Chapter Fifteen: So It Was

Jing Hu couldn’t help but feel a twinge of dissatisfaction. “Since she knew, why wouldn’t she tell you? Was it because of you, or was it because of herself?”

She knew she had always acted somewhat recklessly, sometimes hurting others in the process. But such directness was still better than harboring tangled, cloudy thoughts that left one feeling uneasy.

Sometimes, “not knowing” is far more terrifying than “knowing.”

Qing Rou harbored similar doubts in her heart, but after all, she was her sister. “She was raised under our grandmother’s care since childhood and wasn’t particularly close to my mother or me.”

“Perhaps there are truly some things I’m not meant to know. And if it were really her fault, my father and grandmother wouldn’t be unreasonable enough to behave this way.”

“Yet sometimes I can’t help but feel a bit unsettled and blame my family. You don’t need to feel sad for me. My fifth sister also paid a price.”

Qing Rou continued, “Last August, my fifth sister was supposed to be betrothed to my cousin. The elders of both families had already agreed and were only waiting for my cousin to pass the imperial exams. After this incident, the engagement was never mentioned again.”

“Then, just a few days ago, she inexplicably married into the long-declined Marquis Chengyi’s household. Even though her husband is a scholar, he’s no match for my cousin.”

Upon hearing this, Jing Hu immediately jumped up from her chair, her sudden movement causing the tea on the table to spill. Fortunately, the tea had long since cooled, so it didn’t scald her, but it was a pity for the Western gauze jacket she had just put on that day.

Qing Rou found this somewhat odd and hurriedly called for someone to clean up the mess. She then found a new jacket and helped Jing Hu change.

While Qing Rou busied herself, Jing Hu felt a bit dazed.

She had never imagined that Ke Mingxu would once have an understanding, even a promise of lifelong companionship, with Qing Rou’s fifth sister—the Lady of Huaiyi County whom she had seen on Dragon Boat Festival day.

And yet, that Lady of Huaiyi County ultimately became the wife of Ke Mingxu’s junior fellow apprentice.

Why was this so? Observing the harmony between the couple and her willingness to marry down, it was clearly not a reluctant match. So why had she previously been betrothed to Ke Mingxu?

Was it merely the will of their elders?

She had a vague feeling that something was amiss. When they first met, Ke Mingxu seemed momentarily distracted when she mentioned Xihe Garden. And just yesterday, on Dragon Boat Festival, when he looked at his junior fellow apprentice Qi Yuanfang, his eyes were complicated, leaving her puzzled.

Did he have feelings for her? Was the peony he favored the one that bloomed in Xihe Garden after all?