“Supervisor Wan is busy with affairs and probably won’t come. Do you need something?”

The token in her hand carried a faint warmth. Jinshu gently shook her head. “I don’t know why I suddenly thought of him, so I just asked.”

Heng Zhi thought she was feeling timid about meeting an old acquaintance, so she stroked her hair and comforted her gently.

Unable to say why, Jinshu looked at those palace gates and suddenly felt somewhat hesitant. It wasn’t until Heng Zhi had comforted her for a long while that she nodded in a daze and left the palace together with Heng Zhi.

Jinshu had arranged to meet the man at Cuiwei Tower. When she arrived with Heng Zhi and several young eunuchs from the palace, a tall man was already seated in the room.

Looking at his back, Jinshu only felt he was completely unfamiliar.

“Are you Uncle Li’s son?”

The man turned around, revealing a fairly handsome face.

Jinshu’s face flushed red as she took a step backward.

She had no impression of the husband she had been betrothed to since childhood. Her only two memories were that when she was young, she was often held in his arms while he coaxed her with gentle, soft words.

In her memory, he had indeed been much taller and much sturdier than her.

“Taoqian.”

The man spoke in a low voice. Upon hearing this, Jinshu suddenly shed a string of tears.

“Sister Heng Zhi, he is the husband I was betrothed to since childhood.”

Since Father’s passing, no one had called her by that name. Now she herself had almost forgotten that she wasn’t originally called Jinshu, but rather that she was the daughter of the Zhang family on Wangchun Street in Baoding Prefecture.

She had been wealthy since childhood. Father and Uncle Li next door had both been affluent households in Baoding Prefecture.

Back then, something had happened—who knew what. According to Father, Uncle Li’s entire family had been arrested and imprisoned overnight. From then on, all the clan members had vanished as if evaporated from the world, leaving no trace.

Jinshu wiped her tears, unable to stop crying. “What happened to your family back then? My father searched for you all for so long but couldn’t find even a single word.”

The man smiled faintly. “The family met with disaster back then. I don’t know the specifics either.”

Jinshu nodded, understanding that perhaps he had been too young then to know, or perhaps he was unwilling to bring up past sorrows again.

Heng Zhi scrutinized the man. Seeing that his eyes were clear and upright and that he wasn’t someone with crooked intentions, she lowered her guard and let him converse with Jinshu.

Jinshu asked a few questions about the names of family members and matters she remembered from back then. The man answered everything fluently. Not only that, he even knew some things that Jinshu herself didn’t know.

After the man had recounted everything from the past vividly and in great detail, Jinshu had to admit that he was indeed the fiancé she had been searching for all this time.

Having confirmed this person’s identity, Jinshu had no more words.

It was only because, although she knew this man was her husband, she just couldn’t feel any sense of closeness to him.

“You’ve now reached the age. Are you still willing to marry me?”

“I…”

“Of course I’m willing.”

Her father had searched for this person for so long, and she too had searched for him for so long—how could she not be willing to marry him?

Jinshu raised her head to look at the man and smiled timidly.

“If you’re willing, I’ll return home today to prepare the betrothal gifts. After the national mourning passes, I’ll marry you as my wife. Is there anything you desire?”

“Nothing.”

After thinking, Jinshu added, “Now that both the Zhang and Li families have no elders, if I’m to marry I still need my master’s consent. Can you wait for me a while? Once I’ve properly settled my duties in the palace, I’ll beseech my master for this grace.”

The man nodded and agreed with a gentle smile.

In just a moment, the marriage was settled. Jinshu exchanged a few more pleasantries with him, then turned and followed Heng Zhi back to the palace.

In the carriage, Heng Zhi saw her expression was melancholy and couldn’t help but worry. “Do you have some concern?”

Jinshu shook her head but clutched the hem of her garment without speaking.

She didn’t know why, but she just couldn’t find that sense of familiarity from childhood in this man.

He was fine in every way, but Jinshu just felt somewhat… awkward.

Nervously wiping the sweat from her hands, Jinshu looked at Heng Zhi and stammered, “I heard that before women marry, they’re all afraid. I can’t really explain it, but I just feel uneasy in my heart, anxious.”

Placing her hand over her heart, Jinshu pressed her lips together, her eyes full of confusion.

“Sister Heng Zhi, logically I searched for him for so long, so why would I still be afraid when I meet this person? Why would I still be uneasy?”

“Perhaps it’s like the feeling of timidity when nearing home.”

Heng Zhi held Jinshu’s hand and said softly, “Although he is the husband you were betrothed to since childhood, you two haven’t seen each other in a long time after all. It’s ordinary to feel somewhat distant.”

“Perhaps it’s ordinary.”

Jinshu slowly formed a smile. “Then I’ll wait until after the national mourning to marry him and fulfill my father’s wish.”

“Good Jinshu, live your life well in the future. Miss will always look after you.”

“Yes.”

Jinshu nodded heavily, and her suspended heart slowly settled.

When the two returned to the palace, Wan Xiao was leaning against a corridor pillar in the Eastern Palace, seemingly calculating something.

Ji Rong walked to his side and said softly, “Jinshu met with that person.”

“Was anything exposed?”

“Probably not.”

Wan Xiao chuckled softly. “Then that’s good.”

Knowing that after Jinshu returned to the palace that day, she had begun preparing items for the wedding, Wan Xiao thought it over and found half a box of extremely fine-quality pearls to send to her.

Jinshu was very surprised when she received them, because the items were truly valuable—more than she could accept.

“Miss, why would Supervisor Wan send this servant such a valuable and grand gift?”

Holding this thing in her hands, she always felt it was a hot potato.

She sought people out to return it to Wan Xiao, but was turned away several times.

“This servant truly cannot accept it. These things… please, Miss, help this servant keep them.”

When Song Wan saw that half box of pearls, she also felt it was very unusual. Wan Xiao appeared to be easygoing and sociable, but in reality his bones carried a sense of indifference. She also couldn’t understand why Wan Xiao would suddenly send Jinshu such a valuable item.

After thinking, Song Wan said, “Keep them for now. Let me go ask His Highness. If it’s improper, I’ll go find Supervisor Wan.”

Jinshu nodded, looking at Song Wan with gratitude.

After court, Shen Qianyu returned to Laiyi Pavilion.

Song Wan helped him change into casual clothes before telling him about how Wan Xiao had sent Jinshu a box of pearls during the day.

“Wan Xiao handles matters smoothly and capably. He doesn’t seem like someone who would do something so lacking in propriety. Why would he suddenly decide to send Jinshu pearls?”

Pouring tea for Shen Qianyu, Song Wan took the Emperor’s private seal from his hands and carefully set it aside.

The two prepared to dine while conversing casually.

Hearing Song Wan’s words, Shen Qianyu hesitated for a moment, unsure how to tell her.

“There are truly inside circumstances?”

Shen Qianyu nodded. “There are indeed inside circumstances.”

Seeing Song Wan’s brows furrow slightly as she pondered something, he sighed softly. “Wan Xiao also comes from Baoding Prefecture.”

With these words spoken, and recalling Wan Xiao’s reaction when he first met Jinshu, Song Wan instantly guessed the true meaning within.

She was slightly surprised. “So the man Jinshu met some days ago is not her husband?”