On their way back, He Yan kept looking at the flower basket in Chu Zhao’s hands.

The flower basket looked beautiful, with the vendor having taken particular care in writing the characters “Zi Lan.” His calligraphy naturally exuded an otherworldly elegance that complemented the various fragrances in the basket perfectly.

“Brother Chu, make sure to eat it soon after you return,” He Yan said. “Otherwise, with Ji Yang’s weather, it will melt quickly.” She had bought one shaped like a qilin herself and had already finished it. “I’ve tried it – the taste is quite good, and it’s not too sweet.”

Chu Zhao smiled gently, “Thank you, He Yan. I’ll be very careful with it when I return.”

Only then did He Yan feel relieved.

After buying the sugar art, they walked back along the riverbank. During quiet moments, He Yan occasionally asked about Xu Zhiheng.

“Brother Chu, how was your friend’s wedding that you attended last time? Was it lively?”

Chu Zhao paused briefly, then smiled and answered, “Yes, very lively. After all, she was Flying Swan General’s sister, and His Highness the Crown Prince personally attended to offer congratulations.”

This response made He Yan suspicious. The Crown Prince? Did he come to see Xu Zhiheng’s wedding for Xu Zhiheng’s sake, or He Rufei’s, or perhaps both? Was the Crown Prince also involved in the conspiracy between the He family and the Xu family? Worse yet, did the Crown Prince know her identity?

“However…” Chu Zhao sighed, “Master Xu must have deeply loved his late wife, as he shed tears during the wedding ceremony.”

He Yan: “What?”

Seeing the disbelief written all over her face, Chu Zhao couldn’t help but smile wryly. “What’s wrong? Don’t you believe there are devoted men in this world?”

He Yan thought to herself that she certainly believed in devoted men, like her current father He Sui, who raised two children alone after Madam He passed away. Even with Young Lady He being so willful, He Sui still doted on her because she resembled his late wife, proving that truly devoted people existed in the world. But while this could be true of anyone, it wasn’t true of Xu Zhiheng.

“It’s not that I don’t believe it,” He Yan concealed the mockery in her eyes and said, “I just wonder if his newly wedded wife isn’t angry about this behavior?”

“The current Madam Xu is very kind and pure-hearted. Seeing Master Xu’s distress, she became teary-eyed,” Chu Zhao said. “Not only was she not angry, but she was very empathetic. This moved General Flying Swan and other members of the He family deeply. So while it was certainly lively, the wedding ceremony ended up being somewhat sorrowful.”

He Yan felt that among all the jokes she had heard this year, this one from Chu Zhao was the funniest. The He family members feeling sad for her? Even pigs in their sty would feel insulted if told such nonsense. But from Chu Zhao’s expression, as he spoke of this, it seemed most people believed this.

They commit wrongdoings, yet afterward put on a pitiful act of seeming grief, pretending to be rare examples of loyalty and devotion in the world – it was truly nauseating.

“He Yan seems to disagree with what I’ve said?” Chu Zhao noticed her expression.

He Yan smiled, “It’s nothing, I just find this Master Xu quite interesting.”

“How so?”

“If he truly had deep feelings and couldn’t forget his late wife, even if His Majesty personally arranged the marriage, he could have refused. He is a man after all,” He Yan said mockingly. “For women, being unable to decide their marriage is common. Brother Chu, you’ve heard of young masters who take by force, villains who force good women into prostitution, and beast-like fathers who sell their daughters for profit, but have you ever heard of women doing such things?”

“From what Brother Chu just said, Master Xu seems like a weak woman forced into marriage, while the new Madam Xu appears to be the villain who forced him to marry her. What’s the meaning of this? If he didn’t want to marry, no one could drag him to the wedding hall. If he didn’t want to consummate the marriage, could Madam Xu force him? Now that they’re married, he still dwells on his ‘late wife’ – how should the new Madam Xu handle this? I think this is quite unfair to her, and your friend seems rather hypocritical.”

She spoke without restraint. He Xinying was her full sister – though He Yan deeply disliked the He family members, He Xinying had never done anything to her. He Yan couldn’t love her but couldn’t hate her either, so she could only treat her as a stranger.

Any clear-headed person hearing about this would think Xu Zhiheng was more in the wrong. The He family wasn’t satisfied with destroying one person; they had to send in another sacrifice.

How cold-blooded and absurd.

Chu Zhao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled and bowed to He Yan: “Either I am narrow-minded, or it’s because you, being a woman, can empathize from a woman’s perspective.”

“It’s simply that no one ever thought to consider their perspective at all.”

“He Yan, you’re very different from ordinary women.”

He Yan looked at her: “How am I different?”

Chu Zhao continued walking forward, his voice still gentle: “Most women, even when facing such circumstances, have become numb and indifferent, not thinking as deeply as you do. While you consider their situation now, it’s very likely they are content with it and would resent you for meddling in their affairs.”

He Yan laughed: “Brother Chu, your words sound rather condescending.”

Chu Zhao’s smile faltered: “What do you mean?”

“The court belongs to men, affairs of the world belong to men, even studying and going to battle are exclusively men’s glory. The world praises men as heroes, while women at most are praised for their beauty. How unreasonable – men enjoy all the world’s advantages, yet turn around and blame women for being numb-minded and unambitious. If this isn’t condescending, what is?”

“Brother Chu thinks I’m different from ordinary women because I’ve studied, left the confines of home, and even entered military camps against tradition. There aren’t many women like me in the world. But if you let those women be like me – see the snow in Liangzhou, the waters of Ji Yang, the desert moon, the rivers and mountains – would they still be content to be confined in mansions fighting for favor? Would they still be self-satisfied and ignorant?”

He Yan smiled, and at this moment, her smile carried a hint of mockery, somewhat resembling Xiao Jue: “I think men of the world fear exactly this, so they created numerous absurd rules to constrain women, using the Three Obediences and Four Virtues to clip their wings and judge them with those baseless standards of ‘virtuous wives and beautiful ladies.’ The more ignorant women are, the more at ease men feel. Though they created this situation themselves, they still say ‘Look how shallow women are!'”

“Because they know that once women have the opportunity to ‘choose,’ they would never be content to become decorative vases in the back courtyard waiting to be fed by their husbands. Those exceptional women would become generals, warriors, scholars, advisors, competing with men for worldly glory – and men might not win.”

The girl’s eyes were as clear as Ji Yang City’s spring waters, transparent and pure, seeing things distinctly and clearly as if they could reflect the brightest sunlight.

Chu Zhao was momentarily stunned. Usually eloquent and able to prevent awkward situations, he now found himself at a loss for words. It seemed that nothing he could say would refute the person before him. Though her righteousness seemed laughable, presumptuous, and irritatingly naive, it cast shadows that exposed the darkness, leaving nowhere to hide.

He Yan also felt indignant.

Pretending to be “He Rufei,” though it brought much pain to her life, had simultaneously allowed her to see scenery that most women would never see in their lifetime. If not for pretending to be “He Rufei,” she wouldn’t have known how much more men could do compared to women. If you had literary talent, you could become a scholar full of classical learning; if you had exceptional martial skills, you could become a general with distinguished military service. Even if you were ordinary in every way, you could still be a common person on the street. To put it bluntly, even in places like Le Tong Manor, women were gambling courtesans while men were gamblers.

It was precisely because she had later become “Madam Xu,” experiencing life as both a man and a woman, that she understood how differently society treated men and women. Men didn’t avoid hardship, but their hardships could become the foundation for judging their worth. Women’s hardships, however, were spent waiting for men’s approval.

Though all were born human, how could one be nobler than the other? The ridiculous part was that some men genuinely looked down on women, which was simply incomprehensible.

After speaking her mind, she noticed Chu Zhao’s momentary silence and secretly wondered if she had offended him with her words.

But then she thought, so what if she had? After all, he couldn’t even tie up a chicken – he certainly couldn’t beat her in a fight.

“Brother Chu, I spoke too hastily just now,” He Yan smiled. “I hope you won’t mind my rudeness.”

“Not at all,” Chu Zhao’s gaze toward her held a strange quality: “He Yan’s heart is admirable; I am humbled. In the future, I will never speak such thoughtless words again. I will keep what you’ve said in my heart.”

Chu Zhao was truly gracious – even after her torrent of words, he remained as gentle as the spring breeze.

He Yan smiled, “Then let’s hurry along.”

Chu Zhao nodded and smiled in response.

As they continued walking back to the Cui Manor, He Yan lowered her head and secretly sighed.

Chu Zhao and Xiao Jue were ultimately different. Regarding women, they both considered women weak and unable to protect themselves. But while the former’s judgment carried a hint of negation and condescension, the latter’s attitude, as evidenced by his treatment of the female corpse in the Sun family’s back courtyard in Liangzhou, showed more compassion.

A general should be forthright and upright, calm and brave, but an even more important quality is having compassion for the weak.

When He Yan and Chu Zhao returned, it was already very late. Chu Zhao’s courtyard was further than He Yan’s. At the entrance, Chu Zhao said, “He Yan, you should rest early too.”

“Remember to eat it soon,” He Yan reminded him, still concerned about his flower basket sugar art.

He looked at the basket in his hand and smiled, shaking his head: “I will.”

He Yan watched him leave before turning to return to her room. As she turned around, she saw someone standing in the pavilion under the long corridor, smiling at her – it was Liu Buwang in his flowing white robes.

“Master, you haven’t rested yet?” He Yan walked over and asked. She had rarely seen Liu Buwang at night these days.

“Just getting some fresh air,” Liu Buwang looked at her, “Did you go buy sugar art?”

He Yan nodded: “Fourth Young Master Chu kept my identity secret, so I thought I should give him something. When you accept gifts from others, you become indebted, so they won’t easily reveal your secret. Sugar art in Ji Yang City is quite cheap. I bought him the most expensive one – in Shuo Jing, it would cost at least ten wen, but here it’s only eight wen. Such good value!”

Liu Buwang smiled, looking at her: “He Yan, you’ve become much more lively compared to before.”

He Yan was startled.

In her previous life, when she met Liu Buwang, it was during her most difficult time. Having just fled from her stable life in Shuo Jing to the cruel, iron-blooded military camp, carrying many secrets, she always acted with caution. Even later when she was with Liu Buwang in the mountains, though she occasionally revealed her unrestrained side, most of the time she tried not to cause trouble for others.

Thinking about it now, ever since she became “Young Lady He,” she had unconsciously become much more relaxed. Like today, going out to buy sugar art with Chu Zhao – this would have been impossible before.

Was it because she was now a woman, or because she was free from the He family’s constraints and could do whatever she wanted without worrying about others discovering the secrets behind her mask?

“Isn’t this way better?” He Yan grinned, “It’s not necessary to always be serious, right?”

Liu Buwang said: “This is very good.”

When he said this, his expression was somewhat melancholic, lost in thought. He Yan wanted to ask but seeing Liu Buwang’s detached gaze, she swallowed her words.

Liu Buwang seemed somewhat sad.

The spring moon wasn’t as bright as the autumn moon, being hazier and softer. As Liu Buwang’s gaze fell on his young disciple’s upturned lips, another figure appeared in his mind.

Mu Hongjin.

Back then, Mu Hongjin was also like this, with pure and bright eyes occasionally flashing with cleverness. Her red dress was also lively, always embroidered with flowers and birds at the hem, delicate and splendid. The young lady always wore two long braids with silver bells tied at the ends, making pleasant tinkling sounds as she moved. Sometimes before she even approached, one could hear the bells and know she was coming.

At that time, having such a tail following him every day was extremely annoying. He had said many times that they should part ways, but each time Mu Hongjin would pout and be on the verge of tears. Though Liu Buwang was iron-hearted, he wasn’t skilled at handling a girl’s tears. So each time she easily dissolved his resistance, and eventually, he resigned himself to this sticky person following him around causing trouble.

Mu Hongjin knew how to enjoy life. Though she brought plenty of silver, she would spend it all within half a month. At that time, Liu Buwang didn’t know Mu Hongjin was the beloved daughter of the King of Meng Ji, and he was full of contempt for her extravagant lifestyle. She didn’t care how he viewed her, continuing to spend money freely and insisting he enjoy it with her.

After half a month, when Mu Hongjin’s money ran out, she had to join Liu Buwang in eating simple meals.

They stayed at the simplest inns and ate ordinary food. Without money to buy trinkets from the street, Mu Hongjin held out for half a day before protesting to Liu Buwang: “Young Hero, can’t we eat something better?”

“No.”

Liu Buwang didn’t have much money. When the seven disciples of Daoist Yun Ji went down the mountain for training, it was meant to experience the mortal world. As for their daily activities, the elder disciples would share some of their work with him, which, simply put, meant helping others in exchange for payment. However, their sect forbade evil deeds and schemes, so they ended up doing minor tasks like “helping tenant farmers find lost sheep” or “delivering secret letters from married daughters back to their maiden homes,” earning very little money. Sometimes they even had to help write family letters, accepting all requests, no matter how small.

The sight of a cold and otherworldly young man in white robes leading a lost sheep along the estate’s path was rather comical. Mu Hongjin teased him: “What kind of sect is yours? How come you have to do everything? Why not follow me instead, I…”

“You what?” Liu Buwang asked irritably.

“I…” Mu Hongjin’s beautiful eyes turned, “I’ll pay you more than they do!”

Liu Buwang was too angry to speak.

But that’s how things were, after all, since he hadn’t finished the tasks his senior disciples had given him. Because they only did these small tasks, the pay was minimal. It would have been fine if he were alone, but now with Mu Hongjin following him and having spent all her money, one person had become two, with inn stays and meals… life became very tight, to the point where he wished he could split one coin into two.

It was evident that Mu Hongjin was also trying hard to adapt to this rough life. She made a fuss for a few days, but when she saw that Liu Buwang was truly angry, she didn’t dare say more. She quietly followed Liu Buwang in living a simple life.

But her habit of wanting to buy everything she saw hadn’t changed.

Liu Buwang remembered one day when they were near a teahouse outside Ji Yang City, they met an old woman selling flowers. The old woman had two bamboo baskets on a carrying pole, filled with wild chrysanthemums. They were delicate and lovely, in pale pink and white. They were also very cheap, probably picked directly from the foot of Qi Yun Mountain.

Mu Hongjin went over to look, and the old woman smiled, saying: “Young master, buy a flower for the young lady to wear.”

“No need.”

“Yes, please!”

They spoke simultaneously. Liu Buwang gave Mu Hongjin a warning look, and she pouted disappointedly. The old woman laughed instead, picked a flower from her basket, and gave it to Mu Hongjin: “The young lady is beautiful, this flower is for you. It will look lovely in your hair!”

Mu Hongjin happily accepted it. She had a sweet tongue and smiled brightly: “Thank you, grandmother!”

Since things had come to this, Liu Buwang couldn’t just leave, so he took out a coin from his sleeve and handed it to the old woman.

“No, no,” the old woman smiled at him, “The young lady is lovely, this old woman likes her. Young master, just treat her well in the future.”

Liu Buwang turned his head to see Mu Hongjin delightedly putting the flower by her ear, asking him: “Does it look good?”

Liu Buwang awkwardly said: “It’s none of my business.”

Mu Hongjin glared at him, then crouched down to look at the accessories and cosmetics in the carrying pole. After a moment, she picked up a silver bracelet and exclaimed: “This is so beautiful!”

It was a simple silver bracelet, seemingly roughly handmade with uneven edges, but what made it special was the lifelike wild chrysanthemums carved around it, making it look fresh and lovely.

“This is beautiful!” Mu Hongjin praised.

“This is called the Heart’s Delight Bracelet, carved by me and my husband together,” the old woman smiled. “Give one to your sweetheart to wear, and you’ll never part. Young man, why not buy one for the young lady? For lifelong happiness together.”

“Did you hear that, Young Hero Liu,” Mu Hongjin pleaded, “Quick, buy one for me!”

Liu Buwang coldly looked at her, snatched the silver bracelet from her hand, and put it back in the basket, then coldly told the old woman: “She’s not my sweetheart.”

A flash of disappointment crossed Mu Hongjin’s eyes, and she didn’t reach for the silver bracelet again, muttering: “How do you know I’m not your sweetheart.”

How do you know?

Yes, how did he know?

Youthful pride prevents him from understanding that young love arrives silently, and by the time one realizes it, it has already become an overwhelming force that cannot be avoided.

Many years later, Liu Buwang often thought, if that day, he had bought that silver bracelet in front of Mu Hongjin and put it on her wrist, perhaps they wouldn’t have ended up as they did, and as the old woman said, they could have stayed together forever.

How laughable that he would believe in such supernatural things and predestined fate.

Moonlight scattered on the ground, leaving a layer of frost. The sound of bells in his memory gradually faded away, leaving only Ji Yang City’s wind from years ago, lonely and desolate, slowly chilling one’s heart.

“Do you like Xiao Jue?”

The unexpected question interrupted He Yan’s thoughts. She turned her head in surprise. Liu Buwang withdrew his gaze and looked at her, his eyes carrying a knowing smile, repeating: “He Yan, do you like Xiao Jue?”

“…No.” He Yan instinctively denied, then after a moment asked: “Master, why do you say that?”

“Haven’t you noticed,” Liu Buwang said quietly, “you’re very relaxed when you’re with him? You trust him more than you trust me.”

He Yan was stunned. Did she?

Perhaps she did. Whether in her previous life or this one, Xiao Jue’s image in her heart might have had many misunderstandings – whether cold or malicious – but from beginning to end, she had never doubted that he would harm her. He Yan, who seemed carefree about everything, always maintained a degree of vigilance in her heart. This vigilance wasn’t lowered when facing Liu Buwang of the past when facing Xu Zhiheng, facing He Rufei, and not even when facing the harmless He Sui father and son of the He family.

But with Xiao Jue, she had always trusted him.

“What makes you so relaxed now isn’t time or experience, it’s him.” Liu Buwang’s voice was gentle, “He Yan, do you still want to deny it?”

He Yan remained silent.

After a while, she raised her head to look at the moon hanging above the roof. The moon was large and white, its silver light bathing the entire courtyard, gently watching over those in the night.

“Master, look at the moon in the sky,” she slowly spoke, “It shines on everything from the wealthy families’ back courtyards to the ditches in desolate graves. But you can’t catch it, can you?”

“I can neither catch the moon nor make it come to me, so standing here and gazing at it from afar is enough.”