Chapter 093: An Embrace of Love

Chapter Title: 093 A Loving Embrace

The Guan family of Shengjing.

Their main business is the Tianxia Embroidery Workshop. In the generation led by Guan Shiyin's mother, the family rose to the pinnacle of wealth in the Yao Tian Kingdom due to her formidable management, and has remained there ever since. The words “Tianxia Embroidery Workshop” are renowned throughout the land, known by all.

Equally famed and widely recognized is the Guan family’s unique tradition: both the main house and the embroidery workshop pass inheritance to daughters, never to sons.

Beside a nameless stream during a mid-journey rest, Fang Rulai leaned against a tree and asked, “So, you’re from the eldest branch—the senior ‘daughter’ line?”

“Shh.” Standing in the stream with his trousers rolled up, Guan Shiyin glanced back and made a silencing gesture, then swiftly caught a small fish with a stick. “Ha, my lady, do you like grilled fish?”

Fang Rulai met his gaze with a blank expression. “If you don’t want to talk about your family, just say so. I don’t mind. You know all about the second branch, whether you investigate or not is up to you.”

“My lady, what are you saying?” Guan Shiyin, holding several skewered fish, walked to the shore. “When did I say I wouldn’t talk? I was busy catching fish for you. Let me tell you, these wild fish from the stream taste better than any carp or bluefish. I’ll grill them for you myself, and we can chat as we eat—doesn’t that sound more charming?”

He began digging a pit, lighting a fire, and preparing the fish. His movements were deft, nothing like what one would expect from a young lady raised in luxury for twenty years.

Fang Rulai narrowed her eyes slightly. “If you secretly trained martial arts to protect yourself and your so-called political future, that’s understandable. But why do you even…”

She pointed to his skilled fingers as he cleaned the fish with a single motion, “...have time to learn these trivial skills?”

Guan Shiyin paused. “My mother taught me all of this herself.”

Fang Rulai fixed her gaze on him. The head of an embroidery workshop teaching household chores instead of management?

After placing the prepared fish over the fire, Guan Shiyin leaned back, letting his head rest on Fang Rulai’s lap.

Fang Rulai was about to move away, but his next words made her forget to do so.

“My mother had a difficult birth when she had me, and was told she’d never have another child. So, from the age of three, I was told that if I wanted to survive, I had to dress as a girl. And to live free from others’ control, I needed to master martial arts to kill, and needlework to embroider.”

“You can embroider?” Fang Rulai wasn’t trying to interrupt, but the idea seemed so out of place. Imagine, a robust man who could crush opponents with a palm, holding an embroidery needle in the window’s shade, stitching… flowers?

The memory of Yue Buqun flashed through her mind suddenly, and she shuddered. Dongfang Bubai would have made sense, but why Yue Buqun?

Unaware of her thoughts, Guan Shiyin lifted his hand toward her. “Of course! Look at these fingertips—when I was learning embroidery, they were constantly pricked. You can still see those reddish marks, probably from too many needle wounds. I doubt they’ll ever heal.”

His fingers were long, perfect for playing piano if in modern times. His skin was pale, making the marks stand out like blemishes on flawless jade. Fang Rulai instinctively covered his hand and rubbed it gently.

Guan Shiyin’s eyes curved in delight. “Aha, feeling sorry for your husband, aren’t you?”

“Get off!” Fang Rulai blushed, flinging his hand away. “Keep talking.”

“By the time my mother managed Tianxia Embroidery Workshop, it was already at its peak. Its operational model was basically set. Mother said, as long as my identity as female heir was preserved, the workshop would run smoothly even without daily management. The real challenge was the internal family power struggles.”

His voice grew somber. “My grandmother had more than one daughter. I also have an uncle—that’s the second branch. When my grandmother and mother were alive, my uncle’s family, even if they schemed, kept things discreet. But after their deaths, emboldened by my grandfather’s favoritism, my uncle’s family began…”

“Wait, you haven’t mentioned your father,” Fang Rulai interrupted.

“Mother said my father died of illness shortly after I was born. All he left me was the name ‘Guan Shiyin.’”

“Guan Shiyin? Your father chose that name?” Fang Rulai frowned. If he died after you were born, he must have known you were a boy. Why give you such a feminine name?

“Mother said my uncle’s family also had a daughter born the day after me—a genuine girl. To protect the family business, I had to be a girl, too. My father originally wanted to name me ‘Guan Shiyin,’ the sound of lingering music. But he clung to a hope I might someday reclaim my true self, so he changed the character to ‘Yin’ for cause and effect. That way, it appeased outsiders while letting me retain some masculine essence despite the female name and attire.”

“Your uncle’s family was fooled for twenty years and never suspected?”

“How could they not! Poison every three days, assassination every five—it was all routine.”

“So your mother taught you every skill to survive alone?”

“Yes. From laundry and cooking to killing, before twelve I lived without a self—now I think it was a fulfilling, even happy time.”

Fang Rulai noticed the tension in his voice at mention of age twelve. “What happened when you were twelve?”

Guan Shiyin raised an arm to block the sunlight, but really to hide his expression. “At twelve, full of youthful vigor, I thought if my uncle’s daughter was gone, all would be resolved. So, one night, I snuck into my uncle’s courtyard and killed his only daughter.”

“Then, as the only heir in disguise, you became the sole successor of the Guan family!” Fang Rulai shook her head. “So you had reckless moments, too. In such tense times, a drastic move like that would surely provoke fiercer retaliation.”

“Yes, I was reckless and ignorant. I thought cutting the problem at its root was best. When I returned to report my proud deed, mother said nothing—she sent me to the palace to visit the Second Prince that very night.”

“She was protecting you.”

“But I was angry at not being praised and stayed in the palace for three days. On the fourth day, when I returned home…”

Guan Shiyin paused; Fang Rulai saw his trembling fingers and felt a pang. She was about to tell him he didn’t need to continue, but he went on.

“Mother had died the previous day. Grandmother said it was exhaustion and illness. How could I believe that! I grabbed my sword and charged into the second branch’s courtyard. First, I stabbed my aunt, then, while preparing to kill my uncle, accidentally wounded my grandmother when she tried to stop me.”

“Ah!” Fang Rulai gasped. So both his mother and grandmother died directly or indirectly because of him?

Guan Shiyin’s voice sank to a whisper. “Mother’s dying words were that Tianxia Embroidery Workshop must never fall because of family disputes before the Second Prince ascended the throne. Grandmother, dying in my arms, pleaded only for her last surviving son’s life—she’d already lost a daughter.”

Fang Rulai shuddered. The two matriarchs, facing death, feared the furious Guan Shiyin would act rashly, so they diverted his anger with other concerns instead of direct warnings.

A man who could strike so swiftly, causing his aunt’s death and silencing his mother, surely had loyal supporters nearby. The old lady’s plea for her son was really a way to give Guan Shiyin an excuse to avoid direct conflict with his uncle’s faction.

His mother’s final mention of the embroidery workshop was to remind him: internal matters can be resolved, but outside threats are far more dangerous. Avenging his mother by killing his uncle was simple, but then what? The Guan family would be left with only a twelve-year-old “girl” as its head, a vulnerable orphan in outsiders’ eyes. Even with the Second Prince’s protection, survival would be difficult. Competitors and opportunists would surely seize the chance to crush the family.

“From that day, I learned what it meant to endure.”

Guan Shiyin’s voice drifted like an invisible wind. Fang Rulai suddenly felt her breath seized, suffocated.

Twelve years old—still not graduated elementary school in modern terms. Yet here, Guan Shiyin had lost his mother and grandmother and faced the world’s scrutiny and threats. How hard must his steps have been?

“I…” Guan Shiyin began.

Fang Rulai reached out and covered his mouth. “No more.”

Just as she was adjusting to the fact that this dazzling man had a heroic side, she encountered his vulnerability. The pain came unexpectedly, chilling her palm with the bitterness of his long-suppressed words.

“Sorry,” Fang Rulai murmured. “I just thought it would be helpful to understand the Guan family’s power structure before we returned to Shengjing. I didn’t expect it to touch on things you…”

She fell silent, unsure how to describe it. If she called it painful memories, would it hurt him again?

Guan Shiyin pulled her hand away, but kept his other hand over his eyes. “Nothing to apologize for. It’s routine to know yourself and your adversary.”

He placed her hand aside and released it. Fang Rulai stared at her own hand, feeling inexplicably empty.

Given his usual habits, shouldn’t he have seized the chance to kiss her palm and try for more? Yet this time, he acted like a proper gentleman. Did his past really still haunt him?

Fang Rulai glanced at the hand he kept over his eyes. Why was he hiding? What was in his gaze? Was he afraid he couldn’t conceal it, or afraid she’d see?

“You…” Fang Rulai began.

Guan Shiyin quickly signaled, “Stop! You’re my woman. It’s fine that you’re shrewder than me, but if you try to comfort me now, all my efforts to appear strong and heroic will be for nothing.”

He pulled her hand down and placed it on his shoulder. “The past is the past—it’s over. Nothing I can’t move on from. Only…”

He paused, and Fang Rulai gently patted his shoulder. “What is it?”

“The day I killed my uncle’s daughter was my birthday. My wish was for mother to embrace me.”

“An embrace?”

“Yes. What other children receive easily was a luxury I couldn’t have. To keep up the great deception, mother was always patching holes, while I learned whatever she demanded. In twelve years, I could count our moments of closeness on one hand. On my twelfth birthday, I hoped I could wish for mother’s embrace. But after the killing, I was sent to the palace overnight. Three days later, when I returned, she was gone forever. My birthday wish…”

His voice broke off.

It was Fang Rulai who suddenly leaned down, tightly hugging his head.

Guan Shiyin gently shook his head. “I told you, don’t…”

“I want to hug you!” Fang Rulai assumed his pride was at work, so she made herself the excuse. “You’ve always protected me, and I’ve never thanked you. Now it seems I’ve been rather rude.”

Guan Shiyin’s head went still.

“You can tell I’m not from this place, can’t you?” For the first time, she spoke of herself, feeling inexplicably embarrassed, so she closed her eyes.

Thus, she didn’t see Guan Shiyin, with a mischievous smile, nestling closer into her embrace, rubbing against her as he nodded in response.

“Where I come from, there are many ways to show gratitude, and a hug is the most heartfelt.” Fang Rulai tightened her arms. “Thank you, Guan Shiyin. After all the fighting, I realize how precious your deeds are, how deserving of thanks. Sometimes I wonder what I must do to repay you.”

“Mmm, mmm, mmm.” Offer yourself.

But his voice was so muffled that Fang Rulai didn’t catch it.

“What?” she asked, lowering her head to look.

No sooner had her gaze shifted than she flared with rage.

The one she thought was despondent was sniffing at her chest.

Fang Rulai’s mind exploded—some habits never change!

She pushed his head away with a flourish. “Idiot, go to hell!”

Thank you dearly: Chao Jin Lu Kui, &! Manman! ^_$ and Smelly Egg Haha for your encouragement. Thanks, everyone, kisses~

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