Extra Three: Looking Back at the Path Traveled, the Verdant Heights Stretch into the Haze. (2)

This year, my own brother, the second young master of the Xu family, turned eighteen, and it was time to discuss his marriage. My parents both believed that character was paramount, with family background being secondary.

Xiao Qi and I secretly inquired about the eligible young ladies across the five commanderies of Jiangdong. Even my husband’s second sister-in-law approached me personally, suggesting her maiden sister; she felt that strengthening the bond between our families would be ideal. I accepted the portrait with a smile, and once she left, I handed it to my husband.

My fourth cousin’s husband’s family, the Ren clan of Jiangdong, had also set their sights on my second brother, yet he had no interest in the Ren daughter. My fourth cousin felt deeply embarrassed and insisted I intercede with him on her behalf. I felt both pity for her and a sense of her utter foolishness. She had originally entered the Ren family as a concubine, bearing a son and two daughters within five years, yet she never won her husband’s favor and was kept firmly under the thumb of the legal wife. Now, many years later, the legal wife had passed away from illness, and the Ren family, acknowledging my cousin's gentle and submissive nature, had elevated her to the position of legal wife. However, she had already developed the mentality of a concubine, always deferring to others and failing to exhibit even a shred of the dignity expected of a matriarch in a prominent family. Whatever her husband’s family demanded, she did; when she could not, she returned to her maiden family for help.

Xiao Qi used to detest her, but after marrying, she grew too disdainful to even mock her. She simply asked me to stop mentioning our fourth cousin in front of her; she didn't want to hear it. Xiao Qi lamented, "Fifth Sister, look at our family—which of our sisters doesn't have her husband and in-laws wrapped around her finger? How did she become so timid and foolish?" Our third aunt was a woman of high standards and sharp methods, yet the daughter she raised was the polar opposite; she was likely more frustrated than any of us.

After much deliberation by my mother, my second brother eventually recommended a young woman himself—the only daughter of the head of Songxi Academy. Her talent and literary grace went without saying, and her temperament was gentle and considerate. I prepared generous gifts and visited the academy myself. After meeting the girl, I realized my brother had spoken the truth. Half a year later, the Xu family held a magnificent wedding feast. My eldest uncle and aunt returned to the ancestral home in Lanzhou to spend their twilight years. Although my grandmother grumbled for a long time, the physician reported that her health was improving day by day.

Ever since my eldest sister passed away, I had paid little attention to news from Guangling. However, an event as significant as the ascension of a new emperor was a national celebration, and we could hardly remain ignorant of it. In the fourth month of the first year of Taihe, the Southern Frontier and the Prince of Huai rebelled, causing even the people of our Jiangdong to live in fear. In these peaceful times, if rebels were to gain power, it would be the defenseless commoners who would face the slaughter. After a month of trepidation, the Prince of Huai’s rebellion was quelled, but the Luo family was not entirely at peace. A guest in the Prince of Huai’s residence was a former classmate of the second Luo brother, and when the imperial court began its purges, it was inevitable that they would be investigated. The Luo household lived in daily terror. I was just about to ask my father to write a letter to Guangling to inquire about the situation with our eldest cousin, Xu Chengzhen, when we realized the court had not pursued the matter at all, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

In the sixth month of the second year of Taihe, my grandmother passed away. The whole family returned, including my eldest cousin from the East Sea. In the candlelit Luoqing Studio that evening, Xiao Qi said she would take me to see someone. When I entered, I saw my eldest cousin, my second cousin, myself, Xiao Qi, and a woman of exquisite beauty. I lost my footing and fell to my knees.

"Third Sister? You aren't dead?" I must have been mad to see my third sister, Xu Guiyi, who had long since been interred in the imperial mausoleum.

"Xiwei, it is me." With such peerless beauty and such a soft voice, who else could it be but my third sister? I was no longer the ignorant girl I once was; I did not need to know the ins and outs of everything. As long as the outcome was good, what did the process matter? My father said that as long as we were all safe, whether we were together or not no longer mattered.

The early summer breeze blew, leaving me in a light sweat. I lay on a rocking chair, listening to the melodic zither music and closing my eyes to cool off. My daughter ran back from outside, shouting happily, "Mother, Mother! I just saw the old gentleman who plays the zither by the river every day. He looks very distinguished." I took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her face and said, "It is impolite to disturb others; you must never bother him, do you understand?"

My daughter shook her fan and pouted. "I only wanted to watch from afar, I had no intention of bothering him, but I saw Grandfather go over to speak with him, so I followed."

I was startled. "What did you say? Grandfather is speaking to the zither player?"

"Yes, yes. They look like they have known each other for a long time. He is very gentle; he even gave me a string of gold bells. I didn't want to take them, but Grandfather said it was fine, so I accepted them."

My daughter pulled out a long, shimmering gold bell. It was intricately crafted with a unique shape, unlike anything ordinary.

"This is..." I stared wide-eyed at the gold bell in her hand.

My daughter said proudly, "There are azaleas carved on the bells. Look, Mother, isn't it exquisite?"

Azaleas! All these years, besides the azaleas in Luoqing Studio, I had never seen anyone so enamored with them.

"Yun'er, is there anything special about that gentleman?" I asked.

Yun'er recalled, "Hmm... he has large, beautiful eyes and handsome features, though he is very thin. He is very gentle when he smiles, but a bit cold when he doesn't. He was very polite to Grandfather, and he seemed happy to see me. He even patted my head and asked if I looked like my mother, and I said..."

My heart hammered. A bold thought crossed my mind a thousand times. Skilled at the zither, fond of azaleas, and acquainted with my father...

Last August, the Crown Prince married the thirteenth daughter of the Cao family. In early October, the Retired Emperor abdicated...

Now, it is the sixth month of the first year of Xining. I don't know where I heard it, but after the Retired Emperor abdicated, he was supposed to have retreated to the North Garden. Yet, this spring, the new emperor secretly sent many agents from the Dragon Guard across the country to search. Many speculated that the Retired Emperor had disappeared from the palace without leaving a trace.

I did not ask my father to verify if that man was the Retired Emperor. I simply continued to lie on the rocking chair under the ivy-covered veranda in the evenings, amidst the greenery, listening to the zither music and cooling off. Even in such leisurely days, my heart felt a profound sense of sorrow. Because the zither music was sorrowful, my heart was sorrowful as well.