The commotion of entertaining the envoy and his retinue in the front hall gradually drifted away, passing through courtyard after courtyard until it faded. In the side chambers of the back courtyard of the General’s Manor, red candles burned, the atmosphere quiet and peaceful. The Seventh Madam, dressed in blue, her hair let down, sat before the mirror. The years had etched faint marks upon her face, yet they did nothing to diminish her beauty. She smiled gently, like a white mountain flower trembling delicately in the wind — gathering the clear stillness of the empty mountains, tender and fragile. A faint smile lingered on the Seventh Madam’s face as she teased them gently, “Look at the two of you — this is a happy occasion, why are you crying?”

Xiao Yu, gently combing the Seventh Madam’s long hair, finally couldn’t hold back and threw down the comb, breaking into tears. “Madam, how… how could you bear it!”

Unwilling as she was, she had to let it go. The Seventh Madam said softly, “As the Buddha says, one must let go to gain. I think I’ll enjoy staying at Nanny Zhang’s place, free and at ease, with lively little Huzi to keep me company too — I won’t be lonely.”

It wasn’t that she wanted to become a nun purely to devote herself to Buddhism — but if she didn’t cut these thick black locks, how could Chancellor Li ever let her go? To return to that small square patch of sky in the Chancellor’s residence’s Tang Garden, facing day after day the person she despised — what did it matter to give up her hair as well? What she truly couldn’t bear to part with was Qingluo. Having grown up at her side for seventeen years, from now on she would have to walk the road alone.

The Seventh Madam’s smile remained gentle and resolute. Over ten years, that soft voice echoed in her ears every day: “Third Child, are you hungry?… Mother will teach you to play the qin, this note, slide down gently…” Reluctance and heartache swept through her, like the last soft note sliding off a qin string, lingering long before it faded. Was it really such a small thing, just cutting one’s hair? A’Luo picked up the scissors and told herself — faking death would never fool anyone, becoming a nun was the best way. She calmly touched the smooth black hair, looked at it again and again, then raised her hand to cut it off.

Xiao Yu suddenly threw herself forward and gripped her hand tightly. “Miss—”

“Let go! There’s no time!” A’Luo said sharply. Since this was the best choice, any further hesitation would just be misplaced sentimentality. The Chancellor’s guards and household retainers had come with the envoy to Linnan City. The three of them had already been seen in Linnan — it was no longer a secret. If she were alone, it would be far easier and more convenient to slip away or handle matters, whether escaping or facing whatever came. Once the Seventh Madam went back, she would never again have any chance of leaving the Chancellor’s residence. All it would take was Chancellor Li saying he couldn’t bear to part with the Seventh Madam, and even the Ning Prince wouldn’t be able to force her release. Even outside the residence, she would still carry the title of the Right Chancellor’s wife. Only by becoming a nun, publicly declaring she had severed all worldly ties, could she truly gain her freedom.

A’Luo steeled her heart, gripped a lock of hair, and cut it off with a snip. She stared blankly at the cut hair in her hand. Tears rushed to her eyes at once. “Mother, does it hurt? I’m sorry, A’Luo has wronged you.”

She had never known that cutting hair could feel so painful, as if she were taking a knife to the Seventh Madam’s very flesh. A’Luo’s hand trembled slightly, growing weak, unable to find its strength. Whether it was grief over cutting this cascading hair, or grief over this helpless decision, she couldn’t tell.

“Silly girl, hair has no feeling. I actually rather like it — go ahead and cut it all off!”

Right, it was only hair. If it could buy the Seventh Madam’s freedom, what did it matter? As long as she was safe, A’Luo herself could go about her business without any lingering worry. A’Luo said quietly, “Xiao Yu, come carefully gather up the hair — I have a use for it.”

She closed her eyes, blinked away the last tear, and opened them again with a gaze as firm as stone. Cleanly and decisively, she cut off the Seventh Madam’s long hair, layer by layer, carefully shaving it clean with a razor. She smiled brightly. “Mother looks just as beautiful without hair! What should your Dharma name be?”

The Seventh Madam smiled. “Naturally, Wangchen — Forgetting the Dust.”

Forgetting the dust? The two of them looked at each other and smiled. A’Luo’s gaze shifted to the long hair on the silk cloth on the table — hair this long could make a beautiful wig. A hint of amusement rose in her eyes, as though a beam of sunlight had broken into the quiet chamber. “Mother, take good care of yourself and gain some weight — wait for me to come get you.”

A’Luo quietly looked at the begonia in the courtyard. This flower was resilient — having bloomed for so long, it remained brilliantly red. It wasn’t only the plum blossom that could endure the cold; that quality of “though ground to dust, its fragrance remains” wasn’t hers, though. Once the Seventh Madam was settled, she would have no more worries behind her. With Liu Jue in Linnan City, her mother would be safe. From what she knew of Liu Jue, even if she did something that broke his heart, he would never mistreat the Seventh Madam. A’Luo couldn’t help but smile. After more than ten years in this world, she really had come to think of herself as a person of this era!

Warmth settled over her shoulders — Liu Jue had already draped a cloak over her. Seeing her calm, smiling face, he raised an eyebrow. “You’re not worried about going back to Feng City?”

Worried? Not entirely. It was more that she was weary of scheming and calculation. The Ning royal court had nothing to do with her — whoever became king made no difference to her. She had ended up in this world through no choice of her own, and helplessly just wanted to find an environment where she could survive, to live her days well. Her attachment to the Seventh Madam had grown from over ten years together — she couldn’t help but care, couldn’t help but worry. What else was there? This man before her, generous and deeply devoted, the Pingnan Prince — he had moved her. He had given her, in this unfamiliar world, the desire to lean on someone. To live out a peaceful life together with him would surely be happiness, wouldn’t it? Except such happiness still seemed so far away right now. He had his responsibilities, his family. He wasn’t free to act recklessly on a whim.

“Worried, and so what? Would you defy the decree and refuse to let me go?”

She said it with perfect calm, yet it swept through Liu Jue’s mind like a gale. The flesh-and-blood heart in his chest was flung up and then dashed down hard, tossed into the air with nowhere to land, crashing to the ground, shattered. “Are you blaming me? Knowing you exhausted every effort to escape Feng City, and now I’m the one sending you back?”

Was she blaming him? Perhaps she was, because she cared about him, and so she blamed him. Because her heart had been moved, she took it out on him. She knew full well there was nothing to be done, yet couldn’t help letting reproach seep into her calm tone. This kind of unreasonableness and willfulness — she only allowed herself that with him. She sighed. “Can you take good care of my mother for me? And Xiao Yu too — she’s not young anymore, I’ve seen that Liu Ying of yours is a good man, could you help bring them together?”

Why did her words sound like she was arranging her final affairs? Liu Jue’s heart trembled. He reached out and gripped her shoulders. “What are you planning to do?”

What could she do? A flicker of desolation flashed swiftly through her eyes. Even if she couldn’t do anything now, it didn’t mean she never would. A smile spread across her face. “My mother will be alone here — with you around, I can rest easy. Xiao Yu seems to have taken a liking to your Liu Ying. She’s stayed with me for so many years, I can’t hold her back any longer.”

Liu Jue didn’t quite believe it, unable to accept that she would obediently return to the Chancellor’s residence just like that. If she went back to Feng City, with her father backing things there — if she, alone with nothing tying her down, ran off, where would he even search for her? A thought struck him, and in an instant he moved swift as wind and sealed her acupoint. He reached out and caught her body as it went limp. “I won’t let you run off without a trace! I’m sorry, A’Luo! You’re too clever — you know that as long as your mother doesn’t return to the residence, I’ll protect her regardless, and without that concern weighing on you, you’d be capable of anything. I dare not take that risk.”

He — A’Luo sighed inwardly — cared for her this much, that he wouldn’t hesitate to restrain her even at the risk of angering her? Liu Jue carried A’Luo back to her room. He sat by the bed, gazing at her. “Even if you’re angry with me, I’d still do this. Sending you back to Feng City — I have thought it through carefully.” He gently brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. Why did her eyes show no panic, no anger — only such calm? Liu Jue stood up. “You’re angry with me in your heart, aren’t you? You didn’t expect I’d restrain you, giving you no chance to run at all, did you? But, A’Luo, you don’t understand. At first I never knew I would come to care for you this deeply. At the peach blossom banquet, I was truly moved by Miss Gu’s rendition of ‘Pei Lan.’ I thought I was drawn to a woman elegant and refined like an orchid. When I went home and painted her portrait, I unconsciously drew your eyes onto her face. Day after day I stared at that painting, no longer sure whether I was looking at her or at your eyes. I’ll admit that at first, inserting myself between you and Zili was just to tease you, to have some fun. But before I knew it, my heart had already sunk deep, no longer within my own control.

“I don’t know whether it was your lively spirit, the sorrow and helplessness in your qin music at the Crown Prince’s banquet, or that mysterious quality in your eyes that didn’t match your age. Every little thing, in my eyes and heart, was only you. When you vanished from across the Duning River, I hated you so much — I wanted to catch you and torment you out of spite. As time passed, that hatred turned into longing; not a single flicker of your smile or expression ever faded. A’Luo, no matter how angry you are with what I’ve done now, I won’t let you leave again. Whether you like it or not, we’ll settle it once I return to Feng City. Let me — let me make it up to you, all right?”

Two lines of tears slid down A’Luo’s face. She began cursing him inwardly for not even giving her the chance to speak — this scoundrel! Serves him right to torment himself with worry! She only felt his fingers wipe away her tears and opened her eyes to glare at him. Liu Jue’s face held not even a trace of a smile; she angrily closed her eyes, unwilling to look at him. Suddenly she was lifted up; he held her, sighing softly. “Will you still be willing to let me hold you like this afterward?” He pinched her chin, and something sweet-smelling slid down her throat. “This will just make your body relax a little. Sleep for a while, and when you wake, you’ll already be on the road.”

If she’d had freedom of movement, A’Luo would have kicked and punched him. This man — truly self-pitying, self-torturing, and the architect of his own misery! She tried desperately to shoot daggers from her eyes to pierce him a thousand times over, but in just a moment, his figure blurred, and her consciousness slowly faded away.

When she woke again, her body was swaying. She blinked her eyes open, and Xiao Yu was watching her anxiously. She sighed. “Where are we?”

“Miss, we’re almost at Gu City.”

A’Luo shifted; her body really did feel weak. She leaned against Xiao Yu to sit up, feeling as drained as after a serious illness. She could move without difficulty, but throwing a punch — even Xiao Yu could probably catch it easily. That Liu Jue! She thought of Liu Ying. “Where’s Liu Ying?”

“He — he’s riding outside the carriage.” A flush crept across Xiao Yu’s face.

Xiao Yu really had fallen for Liu Ying. Good — Liu Ying was a decent man. Still, Xiao Yu, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you a little. A’Luo lifted the carriage curtain slightly. Liu Ying, riding alongside on horseback, looked somewhat gloomy. “Liu Ying!”

“Miss, what is it?” Liu Ying asked respectfully.

Last night, Liu Jue had told him he was removed from the Black-Robed Cavalry roster, that from now on he was the Third Miss’s personal guard. He couldn’t help blurting out, “If my lord commands it, I would guard the Third Miss with my life regardless — why must I be removed from the Black-Robed Cavalry?”

Liu Jue had glared at him. “I want you to treat her as your master from now on!”

Even though he was now following the Third Miss, and his lord had tacitly permitted his relationship with Xiao Yu, he still felt uneasy inside.

“I’m hungry. I’ve heard Gu City is famous for its plum-blossom steamed cakes. Since we’re almost there, ride ahead quickly and buy some for me! They won’t taste good if they get cold — if you think riding is too slow, run there instead,” A’Luo instructed leisurely.

Liu Ying answered gravely, “Noted, Miss. I’ll make sure the plum-blossom cakes are still hot when I bring them back.” He spurred his horse and galloped off. Half an hour later, Liu Ying respectfully presented the steamed cakes.

A’Luo looked them over, picked up a piece as if to eat it, then suddenly exclaimed as though remembering something. “I hear these plum-blossom cakes are best paired with the local specialty, flower-bud tea. Liu Ying, I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you for another trip.”

Without a word, Liu Ying rode off again. By the time he unwrapped the thick cloth bundle, the tea was still warm. A’Luo looked at the tea, then at the cakes, and pursed her lips. “I’m past being hungry now.” She dropped the curtain with a snap and ignored him.

Liu Ying turned his head away, furious, no longer looking at the carriage. In his heart he lamented bitterly: My lord, you’re the one who caused this trouble, and I’m the one taking all the heat for it!

And so, teasing and tormenting Liu Ying the whole way, they arrived safely at the banks of the Duning River. Feng City was now within sight.