Moonlit Reunion

At the Ministry of Justice offices, after a busy morning's work, officials gathered to chat while massaging their sore necks. Someone suddenly brought up Mei Zhuyu in their conversation.

"Is that really true?" A middle-aged official in blue robes looked skeptically at his colleague who had spoken.

The handsome middle-aged man beside him, sporting a fine beard, stroked his whiskers with a smile. "Of course it's true. Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, try it yourself."

The blue-robed official glanced around and lowered his voice. "But what if he really comes?"

The bearded man also whispered, "So what if he does? He's just a bit reclusive—he won't hit anyone or even swear. I don't see why you're so afraid."

The blue-robed official mentally scoffed—if there was nothing to fear, why were they both speaking so quietly? Still intrigued, he cleared his throat deliberately and raised his voice. "When my wife was pregnant, her favorite dish was ginger-flower sea bass. The fish was fried in clear oil, stuffed with ginger, garlic, and other seasonings..."

As he spoke, his eyes subtly scanned the surroundings. Suddenly, a male voice came from behind him. "Excuse me, may I ask which restaurant serves this ginger-flower sea bass you mentioned?"

Startled, the blue-robed official clutched his chest and took a deep breath, thinking, This Mei Langzhong is like a ghost—appearing without a sound! After recovering, he realized his friend had been right: merely mentioning pregnancy cravings would summon Mei Langzhong.

After Mei Zhuyu obtained his answer, thanked him, and left, the blue-robed official suddenly laughed. Shaking his head, he sighed to his friend, "Mei Langzhong has been at the Ministry for over a year, and I've never spoken to him before. People say he's hard to approach, but he's just an ordinary man who dotes on his wife. It's not as exaggerated as the rumors claim."

Soon, a peculiar rumor spread through the Ministry: if someone publicly discussed their wife's pregnancy cravings, the reclusive Mei Langzhong would mysteriously appear.

Many idle officials, skeptical of this, deliberately brought up such topics with colleagues. Without fail, Mei Langzhong would quietly appear, ask for details, then silently depart. Over time, this became an unspoken inside joke—even a playful game—within the Ministry. Through these interactions, officials who once found Mei Zhuyu aloof began seeing him differently. They realized he was simply reserved, not intentionally distant. The image of Mei Langzhong collecting recipes for his pregnant wife made him seem more relatable in their eyes.

Consequently, Mei Zhuyu noticed more colleagues initiating conversations. Several even greeted him on the streets instead of pretending not to see him. Some even invited him for drinks, and when he declined, they good-naturedly recommended restaurants with excellent dishes instead.

Perplexed by this change, Mei Zhuyu eventually attributed it to the pleasant weather lifting everyone's spirits.Wu Zhen had been in a good mood lately. After getting past the initial panic and caution of pregnancy, she had regained her usual carefree demeanor. She felt that aside from her belly being a bit bigger and not being able to tighten her belt too much, there wasn’t any real inconvenience. Since ancient times, those watching someone else’s pregnancy were always more nervous than the pregnant person themselves. While Wu Zhen had already begun to relax, Mei Zhuyu still stared at her belly with trepidation every day.

Apart from solemnly watching Wu Zhen’s belly, Mei Zhuyu also fretted endlessly over her three daily meals. Since becoming pregnant, Wu Zhen’s appetite had been poor, and she ate much less than before. Starting from that incident with Wang Er’s pickles, Mei Zhuyu had been constantly bringing home all kinds of food.

Speaking of which, back then, Wu Zhen had forced herself to eat Wang Er’s pickles for two days straight. By the third day, she couldn’t take it anymore and told her husband, “I don’t want to eat these pickles anymore.”

Mei Zhuyu asked, “What’s wrong? Do the pickles taste bad today?”

Wu Zhen replied with a straight face, “A pregnant woman’s tastes aren’t fixed. Whatever she likes today, she might dislike in a couple of days.”

Understanding this, Mei Zhuyu believed her without hesitation and began searching for all sorts of foods a pregnant woman might enjoy. Though he didn’t know what Wu Zhen would like, by bringing home so many different things, he figured at least some would appeal to her.

Sometimes he brought home ingredients, sometimes dishes already prepared at restaurants, and other times fruits or pastries.

Every day when Wu Zhen returned home, her first question was whether her husband had come back. If the servants said yes, her next question would be what he had brought home that day.

“Madam, today he brought back two large softshell turtles!”

“Madam, today the master brought back vinegar-stuffed fish intestines from Li’s restaurant.”

“Madam, the master brought back a big basket of autumn pears today—each only the size of a child’s fist! None of us have ever seen pears so small. The master said they’re for making sweet soup.”

These were all fine, but one day when Wu Zhen returned, the gatekeeper told her, “Madam, madam! The master brought back a black bear today!”

Wu Zhen: “...A what?”

Curious, she went to the kitchen and saw a lifeless bear sprawled on a makeshift chopping board, its eyes still open. The kitchen maids stood around, unsure how to handle it.

Seeing the fresh wounds on the bear, Wu Zhen thought to herself, Did my husband go hunting for this himself? When she returned to their room and saw Mei Zhuyu freshly bathed and changed, she realized—yes, he must have gone hunting. But there were no bears in the small hills around Chang’an. Had he gone all the way to the mountains outside the city? Where did he find the time?

As she pondered this, Mei Zhuyu came over and said, “I brought back a bear. I heard that steamed bear gallbladder with chrysanthemum is good for pregnant women, especially when fresh.”

Wu Zhen: “...Haha, is that so?” Thinking about how bitter bear gallbladder was, she cursed inwardly— Who was the busybody that told him about this awful recipe? Are the officials at the Ministry of Justice really that idle?

Even though Wu Zhen had no desire to eat it, considering her husband’s exaggerated effort of secretly going bear hunting, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse his kindness. Putting on a brave face, she resolutely ate the bear gallbladder dish. Of course, misery loves company—after finishing the horribly bitter thing, she made sure her husband also got a good taste of that lingering bitterness.Yellow leaves from the elms and locust trees lining the street were swept up by horse hooves, swirling past the high walls on either side. The lush green canopy that had shaded Chang'an during summer was gradually overtaken by hues of red and gold, with vast stretches of crimson foliage visible on the mountains outside the city. It was the crisp, refreshing season of autumn, and under the clear skies, everyone in Chang'an—whether from noble households or common families—loved to venture out to enjoy the season. The young scions of high-ranking officials and aristocrats, in particular, had been eagerly anticipating the autumn hunt long before the leaves had even begun to yellow.

Zhao Langjun and his group had visited the Mei residence several times to discuss the autumn hunt with Wu Zhen. Once she set the date, they returned in high spirits to prepare, laughing and roughhousing among themselves. Someone loudly declared they would bag more game this year to redeem themselves from last year’s humiliation.

Wu Zhen called out to Zhao Songyan (Zhao Langjun) and asked, "Why haven’t I seen Mei Si out and about lately? Is he still holed up at home painting?"

Since Wu Zhen and Cui Jiu had married one after the other, this group had come to be led by Mei Si and Zhao Songyan. Yet, since Wu Zhen’s return to Chang'an, she hadn’t seen Mei Si join any outings—only Zhao Songyan and the others had come by a few times.

Zhao Songyan shrugged carelessly. "Him? No idea where he’s been. We’ve invited him out several times recently, but he never shows up. He just stays home. No doubt he’s painting—what else would he be doing? Zhen-jie, you should talk some sense into him before he loses himself in it. We can’t get through to him."

Zhao Songyan was easygoing, not as attentive as Cui Jiu, so Wu Zhen didn’t expect him to know what was going on with Mei Si. She decided to make time and visit Mei Si’s home herself, also to inform him about the upcoming autumn hunt with the group.

When she saw Mei Si, Wu Zhen gave him a once-over and remarked, "You look like you’ve been drained of energy. What have you been up to lately?"

To her surprise, Mei Si’s eyes reddened at the sight of her, and he lowered his head. "Zhen-jie, I’ve wronged you."

Wu Zhen was baffled. What on earth was he apologizing for?

"How have you wronged me? Let’s hear it," she said, pouring herself a cup of water, ready to listen to the young man’s troubles.

But Mei Si remained silent for a long while, sitting there with an expression of shame, unable to speak. When he met her gaze, he only grew more dejected and guilty.

"Speak," Wu Zhen commanded, her tone heavy.

Having been disciplined by her often as a child, Mei Si immediately dropped his hesitation at her familiar sternness. Mumbling, he said, "I think I’ve fallen for someone… but it’s someone you dislike."

Someone I dislike? Who? Wu Zhen didn’t catch on at first, but soon she remembered something and tentatively asked, "Liu Taizhen from the Liu family?" The young men and women under her wing all assumed she and Liu Taizhen were like "two kings who never meet." Liu Taizhen couldn’t be bothered to explain, and Wu Zhen had tried but gave up when no one believed her—so the misunderstanding had persisted till now.

Mei Si nodded in shame.

Though Wu Zhen had teased Liu Taizhen before, she hadn’t actually thought anything would come between these two. Mei Si’s confession struck her as bizarre, and she couldn’t help asking, "How did you even realize you liked her? Have you seen her again since then?"

Mei Si shook his head. "No, but lately I’ve been dreaming a lot, and in the dreams…"His face turned red. "I dreamed of her bathing in the water. Having such a dream must mean I... I..."

Mei Si couldn't continue. As a painting enthusiast who preferred Ghost Monsters over beauties, this was the first time he'd ever had such a dream in his life, leaving him utterly ashamed. To make matters worse, the subject of his dream was someone who didn't get along with their leader, making him feel like he'd betrayed the organization. He'd been depressed about it for quite some time.

Poor Mei Si didn't know that this scene in his dream wasn't due to any improper thoughts, but because he had actually witnessed it before—only to have his memory erased later. For some unknown reason, fragments of that memory had resurfaced vaguely, leading to this misunderstanding.

Unaware of the truth, Wu Zhen patted Mei Si's shoulder. "It's nothing. Sister Zhen doesn't care about those little grudges. As long as you like her."

Deeply moved, Mei Si had no idea that the sister he admired so much was currently laughing hysterically inside.