Chapter 102: Unable to Reveal

Chapter 102

Unable to Reveal

Mu Rongying was pleased to see the scholars eagerly supporting the products, happy for Nie Shuang. It seemed the product launch had concluded, and Mu Rongying had played the zither for so long that her fingers began to ache. As she finished her final piece, she stopped playing and bowed slightly, then quietly moved to sit behind Nie Shuang.

"Yingying, your zither playing is truly beautiful. Without you today, the students from the academy wouldn’t have enjoyed their tea so thoroughly. I owe you a great deal of thanks,"

Nie Shuang said as she clasped Mu Rongying’s hands in gratitude.

"It’s nothing at all, Sister Nie. It’s my duty to help you, so please don’t feel indebted."

"You must be tired. I’ll have Wang Dongpo handle the rest here. You and Chunmei should come with me to rest in the private room,"

Nie Shuang suggested. She then turned to ask Kang Wang for permission to retreat inside. He nodded slightly and resumed sipping his tea. Mu Rongying dared not look at him, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor, while Kang Wang kept his eyes focused on his teacup, as if it held something of deep interest.

Once they returned to the room, they noticed the three children were no longer there. As per Nie Shuang’s instructions, the wet nurses had taken them upstairs to be with their elders. Now, the room was empty except for themselves. Xiao Shan entered, quietly pouring tea for them. Nie Shuang began chatting with Mu Rongying in a friendly manner, expressing her curiosity about the training of noble young misses and asking how Mu Rongying had been taught. Mu Rongying responded without holding back.

"Each morning, I would study texts like the Thousand Poems or Tao Te Ching[1], followed by practicing skills such as zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. In the afternoon, I would do embroidery and learn etiquette. In recent years, Gugu from the palace came to teach me court customs. There wasn’t a day that lessons could be missed, except for important festivals when we had to attend ceremonies or honor our ancestors."

"You had to learn that much every day?"

Nie Shuang asked, astonished. Compared to women of ancient times, she herself had no such training. Hearing how much Mu Rongying had to endure during her upbringing made it hard for her to imagine. But it wasn’t surprising—noble young misses represented their families. When they grew up, they often married into powerful families, so their upbringing could hardly be ordinary. Seeing Nie Shuang’s expression, Mu Rongying smiled and said,

"Even Chunmei felt sorry for me. Once, she secretly took some of my embroidery work to finish, but the teacher recognized the stitches, and we both got in trouble."

Mu Rongying recalled her childhood memories with a look of contentment in her eyes. Back then, her mother was still by her side, and she had Chunmei, who was as close as a sister, learning and growing up together.

"The teacher assigned you so much embroidery, especially in the middle of winter when your hands were calloused from holding the needle, and your fingers were covered in pricks. Not to mention having to practice the zither every day. If your fingers weren’t so calloused, the strings would have surely cut you. I had much more free time than you, as I wasn’t pushed as hard, but my skills weren’t good enough and only made things more difficult for you."

Chunmei smiled as she reminisced, but then suddenly recalled something important and asked Nie Shuang about Wang Dongpo.

"Young Furen, do you know if Manager Wang has any free time? There’s something important I’d like to speak with him about..."

Nie Shuang’s eyes lit up.

"Of course. Ever since meeting you, Wang Dongpo has been much more cheerful, quite different from when I first met him at the royal palace."

"Eh?! Manager Wang used to work in the palace?"

Mu Rongying couldn’t help but ask, surprised to learn that someone close to Nie Shuang had such an unusual past.

"Yes, that’s correct. He served under Princess An Le. Before I left for Huangjing, Princess An Le, concerned for my well-being, graciously assigned Eunuch Wang to accompany me,"

Nie Shuang explained openly. Both young women were astonished to discover that Wang Dongpo was a eunuch. Chunmei, feeling deeply sorry for him, was nearly moved to tears. Not only had he lost his entire family, but he had also lost the opportunity to continue his family line. She hesitated, unsure if she should reveal the truth to him—that she was not actually his sister. If she did, it would shatter his hopes, and he would likely be heartbroken...

After a while, the sounds of conversation outside quieted, and the clatter of dishes being cleared and the room being tidied up could be heard. Wang Dongpo knocked on the door to ask permission to enter, and after Nie Shuang responded, he stepped in, carrying a money chest and account book to report on the sales. Once he finished, Nie Shuang spoke to him.

"Let Shi Tou exchange this money for promissory notes. As for other matters, leave them to Xiangyun’s staff for now. Stay and talk with Chunmei; she has something important to discuss with you."

Nie Shuang then gave Mu Rongying a knowing look, and they both excused themselves from the room.

Left alone, Wang Dongpo greeted Chunmei warmly.

"Chunmei, how have you been? Is everything comfortable at Wang’s palace?"

Chunmei smiled at him, but when she thought about what she had just heard from the Lady Boss, she felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for him. Even the faint hope that she might be his only surviving sister had now been dashed.

"I’m well. And you, Third Brother? Don’t overwork yourself—you seem thinner than before, don’t you?"

"You’re overthinking things. I’m just the same as before. I heard that the Mu family has agreed to let the young miss stay here, right? That’s wonderful news."

"Yes, no matter where the young miss goes, I’ll follow. Huangjing is peaceful, and I believe the young miss will be happy here. Oh, by the way, Lady Boss has officially made the young miss her sworn sister of the same surname and invited her to live at the mansion to work alongside her,"

Chunmei said excitedly. Seeing her cheerful expression while speaking with him with such familiarity, Wang Dongpo’s heart warmed. How wonderful it would be if she really were his sister.

"A’You...uh...Chunmei...when the Mu family’s people came, did you ask anyone about your background?"

Chunmei froze for a moment, a troubled expression briefly crossing her face.

"I...I didn’t ask, Third Brother. I was so worried the young miss might be taken away that it slipped my mind."

"It’s fine. In this life, I’ve long since given up hope of finding them. Based on the clues Princess An Le’s investigators uncovered, my mother and elder sister both hanged themselves to preserve their honor. The only one unaccounted for is A’You, and I don’t know what’s become of her... But isn’t it better not to know for sure? At least this way, there’s still a chance. Perhaps she’s living happily somewhere, or maybe, just maybe, it’s you."He ended with a small joke, but Chunmei didn’t find it funny at all. Her eyes reddened, and she still couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth—that she was definitely not his sister. Even so, Chunmei resolved to do her best to be the sister he longed for.

[1] The Tao Te Ching (traditional Chinese: 道德經; simplified Chinese: 道德经) is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi. It is central to both philosophical and religious Taoism, and has been highly influential to Chinese philosophy and religious practice in general.