Chapter 39: Zhaoran’s Visit

Shi Minda reflected on his life so far, a tapestry rich with trials and triumphs.

In his childhood, his father had marched off to war and vanished without a trace. His mother had raised him alone through those harsh times.

The struggles a single woman faced in raising a child in such a world were hardships few outsiders could truly understand.

Shi Minda’s early years had been grueling. Later, his mother toiled day and night to scrape together the silver for his studies. He pored over his books relentlessly, through scorching summers and bitter winters, until he finally passed the examinations and earned his scholar’s degree.

That same year, however, his mother succumbed to a lifetime of overwork. Shi Minda was left utterly alone.

Then Tu Chunhua fell head over heels for him and insisted on marriage. The Tu family wasn’t thrilled about welcoming a lone man with no support, but they couldn’t sway her determination. In the end, they let the wedding go forward.

With the Tu family’s backing, Shi Minda opened a small academy. Life was modest, but he and his family were content and happy.

Much later, his long-lost father reappeared—now elevated by imperial decree to the exalted rank of Marquis Yunxiang. Overnight, Shi Minda transformed from a humble scholar into the heir of a marquis’s household.

He had plumbed the depths of despair and scaled the heights of success. He had weathered all manner of joys and sorrows. After so much, Shi Minda believed nothing short of the death of a loved one could shake him—that he could remain unflappable even if Mount Tai collapsed before his eyes.

Now he realized his experiences, though numerous, had been narrow in scope.

At least the situation unfolding before him right now shattered his composure entirely. He felt as if he’d been struck by lightning, not even knowing where to put his hands.

His face twisted in confusion. He even dug at his ear, wondering if he’d misheard.

Gazing at his daughter’s earnest expression, Shi Minda still couldn’t bring himself to believe it. “You say you want to be with Xie… that Xie Zhaoran?”

Shi Yuning nodded vigorously, her seriousness unwavering. “Yes. I want to be with her, just like you and Mother—together for life.”

Her tone softened then, turning wheedling as she tugged at his sleeve. “Daddy, say yes. And please put in a good word for me with Mother.”

Shi Minda’s head throbbed, his thoughts a complete jumble. His hand trembled as he yanked his sleeve free from her grasp.

Looking at that familiar smile—eyes crinkling, brows arched in that soft, pleading way she always used when asking for something—he remembered the past. Ever since Shi Yuning had learned to make requests as a toddler, he’d caved to her outrageous demands time and again because of that very expression.

Like the time she wanted candy before bed, or insisted on fishing in the dead of winter, or begged off her studies to train in martial arts instead. Whenever she came to him with that earnest plea, his resolve melted, and he gave in.

Tu Chunhua had thrown him out of their bedchamber more than once over it.

But as wild as those old requests had been, none compared to this one.

Shi Minda figured that if he told Tu Chunhua about this, it wouldn’t end with just being banished from their room. She might kick him out of the house for good.

“Daddy?” Shi Yuning prompted, seeing him lost in thought, staring blankly at her.

Shi Minda snapped back and waved his hands frantically. “No, don’t call me Daddy. For this… this matter, go talk to your mother.”

He had no earthly idea how to handle it.

Shi Yuning pouted, her eyes wide and imploring. “But Mother’s not here. You’ll support me, right, Daddy?”

At the mention of Tu Chunhua, Shi Minda’s eyes lit up. “Right! Chunhua. Go to Chunhua.”

His father-in-law had imparted one key piece of wisdom on his wedding day: A man who listens to his wife stays safe.

Shi Minda snatched back the hem of his robe she’d been clutching and bolted from his chair. He half-ran, half-walked out of the room, shouting for a servant to prepare the carriage.

No matter how Shi Yuning called after him, he didn’t look back.

Shi Yuning: … Was she some kind of man-eating beast?

And had her father agreed or not?

By the time Shi Minda arrived, the crisis at Crane Cry Temple had been resolved. The Xie household escorted the Empress Dowager back to the palace, while Shi Chao stayed behind, coordinating with others to help the noblewomen return to their estates.

With so many women and limited carriages, they had to wait for their families to fetch them.

The noblewomen watched with envy as the first to arrive was the Shi family heir, come for Tu Chunhua.

Tu Chunhua hadn’t expected her habitually slow husband to be the first. Emotion welled up, rimming her eyes with red.

Ignoring all propriety for noble wives, she hiked up her skirts and ran to him, throwing her arms around Shi Minda in full view of everyone.

Shi Minda had found his daughter safe; now his wife was unharmed too. Overjoyed, he hugged Tu Chunhua tightly. Thank goodness—his whole family was intact.

It was Shi Chao who finally coughed to remind them, drawing their attention to the crowd of onlookers.

The pair flushed with belated embarrassment. What they didn’t know was that these women had long envied Madam Shi for having such a devoted husband—no concubines or serving girls in their household, by all accounts.

They might mock the Shi mother and daughter for their lack of refinement in public, but every lady in the capital knew the truth: the Shi women lived the good life.

Inside the Shi mansion’s ornate four-horse carriage, Tu Chunhua recovered from her earlier flush of embarrassment. They were longtime spouses, after all; she hadn’t expected herself to lose control like that.

She chalked it up to the days apart and how much she’d missed him.

“Where’s Ningning? Is Ningning all right?” Tu Chunhua asked anxiously.

Confined in the temple for days, she knew nothing of Shi Yuning’s ordeal. She only recalled that they had set out together in one carriage for Crane Cry Temple, but midway, Shi Yuning’s clothes got dirty, and the Xie girl had taken her aside to change.

Once they’d arrived and been detained, neither Shi Yuning nor Xie Zhaoran had appeared.

After separating the two, Shi Minda gave a brief account of what Shi Yuning had endured.

Even in those sparse words, hearing of the cliff fall made Tu Chunhua’s heart clench.

She remained on edge, even after Shi Minda assured her Shi Yuning was back safe.

“Was she hurt?” Tu Chunhua pressed.

Shi Minda shook his head solemnly. “No, no, Ningning’s fine. Don’t worry—just—”

The words caught in his throat. He truly didn’t know how to broach it.

He only hoped Tu Chunhua wouldn’t faint upon hearing. She’d even been planning a match with the Lu family.

His hesitant stammering only heightened her alarm. She lifted the carriage curtain and urged the driver to hurry.

Back home at last, seeing Shi Yuning safe and sound eased Tu Chunhua’s frantic heart.

Her daughter had lost weight in just a few days, which broke her heart. She quickly ordered the kitchen to prepare dinner, with extra dishes Shi Yuning loved.

Shi Yuning was equally thrilled to see Tu Chunhua and clung to her, refusing to let go. She’d missed her mother terribly these past days.

Seeing her like this brought tears to Tu Chunhua’s eyes too. She gently coaxed out the full story of what had happened after they’d parted that day.

Shi Yuning’s account was more detailed than her father’s, but she focused mainly on how Xie Zhaoran had risked everything to protect her—throwing herself into mortal danger to save her life.

Tu Chunhua listened in wide-eyed terror, holding Shi Yuning close. “You’re back, that’s what matters. No more fear.”

“Mother, I’m not afraid. Zhaoran protected me the whole time. I came through unscathed, but she’s covered in injuries.”

Tu Chunhua felt deep gratitude. The girl who’d found her in the temple and untied her had claimed to be Xie Zhaoran’s subordinate.

“We must thank her properly someday.”

Shi Yuning nodded eagerly, but Shi Minda’s pointed coughs cut her off.

Tu Chunhua frowned at his hemming and hawing. What couldn’t a family discuss openly? She’d only been away a few days—how had he picked up this habit?

Before she could ask, a servant reported a visitor at the gate, presenting a calling card.

Tu Chunhua and Shi Yuning both turned to Shi Minda. As the scholar of the house, he always deciphered these flowery, indirect cards from the capital for them.

Shi Minda usually relished their reliance on him, but today his mind was elsewhere, his face grim. He took the card, read it, and his expression darkened further—black as coal dust from the stove.

As his wife and daughter waited expectantly, he shot Shi Yuning an irritated glare.

“It’s Xie Zhaoran. She says it’s inconvenient to be seen openly and requests a sedan chair straight to the inner courtyard.”

Shi Yuning’s eyes sparkled. She hadn’t expected Xie Zhaoran so soon.

Tu Chunhua beamed too—this was their family’s great benefactor.

“Hurry and invite her in,” Tu Chunhua instructed the servants warmly and respectfully. She also told the kitchen to prepare extra dishes.

The moment Shi Yuning heard the name, she leaped from her chair and bounded toward the door. “I’ll go greet her!”

“Careful—watch your step!” Tu Chunhua chuckled as she nearly tripped over the threshold in her haste. “This child.”

Shi Minda watched Tu Chunhua’s happy smile with a complicated gaze and murmured darkly, “You’re the one who invited her in.” Inwardly, he added: Don’t regret it later.

Tu Chunhua missed the odd undertone. “She’s our great benefactor. If she weren’t a generation below us, we’d both go out to welcome her ourselves.”

Shi Minda eyed her smile, his expression growing even more conflicted. “I hope you can still smile after this.”