Moonlight over the lotus pond, birds resting, frogs calling — a faint, thin breeze carrying the cool, damp scent of the summer riverbank slowly seeped into the room.

Today had been sweltering, but the spaciousness of Prince Hui’s mansion, nurtured for years along both banks of the winding bridge over flowing water, had its own subtle charm — even without using ice, it remained cool and pleasant.

The Chen family certainly wasn’t short on ice, but ice was, after all, a harsh, cold thing; even at home, they only used a piece or two during the most blazing heat of summer. But any household with a decent garden, if it had a spot near water and shaded ground, would surely build a cool retreat for escaping the heat.

And Prince Hui’s family’s summer retreat was called “Qin Garden,” a fine spot encircling half the water. Liking how cool and easy to tidy it was, Qiqian’er settled in there.

When his wife came to Yandu, Chen Dasheng naturally followed along. He simply said his backside still hurt and requested leave; once here, he happily clung to his wife and refused to leave.

He was quite used to the wooden bed, but unfortunately, he’d only managed a few comfortable snores before his wife tossed and turned and woke him up.

These past few days, Qiqian’er had been weighed down with worries. Though she was a skilled cultivator, her level of skill had nothing to do with matters of the heart. Sure enough, after only two days of turmoil in this labyrinthine great estate, the poor young wife’s mouth was full of blisters, her inner fire raging so badly she couldn’t eat anything.

Back when she managed the household before, spending money meant tens or hundreds of coins at a time; when the old lady went out to give alms, it was a thousand coins!

Back in Qinwei Alley, that was already considered quite the sight — spending to the ends of the earth, at most a few hundred taels marked a wealthy household, already quite respectable.

Now, though, just sorting out the several water features in the estate alone cost three to five thousand strings of cash to spend… A broken pond was still just a broken pond — no fine fish, not even a shy, half-hidden lotus bud, only toads reigning supreme, croaking noisily all day and irritating everyone.

Every day she opened her eyes now, it was a thousand strings, two thousand strings, three thousand strings… The money wasn’t even counted anymore — it was carried out of the house in enormous baskets, and who knew where it all went.

Chen Dasheng, half-asleep, opened his eyes and mumbled: “Hm… what’s wrong?”

Beside him came a faint, weary sigh: “Ay~ just sleep, I’m fine.”

Chen Dasheng believed her and murmured an “oh,” meaning to go back to sleep, but was kicked awake by Qiqian’er.

Damn it, this thoughtless toad — didn’t he even hear her sigh? Couldn’t he even ask what was wrong?

Helpless, Chen Dasheng forced his eyes back open and mumbled: “Hm~?”

What kind of blockhead was this? Qiqian’er, seething, yanked the thin blanket they shared away and kicked him again: “Get away from me, you’re too hot!”

Chen Dasheng obediently scooted away. After closing his eyes for a moment, he sensed a chilly aura brewing beside him, suddenly opened his eyes, and sat up sharply, asking sincerely in the dark: “Wife? Are you hot?”

“No.”

“Not used to it here?”

“No.”

“Missing your grandmother, then?”

“No!”

“Want some water?”

“No!”

“Then, then why can’t you sleep?”

“Can’t fall asleep!”

Now this was a serious problem.

With a jolt in his heart, Chen Dasheng, to show he was taking this seriously, called out for someone. Qiyue and Bayue, on night duty, immediately answered from the outer chamber and came in to ask what was needed.

Chen Dasheng opened and hung up the gauze bed curtain, had them light the lamps, and also had them bring in a bowl of heat-relieving drink.

Under the flickering lamplight, Qiqian’er sat there in a thin, unadorned silk jacket of a light color, her face full of displeasure. She said nothing, letting Chen Dasheng guess.

Guessing was, of course, out of the question — Chen Dasheng couldn’t guess a woman’s thoughts even in eight lifetimes.

Still, he performed admirably, patiently staying by her side the whole time. Having suffered enough beatings and pinches, he’d gained some experience by now, and understood clearly: if he didn’t stay by her side, he wouldn’t have peace from now on. If he dared fall asleep today, he’d never have a good day again.

It was quite the bitter fate, really. People always said, what’s the point of taking a wife? To light lamps, blow out candles, and share sweet nothings together. In their household, lighting lamps and blowing out candles meant getting beaten and scolded instead — yet somehow, he still didn’t think it was so bad.

Mainly, he just didn’t dare think otherwise.

By the time the candle had burned down a full finger’s width, Chen Dasheng finally heard his wife say faintly: “Da Sheng, I feel so dazed lately — are we really going to live here from now on?”

Chen Dasheng didn’t understand what she meant, so he studied his wife’s expression, but Qiqian’er just went on: “These past few days, I keep feeling like I’m in some kind of dream… The more I help Father settle in, the more uneasy I feel inside.”

Chen Dasheng, puzzled: “Uneasy?”

“Mm, uneasy! Just think about it — we were living perfectly fine in Qinwei Alley, and then suddenly you had an extra father… I didn’t have any objections to recognizing him as a father, since I’m strong-willed anyway, and thought it was just a matter of caring for an elder. Our father was just someone serving people in the palace after all, how significant could that be? But then I gradually understood — who isn’t serving someone, really? But serving one person is hardly the same as serving another… And now, in the blink of an eye, he’s suddenly a prince of the second rank too? It feels like a dream, and it leaves my heart feeling hollow and uneasy.”

Mainly, the thought that from now on she’d have to spend money by the thousands of strings made it all the more unbearable.

Chen Dasheng went limp and lay flat on his back, groaning while covering his face with his arm: “Is that what this is about?”

Qiqian’er shook her head: “Not just that — the more I sort things out, the more it just feels wrong somehow?”

She punched him once after saying this.

Chen Dasheng’s body tensed: “What feels wrong?”

Qiqian’er, unable to see his eyes, yanked his arm away and, looking down at him, said: “The more I think about it, the more it just doesn’t sit right! Think about it — the two of us were living perfectly well in Qinwei Alley, surrounded by family and our own people.”

“That place couldn’t compare to Yandu, sure, but at least it was all ours! But then you went and recognized a teacher, and it turned out he was a father after all. I just thought — well, he’s a pitiable man with no one to depend on, so we’d support him, we can afford it…!”

Chen Dasheng had no choice but to sit up again and wipe his face, saying weakly: “Mm, we can afford it, and then?”

Qiqian’er, her face full of melancholy, hugged her knees and said: “Look at you — I already said it, in the blink of an eye Father’s a prince of the second rank? Blink again and His Majesty’s granted us such a huge estate? It’s all happening too easily! Oh, and I haven’t even been to see the She family residence yet — I imagine that’s just another pile of trouble waiting.”

“Since yesterday I’ve just been sitting there thinking — people really are ungrateful, greedy creatures at heart. You said, taking care of an old man in his final years, what’s wrong with that? Take care of him! We have the money, whatever else, we can provide him with fine food and clothing. But this title Father’s received — the more I think about it, the less I dare to accept it. Everyone says we’ve struck it rich, that our ancestors’ graves are smoking with good fortune, but I just feel…”

She looked at Chen Dasheng seriously and said: “I feel like this is all too flimsy — this kind of wealth and status shouldn’t belong to us.”

No matter how many lifetimes she’d lived through, Qiqian’er’s bones had always been honest bones. She believed that only grain grown from a drop of sweat that fell and shattered into eight pieces in the mud truly belonged to her.

When something came too easily, she felt hollow inside about it; she also believed the common street saying that anything involving money and power was never a good sign — there was always a reckoning to come.

And this was a princedom of the second rank, only one rank below a princedom of the first rank, and a position of wealth and status that would only decrease gradually after three generations. What virtue or merit did Chen Dasheng possess for this? What virtue or merit did she, Qiqian’er, possess either?

As the old lady used to say, the Chen family’s ancestral graves were practically soaking in water — so why should this wisp of good fortune smoke rise to their household of all people?

Before long, Bayue brought in the heat-relieving drink to soothe their nerves, and the couple sat on the heated platform bed and drank.

After taking his wife’s empty bowl, Chen Dasheng picked up the loose robe beside him and handed it to Qiqian’er, saying: “Alright, since we can’t sleep anyway, let’s go for a walk outside.”

Qiqian’er took the robe and nodded glumly: “Mm~!”

Well, might as well take a walk then — since she didn’t want to sleep, no one else was going to either.

A cool night breeze blew as the young couple, cloaked in their robes, strolled around the pond together. The pond wasn’t particularly clear; the water grasses and fish and shrimp inside had just been cleared out, and since it had been fumigated with mugwort for two straight days, there weren’t many mosquitoes by the water’s edge — though moths occasionally came to bump against the white lantern in Chen Dasheng’s hand, making faint rustling sounds.

After walking for a while, Chen Dasheng slowly said: “Actually, I already spoke with Father about this — just like how Miss Ge has hundreds of thousands of strings to her name, even if our hearts are perfectly upright about it, people outside will still say Fourth Brother married her for her money. People’s talk is truly something to be feared after all… From now on, no matter how good we are, people will still say we’re after Father’s wealth and status.”

Qiqian’er sighed softly: “…These past few days sorting through Prince Hui’s mansion’s junk, the Jixiang household woman suggested just finding a room to toss it all in, but I thought — wouldn’t that just take up space? Might as well sell it! But the Jixiang household woman said selling wouldn’t be respectable… tsk! What’s disrespectable about that — these are all things that have sat around for four or five generations. To this big family it looks like junk, but once it leaves this mansion’s gates, it’s an antique!”

Chen Dasheng laughed: “You called in Ping Shen, I know about it.”

Qiqian’er nodded: “Mm, he’s the only one I know in this line of work. Look at that old shop — even old stationery items thirty or fifty years old can fetch money there. We’ve got several whole storerooms of items, and quite a few of them were even gifts bestowed by the former dynasty’s emperors. Your father only gave us fifty thousand strings — clearly this is a test for me. Feh~ I don’t even answer to him for my upbringing, so why is he testing me?”

Chen Dasheng chuckled softly: “You turned a pile of junk into over two hundred thousand strings just like that — honestly, even Father was startled.”

Qiqian’er looked at him laughing, but she wasn’t pleased: “That’s right, this whole morning, four entire cartloads of cash piled up in the courtyard, and the Jixiang household spent three whole hours counting it with a dozen or so people. Now everyone’s all smiles — hmph! Just a couple days ago they were saying I was selling off junk! But I thought about it — a household this grand, just sweeping out the corners and crannies alone yields tens of thousands in profit, and that’s with Ping Shen bringing along several appraisal experts to look everything over first — I don’t dare touch anything actually valuable…”

By now Chen Dasheng had understood what she was getting at, so he asked: “Scared, are you?”

Qiqian’er nodded: “Scared. Broken glass lampshades, some old clothes from before — I didn’t even know old embroidery was worth money, and I sold off quite a few of them… Da Sheng~ our child, he has his own parents, his own path he’s meant to walk. Being filial to Father is fine, but this inheritance of Father’s… it’s simply too much. I dreamed last night that our grandson couldn’t make ends meet, became a wastrel, searched the whole house for junk to sell, and ended up finding your grandmother’s chest, reaching in and pulling out a pile of old, broken socks…”

In truth, Qiqian’er herself didn’t quite know what she was saying anymore, leaving Chen Dasheng chuckling under his breath the whole time.

Qiqian’er, heedless of anything else, pleaded: “Can’t we… can’t we just not have all this? These past few days I haven’t been able to eat, haven’t slept well, tossing and turning, always thinking about how Ge Sansu’s entire family lost their lives over money — and they were blood relatives too! With just the two of us and our current abilities, can we really protect all this? Whenever I think about spending the rest of my life tangled up in disputes over these trivial matters, I feel as restless as a cat scratching at my heart.”

Chen Dasheng didn’t answer this question directly. Instead, he reached out and pulled Qiqian’er away from the soft, waterlogged mud near the bank onto solid ground, then smiled: “Watch your step, keep talking.”

Hearing no answer from Chen Dasheng, Qiqian’er’s heart sank to the bottom. She walked along, lost in thought. Ever since entering Prince Hui’s mansion, certain problems could no longer be hidden — her limitations in ability had truly been exposed. But she and Chen Dasheng had only been married for less than two years now that she thought carefully about it — who was she, really, in the grand scheme of things?

A wife bought by the Chen family for ten strings of cash and fifty catties of grain — just as the old lady and Madam Qiao used to scold her back then, you were bought for ten strings of cash, misbehave and we’ll sell you off!

She no longer had the confidence to tell Chen Dasheng again that they didn’t want this wealth and status — that she feared they’d be too isolated and weak, that they’d spend a lifetime inviting others’ envy over this title.

Once the child was born tomorrow, if they made even a single misstep into someone’s trap, she’d surely regret it for the rest of her life.

These past two years, she’d grown more confident day by day, always feeling like life was firmly in her grasp, like she had things well in hand. But this sense of control had never included a windfall of such staggering wealth, let alone daring to imagine a princedom of the second rank.

Speaking honestly and plainly, the marriage bed hadn’t even been consummated for that matter, so what right did she have to persuade him to give up this wealth and status? Chen Dasheng could still father a son with her; without her, there were plenty of daughters from prestigious families willing to become his wife, manage his household, and even take in over a dozen beautiful concubines to bear him a whole brood of children.

If she could get by without Chen Dasheng, then couldn’t he do the same without her?

Thinking of An’er, Qiqian’er’s heart gave a sharp pang.

After walking a stretch, Chen Dasheng suddenly switched the lantern to his other hand and took hold of Qiqian’er’s now-free hand: “What you’ve been thinking about, I’ve thought about too…”

Chen Dasheng’s hand was dry and rough, and there was even a certain assured strength to it that hadn’t been there before — steady, composed, and utterly fearless.

Qiqian’er glanced at him and didn’t pull away, simply letting him lead her along.

Chen Dasheng said: “I’ve had thoughts like yours too — thinking, who am I really? Nothing more than someone who happened into good fortune, whom Heaven took pity on and sent a wife to. It was only with those six characters from you that I became Chen Dasheng.”

Qiqian’er lowered her head, the corner of her mouth curling — she wanted to smile, but held it back.

Chen Dasheng waved off Qiyue and Bayue following at a distance, and once they’d walked off, he continued: “After that it was all a muddle too — studying, serving His Majesty, muddling my way into official promotions, and then somehow being pushed into this position. Wife, your uneasiness…” Chen Dasheng stopped walking, turned to look at Qiqian’er seriously, and said: “But, we can’t go back anymore.”

Qiqian’er’s mouth fell slightly open: “We… can’t go back?”

Chen Dasheng nodded: “We can’t go back! We have to keep moving forward, I have to keep climbing upward, I have to climb high, high up… only then can I hold onto what I want. It’s fine if the family estate is large — I’ll surely gain the ability to protect it someday. Besides, it’s not that others won’t let us go back — it’s that we’ve already come this far, so we can only keep moving forward. When His Majesty was born, some fortune-teller of great skill said that this child would surely enjoy high office and great fortune his whole life — heh, which just goes to show, a person’s fate has nothing to do with what others say about it. It all depends on how hard you’re willing to work.”

Neither of them spoke for a while. Qiqian’er tried to pull her hand free this time, but Chen Dasheng wouldn’t allow it, gripping it tightly and continuing to walk, walking and walking, until there was no path left — before them stood a rockery.

Only then did he turn to look at his wife and say: “See, wife, we’ve run out of path.”

Qiqian’er stared blankly at the rockery ahead and murmured: “Mm, no more path.”

Chen Dasheng finally let go of her hand, tucked the lantern into a crevice in the rockery, tied up the hem of his robe, and climbed up onto the rock. Once he’d found his footing, he turned back and extended his large hand: “Come on, it’s quite easy to climb — the view from up here is lovely, come take a look!”

A few fireflies circled nearby. Qiqian’er looked at Chen Dasheng’s broad white smile and his bright, gleaming eyes, and finally reached out her hand. Before she could even exert any effort, she was suddenly lifted off her feet, easily pulled up by Chen Dasheng, then carried the rest of the way to the top of the rockery.

Once she’d steadied herself, Qiqian’er noticed a winding stone step just a couple paces away, buried under overgrown weeds.

She looked around again, and only then did she see clearly — looking at this estate from atop the rockery, it actually wasn’t as vast as she’d imagined; at the very least, this one corner was really nothing so extraordinary after all.

At a glance, the lotus pond was dark, the buildings low, the moonlight lovely, but far off, the neighboring rooftops on either side lay pitch black, the human world silent — as if the two of them were the only ones left alive in this world.

The rockery was quite tall, formed of five stacked layers of stone. Chen Dasheng found a spot to sit and settled down, then pulled Qiqian’er over to sit on his lap… At this moment he no longer complained about his backside hurting, simply sitting there with her, taking in the view of the world before them.

They sat in silence for a long while, until Chen Dasheng finally sighed softly: “The two of us — it feels like we’ve never talked like this before.”

Qiqian’er was startled for a moment, but thinking it over carefully, it really was true. In the past, she’d always wanted to keep him in check, to guide and discipline him, terrified that one misstep would lead to another and eventually implicate their son An’er.

But now, day by day, he’d grown stronger — like an entirely new Chen Dasheng, increasingly different from his past self.

These past few days, people had been coming and going in their household, and everyone who came to pay their respects treated Chen Dasheng with careful deference, utmost respect.

They spoke to this man with real respect now, watching his expressions, eager to please him — and by extension, even she, his wife, despite having started selling off junk and seemingly losing all sense of decorum, was still praised as the finest household-managing wife in all of Yandu that anyone could find.

And all of this newfound ease and comfort came from this new Chen Dasheng — he was the one who could give her dignity, who she could now rely on. But what could she give him in return?

She knew nothing of what he did outside the home — what he was doing, who he knew. What new insights had he gained, what books had he read?

Without waiting for Qiqian’er to answer, Chen Dasheng said: “Let me tell you about our father.”

Qiqian’er blinked: “Father?”

Chen Dasheng smiled: “Ah, never mind the formalities — just Father, our father. He’s genuinely good to me.”

“Mm, go on then.”

Chen Dasheng thought for a moment: “The things on the surface with Father, the matters concerning the She family, the matters between our family and the Zheng family, and matters concerning His Majesty — you already know about these, so I won’t repeat them. But there’s one thing — since we’re family now, I don’t intend to keep it from you.”

Qiqian’er was startled: “Keep it from me?”

Chen Dasheng nodded: “That’s right! In the past I always felt my wife was a hundred times more capable than me, but I never realized how young you actually still are, and yet you have to manage the household, help me care for Grandmother, and even worry about my brothers’ marriages. I remember all the good you’ve done for me, and I intend to be good to my wife, you, for the rest of my life too…”

Qiqian’er, uncharacteristically bashful, gave him a reassured shove: “What are you even saying!”

Chen Dasheng smiled: “Whatever unease you feel is all my fault. Now that I think about it, my wife has only been through so few things in life — it’s really my failing that’s made things difficult for you.”

Qiqian’er thought privately that, added together, her age across her lifetimes was several times his own. But how could she possibly say that? She could only roll her eyes hugely at Chen Dasheng in the darkness.

As it happened, right after she rolled her eyes, a chorus of frog calls suddenly rose up beneath their feet, and Chen Dasheng couldn’t hold back any longer, half-embracing her as he laughed heartily.

Once he finished laughing, he turned serious and said: “Qian’er, actually… Father has been serving as an informant for the Great Liang army all along. To support His Majesty’s uprising, our father commanded a scout unit…”

Qiqian’er didn’t quite catch it: “Serving?”

Chen Dasheng laughed quietly and explained: “No, I mean scouts — like reconnaissance riders.”

Qiqian’er nodded in understanding: “Oh, I know this one, spies! I’ve heard of it in operas.”

Chen Dasheng nodded: “Right, scouts are similar to that. Don’t ask too deeply into it, and you can’t speak of it outside either. Publicly, I’m just a company commander in the Long Blade Battalion, scraping by in the Ministry of War — privately, I can’t really discuss it with you either… From now on, according to Father and His Majesty’s wishes, I’m to take command of this entire unit, serving the Emperor alone from now on.”

Qiqian’er was stunned speechless. After a long while she shivered and tried to struggle up, but Chen Dasheng held her tightly and said: “Don’t be afraid!”

Afraid? She really wasn’t afraid — how could she possibly be afraid of something like this now? This bold, audacious lady of the inner chambers had already dealt with far worse — she’d smashed people to pulp before, taken charge of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that weren’t even hers — what was a mere scout unit compared to that!

Qiqian’er simply couldn’t accept things that didn’t match her sense of what she deserved, yet she also thought — Heaven truly had a sense of humor, giving fate just a casual push, and in the span of only two years, look where it had sent Chen Dasheng.

In the end she said: “I’m not scared, but why are you telling me this?”

Chen Dasheng rested his head against his young wife and sighed: “If I don’t tell you, then who would I tell? I need my wife to be able to preside over the household with genuine peace of mind, to sit in the main hall with dignity and composure! Father also said, now that we have Jiu Si Tang, he feels this line of work is something we can sustain. All the dirty work the scouts used to handle is now in Xie Wu’s capable hands at Jiu Si Tang — if it’s just gathering intelligence, monitoring military affairs, observing the officials, that’s really nothing much. Besides, if I don’t take it on, who will? His Majesty doesn’t trust anyone else either…”

Qiqian’er said mockingly: “And he trusts you, of all people?”

Chen Dasheng shook his head: “Hah! How long have I even known His Majesty? These days His Majesty only trusts our father — this title, this princely mansion, that’s exactly what it means. Father takes it without a guilty conscience, and I’ll surely reach a day when I too can take it without guilt. Wife!”

He let go of Qiqian’er and, holding her face in both hands, said: “Your man here has put in nothing but hard, honest effort — I’ve given my whole life over to this work now. From here on, whatever comes, just accept it calmly. His Majesty knows exactly what he’s doing. I’m not as useless as you think — do you trust me or not?”

After all, trust was what truly mattered between husband and wife. Qiqian’er didn’t understand court affairs, but hearing Chen Dasheng say all this, she felt genuinely reassured. Yet back in bed, she still couldn’t sleep, feeling like something still wasn’t quite right.

Tossing and turning, she thought it over until the sky began to grow faintly light, and finally sat up and, gritting her teeth, kicked Chen Dasheng right off the heated platform bed.

Chen Dasheng scrambled up in a daze, staring at his wife, jolted awake from his dream and immediately irritated.

“What now?!”

Qiqian’er gritted her teeth: “Chen Choutou! I knew something was off! After all that talk, you’ve gone and sold off our son — our grandson too — haven’t you?!”