Yet… the words Su Luoyun had spoken just moments ago, neither servile nor arrogant, had left the wife of King Heng rather surprised.

This woman from a small, humble household was sharp-tongued enough. In all the capital, those capable of rendering her younger sister speechless seemed to have grown by one more — alongside Han Linfeng, there was now Su Luoyun.

Su Luoyun, for her part, was inwardly startled when Ji Qiu leaned close and whispered that the Princess Rui had nearly lost her composure and come to blows just now.

The words she had returned had been somewhat provoking, certainly — but not to a degree that should make Fang Jinshu lose all self-control like that. Had that second Fang daughter truly gone mad? No matter how bitter her resentment, she had already married the Ninth Prince. How could she raise a hand against a member of the imperial clan’s household in such a setting?

That question was soon answered.

The little scene just past had set a number of ladies whispering privately among themselves. Several of them were regular guests at the Empress’s mid-month tea gatherings, and were also well acquainted with Madam Lu Guo.

When Su Luoyun rose to take her leave and was passing by the ornamental rockery in the garden, she happened to overhear two ladies on the other side who knew the Fang family well: “I heard that when Han Linfeng stirred up that scandal, he actually wrote a letter to the second Fang daughter — hoping to marry into the Fang family and use her to deflect his romantic entanglements. It was fortunate that Madam Lu Guo intercepted it and petitioned the Emperor to arrange a marriage for the Shizi instead — otherwise, would the Fang family not have been saddled with a thoroughly disagreeable son-in-law?”

“The Princess Rui as well — why should she quarrel so pettily with a woman from a small merchant household? Now that each of them has married, surely…”

They did not finish their sentence, for as they came around from behind the rockery, they found themselves face to face with Su Luoyun.

Being caught gossiping behind someone’s back was naturally an awkward business. The two ladies feigned composure, cleared their throats, and turned quickly away.

Yet those few brief words had stirred a wave within Su Luoyun’s heart.

Han Linfeng had actually written a letter to Fang Jinshu after stirring up the scandal of “forcibly seizing a commoner woman”?

Su Luoyun was for a moment utterly astonished. Others might not know, but she understood Han Linfeng’s true nature well — a man of his disposition would absolutely never lose his head and go seeking marriage with a daughter of a grand established family like the Fangs.

And the fact that he had written to provoke Fang Jinshu at precisely that critical juncture… As Su Luoyun stepped through the manor’s front gate, her foot caught on a protruding stone, and she nearly tumbled forward — only the quick support of the maidservant at her side prevented her from falling.

But the stumble seemed to jar something loose in her mind, leaving it abruptly, startlingly clear — a man as cunning as he was, if he had written such a letter, how could he have failed to foresee that Madam Lu Guo would intercept it?

Which meant it had been deliberate.

It turned out that the Emperor’s bestowal of the marriage had not been a chance occurrence at all — someone had engineered it through layer upon layer of careful design, having sought it out on purpose.

Su Luoyun had originally married Han Linfeng for two reasons: one, out of a sense of gratitude toward him, wishing to protect his secrets; and two, because the Emperor had issued an imperial decree of marriage that left her no avenue of escape.

She had always assumed that Han Linfeng, like herself, had been caught in unavoidable circumstances and had simply accepted the reality. And the two of them had developed their affection gradually over time — feelings that had slowly grown from daily proximity, two people leaning on each other for warmth.

But hearing this piece of the story she had not known, Su Luoyun suddenly understood: she had thought she and the Shizi were working in tandem, evading hungry wolves together.

She had not realized she was the fragrant piece of meat the hungry wolf had set his sights on long before. While she had been oblivious, he had been sharpening his knife in secret, plucking the feathers and stripping the skin in methodical sequence, and had swallowed her whole — one small bite at a time.

The feeling of being treated as a fool, toyed with in the palm of another’s hand… it was genuinely impossible to accept.

By the time Su Luoyun emerged from the manor gate, her cheeks were flushed scarlet with indignation.

Han Yao, not understanding the cause, assumed her sister-in-law had been angered by the Princess Rui, and quietly tried to comfort her: “Do not let it ruin your health — it isn’t worth getting upset over someone like that.”

They had barely reached the gate when Han Linfeng arrived in his carriage — it seemed he too had known that today’s banquet would be a hostile gathering, and had come to collect his wife.

At that moment, quite a number of the guests had also finished the banquet and were making their way out, and so they happened to catch sight of the reformed dissolute young man who had become something of a legend.

Han Linfeng had been on official duty at the Ministry of Works earlier, and had not applied the powder and rouge he sometimes used.

When a man in full official robes, his face clean and handsome and fresh, stood before the grand gates with the ease and bearing of a tall jade tree — framed by the vermilion doors and blue-glazed tiles — he seemed the very picture of refined warmth and elegance, enough to set the hearts of onlookers quietly astir.

Several ladies who caught sight of him could not help but cluster together and murmur: “No wonder someone was enchanted past all reason and refused to let him go unless she could marry him — this Han Shizi truly is extraordinarily handsome!”

“Indeed — how did one never notice before how clearly fine-featured and well-built he is?”

And yet his looks were only part of it. The way he treated his wife these days was genuinely tender. Those striking eyes looked straight toward Su Luoyun, brimming with the warm devotion of a newlywed — taking his delicate wife’s hand, bending his head now and then to speak quietly to her. It was enough to make bystanders envious.

Fang Jinshu had also just emerged. She stood cold-eyed and rigid, staring at that man — unrouged, his eyes bright as stars and clear as the moon — until the long crimson-lacquered nail on her finger snapped clean off under the pressure of her own grip.

On the journey home, Su Luoyun did not share a carriage with her young sister-in-law. She climbed into Han Linfeng’s carriage instead, and the moment she was settled, she drew a long breath and told him first the things that mattered most.

Not the petty provocations of the second Fang daughter — those were merely the public humiliations and face-slapping typical of such gatherings, and in Su Luoyun’s mind, of little real consequence.

What mattered was the seemingly casual questions the wife of King Heng had probed her with today. Fang Jinshu’s fierce offensive was nothing more than public embarrassment in the end. But the wife of King Heng’s apparent interest in the Shizi’s daily life — behind that light, conversational surface, there might be hidden a purpose of the deadliest kind.

After Su Luoyun had finished recounting it all in detail, she added, with some worry: “I did not know her purpose, so I deflected as best I could. Does the Shizi think what I said was adequate?”

Han Linfeng drew out the words: “Not adequate…”

Su Luoyun’s heart clenched. She asked anxiously: “What was not adequate?”

Han Linfeng pinched her delicate chin: “That you still address me as ‘Shizi’ to this day — that is what is wholly inadequate. Come now, call me by my name and let me hear it.”

Su Luoyun had been genuinely tense with worry, and had not expected him to steer the conversation sideways into some absurd corner. Already carrying frustration, she could not suppress the impulse — she balled her hand into a fist and struck his chest: “Look at the wife of King Heng and all the other ladies — do they not all address their husbands as ‘my Lord’ or ‘master’? Even between husband and wife, one must hold the husband in respectful regard — who addresses their husband by his given name? And besides… I genuinely do not know the Shizi well enough for that!”

Han Linfeng laughed and caught her small fist: “Then look and see whether any of those ladies pound their husband with a fist the size of a copper basin, the way you do. And as for ‘not knowing well enough’ — where don’t you know? Tell me, and I’ll go back and let you feel your way around properly — consider it learning the place by touch.”

With him twisting and wrangling at her like this, Su Luoyun was working hard to contain the simmering grievance inside her and open her mouth to confront him directly about the letter. But her lips had already been captured by his, and the two of them were entangled together again.

Han Linfeng had originally found it particularly oppressive and tedious to play-act the role of a man sunk in debauchery. But since he had come to know the sweetness of Su Luoyun, he had discovered that being a man consumed by desire was not difficult in the slightest.

They had been married for months, yet he had spent all that time lying beside a beautiful woman he could not truly be close to.

Later, though they had grown gradually more intimate, he had always held himself back from taking that final step.

The result was that every night’s dreams became scenes of passionate entanglement between them. Each time he woke, the torment was considerable — even cold baths and vigorous sparring did nothing to suppress it.

And now that they had truly become husband and wife in every sense, it had only been a matter of days.

Small wonder he could not stop himself from wanting to be close to her.

Unfortunately, his consort seemed to have endured quite a few unpleasantnesses at the banquet today. At this moment of tender distraction, she steeled herself and bit his lip — hard.

Han Linfeng let out a muffled groan and finally lifted his head: “In a bad mood? Why are you biting?”

Su Luoyun held back, and held back again. Given that they were in the carriage, many things were inconvenient to say aloud. She simply pushed him away in silence.

When they returned to the manor and entered the inner chamber, the maidservants dismissed, Su Luoyun went straight to the heart of it: “Let me ask you plainly — before you entered the palace that time, did you write a letter to the second Fang daughter?”

Han Linfeng raised an eyebrow. Though somewhat surprised she had found out, he made no attempt to conceal it, and admitted openly: “I did.”

Su Luoyun drew a sharp breath. A heaviness settled in her chest. She reached out and found the round fan on the side of the bed, and fanned herself vigorously: “Why would you do such a thing?”

Han Linfeng gave a light laugh, pulled back his long robe, and sat down beside her: “I was getting on in years — it was time to take a wife. Naturally one has to find a way to add a little fuel to the fire…”

He had known from the very beginning that she would keep refusing, keep holding back. Without adding some fuel, when would the duck in the pot ever be cooked through?

This was precisely what infuriated Su Luoyun.

He had made his calculations very well indeed — the Fang family, the Emperor, and her own expected reactions had all been pieces in his game. With so much ability, knowing how to manage everything — he could simply go make children on his own! What did he need a wife for?

And so when Han Linfeng reached out to knead her shoulders, she knocked his hand away firmly with the fan.

So that was it — she had been the duck who climbed onto the roasting rack of her own accord, had even mixed the marinade herself and brushed it all over her body before the plucking and scorching began, conveniently helping the man achieve his perfect flavor.

She had been foolish before. But now — she was no longer willing to serve herself up.

The result: Han Linfeng, who had only just enjoyed a few days of ample satisfactions, was rolled up with the quilt by his Shizi consort and ejected from the room entirely.

This time, even Han Yao took her sister-in-law’s side: “Elder Brother, you don’t know what it was like — the Princess Rui’s words were completely without consideration for anyone’s dignity. If I had been there alone, I would likely have burst into tears from the humiliation on the spot. It was fortunate that Sister-in-law held the situation together and left the Princess Rui without a single word to say in response. She has suffered grievances today and can only vent with someone as close as you. Please just be understanding and let Sister-in-law’s temper settle first before saying anything.”

Han Yao assumed Su Luoyun’s anger was over the entanglements Han Linfeng had accumulated before their marriage, and so she urged her brother to be patient and let his wife cool down.

Little did she know that what her brother had actually done was commit the monumental offense of having schemed to deceive his own wife into marrying him. Han Linfeng understood Su Luoyun’s temperament well — this particular bout of anger was likely to last quite some time.

So without needing his sister’s persuasion, he obediently went to sleep in the study, prepared to wait until Su Luoyun’s fury had run its course.

The trouble was that he had grown accustomed to the two of them sleeping nestled together, and the sudden separation left Su Luoyun herself somewhat at a loss. When she lay down that night, she tossed and turned on the vast expanse of the bed, unable to sleep.

In the past at this hour, they would already have been curled together side by side. Han Linfeng had the habit of reading to her before sleep — not poetry collections, but accounts of northern customs and unusual tales from various regions.

Those books, rich with content, would have been laborious to read if inscribed on bamboo slips, so Han Linfeng chose passages he found interesting and read a section aloud to her each evening.

Of course, the book was invariably flung aside before the reading was done, and Han Linfeng would set it aside and proceed to read her another kind of “book” — one of vivid, sensory content that could not be spoken aloud.

Tonight’s reading session at the Shizi Manor was clearly not going to happen.

And so the cat Axue came to fill the vacancy in the bedding, settling contentedly into the master’s spot, leaning against Su Luoyun’s embrace and blissfully licking its paws.

Arong, equally uninvited, slipped into the room and squeezed up onto the bed as well.

Holding the two cats — freshly bathed and smelling of fragrant soap — did fill some of the emptiness. Su Luoyun ordered herself to close her eyes and sleep.

That man — full of smooth words and half-truths. Though he did have some degree of self-awareness. If she had not been deceived, would she ever have married a man of such devious and calculating nature?

…These past two days had turned cold. In her burst of fury, she had shoved some quilt at him without looking — she did not know which one she had thrown, or whether it was thick enough…

Su Luoyun noticed her thoughts had strayed in an unhelpful direction, and immediately pulled them back firmly. She gathered the cats in her arms, closed her eyes, and forced herself to sleep.

She turned in fairly early, but the next morning she rose still feeling somewhat deficient in energy, the skin beneath her eyes darkened, so that when breakfast came she had very little appetite.

Habit was a frightening thing. Even with two cats for company, she was still somehow unaccustomed to the absence of that broad, solid chest beside her.

In the early morning, the two cats were burrowing and rolling about in their cat bed that had been sprinkled with catnip, emitting blissful, intoxicated mewing.

Catnip was an herb from overseas — a kind of dried leaf that sent cats into a state of dreamy delight. When the cats were being troublesome, a pinch scattered about would be enough to keep them contentedly absorbed in their cat bed for a good long while.

Even the perpetually wandering Arong could be counted on to spend half a day in perfectly docile distraction.

Listening to the cats’ deep, satisfied purring, Su Luoyun suddenly realized that she herself was really no different from these cats. Han Linfeng, she had no idea when, had become rather like catnip — something she was quietly addicted to and could not quite do without.

They had only been apart for one night, and she could neither sleep well nor eat properly.

But she was not a cat. She would not allow herself to be manipulated at his will. Anything that was so dangerously addictive was certainly nothing good.

Su Luoyun took careful stock of herself. She had no wish to be bewitched by a man’s bedroom arts until she was as lost as that second Fang daughter — blinded and unable to find her way out.

But she was not the only one who had found the separation difficult to bear. Han Linfeng had only just experienced a few days of plenty before the arrangement was abruptly revoked and he found himself banished to the study.

He had it far worse than Su Luoyun — not even a cat attendant to keep him company through the night.

At the height of his vigorous years, after night after night of warm contentment between embroidered curtains, to be suddenly required to live like a monk in enforced abstinence was a torment comparable to swearing off drink cold.

When breakfast time came, however, the estranged husband and wife sat down together for a proper meal.

Han Linfeng had actually been waiting in the study, hoping that once Su Luoyun had cooled her temper, she would come and call him for breakfast.

But when he heard from the maidservant that the Consort had given no instruction to send breakfast to the study, he simply came back on his own.

The two of them drank their congee in perfect silence. This time Su Luoyun appeared to have no intention of giving the Shizi any face whatsoever, showing not the slightest inclination toward reconciliation.

Han Linfeng was well practiced at receiving the cold shoulder. And since he was clearly in the wrong this time, he was quite willing to lower himself and make the first move.

After breakfast, once the servants had been dismissed, he told her in a measured tone: “It is possible that the Sixth Prince has grown suspicious of me and dispatched people to investigate the manor some time ago.”

When he was not in the study, the manor’s servants never entered it without instruction.

But two days earlier, when he had gone to the study intending to retrieve a book from the hidden compartment, he had noticed that one book on the shelf appeared to have been drawn out and not pushed quite back into its original position.

And the faint trace of incense ash he always deliberately scattered at the edge of the hidden compartment bore the clear impression of a handprint.

Han Linfeng had said nothing at the time. He had called Qingyang in and made inquiries about the manor’s recent personnel inside and out, then turned his attention to the group of craftsmen repairing the wall.

Upon closer observation, he noticed two among the workers who appeared to be there under false pretenses. When others were present, these two kept their heads down and laid bricks in a show of diligence. When no one was about, they were constantly glancing around. Even when the foreman scolded them and threatened to dock their wages, the two men showed not the slightest concern.

He had detected this early, but had said nothing. Now, however, since his consort was presenting him with a cold shoulder and refusing to engage, it was as good a subject as any to draw her into conversation.

Sure enough, the moment Su Luoyun heard this, she could no longer maintain her stern expression, and asked in a low voice: “Have you had these two people apprehended?”

Han Linfeng said calmly: “I am an idle official who does not even bring government documents home. If I were to arrest people simply because someone broke into my study, would that not be throwing myself into disarray? The fact that the wife of King Heng came yesterday to probe you shows that King Heng himself found nothing of consequence in the investigation, and yet was unwilling to let the matter rest — so he tried to squeeze something more from you.”

Su Luoyun nodded and said: “The wall repairs should be nearly finished by now. Tomorrow I’ll have Steward Geng settle their wages and send them off. Only… if King Heng has already grown suspicious of you, your situation is likely to become more treacherous going forward…”

Han Linfeng leaned over with easy unconcern and drew her slender waist toward him: “He is merely irritated that I rescued Official Li and in doing so disrupted his schemes — so he wants to make things uncomfortable for me. If he had truly gathered damning evidence against me, do you think he would have sent a pair of clumsy operatives to investigate the manor? He would have had me dragged into prison for interrogation long since.”

He spoke of it as though it were nothing, but Su Luoyun knew he was offering reassurance. King Heng, Han Shen-zhi, was the Empress’s legitimate son, backed by several of the great aristocratic families — by any measure, he had stronger advantages in the succession than the Ninth Prince.

If the Sixth Prince ascended the throne as Emperor, there would be no need to go to the trouble of finding pretexts. The moment Han Linfeng made a wrong move at court, the Emperor-Sixth Prince would have grounds enough to deal with him.

And if the Ninth Prince took the throne, the prospects were no brighter. Given the fervor of that newly-wed Princess Rui, she would likely first find a way to dispose of this inconvenient blind woman, and then set her mind to taking revenge on Han Linfeng.

Looking at it that way, Han Linfeng’s composure was perhaps appropriate after all. When death approached from every direction, one might as well carry oneself with equanimity and savor whatever remained of one’s days.

After hearing Su Luoyun finish this line of reasoning, Han Linfeng gave a muffled laugh. Then, gradually, his expression grew more serious. He said softly: “I have been inadequate — always letting you be at another’s mercy. If that day truly comes, you need not worry. I will make certain to arrange things for you first, so that you will not be implicated by association with me…”

Su Luoyun was silent for a moment, then said quietly: “You are now a man with a family. I hope you will be careful in all your words and actions. Unless you are certain beyond all doubt, never take risks.”

She understood clearly: though this man was currently without power, privately looked down upon and dismissed, he was not the kind to remain confined to a shallow pool for long. She simply did not know whether, in the midst of these encircling dangers, he would ultimately soar into the sky — or be cut down and cast into the depths.

She believed Han Linfeng’s reassurance. But what she hoped for even more was that the day when he would need to make hasty arrangements for her would never come.

So what she could do was urge him to weigh everything carefully and refrain from taking risks.

Han Linfeng’s smile deepened, and he gradually tightened his arm, drawing her toward him, saying in a low voice: “It is a pity I have no heir yet. If you could…”

Before he could finish the sentence, the arm encircling her was knocked firmly away. Su Luoyun rose to her feet. Her tone was cool: “You are a capable man — the matter of heirs is nothing you need others to worry over on your behalf. You have been idle at the manor too long these days. To spare those ladies any more gossip about me using feminine wiles to keep you from your duties — please go to your office at once, Shizi, and do something worthwhile with your time.”

Han Linfeng knew she had not yet fully let go of her anger, and knowing he was in the wrong, he was not in a position to shamelessly persist in trying to wheedle his way back into the room.

As for what she had meant by saying he was capable and need not trouble anyone else over the matter of children — he turned that remark over in his mind as he rose, changed clothes, and departed for his official duties.

After Han Linfeng left, the physician arrived to perform acupuncture on Su Luoyun. This physician had been personally retained by Han Linfeng specifically to treat Su Luoyun’s eyes — he was said to have particular skill in conditions of blood stagnation.

Su Luoyun had been receiving regular acupuncture treatments for some time now, and her headaches had eased considerably. As for the prospect of recovering her sight, she did not allow herself to hope too greatly.

After all, where there is no hope, there can be no disappointment.

Yet every time the physician completed the treatment, the sensation of blood flowing freely through her was deeply soothing. Sometimes, Su Luoyun would even use that comfortable feeling to catch a brief nap afterward.

Winter had now set in. The previous night had seen a rare and early snowfall, and although the courtyard had been swept promptly, the ground remained difficult to walk on.

Su Luoyun had no intention of going out for a walk. And since she had not slept well the night before, she was just drifting toward drowsiness when she was informed that her father, Su Hongmeng, had arrived again.

Su Hongmeng had been coming to see his daughter rather frequently of late, with no apparent regard for the impropriety of a father-in-law constantly visiting his son-in-law’s household.

His frequent visits came, as usual, with something to ask of her.

That widowed woman of the Xie family, who had previously thought herself too refined for such a match, had watched the Su family’s fortunes rise steadily and feared she might miss her window of opportunity — and so she had once again sent a matchmaker to convey that she was willing to marry Su Hongmeng after all.

Su Hongmeng, flush with pride since his son had entered the Hanlin Academy, had initially looked down upon the Xie widow.

But after much deliberation, he came to realize that his son’s modest official post barely made a ripple among the princes and generals of the capital — it carried little real authority, and the salary was a meager thing.

Whereas the Xie widow’s younger brother was apparently about to be promoted and transferred elsewhere, his future prospects looking quite bright. Weighing everything on both sides, Su Hongmeng decided the Xie widow was a match he would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

And so the two of them, each at a middle-aged juncture in life, settled into a late partnership.

This late-blooming union yielded an unexpected flowering: the Xie widow, less than three months after entering the household, discovered she was with child.

Su Caijian was far from pleased, and found herself unable to get along with this stepmother. The Xie woman, for her part, feared that this new pregnancy — barely begun — might be affected by unpleasant relations with her stepdaughter, and made the excuse of severe morning sickness and a craving for her own mother’s home cooking, urging Su Hongmeng to take her back to her family home for a temporary stay.

The brothers Su Jincheng and Su Jinguan, having held the mirror of the childhood examinations up to themselves, had discovered that scholarly pursuits were not their calling, and had been sent by Su Hongmeng to the family shop to learn the merchant trade.

If Su Hongmeng took his new wife away, the vast Su residence would be left with only Su Caijian alone in it.

The Xie woman flatly refused to allow him to bring his daughter along. So Su Hongmeng had no choice but to come to Su Luoyun and say: “You have done well for yourself now — married into a prosperous household, spending your days taking tea and reciting poetry with the wives of noble families. But do not forget your younger sister. Her marriage prospects have never been settled, and that falls to you to manage… I am busy these days taking my new wife back to her family home, and cannot spare the attention for her. How about letting her stay at your manor for a few days? It would broaden her horizons, and if you have any banquets or gatherings, you could take her along. As the saying goes, a elder sister is like a mother…”