Seventh Miss couldn’t help but pause slightly in surprise.
Although propriety dictated separation between men and women, and her conversation with Feng Jin seemed somewhat improper, on the other hand, he was her legitimate maternal cousin, and they hadn’t seen each other in years. With Elder Eunuch Lian as their shared elder, if she talked with Feng Jin a bit longer, could that really be objectionable?
Moreover, if Xu Fengjia had seen her conversation with Feng Jin, he should have known the two had no physical contact whatsoever—from beginning to end, Feng Jin had merely plucked a flower and placed it in her hair. Did Xu Fengjia really need to mind this so much?
“Yes, my cousin and I reminisced about the past,” Seventh Miss said with a furrowed brow, showing not a trace of guilt—there was indeed nothing between her and Feng Jin to feel guilty about. “If you can’t even tolerate me speaking with a young man…”
“That’s not what I mean!” Xu Fengjia interrupted her irritably again.
He bit his lip, rarely showing hesitation, glancing at Seventh Miss before turning toward the window.
“Forget it!” His tone grew cold. “We’ll talk when we get home.”
The carriage fell silent. Through the white mist at the window, Seventh Miss gazed at the desolate street scene—with curfew approaching, there were hardly any people left on the streets.
From Anfu Ward back to Chengqing Ward, they circled within the inner city. The carriage wound around several corners, and before long entered Coal Lane. The couple alighted at the carriage hall from their outer carriage. Xu Fengjia climbed out first, then strode rapidly out of the hall, disappearing to who knew where.
Seventh Miss couldn’t help but knit her elegant brows tightly. Watching his back turn toward Menghua Pavilion, she instructed Lixia, “Let’s return to change clothes, then go pay respects at Qingping Courtyard.”
It was already past the first watch, and Leshan Residence had closed and locked its doors. However, Madam Xu’s schedule had been irregular for many years—at the first watch, she often had no intention of sleeping yet. Seventh Miss returned to Mingde Hall to change into home clothes and freshen up briefly before entering Qingping Courtyard to report her safe return to Madam Xu.
Although her health had been poor these years, Madam Xu always kept abreast of major household matters. She couldn’t possibly be unaware that Xu Fengjia was quarreling with the Emperor over the Southern Ocean campaign, and she knew what this outing was about—Xu Fengjia hadn’t concealed it from his mother.
“It seems the discussion went fairly well,” Seventh Miss reported to Madam Xu with additions and omissions. “If several key ministers can all stand firm, perhaps with pressure from all sides, the Emperor might also…”
Madam Xu drew out a long sound, responding quietly before shaking her head.
“The Emperor is such an opinionated person,” she said, seemingly not placing much hope in today’s meeting. “If he truly wants to do something, I’m afraid we cannot stop him.”
After pondering a moment, her brow relaxed. “However, given the Emperor’s temperament, if Fengjia truly doesn’t want to go, he probably won’t force him.”
Despite these words, there was still some worry in Madam Xu’s tone. Seventh Miss couldn’t comfort her much, only adding, “The heir has gone to Menghua Pavilion, so he probably won’t be able to come pay respects to Mother for a while…” Then she rose to take her leave and exited Qingping Courtyard.
When she entered the Western Three Rooms, Xu Fengjia had already washed and changed. Topped with fresh moisture, he stood at the window in a daze. Seventh Miss glanced at him and went straight into the washing room to undress and freshen up, quietly asking Zhongyuan who came in to serve, “Has the heir been like this since entering?”
Zhongyuan looked thoroughly frightened. “Hasn’t he been fierce and menacing from the moment he entered?”
She had a quick tongue, unlike the steady Lixia and Shangyuan. Describing Xu Fengjia when he entered, she said, “Just like he’d swallowed a fly—we were all too scared to speak…”
Seventh Miss grew increasingly puzzled.
She simply stood behind Xu Fengjia and mentally reviewed her entire conversation with Feng Jin, confirming that neither he nor she had done or said anything inappropriate—it was just casual conversation between siblings. Only then did she stand beside Xu Fengjia and clear her throat.
“All of you may go,” she waved to Zhongyuan, adding, “No one needs to keep night watch tonight.”
The maids silently withdrew from the room, closing all the doors inside and outside the Western Three Rooms tightly, clearly understanding Seventh Miss’s implication.
Xu Fengjia maintained his silence throughout. Only the tense line at the edge of his lips revealed his negative mood. Even the sound of closing doors failed to elicit any reaction from the heir beyond silence.
Seventh Miss’s brow furrowed even tighter.
Xu Fengjia was definitely not someone who swallowed troubles when he had them. Just looking at how he’d suppressed his anger to come reconcile with her, and how he was willing to stay in the capital to support the situation, one could see that although this person sometimes acted impulsively, after his anger passed, he would always think calmly.
But now, rather than furious, he seemed… sorrowful.
She had rarely seen such low spirits in Xu Fengjia. Or rather, he had never displayed such emotions before her—it was, after all, a form of showing weakness, and Xu Fengjia was so competitive.
“Do you dislike me talking with my cousin?” Seventh Miss took the initiative to stand beside Xu Fengjia, gazing with him at the dim moonlight. “My cousin only brought me out from Uncle Lian’s place… You surely don’t think there’s something improper between him and me?”
Feng Jin wasn’t foolish, and of course Seventh Miss was even less so. Even if Xu Fengjia had misunderstood at the time, a moment’s thought should have clarified things—at the very least, he should verify. He couldn’t possibly have seen her and Feng Jin coming from the garden and jumped to conclusions, starting to brood alone, could he?
Seventh Miss felt slightly irritated—though she didn’t want to admit it, Xu Fengjia’s abnormally low spirits were affecting her emotions.
Throughout this entire day, her mind had been full of matters from morning to night, barely a moment’s rest. She was already quite exhausted, even losing interest in disguising herself. Seeing that Xu Fengjia still wouldn’t respond, she simply stepped directly in front of him, forcing him to focus his gaze on her.
“What exactly is wrong?” she asked word by word. “Whatever it is, you need to say it. If you say nothing, how am I supposed to know what to do?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt slight regret—saying this made it seem like she lived to please him… But immediately, Seventh Miss pushed such calculations aside. She was truly mentally and physically exhausted. At this moment, to calculate so much again, she simply didn’t have the energy.
Xu Fengjia let out a long breath.
“It’s nothing!” he said irritably, turning his back to avoid Seventh Miss’s gaze. “We’ve been tired all day—let’s sleep!”
Seventh Miss simply stepped forward several paces and blocked Xu Fengjia again, quietly staring at him, clearly determined not to let this go without getting to the bottom of it.
“I’m already very tired today,” seeing Xu Fengjia unmoved, she added fuel to the fire. “I don’t want to sleep with worries on my mind.”
Xu Fengjia rubbed his brow. On his handsome face, a rare trace of weariness appeared.
“I saw you talking with Feng Zixiu,” he repeated his statement again, his attitude calm as water. “That’s all there is to it.”
Seventh Miss stared at him bafflingly. “Since when do you speak so indirectly? Or have you forgotten—he’s my legitimate maternal cousin…”
“I know he’s your cousin!” Xu Fengjia interrupted Seventh Miss’s explanation with a rough voice, his tone suddenly laden with anger. This actually put Seventh Miss at ease—if he could still argue, things weren’t too serious.
Though she truly didn’t know what she’d done wrong to provoke such an intense reaction from Xu Fengjia.
Xu Fengjia’s words stopped mid-sentence.
He took several deep breaths, seemingly trying desperately to suppress his anger. Avoiding Seventh Miss’s eyes, he shook his head and roughly concluded his statement. “Let’s talk tomorrow. Sleep tonight.”
Seeing that Seventh Miss still wouldn’t move aside, he simply lifted her by the waist and gently set her to one side, then proceeded to undress and sit at the bedside.
Only then did Seventh Miss realize that a life partner who refused to communicate could make one angry from the bottom of one’s heart.
She had been too exhausted to have the energy for anger, yet faced with Xu Fengjia’s obvious reserve, it seemed a long thorn had grown in her heart, making her uncomfortable whether sitting or lying down—much less falling peacefully asleep.
Reluctantly lying down beside Xu Fengjia, she closed her eyes, thinking through one thorny matter after another in her mind… Yet with Xu Fengjia’s every toss and turn, his abnormally sorrowful expression replayed behind her eyelids like posters plastered throughout the city of her mind—wherever her thoughts wandered, she couldn’t avoid it.