The sounds of weeping filled the Grand Princess’s residence, and no one paid any mind to Ye Zhao as he quietly slipped out of the room.
He stood beneath a yellow wintersweet tree in the courtyard, gazing at the snow-dusted petals on the branches, momentarily lost in thought.
His act of impersonating Tian Shu by using Pei Yunting as a reference had been a resounding success. However, remembering the old woman who had once called him "Zhao-zhao," he couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy.
After an unknown amount of time, a flurry of footsteps approached from the left. Ye Zhao turned to look.
Their eyes met, and the several people who had just crossed the courtyard threshold froze in their tracks.
As time ticked by, Ye Zhao asked in confusion, "Shi’an?"
He caught sight of the person beside him and added politely, "Old General Wei."
The two men instantly snapped back to their senses.
Wei Xiyang was the first to speak. He looked Ye Zhao up and down, his face filled with utter disbelief. "Ye Zhao?!"
*Yes, who else could it be?* Ye Zhao suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and said, "...You don't need to shout so loudly, I can hear you."
He realized that he and the Old General truly lacked any affinity. Either the old man was jumping in rage because of him, or he was being worked to the bone by the old man. Naturally, his tone was a bit blunt.
Wei Xiyang stared at Ye Zhao over and over. Only now did he realize that with the hair cleared from his forehead, Ye Zhao’s full face was revealed. His features were deep-set, carrying a natural coldness and hardness. When dressed in the same clothes and maintaining the same bearing, he looked exactly like *that man* when he wasn't smiling!
Only the eyes were different—they still held Ye Zhao’s usual look.
It was like seeing a ghost!
Pei Shi’an ignored the stunned Wei Xiyang. The flicker of surprise he had shown earlier had already faded as he walked slowly to Ye Zhao’s side. "Why are you here? And... why are you dressed like this?"
Ye Zhao paused, glanced toward the inner room, and said, "To fulfill the Grand Princess’s final wish."
He hesitated for a moment before asking the man beside him, "What kind of person was Lord Tian Shu?"
The old woman’s final words seemed to echo in his ears, and a trace of bewilderment appeared in his eyes.
At this question, Wei Xiyang suddenly fell silent. His expression became complex before he spat out a single sentence: "An annoying, stinking bastard!"
This was likely the first person in the world to describe Lord Tian Shu in such a way.
Watching the Old General’s impatient retreating figure, Ye Zhao was speechless. "..."
"Does Old General Wei dislike Lord Tian Shu that much? I knew the rumors couldn't be trusted."
The rumors claimed that Wei Xiyang, the Duke of Zhen, had admired Lord Tian Shu and followed him across battlefields in his youth, slaying countless enemies. After Tian Shu disappeared, he had guarded the borders alone, waiting fruitlessly for years before finally marrying the current Duchess of Zhen to continue his lineage. A few years later, he had retired early. Many speculated it was because he could never forget Lord Tian Shu and had become disillusioned.
Looking at it now, the "never forgetting" part was true, but the "disillusioned" part was nonsense!
Pei Shi’an was silent for a moment. "No."
Ye Zhao turned to look at him. Pei Shi’an was watching the figure disappear behind the door. "Wei Xiyang is probably one of the people who most wishes to see Tian Shu again."
Ye Zhao managed to squeeze out: "...I really couldn't tell."
Pei Shi’an chuckled. "Tian Shu once said that Wei Xiyang had 'three stinks': a stinking temper, stinking breath, and stinking conduct. He loved saying the opposite of what he felt; he was truly born with a fate that invited a good lesson."
"And then?" Ye Zhao followed the thought and guessed, "Lord Tian Shu gave him a harsh lesson? Then why does he still want to see him? For revenge?"
But it didn't quite look like that. A term popped into Ye Zhao’s head—*masochist*?
Pei Shi’an felt Ye Zhao’s expression was a bit odd, but he didn't understand what he was thinking. He simply said calmly, "When he was young, his arrogance knew no bounds. He was indeed disciplined by Tian Shu quite often. But the Duke of Zhen we see today was entirely forged by Tian Shu’s hand. If one were to describe it, they were both mentors and friends."
As soon as he finished, a head popped out from the doorway and shouted, "Who’s 'mentors and friends' with him?! You old bookworm, you're going senile! Don't talk nonsense!"
With that, the head retracted.
The two under the tree: "..."
Pei Shi’an added, "I almost forgot. Wei Xiyang always likes to say Tian Shu is his rival."
"He always was!" the voice popped out again.
The melancholy atmosphere was significantly diluted. Ye Zhao finally understood just how stubborn of an old man the Duke of Zhen was. Shi’an was absolutely right.
"I’ll be heading back first..." Ye Zhao saw that the two of them had business here and didn't want to waste their time.
Pei Shi’an nodded, watching Ye Zhao’s figure recede into the distance.
Entering the room was like stepping into another world, filled with the sounds of weeping, sorrow, and parting. Given the friendship between Pei Shi’an, Wei Xiyang, and the Grand Princess, they had come to see her off on her final journey.
***
That evening, Pei Shi’an returned home with Pei Yunting.
Inside the quiet carriage, Pei Shi’an spoke first. "Why were you at the Grand Princess’s residence?"
After a pause, Pei Yunting replied, "County Princess Xiyue had something she needed my help with earlier."
He didn't say what it was, and Pei Shi’an didn't ask further.
In truth, Pei Yunting didn't want to mention it. County Princess Xiyue had originally asked him to impersonate Lord Tian Shu, but even though the Grand Princess’s consciousness was blurred, she could still recognize him. Just like before, she would never mistake him for Lord Tian Shu.
The world always said he was the person who most resembled Tian Shu, but to the Grand Princess, those words were utter nonsense. They were useless to his father, and equally useless to Old General Wei. It seemed that those who were close to Lord Tian Shu back then could see the gap between them at a single glance.
Pei Yunting’s hands, hidden in his sleeves, slowly clenched. He couldn't describe the emotion in his heart—this sense of powerlessness, of never being able to measure up to that person, had lashed him since childhood. It had turned from resentment into something bordering on hatred...
***
Meanwhile, when Ye Zhao walked out of the Grand Princess’s residence, his appearance caused a stir in the streets.
It wasn't until dark that Ye Zhao, his face covered, sneakily hid back at home.
As he entered and turned around, he bumped straight into someone. Startled, he only relaxed when he saw who it was. He patted his chest. "You scared me to death, Mother!"
Madam Ye was the one nearly scared by his overreaction. "Why are you only coming back now?!"
And looking like a thief, no less?
She hadn't looked closely at first, but now that she saw Ye Zhao’s appearance clearly, Madam Ye was stunned for a moment. Then she realized something. "Looking at you like this... you really do look quite a bit like Lord Tian Shu..."
She remembered a portrait she had accidentally seen many years ago. She hadn't felt it before, but looking at the Ye Zhao before her now, she couldn't help but sigh.
Ye Zhao let out a long breath and said helplessly, "Yes, yes, I look like him... It got to the point where I almost couldn't make it back."
He remembered how, the moment he showed his face on the street, someone suddenly shouted "Lord Tian Shu!" Then, an unknown number of people started chasing him with such madness that he was nearly buried under the crowd. Fortunately, the Yulin Guards saved his life, and he had to wait until dark to sneak back.
Madam Ye’s attention was clearly on something else. She reached out and began fussing over Ye Zhao’s face, her eyes full of confusion. "How can you look so much like him..."
The son she had given birth to didn't look like his parents, but instead looked exactly like a complete stranger.
It was truly bizarre.
However, the few people watching from the shadows saw Madam Ye’s dazed muttering and their thoughts began to wander.
Madam Ye’s words sounded as if she had seen Lord Tian Shu before, as if there had been some connection between them. It sounded less like a question and more like a self-reflection.
Something was wrong!
The feeling that Madam Ye was hiding something major was growing stronger by the day!
Ye Zhao was also helpless. He joked with his mother, "Do you think it's because you and Father were so sincere that Lord Tian Shu was moved and gave me a face so similar to his? How about we stop going to burn incense from now on?"
Trying to slack off? Not a chance. Madam Ye’s face instantly flipped. "Don't even think about it. Every year on your birthday, you will go burn incense for me as usual. Wait until the day you're too old to walk, then we'll talk..."
Madam Ye drifted away, looking as if there was no room for negotiation.
Ye Zhao really wanted to say that all his troubles for the past six months seemed to have started with that one stick of incense. Did he really have to go next year?
No, no, absolutely not!
Ye Zhao sighed deeply and dragged his exhausted body back to his room to rest.
The next day, Yulin Guards were secretly stationed around Madam Ye, monitoring her daily life.
Of course, she didn't know this, nor did she know that her house had already been searched top to bottom several times. The people watching them knew where things were hidden that even she had forgotten. After all, since Ye Zhao could accidentally find one of Tian Shu’s folding fans, they wanted to know what other extraordinary things were hidden in this small two-entry courtyard house.
Madam Ye had received many invitations recently, and many people were subtly or overtly inquiring about her son. But those were nothing compared to the "Hongmen Banquet" she faced today!
Sitting across from her was the Old Madam of the Duke of Zhen’s household. Beside her sat the current mistress of the General’s manor, who was affectionately holding her arm like a dear sister. However, Madam Ye sat there so stiffly she didn't dare move.
These two had come today on behalf of Wei Xiyang to investigate Ye Zhao’s background. After seeing him yesterday, the Old General no longer doubted that Ye Zhao was *that person’s* son, so he wanted to learn the hidden truth from Madam Ye.
By now, Madam Ye had been listening to these two beat around the bush for nearly two hours. Their words clearly implied one thing—Ye Zhao was not her biological son!
If he wasn't hers, whose was he? Did he pop out of a crack in a rock? Madam Ye was exhausted and decided to speak plainly: "Ye Zhao really is my biological son. My own son, who stayed in my womb for ten months before being born. I didn't just pick him up from somewhere!"
The other two looked at each other. "..."
After a long silence, the current mistress of the Wei family covered her mouth and laughed. "Yes, yes, we all know Ye Zhao is your son. No one is trying to take him from you, right?"
*No, I think you still don't believe me.*
Madam Ye paused and began giving examples. "You see how my son is so mediocre? That’s just like his father. His father had good luck back then and became a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Revenue, and then he stayed a Vice Minister for twenty years. Neither father nor son has any ambition."
"Uh... haha..."
Those words...
The other two laughed, unable to confirm her statement.
"And another thing, don't look at Ye Zhao’s father always smiling and looking honest and simple. In truth, he’s just a coward who doesn't dare offend anyone. Ye Zhao is just like his father in that regard; he’s been bullied plenty since he was a child!"
The other two continued to laugh.
Madam Ye had originally just been talking randomly, but once she started making things up, she couldn't stop. The more she spoke, the angrier she got at the father-son duo, and the more genuine her emotions became.
By the end, the two Madams of the Wei family couldn't keep asking. Their smiles were awkward and forced. They were starting to doubt if Madam Ye was even part of the same family—how could she expose their flaws so ruthlessly?!
But as she returned from the Duke of Zhen’s residence, Madam Ye felt she had found the perfect way to deal with this problem in the future.
Madam Ye’s logic: *My son is stupid, my son is dull, my son is mediocre, my son is useless. He’s exactly like his old man, so how could he possibly have anything to do with Lord Tian Shu?*
The father and son, who had been thoroughly disparaged, had no idea that the "brilliant" idea Madam Ye had come up with was so devastatingly effective. It was a total double kill!
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 腊梅 | Wintersweet | Chimonanthus praecox, a yellow flower that blooms in winter. |
| 镇国公 | Duke of Zhen | A high noble title, literally "State-Protecting Duke." |
| 羽林卫 | Yulin Guards | Imperial Forest Guards, an elite imperial guard unit. |
| 鸿门宴 | Hongmen Banquet | A metaphor for a trap or a meeting with treacherous intent. |
| 户部侍郎 | Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue | A high-ranking government official position. |
| 二进小宅子 | Two-entry courtyard house | A traditional Chinese architectural layout with two successive courtyards. |
