Quick Wear: The first person to love the host

For the next two days, Su Ziyu was restless and unable to sit still.

The people sent out reported back one after another, but none of them found any trace of the old man.

News came from the southern post station that a covered carriage had passed through the snow three days ago, driven by two elderly servants in their fifties, and there seemed to be coughing sounds coming from inside the carriage.

Based on the time and route, it should be my maternal grandfather.

Late on the third night, a blizzard struck.

A fierce wind, carrying snowflakes, lashed against the windowpanes with a crackling sound. Su Ziyu couldn't sleep at all. He sat in his study, wrapped in a robe, checking the accounts over and over again, but couldn't concentrate on reading a single word.

At three-quarters past midnight, a series of urgent knocks came from outside the mansion gate.

Su Ziyu suddenly stood up, grabbed his cloak, and rushed outside. Liu Ye followed behind him, carrying a lantern. As they crossed the courtyard, the wind and snow almost knocked them over.

"Open the door!" Su Ziyu shouted.

The latch fell, and the heavy mansion gate creaked open. A raging wind and snowstorm rushed in, causing the lanterns to sway violently.

Outside the gate, a blue-canopied carriage, almost completely buried in snow, was parked crookedly in front of the steps.

The horses pulling the carriage were breathing out white steam, soaked to the bone, and their hooves trembled. One of the two old servants was pounding on the door, while the other was desperately helping the person getting off the carriage.

"Grandfather!" Su Zi wanted to rush into the wind and snow.

Old Master Shen was being helped by his old servant. His dark cloak was mostly soaked, and ice crystals were forming on the edge of his hood.

He looked up, his face pale and bluish in the dim light of the lantern, his lips purple from the cold, but his eyes remained sharp as an eagle's.

He shook off the old servant's hand, steadied himself, and stared straight at Su Ziyu: "You...you still know how to come out?"

Before he could finish speaking, a violent cough interrupted him. The old man bent over, coughing so hard it was heart-wrenching, his whole body trembling.

Su Ziyu felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and stepped forward to support him: "Grandfather, let's go inside! Liu Ye, quickly go and fetch a doctor!"

"No...no need!" The old man forced himself to sit up, but then coughed again. "I'm not dead yet...let's go inside...I have so many things to ask you..."

Su Ziyu dared not disobey, and together with the old servant, they helped the old man walk into the mansion, one on each side.

The old man's body was heavy, his steps unsteady, and he had to stop to catch his breath every few steps. The distance from the mansion gate to the warm pavilion was only a few dozen feet, but it took them a full quarter of an hour to walk.

The warm room was filled with steam.

Su Zi wanted to personally remove the old man's soaked cloak, and then fetched a dry, thick cotton robe to drape over him. The old man sat in the armchair, closed his eyes, and breathed heavily for a long time before his complexion improved slightly.

An old servant served hot tea, which the old man accepted, but his hand trembled slightly.

"You all get out," he said in a hoarse voice.

The old servant and Liu Ye looked at Su Ziyu, and seeing him nod, they bowed and withdrew, gently closing the door behind them.

Only the grandfather and grandson remained in the warm room.

The charcoal fire crackled, and the wind and snow howled outside the window.

The old man sipped his tea slowly, remaining silent for a long time. Su Zi knelt before him, head bowed, awaiting the coming storm.

"Raise your head." The old man's voice finally rang out, weary yet filled with suppressed anger.

Su Ziyu looked up and met those aged yet still shrewd eyes.

“One year,” the old man said slowly, “twelve letters. You didn’t reply to a single one, but only asked your cousin to pass on a message, saying that your mind was made up and that you hoped your grandfather would grant your request.”

He put down his teacup, the porcelain clinking together with a crisp sound. "Ziyu, your mother passed away early. I took you back to the Shen family and raised you in luxury, teaching you to read and write, and how to do business. Is this how you end up like this, spending your life with a man in this harsh and cold place?"

Every word felt like a whip lashing at my heart.

Su Ziyu's eyes welled up with tears, but he forced himself not to shed them: "Grandfather, I am not a scoundrel. The Prince and I are truly devoted to each other and have entrusted our lives to each other."

"Sincere?" The old man sneered. "What sincerity do royals have? Why do you think he keeps you in the Northern Frontier? Because you can make money for him, support his army, and give him peace of mind! When he no longer needs you, or needs to marry and have children to continue his family line, how do you think he will treat you?"

Su Ziyu shook her head: "Qi Jinyu is not that kind of person."

"How long have you known him? How much do you know about the royal family?"

The old man's voice suddenly rose, triggering another bout of coughing. He clutched his chest, his face growing even more grim. "That child Qianlan said... said that you and Qi Jinyu were together a year ago... Do you know that if this gets out, the entire Shen family will be implicated!"

“His Highness will protect the Shen family.” Su Ziyu said firmly, “The business in Jiangnan has been so successful over the past year, all thanks to His Highness’s secret arrangements. Grandfather, I’m not a child anymore. I can tell who is sincere and who is using me.”

The old man stared at him, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "So you've made up your mind?"

"Yes."

"Even if it means severing ties with the Shen family?"

Su Ziyu trembled, and tears finally rolled down his cheeks: "Grandfather... I don't want to... but if you insist that I choose between the Shen family and the Prince..." He choked up, but said each word clearly, "I choose him."

"You!" The old man stood up abruptly, but staggered a step due to dizziness.

Su Zi hurriedly got up to help him, but the old man pushed her away.

The old man, gripping the back of the chair, was panting heavily, staring intently at him. His eyes held anger, disappointment, heartache, and a deep-seated reluctance to part.

After a long silence, the old man suddenly laughed, a desolate laugh: "Good...good...the fine son and grandson raised by the Shen family...abandoning their family for a man..."

He slowly sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, and looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

Su Zi knelt down and stepped forward, grasping the old man's hand: "Grandfather, it's not that I don't want a home... The Shen family will always be my home, and you will always be my grandfather. It's just that the Prince is equally important in my heart, and I can't choose between you and him."

"Moreover, the current emperor is incompetent and the second prince is useless. Only if Your Highness takes the throne can the people live in peace and prosperity, and the Xuanxi Dynasty be peaceful and prosperous."

The old man opened his eyes and looked at his tearful grandson, seeing the unprecedented light and determination in his eyes.

This was no longer the sickly, frail child he remembered, who always stayed quietly in the study.

The young man kneeling before him had a sense of responsibility, courage, and a world of his own in his eyes.

"If your mother were here..." the old man said in a hoarse voice.

The one thing he regretted most in his life was marrying his daughter to that bastard surnamed Su, causing her to die young. Now he has another regret: he was too soft-hearted to agree to let his grandson go to the capital to escort his granddaughter to her wedding, creating a complicated and tangled mess of fate.

Su Zi wanted to press her face against the old woman's knees: "If Mother were here, she would definitely want her grandson to be happy."

The warm room remained silent for a long time, with only the sound of wind and snow tapping on the window.

The old man finally reached out and gently patted Su Ziyu's head, just like he did when she was a child.

"Get up," he sighed. "The ground is cold."

Su Ziyu raised her head, and through her teary eyes, she saw that the stern look in her grandfather's eyes had faded considerably, leaving only deep weariness and helplessness.

"Grandfather..."

"Let me rest for a bit." The old man waved his hand. "My bones are about to fall apart from this journey." He paused, then looked around the warm pavilion. "This Prince's mansion... is actually quite warm."

Su Ziyu burst into laughter through his tears: "Your grandson knows you're afraid of the cold, so I specially had the underfloor heating turned on for three days."

The old man snorted, but a hint of warmth flashed in his eyes: "Tomorrow, take me to see what you've been up to these past six months. Those letters are full of flowery words, I need to see it for myself."

"Yes!" Su Ziyu replied hastily, a huge weight finally lifted from her heart.

He knew he had barely gotten past his grandfather's hurdle. Although the old man might not have fully accepted it yet, at least... at least he was willing to watch.