Chapter 5

Then Shen Yi shook his head again, not wanting his worries to become reality. He turned his head and looked at the room where the lights were turned off. At least, Sister could eat something today.

After tonight, there are only four days left. He couldn't sleep now, so he could only wander around the courtyard. The night watchman didn't come to disturb the young marquis.

Huo had already made his stance clear, and there was no turning back. He recalled Wei Qianyu's words and felt the urge to write a letter himself, but then thought better of it and didn't go back inside.

Who can he ask for help?

His father, Chen Qian, only taught him to be careful with his words and to be patient. Apart from that, it was okay for him to cause trouble.

His mother, Mrs. Huo, had already gone to the Huo Mansion for him. No matter what his grandfather thought, they acquiesced to this matter. In the palace, no matter how much Shen Wan got, it was not what his elder sister really wanted.

Himself? He began to feel a bit of resentment, resentful of being ordered not to interfere in this matter, and also resentful of his background. If Shen Qian was just a minor official in the court, Shen Wan would not have suffered this disaster.

He walked back and forth in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, all the things he couldn't figure out intertwined at this moment and questioned himself. Couldn't he wait a little longer? He hated himself for not entering the court yet. Apart from those useless consolations, he really couldn't do anything for Shen Qian, even if it was just to do a little more.

Shen Yi walked for a long time, and returned to his bedroom before dawn. After undressing, he lay alone on the soft couch. Finally, he fell asleep because of the residual alcohol. He closed his eyes, and the intertwined thoughts were all immersed in his dreams and in his mind.

From then on, I would think about it every night, chewing on it all the time, unable to forget, unable to escape, for what he couldn't do now, and perhaps also for what he wouldn't be able to do in the future.

The moon had set in the sky, and the autumn rain was dripping slowly from the eaves. Shen Yi was awakened by a noise, and perhaps the smell of food. He put on his outer robe and went down to the bed to see what was going on.

"Sister, why are you here now?" Shen Yi was busy tidying up his clothes, and only after he stood still did he look at Shen Qian carefully.

She had changed into a new outfit today, a light yellow lining with a green outer coat. She teased him with a smile, "If you don't come over, I think you'll sleep until tonight."

Seeing her smile, Shen Yi didn't care about anything else. He sat down opposite her and looked at the soup that Shen Qian brought over. The hot steam was mixed with a familiar fragrance. "So, sister came at the right time," he smelled it carefully, smiled and looked at Shen Qian.

"How did sister know that I wanted to eat the food she cooked? Did she sneak into my dream in the middle of the night?" Chen Qian originally just wanted to come and see him again, but she was really amused by Chen Yi, and she covered her sleeves with laughter and trembled.

"Go wash up first. You reek of alcohol." She raised her finger and used a porcelain spoon to stir the freshly cooked soup to preserve its flavor. "The hot soup and I will only wait for you for half a quarter of an hour."

Chen Yi lowered his head to tie his lapel, not having time to call for the servants. He held up the headband in front of the bronze mirror and gestured for a long time before he could barely tie up his hair. He sat back down only after half his sleeve was soaked. "Sorry to have kept you waiting, sister."

Shen Qian handed the bowl to him, and after watching him eat it, she continued to persuade him, "Eat slowly, eat slowly - there is still half a bowl left in the kitchen, it's all yours."

However, she didn't know that Chen Yi was also looking at her. His gaze swept across the red corners of her eyes, and saw the slight haggardness hidden under her red makeup. He hurriedly lowered his head to scoop up the soup in the bowl to warm his stomach that had not eaten for a long time.

He lowered his head and thought, "Ajie must have known." It was true, Aniang hadn't been to the Huo Mansion for a long time. She went there and came back yesterday. How could Chen Qian not have guessed it?

Since Shen Qian hadn't mentioned these things, he couldn't bring them up in front of Shen Qian. The rain outside the door was blown sideways by the wind, dampening the window paper and letting out a chill.

He slowed down his movements, scooping up the liquid again and again with his spoon, slowly bringing it to his mouth. He didn't speak, and neither did Chen Qian. They just sat quietly, enjoying the coolness and warmth of the autumn rain.

No one thought about it any further, as this was probably the last time. No one wanted to think about it anymore, as such a day would never come again.

Shen Yi finally finished the bowl of soup, put the porcelain spoon into the empty bowl, and prepared to get up and go to the kitchen to get the remaining half bowl. "Sister, wait for me, I'll be back soon."

Shen Qian responded softly and sat at the table waiting for Shen Yi to come over again.

Although he said half a bowl, Shen Yi finished it quickly. The empty bowl was left on the table. Shen Yi looked at his elder sister, intending to make her laugh like before. He searched his mind for a long time but didn't know what to say.

Chen Qian took the initiative to break the silence, standing up and pushing open the door. She reached out to catch the falling rain, her cuffs also stained with water. "The rain is getting heavier, please take me back to my room." Chen Yi didn't understand the meaning of this for a moment, immersed in his own thoughts. It was not until Chen Qian repeated it that he found the oil-paper umbrella in the room.

He held up his umbrella and walked Chen Wan across the courtyard, back to her own boudoir. The dense water flowed through the yellowed leaves, yet a sense of leisure, a melody already formed, overflowed.

Chen Yi tilted the umbrella, fearing that the rain would splash onto Chen Wan, but he himself was soaked but didn't care. Chen Wan glanced at him sideways a few times, and for the first time didn't try to stop him.

"After today, there are three days left. After tomorrow, there are two days left. After another day, there will only be one day left." She muttered the time that she had calculated countless times in her mind, "Sister...", without letting Shen Yi successfully interrupt her, "It's just to enter the palace. Maybe when the time comes, your sister will have the chance to touch the phoenix hairpin with her own hands."

She had been counting the time since she'd guessed the news. With so many people working so hard for her, she knew she had run out of options. "Don't refute me. Let your sister think about it."

Chen Yi responded and continued to hold the umbrella for her, letting the water droplets drip from one shoulder and form an invisible net to force him to restrain himself and listen to Chen Qian finish her words.

"At the latest, I'll wait until next year, when you're coming of age. His Majesty should let me out to visit my parents." She thought of the grand ceremony, and couldn't believe that her younger brother, standing next to her, would soon be coming of age. "I don't know what character you'll choose yet. It's not like I'll never see my sister again."

She didn't want her sigh to infect others, so she laughed even more heartily than usual, thinking back to the scene at that time. "Don't make a fool of yourself at the ceremony. Sister will be watching you the whole time."

"From now on, if someone calls you Young Marquis, that will be justified." They had already crossed the courtyard and continued walking forward.

"Smile more, my sister is waiting for you to ride a horse to take me there. I just want to try out new clothes these days. I heard that it is the Jiangnan brocade that my mother has ordered for a long time. It was just delivered to the mansion a few days ago." Shen Qian opened the door and saw Shen Yi's half-wet body, and smiled sincerely.

"See you today. I won't disturb your sleep. Remember to change your clothes tomorrow. If mother sees you, I'm afraid you'll be scolded again."

After Shen Yi saw that she had closed the door, he straightened his umbrella and stood a little further away, looking at the door. He could understand the meaning of Shen Qian's words, and in the next few days he would follow his elder sister and put those sorrows behind him.

Then, during these days, everyone will congratulate his elder sister for being able to walk along the long steps of the palace, and according to her wishes, reach out to touch the pure gold phoenix hairpin and the jade seal.

It seemed as if all the previous reluctance and those days of hunger strike were just a joke and not something that could be made public.

The only thing he knew now was that whether he was willing or not could no longer be expressed in words by them. Only the divine grace, the glorious door lintel, could complete this grand wedding ceremony.

On the fourth day, Shen Yi still didn't sleep well, and refused to drink anymore. He just stood by his window, watching the rain stop, and also looking at the oil lamp in Shen Qian's room that had not been extinguished, swaying and almost breaking when the wind blew.

On the third day, Shen Qian invited several colleagues to the palace to discuss matters. Huo and Shen Qian were constantly selecting new clothes—all for Shen Qian. After the imperial decree was issued, all that remained in Shen Qian's possession were some hairpins and rings, leaving her with only a modest status.

Chen Yi was willing to accompany the two women in picking and choosing. Seeing that they were deliberately choosing brightly colored ones, he watched from the side and praised Chen Qian.

Shen Qian always had a faint smile on her face, and she agreed to everything Shen Yi and Huo said.

The next day, Shen Yi still couldn't sleep for too long and was awakened from a nightmare. When he opened his eyes, he felt only a cold sweat on his body, and in the blink of an eye he forgot what he had dreamed about that night.

Chen Qian put on her bright red new clothes and freshly made rouge. They sat at the table. It was a family dinner, but it was just the four of them sitting around it. The food on the table had barely been touched, but everyone's glass of wine was filled to the brim.

That was the wine that Huo had buried under the tree a long time ago. Now that he couldn't go to Chen Xian's wedding banquet, he opened the jar tonight.

Chen Yi watched his elder sister drinking one glass after another of the wine that she had never dared to touch before, and he also picked up the wine cup and said some incoherent blessings. The wine was not mellow, but strong as it went down his throat, making him choke and feel uncomfortable.

But none of them stopped until they had finished drinking the two jars of wine, and then they dispersed from the courtyard.

Shen Qian was helped by the maid and slowly returned to her boudoir. Shen Yi was still holding the wine glass in his hand. When he wanted to raise his head to drink it, he found that there was no wine in the glass.

On the first day, which was also the last, Chen Qian wore her red dress, her smile was extremely bright, her black hair was decorated with flowers, she glanced back at the Marquis' Mansion, and then got into the sedan chair.

Chen Yi also changed into a matching old outfit, which matched the maroon horse he was riding, and followed behind the sedan chair.

It was not until the sedan chair slowly entered the palace that he was forced to pull the reins and keep the horse in place.

The reins left blood marks on the horse's palms. Feeling the rope gradually tightening, the horse couldn't help but raise its hooves and neigh.

He turned and galloped out, going very fast, afraid that Chen Qian would hear the neighing again, a neigh that would tell the whole story.

Shen Yi leaned down close to the horse's back. Now no one would stop him. He ran to the suburbs as he wished. The wind blew the hem of his bright red clothes, and clusters of chrysanthemums bloomed all over the suburbs.

He inexplicably recalled the words spoken at the banquet that day, and thought that he had underestimated Xue Congzhi.

Chen Yi had never hoped so much before. He wished that Xue Congzhi's guess would come true immediately. All he wished for would be blessings, and he could seek pleasure and avoid disaster.