Qian Jiaoniang, seeing that Ding Zhang didn’t seem to be lying, said nothing more. The servants quickly set the table. Xing Muzheng sat and said, “After the meal, prepare two gift sets—one as a thank-you for the academy teacher, the other as a formal gift to his new master. The thank-you will be delivered this afternoon as a farewell, and the other kept for when Master Cui arrives tomorrow.”
Qian Jiaoniang didn’t respond.
Once the table was ready, Xing Muzheng invited her to sit and eat. Qian Jiaoniang replied, “Oh dear, I didn’t expect the Marquis’ grand visit—I’ve already eaten lunch myself.”
Xing Muzheng kept a straight face. “Is that so? Then tonight, wait until I return before you eat… From now on, meals will wait until I’m home.”
Since she called him “Marquis” so nicely, then he would simply act the part.
Return? Return to where? Qian Jiaoniang’s mouth twitched. After a moment, she forced a smile. “Marquis, you’re such a busy person—why dine with idlers like us? It doesn’t match.”
“That’s my concern. No need for you to worry,” Xing Muzheng said casually, picking up a piece of fish and putting it in his mouth.
Qian Jiaoniang, fuming, turned and went back to her room. Once she was gone, Xing Muzheng set down his chopsticks and his face turned cold. She clearly couldn’t stand him—not a single proper look since he entered the room. Was there a thorn growing on him or something? She’d rather go hungry than sit and eat with him.
Well, there’s a long road ahead. He didn’t believe she’d ignore him for the rest of her life.
While Xing Muzheng ate his cold meal alone, just outside the Marquis Manor, a whole family of travelers crouched near the wall—some squatting, some standing, craning their necks to see if the gates would open.
As it happened, they had terrible luck. Two days ago, in the morning, the whole family had dressed up neatly, carrying large and small gift boxes, and hired a carriage to take them to the Marquis Manor. They confidently told the gatekeepers they were maternal relatives of Dingxi Marquis and had come to visit. However, ever since Xing Muzheng had settled in Yuzhou, there had been a string of people impersonating distant relatives. The gatekeepers were sick of it. At one glance, they could tell these were fakes, and chased them off like cattle.
The travelling family pleaded endlessly, pestering the guards all morning until their lips were dry. Finally, they scraped together two taels of silver and discreetly handed them over. Only then did the guards reluctantly agree to go report in. The family was overjoyed, lining up neatly under the eaves with umbrellas, waiting for a servant to invite them in.
But who would have thought the servant would take over half an hour, and still no one came. They were soaked nearly through by the rain. Finally, when someone came out, it was a servant with a sour face who snapped that the Marquis didn’t recognize any such relatives and would not see them. Worse, he’d been scolded because of them.
The whole family stood dumbfounded. They tried pleading again, but the two guards rolled their eyes and ignored them. And the two taels of silver? Gone. With nothing else to do, the family slunk back to their inn like defeated roosters. That night they discussed and decided they couldn’t give up just yet. Surely those wicked servants had lied—slacked off for half an hour and then lied to their faces.
Since they wouldn’t deliver their message, they’d wait outside! As soon as Xing Muzheng left the manor, they’d rush up and claim kinship.
Having made up their minds, the family went to bed early and got up even earlier the next day, once again staking out by the manor wall. When the gatekeepers tried to shoo them off, they simply shrank into the corner and stayed put. They waited all day, but Xing Muzheng never appeared. By evening, they were filthy, and some passersby even tossed them a few copper coins, mistaking them for beggars. The family flew into a rage and hurled the coins back, swearing loudly.
Today, still unwilling to give up, they squatted once more in the hot sun, gnawing on steamed buns by the wall. The two children had never suffered such hardships. A single day’s wait had worn out their patience, and they kept whining to leave. The wife, furious at their weakness, smacked them several times.
Suddenly, the cry of a fine steed rang out. Several servants stood at the foot of the manor steps with a sleek black horse. Two gatekeepers ran up and down, and the main gates swung wide open.
“The front gate’s open! The master must be coming out!” the traveler jumped up.
His wife also perked up, craning her neck and tiptoeing eagerly. Even the two children stopped fussing and widened their eyes, all staring with anticipation.
Not long after, a tall and imposing man in a dark robe stepped out of the Marquis Manor, surrounded by attendants. He descended the steps in long strides, and the servants quickly led his horse to his side, offering up the whip with both hands.
“Quick, quick, that must be our nephew!” the traveler shouted. “Don’t let him get away!”
The four of them surged forward together. Just as Xing Muzheng mounted the horse and raised his whip, four people suddenly darted out in front of the horse like lunatics. He yanked hard on the reins. The black stallion reared up, letting out a piercing whinny, its hooves flailing in the air—but ultimately, it stopped and didn’t trample anyone beneath its hooves.
The steward’s eyes bulged in rage. “Where did these mad riffraff come from, daring to block the Marquis’s horse?! Men! Bind them up!”
“No, no! Don’t bind us—we’re not bad people!” the wife shouted.
Xing Muzheng hadn’t planned to bother with them, but when his gaze swept over the four and landed on the woman’s face, his eyes widened in astonishment, and he blurted out, “Mother?”
Ding Zhang and the rest listened carefully and were all utterly shocked. That woman was the Marquis’s mother? What was going on? Didn’t Madam say the old lady had already passed away? Why was she alive again?
The woman beamed with joy and said, “Good nephew, I’m not your mother—I’m your aunt, your mother’s twin sister!”
As it turned out, this woman was Liu Ying, Xing Muzheng’s mother’s younger twin sister. The man next to her was her husband, Tian Linwen, and the boy and girl were their children—Xing Muzheng’s younger cousins, Tian Yongzhang and Tian Bilian.
Xing Muzheng looked closely at Liu Ying. Her appearance was exactly like his memory of his mother. He couldn’t help but feel a sudden warmth in his heart. His parents came from small families—his father was the sole male heir for three generations, and his mother had only an elderly father and a younger sister. After his maternal grandfather passed away, his mother missed her sister even more and often told Xing Muzheng that if he ever met her, he’d surely be stunned. But this aunt had moved to Zizhou with her husband when Xing Muzheng was still very young, and aside from the occasional letter, he had never seen her in person.
With that face bearing such a perfect resemblance to his mother’s, there was no way it could be faked. Xing Muzheng dismounted from his horse and gave Liu Ying and Tian Linwen a deep bow. “Aunt, Uncle.”
Liu Ying and Tian Linwen exchanged a look and smiled so hard their eyes nearly vanished into slits. Tian Linwen stepped forward to lift him up. “Good nephew, we don’t dare accept such courtesy!”
Liu Ying quickly called out to her children, “Zhang’er, Bilian, come greet your cousin!”
Tian Bilian hurriedly removed her gauze veil and, along with her brother, stepped forward to bow. Xing Muzheng looked at the two cousins—they both resembled their father: square faces, thick brows, big eyes. They didn’t resemble his mother at all. His gaze returned to Liu Ying. The more he looked at her, the more she looked like his late mother. A wave of mixed emotions surged in his chest. He tossed his riding crop to a servant and invited Liu Ying and her family into the residence.
Ding Zhang promptly shouted, “Respectfully welcome Aunt and Uncle into the Manor!”
All the servants followed in unison. The two gatekeepers were so full of regret they broke out in a cold sweat, bowing their heads in shame. Tian Linwen recalled the humiliation from the other day. Now that he was being personally invited into the residence by the illustrious Marquis, he felt a swelling pride and practically floated up the steps. As he passed through the gate, Tian Yongzhang even spat at each of the gatekeepers in turn, only to be playfully pushed along by his giggling sister.
Xing Muzheng led them into the front hall. Liu Ying and her family were still gawking around in amazement at the grandeur of the Marquis Manor when they heard him say, “Go fetch Madam and the Young Master. Tell them Aunt and Uncle have arrived from afar and ask them to come greet them.”
Liu Ying pricked up her ears, then exchanged a look with Tian Linwen. Tian Linwen asked, “Good nephew, your wife is…?”
Xing Muzheng said, “My wife is of the Qian family.” If Jiaoniang saw this aunt’s face, she’d surely be shocked. He was even looking forward to her reaction.
