Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I knelt in the flower hall until dusk.

After Jiang Zhao finished administering acupuncture to my father, he should have left the residence directly.

Instead, he came around to the corridor.

Qingkui was so anxious she stamped her foot.

“Young Master Jiang, Madam is still angry. If you come now, aren’t you just adding to my lady’s offense?”

Jiang Zhao held his medicine chest in one hand and said quietly, “I’ll leave after a few words.”

I looked up at him.

He stood beneath the corridor eaves. The wind lifted the cuffs of his old robe, and his face was even paler than it had been that afternoon.

It seemed Father had asked him plenty of questions too.

I asked, “Did Father make things difficult for you?”

Jiang Zhao shook his head.

“Lord Xie asked me when I first fell for you.”

I froze.

“How did you answer?”

The tips of his ears were a little red.

“I said that when Second Young Lady was little, she stole some lychee paste and was scolded by Madam. Afterward, she hid beneath the crabapple tree outside the courtyard and cried. I happened to come to the residence with my grandfather to deliver medicine, and I saw you once.”

I had no memory of it at all.

Seeing my confusion, Jiang Zhao gave a soft laugh.

“I was young then too. All I had on me was one piece of osmanthus candy.”

“I wanted to give it to you, but I was afraid it would be improper, so in the end I left it beside the tree roots.”

I went still.

I remembered now.

That year, after Mother scolded me, I cried alone beneath the crabapple tree.

By the time I finished crying, a piece of osmanthus candy wrapped in oiled paper had appeared beside the roots.

I thought my elder sister had thrown it away.

But I ate it anyway.

That piece of candy was not especially good. Its sweetness carried a bitter edge.

But it was the only sweetness I tasted that day.

I looked at Jiang Zhao.

“It was you?”

He nodded.

“It was me.”

All at once, I could not speak.

So some things had not gone unseen after all.

It was only that the person who saw had been too quiet.

So quiet that it took me another lifetime to find out.

Jiang Zhao took a small porcelain box from his medicine chest and placed it beside my hand.

“If your knees hurt, use this.”

“I implicated you today. I don’t know how to make amends.”

I smiled faintly.

“Clearly, I was the one who implicated you.”

He crouched down until his eyes were level with mine.

“When you said my name today, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, wasn’t it?”

I did not hide it from him.

“Yes.”

His gaze was very steady.

“Then let me ask seriously as well.”

“If Lord Xie and Madam refuse to allow it, will you continue using me as your shield?”

The question was too direct.

But I liked that about him.

No circling around, no resentment, no taking advantage of another’s vulnerability.

I said, “I won’t only use you as a shield.”

Jiang Zhao was startled.

I went on, “Jiang Zhao, I chose you today because I did want to withdraw from the Eastern Palace marriage.”

“But if you are willing, I will speak seriously with Father, and I will give the Jiang Family the dignity it deserves.”

“If you are not willing, I will explain everything to Father tomorrow and not let you be dragged into the Xie Family’s affairs.”

He looked at me, and bit by bit, his eyes brightened.

“Is Second Young Lady asking whether I am willing?”

“Mm.”

“Then I am willing.”

He answered too quickly.

Instead, I was the one who froze.

The tips of Jiang Zhao’s ears turned even redder, but he did not avoid my gaze.

“My status is low, and my family has no high officials or generous stipends.”

“But I can practice medicine. I can support a household. I can accompany you in slowly eating sweet things.”

His voice lowered.

“And I can promise that with every box of lychee paste, the first bite will be yours.”

My nose stung.

The wind blew in from outside the flower hall, carrying a hint of autumn.

I lowered my head and smiled.

“Jiang Zhao, you are very good at coaxing people.”

He said earnestly, “I mean it.”

I looked at him.

His eyes were clear, and there was still a little awkwardness in his expression.

He was not the Crown Prince.

He had no noble, pampered status, nor would he use the gentlest tone to push me into the role of someone who ought to be sensible.

He said the first bite would be mine.

Such a simple sentence, and yet it moved my heart more than half a lifetime of splendor in the Eastern Palace ever could.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded not far away.

My elder sister stood at the corner of the corridor.

I did not know how long she had been listening.

Her face was pale, and she was still holding a new box of lychee paste.

When she saw me look over, she forced a smile.

“Mother asked me to come check on you.”

I lowered my eyes.

“You’ve checked.”

Her gaze fell on Jiang Zhao and paused for a moment.

“Young Master Jiang is certainly considerate.”

Jiang Zhao rose and bowed.

“Eldest Miss.”

My elder sister said softly, “Ah Zhu has been spoiled by the family since she was young. Her nature isn’t bad, really. It’s just that her words hurt people today.”

I lifted my eyes to look at her.

On the surface, she was explaining on my behalf, but beneath it, she had painted me as a spoiled girl.

Jiang Zhao, however, said, “Second Young Lady spoke very clearly today.”

My elder sister froze.

Jiang Zhao continued, “When someone is pushed into a place they do not wish to go, taking one step back is not hurting anyone.”

“If someone feels pain, it is likely because they reached out first.”

The smile on my elder sister’s face went completely stiff.

I almost laughed aloud.

Jiang Zhao looked gentle, but his tongue was not soft at all.