Shen Zhuxi slept the most peaceful sleep she had known since leaving the palace.

She who normally woke gradually as the sun rose in the east, that day slept until the sun was high and blazing overhead. Had there not been a certain duck beside her ear, quacking away with relentless persistence, Shen Zhuxi might have slept for several more hours yet.

“…Stop making that noise!” she pleaded.

She had cried so thoroughly the evening before, the outpouring of emotion and the drain on her energy had been immense. Even with her eyes still closed, Shen Zhuxi could feel the dull ache of her swollen eyes — though she couldn’t rule out that it was the incessant quacking doing the damage.

“The elders always say, the foundation of the day lies in eating — if you don’t get up soon, you’ll only be in time for midday!” said the insufferable man.

“That saying is, the foundation of the day lies in the morning!”

“Morning eating until full — isn’t it all the same thing?” Li Wu said irritably. “Up you get — time to eat!”

Shen Zhuxi hadn’t moved yet, but her quilt moved first.

With a sudden sweep, the silk quilt was thrown back, and Shen Zhuxi let out a yelp and was forced to lurch upright like a fish thrashing on land.

“Give me back my quilt!”

She pried open her swollen eyelids — which felt glued together — and glared furiously at Li Wu, who had thoroughly disrupted her sleep and seemed entirely oblivious to his own crimes.

“I’ll give you nothing — come on, up. There’s plenty to do today.”

Li Wu mercilessly confiscated her quilt, turned, and walked toward the door.

A soft pillow flew at his back. As though he had eyes in the back of his head, he tilted his head slightly to the side, and it sailed right past him.

“Hurry up. If you’re not out in the time it takes to burn one incense stick, I’m coming in without knocking.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

Li Wu left behind a threat that may or may not have been entirely serious, and without looking back, stepped out of the bedroom and pulled the door shut behind him.

Shen Zhuxi: Mother above in heaven, please help me, I’m begging you.

It took Shen Zhuxi half an incense stick’s worth of time to dress, and another half an incense stick standing in front of the bronze mirror, sighing over her swollen eyes.

Exactly one incense stick’s worth of time later, the familiar sound of quacking came punctually from outside the door.

“Shen Zhuxi! Are you in there shedding your skin and growing a new face?!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Shen Zhuxi answered hastily.

She stomped out of the room in high indignation. Li Wu had already prepared the water for washing up and was standing in the courtyard, waiting for her with impatience written plainly across his face.

“Be quick about it! Once you’re done, come straight to the main hall.” He fixed her with a warning look before turning away.

“Fine!” Shen Zhuxi mouthed silently at his retreating back: Li, you insufferable man—

That scoundrel Li Wu — talent scraped from the very bottom of the barrel, instincts sharp as the very top. Before Shen Zhuxi had even finished mouthing the words, something seemed to reach him, and he suddenly turned around—

“…Walk safely,” Shen Zhuxi said, in the most ordinary tone she could manage.

Li Wu found no evidence of anything amiss, and finally left, wearing an expression of suspicion.

She let out a breath of relief, and as she washed up and got herself in order, mentally roasted him on a spit. Once everything was done, she made her way to the main hall of the courtyard, puzzled as to what was waiting for her.

What on earth had Li Wu been rushing her so urgently for?

She stepped over the threshold of the main hall to find it empty — Diniáng seemed to have finished the laundry and gone home early, Li Kun and Li Que slept and ate at the garrison, and aside from her, only Li Wu lived in the courtyard.

Li Wu had been rushing her so frantically, and now he was nowhere to be seen. Shen Zhuxi was about to go and find the wretched duck to settle accounts, when Li Wu walked into the main hall, carrying a bowl of steaming noodles in each hand.

She had only just taken two steps toward him when Li Wu said, “You don’t need to help — go sit at your place.”

“You dragged me out of bed just for a bowl of noodles?” Shen Zhuxi looked at him in disbelief.

“These are not ordinary noodles.”

Shen Zhuxi sat down at the table and studied the bowl before her from every angle — they looked entirely like ordinary noodles.

“These are longevity noodles,” Li Wu said, sitting down in the chair to her left and handing her a pair of bamboo chopsticks.

“Is today your birthday?” Shen Zhuxi asked in surprise.

“It is no one’s birthday,” Li Wu said. “These are the longevity noodles I am making up for you.”

He looked at her puzzled expression and went on:

“The year the Princess of Yue was born, His Majesty issued a general amnesty across the land… I remember that day was the first of the third month.”

Her birthday was indeed the first of the third month.

But ever since the traitors who had seized power not long after her sixteenth birthday had stormed the imperial palace in a rampage of slaughter and plunder, and she had lost two of her closest kin within a single day — she had never thought of the third month as the month of her birthday again.

There was one person who had remembered it for her.

Shen Zhuxi stared at Li Wu without blinking, and her mouth pulled downward at the corners. “Li Wu…”

“The birthdays missed last year and this year — we make them up today, together,” Li Wu said. “Eat up quickly. Once you’re done, I’ll take you to walk around the market and have a meal, and in the afternoon we’ll go to the entertainment quarter to watch a performance and listen to some music.”

Shen Zhuxi was deeply moved. Every trace of the morning grumpiness born of too little sleep was gone.

“All right!” She nodded emphatically.

Shen Zhuxi had just dipped her chopsticks into the bowl when something occurred to her. She looked up and asked, “When is your birthday?”

Her intention was simply to remember it, so she could celebrate it for him one day, the way he was celebrating hers.

But then she immediately thought of Li Wu’s status as an orphan.

How would he know his own birthday?

“That’s right…”

She was full of guilt and about to apologize when Li Wu cut her off. “Since when does a man like me need a particular day to celebrate his birthday? As long as there is wine and a good pork knuckle on the table, that day is the birthday.”

Only someone like Li Wu would have the cheek to call his own birthday a grand celebration day.

Out of gratitude for his making up her birthday, Shen Zhuxi chose not to correct his word choice, and went straight to the important part. “Then I’ll celebrate your birthday every day.”

“Even a bodhisattva doesn’t celebrate their birthday all year long,” Li Wu said, flicking a light rap against the top of her head with his knuckle. “I don’t care whether I have a birthday. Think of it this way — since I don’t know when my birthday is, any day could be my birthday. Anyone in the world could be my father — including the Emper—”

Li Wu’s gaze settled on her face, and he abruptly shifted what he had been about to say:

“The old Emperor can forget it — I have no interest in being your brother.”

“Don’t go around calling people ‘old Emperor’ like that—” Shen Zhuxi said in disapproval. “You’ll get yourself arrested and cut to pieces.”

“Is he the one cutting me, or am I the one cutting him?” Li Wu raised an eyebrow.

Shen Zhuxi was too weary to argue with him and lowered her head to pick up a bundle of longevity noodles with her chopsticks. She brought them to her lips and blew softly, then placed them carefully into her mouth.

“…Well?” Li Wu watched her.

The thin, smooth noodles touched the tip of her tongue. The clean fragrance of spring onion and sesame oil wove together in her mouth, waking her taste buds after a full night’s sleep.

Shen Zhuxi sent the full bundle of noodles into her mouth and took her first eager chew.

These outwardly unassuming clear-broth noodles had been soaking in a broth made from a rich whole chicken. The noodles, every strand distinct, had absorbed the liquid thoroughly, so that even the firmest core of each piece was steeped in the delicious, savory broth — and every bite was seasoned to exactly the right degree of saltiness.

“Delicious!” Shen Zhuxi looked up at him with shining eyes, full of delight.

Since Li Wu had moved to the garrison, she had not had the chance to taste his cooking.

To eat something made by those familiar hands again — Shen Zhuxi felt a warmth in her heart that filled her to the brim.

“If it’s good, finish it,” Li Wu said, the corner of his mouth turning upward.

Shen Zhuxi broke into a bright smile. “All right!”

After the morning meal, Shen Zhuxi helped to carry the dishes to the kitchen, and Li Wu washed them and put them away with practiced efficiency.

Full and satisfied, the two of them stepped out through the gate of the courtyard.

“Where are we going now?” Shen Zhuxi asked eagerly.

“Taking you to the cloth merchant to buy a few sets of clothes,” Li Wu said. “How can the guest of honor not have new clothes to wear?”

Who doesn’t like new clothes? Shen Zhuxi did too.

She touched the hem of her still fairly new skirt and said, a little shyly, “I still have some savings. Why don’t I—”

“Stop right there,” Li Wu said, glancing at her. “If you won’t use my money, are you looking down on me?”

Shen Zhuxi: “…”

She looked up to him, she looked up to him.

To cut short any further quacking that might follow, she stopped suggesting she pay with her own silver.

After all, when he needed money, her silver was as good as his silver.

The two of them arrived at the cloth merchant, and Li Wu swept a broad hand through the air, saying boldly to the proprietor who hurried up to meet them, “Bring out everything good you have in stock!”

That brash manner of his — less like a person choosing fabric, more like someone at a braised meat shop picking out a pork knuckle.

The proprietor recognized Li Wu and let out a delighted exclamation. “Why, isn’t this Centurion Li! For you and Madam to grace my humble establishment — what an honor! Please, sit — sit — I’ll bring out all the finest things right away.”

Xuzhou was far from the capital, and what was fashionable here were all the styles that Shen Zhuxi had tired of several years ago.

The proprietor went through nearly every ready-made garment in the shop without managing to elicit a satisfied nod from Shen Zhuxi, and at last said helplessly, “Madam Li has a discerning eye — and these are already the most popular pieces in my shop.”

“Never mind then — let me have a look at the fabric instead,” Shen Zhuxi said. “What lightweight materials do you carry for wearing into the summer months?”

“Silk weaves, plain silks, satins… all the usual fabrics are available. Madam Li has come at a lucky time — the dye house only received several bolts of exceptionally fine-colored silk yesterday. Allow me to bring them out for you to look at.”

The proprietor instructed his assistant on a few points, and before long, a young man came carrying several bolts of silk in the color of autumn crabapple from the storeroom at the back of the shop.

Good fabric was easy to find, but good color was rare. Even silks dyed from the same vat would run close in color, but the natural patterns that formed would differ considerably. A truly excellent piece of fabric was judged not only by color.

Silk that possessed both a beautiful color and a distinctive pattern was a thing of chance and fortune — and the red silk before her belonged to exactly that category.

The proprietor saw in an instant that her heart had been captured, and pressed his advantage. “Fabric this exceptional — if you miss it, who knows when you’ll encounter its like again. If Madam truly has her heart set on it, take all three bolts for a hundred and sixty taels.”

Out of some regard for Li Wu’s face, the price the proprietor offered was neither expensive nor cheap. Such red silk could command a higher price in the Jiangnan region or in the capital, but with the world in turmoil, it was hard to say how many people would willingly pay that much for three bolts of red silk.

Shen Zhuxi was still weighing the price when Li Wu had already spoken. “Since you know who I am, you should also know — if you try to fleece me—”

The proprietor’s face went white, and he shook his head immediately. “I would not dare — how could I possibly inflate the price in front of you, Centurion?”

“Fine,” Li Wu said. “Wrap it all up.”

Li Wu stopped Shen Zhuxi with a look when she tried to object.

“No problem — I’ll have everything wrapped for you right away. If the two of you are continuing to enjoy your outing, I can have it delivered to your residence first thing tomorrow morning. Would the Centurion—”

“Have it delivered tomorrow then,” Li Wu said.

After the delivery arrangements were made, the two of them walked out of the cloth merchant’s. Shen Zhuxi said uneasily, “Three bolts is too much — you three men can’t wear this color either—”

“What do you mean, too much? I see other women changing into three different styles in a single day — you ought to have a few more outfits too, and change into several different ones each day,” Li Wu said without any concern.

Other women?

A thought occurred to Shen Zhuxi — who had he observed changing into three different outfits in a day?

Before she could think further on it, a gentle voice came from behind them.

“Master Li… Madam Li.”

Shen Zhuxi turned around. Beside the door of the cloth merchant, a beautifully appointed carriage had drawn up, and Wang Shiyong, dressed in a gown of blue-violet, was stepping down from it.