At that moment, Lord Beizhen, who had been thoroughly bewildered from the very start, began gradually to discern the shape of things.

He knew that his daughter-in-law was not a foolish or dim-witted person, yet today she had come uninvited and suddenly busied herself with bringing tea — that alone was suspicious.

Her rash interjection just now was likewise unlike her customary manner.

The prince decided to simply go along with Su Luoyun’s lead and follow the current where it flowed, to see what miraculous remedy this daughter-in-law of his had hidden within her gourd.

At that moment, Inspector Meng, who had been largely silent, also spoke: “Since that is the case, we would still like to invite the two of you to come with us.”

Wang Mao, certain he had the situation entirely in hand, was not afraid that a mere woman could disrupt his plans, and so he gave a cold snort of assent and agreed to proceed.

Before departing, however, Wang Mao’s men, under the pretext of conducting a thorough investigation by imperial mandate, also made a careful search of the prince’s residence’s private storerooms, rummaging and turning things over in a manner that was little short of a raid.

Su Luoyun stood quietly behind Lord Beizhen, watching his hands, clasped behind his back, gripped tightly together — trembling ever so slightly from the force of it…

Once an heir to the imperial throne, now reduced to being freely manipulated by minor inspectors — the humiliation of that, one could well imagine.

Yet when Inspector Wang received his subordinates’ report that nothing irregular had been found, Lord Beizhen slowly loosened his hands, and said to the two inspectors with cool composure: “Liangzhou, where we are, is a famously impoverished region — the soil is poor and yields little. Though I have my granted estate lands, my household’s means are not particularly abundant. I fear we have caused the two inspectors to laugh at us.”

Wang Mao’s smile carried a meaning that was not easily read: “Your Lordship is too modest. While the prince’s residence may favor a frugal manner of living, the Shizi’s supply camp — now that is a true mountain of gold and hidden treasury!”

Lord Beizhen, hearing these words, glanced without apparent intent at Su Luoyun standing behind him.

His daughter-in-law maintained the same composed and serene demeanor as always — unhurried and untroubled.

And so the company left the residence, boarded carriages, and made their way to the Qianxi supply camp.

When Su Luoyun was helped down from the carriage, she saw several of the inspector officials standing before the camp gate — its entrance veiled in drifting yellow dust — waiting to receive the two inspectors.

Among them, a young man of refined and handsome features had been staring fixedly at Su Luoyun from the moment she stepped out of the carriage.

When Su Luoyun raised her eyes, her gaze met his by chance — and she could not help but pause.

For this young man was none other than Lu Shi, the son of the Lu family, who had once been very nearly engaged to her.

It turned out that his younger sister, Lu Lingxiu, had married Lv Ying, a guard serving the Sixth Prince. And Lu Shi himself had performed well in the subsequent imperial examinations, managed to cultivate a connection through the Sixth Prince’s close associates, and had since been working under the Sixth Prince as a civil aide.

Having proved himself steady and reliable in his work, Lu Shi had earned a measure of the Sixth Prince’s recognition.

In this investigation into the Qianxi supply camp affair, the Sixth Prince had dispatched Lu Shi to assist Wang Mao in supervising the matter — which was in truth a way of placing his own trusted informant on the inside.

Lu Shi had married earlier in the year, taking as his wife the daughter of a seventh-rank court official in the capital.

His earlier connection to Su Luoyun was something the Lu family would never so much as mention. And the Sixth Prince had no idea that the minor aide he had sent was an old acquaintance of the Beizhen Shizi’s consort.

Lu Shi and a few other civil aides had been sent ahead by Wang Mao to inventory the silver in the camp — and he had never imagined he would encounter at the camp gate the beautiful woman who had wandered through his dreams so many times over…

For a moment he stood blank and at a loss, not knowing what to say. The slender beauty he remembered from the past seemed, in the harsh wilds of Liangzhou, to have filled out with a graceful fullness, her figure more gently curved and shapely than before.

It was only when Su Luoyun cast him a somewhat cool and distant glance that Lu Shi caught himself in his impropriety, and hastily lowered his head to greet the two inspectors.

Yet almost immediately, another thought struck him: her eyes… how could she see?

He quickly looked up again, and saw that as she spoke with Lord Beizhen, her eyes moved fluidly and with animation, no longer the fixed and unfocused stare of before. Her steps were light and easy, requiring no one’s assistance — it was indeed the appearance of restored sight.

In that instant, Lu Shi felt first a surge of gladness on Su Luoyun’s behalf, followed by a quiet, dull ache — how cruel fate could be!

If Su Luoyun had not lost her sight by that misfortune all those years ago, he would long since have been united with her as a devoted couple. How had it come to this, where in order to avoid suspicion, old acquaintances who met again must feign not to recognize one another?

He was married now, but it had been in obedience to his parents’ wishes, entered into with a spirit of resigned acceptance. The wife who had come to his household was correct in appearance and conduct, proper in her manners — yet after exchanging a few words with her each time, he invariably found nothing more to say.

That trembling of the heart he had been unable to conceal in his younger years whenever he encountered Su Luoyun seemed to have dissipated along with those carefree days of youth, vanishing without a trace.

And Su Luoyun had been played even more cruelly by fate — not only losing her sight, but being forced into marriage with that ignorant and worthless Han Linfeng, and now entangled in this sordid affair of alleged rebel collusion.

For a moment, Lu Shi felt something catch in his throat. He could only think: if Han Linfeng were found guilty, he would certainly appeal to the Sixth Prince for clemency, to find Su Luoyun an innocent woman some way out…

At that moment, the officials responsible for the count came forward to report: “We respectfully report to the two inspectors — the floors of those silver storehouses are covered with stone rubble painted over with silver lacquer, with refined silver laid on top, so the quantity appeared very great, filling several storehouses. After removing the stones and conducting our count, the total comes to two thousand taels.”

Inspector Meng took one of the silver ingots from a tray that the officers brought forward, and upon examining the underside of the ingot, found inscribed there, exactly as described, the three characters “Shou Xiang Zhai” in an intricate, flourished pattern.

It appeared that what the Shizi’s consort had said was true. For all the storeroom doors bore sealed notices, with dates on them marking the time the silver had been deposited — there was no possibility of a last-minute substitution.

As for the source of these two thousand taels, since they had passed through a money house, tracing their origin would be straightforward. If they proved to be genuinely capital banknotes exchanged at a branch, then insisting they were a gift from northern rebels would be a stretch too far.

To go rushing off to interrogate a descendant of the late saintly and virtuous Emperor on such inadequately verified grounds would, moreover, be decidedly improper.

Yet Wang Mao was still not ready to abandon his efforts, and pressed on: “Setting aside the matter of the silver for the moment — how do you account for Cao Sheng’s appearance at the Huicheng money house?”

“If the inspector has questions, he may come directly to me. Why go the roundabout way of troubling my elderly father and my wife?”

At that moment, someone called out, a clear and resonant voice accompanying the sound of hoofbeats — and a tall, upright figure came galloping forward on horseback, then reined in sharply and leapt down from the saddle with easy grace.

Su Luoyun turned to look, and there before her stood a man in full military dress.

The dark, scaled fish-pattern shoulder armor made the man’s frame look all the more powerfully built; the martial bearing it lent his handsome face was striking beyond measure, and the narrow-waisted silhouette carved out by his lion-fang belt buckle was as straight and precise as a plumb line.

When the man dismounted with that crisp, practiced ease, the slanted-cut leather-soled tall boots made his long legs look lean and powerful, and the breastplate mirror on his chest caught the light so brilliantly that it was almost difficult to keep one’s eyes open.

This was none other than Han Linfeng, just returned from the front lines.

Su Luoyun’s eyes flew wide open as she stared fixedly at the handsome man swinging down from the saddle, and suddenly recalled the words Xiangcao had once used to praise Han Linfeng — that he was a beauty in military dress.

She drew in a long, quiet breath: Xiangcao had not deceived her in the slightest. The Shizi in his battle armor truly carried an entirely different manner — the imposing, vigorous bearing of a seasoned soldier — utterly unlike the man she knew in his everyday clothes. It was as though two completely different people stood before her.

Such a fine-looking man — and he was her husband! Su Luoyun felt almost that having only two eyes was a regret. No matter how long she looked, she could not seem to look enough.

This was the first time since her sight had been restored that she had seen Han Linfeng in military dress, and she had never imagined he possessed this quality of iron bones and steel sinew, this aura of martial severity and contained power.

And so Su Luoyun stood there in a stupor, so thoroughly dazed that she quite forgot the proper etiquette of greeting her husband.

Han Linfeng caught a glimpse of that little fox standing there in a blank daze and felt a surge of warm amusement.

By his count, they had not seen each other for nearly a month. A few days apart, and somehow she had grown even more luminously fair and gently rounded — how was that possible?

But what did she mean, standing there staring at him like that? Surely after all this time apart, she had not forgotten what he looked like?

If this were not a military camp, and if there were not so many people around to ruin the moment, he would truly have liked to scoop her up and kiss her soft, fragrant, delicate cheeks to his heart’s content…

But for now, the troublesome inspector standing before him needed to be dealt with first.

And so Han Linfeng cupped his hands in salute and said: “I heard the inspectors had come to oversee the camp, and made a special journey back from the forward encampment. May I ask what instructions the two gentlemen have for me?”

Wang Mao had previously accompanied Wang Yun on an inspection visit to the Qianxi supply camp, and had caught a glimpse of Han Linfeng on that occasion.

But the Shizi in his memory had been a man who carried himself in a careless, slipshod manner even in his military dress.

Seeing him again now, for some reason Wang Mao could not quite place, Han Linfeng seemed like an entirely changed person — carrying about him an air of martial severity, a surging, ferocious energy as though he had just charged through rivers of blood and walls of fire.

And Lu Shi, standing behind him, also startled — the man in his memory, with his elaborately dressed hair and face paint, wearing a brightly-colored peony robe… bore no resemblance whatsoever to the commanding figure before him now, whose authority needed no anger to assert itself.

For a moment, Lu Shi had very nearly failed to recognize who this person was.

It was only when Su Luoyun walked over to the man and, without any pretense of avoidance, drew close to murmur something in his ear, that Lu Shi suddenly understood… this person was actually the Shizi Han!

Han Linfeng, though wearing a smile on his face, showed nothing of it in his eyes. The aura he carried was deeply oppressive.

After saying a few quiet words to Su Luoyun, he led the several large, powerfully-built soldiers behind him in military dress forward toward Wang Mao in broad strides, his gaze carrying a needling edge and wrapped in an air of cold authority that made those before him involuntarily shrink by three measures.

Wang Mao could not help but lower his voice slightly, maintaining an accommodating smile: “Please do not misunderstand, Supply Officer. We are simply here under His Majesty’s orders to investigate the truth of the matter raised in the confidential letter. Everything that has transpired here, Inspector Meng and I will report faithfully and leave to His Majesty to decide… Someone claims to have seen Cao Sheng in Huicheng. How would you explain that?”

Han Linfeng smiled slightly, then turned and beckoned with his hand. A well-built, sturdy man stepped forward from Han Linfeng’s saddlebag, produced a false beard and pigments, and proceeded to apply them to his own face — affixing the beard, and dabbing on the pigments — until, when he turned around, his appearance had been transformed: he bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Cao Sheng from the wanted notice.

“I devised the Wild Boar Ridge stratagem together with General Zhao, and in order to lure the bandit Qiu Zhen into the trap, we had a man disguise himself as Cao Sheng to appear at the Huicheng money house, while borrowing two thousand taels of refined silver from my wife to stage this entire performance. We simply did not anticipate that the performance would seem so convincing — not only were we able to deceive Qiu Zhen, but we also managed to deceive the two honored inspectors here. Whoever wrote that confidential letter was truly quite attentive — and whoever was willing to take such a fantastical letter at face value… was even more so!”

Wang Mao was left momentarily speechless. Inspector Meng Xingxue, however, took up the thread: “I see. If this has all been a misunderstanding, then we will naturally report the matter faithfully to His Majesty. Please be at ease, Shizi — do not let this divert your attention, and do continue to assist General Zhao in repelling the rebels.”

After these exchange of polished courtesies, the two inspectors led their men out of the camp.

Yet as Lu Shi was following the inspectors toward the exit, Han Linfeng’s sharp eye caught sight of him.

At first he merely felt a vague sense of familiarity, and after a moment’s reflection, recalled that this was Su Luoyun’s old acquaintance… Lu Shi? What was he doing here as well?

Although the two inspectors had departed, Lord Beizhen’s expression remained overcast. It was clear he intended to settle accounts with his son, and so he turned to Han Linfeng and said: “Come into the tent and speak with me.”

With that, father and son entered the tent together. Su Luoyun did not follow close behind, but sat outside the tent’s entrance gazing at the distant mountain scenery. Faintly, however, she could still make out the sound of the two men arguing in deliberately lowered voices within.

After a while, father and son finally emerged from the tent. Su Luoyun looked carefully at their expressions — neither appeared particularly pleased. Yet after looking Han Linfeng up and down, she could see no sign that he had received another caning from his father this time.

Lord Beizhen’s anger had not fully subsided. Watching Su Luoyun scrutinize her husband’s face and arms with such careful attention, he could not help but say: “What are you looking at? Worried that after having a conversation with me, he’d be missing an arm or a leg?”

Su Luoyun lowered her head slightly and pressed her lips together without a word.

Lord Beizhen gave another cold snort: “No wonder the two of you, a pair of mismatched souls, managed to take a liking to each other — you are truly rivals in audacity, each one bolder than the last!”

What the prince was furious about was that the husband and wife had concealed things from him, leaving him so thoroughly unprepared. And so both Han Linfeng and Su Luoyun had no choice but to stand and receive their father’s scolding in submission.

After Han Linfeng had seen his father and Su Luoyun safely back to the prince’s residence, he followed his father back to the study, and the two of them spoke privately behind closed doors for a considerable time.

Su Luoyun instructed the maidservants in the courtyard to prepare hot water and towels for washing up, and had someone prepare a late-night snack — ready for when Han Linfeng returned, so they might warm his stomach together.

He had been riding hard all the way back — he must certainly have missed all three meals at their proper times again!

When Han Linfeng finally returned to his own rooms, Su Luoyun could not help but throw her arms around him at once — and for a moment found herself with nothing she wished to say.

Han Linfeng held her tightly in return, and said softly: “Today’s ordeal — did it frighten you?”

Wang Mao, at first glance, was plainly the sort who bullied the gentle and cowered before the strong. While he had not been here, there was no telling how that man had been trying to intimidate Su Luoyun.

Su Luoyun gave a small laugh and said reassuringly: “With Father-in-law right there beside me, even if he had wanted to frighten me, he would not have had the opportunity!”

Han Linfeng cupped her face in his hands, and said with genuine feeling: “The old saying has it that in choosing a wife, choose one of worthy character. How true that is. It is a good thing you thought of this step in advance — stopping me from using Elder Brother Cao’s banknotes, and having You Shanyue exchange them for Shou Xiang Zhai notes instead, with stones added for bulk. If not for that, whoever wrote that accusation letter would have hit the mark precisely!”

Su Luoyun, too, felt a lingering chill of retrospective fear. She had been raised in a merchant family, and understood that silver had no name attached to it — but banknotes could have their origin traced.

Although it had been necessary, in order to lure Qiu Zhen into the trap, to create the appearance of Cao Sheng’s defection, if any flaw had been left for someone with ulterior motives to seize upon, the consequences would have been dire.

Su Luoyun nestled against his broad chest and said: “I fear the people who came were anything but friendly. When I was leaving the capital, Lu Lingxiu came to see me off and mentioned that her brother had gone into the Sixth Prince’s service. Now the Sixth Prince’s own personal subordinate has turned up here — that alone shows how seriously the Sixth Prince regards this matter. If it were merely an ordinary case of embezzlement and conspiracy, there would be no need to mobilize such forces. They have already drawn their sword, and now that it has failed to draw blood — how could they simply let the matter rest? And furthermore… given all of this, in order to avoid danger, Commander Cao’s hope of bringing the rebel army to surrender and amnesty… has it not once again become a lost cause?”

Han Linfeng knew that every word she said was not idle worry.

Yet for now, he needed to set aside these worldly entanglements for a moment and attend to something more pressing: “Comparing me to Lu Shi — how do I measure up?”

Ah? Su Luoyun’s mind was still submerged in its anxious contemplation of affairs of state, and she genuinely could not make out what Han Linfeng wished to compare with Lu Shi.

She blinked her eyes and asked cautiously: “Which aspect did you want to compare?”

Han Linfeng cast his handsome eyes downward, and said without a flicker of embarrassment: “Naturally — in bearing and manner of speech, which one is more pleasing to your eye?”

When Su Luoyun had previously seen Qiu Zhen’s severed head covered in sword wounds, and heard from Qingyang that they had all been left there by the Shizi himself, she had puzzled over why each slash went so deep it seemed to reach the bone.

Now, hearing Han Linfeng actually propose to measure himself against the young Lord Lu from the capital in terms of good looks, she found herself genuinely at a loss for words.

The jealousy of men — truly on par with a serpent’s venom!

This man who ordinarily appeared refined and self-contained, projecting an air of complete composure even if the sky were to fall — and yet his mind proved to be as narrow as the eye of a needle!

Even if the young Lord Lu truly surpassed him in appearance, she would not dare say so!

Otherwise, this old acquaintance making a journey through the north would be certain to return home thoroughly disfigured.

Han Linfeng watched as she came out of her daze and then openly looked him up and down with that mischievously alert expression of hers.

He could not help but press his forehead against hers, and with a deliberately stern face asked: “Well? Is it so difficult to answer?”

Su Luoyun suppressed her laughter with great effort, and deliberately knit her brows in a show of careful deliberation: “I am afraid that if I say it, you will go and slash someone’s face again… Aie, all right, I was wrong — the husband I married is the most beautiful man under heaven, even Pan An returned to life could not compare… Aie! Stop tickling me — mercy, mercy — ha ha ha ha…”

This person had gone straight for the most ticklish spot on her, sending her laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath.

Now, back in the other part of the residence, the Princely Consort had been in a state of agitation all evening because of the inspectors who had come to the prince’s residence — the interrogations, the ransacking of the private storerooms — and now, after waiting so long for the prince to return, he had come back with a darkened face and would not speak.

Growing increasingly anxious, the Princely Consort decided not to wait for a maidservant to call anyone, and dragged her ailing body toward her son’s quarters to get a clear answer herself.

Yet before she had even entered the courtyard, she heard coming from within the rooms the sound of Su Luoyun’s clear, bell-like laughter, mingled with Han Linfeng’s low voice and quiet laughter in conversation.

The young couple were in the midst of their playful reverie, and for her as the official mother to go barging in at such a moment would obviously be most untimely.

The Princely Consort came to a standstill just outside the courtyard wall, caught between advancing and retreating, and could only withdraw and make her way back.

As she walked, she could not help but complain to the old servant woman at her side: “The father of this household looks as though the family is about to be executed and wiped out, wearing the face of someone at a funeral — while the young ones are merrily carrying on as if they haven’t a care in the world about what day it is! They’re not even newlyweds anymore — why are they still so inseparably attached to each other? One worrying himself to death with worry, the other reveling in joy without a thought — aiyoh, my head…”

Having gone through all that exertion for nothing, the Princely Consort found her head even heavier than before, and wanted only to return to her bed and lie down.

The following morning, however, Su Luoyun received a letter from an old acquaintance.

Looking at that once-familiar handwriting, she knew it was written by Lu Shi. Yet the man she had married had a narrow mind, and knowing about her past connection with Lu Shi, to read it behind his back would obviously be improper.

And so the still-sealed letter was handed by Su Luoyun directly into Han Linfeng’s hands.

Han Linfeng had just gotten up and was eating a bowl of pork liver congee with pickled vegetable accompaniment. He ate his meal while picking up the letter, turning it over to examine it, then raised an eyebrow to look at Su Luoyun.

Su Luoyun said: “I’m giving it to you to look at — as proof that the letter was not opened. I’ll take it and burn it in a moment.”

Han Linfeng said mildly: “Since it was written to you, what harm is there in reading it?”

Su Luoyun noticed that this Shizi, except when it came to his own appearance — where he showed a slight lack of confidence — was in all other matters exceedingly self-assured.

Since he put it that way, she opened the letter right there in front of him. The letter made no mention of any youthful affection between the two of them, but was full of earnest, heartfelt counsel: since Su Luoyun refused to stand on unstable ground, she should understand that uncut jade must not be left to grow in the mire.

The Beizhen Prince’s residence was this time embroiled in a deeply serious affair. Lu Shi hoped she would find a way to extricate herself early, otherwise she would sooner or later be dragged down by the prince’s residence’s troubles. Even if the Shizi refused to let her go, she should for the time being find some pretext to return to the capital under the guise of visiting family. When the time came, he would find a way to ensure her safety and wellbeing.

Having read it through, Su Luoyun only felt a surge of relief — how fortunate that the Shizi had not read the letter, because a page full of words urging a parting of husband and wife would surely have offended the narrow-minded man all over again.

But before she had even time to breathe a sigh of relief, two long fingers had reached out and plucked the letter clean away from her hand.

Han Linfeng read through it at a glance, then slowly lowered the letter and said: “He is advising you to dissolve the marriage? Does he have a death wish?”

Su Luoyun at once snatched back the letter: “I said let’s not read it, and you insisted — now you want to make trouble… But what he says — does it not mean that the case of alleged rebel collusion has still not been closed?”

If the situation were not grave, Lu Shi would never have been so reckless as to write such a warning letter to a married woman.

Han Linfeng lowered his eyes and said: “The Prince of Hengshan has long harbored suspicions of me, and I fear he has now made up his mind to root me out entirely. This case is a fine opportunity — naturally he will make full use of it.”

As a prince of Great Wei, if he wished to falsely condemn a border supply officer — even if that officer were a kinsman of the imperial family — it would be an effortless matter.

And so it mattered little whether that silver was really from the rebels or not. So long as the Beizhen Prince’s residence could be linked to the rebel faction, the Sixth Prince would have more than enough to work with.

Su Luoyun was quiet for a moment, then gripped his hand with resolve: “We cannot simply sit and wait to be destroyed… I will right away commission someone to sell my shops. Then I will hire a sea vessel. The world is not made of Great Wei alone — at the ends of the earth, across every horizon, there will surely be a place for us.”

She spoke with complete sincerity. Han Linfeng’s heart warmed, and he could not help but draw this endearing little woman into his arms.

This time, though her first instinct had again been to flee — along with her treasured golden pillow, she had also thought to take him with her when she ran.

That was more heartening to him than any promotion or honor could ever be.

Yet Han Linfeng had no intention of fleeing. The world was indeed vast — but what wrong had he committed? Simply because the blood of the late saintly and virtuous Emperor flowed in his veins, was he to spend a lifetime cowering in fear, left to the world’s mockery?

At that thought, he said slowly: “If we fled — what of your younger brother? He has already been betrothed; the trouble would certainly implicate nine generations of kin. Can you guarantee that every person you care about can board the ship without harm, and will willingly follow you to the ends of the earth?”

Su Luoyun was stopped cold by the question. Because just now, she had not thought of her brother at all — her mind had been entirely consumed with the safety of the man before her.

Han Linfeng could not help but lower his head to kiss the small woman who stood there in a blank daze, and then said: “A fat and foolish sheep or a timid hare can naturally be slaughtered at will by anyone. But when the thing being hunted grows sharp teeth and deadly claws, those who come to hunt it must consider whether their men and blades are sufficient… I cannot remain forever a hare or a lamb. Only, every step forward from here will certainly be drenched in wind and blood, and the road ahead is long.”

Su Luoyun listened quietly, her voice carrying a note of quiet melancholy: “But your supply camp has only five hundred or so men — how are you to become a beast that strikes fear into others?”