At this point, there no longer seemed to be any reason to keep the conflict going.

And when it came down to it, the reason Shen Shanhu had come here in the first place had never truly been revenge.

She was simply too proud to admit the small, quiet feeling she’d been carrying inside her all along.

But it wasn’t that she was afraid to admit it — she simply wasn’t certain yet. A woman like her, once she made up her mind, there was nothing that could stop her.

Of course, if the opportunity ever arose to stand in front of Tang Pidi and give him a good hard slap across the face, she probably wouldn’t hesitate.

Because what she chose to come here for — and what she chose to do once she arrived — were both entirely her own decisions.

“You said that man is called Tang Pidi?”

She asked.

Li Chi nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Shanhu asked again, “You said the person who rode with steppe cavalry through Yanzhou, running circles around countless people — that was him?”

Li Chi nodded again. “Yes.”

Shen Shanhu asked a third time, “You said he’s currently leading his army in a campaign across Yuzhou?”

Li Chi nodded. “Yes.”

Shen Shanhu gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment, then turned and walked back out. She thought to herself — clearly the man I’ve had my eye on is no ordinary figure.

Li Chi asked, “And where are you headed, miss?”

Shen Shanhu answered, “Yuzhou.”

In that moment, a strange sense of guilt washed over all of them — a feeling that they had done something wrong.

Shen Shanhu walked as she spoke. “What stands between me and Tang Pidi is a matter between the two of us. It has nothing to do with any of you.”

She paused mid-step and turned to look at Xiahou Zuo. “You’re the elder brother here. Whether you want to apologize on behalf of your brothers or take the blows meant for them — that’s your business, not mine. The person I came to find is Tang Pidi. I can’t take out my frustrations on you simply because you’re willing to step in front of him. That would make no sense.”

Xiahou Zuo clasped his hands. “Well said.”

Those two words made Shen Shanhu smile — and when she smiled, it was like sunlight breaking through.

She said, “With a big brother like you, the younger ones are bound to be something.”

Xiahou Zuo smiled slightly. “Thank you.”

Shen Shanhu turned and walked toward the exit. As she went, she gave a little wave — which could have meant goodbye, or perhaps farewell for good.

“Now *that’s* impressive.”

Xiahou Yili said, watching Shen Shanhu’s retreating figure. A single word.

She turned to Gao Xining, who had been silent throughout. “What do you think?”

Gao Xining said, “I haven’t been particularly interested in her or what she’s here to do… What I’m more interested in is the matter I mentioned to you.”

Xiahou Yili’s face suddenly flushed. She turned away with her hands clasped behind her back. “I’ll go see her out.”

Outside the hall, Shen Shanhu looked at her girls and said, “I’ve changed my mind. I plan to make a trip to Yuzhou. If any of you think the road is too long and the journey too difficult, you can return to Yanzhou and wait for me.”

“We’re following our miss!”

The girls called out together. “Wherever you go, miss, we go.”

Li Chi followed Xiahou Yili out and let out a slow breath, then clasped his hands toward Shen Shanhu. “For what happened before — I’ve been feeling terrible about it.”

Shen Shanhu glanced back at him and smiled. “I’ve already said — my affairs have nothing to do with you all.”

Li Chi’s guilt was genuine. Though Tang Pidi had deliberately left behind Xiahou Zuo’s name intending to stir something into being, from this woman’s point of view, none of it had been fair to her.

And the way they had all handled it — their posture throughout — had been rather underhanded, if he was being honest.

That was worth acknowledging. Worth reflecting on.

Perhaps Li Chi’s greatest virtue was that he was always examining himself, always naming his own wrongs to himself.

“Miss, I have one more imposition to ask of you.”

Li Chi said, “I’ve already offended you, and now I want to ask you a favor on top of it — I feel even worse about that.”

Shen Shanhu said, “What do you want to ask me to do?”

Li Chi said, “I’ve organized a shipment of grain and provisions that needs to be sent to Tang Pidi’s army in Yuzhou. But I’m genuinely short on capable people, so I’ve taken the liberty of asking — would you consider helping escort it?”

Shen Shanhu was taken aback. She hadn’t expected this to be what he was asking.

She frowned. “You’re not worried I’m your enemy? Not worried I’ll set fire to your entire supply train?”

Li Chi shook his head. “Not worried.”

Shen Shanhu asked, “Why not?”

Li Chi said, “Because you are a person of integrity. The failing on our part — is that we were not.”

Shen Shanhu thought for a moment, then said, “You’re Prince Ning, with battle commanders aplenty. When you say you want me to escort grain and supplies — the truth is, you’re worried that a group of women traveling south over such a long road might run into trouble. Within your escort convoy, we’d be safer.”

Li Chi, caught out, could only nod. “There is that consideration, yes.”

Shen Shanhu smiled. “My thanks for the kind thought, Prince Ning…”

Li Chi thought — she truly is an independent and formidable woman. She deserves respect.

He had assumed Shen Shanhu was declining. But she hadn’t finished.

Shen Shanhu smiled and said, “But if we travel with the convoy, I assume that means food and lodging are covered?”

Li Chi blinked — then burst out laughing. “Covered!”

Shen Shanhu walked up to Li Chi and extended her hand.

Li Chi was confused — he didn’t understand what she meant.

Gao Xining, however, caught on immediately. She leaned close behind Li Chi and murmured, “A handshake.”

Li Chi understood at once — but he shook his head and took a step back.

Gao Xining stepped forward and clasped hands with Shen Shanhu. Shen Shanhu watched Li Chi backing away and didn’t quite understand at first.

But she didn’t dwell on it. She turned and walked away.

After she had gone a ways, Shen Shanhu suddenly understood. Li Chi had refused to shake her hand because of the distinction between men and women. And Tang Pidi was both Li Chi’s brother and his subordinate — so this Prince Ning, who seemed to care so little for convention, actually held some conventions firmly in his heart.

At that, Shen Shanhu stopped in her tracks. She thought about it, and decided she could not simply let this pass.

She turned back, walked up to Li Chi, and said with complete seriousness, “I’m asking Prince Ning to raise his hand.”

Li Chi shook his head.

Shen Shanhu persisted. “I’m asking Prince Ning to raise his hand.”

Li Chi shook his head again.

Xiahou Zuo came over. “Miss, why are you so insistent on this?”

Shen Shanhu said, “First — I am not yet Tang Pidi’s woman. Whether he is worthy of me is still for me to decide.”

“Second — even if I were Tang Pidi’s woman, that would make me Prince Ning’s sister-in-law, and if you think that makes a handshake improper, I think that’s unbearable stuffiness.”

“If a sister-in-law shaking hands with her brother-in-law is truly a violation of propriety, then that propriety isn’t worth very much.”

“Prince Ning is still young — there’s no need to be so bound up in outdated customs. They are rigid and they are trivial.”

She looked at Li Chi and said, “I am who I am. I don’t consider this any kind of transgression.”

Xiahou Zuo thought for a moment, then reached out and took Li Chi’s hand, raising it. Shen Shanhu promptly gave Li Chi’s palm a firm slap.

She smiled and turned. “When your heart is clear and bright, you don’t need to overthink things. When your heart is clear and bright, you don’t need to worry about what others say.”

She walked as she spoke. “When you can finally set down these so-called rules, that is when there’s truly no distinction between men and women. I dislike stuffiness. And I dislike watching other people be stuffy.”

Xiahou Yili called out, “Now *that’s* impressive!”

Gao Xining nodded. “Impressive!”

Xiahou Yili grinned. “Are you still uninterested in her?”

Gao Xining didn’t answer — she had already run to catch up.

“Shen miss, I want to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Does Yanzhou have matchmakers?”

“Of course it does.”

Shen Shanhu said, “I’ve even played matchmaker myself. Why do you ask?”

Gao Xining said, “Did the match come through?”

Shen Shanhu nodded. “It did.”

Gao Xining’s eyes immediately filled with admiration and envy. She asked, “Any tips for how you did it?”

Shen Shanhu said, “What tips does something like that need? I just asked them both straight out — do you want to or not? If yes, it’s on. If no, it’s off.”

Gao Xining thought to herself — can it really be that direct?

Just then, several horses came thundering down the main street, each rider with a flag on their back — the mark of an urgent military dispatch.

“Urgent report!”

The horses pulled up sharply not far away. A rider leaped from the saddle and dropped to one knee. “Urgent dispatch — eight-hundred-li priority — from Commander Tang Pidi.”

The soldier raised his head and looked toward Li Chi. “Yuzhou has fallen!”

Li Chi’s eyes snapped wide.

Old Tang… had he worked some kind of magic?

It had been only a few months. And he had already taken Yuzhou.

Li Chi turned to look at Xiahou Zuo. “I need to get back to Jizhou immediately — organize the military, see what more I can send to Old Tang.”

Xiahou Zuo nodded. “I have been training tens of thousands of new troops here in Youzhou. They have reached combat readiness. They can be dispatched to Yuzhou.”

Shen Shanhu and her girls were all watching Li Chi.

Li Chi shook his head. His voice was quiet, but utterly certain. “The frontier troops stay put.”

Hearing those four words, something struck hard inside Shen Shanhu’s chest.

Her thoughts whirled for a moment. What kind of people were these?

Xiahou Zuo had said: they are all my brothers; I will stand before them and take what comes; if I cannot stop it, I am the first to die.

Prince Ning had just received news of Yuzhou’s fall — he would naturally be desperate to move troops in to consolidate the newly gained territory — and yet he said: the frontier troops stay put.

Li Chi was already walking. “Pass the order — return to Jizhou.”

Shen Shanhu looked at Gao Xining. “I’ll travel with you all.”

Gao Xining nodded. “Wonderful!”

Shen Shanhu smiled and leaned in close to Gao Xining’s ear. “The real first secret to successful matchmaking is — you pick two people who already want each other. After that, it’s all but guaranteed.”

Gao Xining gave a delighted little laugh.

Shen Shanhu said, “I’ll teach you one of my specialties, and you teach me one of yours.”

Gao Xining paused. Thought to herself — *my* specialty?

She said carefully, “Does throwing clods of dirt count?”

Shen Shanhu’s eyes went wide. The Prince Ning she’d seen today was that kind of Prince Ning — and the woman who belonged to him was this kind of woman?

She assumed Gao Xining was joking, so she replied a little defensively, “That’s nothing special. I can do that too.”

Gao Xining said, very seriously, “Being able to do it and being accurate are two different things.”

Shen Shanhu said, “I’m accurate too.”

Gao Xining exhaled slowly and made a polite gesture. “Please, show me.”

Shen Shanhu looked around, and spotted a bird perched on a distant wall. She pointed. “Let’s hit that bird.”

Gao Xining was about to say something, but Shen Shanhu had already picked up two stones. “You and I at the same time. We’ll see who hits it.”

Gao Xining took the stone. She hadn’t even finished settling her grip when Shen Shanhu called out, “Now!”

She threw. Gao Xining raised her hand, and the stone flew.

With a sharp crack, the two stones collided in mid-air and both flew off course.

Gao Xining was already walking away with her hands clasped behind her back.

Shen Shanhu stared after her. “It turns out throwing things is genuinely unusual…”

The bird was still sitting on the wall, chirping happily away, entirely unaware that a girl had just saved its life.

Behind them, Yu Jiuling looked at Li Chi with an unexplainable sense of grievance.

Li Chi asked, “What’s the matter with you?”

Yu Jiuling said, “My lord — she doesn’t even spare the birds.”

Li Chi asked, “And?”

Yu Jiuling pointed at himself. “But when she was pelting me with clods of dirt, she never held back at all.”

Li Chi looked at Yu Jiuling and gave a long, quiet sigh. “How many times has it even been…”

—