She didn’t know how much time had passed when the window seemed to shift — followed by the soft sound of someone landing on the floor. Though faint, Yan Qing still sat up at the sound.

The room was unlit, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering through the window.

Yan Qing saw a figure standing in that moonlight, stepping toward her with a light, unhurried stride.

Her face lit up, and she could not help but call out softly, “Shi Ting?”

Shi Ting came to the bedside, his handsome features gradually sharpening into clarity. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

He still carried the chill of the outside air, so instead of reaching for her immediately, he first rubbed his hands together.

Yan Qing promptly pressed a warm water bottle into his hands and looked up at him with gentle eyes. “Has the matter at home been resolved?”

“More or less.” Shi Ting sat on the edge of the bed. “I need to head back shortly.”

His hands gradually warmed. He reached up and touched her cheek. “Mother had never dealt with inner household affairs before, which is why she was caught off guard by someone else’s scheme.”

“How is her illness?”

“She’s taken her medicine and is resting now.”

Yan Qing reached beneath her pillow and produced a neatly folded piece of paper. “This is a remedy I wrote out — a folk prescription. Have a physician look it over first before deciding whether to give it to your mother.”

Shi Ting took it and tucked it away carefully. “All right.”

Heart ailments were difficult to treat even in modern times, let alone in this era. The prescription she had written was based on something she recalled from a book she had once read, adapted with reference to modern methods. Whether it would work at all depended on the individual.

“The new year is almost here, and the Shi Family must be very busy. You don’t need to come by every day — if I need anything, I’ll come find you at the Military Police Bureau.” Yan Qing covered the back of his hand with her small palm, her eyes full of tender concern. “We’ll have chances to see each other.”

Shi Ting sighed and enclosed her hand within his. “I keep wishing I could blink and find it’s already May. This has been the longest winter I’ve ever endured.”

How could Yan Qing not understand what he meant? She smiled softly. “Winter has come — can spring be far behind?”

He turned the words over in his mind, and could not help but say with admiration, “Miss Yan truly is a woman of many talents.”

“Chess, music, calligraphy, painting — I can’t do any of them.” Yan Qing said it without a trace of embarrassment. “Surely Director Shi’s flattery ought to have some basis in fact.”

Was he not simply making things up with his eyes wide open?

Shi Ting raised an eyebrow. “What have I said that’s wrong?”

“Right, right, absolutely right — who would dare say Director Shi is wrong about anything.” Yan Qing smiled, pressing her lips together lightly. Then she glanced toward the window. “You should head back. Isn’t the Marshal returning?”

“He returns to the mansion tomorrow.”

Yan Qing trusted that Shi Ting had already devised a thorough plan, and so her earlier worry had eased somewhat. Still, she kept hold of his hand. “Be careful in all things.”

He did not answer her in words. Instead, he drew her into his arms and bent down, his lips pressing against hers in a lingering, winding kiss that left them both slightly breathless before they reluctantly parted.

“I’m going now.” Shi Ting rose to his feet and tucked the warm water bottle beneath her covers.

“Let me walk you out.” Yan Qing said, beginning to sit up.

Shi Ting gently pressed his hand to her shoulder and eased her back down. He tucked the covers around her, then bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Yan Qing did not move again, but watched him with her eyes as he left. When the window shut, she felt a hollow ache settle in her chest. Just as she was about to close her eyes and coax herself to sleep, the window suddenly opened again, and Shi Ting’s angular face reappeared in the moonlight.

Meeting her bright gaze, he blinked slowly. “Happy New Year.”

He had come early to wish her a happy new year — Yan Qing could not help but smile. “Happy New Year.”

—

On the eve of the new year, the Shi Mansion was anything but festive. Er Yitai Luo Huaimeng had lost the gift registry, and the news had stirred up considerable turmoil in the inner quarters.

Madam Shi went about with a dark expression all day. San Yitai Du Linghua watched the drama unfold with amusement. Only Er Yitai Luo Huaimeng, weighed down by the incident, remained bedridden, her complexion growing more haggard by the day.

Shi Ting fed Luo Huaimeng her medicine and brought water for her to rinse her mouth.

Luo Huaimeng asked weakly, “What medicine is this? It tastes different from what I usually take.”

She had been drinking medicine for over a decade and could identify the smell with her eyes closed, so the moment the formula changed, she noticed.

“I found a physician. This is a new prescription he wrote — said to be more effective than what you’ve been taking.”

Luo Huaimeng nodded. “Has the Marshal returned?”

“He has.”

Luo Huaimeng’s expression immediately filled with alarm. She struggled to rise. “Quickly — help me go see the Marshal.”

“Mother, in your current condition, you should not get out of bed.” Shi Ting said with a serious expression. “The matter of the registry — I will explain it to the Marshal.”

“You lost the gift registry because of me, so why are you the one explaining? If he blames you as well, your entire trip to Tai Shan will have been for nothing.” Luo Huaimeng grew agitated. “Whatever fault there is, I will bear it alone.”

“Mother, I have already arranged everything. The Marshal will not blame me.”

“How can he not blame anyone? It’s the gift registry that’s gone missing.”

“Does Mother still not trust me?” Shi Ting helped her lie back down. “Rest easy and focus on recovering. Leave the rest to me.”

Luo Huaimeng finally eased herself back against the pillow, though she let out a long, heavy sigh. “I failed to secure a good match for you — that has always weighed on my heart. And now I’ve become a burden to you as well. Ah.”

In Luo Huaimeng’s view, the Yan Family was merely a merchant household — with no power and no influence. Merchant families like this could not remain prosperous forever; sooner or later they would decline, and they could offer no real advantage to Shi Ting’s future.

She had originally set her hopes on Han Xiling, the daughter of the Minister of Finance. But then Han Qiren had been sent to prison by Shi Ting himself, and word had it that he would be sentenced to death after the new year. Those who betrayed the Marshal were never shown leniency.

As that promising match slipped away before her eyes, Luo Huaimeng had felt both anxious and frustrated — though she consoled herself that there was still time, and a suitable match would eventually be found.

But then Shi Ting had pressed to marry Yan Qing, the Sixth Miss of the Yan Family. This girl was not only a concubine’s daughter, but also physically disabled. In every respect, she was unworthy of her son. Luo Huaimeng had not wanted to agree to the match at all, but with her son’s stubborn nature, she had been left with no choice but to relent.

“Mother.” Shi Ting spoke with quiet conviction. “My future depends on my own abilities — not on who my wife’s family is. If I am without worth, what good would even the most powerful in-laws do? What’s more, the Yan Family gave the Marshal their full support when he needed it most. I believe that if I, as their son-in-law, should one day face hardship, the Yan Family would also spare no effort for me. As for Yan Qing — Mother does not truly know her. Once you come to understand her character and nature, you will not say what you have said today.”

“But she is still a disabled person!”

Shi Ting’s voice was calm and certain. “By the time she enters this household, I promise Mother will see a daughter-in-law who is whole and healthy in body.”

Luo Huaimeng did not understand what he meant by those words, and she looked at him in puzzled surprise.

“Mother, I’ll go see the Marshal now. Rest well.” Shi Ting set the water cup back in its place and stood up.

—

The Marshal had returned to find himself promptly summoned to Madam Shi’s courtyard.

After Madam Shi described the loss of the gift registry, the Marshal’s fury erupted exactly as expected. “How could something so important be lost?”

“Marshal, please don’t be angry. After all, Er Yitai has never managed the household before — and it is partly my fault for entrusting the registry to her.” Madam Shi voluntarily took a share of the blame. “But San Yitai has been run off her feet, and with her pregnancy on top of everything, I wanted to find someone to share the burden. I didn’t expect it to come to this.”

“Where is Er Yitai?”

“She’s fallen ill and is recovering in bed.”

The Marshal frowned. “Ill or not, bring her here. Does she think she can hide from something this serious just by taking to her bed? When she was kept out of household affairs, she harbored resentment. Now that she’s been given responsibility, she manages it like this. It’s simply outrageous.”

Madam Shi looked somewhat uncomfortable. “Er Yitai is still bedridden. Perhaps we could wait for another time.”

“Wait for what? Now.” The Marshal had once doted on Er Yitai for a time, but that affection had not lasted long. Once Er Yitai became pregnant, she had not seen the Marshal again, and when San Yitai Du Linghua entered the household, the Marshal’s exclusive favoritism for her had begun.

So whatever tender feelings the Marshal once had for the woman he had been so devoted to were nothing more than a fleeting sentiment. Now, hearing that she was bedridden, he not only felt no tenderness for her — he was prepared to summon her from her sickbed.

The women in this inner household might appear to lead enviable lives from the outside, but in truth there was nothing as enviable as outsiders imagined. They were little more than ornaments and playthings, their favor or disgrace determined entirely by a man’s passing whim.

Just as the Marshal was about to send someone to fetch Er Yitai, a voice came from outside: “Mother is unwell and cannot come.”

The Marshal’s brow furrowed slightly as he watched Shi Ting step in from outside.

Shi Ting met the Marshal’s displeased gaze with a composed expression. “I understand the Marshal has summoned Mother to inquire about the gift registry.”

“Since you know that, you should understand this is a serious matter. Even if you come in her place, it changes nothing.”

Madam Shi interjected quickly, “Xingzhi, this household operates on rules above all else. Are you trying to help your mother break them?”

Shi Ting glanced at Madam Shi, his expression unchanged. “Madam is right — the Marshal’s household prizes its rules above all. However, I have heard that in other households, the gift registry is kept by the head mistress and would never be casually handed to a concubine to manage. What’s more, my mother has never managed household affairs and understands nothing of such work. She was formerly under the Madam’s care — the Madam should know this better than anyone. And even if the year-end was busy and the Madam could not manage everything herself, the registry should have been entrusted to the capable and experienced San Yiniang. My mother was never the most suitable choice.”

Madam Shi’s expression hardened with indignation. “What exactly are you implying? That I deliberately set her up?”

“I would not dare suggest such a thing. I only heard the Madam speak of rules, and a question arose in my mind, so I spoke a few words more. If I have given offense, I ask the Madam’s forgiveness.”

Shi Ting’s manner remained courteous, and his words carried not the slightest edge of aggression. This left Madam Shi momentarily speechless, unable to find a retort.

The Marshal, for his part, listened and furrowed his brow in quiet thought.

He was the commander of an army and did not ordinarily involve himself in the inner household’s quarrels — but that did not mean he was oblivious. Men who reached his position were seldom fools.

Seeing the Marshal’s expression soften slightly, Madam Shi quickly spoke up. “This was my oversight. With the year-end so busy and San Yitai carrying a child, I wanted to distribute the workload — but I was afraid to strain her, so I thought to give some duties to Er Yitai, who had been at leisure. I never expected she would lose the gift registry.”

Though Madam Shi appeared to be accepting blame, she had in fact worked in a mention of San Yitai Du Linghua. The Marshal was already a grandfather, yet San Yitai was expecting again — a child born in old age was an immense blessing for the Marshal, and all the more so when the mother was his most beloved concubine.

San Yitai had only Shi Yutong as her daughter. If she were to have a son as well, her standing within the Shi Family would become even more unshakeable.

By saying she had worried about straining San Yitai and had distributed duties elsewhere, Madam Shi was also implying that Er Yitai was a useless freeloader.

Sure enough, with San Yitai brought up, the Marshal’s expression eased further. He turned back to Shi Ting, his face restored to its earlier composure. “Do not let the fact that she is your mother lead you to excuse everything she does. In this household, the First Madam is the one in charge — she is the head of this house, and she is someone you owe respect. If you do not have sufficient proof, do not speak recklessly here. Now go and bring your mother.”

Shi Ting had no desire to clash with Madam Shi at this moment. Whatever her intentions may have been, the fact that she was the head of this household remained unchanged. The Marshal would not dismiss her over something like this. To put it plainly, as long as Madam Shi did not touch the Marshal’s most sensitive limits and commit a grave transgression, her standing in the Shi Family was as immovable as a mountain.

Madam Shi shot Shi Ting a contemptuous look. She was in fact perfectly happy to have him continue arguing with her — to accuse her openly, right in front of the Marshal.

No matter what he said, the Marshal would not take action against her. Luo Huaimeng, on the other hand, had lost the gift registry — the Marshal would certainly punish her for it. Though he would not drive her out of the Shi Family, having her sent to the old matriarch’s courtyard to chant sutras would be a satisfying outcome. With Luo Huaimeng no longer able to subtly draw the influential wives of officials to her side, could Shi Ting really manage both internal and external affairs on his own?

“Madam, please do not be angry. I meant no disrespect earlier.” Shi Ting said, unhurried and calm. “I’m accustomed to looking for inconsistencies when working on cases. Madam has worked tirelessly to manage this inner household — there is credit in that labor even where there is no other merit. I would never suspect the Madam of anything.”

Madam Shi let out a cold sound, displeased that Shi Ting had refused to give her the confrontation she wanted.

Shi Ting turned to the Marshal. “I have come today to return the gift registry to the Madam on my mother’s behalf.”

“The gift registry? Was it not lost?” The Marshal looked thoroughly puzzled.

Shi Ting produced a brocade-covered booklet. “The registry was never lost. My mother noticed that the original had aged considerably — the cover and many inner pages had worn through or were missing — and so she had Mr. Yuan transcribe a fresh copy. Concerned that the old registry might compromise the Shi Family’s private affairs if it fell into the wrong hands, she had it destroyed.”

“Nonsense.” Madam Shi slapped the table. “That registry was clearly lost. You think you can produce some random booklet and deceive the Marshal with it?”

Shi Ting asked, unhurried as ever, “Why is the Madam so certain the registry was lost?”

“Your mother said so herself — she said it could not be found.”

“Yet what I heard from my mother is that she had already informed the Madam that she intended to have the registry recopied. It was the Madam who refused to believe her and insisted she had lost it — and then had her kneel in the snow for half the night, which is why she remains bedridden to this day.”

“Kneeling in the snow for half the night?” The Marshal’s brow drew tight. “Is this true?”

Madam Shi answered quickly. “I had Er Yitai kneel as punishment over the registry. But that night it unexpectedly began to snow. The maids were afraid to wake me while I slept, and by the time I roused myself, Er Yitai had been kneeling for quite some time. I immediately had someone help her back to her room.”

The Marshal had no interest in determining how much truth lay in Madam Shi’s account. Instead, he reached out to take the booklet and leafed through it.

But he had no way to verify whether the figures were accurate — no one could be expected to remember every detail of years of gift accounts.

“This registry must be something you had fabricated on a whim.” Madam Shi’s displeasure showed plainly on her face. She said sharply, “Do you not understand? If this registry has incorrect figures, it will cause the Shi Family to lose face the next time there is a social occasion. For the sake of your mother’s momentary dignity, would you throw the entire Shi Family’s reputation to the winds?”

Shi Ting, calm and measured as ever, replied, “If the Madam does not trust it, she is welcome to pick a few households she knows and inquire.”

Madam Shi had no intention of believing that Shi Ting could produce a registry identical to the original — she knew perfectly well where the real one was.

As the head of the Shi Family household, she would never truly allow the registry to go missing. If it were lost and future gift accounts fell into disarray, all the blame would land squarely on her. Using it to discipline Er Yitai had been satisfying enough. Allowing the situation to drag on would only make others say she was lax in managing the household. She had gotten what she wanted.

With this reasoning settled in her mind, Madam Shi chose to test the booklet against the Meng Family — her own maternal family. Her brother Meng Fang held the position of Chief of Staff at the Marshal’s Office, a man of considerable influence.

Madam Shi knew the Meng Family’s accounts clearly enough. After she recited the key figures, the Marshal handed her the booklet. “Not a single word differs.”

“How is that possible?” Madam Shi grabbed it at once and hurriedly flipped through the pages. Though she could not remember every entry, she could recall the more significant ones — and going through them one by one, she found not a single discrepancy.

The Marshal swept a glance over her rapidly shifting expression, smoothed his jacket, and stood. “Since the gift registry has not been lost, you may keep it safe from now on. As for Er Yitai — have a skilled physician see to her. Whatever medicines she requires, send someone to purchase them.”

He looked at Shi Ting. “Xingzhi, come with me to the study.”

Shi Ting inclined his head. “Yes.”

Watching Shi Ting and the Marshal leave side by side, Madam Shi’s fury boiled over, and she swept the teacup from the table.

After a long moment to collect herself, she summoned the maid Shuangxi. “Take this and compare it against the other registry. I refuse to believe they produced something perfectly identical.”

Shuangxi quickly took it and withdrew.

—

In the Marshal’s study, he handed Shi Ting several documents. “Keep a close watch on the people from Di Guo — their influence has already begun to seep into Shun Cheng. What they are after could not be more obvious. These are the mining operations in Bei Guan Cheng — they now have their hands on over half of it. We need to find a way to take it back as soon as possible. We absolutely cannot allow them to continue expanding.”

Even so, Di Guo’s military was formidable and its technology advanced. Despite every grievance, open confrontation was out of the question. On the contrary, every provocation had to be endured. The only path to avoiding becoming their puppet was covert resistance — slowing their infiltration.

Shi Ting took the documents and looked through them.

“Li Yongqi just telephoned me to say you saved his son in Tai Shan.” The Marshal regarded Shi Ting. “The law governing Shun Cheng may be of your making, but that doesn’t mean you need to enforce it to the letter in every situation. The matter with Han Qiren — I chose not to pursue it. But if you charge Li Yongqi’s son for the sake of some commoner, I will not let it go.”

Shi Ting knew this was not the time to confront the Marshal directly. Li Yongqi was not Han Qiren — he had always been steadfastly loyal to the Marshal. Moreover, Li Yongqi held a critical post; if he turned, it would be like opening an unobstructed gate for the enemy.

“Handle these matters first.” The Marshal gave him a long look and shook his head with quiet resignation.

As for who had framed Li Yongqi’s son and what their motive was, the Marshal said not a word.

He could not have been unaware of the scheming behind it all — but he chose to look the other way. His ultimate aim was balance among his three sons, each kept in check by the others.

Shi Ting remained in the Marshal’s study until evening. Once their conversation ended, the Marshal hastily returned to the Blue Brick Building.

—

Luo Huaimeng was in the middle of drinking her medicine, supported by Xiang’er, when Shi Ting came in. She immediately asked, “How was it — did the Marshal make things difficult for you?”

Shi Ting thought of the Marshal’s coldness and indifference toward Luo Huaimeng, and he felt a quiet sorrow on her behalf. When she was favored, everyone envied her. When the favor was gone, she was less fortunate than any ordinary woman — confined within these deep walls, to live out her days in solitude.

“The matter has been resolved, Mother. There’s nothing to worry about.” Shi Ting took the porridge bowl from Xiang’er. “The Marshal has gone back to the Blue Brick Building. He also instructed the First Madam to find a reliable physician for you, and to arrange for whatever medicines are needed.”

Luo Huaimeng had not anticipated this outcome at all, and she asked in astonishment, “How on earth did you manage it?”

—