Chapter 8: You Two Go Kneel in the Ancestral Hall

Zhu Wansheng called out towards the door: “Lanfan?”

There was no response, only silence…

Usually when she casually called out, Lanfan would respond and appear within three seconds. She raised her voice and called again, “Lanfan? Xiaosuda?”

Only the howling wind answered her.

She began to feel a bit scared. That suffocating feeling was too intense to be just from a nightmare. Could someone have tried to kill her while she was sleeping?

Just as she was about to get up to check, her vision darkened. Lanfan flashed in carrying a tray of tea, “My lady, you’re awake. Why is the door open? Did you go out?”

Zhu Wansheng’s heart skipped a beat. “Where did you go? How long were you gone? Did you see anyone on your way back?”

Lanfan was a bit stunned by her questions.

After a moment, she set down the tea and picked up some clothes. As she helped Zhu Wansheng dress, she replied, “Not long. I saw it was about time for you to wake up, so I went to the kitchen to order your meal.”

She continued: “As for who I saw, I encountered quite a few people on the way back – Gentleman Gu and Mangxiao, Young Master Lin, as well as Fentai and Xiaosuda. Why do you ask, my lady?”

Zhu Wansheng pressed further: “Which directions were they heading?”

Lanfan put her hand on her chin, as if recalling. She said slowly: “I ran into Gentleman Gu head-on. He and Mangxiao were walking hurriedly, I don’t know where they were going.”

“Young Master Lin was near the lotus pond by Zhu Silver Pavilion. He called out to me and asked if I wanted to feed the fish together. I said I was busy and we could do it another time.”

“Fentai was walking towards the main gate, and Xiaosuda was carrying your clothes to wash them.”

According to her account, Gu Yingqing seemed the most suspicious, but he wouldn’t…

Lanfan bent down to help her put on her shoes, hesitating before saying: “When the servant first entered the room, I wanted to ask – why is your face so red, my lady? Is the bedding too thick? Do you need thinner blankets?”

“My face is red?”

Lanfan nodded.

Reason told her she was overthinking things, but reality said it wasn’t an illusion. Perhaps someone really had tried to harm her.

It’s just that she had just arrived, and didn’t know if the original owner had offended anyone.

***

The food was no different from usual. Today the kitchen had added an extra dish – ginseng soup. But Zhu Wansheng ate absent-mindedly, stirring the soup in circles with her spoon.

Lanfan felt she had been acting strangely since waking up. “My lady?”

“What is it?” She continued stirring, answering casually.

Lanfan bent down slightly and picked up some meat dishes for her with chopsticks. “You have an appointment to see Old Lady Zhu.”

She made an “oh” sound and put down her spoon. “Then let’s go. I’m done eating.”

Lanfan opened her mouth but before she could speak, Zhu Wansheng had already left the dining hall.

The weather was neither cold nor hot. The air carried the sweet fragrance of flowers. It was perfect for spreading a blanket on the grass, sitting down, preparing some wine and food, and enjoying the spring. Zhu Chidi was doing just that.

She reclined at an angle, her beautiful face half-lit and half-shadowed. Those bewitching eyes were especially alluring, full of charm when she smiled.

Thinking about it, what kind of man would a beautiful and powerful woman like her favor? The original owner had few memories of her birth father, just a tall figure carrying her on his back when she was little.

As for other male companions, Zhu Chidi had her own rules: never bring them back to the Zhu family. A typical case of mingling with many flowers without a petal sticking.

As they got closer, they could finally hear Zhu Chidi’s conversation with Gu Yingqing clearly. It was all about elegant matters like poetry and musical scores. He sat upright, responding patiently.

Zhu Wansheng didn’t interrupt their conversation. She casually picked up the smooth, fine white porcelain teapot and filled the white jade double fish teacups with tea.

The sound of the trickling tea made the two turn to look. Only then did she speak, “Mother.”

Zhu Chidi nodded and got straight to the point: “You look so serious. What matter do you wish to discuss with me? Is there some issue with the shop?”

She shook her head. Although there were many issues with the shop, that wasn’t why she came today. “I still need to consider the shop matters carefully before discussing them with you, Mother.” Zhu Chidi’s directness without any small talk left her momentarily at a loss.

The lines she had rehearsed on the way were completely forgotten. She glanced at Gu Yingqing, but he kept his head lowered.

Zhu Wansheng took a big gulp of tea, coughed lightly, and said, “Today is about the matter between Gu Yingqing and me.”

“Oh?” Zhu Chidi narrowed her eyes and looked at the two of them. “What matter? Do you want to move to live together in Zhu Silver Pavilion? If it’s that, there’s no need to discuss. I approve.”

With her saying this, Zhu Wansheng felt that what she was about to say next would be a bit of a letdown. The small teacup was being fidgeted with in her hands. The originally cool jade had now absorbed her body heat and become warm.

To her, there was still some barrier with Zhu Chidi. She had just arrived and was about to make such a request, and it was about a major matter of marriage. It felt abrupt and difficult to broach.

“We want to divorce. We hope for Mother’s approval.” She kept her head lowered, her voice as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.

The air seemed to freeze in that moment. The surroundings instantly fell silent, with only the sound of flowing water still audible, occasionally interspersed with the cooing of birds. Sunlight shone on the tea in her hands, reflecting rippling light.

Zhu Wansheng didn’t get a response. She looked up. Zhu Chidi’s expression remained unchanged. Gu Yingqing’s hands alternated between resting on his knees and gripping his teacup.

As Zhu Wansheng’s palms began to sweat slightly, Zhu Chidi finally spoke. Her voice was no longer as gentle as before, carrying an inexplicable aura of authority: “Who suggested this?”

She wanted to say who else could it be, but when she opened her mouth, it became: “We have no feelings for each other. It’s better to part ways amicably while we’re still young.”

The air froze again. The birds stopped chirping, even the breeze halted, leaving them space.

The teacup in her hand was empty, and her mouth was dry, but she didn’t dare refill it. The torment was no less than when she was at the podium during group meetings, with a table of bigwigs bombarding her with questions.

“Such talk of parting amicably!” Zhu Chidi sat up straight, no longer smiling. “This is utter nonsense. Your marriage was personally arranged by my mother. The elders of both the Zhu and Gu families signed and sealed the agreement. That contract is still kept in the ancestral hall. Are you asking me to go against the promises made to our ancestors?”

At this moment, Zhu Wansheng’s mind went blank. She could only think that both the original owner and Gu Yingqing were terrible teammates.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Zhu Chidi’s anger increased further. “I see you two really can’t go on living together. Then let me make this clear: you can divorce, but you’ll have to give up the Zhu surname.”

Zhu Wansheng looked up in shock.

“But according to our Zhu family rules, those who give up the surname must shave their heads, strip off their clothes, and never set foot in the Zhu family home again for the rest of their lives. If you can bear that, then you may divorce.”

Shaving her head was too harsh. Zhu Wansheng just wanted to get away from here. “Never mind then.”

“And you? What grievances do you have? What dissatisfaction do you have with my Zhu family? If your mother is willing to go against the promises of our ancestors, then let her come to me to break off the engagement.”

Gu Yingqing shook his head.

Zhu Chidi’s expression remained stern. “If neither of you has any objections, then go kneel in the ancestral hall.”

She then said to Fentai: “Tell the kitchen they don’t need to prepare dinner for these two today. Yingshi, go watch over them in the ancestral hall.”

Zhu Wansheng was about to beg for mercy when Gu Yingqing spoke up first: “Mother, I was the one who suggested the divorce. One should be responsible for one’s own actions. I’ll go kneel alone.”

Zhu Chidi’s anger had not yet subsided. She glared at him. “I want you both to learn a good lesson, to know what it means to share honor and disgrace. If there’s punishment, you’ll face it together. No need for further words. This matter is not up for discussion.”

Zhu Chidi left gracefully. Zhu Wansheng felt like crying. Gu Yingqing kept his head lowered, his expression unreadable. “You’re quite chivalrous, knowing to beg Mother on my behalf.”

Gu Yingqing’s tone was flat. “It was indeed my suggestion. It has nothing to do with chivalry. I just don’t like involving others.”

Zhu Wansheng sighed. “Involved or not, now we both have to go kneel in the ancestral hall and miss dinner too.”

She, a modern 21st-century woman, had fallen to such a state. How sad and lamentable.

Ancestral Hall

Zhu Wansheng had thought about escaping. She really didn’t want to kneel in any ancestral hall. But Yingshi, this girl, truly impressed her.

Looking so small, how could she be so strong?

She just picked her up and brought her here to be punished.

Gu Yingqing knelt without complaint. Zhu Wansheng thought she could delay as long as possible. It was her first time seeing the ancestral hall. Spirit tablets of varying heights were neatly arranged in six rows, black tablets with red characters, all female names.

The table in front had plenty of incense and fresh fruit, spotlessly clean.

Besides the rows of tablets, there was also a wooden cabinet displaying the tokens of successive heads of the Zhu family, as well as the evolution of rouge packaging over the generations.

In the middle layer, there was indeed an exquisitely decorated red paper, with two red handprints at the bottom along with the Zhu family seal and the Gu family seal.

This must be the marriage contract.

Zhu Wansheng took a quick look. The gist of it seemed to be: For the connection between the Zhu and Gu families, in their generation, the eldest daughter would be named Wansheng, and the eldest son would be named Yingqing. The two would marry and share fortune together.

She had actually encountered the legendary arranged marriage between families. Wanting to divorce wasn’t even up for discussion. How tyrannical!

Below the marriage contract was a rouge box with a unique shape. Zhu Wansheng looked at it a bit longer.

The rouge box was named “Twin Flowers”. Two flowers grew on the same silver branch, which had already darkened a bit.

Yingshi had been following Zhu Wansheng. After she had looked around once and was about to start a second round, Yingshi finally couldn’t bear it anymore. “My lady, you’d better kneel down quickly. If Old Lady Zhu comes and sees you still not kneeling, she’ll get angry again.”

Zhu Wansheng snorted and knelt down on the cushion next to Gu Yingqing. He knelt upright and straight. She didn’t have such posture and ended up in more of a kneeling-sitting position.

The ancestral hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The scent of burning candles filled her nostrils. At first, Zhu Wansheng carefully read through all the names on the spirit tablets. Having something to do made kneeling a bit more bearable.

After finishing with the spirit tablets, she had nothing left to do. Staring at the flickering candlelight, her eyelids began to droop.

The sun slowly sank to the west. Orange light fell sparsely on the ground, gradually moving and finally dissipating. Zhu Wansheng sank along with it bit by bit.

After the light was completely swallowed by darkness, Zhu Wansheng’s whole body tilted onto Gu Yingqing.

He had been lost in thought. When his shoulder suddenly felt heavy, he instinctively wanted to move away. But glancing over, he saw her sleeping soundly, breathing evenly, so he didn’t move.

Yingshi softened her footsteps. After going out, she thoughtfully closed the door for the two of them.

The candles in the ancestral hall burned out. The room fell into darkness, with only the faint sound of their breathing. Zhu Wansheng shifted her body and mumbled: “Junior sister… so hungry, can we… eat?”

Junior sister?

Seeing her head about to slide down, Gu Yingqing used his palm to catch it.

“Junior sister, hungry…”

Her warm breath fell on his palm, making it a bit itchy. He retracted his hand slightly, and her head followed, moving backwards…

His arm was getting more and more sore. He carefully switched hands, and she murmured again in response.

When her stomach growled for who knows how many times, Zhu Wansheng suddenly opened her eyes. This small action set off a chain reaction through her whole body. First, she felt the ache in her neck, then the chill creeping in.

Her head was twisted at an odd angle. She just let out a hiss, and that hand immediately withdrew. Her head lost its support and dropped a bit…

Couldn’t he have lowered it more slowly…

Zhu Wansheng sat up straight. The environment was too dark for her to see clearly. She reached out to feel around but couldn’t touch anything. Even Gu Yingqing, who was very close, was just a blurry outline. Did the original owner have night blindness?

She raised her hand to grope in his direction. When her hand touched his clothes, she clearly felt him moving away.

She withdrew her hand. “I’m so hungry.”

“Miss Yingshi has already left. My lady can take this chance to go eat something.”

Zhu Wansheng wanted to stand up, but her legs wouldn’t obey. She had to first change from kneeling to sitting, painfully pulling her legs forward and massaging her calf muscles.

There were rustling sounds beside her. Gu Yingqing was also following her example, sitting and massaging his legs to relax them.

After massaging her muscles, she straightened her legs, then bent them, repeating this cycle three times. Finally, her knees weren’t as stiff.

Trembling as she stood up, she patted her thighs and used her palms to warm her knees. “It’s already dark. Why are we still kneeling? Let’s just leave. Even if Mother doesn’t let us eat, are you really not going to eat? I’m going to find something to eat.”

Zhu Wansheng shook her legs and stretched her muscles. “I’m leaving first. I’m so hungry I could faint. You should go find food too. Bye.”

The door creaked open. With the moonlight, she quickly melted into the night sky. Due to kneeling for so long, her legs couldn’t straighten as she ran, causing her to limp. But she still tried her best to run.

Gu Yingqing watched for a while.

She seemed somewhat different from before.