Chapter 13:
At the juncture of spring and summer, a thin layer of pink petals soon fell again on the bluestone bricks that the servants had just swept.
Xie Wanning led her cousin back to her Jianxia Courtyard.
Madam Liu came from a merchant family, and when she married into the Xie Family back then, it was Xie Shu, then the legitimate second young master of the Marquis’s Estate, who took a fancy to her himself and begged his mother to propose marriage.
The two families’ backgrounds did not match, and they had met privately on their own, so some loose tongues in the Capital City spread some unsavory words.
Perhaps those words had reached Xie Ruyu’s ears too, making her sensitive and strong-willed ever since she was old enough to understand things—not only with her sisters at home, but even more unbullyable outside, with a sharp tongue that never spared anyone.
Although Xie Wanning was a year older than her, she was not one to endure everything blindly either, so over these years, the two sisters had been at daggers drawn whenever they met, rarely speaking calmly.
Neither of them spoke the whole way, and the atmosphere was awkwardly silent.
Upon arriving at Jianxia Courtyard, Xie Wanning took the initiative to reach out and pull her into her boudoir. Xie Ruyu’s face was stiff, but she did not resist and obediently let herself be led.
On the dressing table sat a brocade box, engraved with the mark of the Capital City’s most famous Jewelry Pavilion—something she was used to seeing every day, yet at this moment Xie Wanning stared at it in slight surprise.
Without time to think more, she picked up the brocade box, opened it, and took out a peony-carved jade bracelet from inside, handing it over: “Here, your birthday gift.”
“…” Xie Ruyu silently took it and looked down at it.
The jade bracelet was made of top-quality mutton-fat white jade, clear and transparent without any impurities, of excellent quality, with even the petals exuding a lustrous sheen; the design was extremely beautiful and very suitable for a young lady to wear.
No young lady does not love looking pretty, and once the thing was in her hands, she liked it immensely.
When she looked up again, joy was on her face: “When did you order it?”
The Jewelry Pavilion, as the Capital City’s largest jewelry store, had several master engravers inside, all deft-handed and clever, with uniquely innovative designs that attracted noble ladies and madams in the Capital City to flock to it, in constant short supply.
It was said their backing was very strong; even some impatient nobles could not cut in line using power, and to get custom jewelry from the Jewelry Pavilion, having silver money alone was not enough—one also needed sufficient time to wait.
Her mother had also ordered a hairpin for her, yet more than a year later, it was still not made.
Seeing her usually sharp-tongued and unapproachable cousin so delighted, Xie Wanning found it amusing and could not help teasing: “As long as Younger Sister likes it, it can be considered Elder Sister’s thanks for your support.”
These were Madam Liu’s words from earlier.
Hearing this, a flash of discomfort crossed Xie Ruyu’s face, but she soon said indignantly: “I’ve said long ago that Lu Ziyan is no good, always with that cold face—only you like clinging to him desperately, without any of the spirit a young lady should have…”
At this point, she paused slightly, lifted her eyes, and looked over cautiously: “I didn’t mean you’re bad…”
“I know,” Xie Wanning pulled her to sit down and said: “You’re right. Before, I truly had no temper in front of Lu Ziyan, soft like dough, really easy to manipulate.”
If not for her habit of not fighting or grabbing, how could she have been bullied by a mere Liu Manrou in the dream, letting her enter the inner chambers.
That said, this cousin of hers had indeed always been at odds with Lu Ziyan; whenever they met, she would look down her nose at him, not even glancing their way before turning and leaving.
……Could it be that she couldn’t stand seeing her humble herself and cling to him in front of Lu Ziyan?
Xie Ruyu did not know what her cousin was thinking.
She was not one to speak soft words; she had been drafting in her mind what to say to comfort her cousin, but seeing her suddenly seem changed, she let out a big sigh of relief: “If you can see it clearly, that’s for the best.”
Xie Wanning could not help laughing, reminding her: “From now on, no more ‘you’ and ‘your’—I’m a year older than you, call me Wanwan Sister.”
“…” Xie Ruyu opened her mouth, and with extreme stiffness called out “Sister,” making Xie Wanning beam with joy as she reached out to stroke the little bun on her head.
In the dream, this little cousin had called her that when staying briefly at the Lu Family; now it had come a full year early.
Just as she was about to say something, Xie Ruyu added: “Wanwan Sister, don’t be sad because of breaking off the engagement with him.”
Xie Wanning nodded gently and agreed: “Alright, I’m not sad.”
“Let me tell you,” Xie Ruyu said earnestly: “All along, you’ve held Lu Ziyan too high, making him think that no matter what he does, you can’t do without him, so naturally he doesn’t take you seriously.”
How could anyone take seriously something that would belong to them no matter what.
Xie Wanning understood her meaning and after a long silence, gave a bitter laugh: “At first, I just pitied him.”
She pitied him for losing his father young, being forced to grow up, and single-handedly supporting the family.
But somehow, the unconditional giving born of pity became a habit.
And habit is a very scary thing.
“It’s all in the past; from now on, we ignore that person.” Xie Ruyu awkwardly linked arms with her, huffed slightly, and said: “Now that you’ve woken up to it, it’s his turn to feel bad. I’m waiting to see him weep bitterly and beg you to turn back.”
At these words, Xie Wanning was truly stunned.
She did not know where her cousin got such confidence, and said somewhat awkwardly: “You don’t understand; the person he loves is that concubine he brought back from Bianzhou. No matter what, he won’t feel bad for me, let alone weep bitterly…”
She shook her head repeatedly, completely unable to imagine Lu Ziyan weeping bitterly.
“I no longer care what he wants. I just want to smoothly break off this engagement.”
As she spoke, she nudged her cousin with her elbow: “It’s just that your engagement with Third Madam’s side isn’t settled yet; my only worry is that it might affect you two.”
“It won’t!” Xie Ruyu said: “Even divorce isn’t a big deal, let alone breaking off an engagement. If it’s such a stodgy family, I won’t marry anyway.”
The current dynasty had very open customs; since the founding, many imperial princesses had made divorce commonplace.
Princess mansions had countless male companions, indulging in revelry.
Over these years, the Capital City had long stopped changing color at the mention of divorce.
As for breaking off an engagement?
There would of course be some impact, but as Xie Ruyu said, those who cared were just some extremely rule-bound “stodgy” families.
Marrying into such a family would mean living one’s whole life by the strictest rules, without the slightest mistake.
……Indeed, there was not much point in marrying into one.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Xie Wanning’s face.
She had to admit that chatting with her sister and venting a bit had improved her sullen mood from the past few days.
Although she had already given up on Lu Ziyan and was determined to break off the engagement, he was still the youth she had pursued persistently for years and treated with all her heart; with her current state of mind, she truly could not yet achieve complete detachment without any ripple.
Breaking off this marriage was, to her, no different from cutting flesh.
The only difference was whether the knife was sharp or not.
She did not want to be dragged along with a dull knife slowly slicing.
Best to cut it cleanly in one stroke and have nothing to do with each other henceforth.
Thinking this in her heart, Er Qing came in from outside, curtsied, and said: “Madam Liu sent someone to invite you over, saying the Marquis and Young Lord have returned.”
