Chen Xuanyue was soon appointed to the position of Experience of the Left Army Chief Military Commissioner's Office.
This was the first time the Chen Family had produced a military official.
Third Master Chen spoke with Chen Xuanyue: "Although the position of Experience isn't high-ranking, the potential for advancement is significant. It all depends on whether you have the ability. Your third uncle will also lend you some support, but ultimately, it's up to you."
Having struggled for several years, Chen Xuanyue understood this well. After staying at home for a month, he prepared to return to Shaanxi.
When he left, Chen Xi did not see him off.
She had been avoiding him these past few days. The incident by the lotus pond still left her flustered. But when he truly departed, she couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of loss. Chen Xi knew she had to keep her distance—she and Chen Xuanyue shared the same surname and had grown up together. If word got out, her reputation would be ruined. So she buried the matter deep in her heart, never speaking of it to anyone.
Perhaps it was precisely because they had spent so many years together that she had already developed feelings for him—she just hadn’t realized it until now.
Besides, he clearly didn’t care about her. When he left, it was as if he didn’t even remember her existence—no farewell, nothing…
Chen Xi spent several days in turmoil before finally making peace with herself.
It was best to act as if nothing had happened.
In the end, her father decided to marry her off to the Heir of the Marquis of Dingyang. The Marquis’s family was overjoyed and sent a betrothal gift of three thousand taels of silver.
On the day of her wedding, the household was bustling with activity. Gu Jinzhao invited Chang Laofuren to comb her hair. Her two younger brothers, Chen Xuanlin and Chen Xuanjing, played nearby, clamoring to watch her dress up. Gu Jinzhao smacked each of them once, and they obediently scurried off, two little troublemakers dragged away.
Once everyone had left, Gu Jinzhao carefully instructed her on the duties of a wife.
Chen Xi listened intently, though somewhat bashfully.
Gu Jinzhao, however, was moved. "I’ve watched you grow up all these years. And in the blink of an eye, you’re already getting married."
Gu Jinzhao opened the door and saw the two boys playfully shoving each other behind the lattice window. Spotting her, they grinned and called out, "Mother!" Gu Jinzhao reached out to grab them, but they darted away, leaving her with a headache.
Only Third Master Chen could keep them in line.
When she turned back to Chen Xi, she found her staring blankly into the mirror.
By this generation, the Marquis of Dingyang’s family was no longer as prosperous as it once was. The heir had only two younger half-brothers, and their wives, awed by Chen Xi’s background, never dared to exchange a single cross word with her. Her in-laws treated her kindly as well.
Two years later, she gave birth to a child—a daughter. But after that, she struggled to conceive again. Eventually, her mother-in-law could bear it no longer and summoned the heir for a talk. The next day, two bed-warming maids appeared in his chambers.
Chen Xi had thought she wouldn’t care. But she had grown up in a different environment—Seventh Brother had only one wife. Her mother and father had only each other, with no concubines or bed-warming maids between them. Seeing her husband sleep in another woman’s room—who could endure that?
She took her daughter and returned to her parents’ home for a while.
Gu Jinzhao couldn’t interfere in such matters. No matter how powerful the Chen Family was, they couldn’t forbid their son-in-law from taking bed-warming maids—that would only confirm Chen Xi’s reputation as jealous. All she could say was, "If one of them bears a son, have him raised under your name. The Marquis’s family wouldn’t dare to elevate a concubine for the heir. As for these two bed-warming maids, you’ll just have to endure it."Chen Xi hugged her and cried for a while, feeling somewhat better afterward.
Gu Jinzhao comforted her for a moment before sighing. "Look at you, your child is already a few years old. Chen Zhao is even at the age to discuss marriage. Yet your Ninth Brother is all the way in Shaanxi, showing no intention of settling down at all. I can’t even influence him... Last time I wrote to him, he actually said he wasn’t in a hurry. He’s already in his twenties—if he doesn’t marry soon, which young lady from a noble family would be willing to marry him later..."
Her mother was probably trying to shift the topic to console her, but Chen Xi was stunned. "Ninth Brother still hasn’t married?" She had assumed he already had a family in Shaanxi.
Gu Jinzhao shook her head with a smile. "He’s just an odd one! I can’t be bothered with him anymore."
Chen Xi suddenly recalled what had happened by the lotus pond when she was fifteen. A strange sense of bewilderment washed over her.
When she returned to the marquis’s residence, the heir, having heard from his mother, cautiously came to comfort her. As they were about to go to the wormwood fields, she refused him, citing discomfort. The heir, thinking she was still upset about the two bed-warming maids, immediately darkened his expression. "You... may be a daughter of the Chen Family, but you’re also my wife, aren’t you? If you weren’t a Chen, I could easily cite the Seven Reasons for Divorce against you. Haven’t I treated you well all these years? I’ve never taken anyone else. Do you even know what people outside say about me? And here I am, lowering myself to beg for your forgiveness. I’d like to ask—whose fault is it really?"
With that, he left.
Chen Xi sat blankly for a while, feeling deeply saddened.
Yet she didn’t even know what she was sad about. Strangely, after the sadness passed, she felt a sense of relief.
From then on, she truly ignored the two bed-warming maids. Later, one of them gave birth to a son, who was placed under her name. The old nanny once suggested she "remove the mother and keep the child" to eliminate future troubles. After some thought, Chen Xi refused—not out of pity, but because she saw no need.
In the sixteenth year of the Wanli era, Chen Xuanyue quelled the great Mongol rebellion and returned to the capital in triumph. He was promoted to Assistant Chief Military Commissioner, a second-rank official.
Third Master Chen personally went to welcome him.
Chen Xi heard that he wore velvet flowers and rode through the streets on horseback, with crowds of commoners lining the roads to cheer for him—more bustling than the parade of a top scholar, so grand that the entire city seemed emptied.
She couldn’t witness such a spectacle herself.
At the family banquet, she only caught a brief glimpse of him.
Times had changed. Now standing beside him were her second uncle and father. Her second uncle laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, but he remained indifferent, showing no reaction.
Chen Xi thought about how her second uncle and his wife had treated him in the past. If she were in his place, she probably wouldn’t be too warm either.
After the banquet ended, she accompanied her mother back.
Gu Jinzhao asked her about the boy, and she replied, "His temperament is good, easy to teach."
As they spoke, a maid announced from outside that the Ninth Master had arrived.
Chen Xi froze, but Gu Jinzhao had already called him in. When he entered, his face was full of smiles, radiating joy.
"Aunt, I’m back!" Only after speaking did he notice Chen Xi was also there, and his tone immediately became restrained.
Only in front of his mother did he act like a cheerful child.
Gu Jinzhao smiled. "I thought becoming a high-ranking official would temper your personality a bit. What brings you here?"
"With so many people around when I returned, I didn’t get a chance to see you earlier," he said, stopping a few steps away. "I came to pay my respects."Gu Jinzhao shook her head: "This won't do. You're already a second-rank official now—there's no reason for you to pay respects to me! Weren't you speaking with your father and the others? How did you come over so quickly?"
Chen Xuanyue replied, "No matter how high my rank, you'll always be my aunt. Of course I must pay my respects. As for Father... it's always the same few words with him, nothing worth saying."
A faint smile appeared on his face. "By the way, Aunt, my father mentioned he wants to arrange a marriage for me with my maternal cousin."
Gu Jinzhao frowned, displeased. "How could they act like this! I'll speak to them about it for you."
He took a seat, and a maid served him tea. He then asked Chen Xi, "Your family's heir has secured the position of Commander of the Five Cities Garrison Command?"
Chen Xi hadn't expected him to address her and nodded lightly.
Chen Xuanyue thought for a moment and said, "When you return, advise him to try transferring to the Golden Crow Guard instead. The Five Cities Garrison has been unstable lately—he might get implicated." He added, "If he doesn't believe you, mention Liu Shiguang's name. He'll know what to do."
This was guidance for them... Chen Xi instinctively responded, "Then I'll thank you on his behalf."
"You're welcome." He sipped his tea. "Just a word or two for your sake. Tell him not to spread it around."
Chen Xi murmured an acknowledgment but didn't dare speak further in his and her mother's conversation, afraid he might catch onto something.
When she returned and relayed the message, the heir grew extremely anxious and sought help overnight.
Later, he indeed avoided disaster.
From then on, the heir treated her much better, following her words without hesitation, never daring to slight her.
Half a year later, Gu Jinzhao arranged a marriage for Chen Xuanyue.
Chen Xi attended his wedding banquet. When the bride entered, she only noticed she was petite and slender. During the ceremony, Chen Xuanyue gently supported her as she rose. The next day, during the family introductions, Chen Xi saw the bride again—she was indeed beautiful, gentle, and virtuous.
Yet standing beside Chen Xuanyue, she seemed overshadowed, dimmed by his presence. Chen Xi privately thought the bride wasn't a match for him.
In fact, she couldn't imagine anyone who could truly match him.
He was too distant, unreachable.
Chen Xi observed carefully—he didn't seem particularly fond of his bride either. Yet he treated her with courtesy and respect.
Not long after the wedding, he left the Northern Capital again. The frontier needed him more, and it seemed he preferred that life—far from the petty intrigues of officialdom. She heard the northwest had deserts, gravel plains, and grasslands—it must be vast and open.
Strangely, Chen Xi felt nothing.
After Chen Xuanyue's wedding, on the third day of the third lunar month, her mother and grandmother took her to Bao Xiang Temple to pray.
The weather was fine, the season just warming. The temple, dignified and grand, nestled halfway up the mountainside.
The monks struck the bell, its deep tones resonating as the hour for prayers arrived. Accompanied by a temple guide, Chen Xi offered incense in the Great Buddha Hall. Kneeling reverently on the cushion, she prayed with a tranquil heart, thinking she might enshrine a Buddha statue at home too.
When desires are many and fulfillment scarce, when one is lost—people turn to Buddha.Chen Xi stood up and looked toward the door. The monks were walking along the corridor toward the back mountain, their eyes fixed straight ahead.
An elderly monk walked at the very end, moving very slowly. He wore a faded reddish-brown robe with wide sleeves, revealing a string of very old and worn Buddhist beads. His face was also extremely aged—Chen Xi had never seen anyone so old before.
Chen Xi watched for a while before instructing her maid to call the monk inside.
The monk clasped his hands together and smiled at her maid, murmuring something before slowly following her in.
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