"Zhao! Wait!" Yan's voice grew fainter as he pushed further, the sound of her voice muffled by the pounding of his heart.
The cool morning air stung his skin, but it didn't matter. He wasn't sure what he was running from anymore—was it the judgment of Madam Chi? The crushing feeling of knowing his sister was hurt. Or was it just the growing sensation that he wasn't the person he should be? The weight of being the only one who could speak out against the injustices that affected his family felt too much for someone his age.
Suddenly, he slowed down, his chest heaving, his legs starting to tremble. He hadn't run this far in a long time. The world around him was quieter now, save for the distant sound of his mother calling out, and the soft rustling of the leaves. His mind was still swirling with thoughts of what he had said to Madam Chi. Did he overstep? He didn't regret defending his sister, but the words had slipped out in anger, without much thought.
"You were right, you know." A voice broke through his thoughts, calm and steady.
Zhaoyun stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to see his eldest sister, Yan, walking towards him with a soft smile on her face. She was always the one who could read him the best, always the one who understood.
"You did the right thing," she continued, her voice carrying a mix of amusement and pride. "Sometimes the truth is hard to say, but it's even harder to hear. But that doesn't mean we should stay silent."
Zhaoyun looked at her, confusion still clouding his face. "But... she's older than me. I shouldn't have said it. I should have just let it go."
Yan shook her head. "Respect isn't about keeping quiet when you see something wrong. It's about standing firm in your beliefs and protecting those who matter. What you said... it needed to be said. We all know how she is, but none of us speak up. You did what we all wish we had the courage to do."
Zhaoyun's eyes softened but doubt still lingered in his gaze. "But what if it caused trouble? What if it... pushes things further?"
Yan placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sometimes, it's the things we fear the most that lead to the greatest change. Trust me, Zhaoyun. Your heart is in the right place."
He smiled weakly, still unsure. But with his sister standing beside him, his fears seemed a little less heavy. For the first time that morning, he felt a sense of relief. He wasn't alone in this.
Yan continued, her eyes scanning the horizon. "Come on, we'd better get back. Father might still be angry, but if we go together, we can face it."
With a nod, Zhaoyun allowed himself to be guided back toward the farm. The walk back was quieter than before, but it felt different now. His steps were lighter, and the weight on his shoulders had lessened, if only a little.
Zhaoyun walked back alongside Yan, his feet dragging slightly in the dirt as his thoughts bounced between the tension with Madam Chi and his own internal struggle. The wind had started to pick up, rustling the dry leaves in the distance, but it was a reminder that winter was coming, and with it, new challenges.
His mind kept wandering back to Han. He could tell something had shifted after the confrontation with Madam Chi—he could feel the weight of her silence even now, as if she were swallowing something painful. He wanted to ask her about it, but something told him it wasn't the right time. His sister had always been so strong, but now, she seemed lost in her own world, her face pale and tight, hiding whatever storm raged beneath the surface.
As they neared the farm again, the air was thick with the sounds of labor and the scent of earth—distant chatter, the clink of tools, the rustling of animals. But something felt different. The usual calm had been disturbed, and Zhaoyun noticed that the workers were eyeing him and Yan with a strange tension in the air. "What's their business?" he asks when one avoids his gaze as he stares back.
"Wei, why did you run off like that" Yun shouts while running to them already carrying her basket. "We will leave for now, that old woman has started her gossip, mother and father took Han away" she explains and that angers him. Why were they the ones to leave when she was the one who started provoking them, everyone here has his full share of land, his grand and great grandparent had worked hard to keep this land to them. True there was not every dish at the table but at least they never starved.
"Oh, right, let's head home then" he whispers with his head low in defeat, his sisters could only walk behind in silence. The Chi family were middle class or that is how it seems like, they pay for others to work at their farm even with a son at home. He knew little of Chun, just that he was working under the emperor, his father own a shop and part of this very farm and his mother was a full time gossiper, he knows the world isn't just about his family but his family was the world to him, loving someone shouldn't be a crime, it was not her fault if her heart chose a crack bone like him yet she is the one getting all the stares.
"She will stop when she gets tired and for Han, she is strong, I just hope her heart realizes how ugly his choice was" Yun says carrying him on her shoulder, he looks at her for a moment before looking up at the sky.
"Mother said once that if her parent had chosen father's older brother as her husband, she would have killed herself," missing his sisters tense face he continues, "because she had never seen any other man like father, even though he had no interest in her back then and he only cared about his plot of land. Do you think Han love is just like mother?" He loved it when he heard his mother talking about her journey with his father, she worked hard for him to love her and together they had them, but Han case is so different for her heart choose a coward.
Yun stares up at him before giving what he said a thought, "I have no idea, I give it some thoughts and still can get to a solution, I have never loved someone, and mother never had the second option. Let's say she never got married to father. What will happen then? Does she really think she will have the guts to kill herself and we never knew our uncle to say if she would have changed her mind… this is just my theories"
"Love… what an odd thing, I once felt that, and I might be the closest person who understands Han more. Love has its ups and downs, but it is an irrefutable feeling and when unrequited, turns to a slow deadly poison and it depends on the person being poisoned to either drink the antidote or leave it on his table" Yan says, her face covered in sadness. She has also noticed Chun gaze at her sister and always thought he felt the same way she did, but guess all men were the same. Her life hasn't been colorful either, the man she was to married was in love with his childhood friend and they eloped after he begged her for forgiveness and her very first love was a man who claimed to love her but was already married with a happy family, she had never told this tale to anyone so as to punish herself for almost destroying a family and hers. "This will only depend on Han and her alone"