Chapter 29: The Web of Words

The young man was truly doing his best for love.

And although he was clearly caught up in romance, he wasn’t the kind of mindless fool who would throw away his family and future for love. If he had been that kind of person, Yin Zhi would never have chosen him as her ticket out. The canteen and retirement home both sought stability; they couldn’t afford a walking time bomb that could explode at any moment.

Yin Zhi actually felt a little sorry for Shen Ti and the girl surnamed Feng. Not just because lovers couldn’t be together—after all, even in her time, there were couples separated by circumstances—but at least those separations didn’t end in family ruin and personal loss of freedom.

That was truly tragic.

“Tell your young master,” Yin Zhi said slowly to the child, “tell him I said this: A person is nothing without integrity. My word is good.”

“Also… tell him not to keep clashing with his parents. It’s useless. Every act of defiance will be blamed on someone else.”

“Tell him, he needs to become an official. A high-ranking official. Someone the Emperor values. When he’s powerful enough, even his elders will have to listen to him.”

“If he wants to protect someone important to him, he must first become strong himself. Otherwise, what’s the point of fighting with his parents here? It only makes others disappointed in him.”

“Tell him not to make a fuss. The more he stirs things up, the more others see him as a child. The more composed he is, the less others will dare to make decisions for him.”

“If he wants to be seen as a grown-up, he must first learn to compromise. Only children butt heads with their parents.”

“Can you remember all that?”

Changchuan, chosen as the top scholar’s personal servant, naturally had his talents. Despite Yin Zhi’s lengthy and meandering speech, he repeated it word for word without error.

“Also…” Yin Zhi added, “tell him to reconsider the advice I gave earlier.”

Changchuan repeated this too, flawlessly.

Yin Zhi, smiling, handed him a handful of candy and called in Kui'er to give him a money reward as well.

This child was someone close to Shen Ti and would likely be a frequent contact in the future.

Changchuan, with his short legs moving quickly, rushed back to Shen Ti and delivered Yin Zhi’s words in full.

Shen Ti lowered his eyes to listen, then slowly looked up.

“She’s right,” he said self-deprecatingly. “I can’t believe I—”

He muttered something too softly for Changchuan to hear, and since Shen Ti didn’t tell him to leave, Changchuan remained in place.

When Shen Ti finally stopped speaking, Changchuan added, “Cousin also said to remind you…”

And conveyed the last message.

The earlier advice? What advice?

—To get a child first.

Shen Ti snorted. “Absurd.”

Then he noticed something bulging at Changchuan’s chest. “What are you hiding there?”

Changchuan happily pulled it out to show him. “Candy cousin gave me!”

He also patted his waistband. “And a money reward too!”

Shen Ti was speechless for a moment. Then, out of the blue, he asked, “What do you think of cousin?”

At this, Changchuan lit up. “She’s very nice! She talks with a smile and even patted my head.”

Though clever, Changchuan was still a child. He loved candy and naturally liked anyone who treated him kindly.

Shen Ti nodded.

Soon, a young servant came in to report: “Madam asks if we're ready to pay respects to the Old Madam.”

Shen Ti got up.

But the Old Madam claimed illness, so Madam Shen and her son were unable to see her. They knelt and paid respects in the courtyard instead.

Other than the young women, nearly the whole Yin family came out to send them off. The county magistrate was there too, along with many local gentry. This part wasn’t Madam Shen’s concern. Shen Ti, raised to handle such affairs, took care of the formalities with the men.

Eventually, they boarded the boat amid a bustling scene and tearfully bid farewell to their family. Once the people on shore had shrunk to tiny specks, Madam Shen burst into tears.

Shen Ti had to comfort her. “We’ll return someday. I promise to bring you back.”

Easier said than done. This second visit to her maiden home was rare in itself; who knew what the future held? Madam Shen couldn’t stop crying.

Shen Ti tried a new angle: “Your future daughter-in-law is here too. Surely we’ll have chances to return.”

Madam Shen realized that both her own daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law had come from the Yin family. Between the two of them, they would surely scheme up a way to return. She finally wiped her tears.

“At least we secured your marriage,” she said. “I can now give your father an explanation. With the way you behaved before, I was worried it would hurt your reputation.”

Yin Zhi’s words echoed in Shen Ti’s mind.

Cousin really was perceptive, able to see the big picture instead of just staring at her toes.

Living with someone like her in the future, able to discuss and plan together—he, she, and even Feng Luoyi—perhaps they could all be happy.

Shen Ti lowered his head. “I’ve been unfilial. I made things difficult for you.”

Back in his cabin, Madam Shen confided to her maid, “Even after he became top scholar, he didn’t seem that different. But now that his engagement is set, he’s suddenly grown up.”

The way he lowered his head now was different—no longer filled with defiance, but with genuine remorse.

The maid agreed. “Didn’t I say not to worry? Once a man settles down, he naturally matures.”

Madam Shen leaned back, imagining the future with her niece as her daughter-in-law, and couldn’t help smiling.

Yin Zhi didn’t come to see Madam Shen and her son off, nor did she show up when they went to pay respects to the Old Madam.

She stayed quietly in her room.

Having seen many sisters go through this phase, it was finally her turn to be “secluded to nurture her character.” A great excuse to avoid all unnecessary socializing.

Since her engagement to Shen Ti, her life had changed dramatically. From being invisible, she had suddenly become the center of attention. The way servants now flattered her wasn’t a surprise, but the change in atmosphere among the sisters was.

This situation was, frankly, unfair to Yin Zhi.

Who would’ve thought Madam Shen and her son were back in Huai Creek to choose a bride? Yin Zhi had advised the younger girls not to harbor wild dreams about the top scholar cousin, thinking they might ruin their futures if things went wrong.

She had spoken with good intentions. Even the girls agreed at the time.

But suddenly, the very cousin who had urged caution had become the chosen bride, the future wife of the top scholar and a Hanlin Academy lady!

Everything now felt out of place.

The mothers and aunts questioned and speculated bitterly: “What trick did she use to snatch this golden opportunity?!”

With the elders saying such things, how could the impressionable girls not believe it?

The two who were already engaged didn’t mind, but the others felt like they’d been robbed of a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Their resentment only grew.

Part of it was also due to the arrogance of the Third Master and Third Madam, who flaunted the engagement and stirred envy.

Of all her sisters, only Yun Niang came to visit.

Yin Zhi confided, “Who could have guessed Aunt came to pick a bride? If even the elders didn’t know, how could I?”

Yun Niang asked, “Did Third Uncle and Aunt know?”

Yin Zhi sighed. “Do you think my mother can keep secrets?”

Yun Niang, daughter of the main wife, thought about the rivalry between the wives and realized it made sense. Third Madam couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

Only the Old Master had been informed in advance.

It really wasn’t Yin Zhi’s fault.

Yun Niang said, “Marriage is never truly up to us. The others are just being unreasonable.”

Though Yin Zhi had some affection for her sisters, it wasn’t deep. Having Yun Niang believe her was enough.

“I have a clear conscience,” she said.

“I’ll talk to them,” Yun Niang offered. “They’ll understand eventually.”

Yin Zhi almost replied, “No need,” but changed her mind. The more closed-off a place was, the more extreme people could get. Teenage girls with limited exposure to men might develop intense feelings for someone like Shen Ti, a rare gem. If one of them had secretly fallen for him and then saw him engaged to someone she considered inferior, who knew what she might do?

People rarely envy those far above them. If Shen Ti had married a noble lady from the capital, even a girl nursing a crush would have shed a tear in silence and moved on.

But if someone “inferior” surpassed them, it could drive them mad.

That was human nature.

Yin Zhi and Shen Ti were to be married next February, after the ice thawed on the rivers, so they could travel by boat and arrive in the capital in time for a spring wedding.

It also wrapped up her “three-year fate-changing\” period at home.

When Madam Shen asked when the wedding could take place, the chief monk solemnly replied, “After the New Year. It’s the same as mourning for a parent.”

Three years of mourning usually meant 25 months. As long as the third New Year had passed, it counted as complete.

So Yin Zhi could marry after the New Year.

The sooner she married off, the sooner her master could rest easy.

But now was only May, and there were still ten months to go.

If one of the girls got impulsive and tried something from a drama plot—drugging her, pushing her into a pond, ruining her reputation—that would be a nightmare.

Yin Zhi didn’t want to spend those ten months constantly on guard.

So instead of saying “no need,” she sighed.

Yun Niang turned to her. “Why the sigh, sister? Shouldn’t you be happy?”

Yin Zhi looked troubled. “Yun Niang, doesn’t it seem strange that someone like Shen Ti would come to our house to choose a bride?”

Yun Niang hesitated. “Isn’t it because of Aunt?”

Yin Zhi cut her off. “Don’t be naive. Aunt couldn’t make decisions for the Shen family. With a son like Shen Ti, what kind of parents would agree to him marrying a country girl?”

Yun Niang was speechless.

No one in this family, Yin Zhi thought, had inherited the Old Master’s sharp mind.

Which made them easier to fool.

“You don’t know,” she said, turning her face and half-covering it with her sleeve. “Aunt told me the truth. Shen Ti already has someone—that girl from the broken engagement. He insists on marrying her. To avoid humiliating her, they wanted to choose a low-status main wife. That’s how Aunt got the chance to pick from her own family. Otherwise, would the Shen family ever have considered our household? My father never saved Uncle’s life.”

“How awful,” Yun Niang was stunned.

Yin Zhi added, “You saw Shen Ti. Did he look excited to see us girls? Was there even a hint of joy?”

Yun Niang, also waiting for marriage, was especially sensitive. She grew indignant.

Yin Zhi warned, “Don’t say that out loud. If word spreads, people will laugh at me for not knowing my place.”

That was true. Shen Ti’s arrival and departure had both been grand occasions. Even the magistrate came personally, and his wife visited Madam Shen with great humility.

Yun Niang had seen or heard much of this. The class divide was clear.

“I won’t tell anyone,” she promised.

Yin Zhi told her, “You’re the only one I’ve shared this with. Don’t breathe a word.”

“I promise.”

But when she got home and saw her mother, the First Madam naturally asked, “What did Yin Zhi say? How did she manage to land that marriage?”

Yun Niang had promised not to tell anyone. But her own mother wasn’t just anyone.