Chapter 018: Geez, so amazing!

It's Chen Er!

Fu Zhen immediately recognized him—the tall and robust man in a blue robe was none other than her nephew Liang Chen! And the dignified young woman beside him was her nephew's wife and her close friend, Su Xinger!

Her heart surged with emotion, fingers tightly gripping the stone in front of her.

The couple was seeing a guest off.

The guest was a young man in a brocade robe, comparable in stature to Liang Chen. His posture was exceedingly youthful and so upright that he unconsciously lowered his head when crossing the threshold. Due to the backlight, his face was unclear, but that aura of deathly solemnity was more familiar to Fu Zhen than anything else.

This was an intimidation unique to those forged in the bloodshed and clatter of the battlefield, as if he commanded armies the moment he appeared.

Could he also be an old acquaintance?

But Fu Zhen knew all the renowned generals in court, yet she had no recollection of this young military figure.

"... This kid is really too mischievous; if Aunt hadn't stopped me today, I'd have given him a good thrashing! Look at the mess he made of your clothes; I'm so sorry. Next time, I promise to have a new set made for you!"

Liang Chen laughed heartily, his voice carried by the night wind.

The "kid" he mentioned must be Fu Zhen's little grandnephew, Liang Xuan.

She silently calculated; six years had passed, Brother Xuan should be seven by now, indeed the age when cats and dogs dislike him!

"Do you believe what you're saying?"

The guest received the reigns handed by the attendant, his voice clear yet lazily, "Last month, that kid ruined an entire peach tree of mine, and you promised to compensate me with those two jars of wine you've kept for over a decade. A month has passed, where's the wine?"

"Ah? Hahaha... Look at my memory!"

Liang Chen slapped his forehead, his voice even louder, "Rest assured this time, at your granny's birthday feast in half a month, I will definitely bring you a few sets of brocade robes!"

Yet he refused to mention those two jars of wine again.

"You rascal!"

The man seemed to give him a white-eyed look, then mounted his horse and headed towards Fu Zhen's direction.

Fu Zhen dared not move a muscle.

Even so, the clattering hoofbeats slowed down beside her.

Her heart leaped to her throat; the stone was large enough to hide her body, and with the shade from the trees, she was experienced in concealment, so there should've been no chance of detection.

Indeed, the hoofbeats only paused for a moment before resuming their speed toward the street.

Fu Zhen revealed herself again and saw Liang Chen stroking the stubble on his chin, muttering, "That guy thinks he can outwit me; his so-called peach tree is almost as thick as Brother Xuan himself. How could a little brat like Brother Xuan ruin it completely?

"Clearly a frame-up. He just has his eyes on my two jars of wine!"

Su Xingchen chided, "Wasn't it you who blabbed about the wine in the first place? How would he know if you hadn't mentioned it?"

"Hah! Back then, I was just talking casually..."

As Liang Chen muttered, he embraced his wife and turned back into the house.

The courtyard soon fell silent again.

Fu Zhen stepped out from behind the stone and came to the wall, listening to the wind before covering her face with a dark cloth. She climbed the camphor tree, standing at the top to oversee her home.

Without good physical condition, she could only resort to the clumsy methods she used as a child to climb this tree. Fortunately, from her vantage point, she could see most of the front courtyard, unchanged from before, except that the little red horse that always waited for her and the lamp always lit for her late returns were gone.

Inside Ruyi Gate, a light moved deeper into the mansion; it should be Liang Chen and Su Xinger going back to their room.

Since the deaths of her two brothers, the sisters-in-law had retreated to the rear court, leaving the main courtyard of the General's Mansion in the hands of Liang Chen and his wife, thus making it their lodging.

By now, the mansion was mostly dark, except for the light in the direction of Rongfu Hall, where her eldest sister-in-law resided, still awake for some unknown reason.

Children's cries sounded again from somewhere in the courtyard, and a light moved, suggesting that one of her nephews had recently had a child, now crying in the difficult times.

(All things changed with the passing of time.)

Fu Zhen's heart undulated like a vast lake under the evening breeze, waves of ripples rising.

After a long while, until all the moving lights stopped and went out, she carefully picked a few camphor leaves and pocketed them.

As long as she knew the family was safe and sound, she felt at ease.

(In another sense, it was only a matter of time before she would die—slightly prematurely perhaps, but now she could still see their safety through Fu Zhen's eyes, which was a blessing amidst her misfortune.)

She rose to climb down the tree, planning her next steps.

(But while holding onto the trunk and sliding down, she suddenly stopped at three feet above the ground...)

Somebody stood beneath the tree, hands behind their back, slightly raising their head and glaring coldly at her...

Fu Zhen, clutching the tree trunk with all limbs, with a stupidly turned face, looked every bit like a gecko.

Her eyes weren't failing; one glance at his attire, and she recognized him as the man earlier exchanging pleasantries with Liang Chen and the others!—He had such a cold and sharp face.

(But he had clearly left; how had he returned?)

Fu Zhen instinctively wanted to scuttle back up the tree to flee.

(What she was doing could very well be considered petty sneaking!)

(To resolve the misunderstanding, she could only claim her identity as Miss Liang!)

(But with the face of Miss Fu's, revealing her identity was impossible, who would believe in such unheard-of stories as borrowing the body and returning the soul?)

(Unable to reveal herself, she'd be taken back to the Fu family. Truthfully, having used Mrs. Cheng's name to rectify Fu Yun and Mrs. Liu during the day, she planned to leverage the familiarity of mingling with the noble circles in the capital to her advantage in the future—if caught exposed, how could she proceed?)

"You're not running?"

The man lazily raised his intonation.

Of course, Fu Zhen wanted to run, but could she?

"Sir, how shall I address you?"

Since escaping was futile, she steadied herself.

The man let out a nearly inaudible sneer, his words as icy as frost, "You have some courage!"

(Clearly, the disparity in strength was vast; Fu Zhen felt that if he intended to capture her, he would, setting this cold face as if playing with her, like a cat with a mouse; she wasn't pleased.)

"Not coming down?"

As her fingernails were digging into the bark, his cold voice resounded again.

Had she been Liang Ning, she would have stubbornly refused! She was rebellious to the bone.

But the next moment, she obediently stuck out her foot, stepping on the stone, sliding down the tree to sit on the stone top. As she glanced at him, her fingers unwittingly traced the strokes of the topmost word "Tai".

The man suddenly frowned, "Move your hand away!"

Move away?

Darn, what's wrong with touching my name? Did I break a law?

She defended herself in a not-so-loud voice, "There aren't any signs saying not to touch..."

The man's voice was frosty, "Get down!"

Fu Zhen glanced at his tower-like stature—fine, couldn't win, down she would go.

She jumped down, her hands not forgetting to brush all the words on top as she descended.

The man's expression turned as cold as an ancient ice cave...

"Remove your face cloth and state your origins!"

Che, full of airs!

Fu Zhen sized him up while also keeping an eye on her surroundings, "Or what?"