In the capital, everyone who survived did so by reading the room — what the Third Young Master liked and disliked was common knowledge among the hundred-odd people around him, and as long as no one mentioned the Yin woman in front of him, there was still plenty to talk about.

So Liu Chenghe took Xu Changyi and set about arranging things, making quite a show of it — clearing the training grounds and laying out a banquet. Officers from both the Imperial Guard and the palace guard, invited or not, all came that day to pay their respects to Li Jingyun, with rosewood chests of gifts being carried up one after another.

Li Jingyun found it baffling. “Today isn’t any particular festival, and there’s no happy occasion at my residence either — what exactly are all these gifts for?”

Qin Sheng laughed. “Spring has arrived — call them spring gifts.”

Li Jingyun shot him a look, his expression less than pleased, and waved for the gifts to be turned away, then sat down at the head seat and drank on his own.

He’d said he only had one hour of free time today, so the men below scrambled to get in front of him, afraid to miss this chance, lest they meet that same iron mask again later. The first to step up was Deputy Commander An Yuan of the seventh battalion of the Imperial Guard. He’d barely opened his mouth to speak when Li Jingyun’s cold gaze landed on him.

“You have the leisure to come out drinking, but not the time to deal properly with that troublemaking brother of yours?”

An Yuan’s smile froze, and he lowered his head guiltily. “I thought we weren’t discussing official business today.”

“Who made that rule with you?” Li Jingyun sneered. “I’m only on leave for five days. If your brother is still freeloading in the seventh battalion after those five days, I’ll keep him and send you home instead.”

An Yuan hadn’t expected the Grand Marshal to give no face at all even at such a lively gathering. He glanced around and quickly had the singers and dancers brought up, hoping to use a beauty scheme to soften this block of stone that was the Grand Marshal.

Yet after half an hour of song and dance, Li Jingyun’s face remained cold, entirely unmoved.

Sitting off to one side, Qin Sheng drank and laughed. Trying to win the Third Young Master over with such tricks was foolish indeed — a man raised in Qifeng Tower had seen every trick in the book. If it were up to him, they shouldn’t have gone the route of women at all — sending precious swords and blades from Lianqing Workshop might have actually earned a smile.

“What should we do?” An Yuan hurried over to Xu Changyi’s side, asking in a low, anxious voice.

Xu Changyi and An Yuan had some connection, which was why he’d agreed to help with this today, but he had no idea what the Third Young Master was thinking right now either, and couldn’t help but look troubled.

Just as he was about to tell An Yuan to work things out himself, Mingshu beside him suddenly spoke up. “Have your wife go greet people at the entrance.”

An Yuan blinked. “Greet who?”

“The Grand Marshal’s wife,” Mingshu said. “I already sent her an invitation.”

Hearing this, Xu Changyi’s face turned pale. “What mischief are you stirring up? The Third Young Master doesn’t want anything to do with the Yin woman these days.”

Mingshu smiled at him. “This humble one hasn’t seen Madam Yin in a long time either. She said she wanted to get out and about, and since she knew you’d be at this banquet today, I only invited her over for a cup of tea. It has nothing to do with the Third Young Master — we’re seated far off, and as long as no one announces her, he might not even notice.”

“How reckless!” Xu Changyi frowned deeply. “You’ve always liked to act on your own like this. If it causes trouble, forget about solving An Yuan’s problem — you might end up angering the Third Young Master instead. I’ve told you before, as a wife, don’t meddle in so many outside affairs — but you never listen.”

Wanting to argue but holding back, Mingshu pressed her lips together and looked away.

Caught between the two, An Yuan looked at Mingshu’s expression and sighed. “I’ll still send someone to invite her over. She is, after all, the Grand Marshal’s wife — an honored guest that no one else could invite. We can’t afford to be rude.”

Furious, Xu Changyi flicked his sleeve and stood, taking his cup to go find Liu Chenghe. Mingshu sat and waited, and before long, saw Huayue arrive with Shuang Jiang.

The banquet was busy with people coming and going, and the grounds were spacious enough that someone arriving now and then didn’t draw much attention. Huayue sat down beside Mingshu, and only those seated nearby, like Wen Guzhi’s group, noticed.

Wen Guzhi’s heart clenched. He couldn’t understand what this mistress was here for, and hurried over with his wine cup to distract Li Jingyun, afraid he’d spot her and start dressing someone down again.

“Madam.” Mingshu greeted Huayue with a bright smile. “It’s a wonder you came out with your condition so far along.”

Huayue waved a hand. “Li Yun said I should move around more, for an easier delivery. I had nothing to do, so I figured a slow stroll over wouldn’t hurt. You said you have shops under your name that need to be sold off — is that true?”

“Yes,” Mingshu nodded. “This humble one didn’t know Madam was interested in this — otherwise I’d have mentioned it sooner. My hometown is a small town in Huaibei. There are about a dozen shops in the town that need selling off; being such a small place, no one there can offer a good price. If Madam wants them, I’ll write home about it and have them all set aside for you.”

Her eyes brightening, Huayue nodded and quietly asked about the prices. Mingshu answered in a low voice, and the two haggled back and forth for a while before happily settling down to tea together.

As the hour drew close, Li Jingyun looked ready to leave. An Yuan grew flustered, sweat beading on his forehead, and quickly had music and acrobatics brought in, with a dozen or so dancers in gauze skirts appearing to help hold the crowd.

Li Jingyun found it tiresome. “We’ve already eaten — do we really have to sit here the whole afternoon?”

An Yuan forced a smile. Xu Changyi glanced up and saw that the Third Young Master had truly grown angry, and hurriedly stepped aside to clear his path.

Li Jingyun rose and turned, about to leave, when something caught his eye and his movements suddenly stilled.

“Third Young Master?” Xu Changyi looked at him curiously, not yet understanding what had happened, when Li Jingyun had already sat back down.

What did this mean? Xu Changyi didn’t understand, neither did An Yuan; everyone exchanged glances. After a moment of quiet, they quickly went back to pouring tea and wine for him. Fine meats and rich dishes sat on the table; Li Jingyun glanced over them, displeased.

An Yuan understood at once and immediately ordered the dishes changed — light, fragrant, spicy, a bit of everything. When he saw Li Jingyun finally pick up his chopsticks for the steamed fish and chicken soup, he let out a long breath and quietly instructed the servants to bring out more light dishes.

Xu Changyi, still puzzled, suddenly heard from above: “Are you full?”

Coming back to himself, he answered, “Well enough. There’s no filling up properly at a banquet like this anyway.”

Giving him a look, Li Jingyun pushed the chicken soup and sweet-and-sour fish toward him. “Take it back and eat. Stop nursing your wine cup with everyone else.”

Xu Changyi was moved beyond words — so their Third Young Master did have moments of caring after all. He quickly had someone carry the two dishes back to his own table.

Huayue and Mingshu were still chatting away nicely. Xu Changyi went back and paid his respects, but there was nowhere for him to sit, so he greeted her quietly, set down the dishes, and glanced back once.

The Third Young Master was still drinking. Wen Guzhi and Liu Chenghe blocked his line of sight, which had kept him from noticing this table so far, but with everyone a bit unsteady from drink, the blockade wasn’t holding perfectly.

Li Jingyun set down his cup and, without much thought, glanced over this way. Xu Changyi startled, quickly stepping in front of Huayue, and said in a low voice, “It’s noisy here, and your sister-in-law is still pregnant — better she rests early.”

Hearing this, Mingshu glared at him. “Madam finally came out — give her a moment.”

Huayue smiled. “Don’t worry, my lord. I’ll just say a few more words with your good wife and then head off.”

Cupping his hands toward her, Xu Changyi went back to Liu Chenghe’s side.

Li Jingyun glanced at him and asked, “Done eating?”

“Mm,” Xu Changyi quickly answered. “Just a few bites and I was full.”

Turning his wine cup in his hand, Li Jingyun was about to say more when An Yuan knelt down beside his leg. “Grand Marshal, allow this humble one to offer you a toast.”

His expression darkened a shade. He turned to look. “Is this a toast, or a plea for mercy?”

A little embarrassed, An Yuan said in a low voice, “He caused trouble, and naturally deserves punishment, but the An family has only the two of us brothers — please, my lord, be merciful this once. At least let him atone through service before dismissing him from the palace so soon.”

As he spoke, he pressed a red envelope into Li Jingyun’s hand.

Xu Changyi tried to stop him but it was already too late — he’d forgotten to warn An Yuan that this master hated nothing more than being handed a red envelope after someone had already made a mistake. Offering one beforehand might work, but afterward, no matter how much money he stuffed in, it would buy him no favor at all.

Sure enough, the moment Li Jingyun saw the envelope, his face darkened. He swept it aside and snapped, “He got tangled up with a palace maid, dragging dozens of men from your seventh battalion into it, and instead of thinking about protecting the men under your own command, you’d rather throw in your own reputation and other people’s lives to fill the hole. Shortsighted, unable to tell right from wrong — I don’t even need to promote you any further. You’ll be a deputy commander your whole life and that will be more than enough!”

His scolding silenced the whole area. Wen Guzhi and the others said nothing, only watching An Yuan tremble on his knees beside him.

Li Jingyun valued talent and thought highly of An Yuan’s skill with arms, which was why he’d promoted him all the way to deputy commander. His anger now came from disappointment, not hatred, and naturally no one dared step up to smooth things over. But when this young master lost his temper, it truly was terrifying — the music and strings fell silent, the singers and dancers all knelt in a row, and even the officers who’d been drinking happily nearby fell quiet.

In the suffocating silence, someone suddenly sneezed.

A delicate, feminine sound. Everyone’s face went pale, thinking this would surely be pouring oil on the fire. Wen Guzhi and the others were startled sober, all crowding together at once to Li Jingyun’s left side, holding their breath, forming a human wall.

Li Jingyun glanced sideways at them and sneered. “What, afraid I’ll get blown away by the wind?”

“No, no,” Liu Chenghe waved his hands. “We’re just… standing close for warmth. It’s still early spring, a bit cold yet.”

The words had barely finished when Huayue sneezed again.

His gaze shifted. Li Jingyun said in a low voice, “Move aside.”

Sucking in a breath of cold air, Liu Chenghe shook his head. “If we move, won’t you be cold too?”

Fixing him with a steady look, Li Jingyun said, word by word, “Move. Aside.”

It was over — the brothers exchanged glances, seeing despair reflected in each other’s eyes, and shuffled reluctantly out of the way. Xu Changyi, last to move, finally revealed the table behind them where Huayue sat, exposed.

Huayue had just been rubbing her nose with a handkerchief when she suddenly found herself meeting the gaze of the man at the head seat. Unfazed, she gave him a little wave, as if in greeting.

“Who told you to come out here?” Storm clouds gathering on his face, Li Jingyun glared at her.

“Third Young Master, please don’t be angry — it was Mingshu who invited your sister-in-law over to sit a while, she’ll head back soon.” Xu Changyi hurried to plead on their behalf, gesturing at Mingshu as he spoke.