Li Weifeng had come to Xie Family Village.

Xie Baozhu went down to the fields at a fixed time every day without fail, rain or shine, regardless of whether that plot of land could actually grow anything. To her, it was no different from the morning exercises that Li Gu, Li Weifeng, and the others did after rising each day — merely a way of tempering the body.

Li Weifeng would always squat on the ridge of the field and chat with her, looking nothing like a Marquis or a Minister of Works, more like a farmer who had somehow been dressed up in fine silk robes.

The two of them had maintained this posture and this distance for several years now.

Today, it could no longer be maintained.

Li Weifeng stood at the edge of the field with his hands on his hips, watching for a good long while, and finally let out the complaints he had been swallowing for years: “Nothing has ever grown in this field of yours…”

Xie Baozhu’s health was poor, and she was particular about wellness — she did not anger herself lightly. Even so, upon hearing this, her eyebrows gave a small twitch. “Vegetables grew here in the summer,” she said.

“The kind that grow the easiest,” Li Weifeng replied. “Toss in a handful of seeds, do absolutely nothing, and they’ll still come up just fine.”

He said, “Give it up. You were never meant for this kind of field work. Even pretending to be a village woman doesn’t suit you.”

“Oh?” Xie Baozhu refused to be baited, and continued hoeing her beloved patch of earth at an unhurried pace. “Then why would I not go and live comfortably as a commandery princess in a prince’s residence, pampered and honored, instead of dragging a hoe out here every single day?”

Li Weifeng was at a loss for words.

Xie Baozhu turned around, presenting him with her back, and went on with her work.

Li Weifeng was silent for a long moment, then said, “I am going to the northern frontier of Hexi.”

Xie Baozhu asked, “What’s happened out there now?” He had only just returned.

Li Weifeng said, “Nothing’s happened. It’s just that Da Lang was previously assigned to serve as the Grand Protector-General of Beiting, and now that Da Lang is gone, someone still has to go.”

Xie Baozhu’s hoe stopped. She turned and looked at him with a furrowed brow.

“I volunteered,” Li Weifeng said. “Tiger, Yunjing really holds no appeal for me anymore. When I went to Hexi last time, I felt how much better it is out there — good air, wide-open space, so refreshing. Yunjing is too stifling; I’m never at ease here.”

“Has something happened between you and the Emperor?” Xie Baozhu asked.

Xie Baozhu always cut straight to the heart of things.

Li Weifeng gave a bitter smile. “Nothing has happened. I simply find it joyless.”

He was quiet for a long while, then said, “Da Lang’s matter — do you know why it was me who went to handle it?”

Xie Baozhu waited for him to continue.

“Because my bond with Da Lang was different from the others,” Li Weifeng said. “Back then, when the old lord took me in as an adopted son, for a period of time he placed me under Da Lang’s command for training. You know what I’m like — I get along with everyone. Da Lang was an honest and decent man; he treated me well, and we had genuine feeling between us. Naturally it wasn’t as deep as what I have with Shiyi, but it was certainly stronger than what Wu Lang or Ba Lang shared with him.”

He said, “When the matter came to light in Jiangnan, Shiyi asked us who would go and handle it. He didn’t directly order me to go, but I knew at once — I could not hesitate, not even for a single moment.”

Xie Baozhu said, “You did the right thing. Moments like that are the truest test of a person’s heart.”

“Indeed,” Li Weifeng said. “I volunteered immediately, and Shiyi entrusted the matter to me. I handled it well and earned his satisfaction.”

Li Weifeng continued, “This time, when a new Grand Protector-General for Mobei had to be appointed, I went to Shiyi and asked for it myself. Old Jiang will go south as the Grand Protector-General of Annan, and I’ll go north as the Grand Protector-General of Beiting. The two of us will help him watch over the realm — a perfect arrangement. Old Chen has been promoted to Minister and is to be appointed Chancellor. He is a man suited to staying in Yunjing, which is also just right.”

Xie Baozhu said, “And yet, have you not also thrived like a fish in water here in Yunjing?”

Li Weifeng said, “Clever as I am, of course I can manage it. But it’s exhausting. Before it was fine, but I’m getting older now, and I want to be kinder to myself — to live more comfortably.”

Xie Baozhu nodded. “Stepping back at the peak of one’s success is also a good choice.”

Then she looked at Li Weifeng and said, “You truly are a very clever man.”

Li Weifeng put his hands on his hips. “Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been calling me an idiot behind my back.”

The corner of Xie Baozhu’s mouth curved, and she laughed.

“When you get there, hurry up and have a son,” she said. “Once you’ve had him, send him back to Yunjing quickly. Don’t worry — the sovereign and his Empress will shower every blessing upon your son. As long as you don’t rebel, he will live a life where he wins without even having to try.”

“I know. All those books you had me read, the people from those earlier times — didn’t they all do exactly that? I know,” Li Weifeng said. “Just last night I was drinking with Old Jiang, and he gave me the same advice. He’s going south, and he plans to leave his parents, his new wife, his eldest son, and his eldest grandson all in Yunjing — taking only his other sons and a few concubines.”

Xie Baozhu said, “Marquis Anyi is a man who understands. And rightly so — Da Mu has been founded for eight years now; the foolish ones have all mostly died off.”

Li Weifeng’s gaze dimmed slightly.

Li Da Lang had been one such foolish man.

“Then take care of yourself.” Xie Baozhu looked at him and offered her blessing. “I wish you, in this life, safe passage.”

Li Weifeng gazed at her beautiful eyes and brows, and for a long while there was a heaviness in him. “Have you never once thought of coming with me?” he asked.

“No,” Xie Baozhu said. “I still have to look after my father.”

Prince Shou had once been a Prince of First Rank of Da Zhao, the own younger brother of the last Emperor. In terms of the former Zhao bloodline, he was now the most direct and highest-ranking survivor. His identity ensured that he could never, for the rest of his life, leave the capital region.

There was nothing Li Weifeng could do about that. Lending his aid and keeping watch from within the capital city was one thing, but he was about to go become a frontier commander in a distant territory. He himself would need to hurry and produce a son to send to the Emperor. If he dared open his mouth and ask for Prince Shou, it would likely mean the end of Prince Shou’s life.

Li Weifeng was downcast. “Once I leave, it will probably be for a lifetime. I won’t be able to look after you anymore.”

“All these years, the garrison commanders of this village have rotated in and out, but they have always been your people. They have looked after our family greatly.” Xie Baozhu brushed the dust from her skirt, bent her knees, and bowed to him properly. With great sincerity, she said, “Li Ziyi, thank you.”

“From now on, the Empress is my own first cousin. No one will come to bully my family. You need not worry.”

Li Weifeng looked at her, and the expression in his eyes gradually shifted.

Xie Baozhu asked, “What are you thinking?”

Li Weifeng stirred with a restless impulse. “What would happen if I just picked you up and carried you off right now?”

Xie Baozhu asked, “Do you have some particular fondness for a woman’s corpse?”

Li Weifeng deflated completely, every bit of spirit draining out of him.

Xie Baozhu laughed.

“Go on then. You are a man who is too attached to old sentiments, and both Yunjing and the imperial city are places that will wear away at those feelings. You were always a towering and upright man — Hexi and Mobei, with their vast skies and boundless earth, suit you far better than Yunjing ever did.”

In the gusting wind, her sash ribbons floated and drifted. Though she wore plain cotton clothing with only a humble hairpin, she still resembled a beautiful painting.

Li Weifeng lingered at the entrance of the village for a long while before finally taking his leave.

Xie Baozhu returned home, and Prince Shou asked, “That fool wasn’t here again, was he? Why didn’t he come see me?”

Xie Baozhu said, “He came to say goodbye.”

Prince Shou asked, “He’s going somewhere?”

Xie Baozhu said, “He resigned his position as Minister and volunteered to go to Hexi as the Grand Protector-General of Mobei.”

Prince Shou’s chopsticks fell to the floor.

The following morning, Xie Baozhu woke to find Prince Shou was not in the house.

When he had nothing to do, Prince Shou would often stroll around the village when the sun was out, sometimes not returning for half a day. Xie Baozhu thought nothing of it and went down to the fields herself.

What Xie Baozhu did not know was that Prince Shou had gone to the village garrison commander first thing that morning to borrow a carriage, and had also asked him how to get to the Marquis of Beirong’s residence.

The garrison commander was one of Li Weifeng’s men; without hesitation, he provided not only the carriage but also an escort, and sent Prince Shou on his way.

Li Weifeng’s household was already busy packing things up. When word came that Prince Shou had arrived at the door, Li Weifeng hurried out to greet him, looking thoroughly astonished. “Why are you here?” he asked anxiously. “Did something happen to her?”

“Pfft!” Prince Shou said. “Crow-mouthed wretch!”

Li Weifeng hastily spat for good luck himself, repeating it several times.

After welcoming Prince Shou into the residence, Prince Shou took one look at all the frantic activity, servants moving about in every direction, the clear signs of an imminent departure, and his temper flared. “You’re just leaving, just like that? What about my daughter?”

“She won’t come with me — what am I supposed to do? Tie her up and drag her along? I wouldn’t dare,” Li Weifeng said tenderly, his eyes brimming with hope as he looked at Prince Shou. “Or perhaps you could simply give her to me in marriage. You are her father — surely you can decide for her.”

Prince Shou let out a “hmph,” naturally unwilling to admit that his household had long since been run by Xie Baozhu herself.

And so he could only scold Li Weifeng. “You dare to dream! On what grounds do you think you deserve to marry my daughter? That elm-wood brain of yours, all day long only knowing to ask whether she’s dressed warmly, whether she’s eaten her fill. You see her carrying a hoe and actually take her for a village woman who wants nothing more than three meals a day? How absurd!”

Li Weifeng humbly sought his guidance. “Please teach me, Your Highness.”

Prince Shou harrumphed twice, then said, “If you want a young woman to marry you of her own free will, you have to know what she truly wants. You can show her a thousand kindnesses, but if not one of them touches the thing she genuinely desires, it’s the same as nothing to her. Let me tell you — young women are cold-hearted creatures. They don’t want your useless ninety-nine gestures. They want only that one single thing they’ve set their heart on.”

“Back in the day, Da Hu’s mother was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Lu’s household — the legitimate line. She was beautiful, and on Yunjing’s list of beauties she competed with my own sister-in-law for the top place. My brother had already chosen my sister-in-law as the Crown Princess, but he still wanted her as a secondary consort too.”

“My brother was destined to be Emperor, and her family was very tempted.”

“I went to her and said: my future sister-in-law, the eldest daughter of Duke Guo’s household, is known far and wide for her strict adherence to propriety. When I thought of her becoming one of my brother’s lesser consorts, having to pay her respects to my sister-in-law morning and evening without fail, never even being able to sleep in past dawn, it pained my heart. I told her: if she were to become my Wang consort instead, she could sleep until she woke naturally every day, return to her family whenever she wished, and go wherever she pleased for amusement…”

“And do you know what happened? She had no particular views of her own to begin with — she had let her family sway her, thinking that following my brother would bring the greatest fortune. But what I said woke her up. She understood what she truly wanted, and she made such an uproar at home that the Duke of Lu had no choice but to give her to me as my consort.”

“I kept my word. She married me, and she spent her entire life happily, doing as she pleased.”

“You see? Do you understand now what you need to do?”

Li Weifeng said, “I don’t.”

Prince Shou nearly fainted on the spot.

Li Weifeng quickly supported him, saying, “It’s not that I’m being dense — I genuinely have no idea what she actually wants. She has never told me anything about herself. She only ever listens while I talk. The moment I’m in front of her, I don’t know how it happens, but the words just keep coming. By the time I’ve come back home, I realize she barely said anything at all.”

Prince Shou said furiously, “You were born a chatterbox!”

“Yes, yes, I was,” Li Weifeng said. “It’s just — other than loving to read and loving to hear me talk about things out in the world, about court affairs, I truly don’t know what she wants. All these years, I’ve given her pearls and jade ornaments, fine silks and beautiful robes, delicacies and sweets, trinkets and novelties, handmaids and entertainers — there hasn’t been a single thing she’s shown any fondness for.”

Prince Shou said, “My daughter was born into nobility and has enjoyed every privilege for half her life. What fine thing has she never seen, never used? Could the things you send her possibly be more exquisite or clever than what I used to give her? Hoping she’d be won over by those trifles — truly laughable!”

“You are entirely right!” Li Weifeng looked at him earnestly and pleaded, “Please guide me — what does she truly want?”

Prince Shou sighed. “If I told you, could you hide it from her? She sees through everything. If it doesn’t come from your own heart, it’s useless.”

“You’ll just have to ask her yourself.”