The commotion that night also alarmed the staff members living in the cross courtyard. When Li Yao heard from his subordinates that an assassin had infiltrated the main courtyard, he worried it might be Pei Song acting desperately and sending his lackeys to assassinate Wen Yu. He propped up his old bones, got dressed, and hurried toward the main courtyard under the protection of the cross courtyard guards, asking sharply as he walked: “What are the shadow guards doing? How could they let an assassin penetrate all the way to the main courtyard?”

Outside, the wind and rain were raging violently. The lanterns in the covered corridor swayed dramatically, nearly extinguishing. Many staff members had also risen after hearing the chaotic shouts about catching the assassin. Some poked their heads out from their doorways to look around, while others gathered in small groups of twos and threes, whispering in discussion, their expressions anxious and fearful.

As Li Yao hurried along with his walking stick, he glanced around and instructed those nearby: “Send these people back to their rooms.”

The attendants received the order and went to carry it out, but the staff members remained in an uproar, clearly frightened by this sudden turn of events. Li Yao struck the ground with his cane, his face full of wrinkles covered with a frosty expression: “Disgraceful cowards, a shame to us ministers of Liang!”

The guards following behind him dared not respond.

On ordinary days when such incidents occurred, Chen Wei, Li Xun, and other important ministers close to Wen Yu could naturally handle them in a timely manner. But tonight, with thunder and rain coming down together, Chen Wei was at the Prefecture Governor’s Office and couldn’t arrive in time, while Li Xun had been dispatched on a mission to Xinzhou. The other officials whom Wen Yu relied upon were either in the military or assigned to other duties. No one had come from the main courtyard yet, so the situation there remained unknown for the moment. When those staff members panicked, aside from Li Yao, there was truly no one else who dared to reprimand them so openly.

The group walked hurriedly to the end of the covered corridor, just as they encountered the shadow guards from the cross courtyard who had gone to assist in capturing the assassin returning. Upon seeing Li Yao, they quickly clasped their fists in salute.

Li Yao asked directly: “How is Wengzhu? Has the assassin been captured?”

These shadow guards were originally elite troops from the Pingzhou army who, after months of intensive training under Zhao Bai, had been selected through rigorous testing. Those chosen were the elite among the elite, directly subordinate to Wen Yu. Wen Yu respected Li Yao, and considering that once she left Pingzhou, Li Yao, who would remain behind to preside over the overall situation in her stead, would certainly also be targeted by Pei Song, she had assigned two shadow guards to secretly protect Li Yao early on.

At this moment, facing Li Yao’s inquiry, the shadow guard naturally dared not conceal anything. However, before replying, he glanced at the crowd following Li Yao and answered: “The assassin has been captured. Wengzhu is safe and well. She specifically commanded this humble officer to relay a message to you, sir, telling you not to worry. The rain is heavy tonight, so you need not go to the main courtyard to visit. Any matters can be discussed tomorrow.”

Li Yao’s eyelids, full of wrinkles, drooped slightly as he nodded and said: “As long as Wengzhu is unharmed, that’s good. Since the assassin has been captured, everyone disperse.”

Only then did the accompanying guards all withdraw. Li Yao glanced at the shadow guard who had returned in the rain and said: “Come with me.”

The shadow guard followed Li Yao into the study. Only then did Li Yao ask: “Who was the assassin?”

The shadow guard clasped his fists and answered truthfully: “There was no assassin. General Xiao had urgent military intelligence to report to Wengzhu at night.”

When Li Yao heard him mention Xiao Li, his eyelids lifted slightly, and his aged eyebrows furrowed in a not-so-subtle manner.

That young general had been in the limelight recently. After first making his mark in the attack on Tao Commandery, he had established merit again not long ago when he blocked the embankment during the rainstorm. The tactical strategy of intelligently defending Bairen Pass that he proposed had even greatly surprised Li Yao. Chen Wei had also taken notice of this promising talent and had considered recruiting him as a son-in-law, but was politely declined.

Although Li Yao had heard about this, he merely assumed it was the proud temperament of a young man with ambitions on the battlefield, unwilling to be labeled as someone who relied on his wife’s family, wanting to forge his own world through his own efforts alone.

But tonight’s performance of braving the rain to break into Wen Yu’s courtyard at night, even alarming the shadow guards around Wen Yu, made him vaguely sense something unusual. If there was military intelligence that needed urgent reporting, why not report it properly? Would Zhao Bai and those shadow guards in the main courtyard not let him in? Going to such great lengths…

Li Yao thought back to how Xiao Li had escorted Wen Yu all the way when she fled from Yongzhou to Pingzhou in the past. When he had initially proposed letting Xiao Li escort Wen Yu to Southern Chen, Wen Yu had flatly refused. Could this be related to Xiao Li’s intrusion into the main courtyard tonight?

Li Yao’s expression suddenly turned cold, and he cut off his train of thought, not daring to speculate any further. His wrinkled, slightly curved fingers gripped the cane forcefully as he said to the shadow guard: “Very well, you may withdraw. Do not spread word of tonight’s events.”

The shadow guard nodded once, then truly withdrew as silently as a shadow.

Li Yao turned his head to look out the window at the flashing lightning and rumbling thunder. His pair of aged eyes, tinged with a grayish film, reflected the white light of the lightning.

—

The rain poured down torrentially. After leaving the city, Xiao Li spurred his horse into a gallop all the way. The roads were difficult to traverse on this rainy night. The horse’s hooves trampled through puddles of unknown depth, splashing up large sheets of mud.

The ice-cold rainwater struck his face as he galloped, like sharp blades cutting flesh, bringing waves of stinging pain. Xiao Li seemed oblivious to it all, gripping the reins with one hand and fiercely cracking the whip again. The horse neighed and carried him forward like lightning falling from the heavens, plunging headlong into the boundless night.

The wind rushing past blew his forehead hair backward. The air of the night rain seemed to grow thin at such speeds, so that each breath pulled painfully at his lungs. Xiao Li felt as though his throat and entire lungs were about to be torn apart by the fierce wind. In a trance, he even tasted blood, yet another kind of pain within his body burst forth through these torn gaps. Only after he reined in the horse, raised his head, and roared amid the thunder and torrential rain did he finally catch his breath.

Apart from the sound of rain, the four wilds were deathly silent. Xiao Li lay prostrate on the horse’s back, gasping for breath in great gulps. The rainstorm poured down on his back, raindrops trickling down the curve of his neck into his collar. The hair that had been blown backward by the wind earlier, after being thoroughly soaked with rain, hung down again, dripping water drop by drop.

Water traces also streamed chaotically down Xiao Li’s face. This rain was falling too heavily. When lightning illuminated the four wilds, it revealed his pair of bloodshot eyes. Without the urging of its master, the horse beneath him also ceased moving forward, standing still with its master beneath this curtain of rain in the wilderness.

—

Zhao Bai stood guard outside Wen Yu’s door throughout the latter half of the night. When the rain ceased and dawn broke, the serving maids brought a wash basin, asking whether Wengzhu was rising for the morning. She lightly knocked on the door once, and from inside came a clear, cold, slightly hoarse voice saying “Enter.”

Zhao Bai pushed open the door, and several maids followed behind her, filing in one after another. Zhao Bai looked up and saw that Wen Yu was not in the inner chamber. Rather, she was already dressed in her regular attire, sitting at the desk looking at some documents, though it was unclear whether she had risen early or had simply not slept at all the previous night.

Zhao Bai’s brows furrowed involuntarily, yet she didn’t know how to begin speaking. Wen Yu’s face showed not the slightest sign of anything amiss. A maid wrung out a cloth and handed it to her. After she wiped her face and hands, she calmly instructed Zhao Bai as usual: “Counting the days, Li Xun should be returning from Xinzhou. Send people to meet him. Later, have He Kuan send people to inspect the fields in the outskirts.”

Zhao Bai responded affirmatively to each instruction. After Wen Yu returned the cloth to the maid, seeing Zhao Bai’s hesitant appearance, she turned her eyes and asked: “Is there something else to report?”

Zhao Bai shook her head, then nodded again.

Suddenly, footsteps approached from outside, followed by a messenger’s respectful voice: “Wengzhu, Scholar Li Yao has come and is waiting for you in the study.”

Their conversation was thus interrupted. Wen Yu’s gauze sleeves hung down from her forearms as she put away the documents on the desk and said: “My departure from Pingzhou is imminent. The teacher should also have many important matters to discuss with me. Send breakfast directly to the study. Help me change my clothes.”

The maids who had entered to serve carried out the washing utensils in an orderly manner. Zhao Bai personally retrieved outer garments for Wen Yu to put on. Taking advantage of this moment, she said: “Last night, Daishi from Scholar Li Yao’s side came to inquire about the assassin matter.”

Wen Yu softly hummed in acknowledgment, indicating she knew.

Zhao Bai looked at that face so calm it was as if nothing had happened at all. As Wen Yu prepared to leave, she finally couldn’t help but call out to her again: “Wengzhu, you…”

Wen Yu didn’t turn her head. With both hands folded within her wide sleeves and lightly clasped before her, she said in a voice no different from usual, only with a bit more hoarseness: “If Lady Chen sends someone to inquire, just say the wedding dress fits well and needs no further alterations.”

Zhao Bai watched the receding back of Wen Yu following the maids and, for some reason, thought of the Crown Prince’s back when he donned his armor and went to the city gates during the final battle at Fengyang. The worry in her eyes slowly receded.

The princess of Great Liang knew what path she must walk.

—

The gray-brown roof tiles dripped with residual rainwater from the previous night. Outside the half-worn carved window, the grass and trees in the courtyard were a fresh green.

Wen Yu ladled a bowl of millet porridge for Li Yao and placed it before him, saying: “Our alliance with Southern Chen has been established. Pei Song’s side should be unable to sit still, yet no news has come from Mozhou until now. I don’t know what medicine Pei Song is selling in his gourd…”

Li Yao didn’t pick up Wen Yu’s thread of conversation. After having a few mouthfuls of porridge, he asked: “An assassin infiltrated the main courtyard last night?”

Wen Yu replied: “It wasn’t an assassin. It was General Xiao returning at night after suppressing bandits. He discovered urgent military intelligence and came to report it.”

Seeing Wen Yu’s candid expression, some of the hidden unease in Li Yao’s heart dissipated. Following her words, he asked: “What military intelligence?”

Wen Yu then took out the map that Xiao Li had left the previous night and gave it to Li Yao, saying: “I should have thought of it earlier. Pei Song couldn’t possibly let Wei Qishan gain a province for nothing. It’s just that after he implemented his scorched earth policy, Wei Qishan took control of Yizhou and sealed off information extremely tightly.”

After Li Yao saw the map, the wrinkles on his forehead relaxed considerably, and he dismissed more than half of the suspicion in his heart. He studied the map and praised: “That young General Xiao has accomplished another great merit this time. Since it’s confirmed that Wei Qishan’s presence in Xinzhou and Yizhou is nothing more than a show of force, he presumably won’t refuse the conditions Wengzhu offers. Thus, before autumn arrives, we can dispatch troops northward and catch Pei Song off guard.”

Wen Yu nodded: “What the teacher says is exactly what Yu is currently thinking.”

Li Yao put away the map, and his words took a turn as he asked Wen Yu: “However, although this military intelligence is confidential, General Xiao’s rash intrusion into the main courtyard last night, causing the entire mansion to believe there was an assassin, was ultimately inappropriate.”

Wen Yu, however, set down the ebony chopsticks in her hand and remained silent for a moment before speaking: “Teacher, since the matter with Yan Que’yi, aside from Zhao Bai, I find it very difficult to trust anyone else around me.”

Li Yao then understood Wen Yu’s concerns. He sighed and also put down the soup spoon in his hand, saying: “Pei Song’s scheme was truly vicious and underhanded, but Wengzhu can be more vigilant in the future. However, do not let this make you overly cautious and hesitant.”

Wen Yu said: “I know. Last night’s action was partly a test of the shadow guards, and equally a test of the staff members in the mansion.” As she spoke this last sentence, she raised her eyes to look directly at Li Yao.

Li Yao thought of how the staff members in the cross courtyard had displayed such frightened and unseemly behavior upon hearing that an assassin had infiltrated the mansion the previous night, and couldn’t help but fall silent as well.

Wen Yu continued: “My rise has been difficult. I borrowed the good reputation my father and brothers built in their lifetimes to summon the old subordinates of Great Liang to achieve today’s situation. To maintain this virtuous reputation, even if fame-seeking opportunists come, I cannot easily offend them. But now it is time to weed out those fame-seeking opportunists. Even if I don’t expel them from the mansion, I need to find another place to resettle them, ideally making the best use of their abilities.”

Having said this much, Li Yao’s heart was completely free of hidden worries. Along with his relief came a touch of emotion: “I’m old. Wengzhu’s thinking is still more thorough. Everything Wengzhu has mentioned, I will set about handling.”

After seeing Li Yao off, Wen Yu sat before the low table supporting her forehead, and only then did the fatigue from a sleepless night emerge on her face. She looked at the breakfast that remained mostly untouched and felt that the few bites she had forced down earlier, bland as chewing wax, were causing her stomach to spasm slightly. She covered her abdomen and recovered for a while, her complexion turning slightly pale. When the maids asked with concern what was wrong, she only said it was nothing and had them clear away the remaining breakfast before picking up a newly delivered memorial from the desk to read.

She hadn’t approved more than a few memorials when Fan Yuan came rushing over again. Though it was a cool early morning after the rain, he had climbed the steps covered in sweat, holding a letter of resignation in his hand. Upon seeing Wen Yu, he said: “Wengzhu, Xiao Li has suddenly left without saying goodbye!”