The clamor of voices gradually faded as the carriage traveled a little further before coming to a stop.
Chen Qing’s voice came from outside, “Master, we’ve arrived.”
Nanny Su, who had been sitting against the carriage curtain, was the first to step down, followed by Gu Yanxi. When she moved to go forward and help her young mistress, she saw that the man had already extended his hand toward the person stepping out from inside the carriage.
Nanny Su made to move forward, but Chen Qing was faster, stepping in front of her and flashing her a toothy grin.
Hua Zhi first lifted her head to glance at her surroundings — she hadn’t expected to find herself at the foot of the city wall — then lowered her gaze to look at Gu Yanxi. Since she’d already come out with him, she couldn’t be bothered to stand on ceremony at this hour of the night, and placed her hand into his palm.
Gu Yanxi gripped it firmly, his other hand supporting her arm as he helped her down.
“Master Lu certainly has a flair for the unconventional.” Hua Zhi withdrew her hand, her smile carrying a hint of amusement. She had thought he would take her to release floating lanterns or stroll along the river or something of that sort.
Gu Yanxi raised an eyebrow and led her toward the stone steps. When he reached out to help her again, he found he had no opportunity at all — Hua Zhi had both hands lifting her skirts.
Not a single guard was to be seen on the city wall. Hua Zhi turned in a full circle, looking at everything within her field of vision. Where the city was lively and prosperous, lanterns flickered on and off; other parts had already been swallowed by darkness. What could be seen beyond the city gates was limited — only a faint white mist curling in the distance.
Hua Zhi laughed softly. “If an army were hidden beyond the city walls right now, would the guards be able to detect them?”
“There are garrison troops outside the city.”
“Can the garrison troops hold against men with the skills of those under Master Lu’s command?”
Gu Yanxi fell silent.
A strange satisfaction rose in Hua Zhi’s heart. As she’d always thought, making others uncomfortable made one feel better. “And if there were an upheaval beyond the city walls?”
A defense that had always been considered impregnable — and that had indeed never once failed — was made to seem riddled with gaps by Hua Zhi’s words alone. Yet Gu Yanxi could not deny that the possibility she described was not without basis. The fact that it had never happened before did not mean it never would.
Leading Hua Zhi toward the watchtower, Gu Yanxi asked, “In Hua Zhi’s view, what should be done?”
“I am merely a woman raised within the inner quarters — what would I know of such matters?”
“Hua Zhi, please don’t be so modest.”
“It isn’t modesty. I simply have a knack for finding fault.” It was a habit formed over years of being an executive. No matter how polished a proposal placed before her, she could always find something to pick at — yet once it passed and was put into practice, that project would invariably become a golden goose. “I am only good at doing business. As for everything else — different skills suit different people.”
Though the reasoning was perfectly sound, Gu Yanxi still felt that Hua Zhi was not quite as ignorant of this subject as she claimed.
“Though I could offer a suggestion.” Hua Zhi’s smile carried a hint of wicked amusement. “If even with Master Lu’s abilities he cannot breach these walls, then the city walls are secure.”
Gu Yanxi laughed despite himself. “There is no city wall in all the world that can keep me out. Hua Zhi, your standard is far too high.”
“Which is exactly why I said — I don’t understand these things.” Hua Zhi looked at the clean, unoccupied watchtower and thought to herself that this was actually a splendid place for a clandestine rendezvous — no fear of being caught in the act, and yet full of romantic atmosphere. Tsk, truly, her mind was full of nothing but cynical thoughts today.
She walked to the window and looked out. The moon cast its light over everything, and the hazy scene seemed to take on a coolness of its own — as though one could only see what lay immediately before them, and yet also as though one could see very, very far.
She stretched out her hand. Moonlight washed over it, and the restless, agitated feeling in her heart seemed to be soothed by that pale glow.
Yes — she should not be angry. No one in this world understood better than she how vast the world truly was. Not just the capital, not just the Great Qing Dynasty, not just the nations surrounding it — on the other side of the sea, civilizations existed as well, and beyond those, yet another civilization still. Compared to all of that, what was Hua Jing?
To quarrel with something so utterly beneath her — she was getting worse with age.
A weight settled on her shoulders. A pure white cloak draped across them. Hua Zhi turned to look at the man standing beside her. This man understood her in ways she hadn’t expected — which was why he had brought Shaoye to her side to lighten her mood, and then brought her up here to this watchtower. His methods might not have been the best, but he had put his heart into them.
Had she given him hope?
Hua Zhi turned her gaze back to the view beyond the city walls. She had clearly refused him, yet she kept accepting his kindness. How terrible of her.
She used to hear the saying “even a resolute woman fears a persistent man” and think nothing of it. Looking back now, she had truly been naive. Meeting someone as relentlessly persistent as Master Lu — even a nun would probably discard her robes for him.
She was no nun, and she could not withstand such persistence. Yet she genuinely didn’t want to entangle herself in matters of the heart. What was she to do?
“Master Lu, let us leave things between us as they are for now.”
“Alright.”
Hua Zhi looked at him, surprised by how readily he agreed.
Gu Yanxi adjusted the cloak around her, his voice carrying a trace of a smile. “I said it before — I’ll follow your lead. Besides, you didn’t refuse me this time, did you? That’s enough. I’m not in a hurry.”
He had waited twenty-four years for a person like this. He was truly not in the least bit impatient. And besides, he had no wish to press her at every step — Hua Zhi was someone who responded to gentleness, not force.
Hua Zhi leaned against the window frame and looked at him, then suddenly laughed. So be it, then. She had no desire to make things hard for herself. The matters she faced now had not yet reached a point that required her to sever all ties of the heart. What the future held — the future would tell.
Gu Yanxi smiled as well. Moonlight fell across both their faces, like a matched pair of figures.
Nanny Su was so anxious she was practically fuming, but Chen Qing was planted squarely at the foot of the stone stairs and she simply could not get past him. All she could do was pace back and forth in place, fretting uselessly.
Chen Qing watched in amusement and chuckled, “Nanny, you really don’t need to be so nervous. Our master is not the sort to be reckless — and with the young miss’s temperament, if he truly dared to try anything, wouldn’t she fight tooth and nail? Listen — not a sound.”
These words only made things worse. Nanny Su grew even more agitated in her heart. Her young miss was a girl alone — what could she do by fighting tooth and nail? Master Lu had originally been invited to the Hua Family by Wu the martial arts master!
Just as she was steeling herself to charge up with her old bones regardless, footsteps sounded from above. She looked up and saw her young miss — and judging by her calm expression and unharmed appearance, Nanny Su’s heart finally stopped pounding quite so violently.
Chen Qing grinned and stepped aside, winking at the old nanny as if to say: See? I told you I wasn’t lying.
Nanny Su had no attention to spare for him now and hurried up the last few steps to support her young miss.
“Don’t worry. Nothing happened.”
The carriage swayed and jolted all the way back to the Hua Family residence. Hua Zhi stepped down from the carriage and gave Gu Yanxi a slight curtsy.
Gu Yanxi caught her hands to stop her. “Tomorrow I’ll have Shaoye accompany you.”
“There’s no need for that. I’m not afraid of the Song Family. And Shaoye’s identity is known to quite a few people — I’d rather not be linked to Young Master Gu just yet.”
“Alright. As you wish.”
Every time she heard those words — as you wish — something in Hua Zhi’s heart softened. She didn’t know just how much he must value her, for a young master of his standing, the leader of the Seven Lodges Bureau, to be willing to defer to her in all things. It would be dishonest to say she wasn’t moved. She was not made of stone. And she had a feeling — if things continued this way, she might not truly be able to hold firm.
Yet, as she had said before — there were far too many people in this world who loved each other but could not be together. Between them lay too many complications, too many people. What the future held, who could say?