Yanjing finally reached the depths of winter.

The snowflakes flying through the sky changed from salt-grain sized to goose-feather snow. From the streets to the alleyways, overnight thick layers of accumulated snow covered everything. For a thousand miles the land was frozen, for ten thousand miles snow drifted—the world between heaven and earth had become silvery white. Occasionally some family’s yellow dog that hadn’t been tied up properly would run across the snow, leaving behind deep plum-blossom-shaped paw prints.

Jiang Li stood in the courtyard. Crystal-clear icicles hung upside down from the eaves, like the beaded curtains in palace beauties’ bedchambers. Rising early, the snow had not yet stopped. Jiang Li wore a snow-white cloak and almost seemed to blend into one with the color of the snow.

“The weather is just too cold.” Tong’er had been sweeping snow in the courtyard since early morning. The iron bucket left in the courtyard had become a block of ice overnight, standing upright in the middle of the yard.

Jiang Li gazed toward the horizon, a wave of worry rising in her heart. In winter, there weren’t many flowers in the Jiang family’s garden, and even the gardener wasn’t around. Yet Jiang Li knew that Zhao Ke had gone with Ji Heng to handle some matter. What this matter was, Jiang Li didn’t know. When Ji Heng left Yanjing, he hadn’t told Jiang Li either. Instead, it was Zhao Ke who had reminded Jiang Li when leaving the Jiang manor, indicating that he wouldn’t be at the Jiang manor during this time and Jiang Li should pay more attention to her own safety.

If Ji Heng didn’t tell Jiang Li, either it truly wasn’t worth mentioning, or the matter was of grave importance and he didn’t want Jiang Li to worry too much. Although for Ji Heng, most things in the world might not be worth mentioning to him, this time Jiang Li had sensitively detected something different from usual in Zhao Ke’s expression.

This matter might be even more important than she imagined, and more than ten days had already passed. Zhao Ke hadn’t appeared at the Jiang manor, nor had there been any news from Ji Heng.

In Jiang Li’s heart, she always felt somewhat uneasy. After thinking it over, she decided to take the initiative to visit the Duke’s manor once. At least Old General Ji was still there—she could ask him. If that failed, perhaps Situ Jiuyue, Wenren Yao, or Lu Ji might know something.

“Let’s go to the Duke’s manor,” Jiang Li said.

Tong’er and Bai Xue didn’t understand, thinking Jiang Li had some business with Ji Heng. Now that Jiang Li and Ji Heng’s betrothal had been bestowed by His Majesty himself, there was nothing improper about doing this. Yanjing wasn’t like previous dynasties where young ladies couldn’t see their husbands before marriage, so there was nothing wrong with Jiang Li doing this. When Old Madam Jiang learned of it, she said nothing, only telling Jiang Li to go and return early.

Jiang Li took a carriage and went to the Duke’s manor together with Tong’er and Bai Xue.

On the streets, playful children were everywhere. Winter was probably when children were happiest—they could roll around in the snow. Bright red candied hawthorns stood out especially vividly against the white snow.

The lanterns before the Duke’s manor’s gate were as gorgeous and brilliant as ever. When the young servants at the manor gate saw Jiang Li approaching, their faces immediately broke into broad smiles. This was the first time since the imperial betrothal that Jiang Li had come to the Duke’s manor. Everyone in the manor from top to bottom knew that Jiang Li would be the future Duchess. This manor hadn’t had a mistress for many years, so having one now was such a novelty that everyone wanted to look a few more times.

Jiang Li walked inside. She didn’t even need anyone to guide her. She walked to the outside of Ji Heng’s courtyard. As expected, there was no sign of Ji Heng inside or outside the courtyard, nor any sign of Wen Ji or Zhao Ke—he truly hadn’t returned to the capital yet.

As Jiang Li was thinking this, she found a young servant at the study door and asked, “Is Old General Ji currently in the manor?”

The young servant shook his head. Just as he was about to answer, Jiang Li heard a familiar voice from behind her: “He’s disappeared.”

Jiang Li turned around. Situ Jiuyue walked out from behind. She still held a bamboo-woven basket in her hands, as if about to go to the flower garden to pick flowers. Even in winter, she wore a wolf-fur jacket and skirt, still in dark brown, with deerskin boots and plum blossom daggers tied at her waist. Though she had delicate and spirited features, her attire warned others to keep away.

“Miss Jiuyue,” Jiang Li said. Situ Jiuyue lived year-round at the Duke’s manor because the manor’s flower garden contained materials for her medicine refining. She asked, “Did you just say Old General Ji has disappeared?”

“Yes,” Situ Jiuyue said. “The day after Ji Heng left Yanjing, Old General Ji vanished. Kong Liu and Lu Ji sent people to search, but there’s been no trace of him until now.”

Jiang Li’s heart tightened. “Was he taken by someone…”

“No,” Situ Jiuyue said. “He took the sword from the study.”

Jiang Li’s heart didn’t relax because of this. Since Old General Ji had taken the sword, it was clear he had left on his own. Why would he take a sword? An ordinary person’s first thought would probably be revenge. But Old General Ji was already elderly—why would he do this? Jiang Li said, “Miss Jiuyue, do you know what Ji Heng left Yanjing to do this time? Are Lord Lu and Lord Kong not here? Perhaps Young Master Wenren might know something too.”

“I don’t know what exactly he’s going to do. He didn’t tell me. Perhaps he told Lu Ji and Kong Liu, but they won’t tell you either, because they’re not at the Duke’s manor right now. I don’t know where they went. I only know Ji Heng is doing something very important. This matter is very dangerous—the fewer people who know, the better.”

Hearing this, Jiang Li didn’t feel dissatisfied with Situ Jiuyue’s answer. She knew Ji Heng hadn’t told her not because he didn’t trust her, but precisely because Ji Heng valued her too much and hoped she wouldn’t be implicated.

This person… was always accustomed to doing everything alone, even if it meant being misunderstood by others.

Jiang Li sighed inwardly. It seemed she was helpless. There wasn’t a single person who knew Ji Heng’s situation.

Situ Jiuyue didn’t continue talking with Jiang Li. Instead, she walked to the flower garden and began picking flowers. Even in winter, the flowers in the Duke’s manor were still very fresh and beautiful, yet unlike ordinary flowers—they grew in strange and peculiar shapes. Some were flat and long, some looked like animals, and some would even tremble when touched. Jiang Li couldn’t help, as she didn’t know which flowers Situ Jiuyue wanted to pick. She could only watch from the side. As she watched, she thought of the rumors about the Duke’s manor.

She said, “I originally thought Ji Heng collected rare flowers in the manor because he loved flowers. Now it seems Ji Heng spent heavily to collect so many rare flowers in the garden because Miss Jiuyue needs them to refine poisons. Or perhaps these flowers were actually collected by Miss Jiuyue all along, just borrowing Ji Heng’s name.”

Ji Heng had two hobbies—one was loving flowers, the other was watching opera. But if he truly loved flowers, why would he be so particular, specifically seeking the world’s rarest poisonous flowers? It would be more accurate to say he collected the world’s raw materials for poison refining. And the raw materials obviously had no use for Ji Heng—he didn’t know how to make poisons, so clearly they were prepared for Situ Jiuyue.

“No, these were indeed collected by Ji Heng, but the purpose was indeed to let me refine medicine, because he hoped I could concoct a rare poison to wake his father.”

Jiang Li’s eyes widened. This was the first time she had heard of this matter. According to rumors, when Ji Minghan returned to the manor that year and learned of Yu Hongye’s death, he left the capital and never appeared again. Everyone in the world said he had long since died, but the meaning in Situ Jiuyue’s words was that Ji Minghan was actually still alive?

What was going on?

“He… the Golden Guard General is still alive?” Jiang Li asked.

“No, he’s dead,” Situ Jiuyue said, pulling up a blue flower. Her movements were very careful, using a small trowel to dig around the flower, and when picking it, she didn’t damage the roots or stem.

“But… didn’t you just say…” Jiang Li couldn’t understand.

“Because I didn’t succeed in concocting that poison—I failed instead. So not only did Ji Heng’s father not wake up, he died because of the poison’s toxicity.” Speaking of this, Situ Jiuyue’s hands seemed to tremble slightly. Though she tried her best to maintain a calm expression, she ultimately betrayed a trace of something unusual.

“Miss Jiuyue,” Jiang Li asked as carefully and earnestly as possible, “can you tell me what happened?”

Situ Jiuyue turned her head and looked at her calmly. After a while, Situ Jiuyue lowered her head and continued her work, saying, “Everyone in the world says Ji Heng collects rare flowers, but actually it’s only because the most poisonous flowers in the world mostly grow brilliantly colorful and oddly shaped. What Ji Heng sought wasn’t rare flowers, only rare poisons. He searched for poisons only to cure his father’s illness.”

“His father’s… illness?” Jiang Li said softly. “In the rumors, the Golden Guard General lost all trace many years ago.”

“That’s not so. General Ji has always been alive and hasn’t disappeared. I don’t know exactly what happened. When I first came to the Duke’s manor, General Ji was already here. All these years, Ji Heng has kept me by his side, even helping me avoid being hunted by the Molan, because in all the world, perhaps only I could wake General Ji.”

“What happened to General Ji?”

“He was severely injured and also poisoned—there was no cure. I’ve tried my best to contain the poison’s spread, continuously using the method of fighting poison with poison to extend his life. All these years, he never woke up. The poison he was afflicted with had no antidote. Three years ago, the poison had already spread to his throat—I had no solution. Continuing like this, he would live at most one more year. At that time, Ji Heng’s subordinates found a poisonous herb in the desert. I used it to refine medicine, but didn’t know what the outcome would be. If General Ji took this medicine, he might wake up and be completely cured of the poison, or perhaps… it would accelerate the poison’s spread and he would die immediately.”

“On one side was extending his life by one year, on the other was the possibility of waking or dying immediately. I couldn’t make this decision for General Ji. Old General Ji gave the power of choice to Ji Heng, and Ji Heng decided to let his father take the medicine.”

Hearing this, Jiang Li’s heart couldn’t help but clench tightly. She already knew what the outcome was—Situ Jiuyue had just said so—but at this moment she still couldn’t help feeling pain for Ji Heng.

“Each of us hoped for a miracle to happen. Ji Heng never believed in fate. Before giving General Ji the medicine, he even went to pay respects to his mother. Unfortunately, as Ji Heng himself said, even the opera troupes on stage performing comedies are too fake—no miracle occurred. I failed. General Ji died.”

Snow fell piece by piece in spiraling patterns, landing on Situ Jiuyue. She seemed completely unaware, neither brushing away the snowflakes nor holding an umbrella. She allowed the cold to fall on her body. Jiang Li even felt that Situ Jiuyue might be shivering.

“This isn’t your fault,” Jiang Li said softly. “This isn’t Ji Heng’s fault either.”

“Of course I know that.” After a while, Situ Jiuyue finally spoke. She said, “But after General Ji died, I still left Yanjing. It wasn’t until last year that I returned.”

Last year—that was when Ji Heng had Situ Jiuyue treat Xue Huaiyuan’s illness.

“I don’t like owing anyone anything, but after that incident, I still felt I owed Ji Heng. If Ji Heng hadn’t asked me to come treat Xue Huaiyuan, I would never have returned to Yanjing in this lifetime. So whenever there’s an opportunity to make amends, I try my best to do so. That’s why when you ask me why I agreed so readily to treat Xue Huaiyuan and Xue Zhao—it’s only because three years ago, my poison killed his father.”

Jiang Li couldn’t help saying again, “This isn’t your fault, Miss Jiuyue. You already did your best.”

“But the outcome is the same. If I feel this way, you can imagine how Ji Heng feels.” Situ Jiuyue said, “I’ve never seen anyone so focused on doing one thing their entire life. From when I first met Ji Heng, he built this flower garden, all for the purpose of curing General Ji’s poison. Unfortunately, all these years he could only watch the poison spread little by little each year, helpless. In the end, he watched General Ji die right before his eyes, all because he made the wrong decision.”

Jiang Li fell silent. Even just imagining it, she could guess how desperate Ji Heng felt in that moment.

Situ Jiuyue finished picking the last flower and stood up, saying, “That’s the answer. Actually, I thought that after his father’s death, he would tear down this flower garden. I didn’t expect it would still be preserved. Perhaps it’s to avoid suspicion, or perhaps it’s to be prepared for any contingency.”

Jiang Li said, “Then, where is General Ji buried?”

“We couldn’t make a big fuss. Fearing people would discover something suspicious, and it was also his father’s dying wish—his body was cremated to ashes and placed in his mother’s tomb.”

Jiang Li caught the key point in Situ Jiuyue’s words and said, “Fearing people would discover something suspicious? Was General Ji’s poisoning deliberately done by someone? Is this person hiding in the shadows, still in the capital?”

Situ Jiuyue looked at Jiang Li. “Correct. Since you can guess it, I don’t need to say more. But I don’t know many other details. Ji Heng won’t completely trust anyone, though perhaps you’re an exception. But to protect you, he won’t tell you much. So the most terrible and ugly truths—perhaps only he himself knows.”

At this moment, Jiang Li suddenly understood why Ji Heng had such a personality. They said he was moody and killed without mercy—this was probably true. But after experiencing such things, and perhaps even more terrible facts, when Ji Heng was still a youth, he learned to face darkness alone. Those who emerge from darkness, if they want to protect what they wish to protect, must first learn to survive in the darkness. To expect him to become like Ah Zhao, as upright and honest as Xue Huaiyuan—it was simply impossible. In Ji Heng’s eyes, such expectations were even naively laughable.

Jiang Li couldn’t describe what she felt. She only felt as if a heavy stone pressed on her heart, so heavy she could barely breathe. This garden full of layer upon layer of brilliant and romantic flowers—each one was Ji Heng’s hope from his youth onward. Unfortunately, the flowers still bloomed profusely, but the hope had been dashed.

She thought again of that night when she came to the Duke’s manor and Ji Heng was planting trees in the courtyard. He planted exceptionally slowly, looking at the garden full of flowers, yet his eyes were very lonely.

She suddenly couldn’t bear to think further.

Situ Jiuyue carried the bamboo basket filled with flowers into the medicine refining room. But she didn’t immediately begin refining medicine. After setting down the basket, she walked to the edge of the courtyard and stared at the snowy ground in a daze. She must have been thinking about what happened with General Ji back then. No matter how cold her tone or how calm her expression, her heart wasn’t without turbulence.

Both young ladies stood in the courtyard. The world was a vast expanse of white. Each had her own thoughts, yet both felt the impermanence of worldly affairs and the changes of the human realm—an indescribable helplessness and bitterness.

A very long time passed, so long that the snow stopped, so long that Little Red in the cage woke up, opened its bean-like black eyes, flew to the eaves, and tilted its head to look at Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue.

Jiang Li said, “Miss Jiuyue, I’d like to go to the Ye manor to see my uncle. Do you want to go check on Ah Zhao’s injury? Last time you promised Ah Zhao you’d make poison for his whip. I don’t know if it’s ready. If it is, let’s deliver it to Ah Zhao today.”

Her heart felt unbearably stifled. She urgently wanted to use other matters to ease the suffocation in her heart, otherwise she would be crushed by this sorrowful emotion. For the moment, she couldn’t think of anything else. She wanted to see Ah Zhao, see Father, see Ye Mingyu and Ye Shijie, and let her heart rest for a while.

She thought Situ Jiuyue felt the same way. If Jiang Li weren’t going, Situ Jiuyue alone would definitely be unwilling to visit the Ye manor.

Situ Jiuyue was stunned for a moment and looked at Jiang Li with confusion. When she last saw Xue Zhao, she had indeed mentioned refining poison for Xue Zhao’s whip. She hadn’t expected Jiang Li would still remember.

“Miss Jiuyue, let’s go together,” Jiang Li said.

Situ Jiuyue didn’t refuse. She said, “Alright.”

The two of them left the Duke’s manor and boarded the carriage, moving with exceptional speed, as if fleeing from some emotion. Tong’er and Bai Xue looked at each other, neither knowing what had happened. They only felt the atmosphere between Situ Jiuyue and Jiang Li was somewhat strange and unusually quiet.

The carriage traveled on and stopped before the Ye manor gates. Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue jumped down from the carriage together. Probably because the weather was too cold, none of the young servants from the Ye manor were at the gate. Tong’er stepped forward and used the bronze lion door knocker to rap on the door.

For a long while, no one answered.

Jiang Li found this somewhat strange. Could it be Ye Mingyu wasn’t home? But even if Ye Mingyu wasn’t home, the Ye manor’s servants should still be in the manor. Surely such a large residence couldn’t be completely empty. Jiang Li wondered if perhaps Ye Mingyu was practicing swordplay in the manor and hadn’t heard. She stepped forward a few paces, just about to knock again, when suddenly her gaze froze.

From the Ye manor’s main gate, through the crack of the door, a wisp of red seeped out. This red was truly very, very thin. Combined with the extremely cold weather, the blood had frozen right at the door. If one didn’t look carefully and attentively, one would almost think it was an illusion.

Jiang Li’s gaze froze. Situ Jiuyue also sensed something was wrong. She stepped forward to look, furrowed her brow, and without another word pushed the door open.

With a loud “crash.”

As soon as the door opened, a gust of wind carrying heavy bloody stench rushed at them. Not far from the entrance, the young servant who always greeted Jiang Li with a smile lay in a pool of blood, one hand stretched toward the door, as if trying to pull it open. Then his life was forever frozen at that moment.

Tong’er screamed. Jiang Li’s heart was in chaos. She lifted her skirts and ran inside. All along the way, Ye family servants and guards lay scattered everywhere. These people had all been killed with a single blade—the wounds pierced from the chest through to the back, exceptionally tragic. Jiang Li couldn’t help crying out, “Uncle! Master Xue! Ah Zhao! Cousin Ye! Haitang!”

Situ Jiuyue followed closely behind, but no one’s answering voice could be heard. Jiang Li was so frightened tears were about to fall. She almost fainted. Ye Mingyu and Ye Shijie treated her like family—needless to say. As for Xue Zhao and Xue Huaiyuan, their family had just reunited. Could they have suffered this calamity again? Was Heaven toying with them?

Jiang Li was going mad. She searched all around but didn’t find her relatives’ bodies. She didn’t know if this was good or bad. Then she heard Situ Jiuyue call out, “Xue Zhao!”

Jiang Li’s heart leaped. Without thinking of anything else, she ran over and saw Situ Jiuyue standing dazedly in the courtyard. The courtyard was in complete disarray. Several guards’ corpses lay on the ground. Xue Zhao’s wheelchair was overturned, and a whip was broken in half, buried in the snow.

Situ Jiuyue picked up the whip, her hands trembling slightly.

They searched the entire Ye manor inside and out—there was no sign of them. All the other people had died without exception. It was like a scene from hell.

“Miss, what should we do? We should report this to the authorities first. It’s not safe here. What if those villains haven’t left yet and harm you?” Bai Xue was somewhat frightened.

Jiang Li took the whip from Situ Jiuyue’s hands. Not seeing Xue Zhao and the others’ corpses, her heart gradually calmed down, and she was able to think through some things. She shook her head. “Those villains aren’t here.”

Situ Jiuyue and the two maids looked at her.

“All the Ye family’s servants are dead. Uncle and cousin are missing. If this were done by enemies seeking revenge, why would they take Master Xue and Xue Zhao, and Haitang is also a servant? These people are all clearly closely connected to me. The person behind this is afraid they’re not coming for them—they’re coming for me.”

Situ Jiuyue asked, “What do you mean?”

“They didn’t kill Master Xue, Uncle, and the others, because there are no corpses here. If they were dead, they could easily have been left here. This shows the purpose wasn’t to kill, but to take them away and hide them, to threaten me.”

“Threaten you, Miss?” Tong’er asked. “Threaten you to do what? Do they want you to do something for them?”

Jiang Li said, “Miss Jiuyue, come here for a moment.”

Situ Jiuyue and Jiang Li walked to the side. She furrowed her brow and looked at Jiang Li. “What have you thought of?”

“If someone wanted to deal with the Jiang family, they wouldn’t need to start with me. To the Jiang family, I’m not of great use. What’s the point of using me to threaten my father? My father would never compromise. So I think it might not be a problem with the Jiang family, but rather…”

“You mean Ji Heng?” Situ Jiuyue immediately said.

Jiang Li nodded. “Since you said Ji Heng went to do something very important, perhaps it’s the same for the other party. I think their purpose is to use the lives of the Ye manor’s people to threaten me, and then have me threaten Ji Heng.”

“You… what will you do?” Situ Jiuyue asked hesitantly.

Jiang Li said, “I think they’ll soon send word telling me what to do. I’ll act according to circumstances.”