Chapter 109: The Past
Fu Tingyun didn't understand what the sudden stiffness and gradual softening of Miss Tang's arm signified, but Zhao Ling saw it clearly.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he motioned for Fu Tingyun to stand behind him. His voice was low and firm as he said, "Miss Tang, I must apologize for my limited influence. Beyond arranging for someone to mediate the dispute between the Tang and Feng families, I can offer no further assistance. It's getting late—you should rest soon. With the Ghost Festival approaching, I imagine you'll need to pay respects to Master Tang. Nianbo Garrison is a small place without any renowned temples, so I won't detain you further. Will you be returning to Xi'an Prefecture or your hometown in Pucheng? If the mediator I find agrees to intervene, I’ll send word to you."
Miss Tang's face instantly turned ashen.
"Ninth Master..." she murmured, staring at Zhao Ling in shock, as if unable to believe what she had just heard.
Zhao Ling's expression grew even colder. "Miss Tang, tomorrow morning, Miss Fu and I will be purchasing offerings to honor my parents during the Ghost Festival. Zhao Ming, the assistant commander, will escort you out of the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission. I won’t be seeing you off, so I wish you a safe journey. Until we meet again."
Miss Tang stood silently for a long moment before turning and leaving without another word.
The courtyard fell into silence.
Fu Tingyun stepped forward and gently tugged at Zhao Ling's sleeve.
He smiled at her, though the smile carried a hint of melancholy.
"The first time I met Miss Tang was when Master Tang and I conducted a private salt deal—she managed the Tang family's accounts and settled the profits with me. Later, Master Tang repeatedly proposed a marriage between her and me, but I declined each time. He felt humiliated and wanted to dissolve our partnership. I was just starting out back then, and without his support, my business would have struggled. It was Miss Tang who intervened, persuading Master Tang with the reasoning that 'business is business, and personal feelings are personal feelings,' allowing our dealings to continue." He shook his head. "I never imagined it would come to this."
"All gatherings must end eventually," Fu Tingyun comforted him. "At most, we can find another way to repay Miss Tang's kindness in the future."
"Let it be." Though young, Zhao Ling had witnessed countless partings and reunions, always believing that such things were dictated by fate. After a moment of reflection, he let it go. "Some matters can't be resolved by others—she must come to terms with them herself." Then, recalling the hostility Miss Tang had shown toward Fu Tingyun earlier, his voice softened. "Did she frighten you?"
"No!" Fu Tingyun laughed. After a brief pause, she admitted frankly, "But seeing how much she likes you made me a little jealous. You’ll have to make it up to me."
Zhao Ling froze.
Fu Tingyun handed him the teacup beside her. "Then you can start by pouring me a cup of tea!" She blinked at him playfully.
Zhao Ling chuckled—she was teasing him to lift his spirits.
Suddenly overwhelmed with guilt, he said, "This is entirely my fault." He actually poured the tea and handed it to her respectfully.
Fu Tingyun hadn’t expected Zhao Ling, who had always been so roguish before, to suddenly become so meek. Taking the teacup, she couldn’t help but burst into laughter.Zhao Ling simply sat down, skewered a piece of watermelon with a toothpick, and handed it to Fu Tingyun, saying with a double meaning, "The watermelon is sweet!" His roguish demeanor resurfaced slightly.
Fu Tingyun couldn’t stop laughing.
Seeing her cheerful, Zhao Ling felt a weight lift from his heart, and a trace of tenderness softened his expression.
"Nannan, thank you," he said with emotion. "If not for you today, Miss Tang’s matter might not have been resolved so quickly."
From the moment Zhao Ling met Miss Tang, he had made it clear he had a betrothed. Miss Tang had been remarkably gracious and even joked about becoming close friends with Fu Tingyun. Until now, he had assumed she was merely acting to protect the Tang family’s assets... It seemed he had underestimated the situation.
Yet Fu Tingyun had her own doubts.
Zhao Ling was not an indecisive man, yet he had shown extraordinary patience toward Miss Tang.
Suddenly, she recalled their first meeting—how Zhao Ling had spoken of the Fu family’s chastity arch with a hint of disdain.
Softly, she called out, "Ninth Master," and asked, "How did your mother pass away?"
Zhao Ling’s smile stiffened. After a pause, his expression gradually relaxed.
"My family originally hailed from Zhuozhou. During the chaos of war, we fled to Jiangnan and settled in Songjiang," he began slowly. "We traded in tea, silk, and porcelain. Over generations, we became one of Songjiang’s most prominent merchant families. Though my grandfather was from a collateral branch of the Zhao clan, he was skilled in business, and our household prospered. My father was exceptionally bright. In the seventeenth year of the Pingxi era, he took the imperial examinations, placing sixteenth in the provincial exams, then second-tier in the palace exams, and was selected as a Scholarly Candidate in the Hanlin Academy. In the twenty-second year of Pingxi, he was specially appointed as the prefect of Shuoping Prefecture in Shanxi. At the time, Shuoping was suffering a severe drought, and my father dedicated himself to repairing irrigation systems. By the twenty-fifth year of Pingxi, he had worked himself to illness and passed away in office. My mother, with me still young, brought his coffin home. My father was an only son, and my grandfather had already died. We relied heavily on Zhou Sheng, my father’s milk-brother, to manage household affairs. Some members of the Zhao clan, coveting our wealth, slandered my mother, claiming she had an improper relationship with Zhou Sheng. Unable to bear the humiliation, my mother hanged herself outside the Zhao ancestral hall on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month."
Fu Tingyun was horrified.
She had thought such cruelty existed only in fictional tales—never imagining it could happen in real life.
No wonder he sympathized so deeply with women who, despite adversity, remained strong.
Herself included.
Fu Tingyun felt both amused and exasperated. She wanted to ask why he had chosen her, but then reconsidered—since he had, she must have her own merits. Dwelling on it further would only be self-deprecating.
Still, Zhao Ling’s father had earned his Presented Scholar degree in the seventeenth year of Pingxi. If her own father knew, he would surely think highly of Zhao Ling.
Recalling how Zhao Ling had always been evasive about his background, and hearing him repeatedly refer to "the Zhao clan," she worried he might not wish to speak of his family. Tentatively, she asked, "Do you hate the Zhao family?"
"At first, I did," Zhao Ling admitted with a smile. "But as I experienced more of life, I sometimes wondered—if I hadn’t run away from the Zhao family and stayed, I might have ended up a useless fool who knew nothing beyond indulgence. So, misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and blessings may conceal misfortune. Every twist of fate is heaven’s will."
Heart aching for him, Fu Tingyun gently took his hand. "How old were you then?""Seven years old!" Zhao Ling chuckled, clasping Fu Tingyun's hand in return. "I was too young to understand things back then. I kept thinking about how carefree life had been when I followed my father in Shuoping, like living in paradise. I wanted to return to Shuoping to find my childhood playmates or seek refuge with my father's old friends."
Fu Tingyun allowed him to hold her hand without pulling away, only asking with concern, "Then how did you end up trading horses in Liangzhou?"
"During my wanderings, I met my master. He was a Taoist priest who had been severely injured in a fight and couldn't use his strength, so he made a living by performing ritual ceremonies for people. Seeing that I was literate and needing an acolyte to burn incense and ring bells, he forced me to become his assistant. Later, noticing how quickly I learned, he began teaching me some martial arts intermittently. By the time I was eight, I formally became his disciple. He took me to settle at Tianyi Temple in Zhang County, devoting himself to teaching me reading, writing, and martial arts. When I was thirteen, my master passed away. I wanted to return to Jiangnan, but I had no money. Hearing that horse trading was profitable, I went to Liangzhou."
Zhang County and Longxi County both belonged to Gongchang Prefecture and were adjacent to each other.
Fu Tingyun couldn't help feeling both surprised and delighted: "So I actually guessed right? You lived in Zhang County for four or five years."
Zhao Ling also smiled: "That's why I said you weren't wrong to call me a native of Longxi County."
They looked at each other and laughed, feeling even the moonlight grow softer.
Fu Tingyun then asked Zhao Ling, "Did you smuggle salt to accumulate wealth so you could return to your hometown in Jiangnan and clear your mother's name?"
Zhao Ling nodded: "And to bury my mother's remains with my father. My father's grave also needs proper tending!"
Hearing this, Fu Tingyun felt a pang of guilt but pouted, "Anyway, I won't apologize—if you'd returned to Jiangnan, how could I have been with you?"
Such sincere and straightforward words, tinged with adorable petulance, melted Zhao Ling's heart.
"Father and mother would surely forgive me for not returning sooner, knowing I've found them such a good daughter-in-law," he teased her.
She widened her eyes and shot him a glare: "There you go talking nonsense again."
Zhao Ling laughed heartily, feeling as carefree as an immortal.
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The next day, after Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling returned from buying sacrificial offerings, they learned that Miss Tang had already left Ledu under Zhao Ming's escort.
Miss Tang left without a single word.
Zhao Ling didn't mind and busied himself discussing the Ullambana Festival rituals with his subordinates, leaving early and returning late each day.
A lady came to visit Fu Tingyun and asked curiously, "Why haven't I seen Miss Tang?"
"She was following her father's dying wish to ask Ninth Master to oversee the division of her family's property," Fu Tingyun explained with a smile. "Since Ninth Master couldn't intervene directly, he found someone else of high repute to assist her. Miss Tang hurried home for that."
The lady gave an understanding "Oh" and inquired about the Ullambana Festival preparations: "I wonder if it will be held this year? And if so, at which temple?"
"I don't know about these matters either," Fu Tingyun replied, thinking of Qi Taitai and choosing her words carefully with these official wives.
The lady seemed disappointed and left after sitting for a while.
When Zhao Ling returned, Fu Tingyun told him about the visit.
Zhao Ling smiled: "Both Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries want to host the ritual ceremony. She was probably trying to gauge the government's stance—to see who would be entrusted with the task. When the government sponsors such events, the rewards are usually generous. Those who recommend candidates to the authorities often receive red envelopes.""How complicated!" Fu Tingyun shook her head with a smile.
Gradually, no one mentioned Miss Tang anymore.
The traces Miss Tang left behind were like morning dew in summer, vanishing quickly without a trace.
On the day of the Ghost Festival, Zhao Ling and Fu Tingyun went to the City God Temple together.
Fu Tingyun noticed that the temple housed both Buddhist monks and Taoist priests. The monks chanted the Great Treasury Sutra in the main hall, while the priests recited the Three Officials Scripture at the entrance. Each group went about their own business peacefully, coexisting without conflict.
Fu Tingyun was dumbfounded.
Zhao Ling, however, whispered in her ear, "After all, inviting more deities can only bring blessings, never harm."
Fu Tingyun barely managed to stifle her laughter.
After Zhao Ling presided over the Ghost Festival rituals, Fu Tingyun was surrounded by the officials' wives and led to the back hall for tea and rest. Following lunch, the group strolled through the temple fair. By evening, they returned to the City God Temple for a vegetarian meal. Some then headed home, while others went to the Su Mu River outside the city to release lanterns.
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Thank you, sisters, for helping me catch typos! Since I post drafts in a hurry most of the time, I’ll fix any errors as soon as I get the chance!
O(∩_∩)O~
(End of Chapter)
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