All along, Ding Wu had been the image of a reliable sworn brother, forever a warmth in her heart. Even though Wei Caiwei had lived a second life and was psychologically old enough to be Ding Wu’s mother, she still regarded Ding Wu as her elder brother and respected him as she had in the previous life.

In his previous life, Ding Wu never married. Even after Ding Rukui was released from prison, granted official position, and had his family property restored, even after Ding Wu regained his status as an Imperial Academy student, he still didn’t marry or take the imperial examinations.

His first half of life was full of hardships, while his second half was like floating clouds and wild cranes, finding solace in landscapes, traveling everywhere, even going overseas to the Western Ocean at one point, following merchant caravans through the Western Regions, crossing grasslands and deserts.

His second half of life was spent making up for the regret of being trapped in Tieling and denied freedom in the first half. In his later years, he traveled everywhere, leaving his footprints all over.

Like someone who had been extremely hungry, his only wish for the second half of life was to eat his fill, asking for nothing else.

Ding Wu was carefree, unwilling to be burdened by family ties, and didn’t want to harm some good girl by making her guard an empty room for life, so he simply never married.

Therefore, Ding Wu had no objections to Wei Caiwei’s choice to become a paired-eating couple with Eunuch Wang.

Ding Wu often told her: Sister Banxia, as long as you’re happy, don’t worry about others’ gossip.

But in this life, Ding Wu seemed to have feelings for Lu Ying?

In her previous life, Lu Ying became a widow soon after marriage and eventually chose to become a nun for spiritual cultivation.

However, based on Wei Caiwei’s current understanding of Lu Ying, her becoming a nun was likely just a pretext to leave her husband’s family and gain freedom. Lu Ying would never sit down to copy scriptures—she probably ended up wandering the martial world with her beloved sword.

Thinking about it this way, Lu Ying and Ding Wu’s endings in their previous lives were actually reaching the same destination by different paths.

Wei Caiwei woke up in the middle of the night to the aroma of peach pastries, seeing Ding Wu yawning while fanning the freshly baked pastries with a fan, trying to cool them quickly so he could wrap them up and send them to Lu Ying.

Since her mind was full of questions and she couldn’t sleep anyway, she simply put on clothes and went downstairs to ask Ding Wu.

“Sorry for waking you up,” Ding Wu said apologetically.

Wei Caiwei helped Ding Wu fan the pastries. “For Commander Lu again?”

Ding Wu’s expression remained unchanged. “Yes, to thank her for saving me.”

Wei Caiwei: “Wang Daxia also saved you.”

Ding Wu remained steady. “Wang Daxia comes to mooch dinner almost every day. I always make an extra portion for him.”

Ding Wu still maintained the restraint and subtlety of a noble young master, but Wei Caiwei had a straightforward nature. Knowing she couldn’t outmaneuver Ding Wu’s roundabout ways, she decided to speak directly: “Brother Ding has romantic feelings for Commander Lu, doesn’t he?”

Ding Wu stood up and ladled water from the water jar to wash his face. “You’re talking childish nonsense. She and I are worlds apart in status.”

Indeed, Ding Wu and Lu Ying had always been vastly different in status. It was so now, and would be so in the future. When Lu Bing died and Emperor Jiajing died, when the Lu family was raided and imprisoned, by then Ding Wu would have restored his status as a noble young master. If Lu Ying remained unmarried, she would be a prisoner.

Their statuses would never be equal. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—either you’re strong and I’m weak, or I’m weak and you’re strong.

Wei Caiwei said: “Let’s not talk about status, let’s just ask our hearts. How does Brother Ding view Commander Lu?”

Ding Wu looked at his gradually calming reflection in the copper basin. “I greatly admire her courage in leaving her boudoir to become a Jinyiwei officer, and her spirit of never giving up. If I hadn’t discovered her female identity underwater that night, I might have been kept in the dark my whole life.”

“Sometimes I think, if my father had shown Lu Ying’s fearless courage when the enemy was at the gates, if he had refused Grand Secretary Yan’s suggestion to defend the city gates and led the Ming army in a desperate fight, perhaps many people’s tragedies, including yours and that Chen Jingji who entered the palace, all your life tragedies might never have happened.”

Ding Wu had always been kind and gentle, not blaming heaven or earth, even able to step out of the natural position of being a son to reflect on the mistakes his father might have made.

Regardless, Ding Rukui was the War Minister, the Grand Marshal of all military forces under heaven, yet he gave up resistance without even trying.

Even Lu Bing was stronger than Ding Rukui in some ways. Back then, Lu Bing violated the order to defend the city gates and went to petition Emperor Jiajing, opening the city gates to let refugees in. At least Lu Bing made a final effort in the worst circumstances.

Wei Caiwei said: “No matter what, none of this was your fault.”

Ding Wu shook his head. “I’ve always longed to do something to make up for my father’s mistakes. Lu Ying gave me the opportunity. She doesn’t despise me for being a weak scholar and boldly uses me. Compared to the grace of recognition, staying up late to make some small pastries is really too insignificant to mention.”

Wei Caiwei was half-believing. “Is that all?”

Ding Wu: “Of course.”

The peach pastries had cooled completely. Ding Wu skillfully wrapped them up, naturally not forgetting to save two pieces for Wei Caiwei. “For your breakfast tomorrow—I have to leave very early tomorrow and can’t make breakfast for you.”

Ding Wu’s thoughts were something Caiwei couldn’t see through, and even he himself couldn’t.

The “kiss” underwater wasn’t really a romantic kiss between man and woman, because it had nothing to do with love. Ding Wu felt that Lu Ying’s gaze was determined, her courage could infect him. Originally, Ding Wu thought his life would continue as it was, but Lu Ying seemed to have light about her, shining into his gloomy life. He instinctively reached out trying to grasp this beam of light.

But hearing news of the Lu and Wu families discussing marriage, Ding Wu felt that once Lu Ying married, her husband’s family probably wouldn’t allow her to continue disguising as a man to be a Jinyiwei officer. If this beam of light were to be extinguished, he would fall into endless darkness again.

Ding Wu knew his status was humble and he couldn’t change anything, but he couldn’t be like his father back then—facing the enemy at the gates without attempting or resisting. He tried his best to show himself in front of Lu Ying, wanting to keep this beam of light a little longer.

A little longer.

That was all.

The next day, when Wei Caiwei woke up, Ding Wu had indeed gone to Toutiao Alley early in the morning to get busy.

The sound of horse hooves and whistling came from the alley downstairs.

It was Wang Daxia, who was heading to the Jinyiwei office. He deliberately took a detour every day to pass by here. When passing, he would whistle. If Wei Caiwei was already up and grooming, she would open the window and smile and wave in response.

Hearing the commotion, Wei Caiwei opened the window and said: “Wait a moment, I have something to give you.”

Wei Caiwei went downstairs and gave Wang Daxia the peach pastries that Ding Wu had baked overnight. “For Commander Lu.”

She also shared one of the pastries Ding Wu had left for her with Wang Daxia. “This is the delivery fee.”

Wang Daxia refused. “One peach pastry definitely won’t fill you up for breakfast. Two would be just enough.”

Oh, such awareness! This made Wei Caiwei look at him with new respect. After all, for someone like Wang Daxia who was obsessed with food to give up food that was already at his lips was quite remarkable!

My husband is finally growing up.

Wei Caiwei watched Wang Daxia leave.

Wang Daxia rode out of Sweet Water Lane, turned onto Gulou West Diagonal Street, then slowed his horse and opened the package—he couldn’t bear to eat Wei Caiwei’s breakfast, but he wouldn’t hesitate at all to steal Commander Lu’s pastries!

Wei Caiwei was still overconfident in him.

Wang Daxia opened the bundle, inside was the familiar oil paper wrapper. On the oil paper wrapper was a note with four words: “No stealing allowed.”

It was written by Ding Wu, who was prescient and knew that Wang Daxia, who had no respect for superiors, would steal Lu Ying’s peach pastries.

However, this wouldn’t stop the thick-skinned Wang Yanei from “committing the crime.”

I’m the one delivering it, Commander Lu doesn’t know how many are inside. If I secretly eat two pieces, she won’t notice. Besides, Ding Wu couldn’t possibly ask Lu Ying over such a small matter how many peach pastries she received!

So Wang Daxia still untied the red string and opened the oil paper wrapper. There was actually another layer of oil paper inside, with eight words written on it: “One package of peach pastries, eight pieces total.”

Ding Wu’s handwriting was beautiful thin gold script that Wang Daxia couldn’t imitate. Moreover, there was Ding Wu’s personal small seal on the paper, carved with the character “Wu.”

The devil is one foot higher than the monk. Ding Wu understood Wang Daxia’s nature too well and knew the first note couldn’t stop the glutton in his belly, so there was a second line of defense waiting for him.

Everything was to ensure his feelings were received completely intact by Lu Ying. Not a bit could be diverted by Wang Daxia.

Not even one piece.

Wang Daxia kept a straight face, like an emotionless delivery machine, and gave the peach pastries to Lu Ying.

Lu Ying assigned today’s task: “Find all the portraits of White Lotus sect followers collected by the Jinyiwei over the years, have painters copy them all, and bring them to the secret agents at Toutiao Alley tonight.”

The Jinyiwei’s painters were the most famous—even court painters were registered under the Jinyiwei to receive salaries, so copying all the White Lotus sect members who had shown their faces in a day was no problem.

Wang Daxia went down to handle the matter.

Lu Ying opened the oil paper package, gave half to her father, and had someone deliver it to Lu Bing.

Normally, Lu Ying would definitely deliver it personally, but since Lu Bing had scolded her in his emotional outburst after taking pills last time, Lu Ying had been avoiding face-to-face encounters with her father. The father-daughter relationship was somewhat strained.

Seeing the small pastries his daughter had someone deliver, Lu Bing sighed and shook his head repeatedly. This girl’s temper is too much like mine. She is, after all, a girl. If I’m not around in the future, what will she do?

At the same time, another father was also worrying about his child—it was the Worried Father Alliance, namely Wang Qianhu.

Wang Qianhu had received the two thousand taels that Duos repaid that day. This was silver exchanged from his first wife’s dowry fields, which should rightfully be given to Wang Daxia to buy back the dowry fields in Sanlitun.

Wang Qianhu had principles. Even though the Wang household was living tightly now, he wouldn’t use his wife’s dowry to fill the family’s big hole.

But Wang Qianhu worried that once the silver was handed to Wang Daxia, he would squander it recklessly again, so Wang Qianhu kept the silver and went to Sanlitun outside Chaoyang Gate, wanting to find the original buyer and redeem his first wife’s dowry fields.

Arriving at the location, Wang Qianhu almost thought he had remembered wrong. The former good farmland was enclosed by walls or fences, with houses, ancestral halls, and other buildings constructed. To the northwest were several large mound-like graves. The burial mounds hadn’t grown grass yet, but mature pine trees were planted all around.

It turned out the dowry fields had been converted into burial grounds with accompanying sacrificial fields. Sacrificial fields and sacrificial buildings, unless for heinous crimes, belonged to the exempt category and wouldn’t be confiscated even during house raids.

So wealthy families with risk awareness generally established sacrificial fields and buildings as insurance, giving their descendants a fallback—shelter and a place to stay, so they wouldn’t be completely ruined.

Seeing this, Wang Qianhu knew the land was impossible to redeem—they had converted it to sacrificial fields and moved graves there. How could they possibly return it to him!

Sigh, this prodigal son—spilled water can’t be gathered up again.

Though the fields couldn’t be redeemed, Wang Qianhu wanted to find out who had bought his first wife’s dowry fields, so he walked to the cemetery to look at the tombstones. They read “Tomb of Lady Wu, Granted First-Rank Wife,” “Tomb of Lady Huang, Granted First-Rank Wife,” “Tomb of Lady Zhang, Granted First-Rank Wife,” and “Tomb of Deceased Wife Lady Zhao.”

Three First-Rank granted wives! Which wealthy noble family in the capital was this?

While he was pondering, a voice came from behind—the gravekeeper: “This is the family cemetery of Jinyiwei Commander Lu. Unauthorized persons leave immediately!”

Author’s Note: Many readers previously guessed that the buyer was Lu Bing, and that the burial grounds Li Jiubao’s father and brother built in Sanlitun were for the Lu family. Congratulations to those who got it right! You were very observant.

Lu Bing’s grave is indeed in Beijing’s Sanlitun. Over five hundred years later, this became a bar district, with drunk revelers dancing on Lu Bing’s grave every night. Lu Bing should never be lonely.

This is researched from the epitaph written by cabinet minister and in-law Xu Jie for Lu Bing, recorded in “Shijing Hall Collection: Epitaph of Master Lu of East Lake”: “During his lifetime, the master divined a burial site at Sanlitun outside Chaoyang Gate. At this time, all relatives and old friends consulted together and said: The master’s wish cannot be violated.”