If you were to ask what was truly in Yun Pan’s heart, it was this very thought as well. From the moment she heard the Commissioner’s wife let slip those inside details — whether they proved true or not — she had already felt that this match should no longer continue.

Just as the two families were forming an alliance, when goodwill between them was most in need of being cultivated, the affair of a mere bedchamber maid had already caused trouble upon trouble. What kind of fine household was this, that Hui Cun needed to endure repeated humiliation? And speaking of Geng Fangzhi himself — he was not a man of particularly outstanding appearance or character. He was simply glib of tongue and skilled at charming girls, but that skill had been practiced a thousand times on other women before being turned on Hui Cun. What was there to be so reluctant to let go of?

Yet no matter how incensed they were, it was their own perspective. With the formal wedding procession now imminent, if Hui Cun herself did not speak up, all this fury would come to nothing — nothing but idle anger with no practical meaning.

Yun Pan persuaded the Princess Consort to calm down. “Let us wait until the people I sent out have returned, then decide. Even if we intend to break off the engagement, we need to have proper grounds and evidence before we act.”

The Princess Consort let out a long sigh and shook her head dejectedly. “My children’s marriages — why have they all been so difficult? Before this, there was the matter between Ji Fu and the Shuguo Duke’s family, and now it’s Hui Cun. It is fortunate that Ji Fu married you — that, at least, was to my heart’s content. And now it is Hui Cun’s turn…” She grew more agitated as she spoke, turned aside, and muttered: “It comes back to our family’s own Elder Madam — her eye for people is not sharp at all. She only concerns herself with weighing family status and never properly weighs character and household manner.”

Yun Pan gave an awkward little smile — since it concerned an elder, she could say nothing — and merely mentioned gently: “For the next few days, if Geng Fangzhi comes to see Hui Cun, let him be turned away.”

“That goes without saying,” the Princess Consort said angrily. “Someone like that, if he steps through my door, I’d begrudge him even dirtying my floors with his feet — and you’d allow him to see Hui Cun? I’ve decided: regardless of whether that bedchamber maid is truly with child, Hui Cun cannot marry into that family. Entering into this union would humiliate Hui Cun and bring our whole family down with it.”

Yun Pan agreed. “Mother, please don’t be anxious. Wait until tomorrow — there should be news by then.”

The Princess Consort’s heart was in turmoil. She stood and went to the door to look out, murmuring: “Let the snow stop soon — if the roads are sealed with snow, then my Hui Cun’s situation will be delayed.”

Fortunately, Heaven had eyes. The snow thinned to light flurries by late afternoon and stopped entirely after nightfall, though strong wind swept fiercely through, howling past branch-tips and eave-corners all night long, raising a tremendous roar.

Li Chenjian did not need to go to court that day, and the two of them slept in until late. When they opened their eyes, it was already a quarter past the seventh hour.

Yun Pan propped herself up and checked the water clock, then touched her forehead and was briefly at a loss, wondering whether she ought to rise now and make her belated morning greetings to the Elder Madam.

Just as she was about to sit up and put on a robe, he pulled her back. “It is cold and frozen outside — there is no harm in sleeping a little longer.”

He had been discussing official matters at the yamen the previous night and had not returned until nearly the third watch. Yun Pan had asked whether it was still snowing at the time, and he said the snow had already stopped, but he had been walking through cold wind and caught some chill, so his coughing had been worse than usual through the night. Looking at his face carefully, he seemed to have grown thinner than before, and she felt a quiet unease — she did not know whether it was the harsh weather, or whether the heavy burdens of his position had worn him down.

She tucked his blanket up around him and said softly: “Rest a while longer, my lord. When the noon meal is ready, I’ll come and call you.”

Then she withdrew from the inner chamber. After dressing and grooming herself, she moved to the small sitting room. Walking along the covered corridor, she leaned out to look up at the sky. The heavy leaden grey overhead had lightened, giving way to a stretch of deep blue. The winter sunlight was cool and pale, casting no warmth upon the body, but it offered a kind of comfort.

Since she had nothing pressing to do, Yun Pan, Qin Dan, and Ming Ke settled around the heated brazier and she continued working on her mother-of-pearl cup. Layer upon layer of rosy light spread across it. The mother-of-pearl work used for objects like this was different from the technique used for furniture — the shells used here were thinner, and the work was more delicate.

It consumed an enormous amount of time, and after bending her head over it for so long, her neck ached with a dull soreness. With great effort she finally affixed the last two pieces and held up the completed cup to examine it. It shimmered and glittered with flowing light, making it impossible to look away.

While everyone murmured in admiration, Yun Pan had already mixed the interior lacquer. A sheep-hair brush dipped in persimmon-red pigment was used to coat the inner wall of the cup, and before the lacquer dried, she flicked gold dust over it.

Qin Dan watched the fine gold dust settle over the lacquer surface and said wistfully: “If gold were not used, the outer surface splendid and the inner surface refined and subdued — I think that would be even more beautiful.”

Yun Pan smiled. “Scattered gold carries a good omen. In sunlight it is gold, in moonlight it is silver. Do you know why Buddhist statues are gilded in sunlight? It is because the Buddha possesses a radiant and luminous form — it can cause demons and evil spirits to feel awe, so that malevolent things do not dare approach.”

The mistress was learned, and after this explanation, everyone understood.

The mother-of-pearl cup was complete. One could already foresee what a stir it would cause, displayed prominently in the shop. But the cup needed to be left in a ventilated place to dry in the shade — only once the lacquer on the inside had fully hardened and the gold dust had seeped in and settled could it be brought out again.

Half the day had been spent, and in an instant it was midday. The meal was ready, and Li Chenjian had also changed his clothes and come through.

The two of them sat in the small sitting room to dine — a seafood starter broth, lotus root-wrapped kidney, as well as baked flatbreads and preserved fish. The midday meal was exceedingly abundant.

Li Chenjian said: “I must go out again shortly. With the year’s end approaching, official duties have grown more and more pressing.”

Yun Pan was placing food into his dish and said as she did so: “However busy, you cannot go on like this day and night. Working until so late last night as you did — not even a body of iron could withstand it.”

At this he gave a faint smile. “I know — I will take care of myself.”

Yun Pan made a sound of acknowledgment and lowered her eyes. “Yesterday I was at the shop and heard some news. Because you came home so late last night, I never had the chance to tell you.”

She then told him the matter of Geng Fangzhi’s bedchamber maid being with child and sent to an estate twenty li away to carry the pregnancy. He listened and finally darkened his expression, giving a cold laugh: “The Geng family seems to think the Duke’s household is easy to manipulate, and has brought their schemes to bear on us. At the time of the betrothal negotiations they flattered us in every way — and now that they thought they had us in hand, they planned to treat us with contempt?”

Yun Pan was afraid of him becoming too angry, and said only: “People have already been sent out to investigate. Whether or not the engagement continues is a small matter — my lord, there is no need for you to deal with Geng Fangzhi any further over this.”

He set down his bowl and chopsticks and agreed. “Looking back at my dealings with him, I feel it was quite unnecessary. It would have been so much simpler to break off the engagement back then and have done with it.”

But breaking off an engagement was not so simple either. Without a firm grip on evidence of the other party’s wrongdoing, there were no grounds for calling off the betrothal, and in that case the Geng family would have had right on their side and could have turned against them, which would not have been good.

Yun Pan said: “In any case, the affairs of the inner household need not concern my lord — mother will oversee everything, and Hui Cun is not a foolish person.”

He nodded. “Then I will ask my lady to take care of this.”

He truly had no attention to spare for his younger sister’s marriage. The year-end management of the Imperial Guard and garrison, along with the transfers, rewards, and punishments for the eleven commands of the Cloud Cavalry — all of these required his attention. He was already stretched to the limit, entirely unable to manage his sister’s affairs.

Yun Pan naturally understood how hard he was working. After the meal she accompanied him to the door, worried the carriage would be cold, and had two small warming braziers placed inside, then instructed Bi Xie: “Light them before the Duke finishes his shift, so the carriage is warm and he won’t feel the cold when he settles in.”

Bi Xie acknowledged this. “My lady, please don’t worry.”

She inclined her head and stepped back, watching the carriage disappear into the distance before returning to her room.

She had barely sat down when word was sent in from outside: the young manservant dispatched to the Pinggu estate had returned. It had been confirmed that the bedchamber maid was indeed four months along. By now the pregnancy was beginning to show, and on clear days she would cradle her belly and stroll about the estate — eating six meals a day, and somehow managing not to put on any extra weight.

“Four months…” Yun Pan bent her head, calculating. “The betrothal between Hui Cun and Geng Fangzhi was in the second month — meaning six months after the engagement was announced, the two of them were still carrying on. This Geng gentleman is truly a fine man of great integrity, with not a single true word in his mouth. If Hui Cun had truly married him, the future would have been a disaster.”

Since the investigation had now confirmed everything, there was nothing more to hesitate over. Yun Pan went directly to Hui Cun’s Pluck Snow Courtyard. Entering the yard, she saw her crouching at the foot of the steps with her maidservant Xiao Juan, feeding the cats. She looked up when she saw Yun Pan and gave a surprised sound, then came to welcome her inside, instructing Xiao Juan: “Quickly go and bring out the freshly brewed hot tea and some refreshments.”

Yun Pan said there was no need. “I haven’t come to eat and drink — I have something important to tell my sister-in-law.”

Hui Cun saw her expression was solemn and couldn’t help feeling a little uncertain. She took Yun Pan by the sleeve and asked: “A’Jie, what is the matter? What important thing — you’ve frightened me.”

Only then did Yun Pan realize that she had brought an air of grim urgency into Hui Cun’s presence. She quickly softened her expression, pulled Hui Cun down to sit beside her on the couch, and said gently: “What I am about to say may cause you some pain, but you must listen clearly and think it over carefully before you decide what to do.”

Hui Cun was bewildered. “A’Jie, what is going on?”

Yun Pan took her hand and said: “That Geng Fangzhi is not an honest man. The pretty words he said to you were all false. The bedchamber maid from before was never truly sent away — she has merely been settled at an estate in Pinggu, where she is carrying his child.”

Hui Cun was stunned. It struck her like a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky. She stared at Yun Pan in shocked disbelief. “A’Jie — is everything you’re saying true?”

Yun Pan nodded. “I sent someone to look at the estate — the woman is indeed there, and the pregnancy is already showing…” She paused. “My sister-in-law, I am thinking: if your feelings for Geng Fangzhi have not yet reached the point of deep devotion, please reconsider carefully. He has already told one lie, and to keep that lie from falling apart, he will naturally go on deceiving you. Are you willing to be led around by the nose? By the time both the mother and the child come back and kneel before you asking for your mercy — will it be better to give in, or not to give in?”

Hui Cun was so furious she burst into tears. “That wretched son of a turtle, how dare he deceive me like this!”

Hui Cun was a daughter of a great family who had never cursed anyone in her life. But this time she had been pushed to the very limit, and the words flew out before she could stop them.

Yun Pan found nothing particularly surprising in this, and only proceeded to comfort her: “It must be that father is watching over you from heaven, letting you learn the truth before the wedding. At least we still have a way out. Since his character is wanting, we simply will not marry him.” She paused and studied Hui Cun’s expression carefully, then asked with hesitation: “That Geng Fangzhi — he hasn’t done anything to you, has he?”

Hui Cun’s face immediately flushed crimson, and she answered with some embarrassment: “What is A’Jie saying — I am also a girl raised in a household of learning and propriety. How could I be so foolish? But…” she lowered her head further and twisted her handkerchief. “This man truly does harbor wicked intentions. Yesterday he invited me to go out to the countryside to view the snow, saying he had hired a pleasure boat — just the two of us…”

Xiao Juan, who was standing nearby, chimed in loudly: “And he especially told the Commandery Princess not to bring me along!”

So there it was — this man had been scheming with deliberate purpose all along.

“The Duke once said that a man who has given his heart to other women is not to be trusted. If he transferred his affections to you, that proves he is fickle. If he remains devoted to someone else, then you are merely a stepping stone to advance his standing — in the future, once he has used your position to rise, the two of them will continue as before, and what will become of you?”

“He wants to use me as a stepping stone? Let him keep dreaming!” Hui Cun stood up, resolute. “A’Jie, come with me to that estate. I want to see this with my own eyes — so that afterward I have something to say back to the Geng family.”

Yun Pan thought it over and agreed that this was a good idea. She turned and instructed Qin Dan: “Prepare the carriage and have the warming braziers lit inside. Bring along several capable senior maidservants to accompany the carriage, and have a troop of household guards follow at a distance for protection. Unless something unexpected arises, they are not to show themselves.”

Qin Dan acknowledged this and went to make the arrangements. When Yun Pan turned back, she found Hui Cun already fully dressed and ready, even clutching her dressing knife in her hand, saying with great energy: “A’Jie, let us set out.”

Just as they were about to leave, Hui Cun suddenly thought of something. She rummaged out all the things Geng Fangzhi had given her and gathered them together in one place, then instructed the senior maidservants in the yard to go and inform the Princess Consort: “Have the Geng family’s betrothal gifts and marriage contract set ready. When we return, they will be needed at once.”

The Commandery Princess, who normally seemed mild and unhurried, showed a remarkable capacity for decisive action at a moment like this — even Yun Pan was taken aback.

Hui Cun glanced back at her, and said with gravity: “A’Jie, catching an adulterer in the act is the most satisfying thing in the world. You and my brother will never have occasion to experience it yourselves — so let this be your chance to taste it through me!”

What a thing to say. Yun Pan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She looked at Hui Cun again: she was magnificent and fierce, practically like a woman general, an excited flush rising in her cheeks, her eyes bright and clear. Seeing that Yun Pan had been half a step too slow, she simply came up and took her hand, walking briskly, and the two of them stepped out through the gate and boarded the waiting carriage.

The snow had stopped, but there were no signs of it melting. The roads had been swept, with the swept snow piled up along the sides of the path. Wind had blown small holes through it, and the snow had hardened now to be nearly as solid as ice.

Yun Pan had expected that the road outside the city walls, with no one to clear it, would be nearly impassable. But it was not so — on the contrary, with so many people traveling back and forth, the road had been completely tramped flat. Only the snow had turned to slush, and the cart wheels plowing through it made the path deeply muddy.

Yun Pan held her hand warmer and looked at Hui Cun, watching her sit with a composed and serious expression, and said: “When you see that person, do not let your temper get the better of you. Once we have confirmed the facts and thrown Geng Fangzhi’s plan into disarray, that is enough.”

Hui Cun nodded. “A’Jie, don’t worry. I’m not going to do the thing of a proper wife making a scene at a kept woman. I am a Commandery Princess — they may have no shame, but I have mine.”

Twenty li of road, which could not be covered at a gallop, took them the full course of two hours. By the time they reached the estate in Pinggu, it was already close to dusk.

The estate lay on a broad plain in the outlying county, with a few sparse trees planted before and behind it, and the rest given over entirely to farmland.

Nanny Yao stepped forward and knocked on the door. The tightly closed gate opened, and a woman’s head poked out. “Who are you looking for?”

Nanny Yao smiled and said: “We were sent by the household master to visit Miss Xiangning.”

The estate woman looked them up and down. “Come from the capital? We have no Miss Xiangning here.”

Nanny Yao, seeing this response, reached into her sleeve and produced the Geng family’s household token, which she placed in the estate woman’s hand. “We are from the Geng household — would we deceive you? The young lady is with child; the mistress at home worries about her every day. In the capital she was attended to like a mistress, but coming out to this desolate countryside — I’m afraid the young lady may not be comfortable. So we were sent to check on her.”

The estate woman looked down at the token and then said: “Ah, I understand. I beg your pardon — I was also given instructions by the household master, who told me that anyone not known to us should on no account be allowed to see her, and if anyone asked, to say there was no such person here. Now that you have the token, there is nothing more to be said.” She pulled the gate open wider. “Please come in.”

But Nanny Yao shook her head. “The carriage carries honored mistresses — there is no reason for them to step down to visit a bedchamber maid. Please trouble yourself to invite the young lady out here to meet us.”

And so it was clear: a bedchamber maid was still a bedchamber maid, and the proper mistresses would still not lower themselves to her. The estate woman was perceptive enough to understand this, and after a moment’s consideration said: “Very well. Please wait a moment — I’ll bring her out.”

Nanny Yao thanked her and rubbed her hands together, stamping her feet. “Please be quick — we have to make our way back to the capital in a while.”

The estate woman acknowledged this and turned to go inside and pass on the message. Hui Cun lifted the thick felt curtain hanging at the carriage door and kept her eyes fixed on the outside, her heart pounding.

“A’Jie, let’s bring her back to the capital,” she said suddenly.

Yun Pan was startled. “Wasn’t the plan just to see her and come back?”

“Spoken words leave no evidence,” said Hui Cun, her gaze intent. “If we have proof in hand, when the Geng family makes a fuss, we’ll have a living person to stop their mouths.”

There was something in that. With the wedding so imminent, if they were to say they would not marry now, they certainly owed someone a reason. A ready-made “reason” was sitting right in front of them — if they did not use it to their advantage, the Geng family might spin things their own way and ruin Hui Cun’s reputation instead.

Yun Pan was about to agree when she saw someone emerge from inside. She looked carefully: this bedchamber maid was wearing a peach-red long robe with fox-fur trim, draped with a Buddhist-blue squirrel-fur cloak — and the cloak was clearly a man’s garment. No doubt Geng Fangzhi had been very thoughtful, leaving behind his own cloak to give this woman something to remember him by.

“I don’t know which member of the household has come to see me?” The woman with child had somewhat less breath to spare, but her tone was all the more delicately soft for it. Clearly being favored required having the qualities to be favored.

Hui Cun and Yun Pan pushed open the carriage door and stepped down. The elegance of their bearing and dress dazzled both the estate woman and Xu Xiangning. Xu Xiangning smiled uncertainly. “I wonder who the two of you are…”

Hui Cun had all the patience needed for such a situation, and smiled. “We are relatives of the Geng family, sent by the third son to escort you back to the capital.”

Xu Xiangning was more puzzled still. “Is the third son not about to welcome the Commandery Princess of Kaiyang to wed? The date has not yet arrived — why would he bring me back to the capital now?”

Hui Cun said: “The marriage is no longer going ahead — what wedding would there be? You are with child and have been sent to this bitter and cold estate. The family is worried — especially the Elder Madam, who thinks of her great-grandchild every moment, afraid something might go wrong. So please come back with us quickly, young lady. Once we have delivered you into the Elder Madam’s hands, we too will have fulfilled our mission.”

Yun Pan gave a faint smile. “There is no need to pack your things — everything is prepared in the carriage. The hour grows late — let us set out now.”

But Xu Xiangning and the estate woman were not fools either. The visitors had said a moment ago they only wanted to check on her and leave — so why were they now talking about taking her away? The estate woman immediately said: “Without the third young master coming in person, the person cannot be taken away…”

Several of the senior maidservants from the Duke’s household closed in, separating the estate woman from the others, and said with smiling ease: “You are being far too careful. Hasn’t it been made clear that we are the Geng family’s relatives? With an escort of this size, and the household token — do we look like kidnappers? The third young master has a mountain of official duties at year’s end, he can hardly come in person to fetch someone… Besides, she is only a bedchamber maid, not a proper mistress or lady. You are fretting as though the child in that belly were the Crown Prince himself.”

A woman’s instincts are especially keen, and Xu Xiangning sensed something was wrong. She was just about to cry out when she felt something hard press against her side. She looked down and saw a blade tip shining against the underside of her cloak. She looked up in alarm at the young woman beside her, who was smiling serenely and gave nothing away, only saying in a soft and gentle voice: “You’re carrying a child — you absolutely cannot get agitated. If you accidentally disturb the baby through emotional distress, you’ll only have yourself to regret.”