It wasn’t yet time for class in the morning when a group of scholars who had arrived early were chatting idly.
"Hey, guess what I saw a few days ago?"
"Stop beating around the bush, just spill it."
"A few days back, I ran into Chu Lian at the town’s Silver Pavilion."
"Chu Lian came back?"
"That’s not the point, the crux is I saw Yang Ming’s wife there too."
"It’s not strange for Chu Lian to know Yang Ming’s wife, Chu Lian and Yang Ming get along well."
"But I saw them holding hands."
"You must’ve seen wrong, how could that be possible."
"Absolutely not, I was not mistaken."
As everyone exchanged words back and forth, someone inadvertently turned around and saw Yang Ming standing at the door. He quickly whispered a warning to the group, "Stop talking, Yang Ming is here."
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look towards the door and couldn’t help but feel guilty when they saw Yang Ming. They immediately shut their mouths and returned to their seats.
Yang Ming also headed to his seat, his footsteps unusually heavy. He had heard everything, had heard them talking about his wife and Chu Lian holding hands.
Sitting there, he was restless and uncertain about what to do, somewhat lost in thought.
"Yang Ming, Yang Ming."
Hearing someone calling him, he snapped back to reality and looked up, "Big Brother Chu, you’re back."
"Yeah, long time no see, let’s have lunch together."
Throughout the morning, Yang Ming couldn’t concentrate on what the teacher was saying, his mind was wandering, and noon came quickly.
"Yang Ming, let’s go."
"We’ll go to Yuelai Restaurant."
"..." Chu Lian found it odd, remembering how Yang Ming never agreed to go with him in the past, yet now he had agreed so readily.
Soon the two arrived at Yuelai Restaurant and entered a private room.
After passing a cup of tea to Yang Ming, Chu Lian asked, "How have you been lately?"
Yang Ming felt that the inevitable will always come, and avoidance wouldn’t solve any problems, so he got straight to the point.
"Big Brother Chu, the woman you mentioned before is actually my wife."
Chu Lian’s hand holding the cup froze for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Heh, I know."
"You knew and you still..." Seeing Chu Lian without a hint of shock, instead smiling calmly, Yang Ming felt a surge of annoyance.
"What did I still do?" Chu Lian asked back, scoffing slightly before continuing.
"Are you saying that I disregarded our brotherhood? Then did you consider it? You clearly knew how I felt, so why didn’t you let her go? You obviously didn’t like her."
"..." Facing the questioning, Yang Ming was at a loss for words. The situation at the time was exactly as Chu Lian described, but now he had fallen for his wife and could not back down.
Chu Lian then sighed, "I meant to give up on her since she’s your wife, but ironically, I discovered the truth about why she married you."
"The truth? What truth?"
Yang Ming grew agitated, standing up abruptly and asking.
This secret in their midst, why did she insist on marrying him, and after marrying yet not liking him.
"..." It turned out he didn’t know. If he did, would he have had a chance?
"The truth is, she thought I was Yang Ming. She was originally going to marry me but mistook the name and, through a series of unfortunate misinterpretations, ended up marrying you."
Upon hearing these words, Yang Ming felt a sharp pang in his heart, the pain was immense. He steadied himself on the table, muttering to himself, "No wonder, no