Physician Chen said that it was not impossible that Fang Zesheng’s inability to stand might be related to a malady of the heart.
After all, before the age of fifteen, Fang Zesheng was boundlessly successful. To encounter such a massive upheaval would be a significant blow to anyone. On top of that, Wang Xiuhe was watching him like a tiger stalking its prey; there was no telling when she might decide to tear down the Fang family plaque and truly take over their estate. The collateral branches of the Fang family were few to begin with, and Fang Changru and his wife had only one son, Fang Zesheng. Although the uncles and kinsmen of the Fang family refused to accept Wang Xiuhe’s management, few could shake her current position. This woman was shrewd and calculating; she had spent eight years replacing the Fang family’s people with her own. Moreover, she wouldn’t allow anyone to claim she had seized the nest or neglected her debts of gratitude. Outwardly, she appeared attentive and caring toward Fang Zesheng, but behind his back, she couldn’t have cared less whether he lived or died. She had casually arranged a marriage for him, and just as casually made him marry a man. Now, it was Fu Jingxuan who had leapt into the sedan chair of his own accord; were it not for Second Madam Liu’s interference, she probably wouldn’t have cared if Fang Zesheng ended up marrying a stray cat or dog in the future.
Fu Jingxuan could not meddle in the Fang family’s affairs, nor did he know what Fang Zesheng planned to do, trapped as he was in such a predicament.
If it weren’t for the fact that Fang Zesheng had ignored him for so many years, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to devise a way to send himself here. Second Master Fu had never let himself be bullied since he was a child, and he certainly wasn’t one to suffer a loss in silence either. He had yearned for and thought of Fang Zesheng for all these years, and he was determined to come and see if Fang Zesheng still thought of him at all.
“You’re leaning too close.”
“Hmm?”
Fu Jingxuan had instructed Fang Zesheng to look at him openly, and he genuinely brought his entire face close with forehead pressing against forehead. It wasn’t that they had never been this close before; as children, they often squeezed onto the same bed, sharing tales of what they had seen and heard on their adventures, plotting how to push Fu Jingye into the water, and conspiring to hoist the seven- or eight-year-old Fu Shuang’er up into a tree.
Thinking of Fu Shuang’er, Fu Jingxuan suddenly laughed. “My younger sister actually had the nerve to elope with someone else.”
Fang Zesheng said, “I know.”
“When she was little, she always liked to chase after you, constantly claiming she wanted to marry you when she grew up. Who would have thought that when she finally had the chance to marry you, she went and fell for someone else.”
Fang Zesheng said dismissively, “How can words spoken in jest during childhood be taken seriously?”
“Is that so?” The corners of Fu Jingxuan’s mouth curled slightly. He placed both hands on the wheelchair armrests and pressed his forehead against Fang Zesheng’s, forcing him to lean back slightly against the three-panel backrest with nowhere to retreat. “I remember you used to have someone in your heart too.”
Fang Zesheng had been holding his gaze, but at the sound of those words, his eyes flickered, and he lowered his gaze to the floor, no longer meeting his eyes.
Fu Jingxuan bent his elbows slightly, leaning forward with a straight spine to pin Fang Zesheng firmly in the wheelchair. Pressing the tip of his nose against his, he whispered, “Who was it?”
It was not the first time he had asked Fang Zesheng this question. Back then, they were still young, just at the dawn of their first awakening to love; even Fu Shuang’er, a mere child who had only recently lost her baby teeth, was constantly talking about “liking” people so as youths, the two of them naturally understood such feelings more keenly. However, the Eldest Young Master Fang was self-disciplined and observant of etiquette. Although Fu Jingxuan’s questioning had turned his cheeks a deep crimson, he remained true to the principle of “speak no impropriety” and feigned a serious air. He said that once that person came of age, he would personally go to their home to propose and marry them with full honors. Upon hearing this, Young Master Fu became inexplicably angry and asked with a sidelong glance, “How many years until she comes of age?”
Fang Zesheng held up three fingers. Fu Jingxuan asked, “Three years?”
Fang Zesheng nodded solemnly, only to be struck by Fu Jingxuan’s blunt retort, “How do you know what things will be like in three years? What if she’s already married to someone else and has children three years from now?”
Fang Zesheng said triumphantly, “He will not marry as a wife; he is a man.”
“A man?” Fu Jingxuan poked his own flat chest with a trembling index finger, growing even more incensed. He said sourly, “Then how do you know he won’t have a house full of wives and concubines in three years? If it were me, I certainly wouldn’t wait three years for you. Who knows if I’ll meet someone better by then?” Having finished, he moved to leave, but his wrist was caught by Young Master Fang. Not understanding why, Fu Jingxuan asked him what he was doing.
Fang Zesheng looked at the sky, then at the ground; he watched the fish frolicking in the water and the birds circling the treetops before saying, “It is still possible… to wait a little longer.”
As it turned out, through all that waiting, the result was a complete lack of news.
Fu Jingxuan watched as Fang Zesheng deliberately avoided his eyes. Just as he was about to speak again, a cry of mingled joy and sorrow erupted from outside the door. It sounded as though San Bao had finally spotted a long-lost relative who had traveled a thousand miles to visit this lonely master and servant pair in their substituted marriage.
“Young Master! Come out quickly! Someone is here to see us!”
Fang Zesheng’s hands clenched the wheelchair so tightly that his knuckles bulged as if they might tear through his skin. Upon hearing San Bao’s shout, he instantly relaxed and let out a long, audible breath of relief.
Taking note of this, Fu Jingxuan stopped pressing him. He pulled a folding fan from his rear waistband and sauntered out the door.
