When Qin Yao woke, it was not yet light — the world before her was entirely dark, and she could not make out what time it was. She lingered in a daze for a while, and only as her awareness slowly returned did she realize she was still in the same position she had been in when she fell asleep — her head pillowed on Lin Xiao’s arm, her entire person tucked into his embrace.

Her heart lurched with alarm. She had no idea how long she had been lying with all her weight on his arm. By the time he woke it would surely be both numb and aching. She quietly lifted her head, preparing to rise.

But the moment she shifted even slightly, a wave of aching discomfort swept through her body — from her legs to her lower back, as heavy and leaden as though they had long since been separated from the rest of her. It was no different from having held a horse stance all day.

She could no longer remember what time last night’s exertions had ended. She only knew that by the time things were over the second time, she had no longer even had the strength to lift her hand to push Lin Xiao away. The area between her legs was horribly sticky, and she was both mortified and exhausted. Though she had not forgotten her mother’s instructions, she had simply been unable to drag herself out of bed — to say nothing of wringing out a cloth to clean herself and Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao had coaxed her to lie still, then put on his undergarments, got out of bed himself, and came back in no time at all with water and a cloth.

Qin Yao’s eyelids were too heavy to keep open, but her mind was still fairly clear, and she became aware that he was carefully parting her legs to clean her with the cloth. At first she was so mortified she could not bear it and tried her hardest to press her legs together, but Lin Xiao’s movements were gentle yet firm, and after she struggled just a little he had her ankles held securely in place.

After a thorough washing, her body finally felt considerably more comfortable. The drowsiness growing heavier, Qin Yao rolled over, blindly pulled the covers toward her, and made to go back to sleep. But Lin Xiao had produced a jar of medicinal ointment from somewhere, and busied himself applying it to her.

The cool ointment on her skin brought instant relief from the burning soreness, and she enjoyed the sensation too much to care about being embarrassed, half-drowsily letting him do as he pleased. Only, for someone who was normally so swift and efficient in everything he did, he seemed to spend a great deal of time applying the ointment — making her want simultaneously to laugh and to be exasperated.

Afterward, she fell completely asleep in his embrace.

His chest was extremely warm. She woke several times from the heat, and each time she stirred she could feel a pair of hands, calloused in thin patches, moving and exploring across her body. Each time she grumbled a sound of displeasure, he would stop, and instead gather her into his arms, gently patting her back to soothe her.

She was sensitive to heat and found his embrace stifling, retreating toward the far side of the bed again and again — but every time she had just turned away, he would pull her back into his arms, as fixedly and stubbornly as ever.

Thinking of this, she quietly lifted her head. Who could have guessed that this man, who appeared so calm and self-possessed, would be such a deeply clinging presence in bed?

In the darkness she could not see his face clearly, only hear his even, steady breathing. It seemed he had not yet woken. She raised her head and looked outward — the bridal bower beyond was utterly silent. She had no idea what hour it was, and, thinking that the two of them would soon need to enter the palace to pay their respects to the Emperor, she hesitated over whether to get up.

“Awake?” Unexpectedly, a voice came from above her head — slightly hoarse, yet bearing none of the drowsy grogginess of someone just roused from sleep. It even carried a faint note of laughter, which clearly indicated he had been awake for some time already.

Thinking of all the fidgeting she had done against him just now while he had simply been feigning sleep the whole time, Qin Yao was first taken aback, then said with a reproachful murmur, “If you had already been awake for some time, why didn’t you say anything?”

Lin Xiao gave a low laugh. He had indeed been awake for some time, and from the moment he opened his eyes he had directed all his attention toward her, noticing when she rubbed her eyes and started turning her head to look around in his arms, and had known she was awake as well.

The hour was still early. Knowing she had been exhausted the night before, he had wanted to let her sleep a little longer, so he had said nothing, keeping his eyes closed in a pretense of sleep. But she had only grown more and more alert, with no intention whatsoever of going back to sleep.

“I was hoping to let you rest a little longer,” he said, biting lightly at her ear with a smile in his voice.

He kissed her for a little while, then naturally and unhurriedly leaned over her, burying his head to linger at her neck.

Qin Yao felt his intentions and hurriedly pressed her hands against his chest, her expression one of alarm. “No, no — the hour is not early. In a moment Wen Gu and the others will be up.”

Lin Xiao kissed her and murmured in coaxing tones, “Still very early.”

Qin Yao was being kissed until she felt both ticklish and breathless, and with a hint of agitation, remembered the inexpressible pain of the night before. “But — but I’m not healed yet.”

Lin Xiao simply leaned down and stopped her lips with his.

Fortunately, in the end, when it came to the critical moment, he did hold back out of tenderness for her and did not truly put her through any more suffering.

Yet even without going through with it fully, he was by no means idle. Afterward, Lin Xiao wiped her clean with a cloth, and seeing how mortified she was, suppressed his laughter, gathered her into his arms, and half-coaxed, half-apologized while nuzzling against her for a while. Seeing that the hour outside was getting on and afraid of being late to the palace, he finally pulled her up with him.

The two of them got out of bed and spent a good long while searching before finally finding Qin Yao’s inner garment in the corner at the foot of the bed. He picked it up and held it in his hand — it was already completely wrinkled beyond recognition.

Qin Yao could well imagine the expressions on the servants’ faces when they came to do the washing. She could not help shooting Lin Xiao a reproachful glance.

She sat on the bed wrapped in her coverlet, bare white shoulders exposed above the quilt, her thick black hair falling like clouds, piled loosely over her shoulders. Combined with her expression of half-scolding and half-delighted displeasure, she was truly beautiful as a painting.

Lin Xiao found that the desire he had with great difficulty just settled was beginning to stir restlessly once more. He quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look further, and rose to take down her clothes from the bed frame, helping her put them on one piece at a time.

Yet two people who were normally both exceptionally swift and nimble took fully twice as long as usual to get themselves properly dressed and presentable.

All the while, the outer chamber of Siruju Hall remained completely quiet, without a single sound of servants moving about.

It was not until Lin Xiao, fully dressed, went to the door and called for someone that very light footsteps could be heard approaching the bridal bower.

Qin Yao was first stunned, then her face went red. So the servants of Siruju Hall had been up all along — they had simply not made a sound without Lin Xiao’s signal to do so. She could only hope that the sounds she and Lin Xiao had been making while entwined had not carried to the ears of these servants.

Before she could think further about her embarrassment, Wen Gu led a group of servants in, treading lightly with soft footsteps — followed by two women in palace-style dress.

These two women walked with smiles to the bed and bowed to Lin Xiao and Qin Yao. “This servant offers congratulations to the Young Lord and the Young Lord’s consort.”

Qin Yao did not understand the purpose of these two women and looked at them with puzzled eyes. Lin Xiao, however, understood perfectly why they had come, gave a quiet cough, and said, “Rise.” He bade the two women stand.

The two of them, smiling, finished their bow, walked to the bed, and examined the bridal cloth that had been covered by the bedding. Seeing the crimson spots scattered across the white silk, like plum blossoms blooming against snow, the smiles on their faces deepened, and they offered their congratulations to Lin Xiao and Qin Yao: “Congratulations to the Young Lord and the Young Lord’s consort — great joy upon you both.”

Wen Gu silently suppressed a smile. The serving girls all unconsciously flushed, and the pace of their movements slowed somewhat.

Qin Yao was so mortified she wished she could sink into a crack in the floor.

Fortunately, Wen Gu and the others quickly stirred into bustling activity, directing the servants to help the two of them wash and prepare for the day, then began to tidy up the bridal bower in preparation for taking down the ceremonial draping.

Qin Yao and Lin Xiao stepped out of the bridal bower, and only then did she see that the place where the bower had been set up was a brilliantly bright and beautifully appointed courtyard.

In the courtyard, five wide rooms faced south, their windows bright and their lighting excellent. The plants and trees within were arranged in pleasing variety, dense yet orderly, unhurried in their sprawl. The peonies were past their bloom, but the camellia flowers were open in their full glory, and the entire place breathed an air of clear and understated elegance.

Several plum trees stood outside the window of the east wing, their branches crossing before it at elegant angles. One could only imagine what a wonderful scene it would make in winter, when the plum blossoms were in bloom and one sat before that window to appreciate snow over tea.

Qin Yao recalled what Lin Xiao had said to her that evening at Duke Lu’s manor, and lifted her head to smile at him. This man was truly as good as his word — he had said he would plant plum trees in Siruju Hall for her, and plant plum trees he had. Lin Xiao smiled back at her. “Shortly we’ll be entering the palace to pay our respects to the imperial uncle. He may issue a decree formally appointing you as the Young Lord’s consort, so you’ll need to change your attire first.”

He led her into the main room.

The room was extremely spacious — easily three times the size of Qin Yao’s chambers back in her family home. The interior had been freshly repainted throughout, but the furniture was a matched set of aged fragrant nanmu wood — its color warmly dark, its style composed and classical, its value apparent at a single glance.

Since A’Ping and the others were unfamiliar with palace-appropriate hair arrangements, Wen Gu personally attended to Qin Yao’s grooming.

She was a married woman now, and the twin coils of hair she had worn in girlhood were no longer appropriate. Lin Xiao stood to one side, watching Wen Gu deftly arrange Qin Yao’s hair into a draping horse chignon. She remained lovely — and yet there was now an added quality of graceful depth and refinement about her. He felt a stirring in his heart. When Wen Gu retired, he rose and walked to stand behind Qin Yao, looking at her in the mirror with a smile. “That hairpin can finally be worn at last.”

Qin Yao called A’Ping to retrieve the plum blossom hairpin from her dressing case and handed it to Lin Xiao, lifting her eyes to look at him through the mirror. “Put it in for me.”

Lin Xiao took it with a smile, examined it for a moment, then found a fitting position and set the pin in place.

After the morning meal, they went to the main hall and offered tea to Prince Lan. Prince Lan drank the tea and said with a smile, “The hour is getting on — let us not keep your imperial uncle waiting. We shall go into the palace now.”

By the time they arrived at the palace gates, Princess Derong had also reached the gate.

Xia Di was helping his mother down from the carriage. As he turned his head, he caught sight of Qin Yao. At first he gave a slight start, then his gaze settled on the hair she now wore done up as one.

He had grown considerably thinner, his complexion looking very poor. He stood before the horses and watched Qin Yao quietly, not speaking, not moving.

It was not until Duke Wei noticed that his son was behaving discourteously and gave a sharp, warning cough that Xia Di finally moved his gaze away — but with an undisguised reluctance, the look of a man fighting not to look at something he cannot quite bring himself to relinquish.