Third floor.
"Come in..."
Lu Mingcang's familiar voice reached him, and Shen Tingchi's hand paused its knock before pushing the door open.
"General, do you wish to hear my zither playing again today?"
Lu Mingcang stared at him, his expression seeming unchanged for days.
Not the slightest alteration.
The once vibrant glow in the young man's eyes was gone.
"Just play a tune as you please. I merely seek some quiet here."
Shen Tingchi looked for a screen, and because he couldn't find one, he hesitated to sit.
"What are you looking for?"
Lu Mingcang opened his eyes and asked, looking at him.
You know perfectly well!
Shen Tingchi patiently replied, "General, I am looking for a screen. It is my habit when I play the zither!"
Because Shen Tingchi was not an entertainer, he could be flirtatious in front of others, but Shen Tingchi could not!
With a screen, at least, others could not see his appearance.
He could still find some solace.
"Can your habit be broken for me?" he asked softly.
His gaze never left him.
In the past, because of Sheng Huaizhi, he had followed Yun Yaoyao and visited the Shen family.
Yun Yaoyao was there for her imperial brother, and Sheng Huaizhi was there for her.
And him? He couldn't say whether it was because Sheng Huaizhi needed him to follow, or for some other reason.
But once his zither music entered his ears, he could never forget it.
Just like Shen Tingchi himself.
Shen Tingchi had not looked up, and after a long while, he slowly sat down.
"Since the General asked, I dare not disobey."
It was also a final farewell.
After the zither music, Lu Mingcang's gaze remained fixed on Shen Tingchi.
He nervously dared not look up and then withdrew his hands from the strings.
"General, this song is finished. I have a small, presumptuous request, which I hope the General will grant!"
"What is this presumptuous request?"
Lu Mingcang felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.
"I wish to ask the General to let me go!"
Then came a long silence.
Lu Mingcang suddenly walked out the door.
But the moment he stepped out, Shen Tingchi called out, "Lu Mingcang!"
His foot, about to step out, paused and then retracted.
In an instant, Lu Mingcang turned back and looked at the man in white.
"What did you just call me?"
As if in a trance, he seemed to see the Shen Tingchi of the past again.
The Shen Tingchi of the past, learned and talented, capable of discussing politics with the Crown Prince, and teaching Yun Yaoyao to gallop on horseback.
But later, he seemed to have lost everything.
Possessing all his learning, but unable to serve the country, even the talent he never felt ashamed of had now become an unspeakable humiliation.
Yet he still had to use it to secure a place in this Nanfeng Pavilion.
"General Lu, you are a general from the imperial city. It is not surprising that you frequent Nanfeng Pavilion, but I, Shen, am shallow and untalented, not worthy of your spending so much time on me."
Lu Mingcang listened intently, his hands clenched tightly.
No one knew the turmoil in the hearts of these two men who appeared so calm on the surface.
Shen Tingchi stood ramrod straight.
"I merely wish to live a humble life here and do not wish for my current life to be disturbed. Please forgive me, General!"
Lu Mingcang understood perfectly. He was saying that he had brought him trouble.
The fact that he called him by his name suggested that he wanted to bid him farewell as Shen Tingchi one last time...
Something flashed in Lu Mingcang's eyes, and in the end, he agreed.
Initially, he had planned to redeem Shen Tingchi if he didn't want to stay in Nanfeng Pavilion. If he didn't want to leave, he would have paid anyone not to harm him.
As long as he could live on the third floor, those people wouldn't bother him.
This room was also specially prepared for him.
Alas...
"Good."
A thousand words, finally reduced to this single word.
It fell without a sound.
Lu Mingcang left.
Shen Tingchi stood alone in the room for a long time before dragging his tired body out.
Some feelings need not be advertised.
Even if it was to the person he wanted to inform.
"Brother Shen, what's wrong?"
Luoying, having heard that General Lu had left Nanfeng Pavilion early, and that he seemed somewhat angry, had been waiting in Shen Tingchi's room out of concern for him.
This room belonged to Shen Tingchi.
It was also a place he had lent her to seek refuge.
Luoying's eyes reddened again.
"Brother Shen, did General Lu abandon you?"
Shen Tingchi smiled again, but this time, it was a forced smile.
"Brother Shen, don't smile..."
Luoying had never seen him like this.
For the past two years, although he rarely spoke and always wore the same expression, he looked twenty years older despite being only in his early twenties.
It was all because of those lifeless eyes.
"A'ying, I heard a scholar has been coming to listen to your zither playing recently?"
Shyness flickered across Luoying's face at the mention of this, but the next second, the young girl's expression turned serious, even a little sad, as if she had thought of something.
Shen Tingchi smiled faintly.
"A'ying, if you like him, Brother Shen will give his consent for your marriage..."
Luoying's pupils suddenly constricted.
"Brother Shen, A'ying wants to stay by your side forever. A'ying isn't going anywhere!"
Affection cannot be measured by the length of time alone. Although she had only known Shen Tingchi for two short years,
Luoying had long considered him a brother.
The first time Shen Tingchi saw her in Nanfeng Pavilion, the young girl was covered in countless wounds, left from being beaten after being caught trying to escape. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Because of that incident, she heard her mother had died.
Shen Tingchi descended like a god, appearing before her as she lay near death.
He took care of her, day and night.
She didn't understand why Brother Shen was so kind to her. There were so many unfortunate people in the world, why did he save her? Was her luck just a little better?
But if her luck was so good, why had she ended up in such a state?
Later, she learned that this Brother Shen once had a young sister.
Her age would have been about the same as hers...
She didn't hear anything else from Brother Shen.
Even if it was to be a substitute for his sister, Luoying was willing.
"Brother!"
Luoying couldn't hold back and finally cried out.
Shen Tingchi's pupils constricted sharply, and finally, more emotion appeared in his eyes.
...
Luoying eventually got married.
On her wedding day, Shen Tingchi came.
In the capacity of her elder brother.
She didn't have a proper name before. She received the name Luoying only after coming to Nanfeng Pavilion.
But on her wedding day, Shen Tingchi gave her a name.
From then on, she was called Shen Anyan.
Wishing her a lifetime of peace and tranquility.
Shen Tingchi bought her freedom and gave the scholar a sum of money to go and take the imperial examinations.
He said this money was what he had saved for her dowry.
He truly considered her his sister!