Chapter 55 Gathering: Shackles of Care.

Chapter 55: Gathering: The Shackles of Care.

Xie Tanwei had agreed to let her go out, and after seeing her to the Su residence, he did not make things difficult again, leaving with a flourish.

Sunlight pierced the mist, dew dripped down, and the sun rose radiantly from the east. The day had just begun.

Tian Qin was alone at the Su residence. She appeared free, far from the Xie residence that choked her throat, with its thick walls and the necessity of speaking in hushed tones. Yet in reality, when evening approached, the carriage would arrive without fail to take her back.

She unconsciously stroked her wrist, staring at the branch-like, shrimp-green veins. So far away, would the Love Gu lose its effect?

After a moment, she smiled bitterly. "Another foolish hope."

She unfolded the invitation she had brought and knocked on the elegant, Jiangnan-style gate of the Su residence.

Today, she was not a forbidden possession in name only but a prisoner in reality; not a prey under surveillance; not a golden oriole in a luxurious cage... She wanted to temporarily forget the Love Gu, to be an ordinary girl meeting friends, enjoying the same freedom as ordinary people.

With guests arriving that day, the Su residence had deliberately left its gates open. The steward in charge of greeting had been waiting early. Seeing Tian Qin, he immediately beamed and led her to Su Tiaotiao's courtyard.

Su Tiaotiao had prepared many exquisite delicacies, fruits and vegetables in abundance. The small feast was set up among the winding waters and pavilions. Several other noble ladies had already arrived, playing in the water, frolicking, waiting only for Tian Qin.

"I thought you weren't coming."

Su Tiaotiao happily pulled her close. Her innocent brightness was that of a truly beloved legitimate daughter of a noble family, making Tian Qin, long trapped in darkness, feel a bit overwhelmed.

Tian Qin pretended to be gentle and composed, politely saying, "The sisters in the house had a few more words of advice, so I was late. Please forgive me."

"What house sisters, don't lie," Su Tiaotiao teased. "Lord Xie personally escorted you here; the servants saw it. Before leaving, he even fastened your cloak for you. We are utterly envious."

"Tian'er, your brother-in-law is so good to you. He is elegant and pure, devastatingly handsome, gentle like a figure from a water-ink painting, erudite, attentive in every way, and personally saw you here. Ten thousand times better than your previous fiancé."

Su Tiaotiao spoke vividly. The surrounding noblewomen covered their mouths and blushed, echoing in agreement without ill intent—envy outweighed everything else. After all, Xie Tanwei's fame was known throughout the land.

Tian Qin was tormented. She raised her cup to drink wine, but remembering Xie Tanwei's warning, she set it down again.

She gulped down some pear juice instead. "No."

As she raised her hand, her pale wrist revealed a jade bracelet, exquisitely crafted with filigree, radiating a noble blue luster under the sun. Immediately, the noblewomen fussed and compared it.

"Your brother-in-law... really spares no expense for you," one noblewoman said, her heart aflutter. "This thing is probably an imperial gift."

Tian Qin was listless. An imperial gift was nothing in reality; any pastry in the Xie household came from imperial chefs.

Now the emperor was a toddler babbling, Xie Tanwei served as the emperor's tutor and the revered sage of the realm, and his aunt, Grand Empress Dowager Xie Miaozhen, reigned as the supreme authority across three imperial reigns. He was the de facto ruler of the dynasty, the most powerful minister, at the height of his power.

Even the imperial palace was at the mercy of his aunt and he. An imperial gift was like a rotting apricot in a basket. To put it bluntly, he could depose the young emperor at any time.

"If you like it, you can have it," Tian Qin said generously, pulling off the bracelet to offer it. The women panicked and refused profusely. Tian Qin smirked and put it back on herself.

The topic was tacitly dropped. Tian Qin drank too much pear juice, her eyes bright and her lips vermilion, languidly charming, but her misery far outweighed any joy.

Su Tiaotiao was about to marry, and this was the last meeting for several unmarried sisters. The hostess and guests enjoyed themselves, chatting about all sorts of things.

Tian Qin smiled the gentlest and happiest, but there was no joy in her smile, only an inescapable desolation that she could not dispel.

Though of the same age, Tian Qin and the others were as different as heaven and earth.

The noblewomen paired off to play in the spring waters, now that the ice had thawed.

Su Tiaotiao pulled Tian Qin aside privately and said softly, "Tian'er, I know your household is strict. I didn't expect you to come today. Your arrival was an unexpected joy. There's a banquet tonight, but you have to return early, right? Your family will worry about you. I'd really like you to stay."

Tian Qin, whose head was numbed by the fruit drinks, suddenly sobered up. She saw the sun slanting westward, evening clouds combed as if by a comb, still lingering with yellow haze. The appointed time to return was near.

Just as she was about to make up an excuse, her heart suddenly sank. An invisible rope seemed to bind her whole body, causing her head to split in pain—the Love Gu was faithfully monitoring her again.

She clutched her chest, oppressed by a dark shadow like a great mountain crushing her, as if her heart were shattered, murmuring, "Why? So far away, why still..."

Su Tiaotiao was startled. "Tian'er, what's wrong?"

Tian Qin covered her face with both hands.

This brief freedom was stolen; it would have to be repaid eventually.

He toyed with her from on high, first seemingly unconditionally letting her taste the sweetness of freedom, then, when she was most elated, ruthlessly dealt a fatal blow, dragging her back to hell while she was still immersed in the dregs of joy.

At that moment, a servant came to report: "Miss Su, people from Miss Tian's residence have come to wait for her."

Su Tiaotiao cast a suspicious glance at Tian Qin, unable to keep her. Whether to stay or go was entirely up to her.

The Su family was no match for the Xie family; they could not protect Tian Qin.

Tian Qin asked, "Is it my brother-in-law?"

The servant replied, "It is a young master who says his surname is Zhao."

Zhao Ning. He was also a king of hell.

When the other noblewomen heard the name of Tian Qin's brother-in-law, they excitedly gathered around, holding great expectations.

After all, he was the Head of the Xie Family—transcendent and saintly, with flowing sleeves and a dignified demeanor, the dream lover of many young maidens in the capital. Even a distant glance was considered a blessing.

When they learned it was not the family head but only a servant, half disappointed, half gloating. Who did Yu Tianqin think she was? A concubine-born daughter of a disgraced official, living under someone else's roof; she didn't deserve the family head to pick her up in person.

Though Su Tiaotiao wanted to keep Tian Qin a little longer, she didn't dare to speak. Tian Qin frowned, stubborn, and said, "Please go and tell him that I won't return for now. I'll go back after the evening meal. Please ask him to wait."

The servant acknowledged and left. After a while, he returned, respectfully holding a wooden tray. On it was neatly folded a sky-blue cloak, embroidered with wild geese, shimmering with silk's cold luster. He said:

"Miss, that Lord Zhao said: 'Miss Tian, the master orders me to escort you back. Please do not refuse. The master knows it gets cold in the evening, so he specially prepared this cloud brocade cloak. Please put it on before returning. Otherwise, if you catch a chill, the master will have to make you take medicine.'"

These suggestive words made Tian Qin blush with embarrassment, wishing she could find a hole to hide in.

Su Tiaotiao's expression was also complicated. On one hand, she worried for Tian Qin; on the other, she had never seen such a level of brother-in-law care for his sister-in-law. The other noblewomen turned green with envy. Yu Tianqin was actually being so pampered in the Xie household.

With things said to this extent, Tian Qin had no choice but to return.

The timing was exactly as agreed, with an extra allowance of an incense stick's duration. Everything was reasonable and irrefutably watertight.

Tian Qin had no alternative. Under the gaze of everyone, she put on the cloud brocade cloak and slowly made her way out of the Su residence, as if walking on the edge of a blade.

To outsiders, this was care and shelter; to her, it was a tight noose around her fate—a seamless, cold monitoring.

Under his five-finger mountain, every smile, every person she met, every place she went, the time she returned home—all were pre-designed.

He let her see only the evening clouds drifting up at dusk; she would never see the moon hanging in the midnight sky.

The puppet had to go now. If she didn't go, what would come for her would not be Zhao Ning and a warm cloak, but a heartrending Love Gu.

Su Tiaotiao, dazed, pulled on her sleeve as if it were a parting of life and death: "Tian Qin, there's a grand banquet tonight. Can't you stay a little longer? If not, I'll beg my father to speak with your brother-in-law."

Su Tiaotiao's father was a pillar of the court, but in Xie Tanwei's eyes, he was nothing significant.

Tian Qin brushed aside Su Tiaotiao's hand, pretending to be lighthearted: "No, I won't. You'll be married soon, and maybe I'll get to drink at your wedding feast and see you in your bright red bridal gown and veil."

Though she herself would never have the chance to wear such a gown in this lifetime.

Su Tiaotiao stood rooted in place, feeling lost and forlorn.

What had begun as a joyful gathering of sisters had subtly soured.

The chattering women all felt the mood turn flat; without Tian Qin, the latter half of the banquet was dull and listless.

Tian Qin held back the surging tide of emotions and stepped out of the Su residence. From the morning she had entered, it had felt like a dream—how light and carefree the morning had been, how weighed down she was now.

Zhao Ning stood guard in the gathering dusk, his body as immovable as an iron tower, waiting with unwavering patience. For a concubine's daughter long neglected, this scene should have been a heartwarming sign that someone cared.

But Tian Qin felt as though she were drifting through a nightmare, her steps weak and unsteady.

"Miss, please."

Zhao Ning set down the footstool.

Tian Qin mounted it in silence, silenter than the darkening night, slumping into the carriage like a corpse, her mind blank.

The sky was a deep, condensed ink-blue; the pines and cypresses in the courtyard let out sharp, howling sounds. The chill of winter had crept back onto the treetops with the night, a bone-chilling cold.

The Xie mansion stood tall and grand, absorbing the sun's energy by day, gleaming brightly. By night, it blocked the light of stars and moon, dark and ominous as a frightening tombstone, a giant coffin.

Tian Qin took the lantern Zhao Ning offered and walked in on her own. The cold wind cut into her bones; fortunately, she wore the cloak. She instinctively clenched her teeth and pulled the cloak tighter.

This was her home.

No matter how warm and beautiful the Su residence was, it was never her home.

Servants along the way bowed to her. Tian Qin hesitated, wondering whether to go to Qiutang Courtyard to report her safe return, or to head straight to Painting Garden.

Remembering the bloody scene of Nanny Chen and others bound to long benches with wolf-tooth clubs raised high, she chose to compromise. Holding the small lantern, whose faint light guided her, she walked toward Qiutang Courtyard.

Qiutang Courtyard was brightly lit and warmly harmonious. The Lord and his lady were dining, a warm yellow light spilling through the window lattices, carrying with it soft whispers and intimate murmurs, the aroma of food wafting out.

Tian Qin stood silently for a while in the chill of the spring night, gathering her courage, her mind rehearsing what to say. Alone with her lantern in the cold night, she picked her way alone, like someone abandoned by the whole world.

How strange things were: at the Su residence, she was urged to come back as if her life were at stake, the center of attention.

But here at the Xie mansion, she was met with darkness. The family ate cozily, the husband and wife shared loving glances, and no one paid her any mind. She truly didn't matter.

So why had she come back?

She almost forgot—he just wanted her back. The goal was achieved, his need for control satisfied. He didn't care if she'd had fun. It was like a borrowed item that had to be returned on time.

A maid sweeping the yard saw her lingering outside the door, uncertain what held her back, and cast sidelong glances at her as if she were an oddity.

Tian Qin didn't know how much longer she could endure in the darkness. She knocked on the door and called out politely, "Sister, brother-in-law?"