Under ordinary circumstances, Qinglan would never have attended Cui Jingyu’s banquet under any circumstances today.

If he wanted to flaunt himself, let him flaunt. Four years of war, and he’d won his marquisate — but his manner had grown as arrogant as his rank. What did it matter if every young lady in the capital came scrambling to compete for his hand? He had his own path to glory; Qinglan had her own world, wide as the sky.

In front of the family, Qinglan was the steady, composed elder sister. But even she had a stubborn streak behind closed doors. Fine — bridges would be bridges and roads would be roads from here on out. The Tonghua Du banquet years ago, the betrothal — all of it could be written off as youthful foolishness. And so what if it had gone forward? Being young husband and wife meant nothing. Shen Yunze had been a young husband too, and he’d still spent his nights at banquets with colleagues and courtesans, composing poetry until dawn, never once coming home.

So it was plain that men were no good.

Qinglan sat by the window embroidering, her face calm as still water, yet inside, wave after wave rose and fell. Stripped of the steady elder sister her family relied on, she was no more than a woman not yet twenty-four, who had shared in her friend’s complaints about men, and who felt unsettled by Cui Jingyu’s spiteful gesture.

But what unsettled her more was still to come.

Outside the window, a sudden commotion broke out — the sound of someone rushing in. Yang Niangzi was startled. Qinglan frowned and sat up.

“Chun Ming, go and see what’s happening outside.”

Before she finished speaking, someone had already rushed in — Yang Niangzi, with a look of frantic distress on her face.

“Young miss, Liu Ji has come back with word that the second young miss was mistreated at Cui’s estate during the Marquis Investiture Banquet. He came back as fast as he could to tell you, young miss…”

Qinglan was on her feet in an instant, not even pausing to properly fasten her shoes. Chun Ming was quick-witted and immediately came forward to help her change. She called to the smaller maidservants: “Jinghe, go fetch the young miss’s outer coat. A’Bi, go and get her hair ornaments…”

“Never mind styling my hair.” Qinglan had been through enough moments like this. “Yang Niangzi, go tell Uncle Yang the Fifth to hitch the carriage. Chun Ming, bring my snow cap — I can leave as soon as I’ve changed!”

It was no wonder the ladies were wary of Madam Wei. On this idle afternoon between the noon banquet and the evening one, if Madam Wei had any thought for appearances, she should have been mingling properly with the guests. Instead, egged on by Lu Wenyin, she had spent the whole time holding Cui Jingyu in conversation. As the afternoon wind turned cool, the seats at the watchtower were cleared and the ladies moved to the Glass Pavilion facing the opera stage to drink tea, watch the performance, and enjoy refreshments. Madam Wei had already claimed the head table with Lu Wenyin, and yet she was still going on with Cui Jingyu about the evening’s arrangements, while Wei Leshui hovered at his side the entire time. In the eyes of the other ladies, this was no different from the Wei family treating Cui Jingyu as already theirs.

The Grand Princess had not come in person but had sent a female official in her stead — her most trusted attendant, Official Su, who was rather young and had come more as a ceremonial presence. She naturally did not open her mouth on matters that were not her concern. The Princess Consort of Pingjun had come; the Dowager Princess of Liang was absent. The Princess Consort of Pingjun placed considerable reliance on Lu Wenyin as well, so there was no one to step in and break things up, and Madam Wei and Lu Wenyin were left to chat away uninterrupted with Wei Leshui and Lu Wanyang.

Cui Jingyu was cold of face and colder of heart. He went along out of deference to Madam Wei, visibly unenthusiastic, but water wears away stone. Lu Wanyang was so remarkable in manner and bearing that the ladies could not help but grow anxious, yet not one of them had an opening to speak, and whenever one tried, Lu Wenyin deflected her. The tension was truly vexing.

Others were troubled enough, but Madam He was near to burning with impatience. Several other ladies from prominent families were also silently gnashing their teeth, listening to that exchange carry on — question, answer, question, answer. The air was taut as a bowstring. Then a cry shattered the deadlock.

“Marquis Cui! Madam Wei! Please go save my young miss!” A maidservant with clear, pretty features burst directly into the banquet hall. She threw herself to her knees before the Marquis, her face streaked with tears, looking utterly wretched. “My young miss has been locked up by Miss Chen and Madam Xue!”

Cui Jingyu had been standing to one side conversing with Madam Wei. At the sight of Xiao Liu’er like this, his brow immediately furrowed. “What happened to Ye Lingbo?”

“Our young miss has been locked inside an empty room in the northern courtyard,” Xiao Liu’er said. Though she appeared thoroughly frightened and her tears flowed freely, every word she spoke was clear and distinct, and the entire hall of ladies heard every one of them. That was not all. She caught sight of Lu Wenyin beside Madam Wei and made straight for her, falling to her knees to plead: “Madam Chen, please, please let our young miss go. Miss Chen said she was doing this to avenge you. Our young miss didn’t offend you on purpose — please show mercy!”

Even with all Lu Wenyin’s formidable cunning, she was thrown into disarray at that.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Who’s plotting against your young miss? What does any of this have to do with me?” With Xiao Liu’er clinging to her legs, her brows rose in fury, and she was about to kick her free — then she caught the look on Cui Jingyu’s face and immediately thought better of it.

“What exactly happened? Tell me from the beginning — don’t go making false accusations.” Lu Wanyang stepped forward with a slight frown. She was gentle and gracious in everyday manner, yet at a critical moment she could be remarkably composed. She shot a quick glance at the nearby maidservants, and Lu Wenyin’s attendants finally caught on, rushing to drag Xiao Liu’er away.

But Xiao Liu’er was exceedingly nimble and immediately darted behind Cui Jingyu, pleading: “There’s no time for explanations, my lord Marquis — my young miss is still locked in the northern courtyard. It’s so dark and cold in there. Please, I beg you, go save her!”

Wherever there is excitement, people will always gather. All the more so at the most talked-about Marquis Investiture Banquet in the capital, which was also a Flower Selection Banquet, with ladies from every prominent family in attendance. With something this dramatic unfolding, not only did those already at the table come running — even those who had been strolling outside in the snow came when they heard the news. The whole crowd swept in force toward the northern courtyard.

The northern courtyard was not far from the warm hall where they had been watching the opera. Cui Jingyu naturally led the way, with Madam Wei, Lu Wenyin, and the others hurrying close behind. On the path they ran directly into a party heading in the opposite direction — none other than Chen Mengliu, Yang Qiaozhen, and the rest, looking thoroughly guilty. At the sight of the larger group, their panic only deepened.

“There they are!” Xiao Liu’er leaped forward to point them out. “Miss Chen struck my young miss, then Madam Xue said it wasn’t worth it, and they locked my young miss in — I ran fast enough that they couldn’t catch me…”

Chen Mengliu was both flustered and furious. When she heard that accusation, she erupted at once: “You insolent little wretch, what lies are you telling?” She lunged forward to slap her, but a figure in a dark brocade robe stepped between them.

As reckless as Chen Mengliu was, she still knew to rein herself in before Cui Jingyu. She checked her temper. “My lord, don’t listen to this little servant girl spreading slander. I never mistreated Ye Lingbo…”

“Whether you did or not, we’ll know when we’ve found the second young miss Ye.” Cui Jingyu’s expression was cold as ice. He addressed Madam Wei’s head matron: “Madam Huang, escort Miss Chen and Madam Xue with us. We’ll all go to the northern courtyard together and see for ourselves.”

There was no need to even enter the northern courtyard. The moment they reached it, Ye Lingbo’s cries for help could already be heard. The whole northern courtyard was pitch-dark, cold and dismal, and the sight stirred a pang of pity in the ladies present. Madam Wei quickly called out, “Someone, bring lights!”

The servants hurried over with lanterns and candles. Cui Jingyu found them too slow and took up a lantern himself, holding it out in front of the small pavilion from which the sounds were coming. There, on the door, hung a brand-new copper lock.

“That lock wasn’t put there by me…” Chen Mengliu immediately began to protest, but Cui Jingyu fixed her with a cold look, and she fell silent at once.

“Please, Miss Chen, hand over the key.” Xiao Liu’er implored. Chen Mengliu looked at her as though a vengeful ghost had latched onto her and hastily stepped back. “I don’t have a key.”

“Then the key must be with Madam Chen.” Xiao Liu’er turned to plead with Lu Wenyin. Lu Wenyin’s brows flew up in fury. “Don’t go making wild accusations — where’s your proof that I have it?”

“Lu Wenyin, stop pretending.” Lingbo’s voice drifted out from inside, unhurried. “Why else would Chen Mengliu come looking for trouble with me out of nowhere if not at your direction? Have you not caused my family enough grief? Besides, your Chen Mengliu has already confessed. What are you still fighting for? If they find the key on you when they search, it’ll be too late to admit it then.”

“How dare you! Who would dare search me?” Lu Wenyin snapped back on instinct, then immediately realized how guilty it sounded. Her fury turned to desperation as she turned to the assembled crowd. “Listen to her — does she sound like someone who’s been mistreated? What manner of young lady gets locked up and stays perfectly calm? Clearly this is fabricated.”

The ladies, naturally, smiled and said nothing. Those who caught her eye nodded in token agreement, but what they truly thought was another matter entirely.

“Of course. I’m no good at playing the victim, and I have no taste for making false accusations. You needn’t trouble yourselves to stand up for me — everyone may as well disperse.” Lingbo’s unhurried voice came through the door.

Had Lingbo acted like women typically did in household disputes — feigning panic, pretending to faint, or even weeping a little — the ladies would have grown suspicious that it was premeditated. But precisely because she was so composed, so utterly without any appearance of playing for sympathy, the whole matter became all the more credible. Whatever others thought, Official Su could no longer hold herself back.

“This is a cold and damp place, and the young miss has been shut inside — her health will suffer.” She appeared to say nothing in particular, yet she had made her judgment clear. “My lord Marquis, please decide promptly.”

Cui Jingyu naturally had no intention of having anyone search Lu Wenyin.

He simply walked up to the pavilion door and said, “Ye Lingbo, stand well back.”

“Understood.” Ye Lingbo’s voice was still strong and clear. “Please hurry, my lord Marquis — I’m freezing to death in here!”

Cui Jingyu drew the sword at his side. One stroke — naturally of the kind that could sever gold and shatter jade — split the ordinary copper lock cleanly in two. He lifted his boot and kicked the pavilion door open. The carved door panels crashed to the ground in a shower of dust, and the maidservants behind the ladies instinctively raised their lanterns to illuminate the interior, trying to see what lay within. What they found was Ye Lingbo wrapped in a fox-fur cloak, holding a handkerchief over her mouth and nose, standing calmly in the empty room.

“Young miss!” Xiao Liu’er burst into tears and threw herself forward, checking her from head to toe as though she had recovered a priceless treasure, then hurried to brush the dust from her hair. “Young miss, I was so worried. I wish we’d been locked up together! You must have suffered so.”

“Foolish girl — if you’d been locked up with me, who would have gone for help?” Lingbo laughed softly.

The more composed she appeared, the more convincing the whole affair became. If the ladies had believed perhaps thirty percent of the story when they came rushing over, they now believed at least seventy. And when Ye Lingbo herself walked down from the threshold and said what she said next, the ladies believed it to ninety percent.

Madam Wei was genuinely good-natured, and at the sight of her stepping down, she instinctively moved to take her arm. But Ye Lingbo subtly stepped back and avoided the gesture.

“Madam Wei rewards and punishes with impartiality — since we are not of the same camp, there is no need to trouble Madam Wei.” She turned back Madam Wei’s own words, and as she did, she glanced lightly — not too pointed, not too mild — at the arm that Lu Wenyin had been holding Madam Wei by, let out a soft laugh, and stepped down from the threshold.

Every lady present was sharp-eyed; not one of them missed what she meant — you, Madam Wei, have been inseparable from Lu Wenyin day and night. It would be one thing if you simply did not take her side — but who are you to play the kindly one and try to help me up?

No one here knew of the past between Ye Qinglan and Cui Jingyu, nor did they understand the complicated feelings Madam Wei harbored toward the Ye sisters. When Madam Wei had first returned to the capital, she had harbored a degree of resentment over Ye Qinglan breaking off the engagement years ago — which was why she hadn’t put a stop to those ladies’ earlier affronts. But since the Ye sisters had been wounded by this and drawn a clear line with her, she had felt a quiet regret. Now, with Ye Lingbo’s pointed words ringing in her ears, she couldn’t help feeling flustered. She withdrew her hand without quite meaning to, and her face flushed a little. Instinctively, she pulled her arm free from where Lu Wenyin had been holding it.

Lu Wenyin knew exactly what it meant. Her heart sank. She had seen Ye Lingbo’s methods before — one sentence and she had severed one of her right arms. She could not afford not to fear her.

So she had no choice but to take the initiative, forcing a smile. “There must be some misunderstanding here. Ye family’s little sister, what’s come over you today — spitting fire at everyone? One moment you’re accusing me, the next you’re speaking to Madam Wei this way. Could you have caught a chill?”

As she spoke, she reached out to feel Ye Lingbo’s forehead, all solicitude and concern. The situation had arisen so suddenly that even with her quick wits, the only path she could think of was to first paint Ye Lingbo as unhinged — roping in more people, making it look like Ye Lingbo was seeing enemies where there were none, with nothing to do with her.

But Lingbo happened to have such strong-willed allies at her side. That Xiao Liu’er was sharper than any maidservant in all of the capital. The moment Lu Wenyin raised her hand, Xiao Liu’er was already between the two of them — looking frightened and protective of her young miss, she cried, “Madam Chen, what are you going to do to my young miss now? Everyone here is watching! I know you and Madam Wei are close, but the Flower Selection Banquet is overseen by the Grand Princess — this is not a place where you alone call the shots!”

“Xiao Liu’er.” Lingbo immediately reined her in, then said with a cold smile laced with meaning: “Though the Grand Princess presides over the Flower Selection Banquet, this is Marquis Cui’s Investiture Banquet. Let us not make more trouble. We should be on our way.”

“Hold there.” — “One moment.” — Cui Jingyu and Official Su spoke at the same instant.

Lingbo’s words had been sharper than a blade. One sentence, and she had drawn in two people — neither of them could afford not to respond. Cui Jingyu was the host, and Official Su represented the Grand Princess. With those words spoken, neither of them could pretend to be uninvolved.

Cui Jingyu glanced at Official Su and gestured for her to speak first.

“As the young miss is aware,” Official Su said, her manner cool, her gaze sweeping the assembled ladies before coming to rest briefly on Lu Wenyin and then returning to Ye Lingbo, “His Majesty has charged the Grand Princess with overseeing the Flower Selection Banquet. A strict decree was issued only days ago. For something like this to happen today — how can it simply be let go? If today’s matter is not investigated to the bottom, will it not corrupt the spirit of the Flower Selection Banquet entirely?”

What she had not anticipated was that Ye Lingbo would turn around and urge caution.