Only After Clear Skies Do I Know Summer Has Deepened - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In March, the spring river ran warm.

Sheng Rongchuan had received an imperial decree ordering him to Jiangning to oversee the grain transport.

The morning fog was thick. In the end, unable to talk me out of it, Sheng Rongchuan let me see him all the way to the ferry crossing.

He bent down and carefully fastened my cloak for me, his lashes lowered.

“This is far enough. Any farther, and you’ll have to board the boat with me.”

His features were calm and reserved, his bearing gentle.

Perhaps it was just as that person had said. Without me, with Sheng Rongchuan’s learning and talent, he would have risen sooner or later to the highest ranks of court, wielding power over the entire imperial administration.

Instead of being pushed aside as he was now, struggling with every step.

I stared blankly at the crimson official robes beneath his black cloak.

Sheng Rongchuan called my name several times before I finally came back to myself.

He lightly tapped my forehead with a fingertip. “What are you thinking about so intently?”

“Did you remember everything I told you?”

I nodded.

“Then what did I say?”

…

His eyes were still gentle, a warm smile lingering at the corners of his lips.

“I said, remember to review the lessons I assigned you. When I return, I’ll be testing you on them.”

A veil of mist lay over the river. The official passenger boat carrying Sheng Rongchuan pushed ripples across the water, one after another.

It drifted farther and farther away.

Until I could no longer see him at all.

After returning to the residence, I lit a lamp and went to the study.

I took out that letter of separation and, without hesitating again, signed my name.

I did not own much.

It took me only a short while to pack.

Then my gaze fell on the small rosewood desk.

The mellow candlelight dyed the open books a warm gold.

The pages were densely covered with Sheng Rongchuan’s annotations.

His handwriting was elegant and refined, restrained yet enduring.

Just like Sheng Rongchuan himself.

Back in Linxi, there had been a private school beside the residence assigned to Sheng Rongchuan by the local office.

The clear sound of children reciting lessons often drifted over.

I used to go and listen in secret. After Sheng Rongchuan found out, he did not scold me or mock me.

He only asked gently, “Juexia, how about I teach you to read and write?”

I followed Sheng Rongchuan, starting from the very basics of recognizing characters, and he taught me patiently, never showing the slightest impatience.

This little rosewood desk was one he had made for me with his own hands while we were in Linxi.

When the court’s transfer order arrived, the teacher from the private school came to ask for the books filled with detailed notes, hoping to use them to teach the children.

Only this desk was something I could not bear to part with, so I brought it all the way from Linxi back to the capital.

I ran my fingers over its familiar grain and suddenly broke down sobbing.

What should I do?

Should I take it with me?

But where could I possibly take it?

When I left, the sky was only just beginning to brighten.

With my bundle on my back, I set off in the opposite direction from Sheng Rongchuan.

He went south.

I went north.

From this moment on,

Mountains and rivers would lie between us, and we would hardly ever meet again.