SFT 06

Chapter 6

When Jiang Zhixiu returned home, he heard about the uproar at Songrong Hall. Exhausted at heart, he could not be bothered to deal with it and went straight to Luomei Pavilion instead.

There was a pavilion in his residence called “Fallen Plum,” and Mei Ying’s name also contained the character for plum. To him, it was as though this plum blossom had fallen into his household by heaven’s decree.

Dressed in white, Xie Meiying sat beneath the flowers, utterly absorbed in reading a medical text. She looked as beautiful as a painting.

Jiang Zhixiu watched her quietly for a long moment before stepping softly behind her and suddenly saying, “The daylight is fading. Be careful not to strain your eyes. Continue reading tomorrow.”

Startled, Xie Meiying looked up. Seeing that it was her beloved, she shyly replied, “Lord Jiang, when did you arrive?”

Jiang Zhixiu smiled. “How could I stay away when you are here? Why call me ‘Lord Jiang’? You should call me Jiang-lang.”

A blush spread across Xie Meiying’s fair face. Lowering her eyes, she said softly, “You’ve just returned home. You should spend more time with your parents, your wife, and your children. You needn’t concern yourself with me.”

Jiang Zhixiu gently took her hand. The calmness in his eyes gave way to burning warmth. “You are my wife as well.”

Xie Meiying struggled faintly, but when she failed to pull free, she stopped resisting and allowed him to hold her hand. Bitterness tinged her voice. “Not yet.”

Jiang Zhixiu knew exactly what troubled her and said firmly, “Don’t worry. I will never fail you.”

Xie Meiying sighed softly. “Jiang-lang, if it’s too difficult… perhaps we should let it go.”

His emotions flared at once. “How can we let it go? We vowed that day to share life and death, never to abandon each other. Have you forgotten?”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I haven’t forgotten! But… but…”

He Tingfang was completely different from what she had imagined.

Jiang Zhixiu had always described He Tingfang as vulgar, materialistic, and pretentious. Thus, in Xie Meiying’s imagination, He Tingfang had been a dull and ordinary middle-aged woman, trapped in the trivial affairs of the inner household, faded by age, her beauty long gone, her speech uninteresting—like many noblewomen she had met in Huainan.

Yet the He Tingfang she saw yesterday, though already thirty-four and the mother of two children, looked barely past twenty. Her bright eyes and white teeth, her breathtaking beauty, and her noble elegance made her the most beautiful woman Xie Meiying had ever seen. Moreover, her graceful bearing and natural dignity left Xie Meiying feeling utterly inferior.

The crimson cinnabar mark between her brows only added to her ethereal charm, as though she were untouched by the mortal world.

The only thing Xie Meiying possessed that surpassed He Tingfang was youth.

What made it even more humiliating was that this advantage was hardly obvious at all. Time seemed to have left no trace on He Tingfang.

Could Jiang Zhixiu truly abandon such a woman and spend his life with her alone? She did not have much confidence.

Perhaps… he was only infatuated for a moment.

Jiang Zhixiu could guess what she was thinking. Solemnly, he said, “If you think this way, you belittle both yourself and me. Meiying, we are not merely lovers—we are soulmates. Ours is no ordinary affection between man and woman. I, Jiang Zhixiu, am not some shallow, lustful man who values only appearance. In my heart, you are the proud plum blossom that endures the winter snow—the one destined to accompany me through life.”

These words deeply moved Xie Meiying. Murmuring softly, she said, “To know someone for years may still feel like meeting a stranger, yet one encounter can feel like reuniting with an old friend.”

She had been overthinking.

She should never have doubted Jiang-lang’s sincerity.

There was such a thing as fate between people. From the very first moment she saw Jiang-lang, she had felt he was extraordinary, and he had felt the same about her. Later, while rescuing disaster victims and rooting out corrupt officials together, affection had blossomed between them. It was nothing like the marriage between He Tingfang and Jiang Zhixiu, arranged by parents and matchmakers.

Their feelings were profound and pure, born entirely from the heart and unrelated to worldly gain.

Although He Tingfang had been married into the Jiang family for eighteen years, she had never entered Jiang-lang’s heart.

She was the one who truly had.

She ought to have more confidence. No matter how difficult the road ahead might be, she would walk it beside him.

Jiang Zhixiu wrapped an arm around her and sighed softly. “Meeting you for the first time felt like the return of an old friend.”

For eighteen years in officialdom, he had disciplined himself strictly, cultivated serenity, and remained selfless and upright. Meiying was his only selfish desire.

The two leaned against each other for quite some time before Xie Meiying reluctantly pushed him away. “Jiang-lang, you should go back now.”

Jiang Zhixiu replied gently, “All right.”

Their feelings had always remained within the bounds of propriety. Before marriage, they both intended to preserve the proper limits.

That accidental intimacy before returning to the capital had never been meant to happen.

Just before leaving, Jiang Zhixiu remembered something else. “Today, I already visited Headmaster Fang of Yunshan Academy. Tomorrow I’ll take Rongmo there to enroll.”

Yunshan Academy was the finest academy in the capital. Jiang Zhixiu’s son, Jiang Jiayu, also studied there.

As for Xie Rongmo, he was Meiying’s nephew. Fifteen years old, blessed with a photographic memory and exceptional intelligence, he had managed to pass the provincial examinations and become a xiucai merely by occasionally attending classes at local schools. With guidance from a great teacher, attaining top honors in the imperial examinations would be effortless for him.

Back then, Jiang Zhixiu himself had only placed in the second tier instead of the coveted first tier—a lifelong regret. He had once hoped his son would fulfill that dream for him, but Jiayu’s aptitude fell somewhat short. Forget first or second tier honors—even third tier success might prove difficult.

Rongmo, however, gave him hope.

Once he and Meiying were married, Rongmo would become his nephew as well, no longer an outsider.

Seeing how devoted Jiang Zhixiu was to her family’s affairs filled Xie Meiying with warmth, strengthening her resolve to spend the rest of her life with him.

After exchanging many more tender words, Jiang Zhixiu finally left Luomei Pavilion, turning back every few steps as though reluctant to part.

But neither of them knew that every word and action of theirs that night was swiftly reported to Chunming Courtyard.

After listening, He Tingfang sneered inwardly.

What a pair of devoted lovers. Their hearts truly beat as one. If she herself were not Jiang Zhixiu’s lawful wife, she might even have found it touching.

Without dwelling on it further, she bathed, changed clothes, and went to bed.