Chapter 7 Yan Hui
He never lived to see the result of the order.
The day after issuing it, he collapsed.
When I arrived he was already lying in bed, barely breathing.
Panic flooded me the moment I saw him.
I knelt at his bedside, wanting to speak, but only managed, “Uncle-in-Law… you have not seen me come of age, nor have you seen me marry… I still want you to give me my courtesy name at the ceremony…”
“Uncle-in-Law… are you abandoning me?”
Was I going to become an unwanted child again?
“Song Lin, come here.” He lifted a hand, as if summoning the last of his strength.
I rushed forward and took his hand. He spoke softly.
“Call yourself Yan Hui…”
“Song Lin, the name Yan Hui is what Uncle-in-Law gives you.”
“We Yan Hui are not unwanted children.”
He had known everything all along.