Su Hongmeng turned at the sound and saw a distinguished-looking man standing in the doorway of the main hall, robed in a gold-flecked long gown with a jade crown and gilded sash.

He had encountered Han Linfeng once before at the magistrate’s court, and even now, the wrist that the Shizi had seized with such force seemed to ache faintly at the memory.

A scoundrel like this would hardly be inclined to show respect to his future father-in-law.

Su Hongmeng, upon learning that his daughter had secured such a wealthy and illustrious match, had initially felt a flicker of private delight. But now that Han Linfeng stood before him in person, that commanding, oppressive presence bore down on him, and Master Su found he could not muster a scrap of joy.

The words he had just spoken had been overheard by Han Linfeng — the situation had become acutely awkward in an instant.

The tall man wore a smile, yet it did not reach his eyes — and this alone was enough to deflate Master Su’s bluster, leaving him struggling to find his footing.

Han Linfeng dropped himself into a seat with languid ease. “I ought to have come to call in person and gone through the proper motions — but I have been feeling somewhat unwell of late and could not be bothered to stir myself. Has Master Su found cause to take offense?”

Su Hongmeng was the sort of man who pressed forward when he sensed weakness and shrank back when he sensed strength. Having earlier caught wind of his daughter’s situation, he had suspected this match was no love affair freely entered into, which left him with little confidence to speak from. He immediately put on an apologetic smile and explained that he had only just heard the news and been rather taken aback, and that his tone with his daughter may have been somewhat sharp.

Deep down, however, Su Hongmeng genuinely held this Shizi in contempt.

The man had done nothing more than be born into the right family with the right surname. The Beizhen Wang residence was a name and nothing more — perhaps comfortable enough in its day-to-day existence, yet steadily declining, with no connection to power or officialdom whatsoever. In certain respects, this Beizhen Shizi was actually less well-placed than he himself was as a wealthy merchant.

With this thought bolstering him, Su Hongmeng felt some of his confidence return, and he ventured to raise the matter of how the wedding should be conducted. “Luoyun is my eldest daughter. Now that she has been blessed with His Majesty’s personal decree, it is only right to put some proper care into the arrangements…”

Before he had finished speaking, Han Linfeng drawled idly, “My calling card made it quite clear — everything is to be kept simple, and there is no need for Master Su to trouble himself over any of it. In any case, I have a distinguished guest arriving at my residence who wishes to see Miss Luoyun, so she must come over to receive them. If you have nothing further, Master Su, please feel free to see yourself out.”

Su Hongmeng’s mood sank again — evidently this future son-in-law was cast from the same mold as his daughter, the pair of them showing not the slightest inclination to offer a man dinner even at mealtimes.

Having said his piece, Han Linfeng showed little further courtesy and simply told Luoyun to come back with him to the residence to attend to the guests.

Su Hongmeng had gained himself a wealthy and well-born son-in-law, yet still came away from the door empty-handed.

Watching the Shizi speak to his daughter in such cold and clipped tones, it was plain enough that he had no genuine inclination toward this match either — a truly absurd union forced upon both parties, like driving a duck onto a perch.

Never mind making use of this connection in the future — it would be good fortune enough if the Shizi did not take it out on him.

Thinking of the marriage he had so presumptuously arranged for Luoyun on his own authority, Su Hongmeng felt a fresh throb of headache coming on.

By his count, this year alone he had dissolved two betrothals on Caijian’s behalf and dismissed his wife Ding Shi.

Now, owing to the imperial decree, he would have to dissolve yet another marriage contract for his eldest daughter.

Truly, his ill-starred fortunes showed no sign of letting up.

Su Hongmeng looked back at the residence on Bluefish Lane and spat with contempt. What a thing! The man did not even regard him, the future father-in-law, as worthy of any respect — was he truly going to treat his blind daughter with honor as his principal wife?

These great noble households were full of their own filth.

Once she actually married into that place, that foolish girl who did not know her own limits would find out for herself — that pompous empty shell of a wastrel was worth far less than some idle country fellow with no aspirations.

Now, Su Luoyun followed Han Linfeng to the residence on Bluefish Lane and turned to ask him, “Is there truly a distinguished guest at the residence?”

Han Linfeng steadied her with a hand at her arm and guided her along a newly laid garden path, his voice easy and unhurried. “There is one — my younger sister. But she has first to make deliveries on my mother’s behalf to several households and will not be home until later in the day. I thought you would not be particularly eager to keep talking with your father, so I found an excuse to bring you here for some air.”

Su Luoyun let out a slow breath of relief on hearing this. Although she had made her peace with the idea of marrying Han Linfeng, she was not yet prepared to be looked over and assessed by his family.

This younger sister of his — she had heard she was his half-sister, born of a different mother, the Wang Consort’s own daughter, and her name was Han Yao. This young commandery princess was due to marry the third son of the Junguo Duke’s residence in the capital come the new year, and had come to the capital early to make preparations for the wedding.

The conflict in the north seemed to be growing more intense by the day. Harvests in the Huainan region had been poor for several years running, and many who could not find enough to eat had gone north to seek their livelihoods.

Cao Sheng’s forces appeared to be growing steadily larger. What had once looked like a negligible rat was beginning to take on the shape of a man-eating tiger, and the court was paying increasing attention — beginning to dispatch troops to suppress and root out the threat before it could grow further.

The relay stations were in constant motion with horses running day and night. It was plain to see that the world was about to descend into turmoil again.

So Prince Beizhen’s Wang Consort had sent her daughter early to the capital, to stay temporarily with Han Linfeng, to prevent the wedding from being conducted in a rush should the official roads become chaotic with troops and conflict.

Luoyun walked and listened to Han Linfeng’s explanation — but as she walked, she noticed something was not quite right.

The garden paths of the Shizi’s residence — why had they been paved with pebbles?

She recalled that on her previous visits to the Shizi’s residence, the paths had always been smooth stone slabs.

Apparently sensing her unspoken question, Han Linfeng said, “Guiyan mentioned once that you like pebbled paths, and that with pebbles laid in particular patterns as markers, you can navigate much more easily. The Shizi’s residence is not among the largest in the capital, but you will be moving in for the first time and will need to learn your way around all over again. I thought pebbled paths would help you find your bearings more easily.”

So he had re-laid the paths specifically to help her find her way.

This union was strange and absurd in every possible way — and yet this Shizi had consistently managed to receive it with a kind of ordinary steadiness. If his usual manner of conversation with her could be dismissed as surface courtesy, then laying down a path of pebbles was genuine thought and care — a real act of preparation for this particular mistress of his household.

A complicated welter of feelings rose in Su Luoyun’s heart, and she slowed her steps involuntarily, letting the thin soles of her shoes feel the gentle rise and fall of the pebbles beneath her feet.

Han Linfeng was, in truth, genuinely considerate — at the very least, even her own father had never thought to do something like this for her.

A warmth moved through her without her willing it. She thanked him with quiet sincerity, and then let out a small, soft sigh.

Han Linfeng bent his head to ask, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

Su Luoyun shook her head quickly, indicating that all was well.

In truth, that sigh had been for Second Miss Fang and the others who pined for the Shizi.

It was not so difficult to understand, after all, why Han Linfeng — even while playing the part of a good-for-nothing — had managed to capture the hearts of noble young ladies like Second Miss Fang.

For women raised on gold and jade, men of rank and power were hardly in short supply.

What they must have cared for far more deeply was precisely this — the kind of attentiveness and warmth that could be present in every ordinary hour.

Han Linfeng’s appearance was already striking, and toward women he was so considerate and gentle in these quiet ways. How long could any woman spend time in his company before her heart began to stir?

What a pity that this husband of hers in name only was destined one day to have a properly suited Wang Consort beside him — someone who could never be her, a blind merchant’s daughter.

Even as the warmth touched her, Su Luoyun was privately on guard. She must not grow too attached to a tenderness that was not hers to keep.

With this thought, she shifted subtly a few inches away without drawing attention to it, and continued to listen with a composed smile as Han Linfeng described what changes he had made to the East Courtyard that had been prepared as the bridal chamber.

The following day, Luoyun went to her shop to consult with her master craftsman about adjusting the formula for a new fragrance.

She had barely finished describing the proportions to him when she heard someone come running in breathlessly from outside, bursting through the door and crying out in distress, “Elder Sister — look at the trouble you’ve caused!”

It was Caijian, arriving first thing in the morning with her maidservant, both in a great rush.

It turned out that when Master Su went back to dissolve the engagement with the Wang family, things had unfolded exactly as Luoyun had predicted — with considerable flair.

Wang Biao, upon hearing Master Su explain that Su Luoyun had received an imperial marriage decree and was to wed a Shizi, and that the Wang family’s betrothal gifts must therefore be returned, had burst into a strange, derisive laugh on the spot.

What in blazes — if the Dings wanted to back out of a marriage, they could at least come up with a believable story. And the tale they actually had the nerve to tell was that his blind daughter had been given an imperial marriage? This was outright taking him for a fool.

Wang Biao had been drinking a few measures of spirits at home when the matchmaking cousin uncle came and reported all of this. In a fury, he grabbed a meat cleaver and charged off to the Su household to demand an explanation.

As it happened, the parents of the Xie family widow had also chosen that very day to call, and were in the process of inspecting the size and condition of the Su household’s premises.

They were given a tremendous fright by the large man suddenly crashing through the door with a blade in his hand — and with him blocking the main hall, they were trapped inside, unable to leave, forced to huddle together under the table and endure the drunk man’s shouting, cursing, and smashing of things.

Fortunately, the cousin uncle arrived in a hurry with several others and managed to restrain the drunkard.

After Su Hongmeng had seen off his prospective future in-laws with considerable reassuring and soothing, and had turned back inside, Wang Biao had by then sobered up.

Su Hongmeng naturally went through the whole business of explaining the situation to his cousin uncle at length, and produced Han Shizi’s letter, which at last served as proof that what he had said was not a fabrication.

Master Su had assumed the prestige of an imperially decreed match would be enough to frighten Wang Biao into withdrawing the engagement without further trouble.

What he had not counted on was that Wang Biao possessed both the boldness to match his audacity. The man’s eyes swiveled, and he immediately took another stance — declaring that Su Hongmeng had dared to pledge the same daughter to two men at once, knowing full well the Emperor had already arranged a match for her, yet still betrothing her to the Wang family.

He had the marriage contract in hand. If the Su family did not offer a proper settlement, he would go and beat the drums at the courthouse, and let the magistrate adjudicate the matter.

This sent Su Hongmeng into a real panic. He brought out every trick at his disposal — cajoling, intimidating — trying to get Wang Biao to change his mind.

In the end the two of them came to blows again, and Wang Biao left Su Hongmeng with a black eye. By the time it was over, Su Hongmeng sat collapsed in a chair, his beard disheveled and splayed, too winded to draw breath properly.

Wang Biao made his position plain: he had decided he was going to be a son-in-law of the Su family. Since the elder daughter had an imperially decreed match, then the second daughter Caijian could be given to him instead.

After all, Caijian’s looks were decent enough — not as beautiful as Su Luoyun, but at least she was not blind.

At the moment Wang Biao was causing his uproar in the Su household, Caijian had once again been lurking nearby with her maidservant, listening in secret. When she heard this part of the proceedings, she was so frightened her soul very nearly left her body.

Caijian had no intention of agreeing to any such thing. She had all her limbs, and the two previous matches that had been arranged for her were with young men from proper households. Why on earth should she be married off to some rough and dissolute ruffian from the countryside?

She dared not listen any further, and fled in a streak straight to Sweetwater Alley to find her elder sister. Learning that her elder sister had gone to Shouxiang Zhai, she came straight here.

Su Luoyun listened to the chaos unfolding at the Su household with complete composure. “Is Father not there? He can surely protect you himself. What have you come to me for?”

Even Caijian, for all her lack of perception, knew that their father was not to be relied upon. Had Ding Shi still been in the household, she would not have had the face to come asking her elder sister for help. But as things stood, her mother Ding Pei was also in difficult circumstances.

Since returning to the Ding family, her maternal uncle seemed to have concluded there was nothing more to be extracted from his sister, and was constantly scheming over her small savings — and pressuring her to remarry and find another wealthy household.

Besides, her uncle’s estate was in the neighboring county — how was a girl to get out of the city on her own?

With Wang Biao causing chaos, and neither parent of any use, Caijian had no one to turn to but her elder sister.

Yet Su Luoyun had absolutely no desire to wade into the Su family’s murky waters. She said only in a mild tone, “I am nothing but a blind woman — how am I to manage Father? If he has any care for you, he will protect you himself. My going would only be a bit redundant, would it not?”

The word “blind woman” struck Caijian with a sharp pang of guilt. She knew her elder sister was about to marry into the Shizi’s residence and had finally escaped the swamp that was the Su family — while she herself was still mired in it, and in danger of being married off to a scoundrel like Wang Biao.

Caijian thought of what her maidservant Xique had said to her on the way over, and knew that her elder sister harbored deep grievances against her. If she wanted her to intervene, she would have to acknowledge the wrong she had done.

With this in mind, Caijian choked back a sob and dropped to her knees, pressing her forehead to the floor. “Elder Sister… it was my fault. I should never have quarreled with you over Young Master Lu the way I did, or pushed you — I was wrong. I beg you, for the sake of the blood we share as sisters, please help me.”

Su Luoyun finally set down her abacus at this. The corner of her mouth carried a cold, sardonic smile as she said, “For the past two years, you and your maids and servants have all insisted without exception that I injured myself by stumbling on my own.”

Caijian hiccupped through her sobs. “It was my mother who said that if I admitted it, my own reputation would be ruined. I was too cowardly at the time and listened to her. But these two years have been a torment — every time I saw you, I was eaten up with guilt. Elder Sister, please forgive me — I truly did not mean for it to happen. And besides… and besides, are you not doing very well now? You are about to enter the Shizi’s residence as his consort! Could you not just speak to the Shizi and have him send someone to deal with Wang Biao?”

By the end, Caijian had even begun to think this was rather a good idea — her elder sister lifting a finger could solve all her troubles.

Su Luoyun gazed ahead with a touch of quiet melancholy. In truth, no matter where she looked now, what lay before her was that same unchanging wall of darkness.

That darkness did not only cover her eyes — it had wrapped itself around her heart as well, and for a long time had made breathing itself feel difficult.

She had worked hard to pull herself back to her feet and build something better for herself — for the sake of those she cared about. It was not so that she could become a more magnanimous person and forgive those who had hurt her.

She did not usually make a great fuss over Caijian — not out of sisterly feeling, but because there was simply no satisfaction to be had in arguing right and wrong with a person as self-serving and dim-witted as Caijian.

Now Caijian had finally changed her story and admitted to the wrong. Yet her eyes would not suddenly regain their light because of an apology. What use was it?

Still, having her weeping here was genuinely bad for business.

With this thought, Su Luoyun said to her, “You heard everything about how I came to marry into the Shizi’s residence, did you not? It will be enough if I manage not to make a nuisance of myself in his eyes — how could I possibly bluster about playing the tiger to rescue you? If you are unwilling to accept this situation, go and speak to your mother. She has never lacked for ideas — perhaps she can talk Wang Biao out of setting his sights on you.”

Caijian could only respond helplessly, going on to explain the difficult circumstances Ding Shi was presently in — and besides, their father was furious with her mother; how could she possibly expect him to listen to anything Ding Shi said?

Su Luoyun smiled slightly. “You underestimate your mother. The moment she hears her daughter is about to be married off to a debt-ridden wretch with nothing to his name, she will fight for you even if it means tearing the sky apart. Why not let me find someone to take a message to her — and have your mother and your uncle come to the rescue as soon as possible?”

The Ding family uncle’s farm estate was in the neighboring county — not terribly far, yet not particularly close either. Without someone making the trip to deliver the news, Ding Shi might well miss this particular spectacle entirely.

And in a messy brawl like this, the more people involved, the livelier the entertainment.

So Su Luoyun, as the elder sister, found it in herself to bestow one kindness upon her younger sibling — she spent a tael of silver coins and hired a man to ride on horseback to the neighboring county with a message for the Ding family.

By now the Ding family uncle’s leg had fully healed. With his sister’s dismissal from the Su household, he had lost his excuse to go and cadge off the Su family — and now here was a reason handed straight back to him to go and cause a scene there, declaring loudly that Su Hongmeng had treated the children of a dismissed wife with contempt, and was unfit to call himself a father.

And so the Ding family relatives — maternal uncle and the lot — piled onto several donkey carts and headed into the capital, descending upon the Su family’s lane to make a tremendous commotion directed at both Wang Biao and Su Hongmeng.

In short, the lane of the Su family’s main residence knew no quiet for the next several days, and the neighbors could at any given moment pull up a seat at the gate with a fistful of melon seeds and watch the show.

The performances ranged from verbal to physical, and varied considerably in style.

In the end, Su Hongmeng was thoroughly worn out — and had no choice but to bleed silver and pay off both sets of troublemakers to be rid of them.

After all, the crime of deceiving the Emperor could be construed as more or less serious depending on how things were handled, and Su Hongmeng valued his head far too much to keep tangling with these sorts of ruffians.

But spending so much money, coupled with the sustained shock and fright of it all, genuinely took its toll on him. Su Hongmeng subsequently fell gravely ill, so much so that on the day of his eldest daughter’s wedding, Master Su could not squeeze so much as a genuine smile onto his face.

Fortunately, the daughter’s wedding was being conducted with maximum simplicity — not even departing from the main Su residence. Su Hongmeng needed only to rise early and go to the small courtyard at Sweetwater Alley to bid his daughter farewell.

Bluefish Lane and Sweetwater Alley were truly almost next door to each other — the trousseau and dowry did not even need to be paraded through the streets; one turn down the alley and they had arrived.

In keeping with the Shizi’s wishes, a brief procession of some kind was still to take place — he had even assembled a procession of fine carriages and horses with ornamental canopies, which made no poor showing at all.

Yet Luoyun had implored the Shizi to keep things quiet. Their marriage had come about as a result of a scandal, and she had no desire to become the subject of discussion in every lane and teahouse in the capital — the simpler, the better.

Han Linfeng thought it over, and in the end respected Su Luoyun’s feelings. He dismissed the procession and cancelled the plan to circle through the streets of the capital.

And so the two new spouses served the ritual tea to a thoroughly dejected Master Su, observed the necessary proprieties, and amid Guiyan’s reluctant, streaming tears, the bride in her exquisite wedding garments was led by the Shizi out of the Su family’s small courtyard.

The two of them did not even require a bridal sedan — walking one ahead of the other, as naturally as if taking one of their usual evening strolls, they covered the short distance in a few steps and passed through the gates of the Shizi’s residence on Bluefish Lane.

Because Luoyun had no wish to be gawked at and gossiped over, Han Linfeng had not arranged an extensive banquet. The various young gentlemen with whom he usually kept close company had not even received invitations.

On this point, Han Linfeng — serving as a bridegroom for the very first time — was, in truth, not entirely satisfied. He had even discussed it with Su Luoyun beforehand. “My family and friends are all in Liangzhou, and with the Emperor’s decree coming so suddenly, my father the Prince was unable to come in person despite having received the news. At some point in the future, I will certainly make up for it with something more fitting.”

Luoyun had agreed with ready nods at the time, thinking it quite sensible — the next time the Shizi held a wedding ceremony, it would likely be with a different bride. And with a noble young woman of equal standing, naturally the occasion would call for a grander celebration. Nothing so quietly managed as this.

But as things stood, she was the bride — and an event as unobtrusive as this suited her perfectly.

As for Han Linfeng’s drinking companions in the capital — what respectable people did that lot amount to? They were all wastrels of Guo Yan’s ilk. If they actually came and decided to liven up the bridal chamber, she had no idea what humiliations she would be subjected to.

She much preferred to have no one at all and simply go through the motions and be done with it.

Unfortunately, once the two newlyweds had arrived in Bluefish Lane, they had barely been inside when the sound of carriage wheels began rolling in from every direction.

Within a short time, the lane was choked with vehicles coming and going.

Han Linfeng’s drinking companions, considering themselves well enough acquainted with him to show up uninvited, arrived one after another, their mouths already open in complaints about the Shizi’s negligence in failing to send them word.

Han Linfeng, dressed in his red bridal robes, looked at the self-invited guests with a faint, resigned sigh, and made a perfunctory bow with clasped hands. “The imperial decree came and required haste — preparations were made in a rush, and there was no time to invite everyone properly. Forgive the oversight.”

But this sort of explanation was no use against men like these — all of them born into wealthy and powerful households who understood perfectly well how things worked.

This was plainly obvious: the lowly new bride did not suit the Shizi’s tastes, and he was only going through the motions under compulsion of the imperial decree.

A blind woman — what was there worth showing off to anyone? He was probably hiding her away out of embarrassment.

Still, if they were going to miss out on entertainment like this, would it not be a terrible waste? So these companions had conspired among themselves, arrived without warning, and caught the Shizi completely unprepared.

After all — better your companion’s hardship than your own. The Shizi was genuinely to be pitied, of course — yet why let free entertainment go to waste?

But those who had come with every intention of collecting a good laugh found that when the bride’s face was revealed from behind her swaying red coral hair ornament and she and the Shizi exchanged cups in the ceremony, that face of extraordinary beauty brought the uproar to a sudden and complete silence.

Good heavens — the girl was simply stunning. Was it possible that these modest merchant households of the capital were hiding beauties of this caliber?

Most brides were heavily powdered, their cheeks painted a bright, thick red, looking no different from paper-crafted ceremonial figures.

But this particular Shizi consort had broken all convention — she wore no bridal makeup at all, only lightly brushed brows and a thin veil of powder. And yet with features so vivid and beautifully formed, she had about her the pure, unstudied quality of a lotus just risen from the water, which only made the red wedding garments burn the more brilliantly against her, lending her an allure that was at once delicate and intoxicating.

Most of those who had come uninvited had never seen Su Luoyun before, and every one of them was the sort of man who judged the world by appearance. The sudden sight of Luoyun’s face rendered half the mockery they had been preparing speechless on the spot — and left more than a few traces of frank envy in its place.

Was this woman truly blind? From start to finish she had walked without the slightest difficulty or hesitation — nothing at all like the blind people one saw in the street, tapping their way along with walking sticks.

What they did not know was that every surface of the Shizi’s residence, indoors and out, had been relaid from scratch. Outside, the ground had been repaved with pebbles. Inside, where pebbles were unsuitable, Han Linfeng had commissioned craftsmen to carve lines and patterns into the stone slabs.

To those who did not know better, it appeared to be nothing more than ornamental decoration. But Luoyun, in her thin-soled embroidered shoes, could feel the subtle variation of those markers clearly beneath her feet, and knew exactly where she was at every step.

Her attending maidservant Xiangcao was also watching the path ahead at all times — any obstacle in the way was quietly moved aside, and any that could not be moved, Luoyun was softly warned to avoid.

To the uninitiated observer, the effect was of someone who seemed to possess a kind of uncanny inner vision — hardly distinguishable from a person of ordinary sight.

With no opportunity to find a laughingstock, the rowdy high spirits of the assembled guests diminished considerably, replaced by murmurs of amazement and no small amount of envy.

Noble-born young women from great households were not universally beautiful — there were plenty of lopsided melons and split dates among them, as the saying went. It was simply that with family background to prop them up, three parts of looks were talked up into seven.

Several of those present had already married, and though their wives were all of distinguished birth, in terms of looks, there was simply no comparison with the woman before them.

They had concubines, of course — but so long as their parents were still living, those too beautiful to be respectable could not be brought into the household proper. That sort of alluring woman was kept outside, in private arrangements. Within the household itself, it was the same familiar faces, day in and day out — tolerable at best.

Han Linfeng, that wretch, had managed to turn misfortune into unexpected good fortune — bringing home a beauty like this to keep under his own roof. And not only was she blind, but her birth was low — hardly in a position to rule over the master of the house.