The spring branches and leaves were gradually growing dense, and the garden was lush with greenery. Xie Queshan sat by the stone table deep in the bamboo grove, green shadows reflecting faint candlelight dancing across his body.

He was waiting for her. Seeing her arrive, a faint smile bloomed on his face.

With a pale face and jade crown, sword-like brows and starry eyes, his appearance was like cultivated bamboo.

Most of their interactions seemed to involve life-or-death tearing and biting. She rarely saw this peaceful side of him. It was actually quite pleasing to the eye, strangely soothing her tense mood.

Nanyi had prepared herself mentally. All along the way, she had been thinking that perhaps there was something wrong with what she said that night. She had been impulsive too, too eager to hear Xie Queshan admit from his own mouth that he wasn’t a traitor.

But she hadn’t gotten that answer either, and instead had led things toward a strange development.

She should still proceed gradually and bring everything back on track. Even if she had misjudged and guessed wrong, at worst she could still eavesdrop on some intelligence useful to the Candle Bureau from Xie Queshan.

Nanyi boldly stepped forward and got straight to the point: “Did you misunderstand my meaning?”

“Misunderstand what?” He calmly raised his eyes to look at her.

“What I meant was, if you really are a traitor, I’ll fight you to the death. If you’re not—” Facing Xie Queshan’s composed yet very confused and pure gaze, Nanyi’s confidence began to waver as she spoke. The draft she had prepared in her mind completely collapsed, her tongue becoming somewhat tangled. “Then we can… can be good partners, good friends.”

He tilted his head to look at her for a while, appreciating her incoherence.

Nanyi thought he was seriously listening to her speak and was still pondering whether she had expressed herself thoroughly, how she should debate with him properly.

Unexpectedly, after she finished speaking, he replied unhurriedly: “That’s not up to you.”

“How can you be so unreasonable!” Nanyi became somewhat annoyed, so anxious she wanted to stamp her feet.

“Am I a reasonable person?” he asked back with amusement.

The next second, he put his words into action, unexpectedly reaching out to embrace her waist. With a skillful twist of his wrist, she tumbled onto his lap.

Just as she was about to say something, she felt his breath sweep past her ear as he said in a low voice: “Shh—”

Light footsteps came from outside the bamboo grove, as if several maidservants were passing by. The lantern light in their hands cast shifting shadows through the bamboo leaves.

Her anger was blocked back, instantly becoming docile. Afraid of losing her balance, she instinctively grasped his clothing.

So close, he slightly tilted his head up to look at her, his Adam’s apple rolling.

“I heard the family head fought with the owner of Guilai Hall at home.”

“Really?”

“Sister Xia, who shares my room, saw it with her own eyes… They fought so fiercely. The family head beat that merchant until his face was bruised and swollen, he could barely get up. That merchant even called for people to come, almost tearing down the walls. The family head didn’t come out well either before letting him go.”

Rumors and gossip, embellished this way, took on another face entirely.

Nanyi frowned, looking at Xie Queshan questioningly.

But Xie Queshan half-closed his eyes, a faint light in his pupils, his face unruffled as if listening to gossip unrelated to himself. Her clear fragrance filled his nostrils completely. He could sit here until the end of time, and the voices outside gradually became dispensable.

“Why did they fight out of nowhere? Could it be because that merchant was seeking to marry the young madam?”

“I heard that the owner of Guilai Hall and the young madam are childhood sweethearts, but the family head just won’t let the young madam remarry, which is why she couldn’t marry.”

Nanyi tried to struggle, but Xie Queshan never loosened his grip. The two contested strength while not daring to make too much noise.

“Hiss, could it be that the family head has… those kinds of feelings for the young madam?”

At these words, there was a moment of silence. None of the maidservants dared respond to this—it was too shocking and scandalous.

Several people walked a few more steps forward. A younger maidservant couldn’t help but say: “Speaking of which, the young madam and the eldest young master never consummated their marriage, and the family head has also remained unmarried all these years…”

“No way! They’re still uncle and sister-in-law after all… This would be disregarding human morality!”

The older maidservant scolded: “How dare you all discuss such things! If the family head heard this, he’d surely sell you all away!”

The more Nanyi listened, the more guilty she felt. Her struggling movements gradually weakened, not daring to move at all while leaning against Xie Queshan, afraid of making any sound that would draw everyone over to see their ambiguous position…

She felt as if all the swaying new leaves in the garden were watching them, as if there were eyes everywhere. Being inexperienced in such matters, her face was as red as if dripping blood.

The footsteps finally faded away.

Bamboo shadows fell across their bodies, wind passing through the gaps in the grove.

It took Nanyi a long while to come back to her senses before breaking free from his embrace.

This movement was too sudden. Nanyi lost her balance and fell to the ground, landing hard on her bottom. Xie Queshan reached out to catch her, but she retreated another step as if she had seen a ghost.

“You, don’t come over.”

Xie Queshan innocently spread his hands: “I didn’t even move.”

Nanyi glared at Xie Queshan, the burning heat on her face not yet faded, feeling both ashamed and annoyed.

She knew she had to face it—he had romantic feelings for her.

She did too.

In every moment of skin contact, she felt like a snowflake floating in mid-air, while he was like a distant bonfire, radiating fatal warmth. Fearing the cold, she would always unconsciously draw near him.

She also wanted to follow her body’s instincts and melt in his scorching embrace.

But she no longer believed in worldly love—this was the brand Zhang Yuehui had left on her. The time wrongly given was indeed profound. She had become wary of dangerous things and refused to be a moth drawn to flame.

Just as she thought Zhang Yuehui wasn’t bad, she felt Xie Queshan was probably a good person at heart too, but this was a completely different matter from discussing love. In Xie Queshan’s long life, if he needed to abandon important things one by one, at which step would she be abandoned?

Or perhaps she wasn’t even important, more like a brief companion during his journey through loneliness.

She instinctively felt that approaching him would lead to being devoured. No one would care about the disappearance of a snowflake, but she cared about herself.

Faintly, as if pleading: “Xie Queshan—what exactly do you want to do?”

A gust of wind passed through. The elongated bamboo shadows momentarily became sharp daggers hovering over people’s bodies. They seemed surrounded in a trap full of blade points.

Xie Queshan smiled, the coldness in his eyes gradually surfacing: “Li Du Mansion will have a victor sooner or later. This is muddy water—let’s rot together in it. Whatever you want to do, as long as the Qi People don’t catch you, I won’t interfere. Whatever I want to do, you can’t control either.”

Nanyi was somewhat led astray by this. Thinking carefully, didn’t this still not say what you want to do? She knew she couldn’t outplay Xie Queshan in these word games, but she didn’t want to be completely passive.

Having originally fallen awkwardly to the ground, she simply sat up straight where she was, stubbornly gazing into Xie Queshan’s eyes.

“Then we need to have game rules.”

Xie Queshan was slightly surprised: “Let’s hear them.”

“This isn’t a discussion. If you don’t agree, I’ll turn all your plans upside down—you know I can do it.”

After a moment of silence, he didn’t hesitate: “Fine, I agree.”

“Between you and me, we can be silent, but there can be no lies.”

The incense stick that had been planted in the snow finally burned out—the previous game had ended. The positions between them had subtly changed. He was no longer the sole power holder controlling the game.

He had helped her onto a position where she could match him as an equal, so he had to bear the unpredictability she brought.

And he felt that at this moment, she was unspeakably beautiful. The world’s mysteries were profound—within ten steps of poison, there must be an antidote. In the darkness, she was destined to be his antidote. She always had ways to pry open his heart. He was too lonely. Though he remained silent, he had already poured out all his truths.

He slowly reached out his hand to her. She looked at him with clear eyes and also placed her hand in his. He pulled her up and naturally embraced her.

This too was truth.

He hoped time would forever stop on this night, with only them under the vast mountains and the entire night sky.

——

Nanyi’s heart settled, and she stayed at Wangxue Cottage with peace of mind.

Finally came the day to escort Xie Qin to Song Muchuan’s for lessons. Although this matter didn’t need to be kept secret, Nanyi was still very cautious, trying to travel as low-key as possible to avoid drawing attention from various parties.

The Candle Bureau had secretly dug Li Du Mansion’s “underground city” to extend in all directions. Song Muchuan’s residence had secret passages underneath that could lead to the small courtyard where Xu Kouyue was staying.

Nanyi appeared to enter Song Muchuan’s small courtyard to accompany Xie Qin in his studies, but actually needed to go to the secret passage.

Song Muchuan had to give lessons to Xie Qin in the house and couldn’t accompany Nanyi. He only exchanged brief pleasantries with her, and knowing she was well at Wangxue Cottage, he felt relieved.

Before sending her into the tunnel, Song Muchuan said to her: “The Princess very much wants to see you.”

Nanyi’s steps unconsciously quickened.

Xu Kouyue lived with Liangda and Ninth Lady, taking on Nanyi’s original identity, which was good for mutual support. After gaining her freedom, the first thing she did was transcribe rare books day and night from memory.

The Yu Dynasty valued literature, and the simplest way to destroy scholars was to burn their books. When the Qi People massacred the city, they burned many collections of books and paintings. She barely managed to save some, but ultimately couldn’t avoid their fate. Fortunately, some books were memorized in her mind. Whenever she got the chance, she would rewrite the books and entrust people from the Candle Bureau to take them to Jinling for preservation.

Xu Kouyue also knew this was just a drop in the ocean, mending the fold after the sheep were lost. But she just wanted to do her utmost, as if this was the only way to be worthy of those who went through fire and water for her.

Seeing Xu Kouyue, Nanyi solemnly performed a grand bow. Standing in this simple courtyard, Xu Kouyue in her plain skirt and simple hairpin properly received this courtesy.

Then she smiled, helped Nanyi up, and pulled her into the house.

Her tone also became relaxed: “They keep asking me how exactly the imperial edict was hidden. I said I must wait for you to come before I could reveal it.”

Liangda and Ninth Lady chimed in from the side: “Yes, Lady Nanyi, we’ve finally been waiting for you to come. We’re all dying of curiosity.”

This small courtesy made Nanyi’s heart bloom with joy.

Actually, when they were at Wanyan Mansion, Nanyi and Xu Kouyue had communicated very little. She also didn’t know how exactly the edict was hidden. At that time, Xu Kouyue had wanted to stuff a rather heavy golden pendant into her hands.

The golden pendant was an indispensable ornament on the clothing of noble ladies in the Yu Dynasty, but she hadn’t figured out how this could hide an edict.

In front of everyone, Xu Kouyue opened this exquisite golden pendant. Inside, it was folded several times over. When unfolded, it revealed a thin, small piece of gold foil.

“This is the imperial edict.”

Nanyi leaned in to look carefully and finally saw the densely packed characters engraved on the gold foil.

Xu Kouyue slowly explained: “When Wanyan brought me to Li Du Mansion, he wanted to preserve my full regalia, requiring me to wear noble lady’s clothing. Other jewelry might be discarded, but this golden pendant wouldn’t be—it’s a symbol of status and position. This was personally made by His Majesty. The characters on the gold foil were all engraved stroke by stroke by His Majesty himself, and the imperial seal was also imprinted on it. Gold chasing is a craft our Han people have passed down for thousands of years. This wisdom—foreign tribes will never understand.”

Nanyi was shocked by this small object.

This wasn’t just an imperial succession edict, but something profound that had been passed down through thousands of years, pressed onto this small piece of gold foil.

So what everyone was united in defending wasn’t just the land under their feet or the flesh and blood of their compatriots, but also the cultural heritage that had already permeated into clothing, food, housing, and transportation. Foreign tribes came wave after wave, learning some superficial aspects but never the Han people’s craftsmanship and dedication. Generation after generation, reaching this point—bloodlines couldn’t be severed, nor could the inheritance.