"I know saying this might be hard to believe, but... there are some things I truly don't want to do—talented scholar or not, reputation or not, merit and fame—I don't want to touch them. This... is true."

Ning Yi's tone was calm, but the conviction in his words was undeniable—he was answering this question seriously, without reluctance or hidden pain, sincere and frank. He looked barely over twenty, once a stiff bookworm—if it had been the old nerd, he'd probably stutter just speaking to Old Qin and Old Kang. But at this moment, his presence couldn't be ignored, and with his bearing, he seemed transcendent and carefree, unbound by worldly concerns. If this temperament were on a forty or fifty-year-old, it would be mature and steady, deep as an abyss and stable as a mountain¹, words worth their weight in gold, beyond doubt.

This made his answer all the more puzzling to them, as for someone like Old Kang to ask such a question carried significant meaning. Moreover, given their current relationship, Old Kang wasn't making a deal with him or expecting repayment—an ordinary person might suddenly turn stupid out of pride or something and decline, but Ning Yi was no such hothead. Facing their confusion, Ning Yi smiled helplessly.

"Heh, I understand this puzzles people, but..." He lightly tapped his forehead, "You two might not know, but a few months ago I took a blow to the head and was unconscious for several days before waking. I've forgotten most of my past, and the matter of merit and fame—it's truly hard to care about right now. As for lingering with talented scholars in pleasure quarters, composing poems to win ladies' favor, I really can't muster much interest, but those kids at the academy, I find them interesting. Sometimes telling them stories, all that noise and chaos, or coming here to the riverside, playing chess and drinking tea—it feels comfortable. I have some interesting ideas in my head that I might pursue slowly, and I'm satisfied with this life now. As for some disapproving looks, why bother with them—what the future holds, I still can't figure out. But I do understand Master Ming's good intentions."

He cupped his hands in salute and nodded: "This matter, I'll remember in my heart."

These words naturally mixed truth and falsehood—of course, he couldn't explain the real situation to them. Connecting this mindset to his head injury and memory loss was the best approach—pushing the matter away cleanly². This reason needed no further explanation, naturally reasonable without giving them cause to worry needlessly about something that wasn't their business. It was just a problem on his side.

Sure enough, after he finished, both Old Kang and Old Qin looked puzzled, and when Ning Yi explained the memory loss again, they finally showed understanding. Kang Xian shook his head with a smile: "I didn't expect such a thing," just assuming that after losing his memory, his thoughts had become somewhat peculiar.

Old Kang didn't bring up those matters again, and after drinking a cup of tea, Ning Yi picked up the whiteboard and charcoal, bidding farewell to head to Yushan Academy. After his figure disappeared around the distant corner, Old Kang finally sighed: "I didn't expect this twist—that blow actually knocked out a heart indifferent to fame. Among young people, such temperament is truly rare—it's just a pity about all that talent."

Old Qin laughed and sipped his tea: "He's barely past twenty—who can say what he'll become in the future? With his talent, the things he's meant to encounter can't be avoided, but looking at today's events, some things are worrying... Master Ming, Liheng is too practical."

Kang Xian frowned: "Now that you mention it, that's indeed the case—looking at his poems, casually written yet all excellent lines, but he doesn't care about the art of poetry at all. Heh, 'When will the moon be round, hanging from the southeast branch...' his calligraphy comes so naturally, so many styles all reaching such heights—he probably just treats them as pastimes. In his eyes, these things aren't even as interesting as that chalk..."

Old Qin nodded: "Being practical is good, but being too practical, too direct, might bring trouble in the future... though Liheng understands avoiding harm and seeking benefit, he's still young and proud in some matters. He won't humor those scholars' tests, declined invitations, yet doesn't bother hiding much before us—probably for the same reason..."

He thought for a moment, then smiled: "No need to overthink this—we're just chess friends. Worrying too much would be excessive. Now that we know his thoughts, that's enough. What the future holds, we'll see."

Over the past few days, the name Ning Yi had stirred up waves both large and small in Jiangning, and those who learned about Water Melody Prelude and this name naturally had various speculations and opinions. Most views were simple, but those closer to the situation found things increasingly complex—like Old Kang and Old Qin, like many in the Su family—distant relatives, close kin, managers, servants. Closer still were Old Master Su and Su Boyong, then came Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er. These past few days, Xing'er often teased the other two with "a thousand miles apart, together seeing the moon's beauty"—Chan'er was somewhat mentally prepared, but Juan'er truly got caught in the crossfire, blushing red each time, her face burning like a hot little teapot. She complained privately to Chan'er: "Why did the Young Master have to write that line..."

So these days, she'd lower her head and dodge away whenever she saw Ning Yi.

Among all these people, the one with the most complex feelings was naturally Su Tan'er—to be fair, what concerned her most wasn't how talented her husband was or how strange his personality might be, but rather: she couldn't understand him anymore.

She'd originally married Ning Yi because he was simple, someone she could easily read, and even after marriage, with him as a live-in son-in-law, she could participate in the Su family business with less criticism. Though this marriage was still mostly in name only, she'd already accepted him in her heart to some degree—what came next was just a matter of time.

Who knew that only now she'd discover she couldn't see through this husband at all.

Of course, this matter was just showing some signs—her husband seemed indifferent, not like someone harboring ulterior motives. Su Tan'er was a calm and intelligent woman who wouldn't panic over this, though while managing various shop affairs, her thoughts inevitably lingered on this matter. In this era, no matter how intelligent or independent a girl might be, once married, who could truly not care about their husband?

These days she continued busily managing the Su family's many silk and cloth shops in Jiangning, and in her spare time, she sent Juan'er to investigate the alley where Ning Yi used to live. In business dealings, acquaintances would occasionally ask: "That Ning Yi, Ning Liheng—is he your husband?" Then they'd praise Water Melody Prelude.

After marriage, she should have brought her live-in husband to meet her previous acquaintances, to establish her status as a married woman³and make business negotiations more convenient, but she'd been willful during the wedding, and Ning Yi had been knocked unconscious. After that came recovery time, and by now, their interaction pattern had almost solidified—they only talked during meals at home. Though she treated Ning Yi naturally, they were married after all, which brought more reserve and pride. So until now, except for suggesting the Puyuan Poetry Gathering, she hadn't invited Ning Yi to go out together for anything.

Now it would be even harder to suggest.

She gathered information about Ning Yi from various sources—before marriage, this had already been done once, mostly by her father and grandfather, though she'd also gone with her maids to look, having Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er inquire about Ning Yi's reputation. The information then painted him as a simple bookworm, not highly talented—of course, he wasn't completely stupid from studying, otherwise he wouldn't have later accepted the Su family's proposal to marry in. In this era, for a man to marry into another family meant accepting his fate.

However, when Juan'er went to investigate this time, the information had changed somewhat.

Most evaluations were naturally the same as before—Ning Yi hadn't had much presence in that alley. Some households only remembered after Juan'er emphasized several times that he was the man living in such-and-such courtyard: "Oh, there was such a person." Or: "That silly bookworm? I heard he married into some family. The courtyard's been sold." "Probably knew himself he couldn't pass the exams." Such comments made up the vast majority, though two or three households said things like: "Oh, Liheng? I always knew he was amazingly talented, just always kept a low profile. His temperament's steady too, doesn't like competing with others—not like those so-called talented scholars with little learning who love showing off. This is what they call 'a full pot makes no sound, a half-full pot sloshes around'... Young lady, you must have heard about that Water Melody Prelude and come to ask about him..."

"Married in? Yes, he did, because of an engagement—Liheng's an honest child, engagements must be kept..."

"Third Aunt next door and Uncle Niu at the alley entrance both said the same—this servant gave them each fifty copper coins..." Though just a little maid, Juan'er's information-gathering skills were formidable, and she thought for a moment, then smiled and shared her opinion: "But this servant thinks they only started saying this after hearing Water Melody Prelude. It doesn't count—unfortunately Teacher Zou who taught the Young Master passed away last year. This servant went to ask, but the Young Master's teacher's wife barely remembered him—only after understanding why I came did she say some nice things. Teacher Zou's widow's family doesn't seem to be doing well, so this servant took it upon herself to send two strings of cash and some cured meat, in the Young Master's name."

"As it should be..." Su Tan'er nodded, then smiled too, though deep confusion remained—gathering information didn't mean believing everything people said. Though she'd gotten some positive comments this time, the basic information remained unchanged. However, after Juan'er investigated another direction, certain seemingly correct speculations gradually revealed their outline to Su Tan'er.

"Those old men the Young Master knows from playing chess by the river might be extraordinary... The clearest one we know now is probably that Old Kang who spoke for the Young Master at the Zhishui Poetry Gathering..."

"Mm?" Ning Yi's pre-amnesia reputation could be confirmed, so if something really happened, it should have been after the memory loss. She knew about him going to play chess by the river and making chess friends, but hadn't investigated. The information she received now truly startled her. Her husband could actually know such figures—whether through luck or something else. The subsequent information left her even more stunned.

The news from the Zhishui Poetry Gathering only mentioned that Kang Xian was a master of Neo-Confucianism, how accomplished he was in various fields, how respected, but the background hidden behind this hadn't been heavily concealed, just unspoken. One investigation revealed it all—Kang Xian, courtesy name Mingyun, wasn't just a calligraphy master and pillar of Neo-Confucianism. He had another identity: imperial son-in-law to Princess Cheng, imperial family by marriage—though the Wu dynasty strictly controlled imperial relatives and sons-in-law couldn't participate in state affairs or hold office, Princess Cheng was the current emperor's own aunt. This Kang Xian was actually the emperor's uncle by marriage—even as just a wealthy idler, such status was noble beyond words, completely beyond what the Su merchant family could reach.

Once this news was revealed, the initial shock was indescribable, and Su Tan'er was dazed for a moment. But after the brief shock, a relatively clear thread gradually appeared before her.

"How did the Young Master become friends with such an important person—Chan'er says they just casually went over, casually played chess, and got acquainted." Juan'er wondered, then became hesitant: "But speaking of it, this Old Kang's status, and the Young Master's status... oh..."

Juan'er didn't dare say more, but it was enough—in business, all kinds of information had to be filtered constantly. Sometimes certain clues seemed hard to believe, but when other clues were filtered out, what remained might be just such information.

Her husband's status, and that Old Kang's status... both live-in sons-in-law?

For Su Tan'er, though this answer would seem bizarre to ordinary people, it was already closest to the truth.

Her husband... might just have some interaction through chess, might not even know the other's identity, but they indeed had this in common. The imperial son-in-law's status seemed noble—marrying a princess—but it was actually marrying into the imperial family, and with such talent, he could never hold office his whole life, never fulfill his ambitions. Meeting her husband and feeling kinship wasn't hard to understand—this explained why he'd block everyone's tongues at the Zhishui Poetry Gathering to build her husband's reputation...

That Water Melody Prelude—her husband said some Taoist passing by his door... not only did Grandfather not believe it, she absolutely didn't either, because Xiao Chan definitely wouldn't lie to her. A Taoist recited a poem—was it sung?... Perhaps her husband really created it by chance, or perhaps that Old Kang wrote it—hard to say. She wasn't too concerned now—before, with doubts in her heart, everything seemed suspicious. Now that she'd sorted out a thread, she felt enlightened instead, no longer minding certain things.

Her husband was actually indifferent by nature, and his words and actions weren't annoying. As for his talent level, she didn't really care—lower was fine, as he'd married in and she didn't mind. Higher would just be a pleasant surprise—that Mid-Autumn poetry gathering, who'd have thought there was such insider dealing. If it really was Kang Xian's scheme, perhaps the old man acted on a whim, playing a joke.

"Watch this old man teach you, give your wife and family a good scare..."

Thinking this way, it wasn't impossible—though her husband's temperament was calm, at his age he might not truly accept his status as a live-in son-in-law. Though Grandfather didn't want to mistreat him and she didn't want him discriminated against, a live-in son-in-law occasionally facing disapproval was unavoidable—people would always have their opinions. This was his own hurdle to cross, and if he wanted to display some talent because of this, it was understandable.

So her husband... could he be trying to tame his unruly little wife?

Some decisions, once made, wouldn't change—that was the major premise—and she'd originally had no requirements about marrying out or recruiting a husband. But one day she'd inherit the Su family business—that was the key point—and with this premise, her husband could only marry in. Thinking this, she didn't dislike these speculations—she even felt a trace of fondness.

There were no other possibilities, were there?

So on the way home, she smiled gently and warmly...

This was a very private smile—even Juan'er and Xing'er in the carriage didn't notice...

(End of Chapter)