HNYWEF -Chapter 91 Accepting Fate

Year 3 of the Zhenguan Era, February 11

The door of the Zhou family blacksmith shop was open.

The sound of forging iron echoed from inside, one strike after another.

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

Zhou Yi stood in front of the long workbench, hammer in hand, striking a piece of iron.

Zhou Xiong sat on a stool nearby, holding a bowl of tea, watching.

He didn’t speak.

Just watched.

Thirteen… no, fourteen now.

He had changed a lot.

He had grown taller again. The last trace of baby fat had disappeared from his face, leaving sharp, defined contours. Even his voice had stabilized—no longer breaking like it did last year.

Zhou Xiong looked at him, and his thoughts drifted for a moment.

This kid… is starting to look more and more like her.

Not in appearance—that had always been true.

It was something else. Something hard to describe. The way he stood. The angle of his head when he looked down. The occasional faint smile…

Zhou Yi raised the hammer, brought it down. Sparks flew up, landing on his arm and burning a tiny mark into his skin. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t even pause.

Zhou Xiong set down his teacup.

He stood up and walked to the workbench.

Zhou Yi looked up at him.

“Dad?”

Zhou Xiong nodded.

“You’ve got your second uncle’s skill now.”

Zhou Yi froze for a moment.

Then he smiled.

Two faint tiger teeth showing.

Zhou Xiong looked at that smile for two breaths.

Then he turned around and walked back.

After only a couple of steps, he suddenly stopped.

He heard movement outside.

The sound of a carriage.

Hooves striking the blue stone road, approaching from afar—then stopping, right near the entrance.

Zhou Xiong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Zhou Yi also heard it. But his hands didn’t stop working. He only glanced outside.

The carriage curtain lifted.

Someone stepped down.

A woman dressed plainly, wearing a simple robe, with only a silver hairpin in her hair. No makeup. Clean, composed.

She stood still and looked toward the shop.

It was Empress Zhangsun.

She had stood beside Li Licheng at last year’s lantern festival.

Zhou Yi’s heartbeat skipped slightly.

He stared at the carriage.

The curtain moved again.

Another person stepped down.

A young girl in a pale blue jacket, her hair neatly arranged. She stood quietly beside Empress Zhangsun.

Li Lizhi.

Her eyes were as calm as ever. When she looked at someone, it felt as if something deep was hidden inside them.

Zhou Yi froze in place.

Hammer still in his hand.

Li Lizhi glanced toward the shop.

Just one glance.

Then she withdrew her gaze and stood quietly beside her mother.

Zhou Yi’s face began to burn.

From his neck upward, heat spread all the way to his ears.

He didn’t know why it was burning.

It just was.

He thought of last year’s lantern festival.

He thought of her standing under the lotus lantern, laughing with her hand over her mouth.

He thought of that one glance she gave him.

He thought of how, standing in the crowd, he had looked at her and forgotten everything else.

And now she was here again.

Right at the door.

His heartbeat quickened.

Faster. So fast it made him uneasy.

He wanted to set the hammer down. To walk out. To—

Clang!

The hammer struck the anvil.

No.

Not struck.

It slipped.

And hit his own hand.

Zhou Yi sucked in a sharp breath and looked down.

His left index finger was already swelling, red and painful.

He grimaced.

Zhou Xiong stood there, watching.

He looked at Zhou Yi’s swollen hand.

Then at the two people by the door.

Then at Zhou Yi’s completely red face.

He suddenly sighed.

Very lightly.

At that age… there was nothing to be done.

Zhou Yi looked up at his father.

Zhou Xiong didn’t speak.

He walked over, looked at the injured hand.

“Go bandage it yourself.”

His voice was still hoarse.

But Zhou Yi caught something in it.

Something he had never heard before.

Not anger.

Not annoyance.

Something else.

Like resignation to something unavoidable.

Zhou Yi opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But Zhou Xiong didn’t give him the chance.

He turned and walked toward the door.

Stopping at the entrance, he paused.

Empress Zhangsun stood there, looking at him.

He looked back at her.

They met each other’s gaze.

She spoke first.

Her voice was soft, steady, as if she had already prepared the words.

“Master Zhou, forgive my sudden visit.”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

He looked at her for a moment.

Then stepped aside.

“Come in.”

Three words.

Still hoarse.

But softer than usual.

Empress Zhangsun nodded.

She walked inside.

Li Lizhi followed behind her, quiet and composed, neither looking around nor speaking.

Zhou Xiong stood at the door, watching them enter.

He looked at Empress Zhangsun.

Not that person.

Another one.

Someone he could not scold.

Someone he could not “deal with.”

Zhou Xiong suddenly felt like he had lost.

Not to Li Shimin.

But to this woman.

Because she had come with nothing.

No imperial decree. No rewards. Nothing troublesome that would make him feel cornered.

Just her.

And her daughter.

Standing at the doorway, saying, “Pardon our sudden visit, I hope you will forgive us.”

Zhou Heng stood there, watching the two of them enter the main hall.

When he reached the entrance of the hall, he stopped.

Empress Zhangsun was already seated. Li Lihua stood beside her, quiet and composed.

Zhou Yi ran over from the back, clutching a piece of cloth, wrapping it around his finger. He fumbled clumsily with it. After finishing, he looked up—and met Li Lihua’s gaze.

Li Lihua glanced at him.

No smile.

No words.

Just a single look.

Zhou Yi’s face turned red again.

He lowered his head and shifted closer to his father.

Zhou Heng looked at him like that and almost sighed again.

But he held it back.

He walked to the opposite side of Empress Zhangsun and sat down.

Zhou Yi stood beside him.

Empress Zhangsun spoke first.

Looking at Zhou Heng, her voice was as soft and steady as ever.

“Master Zhou, I came today to speak with you about something.”

Zhou Heng nodded.

Empress Zhangsun continued, “A while ago, my second son mentioned something to you.”

Zhou Heng said nothing.

She went on, “He tends to act without thinking sometimes, and his words can be unpleasant. I know he made you angry.”

Zhou Heng’s eyes moved slightly.

Just a little.

Empress Zhangsun noticed it.

She continued, “But what he meant… was correct.”

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Looking at him, Empress Zhangsun said,

“That child, Zhou Yi, is sensible, proper, and well-mannered. And my daughter Lihua—you’ve seen her as well. If these two children were to be joined in marriage…”

She paused slightly.

“I think it would be good.”

Zhou Heng sat there, motionless.

He looked at Empress Zhangsun.

For a long time.

Now he understood—there was no way out of this anymore.

She had come herself.

She hadn’t mentioned any of the messy, unnecessary matters.

She simply said she thought it was good.

Zhou Heng no longer knew what to say.

He turned his head and looked at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi stood there, head lowered, staring at his own toes.

The cloth-wrapped hand hung by his side, unmoving.

Zhou Heng then looked at Li Lihua.

The girl stood quietly beside her mother.

She wasn’t looking at Zhou Yi.

But the corners of her mouth held a faint curve.

Very faint.

Zhou Heng saw it.

He withdrew his gaze.

He looked at Empress Zhangsun.

Then he spoke.

“Decided?”

Just two words.

His voice was hoarse.

Empress Zhangsun nodded.

“Decided.”

Zhou Heng said nothing.

He stood up.

Walked to the doorway and stood there, looking outside at the sky.

He stood for a long time.

Then he spoke again.

Very softly, as if speaking to himself.

“Then it’s decided.”

In the hall, Empress Zhangsun stood up.

She walked over to Zhou Yi, bent slightly, and looked at his still-red face.

“Good child.”

She said softly.

Then she took something from her sleeve and placed it into Zhou Yi’s hand.

Zhou Yi looked down—

A jade pendant.

Warm and smooth to the touch.

He looked up at her.

Empress Zhangsun smiled.

“Keep it.”

Zhou Yi didn’t know what to say.

He just stood there, holding the jade pendant tightly.

Li Lihua glanced at him.

Just one look.

Then she followed her mother and walked out.

At the doorway, she suddenly stopped.

Without turning back.

She stood there for a moment.

Then continued walking.

Boarded the carriage.

The curtain dropped.

The carriage moved slowly forward, turning past the corner of the street—and disappeared.

Zhou Yi stood in the hall, unmoving.

Still holding the jade pendant.

Zhou Heng stood at the doorway, watching the carriage vanish into the alley.

He watched for a long time.

Then he turned around.

He looked at Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi also looked at him.

Father and son met each other’s gaze.

Zhou Heng spoke.

“What are you standing there for? Does your hand not hurt anymore?”

Zhou Yi froze.

He looked down at his bandaged finger.

It hurt.

He hadn’t noticed it before—but now it suddenly did.

He looked up at his father.

Zhou Heng said nothing more.

He walked back into the workshop, picked up the hammer.

“Clang.”

Zhou Yi stood there, watching his father’s back.

He watched for a long time.

Then he lowered his head and looked at the jade pendant in his hand.

It shimmered softly under the sunlight, warm and gentle.

He thought of the look Li Lihua had given him earlier.

Just that one look.

His lips moved slightly.

Inside the workshop, the hammer kept falling.

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

Zhou Heng stood at the workbench, striking again and again.

His expression was unreadable.

Fine.

If it’s decided, then so be it.

At least there’s no turning back now.

Just… pity for that kid, Changsun Chong.

He lowered his head and continued forging.