The wedding banquet was being held in the outer courtyard of the Marquis of Beirong’s residence.

Yang Huaishen was the first to take his leave. Some time later, Chen Liangzhi withdrew as well. In the end, all who remained were the Emperor and the various Marquises of Hexi.

That night, Li Gu had not come in his capacity as Emperor — he had come as a brother.

The men all drank themselves drunk.

Li Wu Lang threw his arms around Li Weifeng and wept.

Li Ba Lang draped himself over Jiang Jingye and laughed.

Li Gu stood with one foot propped up on a chair, hoisted a whole crock of wine high, tilted his head back, and poured it down his throat.

The scene was so achingly familiar it made reality blur at the edges. In those years past, when they were all young, out in Hexi, in the army, under the old lord’s command — had it not been exactly like this?

So many years had passed since then. The old lord, too, had been gone for so many years.

They all knew that Li Zhenzhen had not died — she was living well, looked after on Li Weifeng’s estate outside the city.

Li Gu’s most beloved consort had died, and yet Li Zhenzhen lived. One could see that deep in Li Gu’s heart, the old lord and all of them still remained.

If only Da Lang had not been foolish all those years ago — or if he had not continued to be foolish all the years since — what a fine ending they all might have had, all of them who had come out of Hexi together.

The men knew that after tonight’s parting, they would never again be gathered in full. Once this night passed, there would never again be a reunion quite like this one. And even if there were, it would never again be as uninhibited.

The men drank furiously, until every last one of them was roaring drunk.

Like boys again.

Xie Baozhu had slept very well, and she kept regular hours, so she also woke very early. From within the bed curtains, she could hear what seemed to be the sound of breathing somewhere in the room.

Xie Baozhu sat up and pushed the curtains aside.

The man who had said he feared disturbing her rest was wrapped in a blanket, sleeping soundly on the couch beneath the window.

Xie Baozhu gazed at him for a moment, then pushed back the quilt, draped her clothing over herself, and walked over.

Li Weifeng’s body still carried the smell of wine — all the scent of a man.

Xie Baozhu had never been alone like this with a man, within the same room. She studied this man’s face carefully. This person was her husband now.

It was… a remarkably novel experience of life.

Xie Baozhu slowly reached out her hand and touched Li Weifeng’s face, tracing it gently. So this was what the texture of a man’s skin felt like — genuinely different from a woman’s.

Just as she was thinking this, her wrist was suddenly seized.

She looked up to find that Li Weifeng had already opened his eyes. A man who had spent years on campaign — even drunk, even asleep, his alertness was this sharp.

He opened his eyes to a face that looked as though it had been carved from fragrant jade, and for a moment he was dazed. Then he broke into a grin. “Did I wake you? Was I snoring?”

He sat up. Seeing that Xie Baozhu was wearing only her sleeping garments, he quickly threw back his own blanket and wrapped it around her.

“It isn’t cold,” Xie Baozhu said. “The floor heating is on.”

She had just spoken when she covered her mouth and nose.

Li Weifeng realized at once. “The wine smell is getting to you, isn’t it? I washed up last night — let me go wash again right now.”

He jumped up and called for servants to prepare hot water.

Xie Baozhu asked, “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming in? How did you end up on the couch?”

Li Weifeng said hurriedly, “I drank two full bowls of the sobering soup before coming in. That soup is potent — I was sober in no time.”

Xie Baozhu smiled. “It’s Her Majesty’s recipe.”

Li Weifeng said, “Keep that recipe safe. From now on, it’s our household’s go-to.”

Our household… What a remarkably novel way of saying it.

Xie Baozhu looked steadily at this man.

Her gaze made Li Gu’s face feel a little warm. Being alone with Xie Baozhu like this also left him somewhat at a loss for what to do with himself.

Fortunately, the servants soon had the hot water ready, and Li Weifeng made a hasty retreat to the washing room.

After giving himself a thorough second scrubbing and coming back out, the bedchamber was very quiet — not a single handmaid in sight.

Li Weifeng’s footsteps paused. He walked forward and found Xie Baozhu sitting on the bed.

She had already washed and freshened up, yet she was still in her sleeping garments. Her hair, tended until it gleamed like satin, fell in smooth strands over her shoulders. Below the hem of her robe peeked a length of snow-white leg and a pair of delicate, beautiful feet.

A view kept within the depths of the inner chambers for many long years, never seen by anyone.

She heard him enter and turned her head, her gaze fixed on Li Weifeng.

Li Weifeng’s heart pounded like a war drum. His mouth was dry. His body was rigid as iron.

Xie Baozhu smiled, and curved her finger toward him in a slow, deliberate beckoning.

Li Weifeng’s breath quickened, and he walked toward her…

The bed curtains fell.

A single night’s worth of spring — worth more than gold.

The sky had only just begun to lighten. There was no need to rush.

After attending the Marquis of Beirong’s wedding, Marquis Anyi departed south.

Close on his heels, the Marquis of Beirong was to head north.

On the day of the farewell outside the city gates, Li Gu and Xie Yuzhang both came.

Prince Shou wept in a torrent of tears, his two sons propping him up on either side, both terrified he might collapse to the ground. But he was rather stout, and his sons could not help but find the propping quite strenuous.

Xie Baozhu’s carriage was wide and spacious — by the standards of a Marquis’s household it already exceeded the regulations — but this particular carriage had been specially bestowed by the Emperor and Empress upon the Lady of Beirong on account of her poor health, and so no one could say a word against it.

Xie Yuzhang and Xie Baozhu said their farewells. Xie Baozhu called out “Zhuzhu,” opened her mouth to say something more, then stopped herself.

Xie Yuzhang said, “Elder Sister, go in peace. Don’t worry about Second Uncle, and don’t worry about me. The northern frontier has magnificent scenery — Elder Sister will love it.”

Xie Baozhu looked at her for a long moment, then gave a single nod.

Prince Shou drew Li Weifeng aside to a spot slightly removed from the others, sobbing as he pressed his instructions on him: “Her health isn’t good — take more concubines, and don’t be always pestering her.”

Li Weifeng said, “I won’t, I won’t.”

Prince Shou said, “She cannot bear children; it would cost her her life. She also cannot take herbal medicines — her body can’t withstand them. Sheep-gut casings, fish bladders — use them.”

Li Weifeng’s face went red. “Understood, understood.”

Prince Shou wept with great sorrow. “My daughter is a pearl beyond price — I have given her to you, and you must treat her well!”

Li Weifeng said helplessly, “Father, please put your mind at ease.”

Prince Shou only continued to weep. Because with Xie Baozhu’s departure, it was for a lifetime.

Yet a young woman must ultimately have a home to return to. He was growing older with each passing year, and his own health was declining more and more. Even if her uncles were willing to look after her, their wives might not be so willing. His precious Baozhu could not be made to suffer such indignity.

Fortunately there was this loveable fool, who had devoted his whole heart to her for so many years. It could at last be said that after long clouds, the moon had finally broken through.

Beside another carriage, the Commandery Princess of Hexi, her belly visibly rounded, was also weeping in floods of tears.

Because the farewell party was large, Li Zhenzhen stayed hidden inside a carriage and did not come out. She lifted the curtain only a little, urging the Commandery Princess: “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Be careful you don’t upset the baby.”

The Commandery Princess of Hexi said through her tears, “Do you really have to go?”

Li Zhenzhen had put on considerable weight. “Yunjing holds nothing for me,” she said. “Even going out for a walk on the street I have to cover my face. You’ve found a husband now, and from what I see the two of you get along well. Even if he treats you poorly, don’t be afraid — go find your Eleventh Uncle and complain. He won’t leave you without support. Knowing he’s here puts my mind at ease. It’s time to return to my roots — I want to go back to Hexi, and I want to be with my father.”

The Commandery Princess of Hexi wept loudly.

Many among the crowd looked over with curiosity, quietly guessing at who might be inside that carriage.

Many had already guessed the truth, and knowing when to see without speaking was the mark of a shrewd person.

At last, the Emperor and the Marquis of Beirong drank three cups of wine together. They set down their cups, and the two men clasped each other’s hands tightly.

“Seventh Brother,” the Emperor said, “across ten thousand miles of realm, we two brothers will hold it together.”

The Marquis of Beirong said, “The north is mine to watch. Rest easy.”

The Marquis of Beirong mounted his horse, cast one final look at the grand and imposing walls of Yunjing, and rode north with his wife, never once looking back.

That night, Li Gu felt desolate and melancholy. Xie Yuzhang comforted him with gentle tenderness.

The two of them murmured quietly together in their bed curtains, sharing lighthearted stories and fond memories of their youth with each other.

Until drowsiness overcame them, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Danyang Palace should by rights have been the Empress’s central residence — a place belonging to the Empress alone — just as the Purple Morning Hall and the Hanling Hall belonged solely to the Emperor. But now, Li Gu’s familiar possessions were scattered throughout every corner of Danyang Palace. It had become their shared home, like any ordinary pair of husband and wife.

In the fourth month, Fu Kang came rushing into the palace.

Jia You was with child.

When Xie Yuzhang first heard the news she was stunned, and asked, “Whose?”

Fu Kang said, “A man called Yuan Wei.”

Xie Yuzhang rubbed her temple and said in exasperation, “That little wretch Buri!”

Yuan Wei was the nephew of Yuan Jin, the commander of Xie Yuzhang’s guard. His original name was Buri.

Their tribe had been defeated in battle, and both uncle and nephew had been sold into slavery and come to Xie Yuzhang. Yuan Jin was valiant and fierce, and from slavery he had risen to become a guard, and later been taken by Yuan Yu as a son-in-law.

Yuan Wei was also sturdy and robust, bold and daring — at fourteen he had been admitted into the princess’s guard. In the year Xie Yuzhang returned to the capital, he had been only sixteen. Now he was a young man just past twenty.

Fu Kang said, reproaching herself, “Early in the spring Jia You was often going out to enjoy herself. She developed a fondness for hunting, and I told her to bring plenty of guards with her. Yuan Jin assigned his nephew to accompany Jia You. I never imagined those two would go and do something like this. It’s all my fault.”

Since Fu Kang’s return, Jia You had gradually come to be more like an ordinary young woman. Having spent so many years withdrawn into herself, Xie Yuzhang and Fu Kang had both encouraged her to go out more, to travel and play. Yet neither had thought that Jia You had already reached the age of longing for a man. To make matters worse, Yuan Wei had grown up on the steppe; even with a Central Plains name to his credit, he was a thoroughgoing man of the grasslands at heart — and had brought all the customs of steppe men and women with him to Yunjing.

Youth and dry tinder — the two had simply caught fire together.

Xie Yuzhang’s head throbbed with anger. “Bind Yuan Wei and bring him before me. Have Yuan Jin break his legs!”

Fu Kang said helplessly, “I had him bound. I was going to have him driven out. But Jia You refused. She wants to marry him.”

Xie Yuzhang asked, “She truly wants to marry him?”

Fu Kang said, “They’re at that age, and the feeling is at its height — of course she wants to marry.”

“This infuriates me.” Xie Yuzhang rubbed her temple again, and finally said, “If she wants to marry, let her marry. Ask Second Uncle to oversee it and make the arrangements; try to get it done as quickly as possible, otherwise a large belly will look improper.”

Fu Kang exhaled in relief. “Thank goodness. I was afraid you wouldn’t allow it.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “If he had forced himself on Jia You, I would have had him done away with. Since it was mutual and Jia You is fond of him, let her marry and go.”

She took Fu Kang’s hand. “Fu Kang — to me, your own happiness is what matters most. Nothing else means anything.”

Fu Kang pressed her lips together and smiled. “Elder Sister actually wanted to separate me and You Tian at first.”

Xie Yuzhang smiled as well. “I didn’t know what kind of man he was. I only thought you were ill-matched and was afraid you’d suffer. Looking at him now, he seems a good one — I hear his wood carvings fetch twenty or thirty taels of silver apiece when they’re sold in the shop?”

Shi Youtian was now the Empress’s brother-in-law, and he conducted himself with solid, quiet propriety.

He had one great passion: carving wood. But in the past, he had spent his days in hard labor just to scrape together a meal, and had little leisure time. Occasionally he would carve a few small animals to set by Fu Kang’s bed for her to enjoy.

After moving into the Princess’s Residence, with money and free time at hand, he did not gamble, he did not carouse — he stayed quietly at home every day, absorbed entirely in his wood. Fu Kang, who had always known about this hobby of his, simply invited a master craftsman to teach him properly. Shi Youtian proved to have a genuine natural aptitude for it; he quickly mastered the technical aspects and spent the rest of his time developing his own style by feel.

The pieces he carved were sold on consignment at a shop operated under the Princess’s Residence. At first they had gone for no more than a copper or two; gradually, as his name spread, they came to fetch several tens of taels apiece.

Fu Kang covered her mouth and laughed. “He’s so pleased with himself. The residence already gives him a monthly allowance, but he insists on earning this money himself. Every coin he earns he hands over to me, and doesn’t keep so much as a single cash for himself. Then I turn around and give him the money back as spending money, and he uses it so happily, positively beaming.”

Xie Yuzhang also laughed, thinking that Fu Kang had survived great calamity and was a person destined for good fortune in the years that followed.

Fu Kang and Shi Youtian had been married for many years without conceiving, but after returning to the Princess’s Residence and being nourished with good food, good tonics, and good medicine for the better part of a year, she had finally fallen pregnant. Before the new year she had given birth to a daughter, adorably beautiful as polished jade, the cherished darling of every soul in Princess Yongning’s Residence.

It was also because her attention had been divided by the child that she had neglected Jia You, and this matter had come about.

When Li Gu came by later and asked, “Did Twelfth Girl come today?” — Xie Yuzhang did not want to conceal the matter from him and so told him what had happened.

Li Gu laughed heartily. “Spring weather — of course things like this are bound to happen.”

Xie Yuzhang gave him a light swat. Li Gu caught her hand and said, “You have to keep an eye on these grassland young men — they love to slip into women’s tents. Back when we were infiltrating Mobei undercover, we all had to pretend to be grassland men and do as grassland men do. Wu Lang, Ba Lang, Seventh Brother — they all did it. Jingye did it the most times of anyone.”

Xie Yuzhang looked at him sidelong. “And our Emperor?”

Li Gu gave a cough. “That was when I was young and reckless.”

Xie Yuzhang smiled in a way that did not quite reach her eyes.

Li Gu said, “Look at this fine spring day — come, come, let’s also go behind a curtain.”

And he did indeed wrap his arms around Xie Yuzhang and pull her behind a curtain.

But afterward, he rested his hand on Xie Yuzhang’s flat abdomen, lost in thought. “Twelfth Girl has only just given birth, and Nineteenth Girl is already expecting.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “Perhaps it simply isn’t in my fate.”

Li Gu said, “Don’t say such things. The imperial physicians all say your body is healthy. The time simply hasn’t come yet — it will happen, it must.”

Xie Yuzhang was a skilled rider and archer, in genuinely good health — and yet she simply had not been able to conceive.

Prince Shou oversaw the arrangements and completed the wedding between Jia You and Yuan Wei with great speed.

In the blink of an eye, it was the summer of the ninth year of the Kaiyuan reign period. By this count, it had already been two years since the Emperor’s own wedding.