From the shadows at the back of the hall, Shen Ling watches as Shen Roulan slips her hand around Jiang Ye’s arm with practiced ease. The movement is light, graceful,perfectly timed. Her laughter follows, soft and lilting, rising just enough to draw attention without seeming forced.
To anyone watching, they look well-matched. A tall incredibly handsome hero and the number one beauty in the capitol...Perfect.
Shen Ling lowers her gaze. Hmmph. My sister's acting skills are certainly top notch.
Her fingers tighten slightly around the handkerchief still resting in her lap, the faint woodsy scent lingering like a quiet contradiction.
He deserves better than a poisonous woman like Roulan.
She has seen enough of Roulan to know the difference between what is shown… and what is real. No one can play the gentle beauty better than her but underneath she is vain and arrogant.
She thought, almost absently, And Jiang Ye, though distant, composed, even cold at first glance, he has a warm heart.
Then she lets out a small breath, shaking her head faintly.“Oh well,” she murmurs under her breath. “None of my business.”
Tomorrow, this will all be behind me. I saw a maid packing my things and in an aggrieved tone talking to herself. Complaining how this courtyard was bad enough but at least she could go into the city on her day off. Now she had to go to the countryside with this broom star. She inwardly sighs, broom star…
The grand hall, guests wearing silk and gold, careful smiles and hidden knives behind polite words. A world where every glance carried weight, and every person was measuring something, status, advantage, control.
I don’t belong here. And soon, I will be free. Her gaze drifts toward the lantern-lit ceiling, her thoughts softening, shifting.
She plays with the handkerchief on her lap…Tomorrow I’ll be far away…
The countryside manor, Father means it as exile, another place to tuck me away, out of sight, out of mind... thinking they are casting me aside but little do they know how I welcome this banishment.
But to her...It feels like something else entirely.
A beginning.
“…a freer life,” she whispers.
For the first time that night, something like quiet resolve settles into her chest.
A memory surfaces, faint but steady, her aunt’s voice, gentle and distant, like something heard through time.
“There is a hermit who lives at the foot of the mountains near the Shen country estate.An unusual man… reclusive. skilled…my Master.”
LingLing’s fingers still and her amber eyes light up…sparkled with anticipation, if I can find him…
The thought takes shape slowly, then sharpens.
If I can find him…if he would accept me as a disciple…I could learn.
Not embroidery or etiquette or how to smile at the right moment, but something real. Something useful… Medicine… Healing.
A life that belongs to me…a life of my choice not theirs…
Before I come of age and became another piece to be placed, another marriage to be arranged for Father’s insatiable ambition.
Her grip on the handkerchief tightens, determination threading through her quiet expression.I can leave before that happens.
The idea is bold. Dangerous. But it feels right.
I’ll find him.A small, almost hidden smile touches her lips.
I’ll open my own clinic.
Not in a grand city, not in a place filled with scheming and status, but somewhere honest. A place where I can live peacefully and be myself.
The music in the hall swells again, laughter rising, the world continuing as if nothing has changed.
But for Shen Ling…Everything has.
She sits quietly in the shadows, a forgotten figure at the edge of the room.
Yet for the first time, she is not thinking about how to survive in the Marquis manor, only where she will go next. The future she will create for herself far away from this stifling place.
The banquet stretches late into the night, but Shen Ling leaves before it ends.
No one stops her…no one notices.,,no one cares.
The lanterns still burn bright behind her as she slips out through a side corridor, the noise of laughter and music fading with each step until it becomes nothing more than a distant echo.
By the time she reaches the quiet of her courtyard, the world has returned to something she understands.
The white cat lifts its head as she enters, green eyes catching the dim light. It lets out a soft purring sound, as if welcoming her home.
Shen Ling closes the door gently behind her.
“I’m leaving,”
Saying it aloud made it real.
She crosses to the stone bench and sits, pulling the handkerchief from her sleeve. For a moment, she simply looks at it—a small, unexpected kindness..
Then, carefully, she folds it and tucks it into the inner lining of her dress.
Not as a keepsake. Just… something she hadn’t returned.
Her gaze lifts to the tree above her, the branches shifting faintly in the night breeze.
“I’ll find my Aunt Ning,s Master…I must.”
Before dawn, her quiet courtyard stirs, her two maids prepare for her departure. The countryside manor is not far, but far enough to feel like she will be leaving her past behind.
Shen Ling stands in her small room, dressed simply, her belongings gathered into two modest bundle. There is little to take. There has always been little fitting her stature as an unwanted daughter. Just enough…
Outside, the sky is just beginning to brighten.
A soft knock at the door.
“The carriage is ready,” a maid said from the other side, her tone neutral.
While gazing around her bedroom, Shen Ling pauses only a moment before answering.
Seeing the maid who complained about accompanying her to the countryside, she doesn’t blame her. The girl is young and it’s understandable she is unwilling. “You don’t need to come with me. Liu Bing will be enough.”
The maid suddenly straightens her back and can’t contain her excitement, “Really, Miss?”
“Go to the steward tell him that I said to send you to any courtyard but my sister Roulan’s. You are too pretty and wouldn’t meet a good end there.”
The maid has tears in her eyes as she bows, “Thank you! Thank you Miss.”
She hurries away wiping her tear stained cheeks afraid Shen Ling might change her mind.
When Shen Ling steps into the courtyard one last time, she stops looking around with a touch of melancholy.
The tree, she runs her fingers over the marks she etched every year in the bark.
The bench, she brushes some fallen petals onto the ground.
The pond, she walks over and tosses a handful of fish food and watches as the eager fish swarm around it.
Every corner of this courtyard holds a piece of her, years of quiet days, unspoken thoughts, small moments no one else had seen.
For a fleeting second, something tugs at her heart.
The cat in her arms blinks, unimpressed as it follows her movements. It is looking forward to living in the country. This courtyard had become boring but when it thinks of its tormentors outside the walls the cat didn’t dare venture out.
She strokes its soft fur then set it down.“Take care of this place for me.I paid a maid to bring you food so don’t worry you won’t go hungry.”
The words are light, but her voice slightly trembles as she sets it down.
She asks the maid, Liu Bing, “Are all the dried herbs carefully stored in the carriage?”
“Yes, Miss. The seedlings are also carefully packed.”
The white cat circles around her feet, as if sensing the change.
LingLing crouches down,gently petting it's furry head then gives it a piece of dried fish . Be good. “You can’t come with me,” she says softly, though her fingers lingered in its fur. “You’d hate traveling.”
The cat blinks up at her,it's green eyes as determined as hers Well I’m going I can endure. I am not as fragile as you think.
Then, without looking back again, she walks toward the moon gate.
The journey begins quietly.
The carriage is plain, meant for function rather than comfort, and the road stretches out ahead in a long ribbon of dust and distance. Fields replace stone walls, and the sounds of the city fade into the open air.
Shen Ling sits inside the bare carriage silently enduring the jostling as the carriage runs over the uneven road. Her small hands folded in her lap, her expression calm.
But, her mind is already moving ahead.
The countryside manor…The mountains beyond the forest..and a hermit she must find.
Her fingers brush lightly against the hidden fold of fabric where she tucked Jiang Ye’s handkerchief.
For a moment, her thoughts return to the banquet, to a steady gaze, to a voice that had spoken to her as though she were not invisible. Although our paths will never cross again. I will remember your kindness.
Suddenly a furry white head peeks out from beneath a folded blanket.
Shen Ling laughs and rubs its head, “YOU!” secretly very happy to have her friend accompany her.
She lifts the curtain and gazes at the beautiful scenery. The mountains begin to rise faintly against the horizon. Shen Ling’s eyes shine with anticipation, hope for her future. I’m coming, Not to the life they planned for me, but to the one I intend to forge for myself.
