Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

Yuan Feng thought that she and her mother were still somewhat different. Her parents' relationship had remained lukewarm after their marriage. She had a good relationship with Nan Fei.

When we were together, everything was fine. After we separated, it felt like we were never together at all. Only a responsible and self-disciplined husband can be so adept at managing his emotions.

Which is more hurtful: consistent indifference or controlled, unrestrained emotions? Yuan Feng wasn't sure.

Nanfei should have signed the divorce papers by now, right? If he did, shouldn't he be going back to the Nan family? After all, he's so proud!

However, he continued to live in the Yuan residence! He lived with Duoyi.

There were no letters from home. But rumors swirled: rumors of a harmonious relationship between him and Duoyi, rumors of Duoyi kissing him, rumors of them sharing a room, rumors of Madam Luo demolishing the Yuan residence, rumors of the Yuan residence burning down and many people dying…

They're so certain! It's all true, isn't it? She wasn't here, and even the Yuan residence burned down. She didn't plan to return alive. So, they don't intend for her to come back?

She's not dead yet! Or has the Yuan family really been robbed? What happened to Nanfei then?

Yuan Feng removed the amulet she had stuck to her chest and placed it in her palm. Without the amulet's protection, her chest ached terribly.

That year, Yuan Feng did indeed intend to break off the engagement.

Yin Jing advised Yuan Feng in this way: "Since you've spent so much time in the army, it would be more suitable for you to marry a general. The two of you can fight side-by-side, cherish each other, and support one another. Marrying a scholar would mean living apart. A person of good character will remain virtuous, while one of bad character can cause all sorts of trouble."

So what if you're forced into marriage by imperial decree? The emperor can't interfere in family matters... And what good will it do if the emperor does interfere? Just kill him, kill his whole family, why bother? Nanfei is a few years younger than you, he might become the emperor's brother-in-law in the future. Can you control him? Why hang yourself on one tree?

You know very well how your parents' relationship has been all these years. Given their past example, why would you be like a moth drawn to a flame, following in your mother's footsteps? There are many men in the military who admire you. Just be a little kinder to them, even just a smile or a simple expression of your feelings will suffice.

Several rising stars in the military—General Fu, Ouyang, Zuo Yu, Pang Zhe… they are all quite good. Ouyang is especially good to you; he excels in martial arts, looks, and strategy, is a few years older than you, and is considerate and steady. I think he is much better than Nanfei, and more suitable for you than Nanfei.

Yin Jing was promoted by Yuan Fengniang, and no one knew better than Yin Jing how his mother had lived all these years. Years ago, there were even rumors that Yuan Fengniang and Yin Jing had an affair. As an elder, he took good care of Yuan Fengniang.

As Yin Jing and Yue Chunqiu grew older, they sought to find reliable younger men in the army to assist Yuan Feng. In recent years, Ouyang had gradually risen from being Yin Jing's deputy to becoming Yuan Feng's deputy general, demonstrating considerable talent at a young age.

Yuan Feng was a formidable figure in the army and never considered anything else. Only after Yin Jing reminded her did she realize that the person who treated her so specially was interested in her.

That year, Nanfei was fifteen, in the prime of his youth, and showed no sign of having any feelings for her. Yin Jing's words made perfect sense, and Yuan Feng couldn't find a reason to refuse.

Spring has come again, and Yuan Feng went to the Nan residence to discuss annulmenting her engagement with Nan Fei. Nan Fei was not there, and the forsythia in the garden were blooming even more profusely than when they first met, a golden expanse that caught Yuan Feng's eye.

Yuan Feng wove a wreath from forsythia branches, and seeing that it was getting late, she left through the back gate of the garden. No sooner had she left than Nan Fei returned from the front gate, and they just missed each other.

Yuan Feng's father was in poor health and kept refusing to take his medicine. Coincidentally, Luo An was in Bianjing, so she went to Xi Zhai to invite Luo An to the Yuan residence.

Luo An didn't say anything at that time, just wrote out the prescription and left. Yuan Feng compared Luo An's prescription with the prescription from the doctor at the clinic, and it was no different.

Yuan Feng's father didn't care about her illness. He took the flower wreath from her hand and said, "Feng'er is eighteen this year. It's time for her to get married."

Just as she was about to call off the engagement, her father brought up marriage. After a while, Yuan Feng said, "Father, Mother is twenty-one when she gets married. A general is not like a girl from an ordinary family."

Yuan Feng's father placed a flower wreath on her head: "If you get married at twenty-one, I'm afraid I won't live to see it..."

Yuan Feng's father spoke calmly, without a trace of sadness. Yuan Feng, however, almost burst into tears.

Yuan Feng was close to her father. In her eyes, he was intelligent, gentle, and composed, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, a good listener, and a great conversationalist… a refined gentleman straight out of a painting. As a child, she often wondered how such a perfect person as her father could exist in the world.

Her mother, on the other hand, was impulsive, domineering, serious, and impatient. Her father was patiently teaching her to paint when her mother retorted, "What's the use of learning these things?" and sent her to Songyang Academy.

Yuan Feng's father said, "There are four seasons in a year, and people have life and death. Feng'er, there's no need to be sad. I don't necessarily need to see you get married. I haven't had any relatives to visit these past few years. If I'm gone, you'll have no one to rely on..."

Yuan Feng replied inexplicably, "Does marriage guarantee support? These past years, Mother..."

"Has Mother had anyone to rely on all these years?" Yuan Feng realized what she had said halfway through her sentence. She looked at her father with some fear.

Yuan Feng's father was surprised and somewhat shocked. The two fell silent.

After a long pause, Yuan Feng said softly, "Father, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant."

Yuan Feng's father plucked a forsythia from the wreath and held it between his fingers: "Feng'er has really grown up."

A careless remark shattered Yuan Feng's perfect image of a man. She suddenly realized how cold and even indifferent her father was beneath his gentle exterior, in her mother's eyes.

This realization saddened Yuan Feng. Before, she looked up to her father as a child; now she examined her husband from the perspective of a wife. Such a good father, yet not a good husband.

Yuan Feng's father was getting tired from standing for so long, so Yuan Feng helped him sit down. She squatted down beside her father, placed her hands on his knees, and looked up to ask, "Father, what do you think of General Ouyang?"

Yuan Feng's father was slightly taken aback: "Ouyang? Ouyang Jin?"

Ouyang was Yuan Feng's deputy general and had visited the Yuan residence several times. Yuan Feng's father paid close attention to the people around Yuan Feng and naturally recognized him.

Yuan Feng said, "It's him."

Yuan Feng's father thought Yuan Feng wanted him to evaluate Ouyang, so he objectively replied: "He is down-to-earth, steady, and meticulous, but his strategic thinking is probably a little lacking. You can trust the person that General Yin chose for you."

Yuan Feng asked, "Father, what do you think of him... what's his relationship with me?"

Yuan Feng was reserved, but her feelings for Nan Fei were obvious to everyone. She hadn't missed a single holiday gift over the years, so why was she suddenly asking about Ouyang and her?

Yuan Feng's father snapped out of his daze and naturally asked, "You like him?"

Yuan Feng replied softly, "What's the use of liking someone? Mother likes you too."

This answer was well thought out, and Yuan Feng's father was stunned again.

Yuan Feng added, "Ouyang... takes good care of me. Uncle Yin said he and I are a good match."

After a long pause, Yuan Feng's father asked, "Do you think General Yin is a better match for your mother?"

Yuan Feng was stunned. Thinking about it carefully, her mother and father were indeed two completely different types of people: a fiery, impulsive general and a refined, scholarly man…

Seeing her expression, Yuan Feng's father sighed softly, "Breaking off the engagement is a big deal. Just think it through so you won't regret it. Leave the rest to me..."