◎”Because this life of Great Xia—people continuously go to fill it in.”◎

Yu Qingwu rose early to tidy up the bedding—all of it needed to be hidden away.

He swept the daybed clean, leaving no trace that anyone had slept there. After thinking for a moment, he placed two large-bellied narrow-mouthed vases on it to cover up, making it appear no one had set foot there last night.

Then he paused and tiptoed into the inner room. Shanjun indeed hadn’t woken yet. But the blue porcelain lamp painted with Zhong Kui expelling demons beside the bed was about to go out.

He quickly crept over to replace it with a new red candle.

When Shanjun slept, she needed the lamp left burning.

Once the lamp went dark, even in her sleep she seemed to sense it and would instantly sit up in terror.

He had witnessed it once last night and was so frightened he practically rolled out of bed to relight the lamp. Only after she drowsily fell back asleep did he return to the daybed to doze briefly.

Yu Qingwu had slept less than one shichen in total last night.

Fortunately, today was a rest day, so he could sleep more later.

He was tiptoeing back toward the outer room when Lan Shanjun opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was his bare feet lightly treading on the floor as he prepared to leave.

She stared blankly for a moment before remembering that yesterday she had married Yu Qingwu.

This was her and Yu Qingwu’s new home.

They lived in one room.

She slept on the bed in the inner chamber, he slept on the daybed in the outer room.

Lan Shanjun pulled the quilt around herself and sat up, watching his furtive figure with amusement. “Yu Qingwu.”

Yu Qingwu turned around in chagrin. “I woke you.”

He had hesitated about whether to come in, but he was afraid if the lamp went out, she would be plagued by nightmares.

Lan Shanjun recalled how he had rushed in last night just like this, so hurried he hadn’t even worn shoes, entering barefoot to light the lamp.

But because she had been sleeping so deeply, or perhaps because she was too tired from yesterday, she had quickly fallen back asleep to his soft comforting words.

If she weren’t looking at him now, she would have thought his appearance with the candlelight last night was a dream.

She smiled and said, “Thank you for last night.”

Yu Qingwu’s voice was gentle. “Between husband and wife, this is as it should be.”

He lifted the curtain with his back to her. “Shanjun, I’ll go out. You change your clothes first.”

But after waiting a moment, he added, “I also need to change clothes.”

Lan Shanjun hummed in acknowledgment. “Until you say you’ve finished changing, I won’t come out.”

Yu Qingwu felt chagrined again—that wasn’t what he meant.

He wasn’t afraid of being seen himself.

He was afraid she would see him.

But these two sentences seemed to mean the same thing. He took a deep breath and simply stopped explaining, only going out with his head down.

At this moment, he realized his eloquence was as worthless as his appearance.

He could only fumble to get dressed, trying to calm his mind. Only after hearing a soft “Yu Qingwu” from inside did he enter.

Being a fake married couple required quite a lot of work.

Being so meticulous by nature, he naturally thought of many things. First he said to Lan Shanjun, “I’ve tidied the daybed outside.”

Then he stared at the quilt on the bed, saying very seriously, “Nanny Qian has sharp eyes—it should be more disheveled to be convincing.”

Lan Shanjun paused, somewhat at a loss for how to respond to this. After a long moment, she nodded. “Yes.”

Yu Qingwu then rumpled the quilt thoroughly several times until it was properly messy and he was satisfied.

Lan Shanjun retreated outside—though she thought he was a good person, at this moment she suddenly realized he was indeed a man.

Though it didn’t involve romance, for a man and woman to discuss such matters was still improper.

Her sense of propriety hadn’t been cultivated to that degree yet.

She waited a while before he came out. She couldn’t help glancing inside—he had arranged things quite well. He had even thrown one of his own garments on the bed, half-hidden in the quilt, making it look authentic.

But… he probably didn’t understand what actually happened during consummation.

She slowed her steps, took a dagger from the trunk, rolled up her sleeve, and was about to cut her arm when Yu Qingwu’s face turned deathly pale with fright. By the time he reacted, his hand had already rushed over to block the blade. If Lan Shanjun hadn’t stopped the knife quickly, his hands would not have remained intact.

Lan Shanjun explained, “I was only going to break the skin a little to get some blood.”

Yu Qingwu, covered in cold sweat, said in a deep voice, “Why would you do such a thing?”

Lan Shanjun found this curious. “You truly don’t know?”

Yu Qingwu realized he might have just done something foolish, but didn’t dare show weakness. He said vaguely, “No matter what, you can’t cut your hand.”

Lan Shanjun laughed. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Then let’s forget it. No one in our household will come to inspect the bridal sheet anyway.”

Yu Qingwu stood dazed for quite a while before he finally understood.

Though he was inexperienced in such matters, he had heard crude talk and read books Nanny Qian had given him, so he knew something about these things.

He just hadn’t thought of it earlier.

No matter how meticulous, one easily overlooks matters one doesn’t understand.

His face flushed red, but not wanting Shanjun to think he knew nothing, he could only say, “Right, that’s exactly what I meant. There’s no need at all.”

Lan Shanjun put the dagger back and had the little maids outside come in to tidy the room.

Yu Qingwu followed her out, feeling deeply that he had lost face in Shanjun’s eyes.

Only now did he taste the bitterness of knowing that in a false marriage, the one whose heart was moved had to act at every moment.

Maintaining dignity was truly not an easy matter. At least it was far more difficult than he had imagined.

But fortunately, though other things between them were false, their ability to enjoy food together was real.

This was truly wonderful. His eloquence became lively again as he expounded at length on a plate of delicately fermented tofu, until Lan Shanjun finally said with a laugh, “I never imagined you would have so many insights about food.”

Yu Qingwu: “…”

He actually didn’t want her to think he loved eating.

He regretted it and didn’t speak all morning.

Lan Shanjun didn’t notice though. This person, because his expression was always gentle and he deliberately concealed his emotions, appeared to her to be lost in thought after finishing his meal.

Both of them had many things on their minds—she could understand. So she didn’t want to disturb him and only went outside to look at the garden.

When Nanny Qian finished her work and came to offer congratulations, she laughed and said, “The garden is quite large. Besides growing flowers, we must plant some vegetables. What are you planning to grow?”

Yu Qingwu looked at Lan Shanjun. “Nanny Qian likes eating string beans, you like shepherd’s purse—why don’t we start by planting these two to test the soil?”

Lan Shanjun had no objections. “Let’s also plant the peas you like and give them a try.”

The corners of Yu Qingwu’s mouth curved into a smile. “Wonderful.”

With one sentence from her, all his morning gloom dissipated.

He asked in good spirits, “Shanjun, what will you do later?”

Lan Shanjun replied, “I need to organize the study.”

She and Yu Qingwu each had their own study. Hers was in the east, Yu Qingwu’s in the west. The two studies weren’t far apart, with only a small pond between them, and there was an arched bridge over the pond connecting them.

This was Yu Qingwu’s favorite place. He had specifically had people carve two large windows in the facing walls—as long as they opened the windows, they could see each other.

Lan Shanjun also thought it was good. She said, “In the future, if there’s anything, we won’t need to make a special trip. We can just open the windows to talk.”

Yu Qingwu thought: Then wouldn’t the arched bridge go unused?

He could only say indirectly, “My hearing isn’t very good.”

Lan Shanjun asked hesitantly, “Really?”

Yu Qingwu said gently, “Sometimes it’s not good. I should still come over, so you don’t have to strain your voice speaking.”

Lan Shanjun didn’t understand but didn’t ask further. “Alright.”

She said, “If you can’t hear, then come over.”

She went to organize the study while he stood to the side watching, but seemed unable to help with anything. He could only find amusement in adversity: his entire self, when facing Shanjun, seemed inadequate in everything—his tongue wasn’t sharp, his nose wasn’t keen, his ears weren’t good, his appearance wasn’t enticing.

Fortunately, his two eyes were quite capable, knowing how to read people’s expressions and still had some value. So he said tactfully, “Shanjun, you organize your books. I’ll also go organize my study.”

Hearing this, Lan Shanjun returned to her senses from the joy of having a study of her own. She placed the book in her hand on the shelf and said, “Yu Qingwu, you’re tall—help me hang up the swords first before you go?”

Never having imagined that being tall could also earn appreciation, Yu Qingwu hurried over to get the swords.

There were three swords. The disciplinary sword her teacher had given her, the Shu sword Old Madam Shou had given her, and the Yunzhou sword he had given her.

He asked happily, “Where should I hang them?”

Lan Shanjun replied, “On the pillar.”

Yu Qingwu hung them up. Turning around, he saw Shanjun had already come over from the bookshelf. She stood beside him, looking up at the three swords with a joyful smile.

Yu Qingwu smiled along with her. “What are you smiling about?”

Lan Shanjun looked at him, then at the swords, and sighed. “Looking up to see joy—how can I not smile?”

Yu Qingwu’s eyes brightened. Even when leaving, his eyes were still curved with happiness.

Nanny Qian, carrying a hoe from the front, saw this and clicked her tongue in wonder. “Look at that worthless expression—he’s definitely been won over by a single sentence again.”

The old woman had the sharpest eyes and had long ago noticed something was off between him and Shanjun last night. But since the children didn’t speak of it, she pretended to be blind.

Not deaf, not blind, not mute—that’s how to be a good elder.

Nanny Qian shook her head and continued carrying her hoe back.

She and Nanny Zhao and others also had their own courtyard. Nanny Qian’s courtyard had originally contained decorative rocks, but she had thrown them all into Nanny Zhao and Nanny Qin’s courtyards—she only wanted to plant crops.

Naturally, the more vegetable plots the better. Could decorative rocks be eaten? No.

Anything that couldn’t be eaten could be moved out. Once besieged or surrounded, vegetable plots were the last hope.

Nanny Zhao had originally wanted to plant vegetables together with her, but Lan Shanjun stopped her, saying, “Don’t you like peonies? Then plant peonies.”

Nanny Zhao happily agreed. She had actually wanted to support Nanny Qian.

But she still helped Nanny Qian plant vegetables, saying, “Our lady is very kind. Before marrying over, she even asked if we wanted to be released.”

But none of them wanted to leave.

Where could they go if they left?

Nanny Zhao and Nanny Qin were born into the household, having spent their entire lives at Duke Zhenguo’s manor. Though Fu Chun, Xuan Xia, Yin Qiu, and Ning Dong were purchased, they were bought as children and had long forgotten where their families were.

With a good master family and clearly good days ahead, one would be foolish to ask to leave.

Moreover, Nanny Qin was good with the abacus and never smiled frivolously—she had the makings of a manager. The young lady had her go out to keep accounts, which was very prestigious.

She said to Nanny Qian, “My husband manages the stables. Now when he goes out with the master’s family, outsiders look at him with more respect too.”

Since Nanny Zhao voluntarily shared these things, Nanny Qian became curious and inquired about Duke Zhenguo’s manor. “When our two manors married, we didn’t see the Duke or Old Duke—do they truly not care about worldly affairs?”

Nanny Zhao nodded. “Truly don’t care.”

In all these years, they hadn’t returned many times anyway.

After thinking, she still said in a low voice, “Outsiders all say they’re praying for the soldiers who died in battle, but I think they’re afraid vengeful spirits will haunt them, so they went to seek protection from the Three Pure Ones. Anyway, I saw the old madam panicking terribly at first, kowtowing in her room every day, begging Buddha to protect her and not come to claim her life.”

Nanny Qian’s hand paused in digging, then she nodded. “I think the same—so many soldiers. They could have fought two Shu provinces with them, yet they let all those men die in battle. I heard even the corpses were buried in pits, not a single one brought back.”

Back then, all the officials were indignant and determined to have them beheaded, but the Emperor still protected them.

Nanny Qian said, “Why does His Majesty keep such people?”

Nanny Zhao didn’t understand these matters. She said, “Ah, so they’ve been hiding ever since. That’s why they say they don’t care about worldly affairs.”

Having sold out the old master’s family with a few words, Nanny Zhao and Nanny Qian’s relationship became visibly closer. The two discussed whether to plant string beans in the front or back. At lunch, they cursed the old madam together for being truly excessive.

Nanny Zhao said, “She pressed down on our young lady… pressed down on our lady to make her kneel. Fortunately, our lady’s back was straight and upright, otherwise she would have been bullied.”

Nanny Qian, hearing this, stabbed her chopsticks into a section of corn, piercing a hole in the corn stalk and lifting it to gnaw on. “That old woman! Don’t let her fall into my hands!”

Nanny Zhao had admired Nanny Qian ever since Wang Kui fell into the manure pit. For a servant to reach Nanny Qian’s level was simply bringing glory to one’s ancestors. She beamed with smiles, flattering her endlessly. “I still have much to learn from you.”

They were all one family now. Nanny Qian was very generous. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me.”

But Yu Qingwu was the first to seek advice from Nanny Zhao.

He asked, “Must the lamp be lit every night?”

Nanny Zhao considered carefully. “Yes.”

Yu Qingwu asked, “Did this start after arriving in Luoyang, or from the very first day in Luoyang?”

The timing here had significance.

Nanny Zhao didn’t dare lie. After considering again for a while, she said, “The lamp was lit from the very first day in Luoyang.”

Yu Qingwu asked, “Nightmares every night?”

Nanny Zhao quickly said, “It’s much better now. Before, there were nightmares every single night.”

Yu Qingwu said, “This matter must absolutely not be spoken of to others.”

Nanny Zhao quickly nodded. “I wouldn’t dare speak of it.”

After she left, Yu Qingwu added another character to the paper where he had written about how Shanjun didn’t match her age.

Lamp.

Why the lamp?

He naturally thought of the three characters “light a sky lantern.”

This was what Shanjun had asked about before.

He sat in his chair pondering, speculating this way and that, but didn’t dare directly open the window to ask her whether she had ever encountered the matter of… lighting a sky lantern.

Otherwise, how could she have such a reaction?

But thinking carefully, pondering over and over, it was all impossible.

He knew of her every day in Luoyang. Her time in Luoyang was traceable—she shouldn’t have suffered such a thing.

Then was it someone else?

The most likely was Duan Boyan.

But Duan Boyan… also shouldn’t have.

His entire life was also traceable.

Yu Qingwu frowned, unable to unravel this mystery no matter how he tried. He lifted his brush and wrote on the paper the three names: “light a sky lantern,” Prince Qi, and Duan Boyan.

Then pausing, he added Song Zhiwei as well.

Shanjun hated Song Zhiwei. This was also something he couldn’t quite understand.

From noon to dusk, he sat in his chair pondering this matter but still had no answer. He sighed and rose to open the window, just in time to see Shanjun across the way sitting by her window, holding a porcelain bowl and sprinkling fish food to the fat fish below.

Seeing him open the window, she smiled and said, “You’ve finished organizing?”

Yu Qingwu replied, “Finished organizing.”

She smiled and said, “Can’t you hear clearly?”

Yu Qingwu pretended not to hear, teasing her. “What?”

Lan Shanjun laughed even more cheerfully.

Yu Qingwu thought that no matter what had happened to her before, no matter what made her fear darkness in the past, he could spend a lifetime healing it.

In this life of his, besides working to uphold the realm, it seemed there was now another thing that brought him extreme joy.

One day, Shanjun wouldn’t need to light lamps in the darkness, wouldn’t need to have nightmares anymore.

He called out, “Shanjun.”

Lan Shanjun replied, “Mm?”

Yu Qingwu said, “I have board games here.”

Lan Shanjun asked curiously, “What board games?”

Yu Qingwu said, “Promotion charts, dominoes, leaf games, marble chess—I have them all.”

He asked, “Do you want to play?”

Lan Shanjun was in good spirits today and smiled. “Alright.”

Yu Qingwu brought the games over.

He went out and circled around to the back door, walked across the arched bridge, and upon reaching the bridge’s end, bent down to enter the room.

Lan Shanjun was tidying her desk. Yu Qingwu glanced over—it appeared to be a journal.

He asked curiously, “You also like writing journals?”

Lan Shanjun nodded. “I do.”

Yu Qingwu set down his things. “What a coincidence, I do too.”

He said, “I’ve been writing since I was six years old.”

Actually, very few people liked writing journals. He asked, “Why do you like it?”

Lan Shanjun chose the promotion chart game to play. Hearing this, she replied, “I… saw an old friend write them.”

An old friend…

During her days in Huailing, many stories must have occurred.

Because there were stories, there were old friends.

He didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask who the old friend was, so he just smiled and spread out the promotion chart, explaining the rules to her.

“There’s a top here with four sides, written with the four characters: virtue, talent, merit, and corruption.”

Lan Shanjun picked it up to look. Indeed, she saw these four characters written on it. She savored them carefully and said, “In officialdom, virtue, talent, merit, and corruption—these truly encompass everything.”

Yu Qingwu said, “Starting from commoner, there are child student, top student, supervisor, licentiate, stipendiary student, recommended man, provincial first, presented scholar, second class, metropolitan first, third-place scholar, second-place scholar, and first-place scholar.”

“From here, one can begin serving as an official.”

He continued, “Along the way, one must pass through the Six Ministries offices, provincial offices, the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, and finally reach Grand Tutor, Grand Preceptor, and Grand Protector to win.”

Lan Shanjun examined it carefully, then suddenly asked, “One only wins upon reaching Grand Tutor, Grand Preceptor, and Grand Protector?”

Yu Qingwu replied, “Yes.”

Lan Shanjun pondered thoughtfully. She thought of A’Li and A’Man.

If the Grand Prince ultimately loses, would Prince Qi definitely ascend to the throne?

She took the top from Yu Qingwu’s hands and placed a game piece on the position marked Grand Tutor.

She asked, “What if His Majesty can live another twenty years?”

By then, A’Li would also be twenty-six, wouldn’t he?

Yu Qingwu’s eyes widened. He quickly looked around. “Shanjun, speak cautiously.”

Lan Shanjun nodded gently. “Alright, I won’t speak of it.”

She looked up at him. “But you understand, don’t you?”

Yu Qingwu nodded. “I understand.”

If His Majesty could live another twenty years, it wouldn’t be a struggle between Prince Qi and Prince Wei, nor between the Grand Prince and the sons of Prince Qi and Prince Wei.

But rather a struggle among the various grandsons.

But could His Majesty truly do so?

Lan Shanjun’s mind turned to this concern, murmuring, “At least ten years is possible.”

She knew His Majesty could live ten years. Did Prince Qi know this?

Within this, there was actually still room to maneuver.

Yu Qingwu, hearing this for the first time, didn’t feel there was anything problematic about it.

But later that evening, he suddenly thought of her promise of ten years of companionship to him.

She had said, “From this point forward, for ten years of life and death, I wish to be with you.”

He made a mental note, storing these two words “ten years” in his heart as well.

He turned over, comforting himself: Take it slowly, think bit by bit—there should come a day when it all becomes clear.

——

On the other side, in the mansion of Senior Minister Su Huairen of the Court of Imperial Stud, Young Lady Su was playing chess with her grandfather.

She asked, “Must I really leave?”

Senior Minister Su nodded, saying lovingly, “You should still leave. Luoyang is inherently unstable.”

Young Lady Su’s eyes reddened. “But Grandfather, where can I go?”

Senior Minister Su said, “Didn’t you always have the aspiration to go out practicing medicine and seeking remedies?”

“Then go to the place you wish to go.”

Young Lady Su choked up. “But that was just going out—this time if I leave, can I still come back?”

Senior Minister Su comforted her, “The world is vast—anywhere can be home. Just think of me as always accompanying you.”

Young Lady Su looked up, tears streaming. “Grandfather, at your advanced age, what troubles you so? All these years, you’ve lived this way—why must you, in your retirement years, still go to…”

She couldn’t say the two words “seek death,” so she covered her mouth and sobbed again.

Senior Minister Su began calling out, “Oh my, oh my, my little girl—I only pity you.”

He walked over to stroke his little granddaughter’s head, sighing. “I don’t understand either. How is it that at this age, I’ve suddenly begun wanting to do something for the common people?”

He murmured, “I was born in Shu province and was among the first batch to come to Luoyang as an official, wasn’t I?”

He was actually similar to Yu Qingwu—famous from youth.

At seventeen he achieved third place in the imperial examinations, but because he was from Shu and the war was still ongoing then, how could he be allowed to serve as an official in Luoyang?

So he was sent to remote areas.

He didn’t resent it. He served diligently as an official, clean and honest, never perfunctory. Later he offended the powerful, and no one would save him. It was the common people who dropped the foals, cattle, sheep, and crops from their hands… gathering one by one before the provincial office to cry out for justice on his behalf. Only then was Luoyang alarmed. Duan Boyan personally came to try the case and rescued him.

Duan Boyan said, “Huairen, you’re a good official but lack some luck. Why not go to the Court of Imperial Stud?”

He smiled and said, “You can manage the people’s horses.”

Senior Minister Su said in a trembling voice, “But I, but I didn’t manage them well—year after year, how many people have died? This year, if more keep dying and fighting breaks out externally, where will we have any people left?”

When he was young, he also didn’t understand why Duan Boyan and others went forward one after another to their deaths.

He could only watch them crash against that wall.

Before Duan Boyan died, he had come to drink with him, saying, “Huairen, you must live well, save one person at a time.”

After Duan Boyan died, he felt this world was utterly terrible—such an incompetent ruler, incompetent ministers, such an unbearable world, miserable common people—the state should have fallen.

Why had it still not fallen even until now?

Senior Minister Su’s hands trembled as he wiped his little granddaughter’s tears, saying, “I thought and thought, thought until now, and finally understand.”

“Because this life of Great Xia—people continuously go to fill it in.”

Grand Preceptor Zhe had led people to patch it once.

The late Crown Prince and Duan Boyan had led people to patch it again.

Again and again, with intervals of over twenty years between.

Now, it was his turn.

He said, “I once asked Duan Boyan, I said, are you willing? To die like this, to die foolishly—are you willing?”

Young Lady Su looked up with a face full of tears. “Grandfather, are you willing then?”

Senior Minister Su smiled. “Duan Boyan said he was willing.”

“Today, I also want to tell you—I… am also willing.”

“We are not extending the life of this dynasty, not extending His Majesty’s life—we are extending the life of the common people under heaven.”

“The horse administration cannot be delayed any longer. This person, His Majesty—if a few people die, he’ll reform a little. If you don’t break through the heavens, he’ll just pretend not to see.”

Such a ruler—why has he been able to live so long?

Senior Minister Su covered his granddaughter’s eyes, his rough hands grinding against her with heartbreaking pain as she cried, “So many people could die—why must it be Grandfather?”

Senior Minister Su comforted her, “Don’t hate—don’t hate others.”

“I’ve lived so long, it’s my turn now.”

“Back then, the common people saved this life of mine. Now, I’m merely returning it to them.”

“Little girl, go far away and don’t come back… This Luoyang is rotten to the core.”