◎Probing◎

Without waiting for further discussion, Peng Yue took his leave with a hearty laugh. He San, still shaken, stood at the door with his head lowered, trying to work out how best to apologize for his failure.

After identifying Yan Wuping, since he was a close confidant of Peng Yue’s, the Ministry of Justice hadn’t been able to simply seize him outright. Zhou Tan had instead instructed a few of his men to keep a close watch on him.

Yan Wuping had spent the entire afternoon at the Heart of Fragrance House, then gone straight to Peng Yue’s residence upon leaving. He San and his men had lain in wait at the gate for a long while and come up empty-handed — by the time they realized the man might have slipped out through a back entrance, it was already too late. By the time they reached East Street, even the fire had already been put out, leaving nothing but a charred, blackened ruin.

He San stood rooted to the spot, cold sweat trickling down his back, and after a long silence, all he heard was, “I understand. Go on back for now — I’ll return to the Ministry of Justice shortly.”

Zhou Tan remained seated where he was, unhurriedly pouring himself the rest of the tea Peng Yue had left unfinished. Once He San had left, he gave a small cough.

“Come out.”

It took Qu You a moment to realize Zhou Tan was speaking to her. She climbed up from the floor and lifted the beaded curtain aside. “You knew I was here?”

Zhou Tan rose and walked toward her. “If you want to come with me, go change your clothes.”

Uncle De had two horses prepared in the back courtyard for Zhou Tan. He swung himself up onto one, while Qu You, now changed into men’s clothing, hesitated without moving. Seeing Zhou Tan look over at her, she had no choice but to explain, “I don’t know how to ride.”

Zhou Tan paused for a moment, his brow furrowing faintly before smoothing out again, and held out a hand to her. “Get on.”

Preparing a carriage in the dead of night would take too much trouble. Qu You hesitated only briefly before reaching out her hand. Before she’d even fully registered what was happening, Zhou Tan had already swept her up onto the horse, wrapping his arms around her from behind to shield her as he rode out of the estate.

It was strange to think that, since their marriage, this was the first time the two of them had ever been in such close physical contact.

Qu You was pressed close against him, the scent of still water filling her senses. The horse wove through dark alley mouths and the still-bustling streets along the Bian River, galloping swiftly, hooves striking a rhythmic clatter against the flagstone road.

She turned her head, wanting to catch a glimpse of Zhou Tan’s expression, but he tightened his arms and warned her in a low voice, “Don’t move around.”

Their heartbeats seemed to tangle together. Qu You gripped one of Zhou Tan’s sleeves and asked quietly, “You knew I was there — why didn’t it bother you?”

Zhou Tan said nothing, focused entirely on riding, occasionally calling out a soft “hyah.” Not until they were nearing the Ministry of Justice, just outside the four main streets by the imperial city, did he suddenly speak. “Peng Yue has always had a weakness for beautiful women, and he has powerful backing behind him. As you could tell, he wasn’t at all concerned about offending me.”

This was nothing like the answer Qu You had expected. “So the reason you didn’t want me to see him was because…”

Before she could finish the sentence, Zhou Tan pulled the reins tight, dismounted first, and then lifted her down with one arm.

The two of them happened to run into a group of guards just returning from East Street at the entrance of the Ministry of Justice. The guards bowed their heads in greeting to Zhou Tan, and the one leading them said, “My lord, we’ve brought the body back.”

Zhou Tan asked in a low voice, “Any signs of arson?”

The guard answered, head bowed, “Not yet found.”

Qu You followed him inside. It was the first time she’d ever seen a corpse, and her face immediately went pale as paper.

Someone lifted the white cloth covering the body, and Qu You forced herself to look.

Having died in a fire, the body was burned beyond recognition, almost too gruesome to look at. She could faintly make out that the clothing matched what Yan Wuping had been wearing that afternoon, and a wave of cold dread washed through her.

She gripped tightly at the sleeve of Zhou Tan’s robe beside her. Zhou Tan frowned and glanced at her, but didn’t pull away.

Qu You, breathing hard, looked again — and then her breath suddenly caught.

Her grip loosened, and Zhou Tan crouched down to personally cover the body with the white cloth once more.

From the moment he’d learned of the fire until now, he had remained calm to an almost unnatural degree. Even amid the jostling of the ride over, Qu You had found herself wondering why Zhou Tan seemed so unmoved.

Now… she thought she understood why.

The guard spoke up quietly beside them. “The coroner took a quick look — the body is unmistakably that of a man around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. The face is too damaged to identify, but we can more or less confirm this is Yan Wuping. I’ve had him go examine the rest now — he’ll report back to you shortly, my lord.”

Zhou Tan gave a slight nod and walked toward the back hall. Qu You gripped his sleeve and followed, a suspicion slowly rising in her mind — one she herself hardly dared believe.

No one was on duty in the back hall. He San, who had followed along, seemed to sense that Zhou Tan had something to discuss with her, and closed the door behind them.

In the two days since she’d last seen it, the once-blank screen had filled with writing again. As Qu You passed by its side, she caught glimpses of different handwriting. She saw one line reading “Which good brother added that fine verse?” and another, “Troubled by many matters lately, but thankfully Mother has the money for her medicine now — my regards to you, sir.”

But she wasn’t in the mood to read further just then. Zhou Tan turned around, hands clasped behind his back, and asked her directly, “What did you want to say?”

“That body isn’t Yan Wuping,” Qu You said, watching his amber eyes — and, sure enough, finding not the slightest trace of surprise in them. “I was just wondering why Lord Zhou seemed so calm, and now I think I’ve guessed part of it.”

Zhou Tan’s tone stayed flat. “Oh?”

He paused, then asked, “How do you know the body isn’t Yan Wuping?”

Qu You fixed her eyes on him. “Because Yan Wuping is a woman.”

Zhou Tan lifted his gaze, a note of something like approval in his voice. “You saw through it?”

“My own male disguise is my own doing — I’ve been playing with cosmetics since I was young, so I know how to fake it convincingly when dressing as a man. Yan… Miss Yan clearly knows this art well too,” Qu You answered. “Our disguises wouldn’t be noticed by ordinary people — she disguised herself even better than I did. But she forgot one detail—

“She forgot to draw herself an Adam’s apple.”

Zhou Tan glanced instinctively at her throat, and sure enough found that Qu You had shaded her own neck to resemble a man’s Adam’s apple.

“Unless you’re specifically looking for it, you’d never notice a flaw like that. Even the women at the Heart of Fragrance House probably don’t know her true identity. When I was leaving, she asked me why I trusted her — it was because I knew she was a woman, and could feel for what those women had gone through, just as I could.”

“The two of you…” Zhou Tan said softly, “are both kind-hearted people.”

“And what about you?” Qu You studied his expression closely and asked in return. “When I left the Ministry of Justice yesterday, surely you already knew where I’d gone?”

Zhou Tan’s gaze grew heavy.

“I have a theory,” Qu You said, eyes fixed unwaveringly on him, and offered a smile. “Perhaps you already knew Gu Xianghui, the woman who fell to her death, and Yan Wuping, disguised as a man, from the very start. Even more than that — perhaps they were always meant to serve your purposes, and from that very day at Fan Tower, you’d already set an elaborate scheme in motion…”

Watching Zhou Tan’s expression remain utterly unruffled, she knew she’d guessed correctly, and continued, her throat tightening. “I just happened to get dragged into it along the way, but you quickly realized you might be able to make use of me — no, it was my own choice to investigate, so you can’t be blamed for that. So yesterday, you pointed out that madam to me on purpose, drawing me to the Heart of Fragrance House. No sooner had I arrived than Miss Yan came to me at once, entrusting me with the task without a shred of suspicion.”

“You had people following me, yet you never came to save me — because you knew Miss Yan was your own person. But she clearly knew I was your wife too, and still tested me. Zhou Tan—” she called him by his full name, her gaze not wavering in the least, “you suspected me?”

Zhou Tan toyed with the string of small-leaf red sandalwood beads on his wrist and said nothing. A heavy silence fell between them.

Night had deepened outside. The candle flame in the hall suddenly flickered, crackling as it burned a spark.

At last Zhou Tan raised his head, and revealed a smile Qu You had never seen on him before — cold, flippant, utterly without any trace of fear at being exposed. Looking at his face, Qu You realized, with a faint chill, that Zhou Tan had been far too courteous with her up until now — only today was she finally seeing the version of him that matched the rumors.

Outside, the wind sighed mournfully. Zhou Tan’s voice came out so soft it was barely more than breath. “That’s right. I tested you, I suspected you…”

“So what if I did?”