“Hey, hey… you–”
The gatekeeper of the Cheng household shouted as the door was pushed open, but when he saw who it was, he froze in surprise.
“You again…”
Before he could finish, there was another loud thud – this time, the door itself was kicked clean off its hinges.
The gatekeeper fell back onto the ground once more.
What in the world was going on here?!
“Sixth Young Master… our lady is writing at the moment…”
As the maid’s voice trailed in, the study door was pulled open.
Cheng Jiao-niang looked up from her writing brush just as Zhou Liu-lang strode inside.
“Pack your things,” he said. “You’re coming with me.”
That line again!
She hadn’t heard it in four years – she’d thought she never would again. And now he was here, about to drag their lady off somewhere once more?
The maids and Ban Qin frowned and stepped forward protectively, while the attendants who had come with him also squared their stances.
But things weren’t the same as they had been four years ago – taking their lady away wouldn’t be so easy this time.
“Go where?” Cheng Jiao-niang asked.
“To my place,” Zhou Liu-lang said.
Cheng Jiao-niang made an acknowledging sound and nodded.
“Alright,” she said.
Zhou Liu-lang, who had been ready to launch into a whole tirade, nearly bit his own tongue – again! Why did this girl always speak completely off script? Just like that other time – he hadn’t been prepared then, either!
“Can’t you give some sort of lead-in before you talk?” he muttered under his breath.
“You didn’t give one either,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied, setting down her brush and glancing toward the doorway. “Ban Qin.”
Both the maid and Ban Qin answered at once.
“We’ll pack right away,” they said with a smile.
…
“Take Jiao-niang to your house?”
In the main hall, Second Master Cheng got wind of the situation – just as the guest was about to leave with his daughter.
Second Master Cheng glared furiously at the young man before him, whose expression all but begged for a beating.
“Why are you taking her to your house?” he demanded.
“And why can’t she come to my house?” Zhou Liu-lang shot back, eyes blazing. “Thirteen years ago, you could throw my aunt and my cousin out to live with us – but now we can’t even invite my sister over?”
Second Master Cheng’s face turned purple with rage.
“You impudent boy – watch your tongue!” he barked.
“Honored Uncle,” Zhou Liu-lang sneered, “I may be young, but my father and mother are both still alive.”
Second Master Cheng was about to say more, but Zhou Liu-lang had already turned away in impatience.
“I call you ‘Uncle’ and speak to you out of a nephew’s duty,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I need your permission.”
With that, he lifted his foot and strode off.
A nephew’s duty? This was what he called fulfilling a nephew’s duty?
If any of the Cheng family’s own nephews had spoken to him like that, he would’ve had them beaten and made to kneel in the courtyard!
Second Master Cheng trembled with fury as he watched the young man stride away.
The Zhou family – ah, that shameless Zhou family! Back in Jiang–zhou, they’d already made the Chengs lose face, and now, here in the capital, it was the Zhous’ home turf.
At that thought, Second Master Cheng suddenly realized – since arriving in the capital, he hadn’t once crossed paths with the Zhou family. He had almost forgotten they existed.
It seemed reality was still reality – what was bound to come had, inevitably, come.
“Master, the Zhous are clearly here to snatch her away,” Second Madam Cheng hurried out from the inner hall and said. “Quick – get her back!”
“How do I ‘get her back’? If her maternal family come to take her to live with them, am I going to forbid it?” Second Master Cheng snapped. “And those Zhou military men have no shame – am I going to fight them in the street? They’re shameless, but I still have to keep up my dignity.”
“Well, if – if Jiao Jiao doesn’t come back…” Second Madam Cheng stammered.
“They dare?” Second Master Cheng glared. “Then I’ll go and complain to them! If they take her for three days and won’t return her, then they’ll be in the wrong!”
Second Madam Cheng made an “oh” sound and nodded.
“Oh no, wait – if Jiao Jiao goes to their place, who’s going to look after the household food and drink?” She suddenly remembered something and cried out, then hurried to the door and chased after them.
“Ban Qin! Ban Qin!”
Hearing Second Madam Cheng’s shouting, Second Master Cheng was so furious he nearly fainted.
Were they even acting like the heads of a household anymore?
What kind of life was this! No – he had already secured the legal documents; it was time for him to become the real master of the house.
When word spread that Zhou Liu-lang had once again snatched Cheng Jiao-niang away, the Zhou household was thrown into utter chaos – maids and servants running about in every direction.
But unlike four years ago, this time Madam Zhou felt no joy – only fear and unease.
“Which room should we prepare?”
“What furniture should be arranged?”
“How many maids should be assigned to the courtyard?”
Countless questions poured down like rain, leaving Madam Zhou dizzy and dazed.
“Call the doctor – I really am sick,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest.
“Sick, my foot!” Master Zhou said irritably. “Jiao Jiao’s coming to stay with us, and you fall ill? Are you trying to make things awkward and bring bad luck to her on purpose?”
Heavens, I wouldn’t dare! I’m truly doing this for her sake!
Startled, Madam Zhou jumped up at once and hurried off with the maids and servants to get everything ready.
“Madam, there’s no need for you to trouble yourself,” the maid said with a smile. “I’ll take care of the arrangements. Our lady isn’t particular – just keep two maids for cleaning and errands, that’ll be enough.”
Not particular? I wouldn’t dare believe that!
Madam Zhou wanted to object, but didn’t dare; no matter what she said, it felt wrong. In the end, she simply let the maid handle everything – whatever the girl said, she would follow.
“Jiao Jiao, you just stay here,” Master Zhou declared indignantly in the hall. “Don’t you suffer another moment of that Cheng couple’s nonsense. If they dare make trouble again, I’ll go deal with them myself!”
“I haven’t been mistreated,” Cheng Jiao-niang said with a gentle smile, bowing slightly.
While they were still talking, Madam Zhou came over smiling. “Everything’s been tidied up.”
“Then I must thank Uncle and Aunt for your trouble,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, bowing politely.
“Not at all, not at all.”
“Please, no need for thanks.”
The Zhou couple – one flustered and cautious, the other beaming with joy – personally escorted Cheng Jiao-niang to her quarters.
“She doesn’t look like a niece coming to stay with her mother’s family,” one of the Zhou young ladies murmured from under the eaves, watching the scene. “It’s more like they’ve invited a living Buddha into the house.”
“Should we go pay our respects? She is our cousin, after all,” another asked.
The sisters exchanged glances.
“Better not,” one finally said. “A Buddha’s best worshipped from a distance.”
At dawn’s first light, the Zhou family’s training ground echoed with the sounds of men drilling and striking – shouts rising and falling one after another – continuing until full daylight broke.
“Sixth Brother, we’re heading out,” one of his brothers called.
Bare-chested, Zhou Liu-lang was standing before a set of stone weights. Hearing this, he gave a brief reply.
“You go on ahead – I’ll train a bit longer,” he said.
“As expected of someone who’s spent three years honing himself with real blades and real battles – more diligent than ever,” a few of his brothers praised as they left.
The training ground had fallen quiet. After lifting the stone weights a few more times, Zhou Liu-lang took the towel handed to him by a maid and wiped his sweat.
Just then, a little maid came running toward him at full speed – then, the moment she saw him, she turned and bolted the other way.
“What are you running for? Seen a ghost?” Zhou Liu-lang barked.
The little maid froze in fright.
“Sixth Young Master…” she said timidly, bowing. “No, it’s not that – Lady Cheng wanted–”
Before she could finish, footsteps sounded behind her.
“Oh, Sixth Young Master, you’re still here?” another maid said with a smile. “I thought you’d all have gone by now.”
Zhou Liu-lang gave a grunt and said nothing, leisurely wiping the sweat from his face.
“Are you finished training?” the maid asked again.
“Finished,” Zhou Liu-lang muttered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the maid take a few steps forward, smiling as she looked him up and down.
What are you looking at! What are you looking at!
“If you’re done, Young Master, you’d better put on your shirt and cover up a bit,” the maid said teasingly. “Our lady’s coming to practice archery.”
Zhou Liu-lang’s face flushed red at once.
He suddenly felt a pair of eyes lingering on him.
“You – don’t look good.”
A girl’s voice came from behind his ear.
Zhou Liu-lang grabbed the robe from the servant’s hands and hastily shoved one arm into a sleeve. Just then, the crisp clack of wooden clogs sounded – a lady’s figure turned onto the path: a light gauze jacket, a skirt patterned with small flowers, sleeves neatly tied up, a long bow slung over her shoulder.
Zhou Liu-lang’s movements quickened at once.
“It’s inside out! Inside out!” the servant shouted.
Zhou Liu-lang gave him an irritated kick.
“Inside out yourself! What nonsense are you yelling?” he scolded.
“Master, your robe is inside out,” the servant cried from the ground, looking aggrieved.
Zhou Liu-lang looked down – then flushed with both embarrassment and anger. He hurriedly began pulling the robe off again just as Cheng Jiao-niang passed by, pausing slightly beside him.
“What are you doing?” Zhou Liu-lang instinctively pulled the robe around himself in a jumble, glaring as he spoke.
“Good morning,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, lowering her head in a polite bow. Then she lifted her foot and walked past him.
Good morning? Who greets someone good morning after staring at a half-naked man!
Zhou Liu-lang glared after her, fuming inwardly.
“Sixth Young Master, you’ve gotten much sturdier than you were four years ago,” the maid said with a giggle.
Of course – it was still these same two shameless ladies!
Grinding his teeth, Zhou Liu-lang fastened his robe and strode off, pretending not to hear the sound of arrows whistling sharply through the air behind him.
News of Cheng Jiao-niang’s daily archery practice soon reached Master Zhou and the others. In a flurry, they ordered the training ground’s straw targets replaced with new ones and had all the younger men finish their morning drills earlier.
“What for?!”
Zhou Liu-lang was the first to protest.
“We train our bodies for proper discipline, but she’s just playing around!”
“Everything Jiao Jiao does is proper business,” Master Zhou said firmly, glaring at him, leaving no room for argument.
Even so, the next morning, when everyone finished training and started to leave, Zhou Liu-lang stubbornly stayed behind. Master Zhou happened to be out that day, and the other brothers couldn’t do anything about him, so they let him be.
Zhou Liu-lang, emboldened, went even further – not only refusing to leave before Cheng Jiao-niang arrived, but also staying after she came.
At least this time, he kept his clothes on.
“Sixth Young Master, you’re amazing,” the maid said admiringly as she watched Zhou Liu-lang lift the heavy stone weights again and again.
With a touch of pride, Zhou Liu-lang walked over to the weapon rack.
“Does Sixth Young Master know how to use all eighteen kinds of weapons?” the maid asked with a bright, teasing smile.
Zhou Liu-lang picked up a long staff, and out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the girl – she’d already moved on to her third target. In the pale spring morning light, beads of sweat glimmered clearly on her forehead.
A round with the staff, a round with the saber – the training ground filled with shifting shadows and the maid’s endless cheers of praise.
Slightly out of breath, Zhou Liu-lang gripped a spear, turned his head – and froze.
Where did she go?
“Sixth Young Master, what weapon do you usually use on the battlefield?” the maid was still asking.
“Where’s your lady?” Zhou Liu-lang asked in return.
“My lady? My lady doesn’t go to war,” the maid said with a laugh.
Zhou Liu-lang glared at her and spat in irritation.
“Your lady,” he said, pointing toward the archery range.
Only then did the maid make an “oh” sound and turn to look.
“My lady must’ve gone back,” she said.
Gone back?
What kind of maid talks like that?!
“It’s fine, my lady doesn’t need me to attend her anyway. Sixth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, do you use the spear or the saber on the battlefield? Can you show me that one again – what’s this weapon called?”
“Out, out, out!”
Zhou Liu-lang spat again, refusing to answer her, snatched up his robe, and strode off. The servants and maids scrambled to keep up at a half-run.
Once he was out of the training ground and the maid’s chatter finally faded away, he glanced cautiously over his shoulder – no one was following. Only then did Zhou Liu-lang let out a breath, shake out his sore arms, and grimace.
This was more exhausting than fighting a real battle…
The next day, Zhou Liu-lang showed up at the training ground as usual – but even after the sunlight grew harsh and glaring, the girl never appeared.
“I told you already, she was just playing around – how could that be anything serious!” Zhou Liu-lang grumbled, thrusting his spear back onto the rack. “Training means winter in the freezing cold, summer in the scorching heat – rain or shine, no excuses!”
“No, Young Master,” a servant said quickly, “I heard the results of the palace examination have been announced. In ten days the new scholars will ride through the streets wearing flowered coronets, so Lady Cheng went to prepare congratulatory gifts.”
Yesterday, the seventh day of March, the newly selected jinshi had taken the palace examination presided over by the emperor himself. After a day and a night, the rankings were revealed.
“That Cheng Si-lang ranked somewhere past three hundred – he’s no Qin Shi’san, who made eighth place in the top tier. What’s there to congratulate?” Zhou Liu-lang scoffed.
“Lady Cheng seems to be preparing the gift for Young Master Qin,” the servant said.
Zhou Liu-lang froze mid-scoff.
For him?
“It’s just… just an eighth place in the top tier…” he muttered. “What’s so great about that? I’ve already been promoted three ranks myself…”
