Zhang Zhixu paused at that: “You were thinking of him just now?”

“That’s completely normal — I have feelings for him.”

“…” He said nothing more, and simply dropped the cold cloth onto her face.

Chen Baoxiang let out an indignant sound and peeled it off. “But spending money is genuinely wonderful. Spending Lu Qingrong’s money is even better.”

“Do you have some grudge against Lu Qingrong?”

Chen Baoxiang didn’t answer. She rolled over and said: “I’ve known her for a long time.”

Though Lu Qingrong remembered nothing of it.

“Did you know, Great Immortal — I was fighting people and claiming territory by the age of five.” She was in a good mood now and kept talking. “Most land in the village had owners, but up on the hillside there were still open plots. Granny Ye would go up there day and night to clear them, just to put food on the table for us both.”

“But once she’d cleared the land, people would always try to take it from her. I wasn’t having it. Before I’d even grown all my teeth, I was already charging out to fight for her.”

“There was a girl in the village then — same age as me. When her father beat Granny Ye, she’d come and beat me. She couldn’t beat me though, so she’d end up crying and wailing, and her father would forget all about the land and run over to take her to the herbalist instead.”

“Isn’t that just being a local ruffian?” Zhang Zhixu said.

“It is,” Chen Baoxiang said cheerfully. “But she’s done very well for herself now.” Chen Baoxiang smiled. “People who rise in the world always want to bury what came before.”

“What about you, Great Immortal? What were you doing at five?”

Zhang Zhixu was quiet.

At five, he had done nothing but study, surrounded by other well-behaved sons of wealthy families who all followed the rules. No one dared bully him — they came to flatter him, if anything.

The days had been smooth, but also tedious. Nothing worth recounting.

“Miss Chen.”

Jiuquan knocked on the door. “One of the servants mentioned you wanted to see me?”

Zhang Zhixu went to open it immediately and pulled him inside. “Is the marriage to the Cheng Family still going forward for Yinyue?”

Jiuquan looked surprised. “The master told you about Miss Yinyue as well?”

“He did.” Zhang Zhixu frowned. “I thought that match would be cancelled.”

“If Cheng Huaili had died, it would naturally have been cancelled.” Jiuquan’s expression tightened slightly. “But he’s alive — just missing a leg. The imperial decree granting the marriage is not easily undone.”

“If it’s not inconvenient, could I meet with Yinyue?”

Yinyue was not the sort who kept to her rooms, so a meeting was easy enough to arrange — but Jiuquan was puzzled. “What does Miss Chen have in mind?”

“She has a direct temperament. I’m worried she might do something drastic. Going to sit with her for a while and talk it through seemed worthwhile.”

Chen Baoxiang listened, and couldn’t help raising a thumb inside her head. Great Immortal, you’re brilliant — you’ve already found a reason to ingratiate yourself. At this rate, we might actually land an invitation to the coming-of-age ceremony.

The Great Immortal didn’t acknowledge her. Jiuquan, for his part, nodded. “Very well. I’ll make the arrangements.”

Having been to the Zhang Mansion before, Chen Baoxiang was far more composed this time around. She walked with her head up, and paused every time she passed a reflecting pool to check how her new hairpins looked.

Zhang Zhixu watched and curled his lip.

Gold ornaments — coarse and garish. What kind of taste was that.

But then they were ushered in, and the first thing Zhang Yinyue said upon seeing her was: “That hairpin — is that the newest style from Wanbao Pavilion?”

“It is — I just bought it today.” Chen Baoxiang leaned her head over to let her get a better look. “Filigree work — and every stone is from the latest shipment of rubies sent from the western regions. Look at the design too — isn’t it lovely?”

Zhang Yinyue nodded with satisfaction. “I’d been hesitating because I worried the catalog drawing might not match the real thing. Seeing yours in person is reassuring.”

“A catalog?”

“Yes — Wanbao Pavilion sent one over just yesterday.” Zhang Yinyue pulled the booklet out without a hint of ceremony.

Chen Baoxiang was delighted. “Everything new is in here — saves the trouble of going to the shop in person.”

“This style looks like it would pair with your hairpin.”

“Yes — I’ve seen it in person, and it’s even prettier than the drawing. That one’s worth getting.”

“What about this pendant necklace?”

“The one in the shop had a pendant that felt thin and flimsy in person — not very appealing. This one over here is better.”

Two people who had never met before were deep in conversation over a catalog within moments. Zhang Zhixu had been worrying about how to ease into the subject — and then couldn’t find a gap to speak for the better part of half an hour.

“Your eye is wonderful.” Zhang Yinyue closed the catalog with pleased satisfaction. “Which family are you from?”

Chen Baoxiang lied with a steady face: “We’re also over in the Xuanwumen area.”

“Not far from us at all — I can’t believe we’ve never crossed paths.” She shook her head at the missed opportunity, then turned to look at Jiuquan. “Why are you here as well?”

Jiuquan finally had room to introduce the matter: “The master is gravely injured, but his thoughts are with Miss’s marriage arrangements. So he asked Miss Chen to come and see how you are.”

“Oh?” Zhang Yinyue was genuinely surprised. “Then Miss Chen and second elder brother are…?”

“Friends.” Zhang Zhixu answered quickly. “Friends we made in Jiangnan.”

“Oh —” Zhang Yinyue’s eyes moved with visible curiosity, and she repeated it with a particular emphasis: “Friends~“

The family resemblance was undeniable — even the arch in their tone was identical.

Zhang Zhixu cleared his throat lightly. “Your brother asked me to bring a few small gifts along. Could you have your attendants go and take stock of them?”

Yinyue caught on and waved her maids and serving women out to inspect the gifts.

“Cheng Huaili has already lost his right leg.”

The moment the door closed, Zhang Zhixu spoke quietly. “His temper is volatile now, and his suspicions are running high. Marrying into that household — you would face considerable hardship.”

Yinyue stilled. The light in her eyes dimmed. “I’ve known all along this wasn’t a good match. If there were even a thread of a way out, I wouldn’t go.”

“Fengqing’s thought was for you to retreat to the countryside — tell everyone you’ve fallen gravely ill and buy a few more years that way.”

“That’s what I’d hoped for too.” Yinyue lowered her gaze. “But I’m also a daughter of the Zhang Family. Second elder brother has already given half his life for the family. If I only thought of myself and hid away in the countryside, bringing trouble down on the Zhang Family in my place — what kind of person would that make me?”

Zhang Zhixu had no answer to that.

Chen Baoxiang had been listening for a while when she suddenly asked: Great Immortal — why did the Emperor grant this match in the first place?

Cheng Huaili pressed for it personally.

Cheng Huaili’s first wife was the Emperor’s eldest daughter. At the time, the Emperor had not yet come to power — he was still stationed at the frontier. That eldest daughter was, by all accounts, willful and cruel. She caused the deaths of two of Cheng Huaili’s nephews, then set fire to herself inside the house.

Cheng Huaili bore no grudge and gave his full support to the Emperor’s rise to the throne. The Emperor felt he owed a debt he could never repay, and when Cheng Huaili went on bended knee to ask for Yinyue as his second wife, the Emperor granted it.

Even laying it all out, Zhang Zhixu felt the helplessness of it.

He had expected Chen Baoxiang to be listening out of idle curiosity. Instead, to his genuine surprise, she came away from the account deeply and visibly indignant.

“Cheng Huaili is already forty and he wants to get his hands on someone like her — that’s pure wickedness!”

Zhang Yinyue startled at the outburst.

She gave a small, surprised laugh: “Why are you more upset than I am?”

“How could I not be? You’re a girl in the full bloom of your youth, barely past your coming-of-age, and you’re being handed over to some old goat like that.” Chen Baoxiang paced in agitation. “He could strongarm the Emperor — so why can’t we do the same? The Zhang Family’s standing is no lower than his.”

“That wouldn’t be appropriate,” Jiuquan said, shaking his head. “The Zhang Family has served the imperial house for generations. They would never act as though their merits entitled them to anything.”

“And look where that’s gotten you —” Chen Baoxiang slapped her knee. “It’s just given people an opening to take advantage of you! If it were me, I’d go in front of the Emperor and make a scene for three days and three nights. And if a direct confrontation wasn’t possible, I’d work from the shadows — spread word that Cheng Huaili murdered his first wife, that he’s an opportunist climbing the rungs of noble houses, a man with a wolf’s heart who should be cast out by decent society.”