She vaguely remembered that the mad woman had later died of illness, but as for what became of the boy — Chu Linlang could no longer recall.

She asked about it, and Sun Shi thought for a moment before saying: “Once that child had no mother left, it seems some relatives came looking for him and took him away. You used to run over to that courtyard all the time back then — even your father scolding you wouldn’t stop you!”

Chu Linlang truly couldn’t remember it very clearly anymore. But she did remember that she had once felt sorry for that little wretch, and had secretly brought him food a few times.

What a pity the other party had not been grateful — he had tipped an entire bowl of food over the beautiful new skirt she had only just managed to get. She had cried and wailed in outrage, then tackled the little wretch to the ground and given him a thorough beating…

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And now, in this present moment, whatever fury had blazed up back then had long since been ground to dust by time, with nothing left. The mother and daughter chatted idly without end, drifting gradually to other topics.

Chu Linlang was afraid Chu Huaisheng would finish his pipe and come looking for her again, so she secretly pressed some silver into her mother’s hands, bid her farewell, and headed home first.

When she returned home, Chu Linlang heard from the old manservant who was sweeping the courtyard that the master of the house had already come back, so she hurried to the bedroom to check on him.

She found Zhou Sui’an still in his official robes, which he hadn’t even changed out of — he had collapsed and lay sprawled across the bed.

Before she had even reached the bedside, Chu Linlang could already smell the stale, sour reek of alcohol going off.

She changed into casual clothes and walked over, touching Zhou Sui’an’s forehead and asking: “How much did you drink? And the maids in the room — how could they let you get into bed without even changing your clothes?”

Zhou Sui’an’s fair cheeks were flushed red. He frowned and half-opened his eyes, then tilted his chin — the sharp little chin that still carried a trace of boyish youth — and pursed his lips sulkily as he said: “I have a wife! What do I need others for?”

Chu Linlang was accustomed to Zhou Sui’an’s private childishness, and simply smoothed him down with the grain: “Yes, yes, yes, you have a wife — your servant girl is right here to help her husband change!”

As Zhou Sui’an watched Chu Linlang’s expression — her eyes lowered, faint smile on her lips, cheeks touched with a slight rosy flush — something in his heart began to stir.

Though he and Linlang had been married for seven years, Linlang’s looks had not faded amid the tedium of household affairs. If anything, she had come into fuller bloom, like an unfolding peony, more beautiful than when the two of them had first met.

But with the alcohol working its way through him, even if his heart was warming, his body remained slack and boneless. He lazily took hold of Chu Linlang’s hand and rested his head in her lap, and suddenly remembering that the servants had said she had gone out that afternoon, he asked: “Where did you go?”

Chu Linlang knew that the news of her father’s arrival could not be hidden, so she told him.

Zhou Sui’an heard this, and was half-sobered at once. He sat up with a start, eyes wide: “How did he come to be here!”

If a moment before Officer Zhou had been a drowsy, languid cat drunk on wine, now he was a little mouse squirming and squeaking beneath the cat’s paw.

The person he detested and feared most in his entire life was that shameless, vulgar, and mercenary father-in-law of his.

Back in the day, he had crossed paths with Chu Linlang by chance, been struck by her beauty, and upon hearing of her wretched circumstances, had felt his youthful courage surge up — acting on impulse, he had rescued Linlang from being forced into a marriage she despised.

But youthful impulse was not enough to withstand Chu Huaisheng’s shameless harassment. At the height of Chu Huaisheng’s most unreasonable meddling, Zhou Sui’an had harbored regret.

Just as his mother had said at the time — luring a respectable young woman into elopement, what an utterly improper thing to do! If the Chu family made a scene, his reputation would be utterly ruined. How could he ever get through the provincial examinations?

Fortunately, Chu Linlang had the means and the skill, and in the end had pressed the matter down, leaving both sides in peace.

After that he threw himself into his studies — not only for the glory of his family name, but also because Linlang had said: if he could pass the exams and be assigned to a post outside the capital, they could go far away and never again have to step around this father-in-law.

In this way, the motivation to study with a board over his head and a pin pricking his flesh had mysteriously grown a good deal stronger.

That Zhou Sui’an had come so far in life, he really ought to be grateful to his father-in-law for providing him with such inexhaustible drive.

But the trouble that was supposed to be at the far edge of the sky had suddenly leapt right in front of him, and all the earlier alcohol had been frightened clean out of him in a cold sweat.

Watching Zhou Sui’an’s reaction, Chu Linlang felt a faint ache in her heart.

She understood, of course, that her father had caused her husband a great deal of trouble. As she helped him change into his sleeping robe, she spoke to comfort him: “You and I have been married seven years — no matter how much of a scene he makes, it won’t amount to anything. Leave the matters on that side to me to manage. When he heads back to Jiangkou, you just see him off, and that will be enough.”

Zhou Sui’an let out a long breath at that, and said moodily: “I’d advise you to keep your distance from your family too. Your father has always had a big mouth and bottomless greed. I’m in the thick of official duties right now — I really cannot deal with this!”

Having said these words, he looked up and saw Chu Linlang’s somewhat uncomfortable expression, and felt that he had put her in an awkward position. He reached out and patted Chu Linlang’s back, hastily trying to make amends: “You’re right — I’m not the same helpless man I once was. There’s no reason to fear him! If he gives you a hard time… I’ll be there to shield you!”

These words at last brought a smile breaking across Chu Linlang’s face, and she coaxed her reformed husband to hurry up and sleep off the alcohol.

Zhou Sui’an had drunk far too much, and having turned over and lain down, he was soon fast asleep.

Dinner was coming before long, and Chu Linlang was in no state to sleep. She felt a little stifled in her chest, and taking advantage of the sound of Zhou Sui’an’s snores growing steady, she rose and went out to take a stroll in the small garden nearby.

At this time the afternoon sun was slanting low, about to set, and the breeze was unusually mild for once — pleasant weather for tending to flowers, without any chill.

This house had been sought out and arranged for by Chu Linlang after Zhou Sui’an arrived to take up his post. Since most of their funds had been allocated elsewhere, the money left for purchasing the house had not been plentiful.

Having heard Xia He’s words, and then recalling Zhou Sui’an’s smug, pleased expression when she had first entered the room — in the end it was she herself who had spoiled the mood by bringing up Chu Huaisheng’s arrival and dampening his spirits.

The manservant heard this and turned to go report. Before he had even left the garden, however, Situ Sheng was already standing at the garden entrance.

He simply stepped closer of his own accord, sparing the manservant the task of delivering a dismissal.

Since this guest showed such a lack of formality, Chu Linlang could only invite him inside to the reception room for a cup of plain tea.

The man still wore his same half-new, half-worn white robe and black cloak. Yet his bearing was excellent — he carried these ordinary garments with a distinctive, understated elegance.

After weighing the situation, Chu Linlang decided to pick up some harmless, inconsequential small talk, let the honored guest finish his tea in comfort, and then see whether he would have the good sense to take his leave.

It seemed that the information Chu Linlang had gathered had been useful — at the very least, it had allowed Zhou Sui’an to save face before the Sixth Prince, sparing him from the charge of dereliction of duty.

She couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy, suspecting that this man had come to stir up trouble. So she thought for a moment and said to the manservant who was to carry the message: “The master of the house has drunk himself quite insensible. Please inform Master Situ — and ask whether tomorrow might be possible?”

But barely had she opened her mouth to probe the subject, when Situ Sheng spoke and cut her off: “Did not the Madam explain it herself — that it was nothing but a trivial bit of scribbling practice by a woman? If that is so, Madam, why the need to bribe me?… Let us consider this matter… swallowed and forgotten.”

Chu Linlang had not expected him to handle this so lightly, and was naturally awash with relief and gratitude, and sensibly did not bring it up again.

Chu Linlang couldn’t get a read on him, and having no good way to send him away outright, she asked: “Would Master Situ care to step inside and take a cup of tea?”

But she quietly reasoned with herself as well — they were no longer a newly-wedded young couple with tender feelings. Why expect so much romantic sentiment? Rather than hoping for a marriage of perfect mutual respect and devotion, it was far more practical to hope that her husband would keep rising in his career.

When that day came, these flowers of hers would no longer have to huddle in a cramped little greenhouse — they could bloom freely and gladly in the open sun… And if she could move to a warmer, more temperate place, perhaps her own body might benefit too, and recover well — just as the oracle had foretold: two “good” characters brought together.

These flowers, unlike her, could not adapt so readily to any soil they were placed in. Plants grown in the warm, moist south were of a delicate constitution — moved to this harsh and bitter cold place, it was only thanks to Linlang’s skillful hand with flowers, and her meticulous care, that they had not withered and declined.

Chu Linlang rarely found herself at a loss in social situations — yet faced with this handsome man who spoke with the accent of the capital, and who had a hold on her weak spot, she truly did not know what to chat about just to pass the time.

The banquet had only just broken up, so why had Situ Sheng followed all the way to their house? There must be something that could not be said at the wine table and had to be discussed in private.

Seeing Situ Sheng standing at the garden entrance with his refined and scholarly manner, Chu Linlang quickly rose and stepped out of the greenhouse to bow to him.

Thinking of this, Chu Linlang took a plate of chestnut cakes from her maidservant’s hands and smiled as she asked: “Master Situ is in the prime of his years — I wonder what manner of lady your honored wife might be, and which family she comes from?”

This again caught Chu Linlang off guard. Situ Sheng was strikingly handsome, and though he was no great high official or powerful nobleman, he lived in the wealthy, prestigious surroundings of the imperial city — more than comfortable enough by any measure. How could he still be a bachelor?

Accompanying the Sixth Prince on this official errand must be an enormously busy affair, yet this Master Situ seemed to have nothing but idleness oozing from him. He drifted around the tiny greenhouse — barely bigger than a palm — for several turns, leisurely admiring the flowers, and simply would not leave.

She entered the greenhouse and began pulling the weeds around the base of the flowers, while casually listening to what Xia He had learned from Sui’an’s manservant.

It turned out the house was so small that while Situ Sheng had been waiting, he had turned a casual corner and come right to the wall of the garden — and had happened to overhear Chu Linlang giving instructions to the manservant.

“At the midday banquet, the Sixth Prince heard our master’s report and was quite pleased — he praised him highly as a man of sharp and perceptive mind, a talent worth employing. The master was happy and drank a few cups too many.”

In the setting sun’s golden light falling across Situ Sheng’s brows and eyes, Chu Linlang found it somewhat dazzling — she couldn’t quite make out his expression.

The honored guest settled his wide sleeves and took his seat. With the hot steam rising from the tea between them, both host and guest sat in prolonged, awkward silence.

Situ Sheng first asked after Zhou Sui’an’s condition of intoxication, then strolled over to the entrance of the greenhouse and looked at the flowers Chu Linlang had been tending.

Seeing that the sun was nearly gone, Linlang lifted aside the straw mat covering the greenhouse to let the flowers soak up the last of the day’s rays.

Zhou Sui’an had said that sooner or later he would be promoted and transferred — leaving this wretched place of Lianzhou behind.

Just as she was thinking this, someone came to the front to report that Situ Daren, the Junior Preceptor to the Sixth Prince, had come to call upon Officer Zhou.

Normally this topic could extend in infinite directions — from the honored wife to children, then from the art of raising children all the way to keeping Master Situ comfortably chatting and sipping tea until he’d had his fill.

Situ Sheng extended his long fingers and sorted through the plate, selecting one that was slightly leaking its filling. He said with an air of nonchalance: “I have not yet taken a wife.”

She had expected the Junior Preceptor to decline, but to her surprise he nodded readily, and with a wave of his hand, gestured for Madam Chu to lead the way.

Thinking of her mother-in-law pressing her to hurry and take a concubine for Zhou Sui’an, Chu Linlang felt another wave of gloom rise in her chest.

But with just one sentence, Situ Sheng had completely blocked off this otherwise perfectly comfortable topic.

This house had the advantage of being tidy, but its depth was not wide, and the garden was only a tiny, palm-sized patch — just enough to build a small greenhouse for storing the flowers Linlang had brought from the south.

Chu Linlang looked up — and happened to meet Situ Sheng’s gaze directly.

Thinking of how he had refused to accept her gift, Chu Linlang suspected he was afraid of giving people cause to talk — so he had come in person to collect the silver.

What did he mean by “just consider it” — she had actually swallowed that thing for real!

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