The room instantly descended into chaos.

Princess Derong trembled with fury, her hand pointing first at Xia Di, then at Feng Chuyue on the bed, her heart burning with helpless rage, not knowing at whom to direct it.

She jabbed her finger about for a moment and finally concluded that her son was her own blood — the right thing to do in a situation like this was to close ranks and direct all blame outward. She fixed her hand firmly toward Feng Chuyue, just readying herself to devise a way to pin the fault squarely on this young woman and extract her son from the situation entirely — only for Kangping to wrap both arms tightly around Feng Chuyue and shield her, then continue shouting at Xia Di with considerable authority: “Miss Feng is a student personally appointed by the Emperor to attend the academy, and she is my closest friend. Her family has always conducted itself with rectitude and has an unblemished reputation — she is by no means from a lowly household. She cannot simply be wronged without redress. Second Brother Xia, you — you cannot use your position to bully her.”

The entire posture of it made plain that she intended to stand firmly behind Feng Chuyue to the very end.

Princess Derong was so furious she nearly fainted.

The expression on the Duchess of Lu’s face also grew increasingly complicated.

Xia Di rose sharply to his feet and walked toward the door with his face dark, his bearing frightening — as though he could kill someone — and everyone in the room felt a jolt of alarm in their chests. Not even Princess Derong dared to block his way.

Seeing that the guests who had heard the commotion were gathering in ever greater numbers outside, and the situation beginning to slide toward something uncontrollable, the Duchess of Lu spoke with a composed expression and gave orders to her servants: “Lead the guests out to the front reception hall. Have the musicians begin playing. Seal off the entrance to the inner courtyard for now — no one is to enter. Tell our eldest son to call together all the guards of the Duke’s residence immediately, and escort all the academy students safely back to the academy.”

Though tonight’s events were already impossible to conceal, as the mistress of this evening’s birthday banquet the Duchess of Lu could not allow the situation to deteriorate further.

The servants of the Duke’s residence had always been well trained; once they received their orders, they immediately dispersed and set to work in an orderly and methodical manner. One group guided the uninvolved guests out of the room with courteous efficiency; another went to intercept guests already making their way toward the inner courtyard and seal it off; a third headed to the front hall to find Jiang Huimin to arrange the matter of sending the students back to the academy.

Qin Yao and her companions had already been led out to the courtyard by Jiang Sanlang. They could hear the commotion inside the room and kept craning their necks to peer in, but the Duchess of Lu had the door blocked so tightly that no one could get through — nothing was visible from outside. All they could catch were the faint sounds of a woman weeping. The voice had a familiar ring to it, though they could not quite identify whose it was.

Before long, the servants appointed to escort the students back to the academy had all taken their positions, and were softly and efficiently guiding Wang Yingning and the others toward the exit.

Jiang Sanlang, seeing this, pulled the Duchess of Lu aside and murmured something quietly in her ear.

The Duchess of Lu’s brow furrowed briefly, and then — in full view of everyone present — she raised her voice and announced: “I still have some odds and ends of affairs I need a student to help me with. I wonder which one of you young ladies would be willing to remain in the residence this evening to keep this old woman company? Come to think of it — Miss Qu, you are known for your quick mind. Why don’t you be the one? You can accompany me back to the academy together tomorrow.”

All the young women, who were already making their way toward the courtyard gate, involuntarily glanced back at Qin Yao on hearing this. But every one of them had been so thoroughly unsettled by the events of the evening that they had no attention to spare for anything else. After a single look, they all turned away.

Wang Yingning and the others gathered around Qin Yao with worried eyes. Qin Yao reassured them: “I know how to take care of myself. Go on ahead and get some rest — I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Pei Min, knowing something of Qin Yao’s connection to the Duke Lu household, was not especially worried. She only whispered: “Keep your guard up against that Princess.”

Qin Yao gave a grave nod and told her not to worry.

Once the others had all departed, the Duchess of Lu went to oversee the remaining matters, directing the household’s nannies to help Feng Chuyue wash and apply medicine, while she herself kept watch over Kangping, Princess Derong, and the rest. Seeing that Kangping would clearly not be returning to the academy tonight, she had a message sent swiftly to the palace, requesting that Consort Yi send someone to escort Kangping back.

As it was no longer appropriate for Jiang Sanlang to remain in the inner courtyard, he led Qin Yao out and told her: “Lin Xiao was ordered early yesterday morning to go to the mountain encirclement and hasn’t returned. He knew that my grandfather would be hosting a birthday banquet, and was worried something might go wrong, so he gave me the most earnest instructions to keep watch over you. He knew that you are invariably sharp and would not readily trust anyone at face value, so he told me a code word that only the two of you know.”

“I see,” Qin Yao said with a nod. No wonder the note had used words that only she and Lin Xiao could understand, even though Lin Xiao himself was not in the residence.

“All’s well that ends well,” Jiang Sanlang said with an easy smile.

Qin Yao gave a somewhat awkward cough.

Jiang Sanlang saw this, smiled with quiet understanding, and turned to glance outward. “Lin Xiao has been away for two days — he should be making his way back around now.”

Sure enough, not long after, a servant came in to report: “Third Young Master, the Young Lord has arrived — he is presently paying his respects to the Duke.”

Lin Xiao had been in the saddle for two days, and the weariness showed on his face. After entering the residence, he first bowed to his maternal uncle and wished him birthday felicitations, then made his way to the rear courtyard to find Jiang Sanlang.

Along the way, Jiang Sanlang’s people had already given him a brief account of one or two things, and his expression had gone dark as a storm brewing. When he entered Jiang Sanlang’s courtyard and saw Qin Yao and Jiang Sanlang standing together in the yard, he strode directly toward Qin Yao — without a thought for the others present — wrapped her in his arms and looked her over carefully. Seeing that she was completely unharmed, he finally let out a breath of relief.

He turned to Jiang Sanlang. “What exactly happened?”

Jiang Sanlang began from the beginning.

It had started when he noticed, seemingly by chance, that Kangping had brought a flower ball into the residence, which had struck him as suspicious. In the ordinary way of things, if one wanted to play a flower-passing game, one needed only to ask the host’s household to provide a ball on the spot — why would anyone prepare one specially in advance?

So he deliberately manufactured a small scene of confusion, and while Kangping’s attendants were momentarily too occupied to watch the bag they had brought, he had the most skilled operative among his own people quietly take the ball away for inspection. That person was a seasoned veteran, and one look told him that the ball had been treated with a sedative drug — though he could not determine what specific kind. He did, however, know that the western market sold a particular powder capable of counteracting a broad range of sedative drugs, and immediately volunteered to go and procure some.

Once the man returned with the antidote powder, Jiang Sanlang took it and went to find the young women. He then used the excuse of the flower ball to take it from Feng Chuyue’s hands, and in the act of bending to retrieve it from the ground, scattered the powder over the ball.

Thinking it over afterward, Jiang Sanlang became increasingly convinced that Kangping and her companions intended to target Qin Yao specifically — for only someone with Qin Yao’s particular abilities could, in full view of everyone, manage to drink not a single drop of wine.

Eager to expose Kangping’s plot, he sent a quiet message to Qin Yao telling her to feign a faint. What he had not anticipated was that, upon reading the note, Qin Yao would cooperate so fully and with such convincing speed — almost immediately “collapsing.”

He had originally assumed that Kangping and Xia Yan were acting in concert. What he could not have predicted was that after Qin Yao had “fainted,” Kangping — though she had escorted her to the Lixiang Pavilion — then turned around and had someone lead Xia Di separately to the Biqiu Study. And what surprised him most of all was that there was a Feng Chuyue, who had gone there of her own accord to take Qin Yao’s place.

It was fortunate that the matter had been discovered in time. Had Xia Di truly wronged Miss Qu, it would have been nothing short of a living hell for Lin Xiao.

When Lin Xiao and Qin Yao had both heard the full account of what had happened, they fell into a long silence. Qin Yao, in particular, felt deeply unsettled — thinking of how close she had come to falling into Xia Di’s trap made her hands go cold with fury.

After a long pause, Lin Xiao let out a brief, furious laugh. “Good,” he said. “Good. Very good.”

His voice was hoarse, and his face was an unpleasant color — he was clearly at the outermost edge of his rage. With that, he said nothing further and turned to walk out.

Jiang Sanlang and Qin Yao were both startled. Jiang Sanlang moved to block him. “Where are you going?”

Lin Xiao’s chest rose and fell. “To kill that scoundrel, naturally,” he said, fury in his voice.

Neither Jiang Sanlang nor Qin Yao had ever seen Lin Xiao so completely out of control before. And judging by the look of him, it was clear this was no idle words — he meant every single syllable.

Jiang Sanlang urged him desperately: “You and Miss Qu are on the verge of a royal decree of betrothal — why invite further trouble over this? It would be better to find a way to move the wedding date forward. Once you are married, everything will be settled — there will be plenty of time to settle accounts afterward.”

Having grown up together, Jiang Sanlang knew exactly what Lin Xiao was most vulnerable to. The words hit Lin Xiao squarely where it mattered.

The hand that gripped his sword tightened, then loosened, then tightened again, then slowly loosened once more. The fire raging in his chest was gradually, forcibly smothered, and his composure returned.

With great effort, Lin Xiao steadied the violent edge in his voice and looked toward Qin Yao. “A’Yao, you won’t be returning to the academy for the next few days — go home first and stay there for a while. Don’t go anywhere. Once the Emperor has issued the betrothal decree, I’ll come and bring you home myself.”

After everything that had happened today, Qin Yao did indeed feel physically and emotionally drained. Hearing Lin Xiao say this, she hesitated and said: “Will that be all right? If I’m absent from the academy for several days, won’t people talk?”

Lin Xiao paused and glanced at Jiang Sanlang, who was standing to one side.

Jiang Sanlang understood immediately. He gave a loud, theatrical cough, then turned and walked away — and as he went, he called back with a shake of his head and a smile: “Ha. So I’m just getting in the way now, am I? Well, I’m not going to stay where I’m not wanted.”

In no time at all, he had slipped away without leaving a trace.

Lin Xiao raised Qin Yao’s hand to his lips and kissed it, then looked down at her and said quietly: “I will speak to my aunt shortly and have her take this as an occasion to give the academy a few days’ holiday. After the events tonight, there will no doubt be some stir from the palace as well. I need to press harder and get the Emperor to issue the betrothal decree for us as soon as possible — I don’t want any more complications springing up—”

His voice caught suddenly, and in one motion he pulled Qin Yao close into his arms, his voice rough and low: “A’Yao, you have no idea how desperately I have been longing to bring you home as my wife. I know you love plum blossoms — some time ago, I had quite a few plum trees planted in Prince Lan’s residence. If we can be married before winter sets in, we will be able to admire the snow and the blossoms together. Ever since my mother passed, each New Year at Prince Lan’s residence has been cold and desolate. It has been several years now since I have celebrated a proper New Year — one with any warmth to it at all.”

He spoke on in a low, rambling voice, husky and quiet, with a faint undercurrent of loneliness and helplessness threading through it all.

Qin Yao felt a tightening in her heart. This was the first time Lin Xiao had ever let her see this side of him — this vulnerability. He was always so sure of himself, as though nothing in the world could truly overwhelm him. For him to be this way tonight — could it be that the events of today had frightened him?

Qin Yao wrapped both arms tightly around his waist, as though she wanted to pass the warmth of her own body directly into his heart. Her voice carried a faint roughness of its own as she said: “From now on, I will spend every New Year with you — wherever you are, that is where I will be. Never again will you have to spend a New Year alone in that cold, quiet house.”

Then something seemed to come to her. She reached into her sleeve and drew out something, handing it to Lin Xiao. “This is something I made for you,” she said, pressing her lips together with a small, shy smile.

Lin Xiao took it and looked. It was a black kesi-silk pouch embroidered with a concealed qilin pattern — the qilin worked entirely in golden thread, stitch by careful stitch. Though the needlework was still a little less refined than that of Mistress Wen, it was evident that every stitch had been sewn with the most earnest care.

“Do you like it?” Qin Yao asked — seeing that Lin Xiao was looking at it in silence for a long while, she began to feel anxious.

Lin Xiao turned the pouch over and over in his hands, unable to set it down. The longer he looked, the more he felt it was one of the finest and most beautiful things in all the world. A warm current rose and flowed through his chest, washing away the dark, brooding anger that had settled in him before, leaving nothing of it behind.

After a long moment, he lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to Qin Yao’s temple, then murmured: “A’Yao, I love it. Thank you.”

Without another word, he unhooked the pouch currently hanging at his waist, and fastened the one Qin Yao had given him in its place.

Qin Yao broke into a smile so wide it reached her eyes, and leaned into his arms with absolute conviction: “From now on, let me be the one to make all your clothes and shoes. Whatever I don’t know how to do, I can learn — besides, I actually know quite a lot of things.”

Lin Xiao laughed without a sound, and went along with her: “All right — all my clothes and shoes are in your hands. But don’t tire yourself out over it.”

The moment Lin Xiao returned to his duty quarters in the palace, there came a knock at the door. “Eleventh Brother, Eleventh Brother, it’s me — open up, quickly.”

The voice was low and urgent. It was Kangping.

Lin Xiao was not in the least surprised. He stood for a moment by the bed, then walked to the door and pulled it open, cold-faced.

“Eleventh Brother.” The instant Kangping caught sight of Lin Xiao, the corners of her mouth pulled down in aggrieved misery.

Lin Xiao forcibly suppressed the rage within him and assumed an air of indifference. “What is it? Have you made a mess of things and can’t clean it up yourself?”

Kangping gave a fervent nod, her voice edging toward tears: “Father Emperor won’t agree to bestow an imperial marriage decree on Xia Di and Feng Chuyue. Eleventh Brother, what are we going to do? I made a solemn promise to Feng Chuyue that I would make sure Xia Di married her — and now look. If Feng Chuyue can only enter the household as a concubine, Feng Baiyu will certainly never speak to me again.”

Lin Xiao gave a cold laugh. “You people did something like this, and you still expect the Emperor to grant a marriage decree? Not a chance. And as for Feng Baiyu — if I were him, not only would he refuse to marry you, he would immediately resign his post and return to his hometown, take up whatever trade kept him fed, marry his sister off to some decent, simple family, and be done with it. Why let you people go on ruining his life? Besides — second marriages are nothing out of the ordinary in this dynasty. He could simply tell people his sister’s husband had died; no one out in the countryside would dig that deep. In short — he would do whatever it takes to make sure none of you gets what you want.”

It was the first time Kangping had ever heard Lin Xiao speak with such sharp, merciless precision. She stood stunned for a moment, then burst into tears: “Eleventh Brother, I’m already a mess inside. Could you please not pour cold water on me right now?”

Lin Xiao flipped his robe back and sat down at the table, letting out a derisive scoff: “Clever enough to lay a trap, but not clever enough to manage the aftermath. Not only are you foolish, you conspired with a pair of siblings of twisted character! Don’t call me Eleventh Brother. I want no part of a cousin like you.”

Kangping had never been scolded by anyone with such blistering directness before. Her face crumpled, unable to bear it, and she cried indignantly: “Don’t forget — if it weren’t for me, Qu Qin Yao would have been defiled by Xia Di!”

Lin Xiao’s expression darkened. He rose and closed the distance between them, seized Kangping by the collar, and said, word by deliberate word: “How dare you still say that.”

Kangping was completely cowed by his bearing — she did not dare say another word for a long moment. After a considerable while, she found her nerve again and, stiffening her neck, said: “I know you have cared about her for far longer than a day or two. Even if I didn’t like her, I never once truly tried to harm her. It was only in the past few days that I learned what Xia Yan and her brother had planned to do to Qu Qin Yao — and I swear before heaven and earth, even without Feng Chuyue’s involvement, I would not have let them succeed. Because I didn’t want to see you hurt, Eleventh Brother. And I didn’t want you to hate me afterward — to the point where we couldn’t even be cousins anymore.”

Lin Xiao’s mouth twitched briefly. He released Kangping and smiled with dry mockery: “I’ll grant you that much — you’ve finally learned a modicum of sense. You’re even negotiating now.”

Kangping managed a smile that looked worse than crying. Carefully, tentatively, she tugged at Lin Xiao’s sleeve: “Eleventh Brother, right now you’re the only one who could think of something. Please — help me, just this once. Get Xia Di to marry Feng Chuyue properly. Otherwise I truly have no way to face Feng Baiyu.”

Lin Xiao did his best not to let his inner revulsion show on his face. He merely maintained his air of detachment and asked: “If I help you — what do I get in return?”