“You…” Xu Xiangning shrank back in fear. “Who on earth are you?”

Hui Cun gave her no room to evade, pressing the blade tip forward another fraction. “You’ll know who I am soon enough. Don’t move for now — blades have no eyes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Xu Xiangning was, after all, afraid to die. She had no power behind her, and if she were to die here on this estate, Geng Fangzhi would grieve for only a few days before proceeding to marry someone else just as he would have anyway.

So, at Hui Cun’s silent prompting, she had no choice but to call out to the estate woman: “Nanny Ji, I’ve asked them and made everything clear — they truly are people sent by the third young master. I’ll go back with them now, and once I reach the capital, I’ll certainly put in a good word for you with the household master. As a reward for looking after me, I’ll have two-tenths of your rent reduced in the coming year.”

The young maidservant who had been at Xu Xiangning’s side was only about fourteen or fifteen years old, and had already been held in check by the senior maidservants from Yun Pan’s side — no help was to be had from her. The estate woman was also single-minded, and hearing Xu Xiangning speak this way, she made no further resistance. She said: “I was about to call for help. Since these are your own household’s people, I have nothing to worry about. Please take care on the road, young lady — with child, one must be especially cautious about any jolts or stumbles.”

Nanny Yao and the others stood in the middle as a screen. Once the senior maidservants behind them had seen the person safely into the carriage, they stepped back with a smile: “You have been truly diligent — the third young master could not have entrusted things to better hands. Just wait — the Military Commissioner’s household will certainly not short-change you.” With a glance confirming the two carriages had begun to move, the group withdrew and climbed into the carriage following behind.

Xu Xiangning was naturally not entitled to ride with the others in the front carriage. Her own maidservant had been put in yet another carriage, so she was left alone to face two stone-faced senior nannies across from her.

She shifted slightly and asked in a trembling voice: “Who are you really — why are you detaining me?”

Nanny Yao glanced at her. “Young lady, set your mind at ease. We are people with names and faces — we won’t take your life. You only need to behave yourself and not struggle wildly. We old women have no gentleness in us, and if by some mishap we injured the child in your belly, then it would be most regrettable.” She dropped her eyes and swept a glance at the rounded belly. “The young lady is showing quite a lot already — perhaps it’s a boy… How many months?”

Xu Xiangning instinctively covered her own stomach. “F-four months,” she said. Then she remembered to issue a warning: “Since you’ve come to detain me, you must know this is the child of the third young master of the Military Commissioner’s household. If you dare harm us, mother and child…”

The other nanny, Nanny Gui, gave a contemptuous laugh. “The third young master of the Military Commissioner’s household — what a formidable background. We wouldn’t dare harm a hair on your head, young lady. Just sit still and rest — once we reach the capital, there will be an explanation given to you. Who knows, perhaps you’ll turn misfortune into blessing and be openly elevated, and no mistake.”

Xu Xiangning grew more puzzled at their manner. She had been forced into the carriage while her mind was still in chaos, and only now did things begin to sort themselves out clearly. “You’re from the Weiguo Duke’s household, aren’t you?”

Neither of the two nannies spoke, both turning their heads to look out through the carriage window.

The sun was sinking little by little. Wind lanterns were raised on the carriage shafts ahead. The household guards who had been following at a distance all came into view, some clearing the road ahead and some guarding the rear, so that traveling through this desolate stretch of wild countryside felt neither dangerous nor lonely.

Xu Xiangning, for her part, grew more frightened the more she thought about it. She was terrified of falling into the hands of the Commandery Princess, with no way out for herself. In her desperation she actually made to jump from the moving carriage, only to be yanked back by Nanny Yao.

“Young lady, please be careful. If you want to die, don’t implicate us and leave us with an unfinished task. If I were you, at this point I would accept my fate and take what comes. If you were to truly leap out and injure yourself, the Geng family would never offend a powerful family at court over a single bedchamber maid. Your death would be for nothing — men have multiple wives and concubines, and countless women come and go. Chances are Geng Fangzhi would forget you before he had even turned around.”

At this, the foolish woman burst into tears, wailing that the third young master had promised he would never abandon her for his entire life.

Nanny Yao and Nanny Gui wrinkled their brows in exasperation, and clicked their tongues. “Men’s words are just tricks to deceive. And you actually believe them! Judging by your looks, you’re no great beauty — do you truly think a man can’t live without you? You must be out of your mind.”

But Xu Xiangning retorted defiantly, craning her neck with a contemptuous laugh: “I know who you are — you’re from the Weiguo Duke’s household. Stop putting on airs in front of me. Isn’t it your Commandery Princess who is frightened of me? That’s why she’s had me brought back to the capital.”

Nanny Gui spat in her direction with contempt. “Since you know who we are, there’s nothing to hide. But if you want to save face by saying our Commandery Princess is frightened of you, then you truly think far too highly of yourself. What is our princess? An imperial princess, bestowed a title by the Emperor himself. A hundred of you low creatures wouldn’t be worth a single one of her fingers. Frightened of you? We could have you killed right here in the countryside and the Geng family wouldn’t dare breathe a word — do you believe that or not?” Seeing the fear spread across Xu Xiangning’s face, Nanny Gui smiled. “I advise the young lady to rein in her temper. Our princess is doing you a favor. You’d be hiding and skulking around for the rest of your life, and whether you’d even make it back to the Military Commissioner’s household in the end, no one can say. But if today you follow our princess back to the capital, there’ll be good things ahead for you — even the Geng family won’t be able to deny you and the child in your belly. Do you understand?”

Xu Xiangning, subjected to this steady stream of persuasion, was entirely bewildered. “Is it possible the princess could actually accept me?”

Nanny Yao cast a weary glance at her, thinking silently: what a dense brain this one has — how Geng Fangzhi even took a liking to her is a mystery. Such a worthless man must indeed be that shallow — any bed available, he climbs in; any willing body before him, he takes his pleasure without a thought for the consequences.

Nanny Yao said lightly: “Since you know the princess cannot accept you, why did you deliberately conceive? I’ve heard you even stopped drinking the fertility-preventing medicine. You were set on getting ahead of everyone else and challenging the princess. I must say — your boldness truly is something.”

Xu Xiangning was not going to take this lying down, and turned her head away. “Nanny is a woman of experience — surely you know it takes two to make a child. If you want to blame someone, blame the third young master. He was the one who kept pestering me. What was I to do?”

Nanny Yao said indignantly: “The two of you are perfectly matched. Don’t tell me who pestered whom — it makes me sick to hear it. Opened as a bedchamber maid at sixteen — endured all these years — and just as the proper wife is about to be brought home, you conveniently conceive. All the lucky coincidences in the world seem to land on the Geng household. Now we’re bringing you back to the capital — rest assured, it won’t go wrong. Behave yourself, and I’ll treat you well. But if you dare make trouble, this rough old hand of mine doesn’t know its own strength, and if your pretty face gets damaged, Geng Fangzhi might not even recognize you.”

Xu Xiangning finally covered her face and wept loudly: “What are you going to do with me? The sins are the man’s to bear — why make things difficult for a frail woman like me?”

Nanny Yao said: “What’s the hurry — tomorrow you’ll naturally have your say with the man. Bringing you back is doing you a favor. Don’t mistake kindness for malice. Though a creature like you is truly remarkable — the moment you’re caught you become a frail and delicate woman. Yet when you were tucked away in a warm bed plotting your schemes, you were no less capable than any man. It’s quite amusing, really.”

For the entire journey back, Xu Xiangning was mocked and teased endlessly by the two nannies. She seethed with anger and resentment but had no recourse.

They finally reached the capital after a long while. She was brought in through the gate and taken directly to the firewood room, and only at this moment did she know for certain: the young woman who had pressed a blade to her back earlier was indeed the Commandery Princess Kaiyang.

The princess issued her instructions: “Keep a close watch on her — do not let her die.” Then she yawned and went off to sleep.

When Yun Pan returned to her bedchamber, Li Chenjian was sitting by the lamplight reading. She was somewhat surprised, and exclaimed softly: “It’s so late already — why hasn’t my lord gone to sleep yet?”

He looked up from his book. “The two of you went out making all that trouble — how could I sleep?” He set the book aside and came to remove her cloak. She came in wrapped in the night air and chill, and drawing closer to her, one could feel fine threads of cold emanating from her.

Yun Pan hesitated. “Do you also think we acted rashly? The person has already been brought back — Hui Cun says she wants to send her to the Geng household tomorrow.”

Li Chenjian frowned slightly. “When I say rashly, I mean the two of you traveled forty li back and forth — was it worth going to such lengths? You could have sent some people to bring her back directly.”

Only then was Yun Pan relieved. He was not blaming her — he was only grieved that she had been jostled about on the road for so long, coming home in the middle of the night.

She gave a sheepish smile and looked up at him. “My lord — will it be very bad for us if we make enemies of the Geng family?”

He said plainly: “Since we are breaking off the engagement, there is no need to consider making enemies or not. Even if you sent the betrothal gifts back with a smiling face, they would not be happy about it.”

“Exactly — so we must firmly hold the advantage and suppress the Geng family’s arrogance. After all, my sister-in-law Hui Cun still has to find a husband in the future. If the Geng family turns this around on us, then our good girl would have swallowed humiliation in silence — we can hardly go door to door explaining things to everyone.”

He thought it over and agreed there was sense in this. “Still, it is getting late — get into bed and under the covers quickly, before you catch a chill.”

“But I’m still hungry,” she said plaintively. “This half-day was spent entirely on the road — four hours coming and going — and my back is nearly shaken apart.”

She had a way of expressing her grievances endearingly. Giving voice to her hardships, he felt genuinely concerned, and quickly instructed the maidservants outside: “Prepare something to eat — light and simple is best.”

She went to wash up at her own leisurely pace, and after changing her clothes, settled by the warming brazier, wrapped in a quilt, waiting while Lv Tan brought the small table over.

He had said to keep it simple, so the servants brought out plain congee, steamed flatbreads, and fermented bean curd with ginger. She ate while sighing: “There truly is nowhere more comfortable than home. Now I have a real sense of how hard it is for you — so many affairs each day, rushing here and there in a hurry — even an iron-forged body could not endure it.”

He did not want her to worry, and said only: “In the past when I was in the army, riding on horseback under sun and wind — that was truly hardship. Now that I am back in the capital, traveling everywhere by carriage — it is already much better.”

But she shook her head. “It is not better at all — clearly still just as exhausting. I think to myself, how wonderful it would be if you could be relieved of a few duties. No more serving concurrently as Youzhou Inspector, and no more going to Xi Province as the Training Commissioner.”

He sat beside her, watching her eat, like a man watching a flower he had carefully tended put forth its first tender shoots and flourish — he smiled gently and said: “If I had not gone to serve concurrently as Youzhou Inspector, I would never have met you.”

Yun Pan heard this and was briefly still, thinking quietly to herself that indeed it seemed so — one’s encounters in life appeared to be arranged long in advance. Walk one stretch of road, and that stretch has its own opportunity — one never knows at what moment one will meet the person who will change one’s life forever.

“I used to call you ‘my lord of the province’ — thinking back on it now, it seems so strange.”

He teased her a little: “Fortunately, Luofu was unwed and the provincial lord was also unmarried. If we had missed each other at that moment, we might never have met again in this lifetime.”

Never to have met… but that wouldn’t quite be true either. “If your engagement to Cousin Mei had not been dissolved, we would still have met.” She smiled. “Aunt would have introduced us: ‘This is my elder daughter’s husband, the Weiguo Duke. And this is my younger niece, Jiang Yun Pan.'”

He listened and was struck with a slight horror at this, wondering — if she had married Xiang Xu, then when the Shuguo Duchess introduced them, would it have been: “This is your sister-in-law’s younger brother-in-law, Li Chenjian”?

He seemed to have frightened himself. His expression changed. Yun Pan hadn’t thought deeply about any of this, and simply found the joke quite amusing.

He fell into a sullen silence off to one side and stopped speaking. Yun Pan thought nothing of it, had the maidservants take the food table away, rose to wash her hands again, and then took the tortoiseshell toothbrush Qin Dan offered her and brushed her teeth. A long while passed and she didn’t hear him say anything. She couldn’t help turning to look at him.

He seemed to be in a poor mood — and of course a poor mood had to be displayed visibly, otherwise how could she notice? She held the toothbrush in her mouth, tilted her head, and called out “my lord.” He turned away even further and refused to look at her. She had no choice, and after hurriedly finishing brushing her teeth, she went over to check on him. She called out “my lord” on the left, “dear” on the right — he simply would not respond. Helpless, she cupped his face in her hands and asked: “What’s wrong? Are you displeased?”

He could not turn his head away, but he could shift his gaze, and he said vaguely: “No, I was just thinking of some official matters.”

Thinking of official matters had never looked like this or felt like this — after months as husband and wife, surely she could see that much.

“Was it because I called you Cousin Mei’s husband, and that made you unhappy?”

He said no — how could he bring himself to say aloud what was truly on his mind, that he had suddenly imagined not marrying her, and that perhaps Xiang Xu might have married her, and that setting himself in that position and thinking it through, he found it terrifying.

Well — perhaps it was the weather. The cold had frozen his mind, and this unsettled, apprehensive state of mind had now persisted for half a month. He had thought it might gradually ease, but it had not.

Regrettably, he could not tell her any of this. Between husband and wife, not everything could be said with complete openness.

He stretched out his arm and held her tightly, closed his eyes, breathed in the scent of her hair, and murmured: “Don’t come home so late in the future — I worry a little.”

Yun Pan had been smiling and teasing him a moment ago, but hearing this, her heart unexpectedly softened. “I was out with Hui Cun.”

But this did not make him feel any more reassured. “Hui Cun is still a child. If something unexpected happened, she would have only you to rely on — while you have no one to rely on.”

This was the difficulty of being a sister-in-law. Even though she was only a few months older than Hui Cun, whenever she was together with her younger sister-in-law, she was half an elder.

“Then from now on, I will never leave the capital on a whim. If something like today comes up again, I’ll let you know first and do as you direct — is that all right?”

He looked at her with helpless resignation. “Could there possibly be a next time for something this unfortunate?”

Yun Pan gave a slightly abashed laugh and hugged his arm, nestling against his shoulder. In her heart she was quietly grateful — fortunate that the good man she had found was truly upright and steady, and would not put her through such tumult and heartache.

For a woman, what she truly wanted was a life of calm and beauty. Who would not prefer to sit in unhurried ease, brew wine from pine flowers, and steep tea in spring water?

The next morning, after seeing Li Chenjian off to court as usual, Yun Pan went to the firewood room to see the detained bedchamber maid.

Unexpectedly, Hui Cun had arrived even before her. By the time Yun Pan got there, Hui Cun was already standing there with her arms akimbo.

Xu Xiangning was weeping plaintively. Her young maidservant, who didn’t know how to comfort her, could only wipe her tears — wiping so much that the skin beneath the girl’s eyes had gone red.

Hui Cun was clearly deeply irritated. “I have absolutely no patience for women like you — accomplishing nothing of substance, possessing nothing but an extra pair of tears. Whenever something happens, cry first. As long as the tears come, men are wrapped around your little finger.”

Xu Xiangning paid her no attention and continued sobbing and wailing as if Hui Cun weren’t even there, as though she were the one who had suffered some tremendous grievance.

“Is this what becomes of women who make themselves bedchamber maids, concubines, and kept mistresses? Now you understand?” Hui Cun turned in frustration to look at Yun Pan. “A’Jie, she’s been crying all morning and I’m completely fed up. Why not just cut her down with one stroke and be done with it?”

Yun Pan stared at her, and naturally Xu Xiangning was frightened as well. She raised her terrified eyes and said: “If you kill me, it will be two lives lost. Even if you are a Commandery Princess, you won’t escape the charge of murder.”

Hui Cun laughed coldly. “If I killed you here in my own household, who on the outside would ever know? We’d dig a hole and bury you, and do you think Geng Fangzhi would seek justice for you?”

Xu Xiangning hugged her belly. “In the capital under the Emperor’s own eye, with Heaven above watching all…”

“The Emperor is my uncle — surely you know that?” Hui Cun said with contemptuous indifference. “There is no use crying over spilled milk now. You had the ability — you should have made sure Geng Fangzhi never married anyone else. But without the means, you can only lean on your belly to grab what isn’t yours — that is truly beneath contempt.”

But Xu Xiangning didn’t care at all, and declared with absolute conviction: “The third young master loves me and cherishes me. It is only because his parents commanded it that he has no choice but to marry a noblewoman. The truth is, next to me, it is the Commandery Princess who is more to be pitied.”

Even Yun Pan found this too much to listen to at this point, and said with a stern expression: “Enough. A man who, for the sake of his own advancement, sends the person he supposedly loves away to another place — there is nothing there worth anyone’s envy. Since he loves you and cherishes you, and we are also willing to do right by you both, we will simply send you back to the Military Commissioner’s household, so that you need not be separated from your third young master. That is all.”

Xu Xiangning hesitated. “Just that simple? Sending me back to the Military Commissioner’s household? You won’t try to harm my child?”

Hui Cun looked at her sideways. “What would I want with your child’s life? Soiling my own hands with a life over a Geng Fangzhi — that’s not worth it.”

Only then did Xu Xiangning stop crying. The maidservant came to wipe her tears again and was pushed away. She calmed herself and thought through the causes and consequences, and then suddenly shifted her attitude entirely. She said plaintively: “My lady, I was confused before. My lady is clearly such a good person — how could I have imagined my lady so fierce? It was all my own blindness. The wedding day is in just a few days, and since my lady already knows the truth, when I enter the household properly, I will humbly serve my lady tea. I only ask my lady to give me and my child a place to stand, and I will faithfully wait upon my lady in the future, and will absolutely never compete for favor or make my lady displeased.”

But Hui Cun waved her hand. “I am not your mistress, and I will not be marrying Geng Fangzhi. I only want to say something to you from the heart: we women need to look further ahead. Making yourself a proper wife — that is the only right path. Look at you — you are beautiful, you can bear children, you were a first-grade maidservant in the Elder Madam’s chambers, which already put you above the other maidservants. Why would you content yourself with being a lesser wife? Listen to me — go back, and make absolutely certain you become the proper wife. Only then will your child not be subject to others’ whims and looked down upon for the rest of his life. Do you not want your son to inherit the family legacy, rise in official life, and marry a wife from a distinguished family? Then use this opportunity today to step out into the open, and let all of the capital know that there is such a person as you in the Geng household. Do not let the Elder Madam and the household mistress use you and then force the third young master to marry someone else. This is your last chance.”

Her words were delivered with such passion and such drive that they roused the very spirit in a person.

The pitiful air Xu Xiangning had been wearing vanished completely. Her eyes lit up with sudden brightness. “My lady… Commandery Princess — with a background as humble as mine…”

“Who is born low? Who doesn’t want to rise above their station? In the end, others cannot help you — only you can help yourself.” Hui Cun even reached out and patted her on the shoulder — firmly enough that Xu Xiangning was knocked half an inch sideways. Then she said with breezy boldness: “Women must not deceive women. We should fight together against this unfair world, not suspect and suppress each other! Now then — eat something, and don’t starve the child in your belly. Rest up and recover your strength, and once the household masters return from court, I will make grand arrangements to send you back.”

Yun Pan watched in astonishment as the two of them reached this unexpected accord. As for Xu Xiangning’s simple mind, it was truly remarkable — she actually nodded with great seriousness and settled in to eat and drink without a care in the world.