The sound of flowing water in the moat never ceased day or night.

On clear evenings without wind or rain, Deng Ying could almost hear its friction against the city walls.

After returning from the Ministry of Justice, he had wanted to lie down and sleep for a while, but he couldn’t sleep and didn’t even want to change his clothes.

He just sat quietly by the bed, cupping his hands around the only oil lamp before him.

“Knock knock.”

A knocking sound came from the door. Deng Ying looked up as a slender shadow flickered past the window screen.

Then he heard Yang Wan’s voice, “Deng Ying, it’s me.”

He clutched the bedding in his hands. Though he wanted to see Yang Wan, he didn’t want to show too much meaningless grief before her.

Fortunately, she only knocked once and didn’t press him further.

Silence fell inside and outside the door, with only the lazy cry of roosting birds from the roof.

It was late, and the wind by the river grew stronger. Shadows of weeping willows danced on the cold, gleaming surface of the water.

Not so different from a twenty-first-century city—cement and stone, each having their rhythms of life between day and night.

“Deng Ying.”

Yang Wan finally called to him, though her voice was hesitant, its trembling end notes like flickering flames, warm yet restrained.

“Um… I’m not sure how to handle this right now. If you feel I shouldn’t disturb you, just tell me, and I’ll leave. If you don’t mind, then I’ll stay a while longer.”

As she finished speaking, a cold wind caught in her throat, making her cough several times. Her face flushed red with embarrassment, and she had to turn away, bending down to cover her mouth and nose, trying not to cough too loudly.

The door behind her opened immediately, and a garment was gently draped over Yang Wan’s back.

Yang Wan looked up to see Deng Ying crouching before her with bent knees. After several days apart, he looked somewhat haggard, though it showed only in his eyes.

“I’ll get you some water.”

Yang Wan lowered her hands from her face and swallowed, waving him off, “No need, just got choked by the cold wind. I’ll be fine in a moment.”

Looking at the clothes on her shoulders, before she could say anything, he spoke, “This is newly made for spring. I’ve never worn it.”

Yang Wan heard this and smiled, pulling the garment closer around her shoulders as she stood up holding the door, “Who would mind when you’re such a clean person?”

When she said the word “clean,” Deng Ying didn’t know how to respond and unconsciously stepped back.

Yang Wan asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve just come from prison, and haven’t had time to clean up.”

Yang Wan tentatively gripped his sleeve, and seeing that he didn’t pull away, grasped his wrist through the fabric.

“Don’t think that way. Everyone has times when they’re mired in mud. If people were afraid to face others because they felt unclean, how cold would relationships between people become? How pitiful would those climbing out of the mire be?”

She looked up with a smile, its brightness all too familiar to Deng Ying.

All day he had used much strength but couldn’t pull himself from the mire of self-blame and grief. Fortunately, she had come to pull him out, even willing to smile at him despite his mud-covered state.

“Li Yu said you haven’t eaten all day.”

“You met him?”

Yang Wan nodded, “Yes, I think he’s good to have around. He’s young and doesn’t fully understand your situation, but he has a good heart.”

She turned to look toward the moat, “You must be hungry. I’ll make you some noodles.”

After saying this, she walked toward the river but didn’t let go of Deng Ying’s hand. The wound on his ankle had flared up in prison and hadn’t yet healed. When stepping on the stairs, it suddenly hurt badly. Though he didn’t stop, his feet hesitated. Yang Wan felt his pause and turned back to see him frowning in pain, “I forgot about your leg injury. Does it hurt badly?”

Deng Ying opened his eyes and shook his head, “I’ll have to get used to it.”

Yang Wan looked down at Deng Ying’s ankle, “I originally wanted to cook the noodles and bring them to you, but… Li Yu’s stove… I don’t know how to use it…”

As she spoke, a blush unconsciously crept across her face, and she quickly raised her hand to press down the flyaway hairs by her ears, laughing self-deprecatingly.

“At first I thought I knew everything, that if I wanted to, I could learn anything here. But in the end, I only learned to write a few characters in official documents.”

“It’s alright. Where is it?”

Yang Wan looked up to see Deng Ying smiling at her. The smile was faint but perfectly encompassed Yang Wan’s current unacknowledged embarrassment.

“Under that big willow tree by the river.”

She raised her other hand to point ahead.

Deng Ying looked up in the direction she indicated, “Then take me there.”

“Alright.”

Yang Wan led Deng Ying past rows of Directorate of Ceremonial offices. To accommodate his injured leg, she deliberately walked slowly.

The night shift workers hadn’t returned yet, and those off-duty were taking advantage of the quiet time to doze.

The stars were sparse but the moon was bright, the wind gentle, and all around was quiet.

Deng Ying dared not walk too close to Yang Wan, and could only raise his arm high to maintain distance between them.

The pair of lotus jade pendants Yang Wan wore gently clinked with her steps, making a pleasant sound against the background of flowing water.

“Deng Ying.”

She called his name with her back to him.

Deng Ying quickly responded, “Mm?”

“Do you still have your daily nuts?”

“No more.”

“I’ll bring you some more tomorrow.”

Without thinking, he gave a gentle reply, “Alright.”

Hearing this “Right,” Yang Wan smiled and shook his hand, “You don’t refuse me anymore.”

Deng Ying looked at her fingers gripping his wrist, “I don’t want to make you angry.”

“What?”

“I don’t want you to leave because of me too.”

Yang Wan understood the true melancholy behind his words, but didn’t address it directly, only smiled and replied, “I’m not someone who leaves just because I’m angry.”

She turned around, still holding Deng Ying’s hand, walking backward while saying, “I’ll tell you first, I only know how to make one kind of noodles.”

Deng Ying tilted his head slightly, helping her watch the path behind her, “What kind?”

“Yang Chun noodles, Lady Ning taught me.”

“Lady Ning… when did she enter the palace?”

“When I was… thirteen, I think.”

Deng Ying nodded with a smile, “That’s a long time. No wonder the Princess cares for you so much.”

“Yes.”

Yang Wan smiled and nodded at him, “Since I entered the palace, the Princess has never scolded me. Besides you, she’s the gentlest person to me. It’s just that her health hasn’t been good lately, she’s been taking medicine, and the Prince is so young. I’ve been busy looking after them, so several times I said I’d bring you nuts but forgot.”

As they talked, they reached the big weeping willow.

The eunuchs’ quarters had no independent kitchen, so this spot under the big willow was where Li Yu and others prepared their meals. There were still some ash marks on the ground that hadn’t been cleaned up.

Yang Wan let go of Deng Ying, lifted her skirts to crouch by the stove, and pulled the winnowing basket from the stone to her lap, making space for Deng Ying, “I tried for ages but couldn’t light it.”

Deng Ying also crouched down, rolled up his sleeves, and took the fire striker Yang Wan handed him.

Soon, warm flames lit up both their faces.

Yang Wan tried to poke at the fire, but Deng Ying turned and gently pressed down the long stick in her hand, “Be careful, this wood is fresh and might spark.”

Yang Wan quickly withdrew her hand, protecting the noodles and seasonings in the basket, “You’re very careful about everything.”

Deng Ying took her stick and carefully turned the fresh wood on the stove, answering her softly, “So are you.”

Yang Wan shook her head, “I’m not. I only put my heart into things I like to do. If it’s something I don’t like, I always disappoint everyone. No matter where I am, many people at home have been unhappy with me. So, Deng Ying, you’re truly the best person I’ve ever met. Your character, your personality, everything is so good—so good that I can’t understand why they treat you that way…”

She puffed out her cheeks and let out a breath, moving to the stove, “Alright, I’m going to cook the noodles now. Go sit for a while.”

“Alright.”

Deng Ying heard her words and sat down against the willow tree.

The water in the pot gradually began to boil, white steam surrounding Yang Wan’s face, blurring her delicate features.

Unlike her appearance would suggest, she wasn’t very skilled at cooking, occasionally burning her fingers and fumbling, but she was very focused. Deng Ying couldn’t help thinking that, as she had just said, cooking noodles for him must be something Yang Wan liked doing.

The fragrance of vegetables in the noodle soup wafted out with the steam from the pot.

After quite some effort, Yang Wan finally carefully carried two bowls of noodles over.

“Be careful.”

“I know.”

Without looking up, she said, “If I spill this, I’ll have committed a terrible sin today.”

Deng Ying laughed softly, “You shouldn’t say that.”

Yang Wan crouched down and handed the noodles to Deng Ying, “Try a bite, see if the seasoning is right.”

Deng Ying lowered his head and took a bite. The noodles were soft, warmly filling his entire mouth. There weren’t complex flavors, just the fresh scent of vegetables and the savory taste of pork fat mixed with green onions, comforting his whole being.

“Mm, it’s delicious.”

Hearing his evaluation, Yang Wan smiled and nodded repeatedly.

She sat down beside Deng Ying, picked up her bowl and ate a few bites, then sipped some soup before speaking about the day’s events.

“Today, I secretly went to see Yang Lun. He told me some things about what happened at the Ministry of Justice, but not everything. He said if I wanted to know more details, I should ask you.”

Deng Ying lowered his bowl to look at Yang Wan, “I can tell you.”

Yang Wan raised her head, looking at the cold light filtering through gaps in the tree canopy, and said softly, “Before I came, I really wanted to ask you, but after arriving, I just wanted to share a bowl of noodles with you.”

She sniffled, “If… in the future, I can’t help asking about things you don’t want to talk about, you don’t have to tell me. You can even scold me.”

Deng Ying quickly said, “I would never treat you that way.”

Yang Wan turned to look at him, “Let me finish. These past few days while you were gone, I kept thinking about what was happening to you at the Ministry, about what it would take for you to return. But I never expected Master Zhang would…”

She paused, “Actually, I don’t want to ask about what happened. I just want to tell you not to be too sad, and don’t blame yourself too much. If you want to process the outcome alone, I won’t do anything. Just… you need to eat, need to drink water, don’t harm your own body.”

Listening to her words, Deng Ying lowered his head and ate his noodles bite by bite, until he swallowed the last piece of vegetable leaf.

“It’s not like what you said. I very much want to see you, but I swore an oath to Zi Xi that if I had even a moment’s improper thoughts about you, I would suffer death by lingchi.”

When Yang Wan heard the words “lingchi,” her mind exploded with noise, and she nearly dropped her bowl.

History existed objectively, and Yang Wan was a fish that had slipped through its net.

But when Deng Ying spoke of his fate before her, Yang Wan suddenly felt she wasn’t a fish that had escaped—she was caught in the net herself.