While A’Cuo and Wei Yushan came to a sharp severance, Han Yueqi’s own world was quietly shattering apart.

In truth, Han Yueqi’s fondness for drink was not in itself remarkable. Life as a young mistress in the capital was difficult, and stealing a moment of leisure for a cup of wine was no great fault. But of late she had been getting drunk frequently, and that let people see her heartbreak.

No matter how composed, how poised, how capable — no matter how completely she had the household under her command, making her the model young mistress praised throughout the capital, the one ladies used to instruct their daughters and other young wives used to quietly intimidate their husbands — she was, after all, only twenty-four, four years out of the Flower-Informing Banquet herself, at the flower of her years, yet she had steeled herself to dash headlong into ruin. All the days and nights ahead were visible at a glance, without end.

Though she loved plum blossoms, they were bitter cold. The cold was a small thing — but to stand alone in the winter with a vast expanse of snow stretching in all directions, breathing in a lonely and secluded fragrance with no one to share it, waiting until spring came at last, only to find that her own story was drawing to its close.

Fortunately, a single plum tree in solitude is lonesome, but a courtyard full of them is a different matter. So it is with people — with friends, life is better. No matter how lonely one might be, in a spring breeze like this, drinking wine with dear friends, chatting and laughing and trading small gossip — this was quite enough. And so in this spring wind she had, without noticing, drunk a few cups too many. The place was all familiar, so she asked Lv’e to stay behind to help Lingbo and Qinglan receive guests, and took Bai Rui with her to rest in the water pavilion.

When Dai Yuquan spoke of responsibility, the most responsibility-minded person at the table, besides Qinglan, was in fact Cui Jingyu — which was precisely why every man in the Mountain Brigade followed him with their whole hearts, and why Wei Yushan idolized this Elder Brother Cui so completely.

A man trained in command always keeps his eyes and ears open to everything around him. Cui Jingyu had been watching Dai Yuquan with the gaze one reserves for a dead man, yet this did not prevent him from noticing the commotion on the water pavilion side.

Shen Yunze had arrived.

The affairs of the Shen family were known throughout the capital. Cui Jingyu, even without seeking it out, had heard more than enough. He knew that Shen Yunze was not worth much, though the match between him and Han Yueqi had not been like his own situation with Qinglan — it had come more from parental arrangements than from their own choosing. After all, there were only so many families of comparable standing, the parents had agreed between themselves, and after a few meetings at the Flower-Informing Banquet, the match was settled.

But Shen Yunze and Han Yueqi had still shared a Lantern Festival together, made wishes before the Buddha at the Begonia Banquet, tied a lovers’ knot, and bowed together at the moon during the Paulownia Blossom Banquet. He and Ye Qinglan had never even managed such things openly — so many moments had never come to pass between them.

A gentleman keeps his word as gold. Yet Shen Yunze had thrown away every promise without a moment’s hesitation, and then brought about the humiliation at the Welcoming Spring Banquet. He was truly worthless. Cui Jingyu, seeing Han Yueqi as drunk as she was and with only a single maid beside her, worried she would be cornered by Shen Yunze. He gave Yin Hongxuan a look to keep watch over the ladies, and casually followed after.

Han Yueqi, though a little drunk, still had her wits about her. She had helped Lingbo arrange the water pavilion furnishings herself — all freshly laid out, for the use of any ladies or young misses who wished to rest. She had no sooner been helped to sit on the daybed by Bai Rui than Shen Yunze walked in.

She rose as soon as he entered. “This is the Flower-Informing Banquet,” she said. “What is a gentleman doing here?”

She always managed this — always found the most proper reason to drive Shen Yunze away from her. Unfortunately, her usual attendant was not with her today, and Bai Rui was soft-natured. Shen Yunze knew this, and so said directly, “Bai Rui, you may go.”

Though Bai Rui was yielding, her loyalty was unquestionable; and though her expression was troubled, she kept her eyes on Han Yueqi.

Han Yueqi gave a cold laugh.

“You needn’t leave.” She looked at Shen Yunze, cold as ice. “If you have something to say, say it and go. The spring hunt is nearly over — the Hanlin Academy will resume its duties soon. You had better return early.”

Shen Yunze’s heart was bitter. He took a step forward. “Yueqi — you know I return to the Hanlin Academy tomorrow. We won’t see each other for another month. Why must you be so cold?”

“Why I am cold — you ought to know in your own heart.” Han Yueqi had been drinking and was more forthright than usual. “Today happens to be the Begonia Banquet, and you happen to come by — I may as well speak plainly. From now on, let us go our separate ways, with no more crossing into each other’s territory, just as my parents and yours have done.”

Shen Yunze would not accept this. Anxiously he said, “Why must it come to this? We are husband and wife, and still so young. Why should we reach such a point?”

Han Yueqi flared in fury.

“You are the one who brought us to this point — not I!” After saying this with full force, she caught herself, and added, “I have been drinking today and it is not fitting to say more. Please go.”

She moved to leave with Bai Rui, but Shen Yunze blocked her way. Han Yueqi caught the smell of wine on him, and understood the situation.

“I know it is because of the matter of Yan Liu. I have seen sense now. When she came weeping to me this time, I did not stay long in her room. I know her feelings were false — her so-called refinement was false too. She is not a decent woman. I have seen sense. From now on, you may deal with Yan Liu however you see fit. I will never act this way again.”

He felt he had been entirely sincere. Yet Han Yueqi was unmoved, and instead gave a cold laugh.

“Sir — what did you think she was, then?” she asked him. “And there is no need to drag Yan Liu into this as a shield. She is only a pitiable girl, bought and sold, taught nothing but how a concubine pleases a man, seeking a little pity beneath a man’s knee. Of course she knows only how to flatter and bend with the wind. Her only mistake was in picking the wrong master — thinking that some passing infatuation on your part would let her challenge my position. You enjoyed her flattery, and then looked down on her station. There is surely no logic like that in the world.”

“To put it another way — if she truly were the woman of refined virtue and elegant beauty you believed her to be, you would not be here saying these things to me today. So if a truly fine woman comes along in future, you need not hesitate to welcome her home. At least then you won’t be deceived.” She smiled coldly.

They say Lingbo resembles Han Yueqi, and it was true — both had tongues that could cut. In just a few sentences, every one sharp as a blade, like fine scissors through silk, she shredded Shen Yunze’s every excuse to pieces.

How could Shen Yunze withstand this?

“I didn’t mean it that way…”

“Whatever you meant is no longer my concern.” Han Yueqi smiled with weary calm. “I have not read as many books as you. The thing I am most proud of is embroidery — and it is embroidery that has taught me this truth. Do you know how the quality of embroidery is judged?”

She looked at Shen Yunze and told him one word at a time: “The more time that goes into it, the more precious the work. The more wholehearted the devotion, the more precious the work. And if it is the only one of its kind in the world, it is most precious of all. You have read poetry and books for twenty years and still do not know the true essence of feeling — you are unfaithful, half-hearted, and yet you speak to me of marital devotion. It is truly laughable.”

“It isn’t like that,” Shen Yunze argued helplessly. “We had good times together — when we were newlyweds, we were in harmony. At the Begonia Banquet four years ago, before the Buddha, we…”

“Vows already desecrated need not be spoken of again.” Han Yueqi only said, indifferently: “Concubines and bed-warmers are nothing more than servants. Feeling exists between one person and another. Servants do not even have freedom over their own bodies — how can they have feeling? There is no need to go on thinking it was Yan Liu who ruined us. It was you who did not understand true feeling. Yan Liu cannot be blamed.”

“Then what about us?” Shen Yunze was pressing now. “Is it that we had no feeling at all? Even if I broke my vow, is there no chance of turning back from the abyss?”

Han Yueqi laughed.

“Sir — I said feeling exists between one person and another. How are you qualified to speak of feeling with me?” She rebuked him composedly: “Because of a passing fancy, you humiliated your own wife. I am the treasure of my own parents. Giving birth to Xing, I labored through a whole night, walking once back and forth at the gates of death. Yet you, because you could not contain your shame, threatened to cast aside the wife who had borne your children. Can you still call yourself human? You are nothing but a beast in fine clothes. That I still stand here today is not because you showed mercy — it is because I had my own means and strength. Otherwise I would have been swept out the door long since. What right do you have, for the rest of your life, to speak to me of feeling?”

Every word was calm, yet they struck Shen Yunze so hard he could barely meet her eyes. Overcome with shame and guilt, he saw that Han Yueqi had finished and was moving to leave with Bai Rui — and in desperation he grabbed her wrist.

“Yueqi — I know I have wronged you. Please give me a chance to make amends…” The words he spoke were utterly yielding, yet he held Han Yueqi’s wrist and would not let go. “Give me the chance to prove myself. I will bring us back to where we once were.”

“Sir, conduct yourself!” Han Yueqi struggled at once, and Bai Rui stepped up to help. “Young Master, please release her.”

“I won’t.” Shen Yunze said stubbornly. “She is my wife. Why should I let go…”

He even reached to encircle Han Yueqi’s waist, moving to press further. Bai Rui cried out, “Young Master, please don’t — there are people everywhere here—” but was shoved aside, colliding with the tall display cabinet and crying out in pain. Han Yueqi was frantic, half-sober with distress, pushing him away in desperation — then she felt herself suddenly lighten as Shen Yunze was seized bodily and flung onto the daybed of the water pavilion. He hit it hard, landing flat on his back and unable to get up for a long moment.

Only then did Han Yueqi see that the one who had done it was Cui Jingyu.

“I saw him follow her and knew he meant to cause trouble.” Cui Jingyu, still observing propriety, did not stare at her, but asked, “Are you alright?”

Han Yueqi rose at last and straightened her hair and clothing.

“I am fine. Thank you for thinking of me.”

She had admired Qinglan’s judgment from that early time, and knew she had chosen a young man of real character. That day when their carriage sank into soft mud at Tonghua Du, it was Cui Jingyu who had waded in himself and carried each of them to shore on horseback. Han Yueqi had even teased Qinglan about it afterward.

If one had the choice — in the capital’s turbulent, treacherous world, with its capricious fate of joy and sorrow — what woman would not want to marry a dependable, worthy husband? Even if he could not help with one’s burdens, so long as he were faithful and gentle, like the wild geese sent at betrothal, loyal and true, unyielding even in bitter winter — so long as he were with you, ten thousand miles of cold would not feel so hard to bear.

But she could not have this.

And she was a plum blossom — proud bones of cold plum, willing to endure one winter after another alone, rather than settle for someone unworthy of her.

Cui Jingyu sensed her sorrow. After all, they had known each other many years, and she was Qinglan’s dearest friend. So even someone as cold as he found it in himself to crack a joke. “Shall I toss him into the water for you?”

He meant Shen Yunze, who was still struggling to haul himself off the daybed.

Han Yueqi laughed too, though the laugh was bleak.

“No need.” She said coldly: “Even if you tossed him in, it would be my reputation that suffered. Let it go. We’ll leave.”

Shen Yunze was still muttering something foolish — something about how she had no right to leave with him, what had been going on at the table — but Han Yueqi had already walked out with Bai Rui. She paused briefly outside the water pavilion, and Cui Jingyu understood at once.

“No one will know of what happened today, except you and me.” He said quietly.

A true scion of a noble family.

Han Yueqi could not help feeling a pang of wistfulness.

“You know,” she said, letting out a long breath and looking at the petal-strewn surface of the water beyond the pavilion, “Shen Yunze has never once touched the edge of what true feeling means.” She paused. “In truth, it matters little. Most people in this world never encounter real feeling in their entire lives — and yet they live on, all the same. But you and Qinglan are different…”

Cui Jingyu already knew, without being taught, what she was going to say next.

“I know. Cherish my youth while I have it.” He pointed to his ears, indicating they had long since grown calluses from hearing it.

Han Yueqi could not help smiling.

Those without feeling spoke of it most, married early, and fell apart from each other early. Those with true feeling dared not speak of it lightly — yet over some minor detail or another, they deliberated and deliberated, missing so many years between them. Truly, the world plays its tricks.

“All right — I have a few more callus-inducing things to say to Qinglan. Let’s go back.”

In truth, Han Yueqi had nothing particular to say to Qinglan. It was Qinglan who seemed to be holding much inside her heart.

“Where is Lingbo?” Han Yueqi scanned the table. “She just ran off with Huo Yingzhen, just like that?”

“Yueqi.” Qinglan immediately corrected her. “Don’t tease Lingbo that way anymore.”

“Oh? She is allowed to marry him, but we are not allowed to tease her.” Han Yueqi smiled. “This isn’t like when she first married and spent every day egging on Shen Biwei to chase me around calling me ‘Elder Sister-in-law’?”

“It isn’t about that.” Qinglan brought her to a secluded spot beneath a flowering tree before speaking. “I’m asking you not to say it because Lingbo has long since been worrying herself sick on my account. She feels guilty over what happened to me, and with my situation unresolved, she steadfastly refuses to marry. Have you not noticed?”

“When she digs her heels in, she really does dig them in.” Han Yueqi sighed. “Then what are you going to do? You two sisters are just pushing each other into a corner. If you ask me, you might as well marry Cui Jingyu and be done with it.”

Qinglan only shook her head. Han Yueqi looked at her and sighed.

“Don’t do anything foolish. I’ve seen that the Grand Princess is fond of you — but there’s no position as a female official for you. Otherwise they wouldn’t have had you and Cui Jingyu preside over the Flower-Informing Banquet together…”

“If the worst comes to worst, I’ll become a nun.” Qinglan said suddenly.

Han Yueqi was startled into laughter, but seeing her expression was not quite that of someone joking, she quickly said, “Don’t rush. Let me go and have a talk with Lingbo. They say Lingbo is like me — surely she wouldn’t be foolish enough to do something like that. If she doesn’t marry soon, we can wait, but Huo Yingzhen cannot wait forever. And with Huo Yingzhen’s position, there are countless eyes at court and in the manor watching for an opportunity. They are already betrothed, yet there are still those who would try to steal him away — the longer this drags on, the more risk there is. We must see to the important thing first. Now then — where is she?”

“She seems to have gone out to look at the flowers.”