However, my big brother, who still loved his sister, thought for a moment and grabbed a fire poker from the kitchen before rushing out. I quickly grabbed his arm and asked where he was going. He said indignantly, “Going to settle accounts with An Jin!” After much persuasion and explanation, I finally convinced him that the injury on my face was the result of a fall. He was still furious, blaming An Jin for not protecting his wife and letting his sister get hurt like this. My heart ached, and I asked pitifully, “Is it really that ugly?” He looked at me awkwardly, rubbing his hands for a long time. Finally, he stammered, “Actually—it’s not that bad…” Reflecting on my pain, I decided not to go out until I was fully healed.
Seeing me dejected, my brother quickly began to share his embarrassing dating experiences with the girl from the Shu Ling Shi family. They had dated twice: once at a teahouse where he was accidentally splashed with tea; another time while shopping, she liked a hairpin, and he discovered his wallet had been stolen. The girl paid herself and politely smiled before going home.
I sensed my brother’s rocky romantic path. So I cautiously asked his thoughts about this girl. He thought for a while and answered, “She’s nice.”
It’s just a bit awkward when we’re together.” ”What’s awkward?” ”I feel like her eyes look at me strangely.” ”How strange?” After much thought, he said, “Her eyes are just like Zhao Lie Nü’s in ‘Fierce Woman and Tyrant’.” Me: “…” Fortunately, my brother’s feelings were just a preliminary good impression. I subtly hinted that the girl might have her own thoughts, and he nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite, saying it was fine. After my brother announced my terrible fall at home, my parents and sister came to visit. Father brought several history books, deliberately marking a passage about virtuous women, handing it to me meaningfully. Mother wailed miserably upon seeing me and began sending pig’s trotter soup daily, claiming it would help my wound heal. Unable to confront her mother-in-law who was hiding, she instead complained to the more good-natured father-in-law. As for An Jin, he couldn’t bear to blame him, given their long-standing overly indulgent attitude toward their son-in-law. My mother-in-law rarely appeared, but one day she came out and confronted my mother, saying that no one was properly caring for me. My younger sister under the pretext of visiting managed to take away several of my clothes and hairpins.
” Was this consolation? It was pure provocation. In my despair, I felt even the lantern’s gaze seemed sympathetic. So one night, I woke An Jin and asked if my face didn’t heal, would he take a second wife. He looked at me sleepily, immediately closed his eyes, and pulled me into his embrace, saying, “Sleep, be good.” Fortunately, with the combined effect of good medicine and pig’s trotter soup, my facial wounds gradually healed, revealing my original appearance. My brother’s connection with the Shu Ling Shi girl also faded, with the girl ultimately ending their relationship, citing incompatibility. Mother was heartbroken, constantly muttering about when she’d see a daughter-in-law. My brother’s honest nature finally erupted, and he moved to the Hanlin Academy’s official residence, returning home only on rest days. Mother then focused her attention on my younger sister, constantly matchmaking. My sister, tired of it, declared she would marry within three months. This only made mother more worried, fearing her daughter might be deceived by men with ulterior motives. This wasn’t impossible. Since my mishap, I had been staying home, so I invited Song Si Tian to report on my sister’s activities. “
Song Si Tian was hesitant, saying she couldn’t betray a friend. Tempted by my first-hand Tang Gate information, she finally couldn’t resist and secretly told me that my sister had recently fallen for a scholar. They met at the Qixi Peony Magpie Bridge gathering and had been seeing each other frequently, seemingly inseparable.
I felt somewhat relieved. A scholar wasn’t bad, better than some dissolute playboy. However, my sister had always talked about marrying a wealthy man, so finding a scholar seemed uncharacteristic. So I casually asked the scholar’s name.
Song Si Tian thought and said, “I think his name is Feng – Feng Yu Xi.”
I almost fainted. This Feng Yu Xi was a character I had once drawn, simply because of his good looks. His portrait had been popular in Yan Feng for a while.
Feng Yu Xi was cunning and, leveraging his good looks, frequented places where noble women and young girls gathered, trying to find a powerful patron to help his career.
He likely set his sights on my sister because she was the sister-in-law of a Ministry of Personnel official.
My heart went cold. After sending Song Sitian away, I immediately returned home and roughly told my mother about the incident. Upon hearing that my younger sister had been bewitched by such a character, my mother was so angry that she smashed a cup, shouting that she would find my sister and give her a beating. I quickly stopped her, insisting that I would handle the matter and she must not act rashly and cause more trouble.
Who knew that my mother agreed at first, but when my sister came home, she grew angrier and gave her a severe scolding. Mother and daughter quarreled fiercely, and finally, my mother locked my sister in her room and grounded her. My sister was unusually stubborn this time and went on a hunger strike in protest. My mother was at her wit’s end and came to me again.
When I visited my sister, I found her curled up on the bed, crying. Perhaps because she needed someone to confide in, she didn’t hold a grudge about me telling our mother and instead gripped my hand, saying, “Elder sister, we are truly in love.”
I knew I couldn’t go against her feelings at this moment, so I quickly comforted her. When her emotions calmed somewhat, I cautiously mentioned what I knew about the situation.
She was dismissive. “I believe Yu Xi is not that kind of person.”
“
She described their process of getting to know and falling in love, concluding: “Mother looks down on Yu Xi just because he’s from a poor family. Although he’s poor, he truly loves me!”
I estimated that she had cast herself as the heroine in a drama, with our mother as the evil parent who separates lovers. There’s a saying that adversity makes one stronger, and I feared that the more our mother opposed her, the more rebellious my sister would become. So I comforted her thoroughly and promised to persuade our mother, after which she agreed to eat something.
I explained the seriousness of the situation to my mother, telling her that this matter couldn’t be suppressed. She was worried, and only when I mentioned An Jin did she reluctantly promise to avoid extreme actions.
But—” I was still organizing my words to explain that falling for the Crown Prince was even less reliable than falling for Feng Yuxi, when she had already begun looking dreamy, pressing the handkerchief against her cheek and saying: “If I could marry the Crown Prince, I might become the empress in the future…” I was speechless, knowing that nothing I said at this moment would get through to her. She daydreamed for a while, lowering her head and sniffing the handkerchief.
“
White flowers with red stamens, half-open and half-hidden, eerily similar to plum blossoms but with only four petals, precisely a yahua flower. The yahua flower embroidered on this handkerchief was extremely similar to the one I had given to An Jin in terms of angle and form, but the color and pattern were different, clearly not the same piece.
My younger sister, noticing me staring at her handkerchief, said coyly, “He gave me this too.” The Crown Prince? I suddenly felt strange. How could the Crown Prince have a handkerchief like this?
