Deep in the night, the Chen household was plunged in mourning.
Chen Yaoqing was now barely recognizable as a human being, lying in bed, his whole body burned like charcoal, yet unable to lose consciousness — only letting out unceasing cries of anguish from the excruciating pain of the burns. The Imperial Physicians came to examine him one by one and could do nothing. Old Imperial Physician Zhong proposed using anesthetic powder — “to let the young master pass peacefully in his sleep” — and was driven out by Madam Chen’s scolding. She absolutely insisted he produce a miraculous prescription to save Chen Yaoqing’s life.
Lu Wanyang sat in silence in the outer room, her face ashen, listening to Chen Yaoqing’s cries of anguish. Nanny Lu beside her brought a bowl of soup and food, and with hesitation in her voice, coaxed: “Young mistress, please take at least a little. The young master has great fortune and strong destiny — he will surely turn misfortune into blessing. Young mistress must not ruin her own health…”
Her words had not yet finished when Wanyang came rushing in, untying her cloak as she walked and asking: “How is my sister?”
Chen Yaoqing had had designs on her — she cared nothing for whether he lived or died — but she still cared about her own sister. Seeing her in this state, she sat down and took her hands, finding them ice cold, the whole person as though frozen stiff. Seeing Wanyang, she slowly turned her eyes to look at her.
“It was Han Yueqi.” She still opened with this, her voice hoarse and saturated with hatred. Wanyang heard this and felt a jolt of shock. Lu Wanyang only stared into her eyes, saying word by deliberate word: “Ye Qinglan most likely also had a hand in it. They have hated me since four years ago. I know it.”
Nanny Lu nearby showed an expression of reluctance, and advised: “Second young lady, please advise your elder sister. It is all right for us to hear these words, but if they spread, I fear it would not be good.”
Wanyang frowned. Though she had an extremely refined and delicate appearance, when her expression turned cold, she was still quite imposing.
“All of you, withdraw.”
The servants had no choice but to withdraw. Seeing them leave, Lu Wanyang gripped Wanyang’s hand urgently and said: “They don’t believe me, but I know it must be Han Yueqi. Wanyang, you must believe me.”
“I believe you, Sister.” Whether it was to soothe her or truly meant, it sounded sincere: “I know you have it figured out in your heart. But we have no evidence right now, and there’s nothing we can do about them.”
Only then did tears fall from Lu Wanyang’s eyes.
She glanced toward the inner room, where Madam Chen was still wailing at the bedside.
“Useless.” She said.
Wanyang naturally knew she was referring to Madam Chen. Madam Chen was indeed all bluster on the surface, cowardly inside, capable only of relying on her father and brothers — no match at all for the capabilities the two of them had forged through combat in the inner household.
“Sister, now that we have fallen into a disadvantage, we can only bide our time and quietly build our strength. You tend to Linner and Yan’er, and over ten or twenty years, once they grow up, there will be no shortage of a future.” Wanyang advised her: “What matters most now is that I must secure my own future at the Flower Season Banquet. We sisters must look out for each other, and only then will there be a tomorrow to speak of.”
Lu Wanyang did not answer. She only covered her head with both hands, her expression anguished — as though she had taken it in, and yet perhaps had not.
Ten or twenty years. That was too long. She had lived through such dark days herself, and naturally knew what kind of taste they had. Every day and every night felt like being submerged in a deep well with no way up, only able to endure it raw. That pain still lived within her — even after gaining immense power and blazing wealth, she still felt those days chasing her from behind. So she had to be even more imperious, even more domineering, to drive away that bone-deep chill.
To go through another such ordeal, to endure ten or twenty more years, to wait for another tide of fortune and glory — just imagining it felt hopeless.
But as Wanyang had said to her: “Things being as they are, there is nothing else to be done. What other option is there?”
And so Lu Wanyang continued to sit in the side room. Wanyang, being an unmarried young lady, was not permitted to stay overnight outside the household, and naturally still had to return to the Lu family. She still had a splendid future ahead — just as Wanyang herself had four years ago.
People who have lost power often experience this bewilderment: how could the joy of holding power have been so brief and fleeting, while the suffering clung like a shadow? These four years seemed to have ended before she could savor them, and what lay ahead was a darkness as far as the eye could see.
A sudden outburst of anguished wailing came from the inner room — Madam Chen erupting. Master Chen was also roaring, demanding that the Lord of the Capital Prefecture arrest those behind it all, that the pair of perpetrators be executed and their bodies publicly displayed, demanding an investigation into who had given those women to Chen Yaoqing, saying: “Not a single one who harmed my child shall escape — they shall all be executed by slow slicing.” Most likely Chen Yaoqing had breathed his last, or if not, he was not far from it. And then Lu Wanyang heard Madam Chen’s voice cursing at her: “And what is she still performing in there? I, his own mother, haven’t lost my mind yet — has she fallen apart first?”
Four years of marriage. After this would come three years of mourning observance. She had treated her considerately in the beginning because Chen Mengliu’s marriage required her cooperation, and she had also been able to hold Chen Yaoqing’s interest. Now with the mourning period, she would be unable to attend the Flower Season Banquet for three years, and three years hence, the world of capital ladies would be completely transformed. Would there still be a place for her? She would be nothing more than a widow of the Chen family, surviving at the mercy of her in-laws — what value would she have?
By that time, to seize the two children and take them under her own wing to raise, Madam Chen might well cause a great scene.
Lu Wanyang could see her future clearly, yet felt not pain but only numbness.
Still utterly useless, that old woman.
She therefore no longer hesitated and called for Nanny Lu to come with her back to her room to fetch something, and along the way called for Nanny Lu’s old husband — the former doorkeeper of the Lu family.
Nanny Lu hesitated somewhat, saying: “Young lady, do we truly need to go this far?”
“Things being as they are, you still ask me?” Lu Wanyang instead let out a laugh: “Go ahead. That precaution was saved for precisely this moment, was it not?”
Though she had struck first with her scheme to break another’s spirit, she had underestimated Han Yueqi, made the inferior move, and reaped what she had sown. But as Wanyang had said — things being as they were, she could only fight to the bitter end.
On the second day of the Peach Blossom Banquet, thanks to Lingbo’s reminder, Han Yueqi made the arrangements exceptionally lavish and meticulous.
Even the aristocratic ladies who had seen the world expressed repeated admiration, saying: “To manage everything this perfectly and thoroughly in a city venue would already be rare — and this is at a villa? Yueqi’s talent — there truly are no words. If I had a daughter-in-law like this, I could die content.”
Everyone praised Madam Shen for her good fortune, and Madam Shen naturally smiled and said: “Not at all — she is still young. All of you praising her like this will only spoil her.” Han Yueqi also joked: “That too would be thanks to our mistress’s good teaching. I manage a banquet like this for my own family, and the mistress still helps me — it is the mistress who has spoiled me.”
Though her words were a joke, there was also some truth in them: ever since the affair between Shen Yunze and that person called Yanliu, Madam Shen had never once taken Shen Yunze’s side, always fully supporting her — a bond truly like mother and daughter.
The ladies naturally all laughed and offered praise without end. Now that the Chen family, though not entirely ruined, had suffered great damage to its vitality, the Shen family’s prestige was unrivaled for the moment, and all the ladies of the capital fawned upon them — even those of Lu Wanyang’s former faction could only bide their time and follow along with the flattery.
Speak of the subject and it appears — Han Yueqi was hosting the Peach Blossom Banquet, and Shen Yunze even took leave from the Hanlin Academy to come. All the ladies seemed to have forgotten entirely about the Spring Welcome Banquet incident and teased the young couple. Han Yueqi naturally smiled warmly in front of everyone, but the moment she turned away, her expression was still cold as ice, and she said: “Husband need not neglect official duties on my account — I would not want colleagues to mock you and harm your good reputation.”
Shen Yunze was anxious to explain himself, saying: “Yueqi, I have come to my senses now. The matter of Chen Yaoqing — he brought it upon himself. Seeing what happened to him, I know I was wrong. I will never again be of divided heart. I vow to treat you with true sincerity. I swear — if I break this vow, may I be like this cup.”
He probably believed this was the most devoted possible declaration. But Han Yueqi only gave a faint smile and said: “That shows husband still values his life. It’s all right — our own household has lovely maidservants, whose characters we know well. Husband need not make vows to me — just please yourself freely.”
She finished speaking and without waiting for Shen Yunze’s reply, walked away on her own, instructing the maidservant to bring another set of cups — the twelve flower deity cups were a fittingly elegant pattern for the occasion, but one was missing and it was truly inauspicious.
Han Yueqi had her reasons for making this banquet so thorough and complete. The second day was still all right — it was put on for everyone to see. Only the third day was the most special. She arranged for the ladies to go to the mountain temple to hear Buddhist scripture, arranging for the nuns to give lectures, and also prepared card tables; only wine and opera performances were inappropriate at a Buddhist temple, so a separate gathering was opened. She herself had set up a small banquet in the peach blossom grove — only one table — with a simple gathering of guests: the four Ye sisters, along with herself and Shen Biwei. Ye Lingbo had initially assumed the purpose was a genuine apology, but just as the table was being set, the sound of hoofbeats arrived. It was Cui Jingyu and Wei Yushan riding up on horseback, followed by Yin Hongxuan and Fu Yunrui sharing a horse.
Lingbo silently gave Han Yueqi a thumbs-up in her mind. Truly, she was playing in the waves even amid raging breakers — Qinglan and herself had not yet made up with each other, and she had already started reconnecting the red thread of fate. She was not afraid of it going off the rails.
Sure enough, Qinglan immediately rose to leave. Cui Jingyu’s expression also darkened — clearly because Qinglan was leaving — but he was a man who valued his dignity. Remaining on horseback without dismounting, he said: “Madam Shen, your invitation card did not say this.”
Ye Lingbo cursed him inwardly as a wretch — dead set on preserving face. Putting on this cold and indifferent act, as if you didn’t know what Han Yueqi’s invitation meant? And yet still pretending to have been tricked into coming. No wonder the Flower Season Banquet is already half over and you still have no wife.
Even as she was inwardly cursing, she held Qinglan back and smiled: “Sister, don’t leave — Sister Han said today she would be making her apology, and if you leave, what will she do? She’ll think you haven’t forgiven her.”
She steadied Qinglan, and at the same time made eyes at Han Yueqi. Sure enough, Han Yueqi’s methods did not fail — she immediately sighed and said: “Both of you — I know I used some tactics today, but please hear my reasoning. You two — you came together under my hands, and you also parted under my hands. Consider this banquet today as compensation for my labor over this past spring. After today, I will no longer meddle in your affairs. Let’s settle this here and now — agreed?”
She asked Qinglan first, then Cui Jingyu. Seeing neither speak, she understood that they both tacitly agreed, and had the servants arrange the banquet: “Set it by Peach Blossom Stream — that is where we used to play as children.”
Today’s gathering had no outsiders — all ten present knew of the two people’s marriage that had once been arranged and then undone. Hearing Han Yueqi’s words, each harbored their own regrets. Only Wei Yushan, without a shred of tact, looked as though he wanted to say something, was silenced by a glare from A’Cuo, and settled down.
So the servants spread brocade screens by the stream, setting out wine and dishes. In this villa of the Han family, the finest scenery was this Peach Blossom Stream — Han the elder loved the natural setting here and had never altered it, nor did he often receive guests. By the stream, the grass was lush and green, with only the natural scatter of stream-side rocks, and the water flowed down from the hot spring on the mountain, so the peach blossoms here bloomed earlier than elsewhere. By the second month, more than half were already open, petals drifting in a ceaseless flow. Especially when the breeze came — warm and fragrant — sending the peach petals spinning and rolling across the ground. Even the most iron-hearted soul could not help but be stirred by tender feeling at such a moment.
And Han Yueqi had further prepared the finest wine — all imperially presented Huiquan Spring wine, clear and crisp, fragrant and refreshing, with roses and green plums steeped within. The small dishes alongside the banquet were also all suited for drinking — not the heavy style of a formal banquet, but delicate and charming.
Yet Qinglan was the first to say: “Today I will not drink wine.”
Cui Jingyu immediately also said: “I need to inspect the camp — I cannot drink wine either.”
Lingbo had no patience: “What camp are you inspecting? Your inspection rotation is still three days away — you just said that on the spot, didn’t you?”
Her well-informed contacts were good for exactly this — for anything, one only needed to ask Pei Zhao.
But her own powers were not at their best today. Looking at the peach blossoms filling the valley, what she thought of was: it would be good if Pei Zhao were here today.