Ban Qin pushed the door open and beckoned everyone to come in.
“Even though it’s supposed to be our house, this is actually my first time here too,” she said. At the same time, she couldn’t help but raise her hand to smack Jin Ge’er twice. “You little rascal, running around like that! Scared me half to death!”
Jin Ge’er, relieved now, stopped crying and just grinned wide.
Cheng Jiao-niang turned again and made a gesture of invitation.
The men quickly returned the courtesy.
“Oh, we wouldn’t dare. After you,” they stammered awkwardly.
Cheng Jiao-niang turned her gaze toward Zhou Liu-lang and Young Master Qin.
“If you’re worried, you can come in and wait,” she said.
Her words took the men by surprise. Their eyes turned to Zhou Liu-lang and Young Master Qin.
“Worried?”
Worried about what? Worried about them being alone together as an unmarried man and woman, perhaps?
Looking at the two youths—both refined and handsome—they seemed to match this lady much better… Perhaps they were relatives or…
The group couldn’t help but feel a little awkward.
“It’s nothing important. We—we don’t need to go inside to talk about it,” the eldest said.
Over on the side, Zhou Liu-lang let out a cold laugh, flicked his sleeve, and turned to walk away a few steps.
Young Master Qin gave Cheng Jiao-niang a smile, then had his servant turn the carriage around and left as well.
“Please,” Cheng Jiao-niang said once again, gesturing for them to enter.
The men glanced at Zhou Liu-lang and Young Master Qin’s retreating figures with a mix of surprise and confusion. In the end, they still went inside.
Once indoors, they seated themselves according to rank and role. Jin Ge’er, being familiar with the place, helped the maid serve water to everyone.
“We haven’t prepared anything, not even tea,” the maid said with a smile.
The men quickly returned the courtesy.
“No need, no need,” they replied, while glancing around to take in their surroundings.
“What a fine place,” one of the men praised.
“Exactly, this is what the capital should be like. Unlike that brothel from last night…” Another man nodded in agreement but was cut off when the man beside him raised a hand and smacked him.
The words stopped mid-sentence.
Seeing the angry glares from the other men, the man shrank back, hastily picked up his water, and drank it, not daring to say another word.
“Miss, we are truly sorry. Our ignorance and recklessness caused you worry and brought trouble upon you,” the third brother said earnestly, raising his hand to bow.
Cheng Jiao-niang looked at him, straightened her posture, adjusted her robe, and performed a deep ceremonial bow in return.
The men, startled, scrambled to the side with a flurry of movement, some dodging and others awkwardly returning the gesture.
“Miss, you’re going to overwhelm us with this!” the eldest shouted.
Even the maid was taken aback.
This lady, though always quiet and courteous, had never before offered such a formal bow to anyone. And the key point was that, by all accounts, she was the one who had shown these men tremendous kindness.
How could a benefactor bow to those who had received her help?
Cheng Jiao-niang finished the full set of rituals before finally raising her head.
“I express my gratitude to you all, elder brothers, for your great kindness,” she said.
“Miss, what are you doing?” the third brother was the first to speak, his expression serious as he straightened his posture, preparing to perform a deep ceremonial bow. “Are you upset that we failed to show proper respect to you?”
“I wonder if I might be so fortunate as to address you all as elder brothers?” she said.
The third brother, who had been about to bow, froze in surprise, and the others were equally stunned.
What?
“How could that be?”
The voices in the room carried out into the courtyard, where the not-yet-frozen winter water in the ornamental pond rippled, the sound swirling around the bamboo and rocks of the garden landscape.
The men half-rose to their feet, their faces flushed, as they looked at the lady before them and exclaimed,
“Miss, you are my lifesaving benefactor,” the third brother said. “How can we disregard proper etiquette?”
“Exactly, exactly!” the others chimed in hurriedly.
Cheng Jiao-niang sat calmly, listening to their jumbled refusals and counterarguments. In essence, they were saying one thing: she was their benefactor, a person of a completely different status. It would neither be appropriate for them to overstep their bounds nor for her to lower herself.
Seeing Cheng Jiao-niang sitting there quietly, the maid gradually began to understand as well. She stopped being surprised and silently refilled their water.
After drinking all night, waking up, and immediately fleeing on the run, the men were indeed parched.
“In any case, Miss, please don’t say such things again. You’re scaring us to death. Forget about forming a sworn bond with you—even with this lady here beside you, we’re worlds apart…” one of the men said, raising his water bowl and gulping it down noisily. Then, stretching the empty bowl toward the maid, he added, “Thanks, another bowl please.”
The maid smiled without saying a word and poured more water for him.
The third brother waved his hand, signaling everyone to stop talking.
The room fell into silence.
“Miss, in truth, it wasn’t us who helped you. If it hadn’t been for us, you might have found Jin Ge’er much sooner,” the third brother said with a wry smile. “You don’t need to dwell on this matter.”
This man is clever, the maid thought, glancing up at him.
Cheng Jiao-niang bowed deeply once more.
“Actually, you’re overthinking it,” she said, raising her head to look at him. “I just… want to have an elder brother, that’s all.”
To want… to have… an elder brother…
The men were stunned.
“Aren’t you trying to repay your debt of gratitude?” Cheng Jiao-niang continued, looking at them. “Taking on a younger sister to care for—that would be a way to repay it for a lifetime. Wouldn’t that be even more sincere?”
Is that so?
The men exchanged glances.
It sounded reasonable… but something about it also felt a bit off.
“Uh… let the eldest brother decide,” the men said in unison.
The man referred to as the eldest exchanged a glance with the third brother.
The third brother nodded.
“Alright, since Miss thinks highly of us, we’ll accept,” the eldest said.
Cheng Jiao-niang curved her lips into a slight smile.
“Thank you, elder brothers,” she said, bowing her head in salute.
Although this was their first time in the house, it was well-equipped, with everything from writing tools to incense in the small study.
The maid brought over the necessary items.
“Miss, will you write it yourself?” she asked.
Cheng Jiao-niang nodded.
“You go help the brothers write,” she said.
The maid acknowledged her instructions and, carrying pen and paper, approached the men.
“I’ll do it,” the third brother said, reaching out.
The maid remembered that he had studied before and knew how to write, so she slid the desk over to him and began grinding ink.
The third brother took up the pen and started writing the Sworn Brotherhood Oath.
“Here today are the men of Maoyuan Mountain: Fan Jianglin, Fan Shitou, Xu Maoxiu, Xu Sigen, Xu Layue, Fan Sanchou, Xu Bangchui, paying homage to the spirits of our ancestors.”
“And here today is Cheng Jiao-niang of the Cheng family in Jiang-zhou, paying homage to the spirits of her kin.”
Incense burned in the brazier within the room. Cheng Jiao-niang and the third brother stood side by side at the front, each unfolding the pledge in their hands and reading it aloud.
Every time Cheng Jiao-niang read a name, the men stood up to indicate it was their own, and Cheng Jiao-niang nodded and greeted them with a smile.
Once they had all finished, they knelt and placed the Sworn Brotherhood Oath into the incense burner.
“Now, I, as the younger sister, greet all my elder brothers,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, bowing again.
Having gained an additional younger sister like this, the men were somewhat at a loss, offering awkward and hasty returns of the salute.
The third brother, Xu Maoxiu, raised his hand to help steady them.
At this point, the maid entered, carrying Jin Ge’er, who knelt and bowed as well.
“Greetings, my lords,” she said.
The men were so startled that they jumped and hurriedly moved away.
The title “lord” was something they had never heard before in their lives.
It was Xu Maoxiu who remained seated and calmly accepted the gesture.
“I, Xu Maoxiu, lost both my parents and have lived for twenty-four years, and now I have a younger sister,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve lived for eighteen years…” Xu Bangchui quickly added.
Jin Ge’er let out a surprised sound and looked at Xu Bangchui.
“Brother Bangchui, you’re only eighteen?” he asked.
Xu Bangchui was a burly man with a large head, broad shoulders, and a thick beard and hair. He glared with a fierce look.
“Yeah, I’m only eighteen. What’s the big deal? I’m still a good man,” he said.
Jin Ge’er couldn’t help but laugh loudly.
“You look older than my dad,” he chuckled.
“Your dad is nothing like me, a real man!” Xu Bangchui retorted.
Laughter filled the room, dispelling the earlier awkwardness.
As she watched the tension dissipate from the seven men, Cheng Jiao-niang curved her lips into a smile.
She had brothers now.
