemed to care about nothing.
“Shi Huai, have you ever thought about what kind of person you want to marry in the future?”
Xie Zhaolin’s question was so blunt that even Zhao Huan froze for a moment and turned to look at him.
Shi Huai raised his eyes. This time, he thought about it seriously before answering, a little embarrassed, “Study hard for the imperial examinations and become a jinshi, I suppose? An equivalent jinshi would be fine too. I’m not picky.”
Once he became a government official, he wouldn’t have to deal with all the ridiculous mess at the Yongning Marquis’s residence.
And after that…
Once he became a civil servant, of course he’d just coast along!
All Shi Huai wanted was to stay alive.
