23

Hearing that Meng Xingzhou had sent the meal, she felt nothing in particular.

She was never the type to let pride overshadow everything, nor would she starve herself out of spite. Consequently, she took the food box and began to eat ravenously.

Life was already bitter enough; why torment herself further to please others? Since the food had been delivered, it would be a waste not to eat it.

With food in her belly, her body began to warm slightly. Meng Qingyue curled up in the corner of the room, staring at the sliver of light filtering through the window crack, an inexplicable sorrow rising in her heart.

How long, she wondered, would a life like this go on?

Elsewhere, amidst the clinking of glasses and the mingling of voices, the air was saturated with the faint, mellow fragrance of wine.

After several rounds, Meng Xingzhou felt slightly tipsy. He nudged Qiao Xian, who sat beside him, and asked, "Brother Qiao, you are about to marry my sister. Are you happy?"

Today, several young noblemen had gathered to amuse themselves, and Qiao Xian had invited Meng Xingzhou, his future brother-in-law, to join them.

Hearing this, Qiao Xian glanced at Meng Xingzhou. "It is merely the command of our parents; there is no question of being happy or unhappy."

Meng Changle was beautiful enough, and her temperament was passably gentle. He would marry her, and that was all there was to it.

Meng Xingzhou laughed dismissively, unbothered by Qiao Xian's attitude toward his sister. Instead, he sighed deeply, his tone tinged with a hint of envy. "The command of one's parents... I, alas, do not have the good fortune that you do, Brother Qiao."

Qiao Xian frowned, finding Meng Xingzhou’s behavior today rather odd. Seeing his flushed face, he assumed he was simply drunk.

Just as he was about to call for a sobering soup, Meng Xingzhou suddenly grabbed his arm tightly, his eyes filled with an inexplicable sadness. "Brother Qiao, I have a dilemma that I hope you can advise me on."

Qiao Xian, not taking it to heart, waved his hand. "Speak."

"If your parents refused the marriage to the one you loved, what would you do?"

...

Qiao Xian looked at Meng Xingzhou with a strange expression, pursing his lips and hesitating for a long while before finally blurting out, "Do you have a girl you fancy?"

"Yes," Meng Xingzhou admitted readily.

Qiao Xian raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked, "Who?"

Meng Xingzhou fell silent. In his mind, that dainty figure lingered—now frowning, now smiling, full of charm. Just by standing there, she possessed an elegance that no one else could match.

He suddenly smiled, a gentleness appearing on his face that he didn't even notice himself. "If one day I am able to take her as my wife, I will tell you then, Brother Qiao."

***

Qiao Xian had never seen Meng Xingzhou look so serious. He sat up straight and began to offer advice to his good friend.

"If you want your parents to agree to you being with her, it is not actually such a difficult matter."

Meng Xingzhou’s eyes lit up. "Please, enlighten me, Brother Qiao!"

Qiao Xian looked around, and seeing that no one was near, he signaled for Meng Xingzhou to lean in and whispered a few words.

Meng Xingzhou’s mouth fell open, wide enough to fit two eggs.

He stared at Qiao Xian in shock. "This... is this method not... too... too absurd?"

"Just tell me if it would work!" Qiao Xian said with a smile.

Meng Xingzhou fell silent. In all honesty, although Qiao Xian’s idea was preposterous, it was, indeed... a good one.

"I understand," he said with a long sigh, his resolve hardening with every passing moment.

A small-minded person cannot be a gentleman. A ruthless person cannot be a true man.

That night, Meng Changle returned from the palace after receiving instructions, exhausted as she rode in her sedan chair. From a distance, she spotted two figures ahead.

She looked closely and realized one of them was Meng Xingzhou.

She called out to him, "Brother," but in the next second, Meng Xingzhou recoiled against the wall as if electrocuted, looking as though he were terrified of being discovered.

Suspicion stirred in Meng Changle’s heart, so the next day, she went to ask Lady Meng about it.

When she arrived, the wife of the Censor was visiting Lady Meng, so she had to suppress her curiosity and sit to the side.

"Sigh," the jewelry-laden wife of the Censor sighed. "My son is becoming less and less responsible. Can you imagine... yesterday, his father and I caught him sneaking into a brothel!"

Lady Meng was stunned and could only swallow hard. "Did such a thing really happen?"

It was one thing for young noblemen to be frivolous, but brothels were strictly off-limits. The Censor’s wife truly had misfortune in her house.

The two women chatted for over an hour. Once the Censor’s wife had finally departed, Meng Changle asked urgently, "Mother, has anything happened with my brother lately?"

Lady Meng had intended to say no, but upon reflection, she realized that Xingzhou had hardly been home these past few days.

Suddenly, the Censor’s wife’s words came back to her, and she felt a jolt of alarm. She immediately summoned Stone, the servant who attended to Meng Xingzhou. "Has there been anything unusual about your young master these past few days?"

Stone knew his master's whereabouts perfectly well. Precisely because of this, he felt increasingly guilty and kept his head bowed low. "No... there has been... nothing unusual..."

Lady Meng and Meng Changle exchanged a look, both reading deep significance in the other's eyes.

As soon as Stone left, Lady Meng’s expression darkened. "Someone, come here!"

Meng Xingzhou went out as usual that day, walking through the stone streets and alleys. Yet, every time he turned a corner, he felt a shadow trailing him in his peripheral vision.

He had his suspicions.

A slight smirk tugged at the corners of his lips; for some reason, he felt inexplicably cheerful.

After several twists and turns, the servant sent by Lady Meng to follow him was panting with exhaustion. Suddenly, he noticed the young master’s pace slowing, as if he were deliberately waiting for him.

The servant thought nothing of it and continued to follow with all his might, remembering Lady Meng's instructions: he had to find out where the young master had been going all these days!

After passing through a few more alleys, the figure moving hurriedly ahead finally stopped.

He looked around, then held his head high and strode inside.

The servant remained outside, bewildered. He rubbed his eyes, confirmed he hadn't misread the situation, and immediately covered his mouth in shock.

The young master...

He actually...

The servant had never been so stunned in his life. He stood frozen for a full quarter of an hour before he snapped out of his trance, turned around, and ran back as fast as he could.

Having accidentally discovered such a heaven-shattering secret, the servant scrambled all the way back to the Meng residence.

As soon as he saw Lady Meng, he fell to his knees with a thud, his voice choked with sobs.

"My Lady, something terrible has happened!"

The Marquis of Huainan had also returned home and was laughing and chatting with his wife and daughter. Seeing the servant burst in so frantically, he frowned in displeasure. "What is it, why are you in such a panic?"

In the next second, the servant’s shrill, piercing voice rang out, stunning everyone in the room:

"The young master! He prefers the company of men!"