The passing of one's mother requires deep mourning, necessitating a three-year period of bereavement.
Perhaps this is why, despite becoming a scholar at fifteen, he only passed the imperial examination at nineteen.
But...
Xie Wanqing felt discontent in her heart, as he almost had a fiancée. She was unsure if it was his mother who chose her, or if Duan Cheng himself was interested.
If it were the latter, and he missed the opportunity because of such turmoil, he would probably feel incomplete.
She understood human nature. Often, the more unattainable something is, the more it becomes an obsession.
She was like that herself. In her previous life, the more indifferent Lu Ziyuan was to her, the more she was obsessed with marrying him.
If she hadn't gotten her wish and instead heeded her parents' wishes to break the engagement and marry another man, no matter how good he was, she would have harbored resentment for the rest of her life.
