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Both families could not have been happier with the match. They exchanged visits during festivals and holidays, already behaving like one family.

But heaven did not cooperate. Just after Xie Ning's sixteenth birthday, he went boating on Lotus Pond with his older brother Xie Yao and his brother's fellow students. Xie Yao got into an argument with one of his companions, and that person was so petty that he actually tried to push him off the boat!

Ever since his mother died of illness, Xie Ning had grown up following his brother everywhere. Eager to protect him, he was pushed into the lotus pond in Xie Yao's place.

Xie Ning floundered in the water, snapping one lotus stem after another in his grasp. Water offered more resistance than air. As his strength ran out, he seemed to hallucinate: he saw a fiery-red carp swim over and bite his fingertip. The fish swished a tail larger than its body, as though it wanted to drag him ashore and save him from drowning. Then he lost consciousness...

When he woke again, his brother Xie Yao told him he had run a high fever for three days. The physician also said that now he was awake, he would be fine. But he himself knew that he was living a fate worse than death.

Day and night, he felt as though he had a fever. His skin began to itch and burn maddeningly. Soon, Xie Ning's skin began to crack, but the wounds healed extremely quickly without leaving scars, leaving only flakes on his skin.

The heat robbed him of thought and reason. One day, he rushed out through the courtyard gate and jumped into the river that circled Great Well Village. The villagers along the way were badly frightened. Some said Xie Ning had gone mad; others said he was disfigured.

With the villagers embellishing the story, Xie Ning soon became Great Well Village's famous "ugly freak."

After that, Zhou Dafeng's family immediately came to break off the engagement. They were every bit as hurtful about breaking it off as they had been ostentatious about arranging it.

But they feared gaining a reputation for being coldhearted and faithless, which would ruin their son, who was a tongsheng. When the engagement was arranged, the Xie family had given generous betrothal gifts in return. Zhou Dafeng had long since spent them all on his son Zhou Wenshu. Everyone in the Great Qing Dynasty knew how much money studying cost.

To stop the villagers of Great Well Village from gossiping, Zhou Dafeng wanted Xie Ning to become a study attendant to his nephew Zhou Jinian. Ostensibly, this was compensation; in reality, it was an utterly shameless, outrageous demand.

As the older brother, Xie Yao was naturally the first to object, and the matter had dragged on ever since.

Physician Hu first took his pulse. All his vital signs were normal. He then lifted Xie Ning's eyelids to check and said with certainty, "Nothing's wrong. He's merely asleep."

"Asleep?" Xie Yao hurriedly patted his younger brother's cheek. "Ning-ge'er, wake up..."

Through his haze, Xie Ning heard his stepmother's voice.

Madam Xie Sun said shrilly, "Asleep?! Oh, heavens above! He does no work all day, and we support him, yet we've spoiled him so much he won't even let us live in peace."

"Enough out of you!" Xie Dashu angrily rebuked his second wife. Then, with an honest-looking smile, he paid Physician Hu's fee and said, "Thank you, Physician."

Physician Hu returned the courtesy and quickly left. Long illness wore away even family affection; he had seen far too many examples.

"Xie Dashu, am I wrong? He's already sixteen! It's bad enough that nobody wants him and we have to support him, but he makes life miserable for the family every day! Is that bed in his room just for show? Why go sleep in the water vat? Who's he trying to scare to death? You have no idea-I went to fetch some water and nearly had my soul frightened out of me!"

Looking at the red sandalwood bed Xie Ning lay on made Madam Xie Sun even angrier. Such fine red sandalwood, and neither she nor her children had ever had the chance to sleep on it. So she added, "If he can't get used to sleeping in a bed, move the courtyard's water vat inside for him and give this bed to Xuan'er."

"You're not the one supporting him! I'm still alive! This bed was part of my mother's dowry. If Ning-ge'er marries, it will go with him to his husband's family. Nobody is to touch it!" Xie Yao cast a sidelong glance at the toes of Madam Xie Sun's shoes. He was a scholar; if he had not been furious, he would never have argued like this with a woman.

Madam Xie Sun had been fighting with the Xie brothers for far more than a day or two. Why would she call a truce? With a contemptuous smile, she said, "Marry? Then go find him a husband! Looking the way he does now, nobody would even want him as a second spouse. What are you dreaming of?"

"Shut your mouth! Come outside with me!" Xie Dashu dragged Madam Xie Sun out of the room.

Xie Yao was angry and remorseful. As the older brother, he had failed to take good care of his younger brother. Xie Ning had suffered this calamity because of him, yet he still lacked the ability to protect him. Xie Yao was filled with guilt.

Only when the room fell quiet did Xie Ning calmly open his eyes and call softly, "Brother..."

Xie Ning ventured, "Why don't I become a study attendant to Third Uncle Zhou's son? I don't want to stay at home anymore."

If nobody ever came to propose marriage, under the laws of the Qing Dynasty, he would not only be fined but hauled off to prison as well.

Hearing his younger brother's words, Xie Yao hurriedly lowered his head to look at him.

Xie Ning raised his eyelids and looked up at Xie Yao. His double-eyelid creases were narrow at the inner corners and wider at the outer corners, and his phoenix eyes held a cautious look. Because his lips were pressed tightly together, the baby fat in his cheeks formed rounded curves.

Looking at his younger brother like this, Xie Yao thought, Ning-ge'er, you haven't grown up yet.

Xie Yao blinked, determined to protect his younger brother. "No! You're my younger brother, Father's own son. Even if you never marry in your whole life, Father and I will support you."

Xie Ning tightened his grip on the corner of his clothes and pouted. He was a little ger. Ever since childhood, his elders had taught him to be obedient, or his future husband would not like him. But it seemed he would never have a husband...

"Then what if I become a burden and you can't find a wife?" Xie Ning sat up, folding his legs and hugging his knees. His eyes were half-closed, and his long, straight lashes traced a line across his eyelids, as beautiful as a painting. This exquisite beauty was picking at his fingers.

"..." Xie Yao indeed had no engagement arranged, but he retorted, "Why wouldn't I be able to find one? Once I pass the xiucai examination next year, I'll definitely bring you home a sister-in-law."

Xie Ning extended a slender index finger and gently rubbed the back of his hand. Transparent skin, as thin as a light feather, peeled away from it.

Watching his younger brother play so intently, looking innocent and optimistic, Xie Yao sighed helplessly.

Xie Ning sighed along with him. He thought he must have been poisoned. People only knew that snakes and insects could be poisonous. Was he, Xie Ning, perhaps the first person to discover that carp could be poisonous too?

The brothers sat facing each other and heard an outsider's voice coming from the courtyard.