Chapter 57 Home She will always be his anchor.

Thinking of this, Nanny Guan looked at Chuqi like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, her eyes becoming more loving. She walked closer and asked, "Sir, why are you out? Do you have any instructions?"

Chuqi turned around and saw a white-haired nanny looking at him with a smile. The old lady's eyes seemed to be doting on her fat grandson. His heart skipped a beat and he said with a bow, "I don't have any instructions, but it's getting late. I have to take my leave first."

Nanny Guan said, "Ah," and tried to persuade him to stay, "It's rare for Your Highness to enjoy such a conversation with Master. I'll warm up a pot of wine for you... If Master is tired, there's a bedroom with couches in the back hall. Why bother? Just rest there!"

Chu Qi waved her hands hurriedly, and Nanny Guan smiled soothingly. "Are you worried about gossip outside? With His Highness here, who would dare to say a word against you?"

When Chuqi heard her serious yet teasing tone, the blush that had faded away resurfaced. She thought that the nanny might have misunderstood something. Thinking of her shy and embarrassed face that made Li Jieyi laugh, she could not even stand still. How could she have the nerve to go into the hall again?

In reality, Li Jieyi had already recognized the man before her when Chu Qi supported her. The fragrance of Song Jiusi, like the scent of snow-water brewed tea, had already seeped into her very skin, etched deep within her soul. Though they looked alike, their scents were distinct.

Tears were Li Jieyi's trump card. When Song Jiusi heard her crying like this, he couldn't help but stroke her back and half-coax her, half-persuading: "Your Highness, please stop crying, okay?"

At that time, she always cried more and more arrogantly and loudly like a spoiled child. Song Jiusi looked worried: "Your Highness, my clothes are all wet. People might make up stories that I am too sick to take care of myself..."

Li Jieyi's sobbing stopped abruptly. She looked at the place she was hugging. It was clearly a thin waist and abdomen, not that deep. How could anyone misunderstand? And wasn't he already well...? She realized she had been tricked, but before she could get angry, someone held her face and gently wiped away her tears. His gentle eyes were filled with helplessness, and there was an extremely tangled struggle that she couldn't understand at the time. He gently hugged her and sighed, "Your Highness, Your Highness... What should I do with you?"

Even though the memories are bitter, they also have a sweet aftertaste.

It was also because of this that when she woke up from her drunken dream, all the illusions were gone. She realized with great clarity that he was really gone and there would be no chance for them to meet again in this life. Her heart was filled with emptiness, and the deep sorrow became increasingly uncontrollable, which is why she lost her composure in front of a junior.

After asking that question, she noticed a flush on Chuqi's jade-like face. His already unnatural body stiffened even more, and even through the fabric, she could feel the heat rising from him. He, usually eloquent, suddenly became tongue-tied. After a long pause, he uttered four words, "Your humble servant deserves death!"

Li Jieyi burst out laughing. This was exactly the same as his uncle's. He always said someone deserved death.

She had been extravagant in her youth and owed many debts of love, but after she met Song Jiusi, she no longer cared about others. If she planned to do it on the seventh day of the first lunar month, she might be able to get away with it with Song Lingyi a hundred years later, but Song Jiusi would never want to see her again, even if he died.

What's more... Li Jieyi looked at Chuqi's clear and flawless eyes, and looked at his back that was still as strong as a pine covered with snow even though he was kneeling. She knew very well that he studied hard, waded through thousands of miles of rivers and streams to get out of the barren mountains, and broke through the siege of millions of people, not to be her concubine.

Li Jieyi chuckled and patted his head, her movements somewhat awkwardly. "Don't be afraid," she said. "I didn't express myself clearly and scared you."

Chuqi's heart was still pounding. He knew that if Li Jieyi forced herself on him, she would be the king and he would be the minister, and he would have no room to refuse. Hearing Li Jieyi's softening voice, he carefully raised his head and glanced at her secretly, just meeting Li Jieyi's slightly apologetic gaze.

Li Jieyi saw his face, red enough to drip blood, and took in every little movement. She couldn't help but curl her lips, coughed lightly, and returned to business. "I believe you've heard about the Song family before... The Li family still has collateral branches to support them, but the Song family lineage is truly extinct."

Over the years, Li Jieyi has collected the remains and belongings of the Song family soldiers who died on the battlefield, provided relief to the orphans and widows, sorted out Song Jiusi's life's writings, continued his unfinished military book, and searched the world for the formations and swordsmanship developed by Song Lingyi... She had long regarded herself as a member of the Song family, so much so that when talking to Chuqi, she even called herself the elder of the Song family.

"If you are willing, I would like to have one of your children adopted into the Song family."

Generations of the Song family dedicated themselves to their country with unwavering loyalty, yet their descendants vanished. Soon, there won't even be anyone to burn incense at their graves. How can this be tolerated? The Song family and the two thousand heroic souls who remained on the border to defend their country should never be forgotten. She hoped to see the Song family's revival in her lifetime, so that when she met them in the future, she would feel less ashamed.

"Everyone knows your uncle is a genius and your father is a valiant general, but when it comes to deploying troops, your mother is actually just as capable as them. However, she never takes credit for herself, and after getting married, she has devoted more time to her family. The formations she dedicated her life to developing have never been put to good use. I hope someone can do what she wanted to do for her. I hope the world will remember her, remember her countless achievements in Huainan, remember her not only as General Li's wife, but also as her real name."

"Her surname is Song, her given name is Lingyi, and her courtesy name is Nanzhi."

A vague figure appeared in Chuqi's mind. Slender and tall, dressed in a linen garment, the white cloth ribbon in her bun stained with blood, clinging wetly to her hair. The blade of her broadsword was already bent, yet she never retreated a single step. She chopped, hacked, and blocked tirelessly, each move carrying a ferocious force that could split mountains and crack rock. Between gasps, she seemed to sense something, her gaze softening as she looked back—a spear pierced her right shoulder with lightning speed. The memory abruptly ended, and Chuqi's eyes, as if splattered with warm blood, suddenly closed.

Li Jieyi's voice beside her was a little hesitant: "Or perhaps, there is another way..."

Chuqi heard the hidden meaning in her words, remembered that determined back, slowly opened his eyes, and answered "OK" without hesitation.

The two of them each wrote a memorial to the emperor, and only left the hall on the seventh day did they meet Nanny Guan in the corridor.

Nanny Guan was still trying to persuade him, thinking that the saying that nephews resemble their uncles was indeed true. Chuqi's temperament was similar to Song Jiusi's. No matter how she persuaded him, he was still determined to leave.

Hadn't Song Jiusi been afraid of what others might say, and therefore taboo about his teacher-student relationship with Li Jieyi? And because Li Jieyi called him "cousin," he was bound by those tenuous moral codes? He regarded Li Jieyi as a monarch who could not be desecrated, strictly observing the etiquette between monarch and subject. Even until his death, he refused to face his own feelings, which led to many unnecessary regrets.

Nanny Guan sighed inwardly and looked up again. Chuqi had already walked into the corridor and was walking away towards the warm yellow candlelight in the distance.

The drifting snowflakes fell on the swaying bright corner lamp in the warm room. When the wind blew, the melted snow water gathered into a trickle on the silk surface, meandering along the lines of the lamp tassel, trembling and falling, and landing on the plain white cloak with a "thump".

Lin Meiju opened her eyes and saw Chuqi looking at her quietly with a smile on his face.

He brushed the fine snowflakes off her shoulders and said, "Why don't you go and rest? Why are you waiting here?"

Lin Meizhu followed with a smile: "I just rested and came to the warm room."

She put down the hot water bottle that had already gone cold in her hand, stood up, looked at him, and asked nervously, "How is it?"

Chuqi smiled happily, but her eyes gradually turned red. She said, "I have a name now."

When Lin Meiju heard this, she almost burst into tears. She held back her tears and smiled, "That's great." She wanted to say something else, but she was choked with sobs and couldn't speak. She held Chuqi's hand tightly, pursed her trembling lips and said again, "That's great." She knew how important this day was to Chuqi. His name was no longer a simple date, he was no longer a nameless boy from the city, he was no longer a drifting dandelion following the water, and no longer a lonely feather with a broken stem drifting in the wind.

He has a name!

Chuqi wiped her tears, omitted some details, and told Lin Meizhu the origin of her life story, saying: "The eldest princess wants me to inherit both surnames."

Lin Meizhu was slightly surprised, but quickly understood Li Jieyi's intention. A "jiantui" (meaning "joint ancestor") is a term for a man, as the legitimate son, to inherit the bloodlines of both his own branch and a branch of his family, allowing multiple branches to have descendants. While this practice existed before, it was rare for opposite-sex inheritance to occur.

She saw the snow on Chuqi's shoulders had accumulated into a thin blanket, and sighed softly. He was worried about whether he was cold, but she wondered how long he had spent in the snow to calm down and reach his current state. The truth he learned tonight would surely not be easy. Moreover, being the heir to two families meant that he had to shoulder double the responsibility and pressure. One could imagine the pressure he would face in the future.

She reached out to brush the snowflakes off his shoulders, but when she pulled her hand back, he followed and grabbed it accurately.

Before she could withdraw her hand, she felt a drop of warm water falling on her palm - this time it was not snow water, but Chuqi's tears.

He said, "He's right, I haven't been honest with you."

"I do remember some things from the past."

"It was a mess, just fragments. After listening to the eldest princess's story today, I gradually figured out what happened. When Uncle Yang hugged me and jumped off the cliff, I was holding the longevity lock tightly in my hand - only half of it. The other half is with my brother."

"He saw my mother get shot, saw my sister... saw my mother trying to save my sister, and he rushed out. Uncle Yang covered my mouth tightly, silencing me. I struggled to run out and bring him back, but someone discovered us. He was very strong and pushed me away. I only managed to grab his longevity lock... The big knife split his longevity lock in half, leaving half in my hand and the other half crushed in the mud by the horses."

Chuqi, clutching the half-bloodied collar, blankly rubbed his face, staring at the sticky blood, and screamed like a madman. Then, the rapid, thunderous sound of horse hooves rang out, and Uncle Yang, holding him, dodged the Japanese pirates' charging warhorse and rolled down the cliff.

Of course Li Jieyi couldn't find Li Zaichuan. Of course she couldn't find him. How could she find him? He was so small, how could he bear the weight of a horse's hoof?

Chu Qi burst into tears: "I want to know my origins, but I'm afraid that my background will cause trouble for you, so I always say that I don't know and don't remember anything from the past... So when you asked me to meet the jade merchant, I made excuses to refuse... Even coming to see the princess, I was very hesitant."

Chu Qi spoke faster, her cheeks flushing an abnormal red, but her hands gradually lost their warmth, her knuckles slowly becoming stiff. "I also want to remember everything from the past so that I don't have to waver, but it's too difficult, Eleven, it's really too difficult..."

When he couldn't remember, he fell into immense pain and confusion. But as the flashbacks became clearer, he fell into another kind of pain: his heart would race uncontrollably, his head would ache and he would feel dizzy. In severe cases, he would feel short of breath, and his body would even slowly become stiff and rigid. His body was fiercely resisting his thoughts, refusing to remember.

"Then don't think about it, then don't think about it."

Lin Meizhu gently supported his neck and let him lean on her shoulder. She patted his back as if comforting a child and said, "Don't think about it, Chuqi. I have never blamed you, and grandpa and grandma won't blame you either."

Shen Changfeng thought that what he said could alienate the relationship between them, how could it be possible? Lin Meizhu felt even more distressed for Chuqi.

Lin Meiju kept rubbing his knuckles. Chuqi breathed a sigh of relief and gradually felt the warmth of her fingertips.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a drawing on the sandalwood table. He looked at it twice with tearful eyes, and his pupils slowly brightened up. He looked at Lin Meiju uncertainly, pointing to the courtyard where the two auspicious jars were placed, and his eyes asked: Is this mine?

Lin Meizhu nodded and smiled, "The best-lit wing room and study in the house are all given to you. This is a gift for you."

This was the house she had bought in Hubei. It had two courtyards, and outside the south study was a small garden. Looking up, one could see rockery and flowing water, and a few auspicious jars. Chuqi had loved watching fish frolicking in the water since he was a child. He didn't care about the fish in the rivers or the sea, but the ones in the auspicious jars. He loved to reach out and play with the little fish, and he could watch them all day. She remembered it.

Warm tears splashed onto the blueprint. Chu Qi caressed the small space that belonged to him alone. Suddenly, he heard someone calling him, "Little fish, little fish! The little fish is going to be eaten by the big fish!"

A little girl picked him up from the auspicious tank with a smile. He was choked by the water and coughed repeatedly. His feet swung and touched the water surface. The fish in the auspicious tank swam back and forth and kissed his feet. He felt itchy and burst into laughter.

There was a child crying below, and Li Shuyu said jokingly: "The small stone couldn't move the big stone, and it almost hit its own foot!"

Li Zaichuan blushed and cried, "I just slipped. When I grow up and learn kung fu, I will definitely be able to move this stone!"

Someone took him over and wiped his face with their hands. Their hands were rough, covered in calluses, and smelled of rust mixed with sweat. He sneezed, irritated. His father, Li Mingzhe, lifted him up in the air, shook off the water, and then sat him down on his strong arms. He ruffled his hair and said, laughing, "My son looks like a sloppy puppy!"

Then he turned to look at his youngest son: "Then Shitou will stand with Yu'er tomorrow, right?"

Li Shuyu refused, and Li Zaichuan burst into tears, filled with anger, anxiety, and guilt. A gentle female voice approached: "Brother, it's okay. Don't cry anymore."

He pursed his lips, put his arms around the woman's neck, rubbed his face against hers, as if he was acting coquettishly, and called her "Mom".

Song Lingyi hugged him and held him up to the morning light, smiling brightly as she said, "My little fish! This tiny water tank can't hold him. He's a golden carp, a Kunpeng. One day he'll leap over the Dragon Gate and leave Kunlun!"

He remembered that his younger brother had accidentally pushed him into the auspicious jar, and he started crying because he couldn't move the stone to smash the jar.

Li Zaichuan wanted to learn martial arts from a master in order to move the stone. He wanted to be able to protect himself when he encountered danger again.

He did it. They all did it.

Walk by the abyss and know when to stop.

Chuqi couldn't stop crying. From today on, he was Li Linyuan, he was Song Xingzhi. In the future, he would have many more titles, but in front of Lin Meizhu, he thought he would always be just Chuqi. She would always be his anchor.

Lin Meiju hugged his trembling shoulders, feeling the warmth gradually soaking her lower abdomen. She let out a breath and hot tears rolled down her cheeks.

He held an umbrella for her during the storm and provided support when she was lost and helpless. So, she gave him a home, a place where he would always have a place no matter what happened, no matter when or where, no matter what his future status would be. She hoped he would have confidence, that he would always remember that he had someone to back him up. This house might not be large, but it was big enough to hold their mutual love.

She had been searching for a home, but only today did she realize that she already had enough ability to build a home for the people she cared about and loved.

She smiled with tears in her eyes, gentle but firm: "On the seventh day of the New Year, we have a home."