Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ji Heng left the matter in Fu Qiu’s hands.

Fu Qiu successfully obtained the birth dates of everyone in Jiang Manor.

That included Master Jiang, who had yet to show his face.

If Jiang Jingzhi’s bone weight had been four taels and nine mace, that would have been a happy ending for everyone.

Unfortunately, no matter how she calculated it, it still came out to four taels and three mace, letting him escape disaster.

Fu Qiu pulled out another slip of paper with a birth date written on it and bent her head, calculating painstakingly.

Yunxi ran in and tried her hardest to burrow into her arms.

Children were innocent. They feared neither tigers nor ghosts.

The only thing she feared was seeing her mother frown day after day, unhappy all the time.

“Ah Qiu, take me to find Father. Let him come back and cheer Mother up, all right?”

“Take you outside? Aren’t you afraid your mother will skin me alive?”

“Mother would never do that! Besides, you’re not scared of Mother or Mama Lu at all.”

“Oh? And how do you know that?”

“I know everything!”

Fu Qiu looked down at Yunxi. The little girl’s eyes were filled with expectation, making it impossible to refuse her.

“I can take you out, but we need to set three rules.”

“Who is Three Rules?”

“…”

Fu Qiu pinched her chubby cheek. “Still pretending with me? First, no shouting. Second, you must stay within one foot of me at all times. Third, when I say we’re going back to the manor, we go back. No whining.”

Yunxi nodded obediently.

After thinking it over, Fu Qiu still found a satin ribbon. She tied one end around Yunxi’s wrist and the other end around her own.

One after the other, she and Yunxi crawled out through that dog hole.

The narrow alley was covered in moss. Fu Qiu picked Yunxi up and walked out.

The green bricks were a sickly shade, and mist hung heavy in the air, making her look even paler, almost like a ghost.

Yunxi knew nothing of this and hummed a song to herself.

“Little fish, little fish, swim far and wide.

“Little fish, little fish, now return home.”

A fine drizzle drifted down. Fu Qiu opened an umbrella and tucked Yunxi closer into her arms.

The residence Jiang Jingzhi had bought for that kept woman was very far from Jiang Manor-so far that Yunxi slept soundly in Fu Qiu’s arms along the way.

“We’re here.”

Yunxi woke, rubbing her eyes.

Fu Qiu led her to hide in the shadow of a corner across the street.

The residence was not as grand as Jiang Manor. It was only a two-story building with white walls and black-tiled eaves, yet it had a certain charm of its own.

Fu Qiu looked up and saw the woman who had come to Jiang Manor to cause trouble last time standing by the railing. She held a scroll in her hand, her eyes full of melancholy, completely different from her deranged appearance that day.

Yunxi remembered the promise not to shout, so she muttered under her breath, “Bad woman.”

Fu Qiu said coldly, “Your father is the worst one.”

Yunxi pouted. “If he’s that bad, why does Mother like him so much? Why is she unhappy because of him?”

Fu Qiu thought back. Back then, when she had followed that merchant and left her old life behind, she had truly loved him too.

Even later, after he abandoned her, the pain in her heart had been greater than the hatred.

When a man is infatuated, he can still break free.

When a woman is infatuated, there is no escape.

Only after dying did she realize it was all utter nonsense.

Why was it that a man’s net of love tore at the slightest touch, while a woman’s was stronger than gold?

“It’s only because the books and rituals all taught her that a woman must be faithful to one man until the end. They taught her wrong.”

Yunxi did not understand. She played with her fingers for a while, then suddenly flushed with excitement.

“It’s Father!”

The stairs of the little building creaked, and a man in blue robes climbed up step by step.

Fu Qiu’s gaze passed over the railing. First, she saw a white jade crown. Then, a forehead band embroidered with auspicious clouds.

And then, a pair of gentle eyes she knew all too well.

So Jiang Jingzhi was his real name.

In a small courtyard in the neighboring county, he had called himself Jiang Wenzhou-the merchant who had redeemed her from the brothel.

An ominous premonition rose in Fu Qiu’s heart.

She held Yunxi tight. “Let’s go back.”