Song of the Bright Moon Chapter 131

“I will keep mourning Brother Shouzhen for three years. After three years, I will leave the Pei family.”

“Even if you despise me, resent me, or hate me, I beg you to leave at least a sliver of kindness for Di Ge’er’s sake. Put on at least the pretense of peace between us. Don’t let him repeat his father’s fate, caught between us, torn and joyless.”

“If you still harbor malice, sow discord, or make trouble, I will summon the clan elders, take a letter of divorce, and leave the Pei household with my son. I will no longer acknowledge you as his grandmother. But if you can let the river and the well keep to their own waters, I will promise this, for three years of widowhood, I will do nothing to betray Brother Shouzhen, nor will I keep the child from being close to you.”

“You should know, Di Ge’er, like his father, is precocious and perceptive. He can see clearly the rights and wrongs between his elders. We are both mothers; I beg you once more, don’t wound Pei Shouzhen’s memory, and don’t destroy your bond with your grandson. Leave a little mercy and a little affection for yourself.”

Having said all this, Shen Yujiao turned and left the ancestral hall without looking back.

Years ago, she had feared the heavy, oppressive air of this place.

Now, years later, she couldn’t wait to escape it.

—

Perhaps her words in the ancestral hall had struck too deep, or perhaps Madam Wang had truly taken them to heart, for the next few days, she stayed quietly in her courtyard.

Each day, Di Ge’er went to pay his respects to her morning and evening. When Shen Yujiao asked how things were, the boy only said, “All is well. Grandmother is just quieter than usual.”

He frowned. “Why does Grandmother always look unhappy? Does she have a lot to worry about?”

Shen Yujiao didn’t know how to answer.

Madam Wang had trapped herself in her own cocoon, her heart bound too tightly. Now the bitterness she tasted was one she’d brewed herself. No one could save her; only she could decide whether to let go of her suffering.

Either way, since she had spoken those words, to remain a widow for three years, Shen Yujiao’s heart was at peace. She stayed quietly in the estate, accompanying her son.

Her son would mourn his father for three years; she would remain a widow for three years. That, she thought, would settle the bond of seven years between husband and wife.

By June, after nearly three months of staying with her daughter and grandson, Madam Li was preparing to return to Chang’an.

After all, she had her own husband and sons. If she stayed too long at her married daughter’s house, tongues would wag.

Before leaving, she stood beyond the city gate, hugging Di Ge’er again and again, then clasping Shen Yujiao’s hands as she urged her, “Remember to send a letter home every month. I’ll write to you each month as well. If I find the time, I’ll come visit you again.”

Her daughter was now to live as a widow in the Pei household with all its rules and restrictions. It was rare for a widow to go out, or else Madam Li would have asked her to bring the boy to Chang’an for a longer stay.

“As for that mother-in-law of yours, keep your guard up.”

As she spoke, she recalled their last meeting before parting, and her tone softened. “If she wants to live in peace, then live in peace. But if she insists on making trouble, even if it means tearing the families apart, I won’t let her be.”

Shen Yujiao squeezed her hand. “I understand.”

Just as they were reluctantly saying their farewells, the sharp sound of galloping hooves suddenly rang out.

Mother and daughter turned to look and through the drifting dust, a handsome young man in crimson robes rode swiftly toward them. His robe billowed in the wind, as free and untamed as the expression in his eyes.

Both Shen Yujiao and Madam Li froze where they stood.

Only Di Ge’er cried out joyfully, “It’s Uncle Xie!”

Madam Li looked at the boy’s delighted face and sighed inwardly, Foolish child, you’re happy now, but this man has come to steal your mother’s heart.

Xie Wuling pulled on the reins, then dismounted smoothly.

Mindful of propriety, both Shen Yujiao and Madam Li bowed. “We pay respects to Zhenbei Wang.”

Xie Wuling raised a hand. “No need for such formality.”

Then he untied a bulging pouch from his waist and tossed it to Di Ge’er with a smile. “A batch of seven-colored glass beads just arrived from the west, take them, have some fun.”

“Thank you, Uncle!” Di Ge’er opened the pouch, and each bead inside was round and gleaming, catching the sunlight in a swirl of shifting colors. He loved them so much he couldn’t put them down.

While helping Shen Yujiao put on her veiled hat, Madam Li gave a thin, polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I wonder what brings Your Highness here today?”

Before Xie Wuling could so much as take a proper look at Shen Yujiao, that veil was already in place, he felt a twinge of regret but still answered honestly, “I heard Aunt is returning to Chang’an today, so this junior came especially to see you off.”

Madam Li thought to herself, You and I aren’t related — why would you need to see me off? Outwardly, though, she forced a strained smile. “Your Highness is too courteous. A humble woman like me can hardly deserve such honor.”

Xie Wuling pretended not to hear the underlying rebuke, his eyes curving slightly. “Of course you deserve it. Brother Pei Shouzhen and I were brothers-in-arms, bound through life and death. His mother-in-law is my mother-in-law, now that you’re returning home, how could I not come to see you off?”

Madam Li was speechless. This man, she had lived for over half a lifetime and never seen anyone so shamelessly force a kinship before.

Yet he was now a titled prince; she couldn’t be rude to him even if she wanted to. The indignation in her chest had nowhere to go.

Knowing her mother couldn’t handle Xie Wuling’s relentless nonsense, Shen Yujiao quickly said, “Mother, it’s getting late, you should be on your way.”

Madam Li pressed her lips together and pulled her daughter aside, whispering in her ear, “What is he doing here? You’d better be careful. Don’t let him tangle you up, your reputation will suffer. You’re still in mourning.”

Shen Yujiao sighed. “I know.”

Madam Li studied her a few more times. Seeing Di Ge’er nearby with the Pei servants, she finally felt a bit relieved.

Just before boarding the carriage, Xie Wuling took two large sacks from his horse. “These are some local goods I’ve prepared. Aunt, please take them home with you.”

Without giving Madam Li a chance to refuse, he carried them himself to the back of the carriage. “No need to be polite with me,” he said cheerfully.

Madam Li was dumbfounded. 

Good heavens… what kind of person is this!

When the carriage finally rolled away into the distance, Shen Yujiao stood beneath the blazing June sun, watching it go until a tall shadow fell over her.

She turned, and Xie Wuling was right beside her. “If you’re reluctant to part,” he said lightly, “shall I invite her to visit again next time?”

That word invite made Shen Yujiao’s eyelids twitch. “Don’t you dare make trouble.”

She paused, then asked, “Why did you really come?”

“As I said,” Xie Wuling replied, “to see Aunt off.”

“…Xie Wuling.”

He coughed. “I only thought, if I showed a bit of diligence before your mother, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Shen Yujiao was momentarily speechless. Turning away, she looked at him through the thin gauze of her veil. “You came all this way just for that?”

Xie Wuling raised a fist to his lips and coughed again. “Well, there’s one more thing.”

“Oh?”

“The sun’s harsh at noon, why don’t you get in the carriage first?”

“I’ll ride alongside,” he said. “We can talk through the curtain, so you won’t feel uncomfortable.”

His thoughtfulness made Shen Yujiao sigh inwardly, her guard unconsciously easing.

“Just until the city gate,” she said. “I’m in mourning, it wouldn’t look proper.”

“Whatever you say,” he shrugged.

Shen Yujiao bent and entered the carriage, while Xie Wuling mounted his horse and rode beside it. Through the curtain, he said, “Shouan is dead.”

Shen Yujiao froze. Instinctively, she glanced at Di Ge’er, who was playing with the glass beads.

“Mother,” the boy asked curiously, “who’s Shouan?”

“She…” Shen Yujiao hesitated, then said softly, “She was a princess of the former emperor, married off far away to Nanzhao.”

Di Ge’er nodded. He didn’t ask further, knowing that people died and went to a very faraway place.

His great-grandmother had gone there. His father too. Now, this Princess Shouan he’d never met was the same.

Afraid her son might overhear more, Shen Yujiao didn’t dare to ask openly. Facing the curtain, she lowered her voice. “Was it you?”

Xie Wuling’s reply was quiet. “I’ve remembered it always. Not a day have I dared to forget.”

Shen Yujiao was silent for a moment, then murmured, “Thank you.”

“Come now, no need for courtesy between us.”

He chuckled, and then, through the curtain, began talking to her about recent happenings like old friends catching up, polite and restrained.

Mostly, it was Xie Wuling who spoke.

He’d always been talkative, as though there were endless things to say just like back in Jinling. Back then, he’d chatter to her even about a bald man fighting or a fat man splitting his shorts; now he told her in detail about his fief, how large it was, how many houses he planned to build, how much land to cultivate.

Confined to the inner residence and barred from all forms of diversion due to mourning, Shen Yujiao found herself listening intently.

Di Ge’er, too, was fascinated, hearing that Xie Wuling’s domain had mountains, rivers, and countless orchards. “Wow! I really want to see it!” he exclaimed.

Xie Wuling had been fishing all this while waiting for that very line.

If the big fish wouldn’t bite, a little fish would do.

“Then in a while, I’ll come pick you up to stay at my estate for a few days. How about that?”

“Really?” Di Ge’er’s eyes lit up, his face pressed to the window as he looked at the tall man outside.

“When has Uncle ever lied to you?” Xie Wuling said with a faint smile. “So long as your mother agrees.”

Di Ge’er instantly turned his small head, eyes shining with anticipation as he looked up at Shen Yujiao. “Mother, good Mother, can I go?”

Shen Yujiao: “……”

That sly Xie Wuling.

But unlike her, who could not step past the inner courtyard gates, her son was a boy, born with the right to see a wider world.

She herself could not go out, but she would not stop her child from leaving the estate. “We’ll discuss it once we return home.”

Di Ge’er knew that meant she had given in. Delighted, he hugged Shen Yujiao’s arm. “I knew Mother was the best!”

Shen Yujiao smiled faintly, just about to scold him for his glib tongue, when from outside the carriage curtain came a voice: “Yes, your mother has always been the best.”

Shen Yujiao: “……”

Fine, the one outside was even more glib.

Xie Wuling escorted mother and son’s carriage convoy to the city gates, then went no further in. Instead, he arranged with Di Ge’er that he would come pick him up in seven days to visit Yicheng.

Yicheng was one of Xie Wuling’s fiefs.

He was doing well for himself these days. The court had signed a truce with the Rong Di tribes; there would be no wars for at least ten years. The military men could finally rest and enjoy some peace and comfort.

He himself had little else to do now.

Earlier, he had taken a trip to Luoyang to visit Ping’an, intending to bring the boy back to raise. But seeing that Ping’an was living happily with his adoptive parents, he had hidden nearby for several days observing them, then finally gave up the idea, unwilling to ruin the warmth of their family life.

Later, he sent someone to Jinling, bearing rich gifts to Sixth Master Chang, expressing his wish to bring the old man to Yicheng to live out his later years.

But who could have guessed, the old man had met a divine physician, and last year had actually fathered a child in his old age! Now he spent his days grinning from ear to ear, hugging his baby like a laughing Maitreya Buddha, unwilling to leave his home for anything.

When Xie Wuling received that report from his men, he felt a sour pang in his heart.

Well then. The old man was already half a step into the grave and still full of vitality, while he himself, a strong man in his prime, was still single, alone, and without any prospects.

So he gave up on all that, and turned his energy toward finding good food and fun things to send to Shen Yujiao and her son.

Even if he couldn’t see her in person, he had to make his presence known, remind her that outside her quiet courtyard, there was still a Xie Wuling thinking of her.

It was a pity that Shen Yujiao seldom left the house, leaving him no chance to show his attentions directly. So he could only start with Di Ge’er.

He took the boy to Yicheng for seven days of delicious food and endless play. Di Ge’er was so delighted he didn’t want to go home, clinging to Xie Wuling with bright, sparkling eyes. “Uncle Xie, can I come play with you again next time?”

Xie Wuling could not have wished for more. Stroking the boy’s small head, he said, “Not just to play, you could even live here if you liked.”

And best if I could bring your mother too, he added silently in his heart.

When he brought Di Ge’er back to the Pei residence, Xie Wuling took the chance to see Shen Yujiao once again.

Her complexion was fair and smooth, her brows serene; she looked peaceful. Clearly, she had grown accustomed to widowhood.

This time, he came with a request. “I find my current residence too lavish and empty,” he said. “I want to build one that’s more compact and elegant. If Madam has some free time, would you draw a design for me? I’ll pay one thousand—no, three thousand taels. Whatever sum Madam asks, I’ll agree, as long as you’ll help me.”

If it had been any other request, Shen Yujiao might not have agreed.

But drafting architectural plans and seeing her drawings turned into real, tangible structures — that tempted her more than any amount of silver or gold.

She was somewhat moved; after all, life in the inner residence was dull and monotonous.

Seeing the flicker of hesitation in her eyes, Xie Wuling knew there was hope. He hurried to say, “If you don’t want to design a residence, then a bridge, a road, a pagoda, a temple — whatever you draw, I’ll build it.”

He had no shortage of land, and plenty of silver saved up over the years, he could afford to indulge.

Shen Yujiao frowned slightly, hearing the recklessness in his tone. “If you have money to burn, better to help the poor than squander it so carelessly.”

At that, Xie Wuling clapped his hands. “That’s why Madam is so wise! Then I’ll build a charitable hall, a Jishan Hall, to shelter the homeless, the old, the weak, and the orphaned. What do you think?”

Shen Yujiao was taken aback. “You… you’re serious?”

Xie Wuling said, “Of course. You said it yourself, help the poor. Since I have nowhere else to spend the money, I might as well do some good deeds and earn some virtue.”

Shen Yujiao: “……”

She had only spoken casually, but if he truly had both the heart and means to help the weak, she would not oppose it.

After all, when she fled with Ping’an years ago, had there been such a shelter, perhaps she wouldn’t have suffered so much.

“To aid the world when one has means, and to cultivate virtue when one does not that is the best way.”

Shen Yujiao, for once, gave him a look of approval. “If you truly mean to do this, I will draw the plans and contribute my part to the Jishan Hall.”

“Yes, yes, I absolutely mean it,” Xie Wuling said quickly, afraid she might change her mind. “Then it’s settled, you draw the plans, I’ll find a suitable site. I’ll send word when everything’s ready.”

Watching his brisk, fiery figure disappear into the distance, Shen Yujiao couldn’t help but laugh softly.

Already thirty years old, yet still as impetuous as a young lad, not the least bit steady.

Still, with this “commission” for architectural drawings, her days in the inner courtyard finally had a new source of delight.

When Madam Wang heard that Shen Yujiao had accepted the commission, she was displeased, yet found no grounds to object—

After all, Shen Yujiao never went out. She spent her days quietly indoors, sketching lines and painting designs, or using bamboo sticks and wooden pegs to build miniature models of houses.

All correspondence with Zhenbei Wang was done through Di Ge’er or the guards, and their exchanges were only ever about the construction of the charity hall.

It would be difficult for anyone to accuse her of violating the virtues of womanhood for that.

But once the charity hall was completed, Zhenbei Wang did not stop there. He went on to build a temple to the Earth God, a Guanyin pagoda, taverns, bridges—everything he wanted to build.

In time, the public gave him many nicknames: “Second Minister of Works,” “Builder of the North,” “The Craftsman Wangye.”

No one knew that all those sturdy, beautiful, and ingenious buildings had come from the hand of a widow of the Hedong Pei clan.

And as one structure after another rose from the ground, three years quietly passed.

—

On the day Di Ge’er completed his mourning period, Shen Yujiao, in the presence of elders from both the Pei and Shen families, produced the letter of release and formally severed her marriage with the Pei clan.

The Pei clan’s elder aunts and uncles tried again and again to persuade her, always invoking the child’s sake.

“You’ve already kept your widowhood for three years, what’s a few more? When the boy grows up, you’ll have endured long enough to see better days.”

“That’s right. You can tell just by looking that Di Ge’er is destined for success. Once he passes the imperial exams and rises in rank, won’t you naturally live well?”

“Everyone knows how deeply you and Shouzhen loved each other, how can you be so heartless as to betray that affection?”

Those words were repeated again and again in her ears. Even Madam Li and Madam Xu began to waver, glancing anxiously at Shen Yujiao—

Was letting her divorce the Pei family truly right, or wrong?

Shen Yujiao simply pointed to a passage in the release letter: “My husband granted that I may take the child with me. I will be taking Di Ge’er when I leave.”

At this, the faces of everyone in the Pei family changed.

Madam Wang’s fingers clenched tightly around her cane. Three years had passed, and her once-gaunt face looked even more aged. “You may go,” she said coldly, “but Di Ge’er is of the Pei clan. He must stay.”

Shen Yujiao replied, “He is first my son, and only then a son of the Pei clan. And in taking him away, I do not mean to cut him off from your family, he will simply live with his mother and be raised by me.”

“Madam Shen!” Madam Wang locked eyes with her, her aged gaze filled with resentment, hatred, and something too tangled to name.

Shen Yujiao did not flinch. She met the old woman’s stare head-on.

She had nothing to fear.

She had wronged neither the Pei family, nor Pei Xia, nor Madam Wang herself.

Especially when it came to Di Ge’er, had Xie Wuling not intervened back then, this child would never have lived to see the world at all.

And Madam Wang was the last person on earth with the right to fight her for the boy.

“My mind is made up,” Shen Yujiao said firmly. “I will take my child and leave. If anyone insists on stopping me, I will not hesitate to take this before the magistrate and let the laws of Great Liang judge fairly.”

At those words, the faces in the hall darkened further.

This Madam Shen, who for three years had been gentle as water, always polite and soft-spoken, how had she suddenly become so unyielding?

If the matter truly went to court, neither family would escape disgrace.

And the release letter in Shen Yujiao’s hands stated clearly that the mother had full right to decide the child’s place of residence. If it came before the magistrate, the Pei family would likely lose.

Just as the air in the room grew tense and frozen, Di Ge’er suddenly ran in—

Behind him followed Bai Ping, pale with panic, unable to stop him.

Di Ge’er looked first at Shen Yujiao, then went straight to Madam Wang and knelt down with a thud. “Grandmother.”

He was now eight years old, old enough to understand much that had once been beyond him.

Kneeling before her, that little face so like his father’s lifted toward her, his dark eyes clear as a stream. “Grandmother, your grandson begs you, please don’t make things hard for my mother.”

The color drained from Madam Wang’s face.

Di Ge’er grasped her hand earnestly. “No matter where I live, you will always be my grandmother. When I grow up, I will surely be filial to you. I only beg you, please don’t make things difficult for her.”

How alike they were, father and son, saying the very same words.

Don’t make things hard for her.

Madam Wang’s lips trembled; heat welled suddenly in her eyes.

She looked at the small, tender face before her, and a hoarse sob broke from her throat—“Shouzhen…”

Shouzhen, my son.

Your mother regrets it now.

Your mother truly repents.

Come back, come back. Let me apologize to you. I will never again make you suffer, never again make you choose.

Madam Wang clutched her grandson’s hand tightly, tears falling like rain.

No one in the hall dared breathe; they only exchanged glances, astonished that the proud old matriarch of the Pei family could lose her composure so completely.

Ah—after all, it was love between generations. She could not bear to part with her grandson.

In the end, Madam Wang let go.

Di Ge’er left the Pei residence with Shen Yujiao.

Outside waited the Shen family’s carriage—Shen Hui, Shen Guangting, Madam Li, and Madam Xu had all come together to welcome their young mistress home.

Servants loaded the trunks and chests onto the cart. Shen Yujiao held Di Ge’er’s hand, looking up at the old wooden plaque hanging over the Pei estate’s gate.

From the early spring of Yuan Shou’s nineteenth year to the early autumn of Shun Ping’s third—it had been ten full years as a woman of the Pei household.

The man who had once led her through those doors was gone. 

But beside her now stood her child, and behind her waited her family.

A mixture of relief and faint melancholy welled in her heart.

“Yuniang.” Her sister-in-law, Madam Xu, came over and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right?”

Shen Yujiao came back to herself and smiled. “I’m fine. It’s just… time flies so quickly.”

“Doesn’t it? Di Ge’er’s already so grown now.”

In truth, Madam Xu couldn’t quite understand why her younger sister-in-law insisted on leaving the Pei family. Di Ge’er was already eight, just endure another ten years, and he could take a wife. Then she’d have a son and daughter-in-law to wait on her knees; life would be so comfortable.

Now she was leaving the Pei clan at this age… returning to her natal home. Could she really find a better home than the Peis?

Madam Xu didn’t understand, but since her parents-in-law and husband all doted on the younger sister, she as a sister-in-law couldn’t say much.

“Come, let’s go.” Shen Yujiao drew back her gaze, took Di Ge’er by the hand, and stepped into the carriage.

The Shen family’s carriage and horses slowly rolled away from the gates of the Wenxi branch of the Pei clan.

Inside the carriage, it was unusually quiet.

Madam Li and Madam Xu wanted to say something, yet couldn’t find the right words, so they made small talk, asking Di Ge’er about his studies.

After they had left the city and gone some distance, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Madam Li frowned and asked outside, “Why have we stopped?”

A maidservant’s voice answered, “There’s a troop of riders blocking the road ahead, and they look rather high-ranking.”

Madam Li lifted the curtain and the moment she saw the handsome young man approaching on a tall horse, her face changed.

Seeing her mother’s expression, Shen Yujiao guessed what it was.

Sure enough, with the steady rhythm of hooves drawing nearer, a familiar lazy voice came from outside the carriage: “Xie, here, greets Madam Shen, Young Madam Shen, and Lady Shen.”

And perhaps it was only her imagination—but the words Lady Shen seemed to linger deliberately, slow and drawn-out.

Madam Li cleared her throat and raised her voice: “Greetings to His Highness Zhenbei Wang. May I ask what commands Your Highness has?”

“None at all,” came the measured reply through the curtain. “I merely heard that Lady Shen has left the Pei family, and I came specially to offer my congratulations.”

The man’s voice was calm and unhurried. “Might I ask if Lady Shen would honor me by stepping down to speak a few words?”

Madam Li’s face darkened. “That would hardly be proper.”

Silence for a moment, then: “In that case, shall I speak directly here? Lady Shen, I—”

“Wait.”

Shen Yujiao’s brow twitched; she feared what nonsense he might say before her mother, sister-in-law, and child.

“Mother, I’ll go down and speak with him a moment.”

Seeing Madam Li frown in displeasure, Shen Yujiao sighed. “You know what he’s like, he won’t stop until he gets his way.”

Madam Li could only relent. “Wear your veil properly. Mind your words.”

“Mm.” Shen Yujiao nodded, put on her gauze hat, and alighted from the carriage.

Madam Xu glanced anxiously at Madam Li. “Mother… Yuniang, she…”

Madam Li, mindful that Di Ge’er was present, merely said stiffly, “We’ll see.”

Three years now.

Each New Year and festival, that Zhenbei Wang would send gifts to the Shen household, extravagant ones at that, practically with ‘please acknowledge me as your son-in-law’ written across his face.

Return one gift, and he’d send two. Return two, he’d send three.

Return three, and he’d appear in person: “Master Shen, have I done something to displease you? Tell me, and I’ll change.”

So blunt that Shen Hui was utterly bewildered. When he finally recovered, he hurried to say, “How could I dare!”

Xie Wuling replied, “Then why will you not accept my gifts?”

Shen Hui said, “One should not take reward without merit.”

Xie Wuling answered solemnly, “I admire Master Shen’s learning and wish to make your acquaintance.”

Shen Hui: “…”

What would a soldier admire about scholarship?

Xie Wuling sighed, hand to his brow. “Ah, so Master Shen looks down on this rough man. Alas—”

That drawn-out sigh made Shen Hui’s scalp tingle. He couldn’t send him away, so in the end he had to accept the gifts just to get rid of the living Buddha.

Yet for every gift they received, husband and wife would return one of equal value, taking not a single coin more, lest things become messy later.

Through these exchanges, the Shens came to know this Wangye’s nature a little— He was a good man… except when it came to their daughter, his face was far too thick!

And now that Shen Yujiao had divorced the Peis, they guessed that Zhenbei Wang would never sit still.

Sure enough, before they’d even passed the Wenxi boundary marker, he had come to find her.

Shen Yujiao, veiled, stepped down. Xie Wuling dismounted too, clad in a robe of bright red brocade, his dark hair bound high; at a glance one might think he was on his way to a wedding.

“Jiaojiao.”

He called her name softly, then stepped forward and made a solemn bow. “Lady Shen.”

Through the thin gauze, Shen Yujiao was momentarily dazed. “It’s been so long since anyone has called me that.”

Xie Wuling arched a brow. “If you like it, I can say it more often.”

“You’d better not.”

Glancing at the line of carriages by the roadside, she pressed her lips together. “Coming here to stop me like this is hardly proper.”

“I know it was rash,” he said, “but I was afraid that if I let you go like this, I’d regret it.”

“Regret?”

“Mm. I came today for two things.”

He raised a hand to his mouth, coughed lightly, and said with great seriousness, “First, to congratulate you for leaving the Pei family, no longer bound to widowhood.”

It truly was something worth congratulating. Shen Yujiao’s brows relaxed, a small smile touching her lips. “Then this congratulation, I’ll accept. Thank you.”

The autumn wind brushed softly by. Xie Wuling looked at the gauzy white veil fluttering with the breeze, and his voice gentled as well. “The second thing, may I ask if Lady Shen would honor me by accompanying me somewhere?”

“I promise, it’s a place that will absolutely delight you.”