He lost weight.
"Spring Breeze, what's wrong with you?"
"It's nothing, just an upset stomach."
How could this be?
Zhang Chunfeng gave a bitter laugh, "Now that I've lived the life of a wealthy person, I naturally won't cook anymore. I'm not used to the food in the capital. Although we have a cook at home, the food gets cold when I get back from court late. Eating in the palace is also with other people, so it's not convenient to eat much. After a while, I always have a stomachache."
Seeing Zhang Chunfeng dressed in fine clothes, Lee Soo-man assumed that Zhang was living a very good life in the capital, but he never expected that he couldn't even get a hot meal.
Now, upon closer inspection, he noticed that although Zhang Chunfeng had grown taller than in previous years, her cheeks were no longer as rosy as they had been. Her skin had always been fair, but three years ago, Zhang Chunfeng's complexion was fair with a rosy glow. Now, Zhang Chunfeng had a strange whiteness that suggested she hadn't seen the sun for many years.
"I'll cook for you when we get home," Lee Soo-man said hesitantly.
Zhang Chunfeng was already smiling inside, but she didn't show it on her face. She just deliberately opened her palm and said, "It's okay, I'm used to it."
Lee Soo-man was surprised again, "Why do you have a wound on your hand?"
Zhang Chunfeng deliberately withdrew his hand, pretending not to care. "It's really nothing. I was riding too fast, and the reins were too tight." This nonchalant tone struck Li Xiuman like pebbles falling into his heart.
Yes. The journey from the capital to Jiangnan normally takes two months, but Zhang Chunfeng traveled for twenty-four hours without stopping, his hands bleeding from the reins, leaving such large wounds when he came to see him. Yet he didn't even ask any questions, and his first words were the end of the matter.
"Spring Breeze, it's my fault. You don't need to be in such a hurry."
Despite his injured hands, Zhang Chunfeng was overjoyed to see his sister-in-law's concern for him.
“Sister-in-law, in these three years, I’ve been in the capital and haven’t had anyone to talk to. People are just competing for fame and fortune. This little injury is nothing compared to the wound in my heart. I’ll be happier every day I can see you, sister-in-law.”
As Zhang Chunfeng spoke, he buried his head in Li Xiuman's chest.
Lee Soo-man pursed his lips, but ultimately did not refuse, letting Zhang Chunfeng nuzzle him back and forth.
Zhang Chunfeng nudged twice but then stopped moving. Li Xiuman thought she was feeling unwell again.
"What's wrong? Does your stomach still hurt?"
Zhang Chunfeng shook his head, "My sister-in-law has lost too much weight. She used to have some flesh on her chest, but now she's all bones. It's so uncomfortable."
"You!" Lee Soo-man turned his face away.
"Sister-in-law, really! Mother told you not to come back, but you still didn't? You're so thin, the child won't get enough to eat if you stay with you. He'll starve to death sooner or later. Why bother?"
Li Xiuman didn't respond. Back then, Li Shi had made it so clear that if she found out he was still harassing Zhang Chunfeng, she would commit suicide to show Li Xiuman. As an honest and simple man, even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance of harming Li Shi, he didn't want it to come true.
Upon arriving at his ancestral home, Zhang Chunfeng led Li Xiuman out of the sedan chair.
Three years had passed since he last returned, and the house was covered in dust. Not only the house, but the entire village had become much more desolate, with not a soul in sight on the streets even in broad daylight.
“Thanks to the prosperity you brought to the village a few years ago, many villagers have gone to the city to make a living, and most of the farmland has been rented out to wealthy locals who have hired workers to cultivate it,” Li Xiuman explained.
"That's good. The house is too small. We can buy the neighboring houses on both sides and renovate them properly."
Zhang Chunfeng didn't have the house key on him and wanted the guard to break the lock with a single blow, but Li Xiuman took the key out of his own bundle instead.
A sound like a card.
The house, which had been sealed for three years, creaked open.
The two stood at the doorway, and three years seemed like an eternity. Through the dust falling from the doorway, Zhang Chunfeng seemed to see how he had married Li Xiuman, how he had taken her back to her parents' home, and how he had enjoyed nightly pleasures with his so-called sister-in-law in that bridal chamber.
Overwhelmed with mixed emotions, she lowered her head and hooked her arm around Lee Soo-man's.
Lee Soo-man didn't refuse, and in front of so many people, Zhang Chunfeng led him into the house by the hand.
After all, no one has lived here for three years, so there's too much dust.
Zhang Chunfeng went in, but then came out again, complaining that it was dirty.
Lee Soo-man didn't expect Zhang Chunfeng to clean the house. Zhang Chunfeng had never done any housework before, and now that she was the Grand Secretary, she was even less likely to do any.
He then rolled up his sleeves and, together with the maid and guard, began to tidy up.
Zhang Chunfeng stood at the door with Xiao Sui. Xiao Sui was gnawing on a chicken leg, her hands and cheeks covered in grease. Zhang Chunfeng clicked his tongue.
"Not only is it ugly, it's also dirty."
Xiao Sui didn't cry this time. She ate a chicken leg while looking up at Zhang Chunfeng.
“Kid, this chicken leg is for you, do you understand?” Zhang Chunfeng asked.
Xiao Sui looked at the chicken leg in his hand and then at Zhang Chunfeng.
“From now on, as long as I’m happy, you’ll get countless chicken legs,” Zhang Chunfeng continued, his words sounding more like he was teasing a monkey than a child.
After finishing his chicken leg, Xiao Sui continued to stare blankly at Zhang Chunfeng.
Zhang Chunfeng waved, and the old woman, who was used to seeing young children, hurriedly took out candied hawthorns from the food basket.
"Sir, this child has been hungry for too long, so he shouldn't eat too much. If he eats too much all at once, he might damage his stomach," the old woman advised.
Zhang Chunfeng understood, broke the candied hawthorn in half, put half of it back, and continued to tease Xiaosui.
"If you cry less in the future, I'll give it to you." Zhang Chunfeng coaxed. Xiao Sui looked at the candied hawthorn and reached out for it, smacking her lips and saying words that Zhang Chunfeng couldn't understand.
When Li Xiuman finished tidying up and came out of the house, she saw Xiao Sui kneeling down in front of Zhang Chunfeng with a thud.
He called out loudly "Daddy!" which made Zhang Chunfeng and the old woman next to him burst into laughter.
After laughing, Zhang Chunfeng handed the candied hawthorn to Xiao Sui. Li Xiuman was furious. He quickly walked over and pulled Xiao Sui up.
"How could you treat her like this? She's a child, not a plaything."
Zhang Chunfeng still had a smile on his face as he patiently explained, "Sister-in-law, I didn't know she was acting like that just now. I just wanted her to stop crying, but who knew she would kneel down and call me 'father'?"
The old woman quickly added, "What the adults are saying is true. My sister-in-law has made a mistake in raising the child. How can a three-year-old child not even know how to call his mother, but calls everyone else 'father'?"
Lee Soo-man was speechless. "Why doesn't she call for her mother?"
People who have raised children practically give their whole heart to them; how could they admit they haven't raised them well? So Li Xiuman quickly nudged Xiao Sui, urging her to call her "Mother."
Xiao Sui grinned and called out "Daddy!" again. Li Xiuman sighed helplessly and explained with a pale face, "I haven't taught him this word before."
The old woman shook her head. "The word 'mother' doesn't need to be taught. Everyone has a mother, but Xiao Sui doesn't know how to say it. Hasn't your sister-in-law noticed all this time?"
Lee Soo-man knew that Xiao Sui was slower than other children, both physically and intellectually.
"She's only three years old now, so there's no rush. She'll understand when she grows up."
Seeing that Li Xiuman was unhappy, Zhang Chunfeng asked the old woman to take Xiaosui away.
"Don't worry about it, sister-in-law. I will help you teach the child in the future."
Lee Soo-man's heart skipped a beat. Zhang Chunfeng was exceptionally intelligent; it would certainly be good if she could tutor him, but...
"Are you really going to teach her properly, instead of treating her like a toy? Even if Xiao Sui isn't smart, you shouldn't say hurtful things like 'ugly' in front of her." Li Xiuman was suspicious of Zhang Chunfeng's promise.
Zhang Chunfeng still smiled, "I mean what I say. I wouldn't hold a grudge against a three-year-old."
Li Xiuman stopped dwelling on the matter, only slightly distracted while packing his things. He had previously thought that finding Xiao Sui was truly a destined fate, but now he thought that Xiao Sui was suffering because of him. If he hadn't found her, but Zhang Chunfeng had, Xiao Sui would surely have received the best education and lived a life of luxury.
Zhang Chunfeng was busy planning the house renovations and didn't notice that Li Xiuman was distracted. The house was originally enough for five people, but now Zhang Chunfeng alone had six maids and guards. And these were just the guards; when Li's coffin returned from the capital, there would be fifty or sixty servants just for the funeral procession.
She thought for a moment, then had someone lay out brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, and began to draw the image of her ideal house.
Seeing that Xiao Sui was being looked after, Lee Soo-man went back into his original room. As soon as he entered, hundreds of letters in the cabinet were right in front of him.
When he left, Lee Soo-man didn't dare look at the letter, afraid that if he did, he would want to go find Zhang Chunfeng. Now, touching the slightly moldy envelope, Lee Soo-man still felt he couldn't bear to look at it. He was afraid that if he did, he would truly be unable to leave Zhang Chunfeng for the rest of his life.
Lee Soo-man wiped the letter clean, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in his bundle.
During dinner that evening, Zhang Chunfeng showed the blueprints to Li Xiuman.
“Starting tomorrow, my sister-in-law and I will live next door. This house will be completely demolished and rebuilt. I will also ask someone to arrange my brother’s funeral tomorrow.”
When Lee Soo-man heard Zhang Chuntian's name, he paused for a moment, then simply replied in a low voice, "Hmm."
As soon as Li Xiuman lay down at night, Zhang Chunfeng slipped inside.
“Chunfeng, I…” Li Xiuman hesitated, “I’m still in pain.” The pain was one thing, but tomorrow was Zhang Chuntian’s funeral, and he really didn’t want anything to happen between him and Zhang Chunfeng. Even the fact that they were sleeping in the same bed now shouldn’t be right, but he knew that if he said that, Zhang Chunfeng would be unhappy, so he didn’t say anything.
"Okay, I understand." Zhang Chunfeng was also exhausted. He had traveled from Kyoto to Jiangnan and would need several days to recover from his exhaustion. So he simply put his arm around Li Xiuman's waist and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, as soon as Zhang Chunfeng got up, her maids kept coming to report that the county magistrate, the prefectural governor, and the local gentry all came to pay their respects. News could not be kept secret. Although she had only brought six people with her, after a day, the news that the chief minister had not only lost his mother but also his elder brother and was rushing back to attend his brother's funeral spread like wildfire among the officials in the Jiangnan region.
The Grand Secretary and the Crown Prince's tutor, whom he had never seen before, were now under his jurisdiction. Not only people from the Jiangnan region, but also from neighboring areas who were even slightly nearby, were bringing gifts to pay tribute to Zhang Chunfeng.
"They said my brother is heartbroken and my mother has passed away, so I am overwhelmed with grief and unwell. I will express my gratitude to them one by one after the funeral arrangements are completed."
Zhang Chunfeng had a maid deliver a message.
This maid, being Zhang Chunfeng's close confidante, was naturally quite astute. The officials who had been gathered at the door left their gifts and dispersed one by one. These gifts were all said to be for the deceased Zhang Chuntian, thus denying Zhang Chunfeng any reason to refuse them.
After everyone left, the crystal coffin that Zhang Chunfeng had arranged, along with the funeral supplies, arrived, along with a group of monks chanting sutras.
Zhang Chunfeng had considered that his elder brother's death might have been quite tragic. He died at the young age of thirty, and having always been strong, it certainly wasn't from illness. The two of them wouldn't have encountered bandits in the village, and given Li Xiuman's obvious guilt, Zhang Chunfeng figured he must have been assaulted on the street.
She didn't know the specific reason and didn't want to ask.
But when the servants moved Zhang Chuntian from the straw mat to the crystal coffin, Zhang Chunfeng could see that his brother's head seemed to be flattened!
While cleaning and dressing Zhang Chuntian, she noticed a dark bruise on his back—a horse hoof print. He had been trampled to death by a horse on the street.
But that doesn't make sense either. After all, this was a living, breathing human life! Zhang Chuntian was trampled to death in the street, and no one tied him up and sent him to jail? Besides, riding a horse recklessly in the street is against the law. This person was so arrogant, could he be the son of some high-ranking official? Zhang Chunfeng was on duty at the Ministry of Personnel and had a photographic memory. She carefully recalled the names and family backgrounds of all the officials in the Jiangnan region, but she still couldn't find the corresponding person.
The Jiangnan region was prosperous, and after the Empress took office, she sent many officials to this area. They were all young, with the oldest child in their family being no more than thirteen years old, and the rest being mostly seven or eight-year-old children.
Or perhaps it was an official who trampled Zhang Chuntian on horseback?
Zhang Chunfeng didn't mind avenging her brother; given her current position, she could easily use some means to do so. However, Li Xiuman's words were still vividly etched in her mind: "Why don't you ask how Chuntian died?"
Lee Soo-man's gaze was too strange at that time, and Zhang Chunfeng directly said that this matter was not so simple, and more directly that the answer to this question would affect her relationship with Lee Soo-man.
The person is gone, why let this affect your feelings?
The high monk lit an ever-burning lamp and began chanting the Rebirth Sutra. Amidst the swirling mist, Zhang Chunfeng knelt on the prayer mat in the center of the crystal coffin and kowtowed three times to his elder brother.
I owe him in this life, I'll repay him in the next.
These past few days, the family has been holding another funeral, and Zhang Chunfeng, unusually, has refrained from touching Li Xiuman, showing remarkable self-restraint. The two kept vigil at the mourning hall for three days, and on the fourth day, they chose a grave with excellent feng shui, where Zhang Chunfeng helped lower his brother's coffin into the ground for burial.
During the burial, relatives should not cry or shed tears as it would affect the soul of the deceased. Lee Soo-man held back his tears until the ceremony was over. Seeing that there were many people around, Lee Soo-man bit his lip and continued to hold back.
He was heartbroken. Burying Zhang Chuntian was less about burying his husband and more about burying the child he had raised for three years. The child he had raised for three years would never see his face again. The sorrow he felt was truly beyond words.
Just as Li Xiuman was feeling unwell, he suddenly felt Zhang Chunfeng put his arm around his shoulder.
"If you want to cry, then cry. Why hold back like this?" Zhang Chunfeng asked.
Lee Soo-man's tears, which he had held back for so long, suddenly burst forth. He cried uncontrollably, large tears streaming down his cheeks.
Zhang Chunfeng stopped the funeral procession and helped Li Xiuman walk a few steps forward, knowing that his sister-in-law was easily embarrassed and would feel bad if others heard her screaming and crying like that.
Both of them wore plain white robes, which contrasted with the lush green of the newly sprouting branches in early spring, making them look like two pitiful swallows huddled together, their wings trembling.
“Spring, Spring died to save me.” Lee Soo-man finally cried out these words, “The wild horse galloped towards me, but Spring blocked it for me.”
"Spring died for me, and his head was broken, so much blood, so much blood."
Zhang Chunfeng was truly afraid that Li Xiuman would faint from crying, so he gently patted his back to help him catch his breath. Then he heard Li Xiuman sobbing, "The person who ran him over with his horse was...was..."
He shouted something, then suddenly looked at Zhang Chunfeng. His eyes, red from crying, were filled with painful tears, but through those tears, Li Xiuman's eyes also revealed a trace of resentment that was clear and distinct!
When Zhang Chunfeng met that gaze, she froze. For a moment, she realized that Lee Soo-man resented her, not because she was far away in Kyoto, but because she was responsible for Zhang Chuntian's death!
She killed her own brother?!
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