Word of Granny Wang’s news traveled fast. Before dinner had even begun, Qiu Ling came rushing back.
Jiang Xin’er had not yet returned, and Manager Liu usually dined alone, so Qin Jiuye, the outsider, was invited to the table. However, before she could even take a bite, she found her appetite vanishing.
Xu Qiuchi stood there without so much as lifting his eyes, clearly having no intention of setting out a place for his elder brother.
“Brother is certainly well-informed,” Xu Qiuchi remarked. “Little Leaf barely set foot in the door before you came chasing after her. You seem far more concerned with her than with your own younger brother.”
Qiu Ling did not look at Xu Qiuchi either. He simply took a seat beside Qin Jiuye and said, “I hurried back for Li Qingdao’s belongings. I’m only stopping by the house in passing.” He paused, then turned to Qin Jiuye. “I brought the items back. If you aren’t in a hurry to leave, you can look through them with me later…”
Before Qin Jiuye could respond, Shi Huaiyu suddenly spoke.
“Let us eat first.”
Shi Huaiyu’s voice remained gentle, yet it carried an unshakeable firmness.
Only then did the Second Young Master, who had been standing there as stiff and imposing as an iron pagoda, huff coldly and take his seat opposite them.
A touch of warmth finally returned to Shi Huaiyu’s face. Wearing a smile, she personally served soup and dishes to everyone at the table. Though the group ate in silence with little conversation, her gaze lingered upon them, as if she wanted to carve this scene into her heart.
The Qiu estate’s cook was skilled, but the atmosphere at the table was so stifling that even the finest delicacies would have tasted like ash.
Qin Jiuye nibbled on the tip of her chopsticks, stealing glances to her left and right. She wondered privately if the last time these people had sat together for a meal was over a decade ago.
The moment she paused, Shi Huaiyu rose to serve her more food. In an instant, the dishes before her were piled high like a small mountain, topped off with a bowl of hot soup.
“Why has Miss Qin stopped eating? Is the food not to your taste? Try this fresh bamboo shoot soup. These two loved it most when they were children; sometimes they would even fight over a bowl, forgetting all their manners. The General used to scold them for it…” Halfway through, she clearly remembered something, and her tone turned sorrowful. “I brewed a great deal of soup today. It is a pity the General’s health has not recovered, otherwise…”
Shi Huaiyu’s voice cut off abruptly, but her sadness spilled out uncontrollably, spreading across the table.
Seeing the atmosphere turn sour, Qin Jiuye spoke up quickly.
“The Commandant’s illness did not form in a single day. It may be related to old injuries from his early years. However, as long as one is patient, it is not entirely beyond reversal. I will certainly do my utmost. There is always hope.”
Shi Huaiyu gave her a deep look. Before she could say anything more, Xu Qiuchi’s voice suddenly rang out.
“Even if Father were here, this table would still be incomplete.” He finished speaking and slammed his chopsticks down with a sharp *clack*, standing up. “Though Mother has been gone for many years, her seat has always been kept for her. Today, Brother has taken it. I wonder if that was intentional?”
Though she had expected the Qiu brothers’ family affairs to be a tangled mess, being physically present in the middle of it was exceptionally grueling. Qin Jiuye kept her head buried so low she nearly touched her plate. Across from her, Shi Huaiyu’s face instantly paled, her hand gripping her spoon so hard her knuckles turned white.
“Your brother rarely returns home. Must you speak this way?”
“It matters not. I have finished as well.” Qiu Ling also rose from the table. He turned to Shi Huaiyu and said, “Auntie Huaiyu, you must not let yourself get angry over such trivial matters; it truly isn't worth it. Besides, he is no longer a child. He should be responsible for his own words and deeds.”
With that, Qiu Ling gave a hurried bow and departed.
Not to be outdone, Xu Qiuchi flicked his sleeves and stormed off in the opposite direction.
Qin Jiuye watched the two brothers walking further and further apart, one to the left and one to the right. After a long silence, she murmured, “Have they always been like this?”
Shi Huaiyu remained silent for a moment, eventually shaking her head slowly, her voice tinged with nostalgia for the past.
“How could that be? The Second Young Master used to love clinging to his brother. When the Eldest Young Master left home at thirteen, the Second Young Master stole the General’s horse and rode out of the city to chase him. He ended up breaking his leg in the mountains. I wonder if he still remembers those things.”
*He remembers, alright,* Qin Jiuye thought. *He even used his brother’s name to flirt with a little village girl in the mountains, leaving her to wait in vain for all these years.*
Wait. If Xu Qiuchi had chased Qiu Ling out of the city back then, it meant Qiu Ling had already left Jiugao. How could Xu Qiuchi have blamed his brother for the trouble he caused?
Qin Jiuye blinked, involuntarily recalling the scene she had witnessed when she burst into his room earlier. A strange feeling suddenly arose in her heart.
*That playboy’s half-dead appearance earlier… he didn't do that on purpose for me to see, did he?* Setting aside how perfectly timed everything was, even if Xu Qiuchi had truly locked himself in his room, Manager Liu was no ordinary person. It wouldn't have been difficult for her to find out what was happening or to enter the room discreetly. Why would she need an outsider like Qin Jiuye to meddle?
Qin Jiuye picked up the freshly served bowl of bamboo shoot soup and gulped it down, then chewed several mouthfuls of food to soothe her heart. Only after a while did she recover from the indignation of being manipulated. However, having gone through this several times now, she was nowhere near as angry as she had been before.
She had seen through Xu Qiuchi. That was simply his nature. Because he was always lacking, always owed, he fought desperately to attract attention and calculate every move—even his brother’s love was not exempt from his schemes.
As the saying goes, "one can see the adult in the three-year-old." It was truly no lie.
To that little young master who had broken his leg, her chasing after him for debts back then must have seemed quite remarkable. And perhaps she could catch the brother he could never bring back.
Unfortunately, even to this day, he had not obtained everything he wanted.
It wasn't hard for her to guess why Ding Miao had secretly sent the secret formula to Xu Qiuchi. If all of Jiugao was a vast ocean, Qiu Yan was the stabilizing needle hidden beneath the waves. From his early days governing the waters and turning back the floods to his later work rebuilding city defenses and diverting waterways for agriculture, the prestige the Qiu family had built here was not formed in a day, nor was it easily replaced. Whether one wanted to seize power or create chaos, striking at the Qiu family was undoubtedly the most lethal blow.
At first, she hadn't quite understood. A man as cunning and sharp as Xu Qiuchi wouldn't fail to see through this. Why would he still fall for it?
But the scene at the dinner table made her realize instantly: this was perhaps where Ding Miao’s brilliance lay.
An open scheme is sometimes harder to guard against than a hidden one, for the plotter knows the person in the trap has no way to resist. A person might fight until they are bloodied to escape a predicament, yet they are often easily bound hand and foot by family ties, trapped until they wither away.
She couldn't imagine what would have happened if she hadn't come knocking today, fueled by the grief of Qin Sanyou’s death. Would the man sitting withered in that room have made a terrible decision in the depths of his despair and confusion?
Killing does not require a blade; one only needs to provoke the deepest desires and rifts within a person’s heart to make the strongest alliance collapse in an instant. The path they were about to take would only be more dangerous than before, leaving no room for hidden flaws. Before they set out, the rift between the Qiu brothers had to be mended.
“How much longer are they going to keep throwing this tantrum?”
Qin Jiuye spoke suddenly, her voice carrying the impatience of a bystander.
Shi Huaiyu clearly noticed. She paused before saying softly, “The Eldest Young Master has been steady since he was a child; even at a young age, he liked to talk of right and wrong. The Second Young Master is impulsive—a person who follows his heart rather than reason. With two such incompatible temperaments, how could they not clash when brought together?”
“No two people are the same. As long as there are differences, there will be disputes and conflicts. But that doesn't stop them from being family, nor does it stop them from giving everything for one another in times of peril,” Qin Jiuye said heavily.
Shi Huaiyu sighed again. “If they had even a ten-thousandth of your understanding when dealing with each other, how could they have reached this point?”
“Auntie Huaiyu overestimates me. In truth, I wasn't much better than them in the past.” Qin Jiuye stared at the empty soup bowl before her. In a daze, she seemed to see the bowl of hand-pulled noodles that had appeared outside her door that night at the Su estate. “When my Grandpa was alive, I was always arguing with him. He liked to play the big shot and help the poor villagers, while I was a stingy one who wouldn't overlook a single copper coin. Often, if he said east, I would say west; if he went left, I would go right. But when I look back at the very beginning, it wasn't always like that between us.”
“When I was little, I was very dependent on him. He was my whole world. Until one day, a child from the neighboring village told me that I wasn't Grandpa’s biological granddaughter, just a wild child he had picked up. I was too young then; my first reaction was to run home and demand to know if I was a stray he’d found. I still remember the expression on my Grandpa’s face.”
It was an expression of shock and hurt. For an old man like Old Qin, whose stubborn temper was harder than a rock, such a look almost never appeared on his face.
In that moment, did he regret picking her up and bringing her home? What benefit did he, this makeshift grandfather, get from painstakingly raising a child only for her to interrogate him the moment she learned of her origins?
The hurt between kin often comes unexpectedly; she only realized this many years later.
Qin Jiuye’s throat tightened as she spoke, making it almost impossible to continue. She took a deep breath before going on.
“He sulked for a long time and never liked me mentioning it. But for a long period, I couldn't let it go. I felt that the reason we argued constantly and fell out so often was because we weren't real family. During that time, the words between us were pitifully few. It wasn't until later, after I took a master and left home to study medicine, that I suddenly thought of him one day while in the mountains. When I thought of him, I didn't remember the history of our arguments, nor did I dwell on the fact that he wasn't my biological grandfather. I could only remember the plain noodles he made and the piece of sugar cake he would pull from his robe.”
“I didn't truly know Old Qin, and he never spoke to me of his past. Not all family relationships are thick with blood, warm and harmonious, without a single harsh word or secret. Some families just argue, suspect, and blame each other. But that doesn't stop them from being family. It’s a pity I learned this lesson too late.”
The vast estate fell silent once more. Qin Jiuye looked at the meal that had been chilled by the wind and said finally, “I have never spoken these words to anyone else. Today was just a sudden whim, a bit of idle talk. You needn't take it to heart; just consider it the ramblings of someone who has just suffered the loss of a loved one.”
This time, Shi Huaiyu did not offer any words of comfort.
Though the woman before her appeared gentle and kind, she was no ordinary person. She had understood the purpose behind Qin Jiuye’s confession in an instant.
Shi Huaiyu involuntarily tightened her hand hidden within her sleeve, a faint struggle visible in the depths of her eyes.
“There is indeed a misunderstanding between the two of them. But if this misunderstanding is to be cleared, it will inevitably hurt one of them.”
“If that is truly the case, perhaps Auntie Huaiyu should personally ask them what they think.” Qin Jiuye blinked, continuing in a tone that was almost envious. “At least they still have the chance to clear the misunderstanding face-to-face. Even if they still refuse to forgive each other afterward, or find each other unpleasant to look at, they can still have a face-to-face argument. Family life isn't always harmonious; disputes and misunderstandings might be the norm, just like it was for me and my Grandpa…”
She paused again, her voice catching in her throat. After a long moment, she softly finished her last sentence.
“…In any case, no matter how bad it is, it is better than remembering it later and regretting that you missed the chance without saying a single word.”
The longest day in Jiugao had passed. The sun set earlier each day, and the nights grew longer.
By the time Qin Jiuye followed Shi Huaiyu into Qiu Yan’s courtyard, the sky had turned completely dark. Despite the lanterns being lit around them, she couldn't help but recall her experiences going to the Su estate for a consultation, and even her solitary entry into the cabin of the Fangwai Temple ship.
The wind that had blown all day finally began to die down. The leaves blown down during the day were piled on both sides of the corridor; occasionally, she would step on one, and it would crunch beneath her feet.
Qin Jiuye’s steps were strangely hesitant. A moment later, the figure carrying the lantern ahead of her paused, then turned around and took her hand.
“Do not be afraid, girl. I will stay with you. The General is a very gentle man. If he felt he should not see you, he would not have let you step into this courtyard.”
Shi Huaiyu’s voice drifted through the night. Though it lacked much emotion, it was enough to warm one’s heart.
Qin Jiuye nodded and followed her into the somewhat dim room.
To a "country person" like her, who rarely even passed the gates of the Commandery Governor’s office, the name of the Water-Suppressing Commandant was something distant and legendary. She seemed to vaguely remember a New Year’s Eve vigil where she and Qin Sanyou had seen that upright figure from afar on the city walls. The General’s body seemed to have long since merged with those towering walls—weathered by wind and rain, yet indestructible.
Years later, Qin Jiuye still remembered that distant glimpse. But it was precisely because of this that it took her a moment to realize that the middle-aged man before her, with his graying hair and haggard face, was the hero of Jiugao, the former head of the Black Moon Army—Qiu Yan.
Unlike most martial artists, when he shed his armor and laid down his sword, sitting there in simple cloth robes, he appeared to be nothing more than a tall, upright middle-aged man. There wasn't a trace of killing intent or the scent of blood on him.
He sat straight in a chair by the window, his eyes looking outside as if he were observing something. But when Qin Jiuye followed his gaze out the window, there was clearly nothing there.
Shi Huaiyu lit a few more lamps, and the room instantly brightened. Qin Jiuye hurriedly withdrew her gaze and gave a quick bow. Just as she was hesitating over how to begin, the man by the window spoke first.
“I heard Huaiyu telling someone to prepare tea, so I knew a guest had arrived at the estate.”
His speech was clear, just like a normal person’s. His expression was peaceful, showing no sign of being eroded by dementia. Perhaps seeing her stiff posture, he asked again, “I haven't seen you before. Are you a friend of those two rascals? Why haven't they come out to see you? I’ll have someone call them over…”
As he spoke, he tried to stand up to head for the door. But the moment he rose, his hands and feet suddenly jerked to a halt. He stared at the chains on his wrists and ankles, seemingly remembering something. He stood dejectedly for a moment, then slowly sat back down in the chair. His gaze returned to the window, and he fell into a dead silence.
Watching this scene, Qin Jiuye felt a pang of distress, though she could guess the reason. For a moment, she didn't know whether to stay or leave.
“The dementia is only part of it. On rainy days, the General’s head ailments flare up. The process is excruciatingly painful, and even the strongest Red Aconite is no longer very effective. He doesn't want to hurt others, so he harms himself. The Second Young Master used to come and watch over him personally, but later it became impossible to control, and they were forced to resort to this. The General… he understands.”
Shi Huaiyu’s voice whispered in her ear, growing softer at the end as if she couldn't bear to hear her own words.
Qin Jiuye felt a wave of sadness.
More than the physical restraint and imprisonment, those iron chains bound a man’s dignity. She couldn't help but wonder: in the dead of night, did this general who once fought on battlefields have moments of clarity? When he returned from the void of chaos to reality for a single moment, what would he feel?
She understood why the Qiu brothers hadn't come with her, and she finally grasped what Xu Qiuchi meant by being "at the end of his rope." To some extent, the current Qiu Yan looked very similar to He Yuanzhou back then. She didn't know if he would fall into an even worse state in the future; Xu Qiuchi’s anxiety likely stemmed from this.
And now, the possibility of changing this situation was in her hands.
Qin Jiuye took a deep breath, stepped forward, and began to take Qiu Yan’s pulse.
She knew a bit about the history of this legendary Black Moon commander, so when Qiu Ling had first mentioned the matter, she had already formed some theories. Her initial examination confirmed some of them. She intended to step aside to speak with Shi Huaiyu privately, but the latter signaled with her eyes that there was no need to hide it from Qiu Yan. Thus, she asked in a low voice:
“I wonder if the Commandant suffered any external head injuries in the past?”
“The General led troops on southern and northern campaigns. He experienced the bitter cold of the North and the sweltering heat of the South. There were countless fierce battles in between. If you ask about old injuries, he likely can't remember them all himself. However…” Shi Huaiyu paused for a moment before continuing, “…I heard that when he led his troops deep into the heart of Juchao, it was most perilous. That place was shrouded in toxic miasma year-round, and many soldiers died from the torment of plagues and strange diseases. Even those who were lucky enough to survive until the end of the war—many veterans died in the following years from the lingering effects of those old ailments. The remnants of the Black Moon are few and far between today.”
Juchao. Juchao again.
Years ago, Juchao had been a sea of blood with countless restless souls. Now, every person suffering in the abyss seemed to be connected to that campaign. Was this a punishment for the survivors, or some invisible karmic retribution?
Qin Jiuye sighed inwardly but remained composed. After asking about a few more details, she spoke her judgment in a low voice.
“The so-called miasma toxins may seem to have the same source, but the actual situations are complex. Everyone’s outcome might be different. Sometimes it’s related to contaminated water, other times it’s caused by poisonous insect bites. From the Commandant’s symptoms and pulse, it seems to be the latter. The source of the illness was planted in his body long ago and has been developing slowly over the years. Because his body was strong or the location of the illness was unique, it didn't manifest immediately. Once it broke out, it was naturally aggressive. If the source suddenly worsens at any moment, it could even be life-threatening in an instant. I will first try to write a prescription and see the Commandant’s reaction to the medicine, then I will apply acupuncture according to the situation.”
As she rose to give Shi Huaiyu low-voiced instructions, she prepared to go to the side table to write the prescription. But as she stood, she felt a tug at her waist. Looking down, she saw that the gray-haired general had somehow grabbed the wooden token hanging from her belt.
His hand was no longer as powerful as it had been in his youth, but the calluses on his fingers remained, like the last layer of armor left on his body.
“This token…”
His voice was sluggish. His dry eyes seemed to look through the wooden token toward a distant memory, something surging in the depths of his pupils.
Qin Jiuye didn't dare move for a moment, confused by the situation. Seeing this, Shi Huaiyu hurried over, trying to gently take the token from his hand while saying softly, “Is the General tired? I’ll have someone prepare some calming tea.”
But no matter how much force she used, he would not let go. Finally, he looked up at Qin Jiuye.
“I recognize this token.” Qiu Yan’s eyes seemed to light up for an instant, and his voice became clear. “Redwood with dark-engraved patterns… it belongs to the Central Command. You are from the Central Command.”
Qin Jiuye froze. She felt as if her mouth were hanging open for a long time before a voice finally emerged from her throat.
“The General… recognizes this token?”
Qiu Yan’s gaze lingered on her face. After a moment, a layer of mist-like confusion clouded his eyes again.
“I should recognize it… but those who served under me were all old fellows. They shouldn't be as young as you…” He spoke, then looked around blankly, his words becoming incoherent. “Why isn't the Yang boy with you? You two were always together. I saw him just yesterday…”
His voice grew faint. The next moment, his fingers loosened, and the polished token fell back against the woman’s waist.
Only this time, it was the woman who refused to let go.
The "Yang boy" was the name of Situ Jinbao’s maternal uncle. He was Auntie Yang’s brother and Qin Sanyou’s comrade-in-arms.
Qin Jiuye snatched the wooden token from her waist and held it carefully before his eyes again.
“Does the General recognize my Grandpa? His name is Qin Sanyou. You recognize him, don't you? You recognize him…”
However, no matter how hard she tried, he could no longer give her any response.
Qiu Yan had returned to his previous state, quietly staring out the window. The soul of the Black Moon commander had appeared for only a brief moment before vanishing with the wind, leaving behind only an aged, chaotic shell.
Seeing this, Shi Huaiyu could only step forward and shake her head at Qin Jiuye. The latter knew she could learn no more, and her hand holding the token fell dejectedly.
Long after returning to her room for the night, Qin Jiuye remained in a daze.
She sat in her room clutching the wooden token, her mind flashing through the moments when Qin Sanyou had been hesitant to speak of the past.
Qin Sanyou had never hidden the fact that he had been in the military, but he refused to say much when others asked. She had thought it was just his stubborn side, but now it seemed there was clearly more to the story.
The Black Moon Army had been disbanded twenty-two years ago. According to Qiu Ling, it was shortly after the battle of Juchao. And Qin Sanyou had picked her up twenty-two years ago. This led her to a distant and incredible connection. Qin Sanyou had never said exactly where he had found her, but based on where the Black Moon Army had been at the time, it was highly likely he had encountered her near Juchao.
Juchao—such a distant and mysterious name. Before today, it had never had any connection to her. She had only thought of it as a potential destination, never imagining that the journey she was about to embark on might be a journey back to her origins.
Earlier, when she had gathered with Li Qiao, the Qiu brothers, and Teng Hu at the shipyard, she had secretly cursed the unfairness of fate—that she, an outsider who had nothing to do with any of this, had to get involved in a problem that even the Four Gentlemen of the Black Moon couldn't solve.
But looking at it now, fate was truly fair.
Perhaps she wasn't an outsider at all. On the contrary, she might be the one most deeply connected to this entire affair…
*Knock, knock, knock.*
A sudden knocking at the door pulled her out of her endless theorizing. Qin Jiuye steadied her heart and rose to answer the door, only to find the green-clad manager standing there.
Liu Caiwu’s delicate face seemed somewhat cold and hard in the night. Without waiting for her to speak, she brushed past her into the room and placed the items in her hands on the table.
Qin Jiuye glanced at them and saw they were a change of clothes.
She had entered the city against the gale during the day, falling countless times on the road. Her appearance was truly wretched. Shi Huaiyu had told her to change out of her old clothes, saying she would send clean ones later.
But she never expected the one delivering them would be Liu Caiwu. After all, in her impression, this was a cold beauty whom even Xu Qiuchi couldn't order around. She shouldn't be doing such trivial tasks. Qin Jiuye rubbed her hands together awkwardly.
“Why did Manager Liu come personally? Just send word and I could have fetched them myself…”
She was halfway through her sentence when she was suddenly interrupted.
“Is that token yours?”
Qin Jiuye was stunned for a moment before reacting. She nodded. “It’s something my Grandpa left behind.”
Liu Caiwu reached out her hand. There were fine scars on her palm that looked like insect bites.
“May I see it?”
Qin Jiuye’s heart began to pound. She felt a premonition that she would receive some kind of answer tonight.
After a moment’s hesitation, she handed the wooden token to the other woman.
Time ticked by. The green-clad manager stared at the token without speaking. Finally, Qin Jiuye couldn't help but ask first.
“When I was examining the Commandant just now, he recognized it at a glance. He said it was a Black Moon Army military token, and that my Grandpa was a veteran of the Black Moon Army…”
“A deserter.” Liu Caiwu spoke suddenly, her voice colder than ever before. “Your grandfather, Qin Sanyou, was a deserter of the Black Moon Army.”
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 镇妖铁塔 | Demon-suppressing iron pagoda | A metaphor for a very sturdy, imposing, and immovable posture. |
| 赤乌头 | Red Aconite | A potent and toxic medicinal herb (Aconitum). |
| 居巢 | Juchao | A location associated with a major past battle involving the Black Moon Army. |
| 中军 | Central Command | A specific division or headquarters unit within the Black Moon Army. |
| 逃兵 | Deserter | A soldier who abandons their post without permission. |
| 柳裁梧 | Liu Caiwu | Manager Liu's full name. |
Enjoying the story? Rate this novel:
Secret Recipe | Chapter 205 | The General by the Window | Novela.app | Novela.app
