The next afternoon, the carriage rattled into Chang’an under the golden slanting sunlight. Inside, Jing Zhe woke the dozing Jiang Zhiyi, telling her they were almost home.

Jiang Zhiyi had spent half the night with Yuance, and after bidding him farewell early in the morning, she had become drowsy upon entering the carriage. She had spent half the journey napping, but now finally roused herself, sitting up to look out the window.

Compared to the battle-scarred outskirts of the capital, Chang’an city had not suffered much from the warfare beyond the initial palace coup. As an example to the realm, it had been the first to restore normal life.

Looking out now, this square city she had been absent from for half a year remained just as she had left it. In the crisscrossing streets, from high officials to commoners, to traveling merchants, people of all ages thronged about in bustling crowds with vehicles and horses filling the roads.

Gazing at the passing wards and towers, Jiang Zhiyi felt that the tumultuous half-year she had experienced, brushing with death, seemed like half a lifetime. Returning to the city she had lived in for seventeen years, she had a feeling of both familiarity and strangeness.

The carriage headed to Chongren Ward in the northeast of the city, coming to a stop before the Yong’en Marquis Estate.

In front of the entrance screen wall, two concubines of the Yong’en Marquis were waiting early with their maids. Seeing Jiang Zhiyi alighting from the carriage with Jing Zhe’s assistance, they hurried forward and bowed: “The Princess has returned. Thank you for enduring the journey for the Marquis!”

“Concubine Xu, there’s no need for such formality. How has my uncle been these days?” Jiang Zhiyi gestured for Lady Xu to rise while beckoning Li Dafeng to enter the estate, hurriedly walking inside.

Lady Xu followed slightly behind her, saying as they walked: “The Marquis had indeed stopped having fevers after using Doctor Li’s prescription, and his cough had improved. But when the fighting broke out at the end of the sixth month, the Marquis became anxious day and night, and his illness returned with severe coughing. The physicians feared he would damage his lungs, so to control the pain and coughing, they could only keep him sedated with calming medicinal brews. These days, the Marquis is seldom awake. However, the physician says the drowsiness is caused by the medicine and he will wake after it’s discontinued. The key is to cure the cough.”

Using calming medicinal decoctions to forcibly stop coughing naturally treated the symptoms but not the root cause, though it could temporarily stabilize the condition. Jiang Zhiyi had already learned about this situation on the road and had asked Li Dafeng, receiving the same answer.

Jiang Zhiyi hurriedly followed Lady Xu into the main courtyard and straight to the Yong’en Marquis’s bedchamber. Upon entering, she smelled the pungent odor of medicinal brew.

The Yong’en Marquis lay quietly sleeping on the bed, his complexion yellow, with sores at the corners of his lips. He had grown much thinner compared to the first month of the year. Though covered with a thin blanket, even his belly paunch was no longer visible.

Jiang Zhiyi had no time to look at her uncle longer, quickly making way for Li Dafeng at the bedside.

Li Dafeng set down his medical chest and advanced to check the pulse. After a moment’s examination, he also checked the patient’s tongue coating and eye whites, and carefully listened to his lung sounds during breathing: “The Marquis’s lung disease has indeed become rather complicated after being neglected for so long. Recovery will be like drawing silk from a cocoon, requiring slow nursing and care. However, Princess, please rest assured. I will prescribe a new formula to use for a while, and then the sedative decoction won’t be necessary anymore. Taking too much of those medicines can be harmful.”

“That’s wonderful,” Jiang Zhiyi sighed in relief, instructing the maid behind her, “Prepare ink, paper, and brush for Doctor Li.”

Li Dafeng sat at the desk, dipped his brush in ink, and began writing the prescription.

“Fortunately, the Princess brought Doctor Li,” Lady Xu said gratefully. “I thought the roads to the capital were still closed, and it would take more time. I didn’t expect the Princess to arrive so quickly.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s quick arrival was naturally thanks to Yuance. Though they had been improper during the nights of their three-day journey into the capital region, they had not fallen behind in their daytime travels. Because many official roads remained closed, Yuance had led her across the post-war capital region using wilderness paths.

Just as Lady Xu finished speaking, a disapproving female voice sounded from the corridor: “What do you mean quick? I’ve been waiting forever!”

Lady Xu looked at the newcomer with a start and quickly lowered her head respectfully.

Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes brightened as she hurried out to greet her: “Sister Baojia!”

“Such a bloody journey back to the capital. Were you injured on the way?” Baojia asked, entering gracefully and examining her up and down.

“I’m fine,” Jiang Zhiyi twirled once before her and took her hand. “But what about you, Sister? Were you frightened during the palace coup?”

“Don’t worry, a princess with a ruined reputation who isn’t in favor wouldn’t catch the rebels’ attention.” As Baojia spoke, she looked past Jiang Zhiyi and saw Li Dafeng sitting at the desk, his brush flowing smoothly across the paper, seemingly deaf and blind to her presence. “So your Xuance Army’s military doctor treats patients? Maybe he should cure his blindness and deafness first.”

Jiang Zhiyi turned to glance at Li Dafeng, then back at Baojia.

In the letter sent to her in the third month, she had still called him “Dafeng,” but now, in public, it became “your Xuance Army’s military doctor.”

Li Dafeng finished writing the prescription and handed it to Lady Xu, then walked forward, his gaze falling on Baojia’s face for a moment before he bowed: “Greetings, Princess.”

Baojia gave him a sidelong glance without responding.

Li Dafeng turned to Jiang Zhiyi: “Princess, I will prepare the Marquis’s medicines now. Please excuse me.”

“Thank you for your trouble, Doctor Li.”

Watching Li Dafeng leave, Jiang Zhiyi pulled the displeased Baojia aside and whispered: “Sister, don’t be angry. Doctor Li prepared a birthday gift for you back in the fifth month and entrusted me to bring it to you. If not for the war, it would have reached you long ago.”

Baojia blinked: “Oh?”

“The gift is in my luggage. I’ll have Jing Zhe fetch it for you later. Doctor Li has come specifically to treat my uncle and will be staying at the Marquis’s estate during this time. You can come see him every day if you wish!”

“Who would come to see him?” Baojia scoffed.

Jiang Zhiyi smiled brightly: “Well, would you come to see me then? It’s been half a year since we last met. I’ve missed you terribly and hope you’ll visit me daily to catch up.”

Baojia pondered: “Well, I’ll consider it.”

Just as she finished speaking, a tender “meow” sounded. Jiang Zhiyi turned to see a plump, yellow, fluffy creature bounding toward her with tearful eyes.

“Huhu!” Jiang Zhiyi laughed, opening her arms to receive the raccoon cat she hadn’t seen for half a year. But just as she tried to lift it, her arms weakened. With a cry of “Ouch!” she turned and handed the cat to her maid, shaking her arms.

Baojia was startled: “I thought you weren’t injured? What’s wrong with your arm?”

Jiang Zhiyi’s arm-shaking motion froze, and she stiffly turned her eyes: “Nothing’s wrong.”

“How can it be nothing?” Baojia grabbed her arm. “This looks like a tendon injury to me. What’s wrong with Shen Yuance? Didn’t he have Li Dafeng examine you?”

Jiang Zhiyi’s gaze flickered: “It’s not that serious, definitely not a tendon injury. He examined me this morning…”

Baojia was stunned: “Examined this morning? Was it injured last night?”

“Hmm…” Jiang Zhiyi drawled without conviction. “It’s not an injury, just fatigue. I’ll be fine after a couple of days of rest…”

Baojia looked at her face full of guilt and asked suspiciously: “Fatigued on the night before parting? Could it be that you only just started practicing the techniques from the illustrated manual I gave you?”

“…”

Baojia shook her head and sighed regretfully: “What a waste of good resources.”

For several days in a row, Jiang Zhiyi didn’t leave the estate. During the day, she stayed in the main courtyard attending to her uncle’s illness, never leaving his side. At night, she returned to Yaoguang Pavilion to rest.

After Li Dafeng’s new prescription was administered for a few days, they gradually reduced the dosage of the sedative decoction, continuing to decrease it until the end of the month, when it was completely stopped.

Early that morning, Jiang Zhiyi had just opened her eyes in her chamber at Yaoguang Pavilion when she heard a maid reporting that the Marquis was awake. She hurriedly dressed, washed, and rushed over.

Upon entering the bedchamber and seeing the Yong’en Marquis sitting properly on the bed, Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes filled with tears as she threw herself into his arms: “Uncle! You’re finally awake!”

The Yong’en Marquis had known she was coming to Chang’an before he fell ill, and upon waking, had been told how she had been tending to him diligently day and night. He raised his hand to gently pat her back and said weakly, “You child, why didn’t you stay safe in Hexi? You had to come back to see your uncle. Fortunately, you’re safe. Your uncle nearly lost his soul from worry!”

“It’s my soul that nearly fled from worry about you!” Jiang Zhiyi scrambled up from his embrace. “Uncle, you had such a serious setback and didn’t tell me. If Xiaoman hadn’t been so honest, I might never have seen you again!”

The Yong’en Marquis shook his head and muttered, “Had I known that girl was so honest, I wouldn’t have assigned her.”

“No one could have predicted this unexpected development. Let’s not talk about that. I’ve come back early to see you—aren’t you happy?” Jiang Zhiyi frowned.

“Your uncle only hopes you and my nephew-in-law live well together. I heard he led troops to aid Xingyang in three days and four nights—military speed at its finest! It’s been the talk of the entire capital. Are you still quarreling with him?”

“We wouldn’t have been quarreling even without this incident…”

The Yong’en Marquis let out a relieved sigh: “That’s good. I was worried I’d have to shamelessly try to get closer to Minister Pei.”

Jiang Zhiyi pouted: “Uncle, are you that afraid I won’t be able to marry?”

The Yong’en Marquis faltered: “Of course, your uncle knows that young men wanting to marry our Zhiyi would form a line circling Chang’an. But I fear you won’t choose a marriage early enough, and then someone might force an unwanted match upon you.”

“How can you say that, Uncle? If I don’t want to marry, who would dare force a match on me?”

The Yong’en Marquis thought for a moment and sighed: “Zhiyi, there’s something I didn’t tell you before you left for Hexi. I feared that if the Shen family learned your uncle’s purpose in agreeing to this marriage wasn’t pure, they might have a negative opinion of our family and treat you lightly. Now that I’ve seen the Shen boy risk his life for you, your uncle is no longer worried…”

Jiang Zhiyi was startled: “What matter? What impure purpose?”

The Yong’en Marquis reached toward the side table. Jiang Zhiyi handed him the tea.

After taking a few sips, he set down the cup and said, “Do you remember that initially, your uncle strongly opposed this marriage?”

Jiang Zhiyi certainly remembered. Her uncle had suddenly changed his attitude after visiting a Taoist temple with her and Yuance’s birth dates and times.

The night before she left Jiuquan in the fifth month, she had discussed this matter with Yuance. Upon learning of her uncle’s illness, and coincidentally receiving information from Yuance’s confidant, who had been sent to Chang’an to investigate the origin of the storybooks, they learned that Taoist Master Zhang of the Taiqing Temple had gone wandering in early spring and couldn’t be found.

Master Zhang was the direct disciple of the Divine Master of Subtle Perception, who had prophesied that twins would bring calamity to the nation. The timing of his departure from the capital was also suspiciously coincidental, confirming their belief that he was involved in this matter.

Thinking further about how her uncle had agreed to the marriage after visiting the Taiqing Temple, they suspected that her uncle must have been influenced by Master Zhang’s persuasion.

Jiang Zhiyi asked: “I suppose Uncle changed his mind after hearing some mystical words from Master Zhang? Did he say I would suffer great misfortune if I didn’t marry Brother Yuance?”

“If it were merely mystical talk, your uncle wouldn’t have believed it. That day, Master Zhang told me that your destined marriage was to go to Xi Luo as a peace bride.”

Jiang Zhiyi was shocked, her eyes widening: “…What?”

“When Master Zhang told me this, there wasn’t any news from Xi Luo. But as soon as I left the temple, I heard that the Queen of Xi Luo was gravely ill. Your uncle immediately thought: if the former peace bride princess dies of illness, wouldn’t they look for a replacement? I quickly followed Master Zhang’s advice and arranged your marriage.”

Jiang Zhiyi pondered incredulously, shaking her head: “Uncle, you might have been deceived by that Taoist. How could the matter of being a peace bride possibly fall upon me?”

“Your uncle inquired about it later. That old Xi Luo king, despite his advanced age, is a lustful man. If they had set their sights on someone with your beauty, who knows what might have happened… Fortunately, in the first month, you were constantly with the Shen boy and didn’t attend any palace banquets, nor did you show your face to the Xi Luo envoys. Looking at it now, the Shen boy truly is your lucky star!” the Yong’en Marquis said with conviction.

…This reasoning wasn’t without merit, but that Master Zhang had been intent on bringing her and Yuance together, so he might have made it all up.

After all, that traveling Taoist had also said she would suffer divine punishment if she didn’t go to the Taiqing Temple to fulfill her vow, but it was actually after going that she suffered “divine punishment” and injured her head!

Seeing Jiang Zhiyi frowning in confusion, the Yong’en Marquis consoled her: “But now the Queen of Xi Luo has been dead for nearly half a year, and Xi Luo hasn’t requested a princess from Da Ye. Besides, since you neither showed yourself in public nor got engaged, it should be as the Taoist said—this marriage will spare you from becoming a peace bride. You needn’t worry anymore.”

Just as Pei Xueqing had not told her family about the Shen family’s secret, Jiang Zhiyi couldn’t tell her uncle about the storybooks. She could only nod: “Alright, I understand.”

In her heart, however, she thought how this matter was becoming increasingly bizarre. She needed to visit the Taiqing Temple herself as soon as possible.

The next morning at the city outskirts, Jiang Zhiyi gazed up at the Taoist temple built on a serene hillside, surrounded by verdant forests, with its buildings arranged in an elegant layout. Her gaze fell upon the ancient black nameplate over the entrance, scanning the three characters written in a graceful, vigorous style—Taiqing Temple.

It looked no different from ordinary Taoist temples. The reason she had originally chosen to come to the Taiqing Temple to inquire about her aunt’s folk remedy was purely because Master Zhang was the disciple of the Divine Master of Subtle Perception, and the capital’s nobility liked to come here for divination.

Jiang Zhiyi, wearing a light gauze veil hat, climbed the steps one by one, supported by Jing Zhe.

Jing Zhe asked: “Princess, didn’t they say Master Zhang has gone wandering? You won’t be able to see him even if you come.”

Jiang Zhiyi lowered her voice: “After going to such great lengths to do all this, if he’s gone wandering, he must have left instructions for the temple to monitor the marriage between Brother Yuance and me. Otherwise, if after all his painstaking efforts, Brother Yuance and I still couldn’t become a couple, wouldn’t he come forward to arrange it again?”

Jing Zhe suddenly understood: “The Princess is wise. So you’ve come today to—?”

“Naturally, to use a scheme to force him to reveal himself,” Jiang Zhiyi smiled. “We’ve arrived early when there aren’t many worshippers. In a moment, make a show of telling the temple disciples that Princess Yongying has come to burn incense, and ask them to clear the hall for me.”

A quarter of an hour later, in the empty hall, Jiang Zhiyi knelt devoutly on a prayer mat facing the three deity statues, with her hands pressed together and eyes closed: “Three Pure Ones, your disciple Zhiyi comes today to confess my disloyal heart.”

“My fiancé was originally the man I had determined to be my lifelong partner. However, in the sixth month, your disciple faced mortal danger, and during that time when my fiancé was not by my side, I developed feelings for a young man who shared my hardships. I cannot suppress these emotions, and now I wish to break off my engagement to marry another…”

Master Zhang must be a clever man. If she were to fabricate a story, it had to be plausible and convincing, so she mixed truth with fiction.

After all, so many young men had shared her hardships in Xingyang City that Master Zhang couldn’t tell which one she meant.

Jiang Zhiyi continued her murmuring until the end: “Your disciple has made up her mind and intends to break off the engagement now. There’s no need for the Pure Ones to try to persuade me. I only ask that the Pure Ones forgive your disciples’ inconstant heart and the sin of starting chaos and ending in abandonment. Please do not send down divine punishment. What your disciple owes her fiancé, she can only repay in the next life.”

With these words, Jiang Zhiyi bowed her head to the ground.

Outside the hall, Pei Zisong stopped in his tracks, his pupils dilating in shock as he stood frozen.