The physician examining Ji Cheng at Changchun Hall was Dr. Liu. “Young Miss’s pulse is strong. I can’t detect anything amiss. Not only is there no sign of a cold womb, but it’s better than most young women’s.”
Ji Cheng finally felt relieved. As long as she wasn’t truly unable to bear children, it would be fine. But then she thought, Shen Che was truly vicious. Not only had he ruined one of her marriage prospects, but he had also potentially ruined all her future ones.
In her heart, Ji Cheng despised Shen Che, but on the surface, she had no choice but to feign cordiality with him.
Manager Li was somewhat worried about Ji Cheng. Not long ago, this Third Miss had sent someone to pick up a prescription for contraceptive tea, which was secretly brewed in Changchun Hall’s kitchen and taken away in a thermos. Today, she came again to have her pulse checked, seemingly concerned about whether her body had been damaged, potentially affecting her ability to conceive in the future.
However, these were the most private matters for a woman, and Manager Li didn’t dare to say much. He only instructed Dr. Liu to keep his mouth tightly shut. The apprentice who had prepared the medicine for Ji Cheng that day was also sent by Manager Li to the southern branch of Changchun Hall.
Although Ji Cheng hadn’t asked Manager Li to do these things, he had been promoted by her, so naturally, he wanted to eliminate all potential crises for his mistress.
It was now early February, and the festive atmosphere of the New Year had completely disappeared. Merchants were busy again, leaving their families to travel to other places. Ji Cheng’s plans for the Western Regions also needed to be put into action.
Just after the Dragon Raising Its Head Festival on the second day of the second lunar month, good news came from North Jin. Ji Cheng’s father wrote that the Ling family had agreed to cooperate with them. Ji Qing had taken advantage of the New Year to sound out Official Yuan’s attitude, and it seemed he was somewhat dissatisfied with the Tan and Chen families. Human nature being what it is, Official Yuan was uneasy about the Tan and Chen families’ dominance, fearing that the guests might overpower the host.
This situation was largely thanks to Shen Che. The last time he had sent people to raid the Tan and Chen families’ caravans, they suffered heavy losses. This business not only lost its profit but also the initial investment. In the past, the Tan and Chen families would have borne these losses themselves, without shorting the Official Yuan a single coin.
However, the Wang family in the capital was pressing hard, and a large amount of money had been supplied to them. The Tan and Chen families were also feeling the strain, so they decided to withhold some of the money that should have been paid to Official Yuan.
Although Official Yuan outwardly expressed understanding, after all, they had suffered total losses, he was extremely uncomfortable inwardly. It was also around the time of the New Year, a crucial period for making connections in the capital. He had already planned how to spend the money, but the Tan and Chen families’ actions caught him off guard. Fortunately, the batch of goods transported by the Ji family hadn’t been raided, barely helping Official Yuan get through the winter.
As one side waned and the other waxed, the Ji and Ling families naturally were no longer seen as mere pawns in Official Yuan’s eyes. However, Ji Qing also said that Official Yuan was very guarded. Although his attitude had softened, he had cooperated with the Tan and Chen families for many years and had marriage ties with them, so it might not be possible to break their alliance immediately.
Merchant families were not as particular as the great clans. In Jin, many merchants even begged to send their daughters to become concubines in powerful families, just to establish some connections. In his letter, Ji Qing also mentioned a plan to send Ji Cheng’s half-sister, Bao Niang, to be a concubine for Official Yuan’s eldest son.
Bao Niang was two years younger than Ji Cheng, barely fourteen years old now. Her mother was a widow who had somehow become involved with Ji Qing and was taken into the household, angering Ji Cheng’s mother, Madam Yun, who was bedridden for half a year. So Ji Cheng and Bao Niang were not close, but they were still sisters of the same family.
In the past, Ji Cheng wouldn’t have cared whether Ji Qing wanted to send Bao Niang to be someone’s concubine, but now Ji Cheng has learned a hard lesson from Shen Cui’s affairs. Shen Cui was only Ji Cheng’s cousin, while Bao Niang could be considered her sister.
Ji Cheng wrote back to Ji Qing, saying she didn’t want Bao Niang to become a concubine for this matter. It would be better to find a scholar for her to marry. If the family could support him for a year or two, and if the future brother-in-law succeeded, he would be grateful for the Ji family’s kindness.
As for Official Yuan, it was best to cater to his preferences. In the intelligence Shen Che had provided to Ji Cheng, there were detailed accounts of Official Yuan’s peculiar tastes.
Now that Ji Cheng knew about the progress from her father, the matters in the Western Regions had to be accelerated. Even if she wanted to avoid Shen Che, she couldn’t. The last time she asked Shen Che to help her find someone familiar with the situation in the Western Regions, Shen Che had already sent word through Nan Gui that they would arrive in the capital in a few days.
Since the incident at Phoenix Tower, Ji Cheng hadn’t seen Shen Che, not even at the Shen residence. She took a deep breath before walking up the stone steps from the secret passage.
Shen Che was waiting for her in the room above.
There’s a kind of embarrassment that goes like this: you try hard to maintain an expression as if nothing had happened, but when you see the other person being more nonchalant than you as if they had amnesia, it makes you even more furious.
Compared to Ji Cheng, Shen Che was the one who seemed to have amnesia.
“Choose a mask,” Shen Che pointed to the row of masks hanging on the wall in front of him. “You’ll be wearing it to meet people for a long time in the future, unless, of course, A-Cheng wants to use her real face.”
Ji Cheng stepped forward and immediately chose the ink-colored mask. It was much lighter in her hand than she had imagined. Her fingers caressed the white camellia painted at the right corner of the mask’s eye.
Seeing the mask Ji Cheng chose first, Shen Che smiled slightly, making Ji Cheng look at him puzzledly.
“Try it on,” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng obediently put the mask on her face. It covered most of her face, leaving only her lips and chin exposed. She took the mirror from Shen Che’s hand and looked at herself, feeling a bit strange.
“It would be better if your lip rouge were a bit redder,” Shen Che said after examining Ji Cheng. “You’ll be dealing with old hands in the jianghu. They might not respect you. If you can’t suppress them, they won’t put their hearts into their work.”
“I don’t have any bright red lip rouge,” Ji Cheng said. She had always preferred light makeup and her lip rouge was usually pale, without any bright red shades.
Shen Che pointed to several lip rouge boxes on the nearby table. “These are from Rongyan Hall. Try them.”
Ji Cheng sat down at the table and opened the porcelain boxes. Rongyan Hall’s rouge and powder were among the best in all of Great Qin. Their best rouge cost over ten taels of silver per box and was often out of stock. Ling Ziyun had once brought Ji Cheng several boxes, but she rarely used them because she didn’t like the fragrance.
Ji Cheng took the jade hairpin from her hair and dabbed a bit of the peach-red lip rouge from the leftmost porcelain box onto her lips. She used her little finger to spread it evenly and looked in the mirror. It seemed too bright and frivolous.
Ji Cheng then tried a vermilion lip rouge, which looked more acceptable. She couldn’t be bothered to try anymore and looked up to ask Shen Che, “Will this do?”
Shen Che reached for a box of deep jujube red lip rouge and placed it in front of Ji Cheng. “Try this one.”
Ji Cheng looked at Shen Che without objecting. She casually wiped her lips with a handkerchief and was about to take the lip rouge when Shen Che suddenly snatched the handkerchief from her hand.
“You…” Ji Cheng had only uttered one word when Shen Che lifted her chin, and she watched helplessly as he wiped off the previous lip rouge color for her.
“The corners of your lips were smudged,” Shen Che said.
For some reason, Ji Cheng suddenly remembered the scene from the Double Ninth Festival banquet when she had used a handkerchief to wipe the rouge off Shen Che’s face. Although there was no connection, that scene abruptly jumped into her mind.
“Done,” Shen Che’s voice interrupted Ji Cheng’s reverie. She awkwardly averted her eyes, using the action of picking up lip rouge with her hairpin to cover up her lapse.
The deep jujube red on Ji Cheng’s snow-white skin created a sickly red appearance, so red that it seemed eerie and terrifying. As soon as Ji Cheng saw it, she immediately approved of Shen Che’s taste. This color of lip rouge, paired with the black camellia mask, concealed all the softness in Ji Cheng’s features, revealing a kind of sharp malevolence like a rakshasa coming out to eat human brains in the night.
“Not bad. Let’s go,” Shen Che said. “Take off the mask first. It’s uncomfortable to wear for long.”
It was still a secret passage, one that Ji Cheng had never walked before. She couldn’t tell the direction and could only follow Shen Che forward. After descending the stone steps, Ji Cheng immediately saw the strangely simple iron plate car.
The iron plate car was like a long bench with a crossbar at the back to serve as a backrest, preventing people from falling off. Shen Che got in the car first, then extended his hand to Ji Cheng in invitation.
Ji Cheng didn’t take his hand, instead lifting her skirt and stepping on herself, sitting down next to Shen Che. The secret passage was narrow, so naturally, the iron plate car wasn’t large. With two people sitting side by side, their shoulders inevitably touched. Ji Cheng found it unbearable and tried to sit up straight, maintaining a dignified and unapproachable appearance.
Shen Che merely tugged at the corner of his lips, then untied the rope securing the iron plate car. The wheels of the car began to slide forward along the sloping secret passage.
Ji Cheng was unprepared when the car started to slide. If she hadn’t quickly grabbed the iron handrail beside her, she probably would have fallen off.
The car slid faster and faster. The light from the entrance of the secret passage gradually disappeared, leaving everything pitch black, with only the sound of the wind for company. This was Ji Cheng’s first time riding this iron plate car, and she was completely unfamiliar with the route. So when the car turned, she was caught off guard. Her body, unable to control its momentum, leaned towards Shen Che’s side, crashing into his embrace.
The turn was too sudden. Ji Cheng tried to straighten up in a flurry, but she couldn’t avoid physical contact with Shen Che. His lips seemed to brush across her cheek. Just then, the wheel of the car seemed to hit a small stone, and Ji Cheng was about to fall off. Fortunately, Shen Che pulled her back in one swift motion. Before Ji Cheng could straighten up again, Shen Che’s lips pressed down on hers.
In the darkness where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, Ji Cheng felt as if she could see the light in Shen Che’s eyes. Her entire body was nestled in Shen Che’s arms, held tightly by him.
Her lips tingled, starting with light pecks and sips, gradually becoming more passionate. Her lips and teeth were pried open mercilessly. When Ji Cheng tried to bite Shen Che’s tongue, he bit her lips in return.
The entire world seemed to be reduced to darkness and the sound of the wind, along with those tightly connected four lips, which became the focus of all consciousness.
The car had gradually come to a stop, but the arm around Ji Cheng’s waist still refused to let go. Ji Cheng, embarrassed and angry, scratched at Shen Che, making him groan. Only then did Ji Cheng say furiously, “Haven’t you had enough?!”
Shen Che’s roguish voice came from the darkness, “Clearly not.”
Ji Cheng swung her hand to slap him, but the chances of actually hitting him in the dark were certainly zero. Her hands were pinned behind her back again, and her lips were once more captured by Shen Che, leading to another fierce battle of tongues.
Ji Cheng was lifted out of the car by Shen Che, breathless, her back pressed against the stone wall, making it even more convenient for a certain someone to act.
Ji Cheng whimpered, and as soon as she got a chance, she couldn’t help but rebuke loudly, “Shen Che, what are you doing?”
But Shen Che answered irrelevantly, “Rongyan Hall’s lip rouge doesn’t taste good. The lip rouge you wore last time was sweeter.”
Ji Cheng’s lip rouge was her creation, made from flower and fruit extracts, mixed with honey to form a paste so sweet it could be eaten like candy.
“You’re shameless!” Ji Cheng cursed.
Shen Che chuckled softly. Though Ji Cheng couldn’t see his expression, she could imagine the sarcastic smile at the corner of his lips.
“Ji Cheng, it’s a skill to deceive others, but self-deception is unwise,” Shen Che said.
So it was indeed him that night at Phoenix Terrace. Shen Che was unwilling to play along with her pretense anymore, directly tearing away the veil of shame.
What was wrong with her wanting to deceive herself? Shen Che was going too far! All the helplessness and anger erupted at this moment. After all, Ji Cheng was just a girl not yet sixteen, who had experienced such a massive change. All her subsequent fears had been forcibly suppressed, but how could Ji Cheng not be afraid?
Except for the unexplained drowsiness of the past few days, Ji Cheng had been waking up from nightmares every night for the past ten days or so, dreaming that her secret was exposed, and people were pointing at her like a rat crossing the street.
“Bastard, scoundrel, ruffian!” Ji Cheng suddenly broke down, punching and kicking at Shen Che, with every kick aimed at his groin, wishing she could end his lineage right there. “What can you do besides bullying me?!” Ji Cheng cried out. Did he think he could toy with her just because she had lost her chastity?
Shen Che only lightly blocked Ji Cheng’s kicks with his hands, barely avoiding her punches, letting her cry and make a scene.
In truth, Ji Cheng had a rather cool temperament. Her breakdown was just momentary, and as reason returned, she found herself unable to back down, so she threw a few more punches. Unfortunately, her delicate fists and legs were like hitting an iron plate, causing her more pain than anything.
As Ji Cheng’s force gradually weakened, Shen Che reached out to support her back, drawing her to his chest, and then gently caressing her hair.
Neither spoke. Ji Cheng knew she was being unreasonable; Shen Che wasn’t really at fault in this matter. It was she who had sought him out. But Shen Che’s behavior today greatly angered Ji Cheng.
Although Shen Che wasn’t the most suitable person, Ji Cheng indeed needed a shoulder to lean on at this moment, to cry silently.
“Who was it that harmed me?” Ji Cheng asked, choking back tears. Among a woman’s weapons, tears were one of them. Since Ji Cheng had finally cried, she might as well use it to achieve some goals. Usually, if she asked Shen Che like this, she might not get an answer. Ji Cheng wasn’t sure if Shen Che would protect his relative—Su Yun.
“It was Wang Fourth Lady who manipulated Su Yun,” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng lifted her head from Shen Che’s shoulder, weak but unwilling to rely on others anymore. She leaned against the stone wall, her voice hoarse from crying, “Hasn’t Wang Fourth Lady gone to cultivate in a Taoist temple?”
“I’m also curious, how did you offend Wang Fourth Lady so deeply that she wanted to harm you one last time before leaving?” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng thought for a moment, “It must be Wang Yueniang stirring up trouble.” Wang Yueniang wanted to watch from the sidelines, hoping she and Wang Fourth Lady would fight to the death.
“I don’t understand. Su Yun and I don’t have any deep grudges, why would she do this?” Ji Cheng said.
Although Shen Che had many female confidants, he couldn’t explain the psychology of women who would want to destroy someone over a small matter.
According to Su Yun’s intentions, she didn’t want to take Ji Cheng’s life, so she didn’t use poison. But using an aphrodisiac could make Ji Cheng unable to hold her head up for the rest of her life, letting Shen Che see clearly what kind of fickle woman she was. This was the result Su Yun wanted to see.
Su Yun’s eyes were blinded by obsession. She was unwilling to admit that she couldn’t attract Shen Che and blamed all the mistakes on Ji Cheng. If it weren’t for Ji Cheng’s fox-like charm and flattery, how could Shen Che not see her? Su Yun had been raised as a favored daughter in Jiangnan, and the setbacks she encountered after coming to the capital were enough to distort her mentality.
Ji Cheng wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked up to ask Shen Che, “If I wanted to kill Su Yun, would you stop me?”
“Do you need my help?” Shen Che asked in return.
“No,” Ji Cheng replied briefly and coldly.
“Let’s go,” Shen Che took Ji Cheng’s hand. He touched something on the stone wall, and a rumbling sound of a stone door opening was heard. Behind the stone door was a shallow beach with a small boat moored there.
Unexpectedly, the secret passage led to the hidden river of the capital.
Shen Che helped Ji Cheng onto the boat and found a box at the bow. When opened, it revealed a night pearl the size of a walnut.
The sudden appearance of light in the darkness made Ji Cheng’s eyes uncomfortable. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard Shen Che laugh.
“Sorry, your appearance is quite amusing,” Shen Che said frankly.
Ji Cheng quickly raised the ivory camellia mirror tied to her skirt. Her face was almost ruined, covered in lip rouge, smeared like an infant who had just learned to drink porridge.
Ji Cheng glared at Shen Che. There were traces of lip rouge at the corner of his lips too, but compared to her, he looked quite neat.
Ji Cheng didn’t care about anything else and hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe her face. However, the lip rouge was stubborn and difficult to clean off. Ji Cheng had to wet the handkerchief with river water.
Looking down, she realized how clear the river water was, with inch-long fish swimming in it. If one looked closely, one could see that the fish were transparent, even their skeletons visible.
Ji Cheng watched the fish for a while, waiting for the embarrassment in her heart to dissipate before raising her head again. Shen Che sat opposite her, gently rowing with both hands, as leisurely as if he were boating on a spring day.
“Aren’t you going to wipe your face?” Ji Cheng couldn’t help but ask.
“My hands are occupied,” Shen Che said with a light smile.
Ji Cheng glanced at him. Whatever, clean it or not, don’t dream of her doing it for him.
“How are your eyes?” Shen Che asked again.
Ji Cheng didn’t want to respond to Shen Che, but this man was too good with words, always picking topics she couldn’t refuse. “There hasn’t been any problem these days.” Initially, Shen Che had said that even after detoxification, there would still be after-effects and her eyesight would deteriorate, but Ji Cheng hadn’t felt anything unusual.
“Hmm,” Shen Che responded but didn’t continue the topic.
In the silence, the river water glowed, and the small boat illuminated by the night pearl seemed to be the only existence in this dark world. But Ji Cheng knew that who knew what was hidden in the places covered by darkness.
Shen Che probably sensed Ji Cheng’s unasked questions. “The secret passages under the capital are intricate, not just the Shen family has them. Although the Great Qin dynasty has only been established for over a hundred years, this capital has been the imperial city for three dynasties. It may look grand on the outside, but underground it’s full of filth. In places you can’t see, there might even be notorious bandits hiding.”
Ji Cheng wasn’t frightened by Shen Che’s words. Then she saw Shen Che point to the darkness on her left rear, “We should be near Xianghe Lane now. Have you heard of Jiang Zhixian?”
Of course, she had heard of him. When Ji Cheng was young, the name Jiang Zhixian could stop children from crying at night. In one night, he had wiped out the entire family of Xu Manjiang, the former prefect of Jincheng. A total of 128 corpses were carried out of that house, and the blood turned the Zheng Tiao River red.
When the incident broke out, the entire court was enraged. The Emperor ordered the constables of the Six Offices to capture the culprit with all their might. Although they found out that Jiang Zhixian was the one who did it, he has never been brought to justice. The Six Offices have changed three chief constables because of this case.
When the famous iron-blooded constable Lin Dongshan died, his family and disciples were not allowed to mourn him. He died without clarity, leaving a last will saying that only when Jiang Zhixian was brought to justice would his descendants be allowed to visit his grave.
This unsolved case was already a story from fifty years ago.
“Jiang Zhixian now lives in Xianghe Lane,” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng immediately widened her eyes, “How is that possible?”
“The underground world can hide people if it wants to,” Shen Che said calmly.
“If you know, why don’t you report him?” Ji Cheng’s question was naive.
“The underground world has its own rules. Those who break the rules won’t have a good end. Besides, don’t you think it would be like a dog catching mice if I were to handle this matter?” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng remained silent.
“Those who are hateful must have their pitiful aspects. Jiang Zhixian’s father was Xu Manjiang’s brother. Before Xu Manjiang entered officialdom, he was a notorious bandit. Later, when he had money to buy an official position, he feared his identity would be exposed, so he killed Jiang Zhixian’s entire family. At that time, Jiang Zhixian was just a one-year-old infant. Xu Manjiang put an iron chain around Jiang Zhixian’s neck and raised him like a dog. Jiang Zhixian was raised in a dog cage and never straightened his back in his life,” Shen Che said.
Ji Cheng stared at Shen Che without blinking, trying hard to control her trembling.
The boat traveled another stretch of water. Ji Cheng didn’t know how Shen Che could navigate direction and distance in this underground world. At this moment, she saw him point to the right again, “Have you heard of the Bear Old Lady who sews dolls with human skin?”
Ji Cheng wished she could cover her ears. Shen Che was deliberately telling the most terrifying stories.
“How much longer until we arrive?” Ji Cheng attempted to change the subject.