After the Ostracized Beauty Lost Heart - Chapter 4

Ten years ago, during the eleventh year of the Jiande era.

Horses galloped through the flying dust, entering the capital city just before the gates were locked at the hour of Xu. The groom pulled the reins, causing the horse to raise its front hooves and slow its pace. The sudden jolting woke Yan Qushan, who was exhausted from many days of travel, inside the carriage.

He lifted the curtain and peered out, seeing the city ablaze with lanterns, a sea of silver flowers and fire trees. Although twilight had settled over the horizon, the streets were still bustling with the shouts of vendors and the clamor of crowds. It was lively everywhere.

“Are we there?” Yan Qushan asked the young servant beside him abruptly.

The servant was startled at first, then turned around with a flattering smile. “Oh, Young Master, you are awake? The Master’s residence is just inside East Street, not far now. Please rest a little longer.”

Yan Qushan gave a light “mm,” closed the curtain, and retreated back inside.

Today was his first time in the capital. He had come to pay his respects to the biological father he had never met, Yan Liang, a Vice Director in the Ministry of Works.

The servant’s words proved true. Once they passed the city gates, the remaining distance was short. After traveling a while longer, the carriage came to a halt. As soon as Yan Qushan stepped down, he saw the words “Yan Manor” inscribed on the plaque above the entrance. The calligraphy appeared to be from the hand of a master, looking exceptionally grand.

The head steward, who had been waiting at the door, greeted him with a face full of smiles. “Oh, this must be the Little Young Master? The Master has been waiting for you for a long time. Please follow me.”

Upon entering the manor, beautiful maidservants stepped forward to brush the dust from his clothes and add a layer of warmth. Yan Qushan had never been treated with such precious care and felt a moment of bashfulness.

The steward, being sharp-eyed, immediately shooed the girls away. “Go, go! Do not get in the way here.”

Inside the Yan Manor, the carved beams and painted rafters, the multi-storied pavilions, and buildings were all luxurious and magnificent. After passing through the covered corridors and reaching the front courtyard, the steward stopped at the door and bowed to Yan Qushan.

He said, “Young Master has suffered much while away these years. Now that you have returned, you are the only master here besides the Master himself. You are currently the Master’s only bloodline; he will surely dote on you.”

Having said that, he made a gesture of invitation. Yan Qushan’s heart tightened as he stepped inside with trepidation. Before he even looked up, he bowed to Yan Liang, who was seated in the hall: “Greetings, Lord Yan.”

Seeing the son who had been lost for many years, Yan Liang’s heart was filled with a mix of emotions. He stood up to support Yan Qushan. “Ah, you are home now. Why so formal?”

He glanced behind Yan Qushan, looking somewhat puzzled. “Where is your mother? Why did she not come with you?”

Yan Qushan’s lip twitched as he said coldly, “She is dead.”

Yan Liang was shocked. “Dead?”

“My mother’s fortune was thin. She could not wait to return and reunite with Yan, with Father,” Yan Qushan stated.

Yan Liang let out a long sigh, feeling a pang of pity. “A fleeting beauty, a tragic fate, indeed.”

He looked at Yan Qushan again. “You have suffered in the outside world all these years.”

Yan Qushan nodded but did not speak.

Yan Liang had been the third-ranked scholar during the previous Emperor’s reign and was once the man of dreams for many noble ladies in the capital. Ultimately, he followed imperial orders and married the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Anding.

The Marquis of Anding’s household consisted of founding meritorious officials, and their social standing was extremely prominent. Although Yan Liang had been handpicked as the scholar by the late Emperor, he normally would never have been able to climb into such a family.

However, the Marquis’s legitimate daughter fell in love with Yan Liang at first sight and refused to marry anyone else. The Marquis, doting on his daughter, requested an imperial decree to betroth her to Yan Liang. For Yan Liang, this was a stroke of incredible luck. With the support of the Marquis of Anding’s lineage, his future career was destined to flourish.

There was only one drawback. The Marquis’s daughter was a hen that laid no eggs. After many years of marriage, there was no sign of a child.

Seeing this, Yan Liang considered taking a concubine. But his wife loved him to the bone and wished to keep him by her side at all times. How could she tolerate sharing a husband with another woman or ger? She immediately returned to her parental home to cause a massive scene.

Though dissatisfied, Yan Liang did not dare to defy her due to the status of the Marquis’s manor, and the matter was dropped.

Yet, Yan Liang’s ambitions did not die. He placed the highest importance on continuing his lineage. Unable to take a concubine openly, he chose to secretly keep a mistress outside.

As for Yan Qushan’s biological mother, she was originally the eldest daughter of a physician in Jiangnan. Unexpectedly, her family was ruined, and she was kidnapped and sold to a brothel. It was there that she met Yan Liang, who was accompanying the late Emperor on a southern tour.

A woman of Jiangnan, gentle and lovely, she was the polar opposite of the arrogant noble lady. Yan Liang fell in love with her at first sight, redeemed her from the brothel, and bought a house to settle her in. Within a month, she was pregnant with Yan Qushan.

Unfortunately, Yan Liang had to return to the capital and could not delay, forcing them to separate. He had some conscience left; he did not abandon her and remembered to send money back from time to time.

However, the Yan Manor’s finances were controlled by his wife.

Yan Liang’s own funds were not plentiful, so he could only secretly send small amounts behind her back. The distance from the capital to Jiangnan was vast, and with layers of embezzlement along the way, only a few pieces of broken silver reached Yan Qushan’s mother, which was hardly enough to keep them fed and clothed.

Thus, the mother and son were like lone geese in a cold marsh, drenched by wind and rain, truly pitiable.

Not only did Yan Qushan’s mother have to fill his stomach, but knowing his father was a scholar, she would rather starve herself than fail to provide for his schooling. Consequently, she was forced back into her old profession. Before Yan Liang could bring her back, she fell ill and passed away.

Meanwhile, for unknown reasons, the Marquis’s daughter also contracted a severe illness recently and died shortly after. Only then could Yan Liang bring Yan Qushan back to raise him by his side.

Yan Liang did not wish to dwell on the dark days of the past. He changed the subject. “I heard you achieved the rank of Xiucai? When did you earn it?”

“I earned it when I was twelve.”

Yan Liang pondered. “That would be last year.”

He was already considered a rare talent, yet he had only earned his rank at sixteen. He could not help but look Yan Qushan over more closely. “A talent worth molding, indeed.”

“Follow me,” he said, leading Yan Qushan toward the side pavilion’s study. “I shall set an exam question right now; you shall answer it for me.”

He wrote a few words on paper and handed it to Yan Qushan. After reflecting for a moment, Yan Qushan took the brush and began to write. Until an hour later, he finally handed the paper over.

Yan Liang took it, and with just a brief glance, he burst into loud laughter. “Good! Excellent!”

“Every word is a gem, with a spirit that could swallow the mountains and rivers. You were already confident before the brush even touched the paper,” Yan Liang praised incessantly. “At such a young age, you can already produce such brilliant prose. Rare, truly rare!”

He looked at Yan Qushan. The youth had handsome features and a proud, aloof bearing; he was clearly not a creature meant for a small pond. Yan Liang was a man who loved talent, and he immediately made a decision, one that would shock the noble families of the capital and leave the Marquis of Anding’s manor beyond fuming.

He entered the illegitimate son, Yan Qushan, into the clan registry and recorded him under the name of his deceased wife. He made Yan Qushan the legitimate eldest son of the Yan family in name.

Yan Qushan knelt on the ground, his chest heating up uncontrollably. “This son thanks Father!”

At that moment, he believed that he finally no longer had to endure the cold stares of others, that he had finally survived the bitterness to see the sweetness, and the withered tree had finally met the spring.

Support