In the back courtyard, by the time the two midwives had finished tidying everything and the kitchen brought the ginseng chicken broth over, the sounds of blade and sword from beyond the outer wall had gradually gone quiet.

The long blade returned to its sheath. The Deputy Commander of the Southern Embroidered Uniform Guard dropped from the top of the wall once more, traces of blood not fully wiped from his face, and came before Yang Shiyue to report: “Lady Pei — matters outside have been settled.”

Yang Shiyue had been clutching her handkerchief tightly throughout. The cloth was soaked through with perspiration from her palm. Hearing the Deputy Commander’s report, the weight she had been carrying in her heart was finally set down. Even knowing full well the skill and capability of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and trusting them to keep this corner of the world secure — hearing the clashing of swords and the quiet sounds of death at close quarters had still been enough to make her, a woman, feel shaken from within.

“Maintain your watch. Until Commander Yan returns, do not lower your guard for a single moment.”

“This subordinate obeys.”

The chrysanthemums along the base of the wall caught the autumn dew in the pre-dawn dark; within the city, the crowing of a cock carried the crescent moon away. The sky at the eastern horizon was already faintly brightening. Yang Shiyue returned to the room to find County Princess Zhao sitting propped against the cushions, an infant bundled in her arms, a flush of color beginning to return to her face.

“My Lady — it is a young viscount.” The two nursemaids announced the news with great joy.

The little one had perhaps cried itself to exhaustion earlier and was now sleeping contentedly and quietly.

“You may go for now — collect your reward from Nanny Chen later.” The two midwives departed with smiling faces.

County Princess Zhao dismissed the servants and attending women from her side, and first expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Yang Shiyue: “Shiyue — last night you were here, and I am at a loss for words to say how grateful I am.”

“We neighbors help one another — we are worth as much as jade to each other. We came south together on the same vessel, and Boyuan and Commander Yan are colleagues who share the same work. The wall between our two households has a connecting door — what is there to thank? What is there not to thank?” Yang Shiyue said modestly. She added, “Just focus on recovering your strength. Commander Yan will have heard the news and will be back before long.”

Having said all that, County Princess Zhao then asked, “Shiyue — were there intruders last night?”

Yang Shiyue had not expected her to ask this, and was momentarily at a loss for words.

Her expression answered for her. County Princess Zhao said, “I grew up from childhood in the deep palace — I am particularly sensitive to sounds and movements from beyond the walls of a room.” Having heard it and still managed to safely deliver the young viscount — she was evidently a person who kept her composure in crisis, and knew what mattered most.

County Princess Zhao set the bundled infant beside her and took Yang Shiyue’s hands in both of her own, offering her gratitude once more.

……

The danger had passed. Yang Shiyue went to the study, intending to bring the three children out of the hidden chamber. She called out several times and received no answer, so she had to do as Yi’er had done the night before, slowly turning the bronze ornament on the bookshelf.

The bookshelf shifted aside. In the hidden chamber, three little bundles were huddled together in the corner, arms around one another, fast asleep.

Yang Shiyue felt a pang of tenderness. The autumn days had turned cold, and the hidden chamber at night was colder still — fortunately, they were dressed in relatively thick clothing. She thought she ought to boil some ginger broth for the children to warm away the chill and prevent them from catching a cold.

Drawing close, she saw that little Nan and little Feng were each cradling a deep blue-green pearl in their hands, giving off a faint luminescence. Yang Shiyue gave them a gentle shake and called, “Little Nan, little Feng, Yi’er — wake up, quickly.”

The three little ones rubbed their eyes, still somewhat dazed, and seemed to have momentarily forgotten why they had fallen asleep in the hidden chamber. After a moment, Yi’er asked, “Little Nan-gege, where were we in the story last night?”

“I think we had reached the part where the deity splits the mountain to rescue his mother.”

It seemed that little Nan had been telling the two girls stories for half the night.

Yang Shiyue knew the luminescent pearls were precious and coaxed the two children to give the pearls back. Little Feng was a little reluctant, and pleaded, “But, but… Yi’er gave these to me and Gege as gifts.” She was not particularly attached to the pearls themselves — only to Yi’er’s gift.

Yi’er also tilted her head up and said, “Auntie — although these are Father’s pearls, they were a gift from me to little Nan-gege and little Feng-jiejie.”

Yang Shiyue did not want to spoil the bond between the children, and so for the time being agreed to let it rest — she would wait until Boyuan and Commander Yan returned before making any further arrangements.

……

On the other side, Yan Chengzhao, having received word, raced back at full speed.

When he was nearly at the Yan household gate, his horse had been going at such a pace that it nearly crashed into the outer wall.

When he saw that the County Princess and child were both safe and well, the murderous look that had been on Yan Chengzhao’s face eased somewhat. He picked up his son with great care — though not so overwhelmed as he had been when he first held Yi’er in his arms, he was nonetheless entirely attentive and protective.

Yan Chengzhao gently stroked his wife’s face and said, “It is my fault — I have caused you to be frightened.”

With his return, the Yan household had its mainstay back, and matters of interrogating the captured intruders and dealing with the treacherous servants were handled without difficulty.

The supposedly highly-regarded midwife who had been engaged at great expense from Fuzhou Prefecture was a tough-mouthed woman, and it took considerable interrogation before she confessed. She had no connection whatsoever to any medical lineage — she had formerly been nothing more than a menial woman in a medical establishment, who had learned the manner and procedures of the birthing experts there and imitated them so convincingly that she seemed entirely authentic.

Her method when delivering a baby was to declare from the outset that the infant was lying poorly and it would be a difficult birth. If it went smoothly, the credit was hers. If the mother did not survive the ordeal — in this world, such things were common enough.

She had constructed a false identity and background for herself, then paid to have her reputation built up by word of mouth. In this way, the name of this “medical midwife” who “specializes in difficult deliveries” had spread far and wide, earning a very loud reputation.

……

Several days later, Pei Shaohuai received the imperial edict authorizing the sailing permits and returned from the provincial capital at Fuzhou.

He had barely disembarked when Chang Fan told him of the events at home, and a thousand feelings surged in his chest at once. He could not bring himself to stop at the prefectural office first and hurried straight home.

After comforting Shi Yue, little Nan and little Feng brought the luminescent pearls to show Pei Shaohuai, quite pleased with themselves, saying that little Yi’er had given them as gifts.

Pei Shaohuai picked up the pearls and examined them carefully. They were clear and green all the way through, perfectly round — fine quality fluorite. Only then did he feel reassured, and returned the luminescent pearls to little Nan and little Feng.

“Official — should these few pearls be returned to Commander Yan?”

“No need at all.” Pei Shaohuai said with a laugh. “Commander Yan is a man of great means — he will certainly not miss these few pearls.” It was not easy to get anything out of the hands of the Yan commander, so why on earth would one return it?

Husband and wife sat speaking together in their room, and the conversation turned to the intruders who had broken in under cover of night.

Yang Shiyue asked, “Official — what sort of reclusive noble clan could devise such a vicious method, choosing the very hour when the County Princess was about to give birth to strike at the women and children of the inner quarters?”

Pei Shaohuai shook his head — he did not know who they were either. But he said, “Such a faction of villains cannot be called reclusive at all.”

In Pei Shaohuai’s view, true seclusion meant keeping one’s gate shut while the spring grass grew long — a person who concealed themselves within the world of mortals, seeking only a simple idleness, letting the south wind drift in and knock the scrolls from the desk. That was what it meant to be “reclusive.”

To be a “scholar of principle” required steadfast learning, concern for the common people even in poverty, a dedication to illuminating the way and saving the world.

Otherwise, how could a member of the scholar-official class hold their head up before the words attributed to Fan Wenzheng: “Be the first to bear the world’s burden, the last to enjoy its pleasures”?

These were neither recluses nor scholars. They were people who lurked in the shadows waiting for an opening, seizing ill-gotten wealth and position. For people such as these, Pei Shaohuai said, “At best they can only be called ‘concealed villains.'”

This incursion had touched the limits of what Pei Shaohuai and Yan Chengzhao would tolerate. Whether or not the people behind it had been identified, all the affairs of Fujian were nearing the time for resolution.

……

Learning that Pei Shaohuai had returned, Yan Chengzhao soon “found his way to the door.”

Outside the window, green ivy covered the low wall in the white daylight, emerald leaves filtering the light, the grass a deep and quiet hue — yet within this still study, the surface of the tea on the desk rippled faintly, slow to settle.

Pei Shaohuai had not yet opened his mouth to ask when, simply from reading Yan Chengzhao’s expression, he knew the results of this secret investigation were not reassuring.

“Commander Yan — have you found them?”

“Just as Prefect Pei predicted — the opposing party shifted all the blame onto the Shangguan clan, intending to have the Shangguan family bear the guilt in their stead.” Yan Chengzhao replied.

Pei Shaohuai’s conjecture had been correct.

And yet, judging from Commander Yan’s expression, things were evidently not so simple.

“Following the Shangguan clan’s trail — you still could not draw out the people behind them? Or rather… did they evade by some other scheme that has been laid?”

“When Yan discovered that the Shangguan family had been made into scapegoats, he followed the trail further. Under the direction of every thread of evidence, the hidden hand behind it all turned out to be the Lin family of Quanzhou…”

Pei Shaohuai’s heart went cold as he heard this. His color changed — this outcome was more chilling than having found nothing at all.

How could the hidden hand behind it possibly be the Lin family?

Whether Lin, or Chen, or Shangguan — it was plain to see that all of them were nothing but pieces on the opposing party’s board. Both Pei Shaohuai and Yan Chengzhao understood: this was simply the opposing party’s method of escape.

First the Shangguan family was pushed forward to take the blame, then the fire was redirected onto the Lin family.

What chilled Pei Shaohuai was whether this move was truly a “shedding of the tail to survive,” or whether it was a deliberate display of the opposing party’s strategic intelligence — a direct provocation and challenge thrown at Pei Shaohuai and Yan Chengzhao.

For the opposing party to be able to do this, there could be only two possibilities.

The first: the opposing party was extremely vigilant, and while framing the Shangguan family, they detected Yan Chengzhao — detected the Southern Embroidered Uniform Guard — and in order to conceal their identity, promptly “shed another tail” and sacrificed the Lin family. This would be improvisation under pressure.

The second: the opposing party had anticipated Pei Shaohuai’s conjecture, calculated against his calculations, concealed a further piece behind their move — this had been a trap laid from the very beginning.

If it were the former, that was one thing — it would only show the opposing party’s vigilance. What truly chilled Pei Shaohuai was the second possibility.

Consider this — what manner of person could sacrifice two entire clans as carelessly as pieces in a game? And what manner of person knew Pei Shaohuai so thoroughly, and understood him so completely, as to be able to calculate even his conjectures in advance?

Pei Shaohuai saw clearly now why Yan Chengzhao had entered the room with such a grave expression. The opposing party was too cunning.

Yan Chengzhao continued, “From that point onward, the Southern Embroidered Uniform Guard found not a single further trace of the opposing party. Every thread of investigation ended at the Lin family… it was as if they had simply vanished from Fujian, abandoning a position they had cultivated over many years.”

Pei Shaohuai felt a mixture of relief and unease. The relief was this — the opposing party still feared imperial authority. They would rather relinquish this great prize in Fujian than rashly make a move. Though it was perhaps small comfort, to have forced the opposing party to retreat could be counted as something accomplished.

The unease was this — the opposing party had made a clean and early withdrawal. If it had not been a spontaneous decision, then it confirmed the second conjecture.

As for the men who had broken into the Yan household that night — even those captured alive would yield nothing useful under interrogation. For one thing, they were men who had gone in prepared to die, hardened to the last. For another, it was impossible to know how many hands the task had passed through before reaching them, making it nearly impossible to trace back to the source.

Pei Shaohuai asked, “Our plan — aside from the secret memorial to the Emperor, was there any third person who knew of it?”

Yan Chengzhao shook his head. He understood what Pei Shaohuai meant, and so asked in return, “Has Prefect Pei ever considered — could it be the doing of someone close to you?” To know Pei Shaohuai this well — it could only be someone near to him.

Even if Pei Shaohuai was unwilling to believe it, it was nonetheless a possibility.

Of course, there was yet another possibility — since the Emperor too had known of the matter, could it be that someone close to the Emperor was working mischief in the shadows? Only this particular conjecture could not be shared with Commander Yan — for now it could only be kept quietly within his own heart.

Outside, the daylight grew ever brighter, the green light filtered through the emerald leaves, and the stillness deepened.

The ivy that covered the wall — it appeared slender and weak. But left untended, it too could eat through crumbling walls and topple them to rubble.