Chapter 173
Chapter 173
By the time Shen Si left, the sky had already begun to darken.
At her mother’s urging, Ji Hanyi personally walked Shen Si out. Madam Gu had her own hopes and private considerations.
Though the two of them might not be marrying for love, she still hoped Shen Si would truly come to love her daughter – and that her daughter would come to love him in return.
Ji Hanyi accompanied Shen Si all the way to the entrance. There, he stopped and looked down at her. “I’ll come for you early tomorrow morning and take you somewhere. Get some rest tonight.”
Ji Hanyi raised her head curiously. “Where are we going?”
Shen Si smiled. “You’ll know when we get there.”
He watched as Ji Hanyi obediently nodded and lowered her eyes. A gentle breeze stirred the soft strands of her hair. In the gathering dusk, her delicate, refined face held an alluring softness. Her limpid eyes were lowered beneath slender, arched brows, and her graceful shoulders looked so frail and lovely that his heart stirred. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to pull her tightly into his arms.
Instead, he merely raised a hand. Under Ji Hanyi’s startled gaze, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
He sensed her instinctive urge to step back, but she stopped herself and allowed him to finish the small gesture. His heart softened. She was not used to his closeness yet, but he could take things slowly.
In a low voice, he added, “The person you’re meeting tomorrow has a rather special status, so don’t dress too plainly. Feel free to wear the things I sent you.”
Ji Hanyi looked up at Shen Si. His expression had softened, and even the cold, forbidding air around him seemed to have faded. He no longer appeared quite so distant and unapproachable.
She nodded. “All right.”
In truth, Shen Si wanted to stay with Ji Hanyi a little longer. Time alone with her never seemed enough. But their current relationship made it inappropriate, especially when he had yet to formalize their engagement.
He gazed deeply at her again. “Is there anything else you want to say to me?”
Ji Hanyi thought about it seriously, but there did not seem to be anything else.
She knew Shen Si would arrange everything properly.
She shook her head. “No.”
A trace of disappointment appeared in Shen Si’s eyes, but he nodded. “All right.”
After Shen Si left, Ji Hanyi returned inside and learned from Chunju that he had brought a great many gifts. He had even presented her mother with two century-old ginseng roots – priceless treasures that money alone could not buy.
Ji Hanyi went to her mother’s quarters. The moment Madam Gu saw her, she beckoned Ji Hanyi to her side and looked toward the gifts Shen Si had sent. Boxes large and small covered the entire table.
Madam Gu sighed. “Regardless of anything else, I can rest easy just from seeing how much thought Marquis Shen puts into caring for you.”
“Everything here is meant to nourish the body, and every item is exceedingly rare. He is concerned about my health because he cares about you. Hanyi, Marquis Shen is a dependable man.”
Ji Hanyi looked at the gifts on the table. She had always known that Shen Si was dependable, a man worthy of entrusting her future to. That was why, when he asked for her help, she had not spent much time considering what would become of her afterward. She trusted his character. Even if Shen Si found a better choice in the future, she believed he would still make proper arrangements for her.
On the way back to her room, Rongchun came to Ji Hanyi’s side and said softly, “Lord Shen also sent gifts for you, Miss. They’re in the outer room.”
Ji Hanyi paused. When she returned, she found several gifts laid out on the table in the outer room, just as Rongchun had said.
She opened them one by one. The small boxes all contained expensive pieces of jewelry.
There were also several bolts of fabric and a few finished dresses.
Ji Hanyi examined the dresses he had sent her. Each one was made from the finest material. Remembering that Shen Si was taking her to meet someone tomorrow, she guessed he must have prepared them especially for the occasion.
That made sense. Given Shen Si’s status, whoever he was taking her to meet must be someone of considerable standing as well. Naturally, she could not go dressed too plainly. He had arranged everything for her.
–
Early the next morning, Ji Hanyi rose to dress and prepare herself.
Holding the clothes Shen Si had sent over the day before, Rongchun asked which one she wished to wear. Ji Hanyi looked them over. None of the colors were overly ostentatious, so she chose a silver-gray brocade spring jacket with a round collar and a pattern of begonias and lilies.
After changing, she sat before the bronze mirror and studied the jewelry Shen Si had sent. Every piece was exquisitely crafted. Ji Hanyi picked up a jade swallow hairpin and examined it closely. The white jade was translucent, and the swallow looked almost alive.
She stared at it in a daze for a moment, then looked at her fully adorned reflection in the mirror. Fine emerald drops hung from her ears, swaying gently. Even she did not know what she was thinking just then.
Shen Si did indeed arrive early. Ji Hanyi had barely finished breakfast with her mother when he came. He even went in to pay his respects to Madam Gu.
Madam Gu was all smiles. Without even asking where they were going, she urged Ji Hanyi to hurry and leave with Shen Si.
Only after they stepped into the covered corridor did Shen Si turn his gaze to Ji Hanyi.
It was obvious she had taken great care with her appearance.
She had dressed simply and inconspicuously these past few days, but today she wore embroidered begonias, earrings at her ears, and a hundred-flower knot and seven-treasure coral hairpin in her hair. Together, they made her look both exquisite and graceful. Her delicate features seemed carved from flawless jade, so lovely that one could lose oneself staring at her.
Ji Hanyi could feel Shen Si looking at her, and nervousness stirred in her heart. She did not know whether he was satisfied with how she had dressed or whether he thought her presentable enough to meet whoever awaited them.
In the past, Ji Hanyi would never have worried about such things. She had always known how to dress for any occasion. Yet in front of Shen Si, she could never quite summon the same confidence. Perhaps it was because she had seen since childhood how disciplined and exacting he was, and how impossibly high his standards were. She had always felt that earning his approval would be no easy thing.
Then she heard Shen Si say softly, “Let’s go.”
Ji Hanyi quickly lowered her eyes and followed him.
She remained half a step behind him at all times, as etiquette demanded, maintaining the proper distance with perfect care. Deep down, she did not want Shen Si to think she intended to use this arrangement as an excuse to entertain improper hopes about him. She knew her duty and was doing everything in her power to cooperate with him.
She knew how illustrious the Shen Family was. Given her present circumstances, there was no possibility of her marrying him. Shen Si had always been like the moon in the heavens, far beyond her reach. All the more reason for her to know her place. Perhaps when the time came for her to withdraw, the two of them could part with their dignity intact.
When they reached the carriage, Shen Si stopped beside it. Watching Ji Hanyi approach with measured steps, he held out his hand to her.
Ji Hanyi looked at that hand. It was broad, with long fingers, and a thin callus marked his middle finger from years of holding a brush. Shen Si had always demanded much of himself. Even as a boy, he had been exceedingly diligent.
She hesitated for an instant before placing her hand in his palm. His hand immediately closed around hers, enveloping it completely.
After she climbed into the carriage, Shen Si followed close behind. This carriage seemed smaller than the previous one, with only a single bench. Once inside, Shen Si sat down beside her.
They were very close. Ji Hanyi kept both hands properly folded on her lap, her fingers repeatedly tightening around her embroidered handkerchief. She was clearly still unaccustomed to such proximity and more than a little nervous.
Shen Si saw it all. He had deliberately chosen this carriage because he wanted Ji Hanyi to grow accustomed to him as soon as possible. In the future, they would share every intimacy. They would have children, stand together through whatever came, love and cherish one another, and be each other’s one and only.