Jin Chao turned at the sound and discovered her eldest uncle and second uncle standing behind her. In front of her eldest uncle stood a man wearing a blue-gray straight robe with a dark blue crane-patterned cloak draped over his shoulders. At his waist hung a Hetian black jade pendant.

He was tall and stood with his hands behind his back, with extremely handsome features that carried a scholarly elegance—the kind of elegance that blurred one’s age.

His face bore a slight smile, and his gentle gaze fell upon Jin Chao, yet it sent a shock through her entire body… as if this person could see through everything in her heart.

Despite his refined appearance, why did his gaze seem to penetrate everything, peeling away the layers of one’s heart?

When Jin Chao looked at the man’s face again, she found it very familiar.

…If she wasn’t mistaken, this person should be Chen Yan’yun. The current Minister of Revenue, Grand Secretary of the Eastern Chamber, Third Master Chen.

The same Lord Chen who had bloodily purged Fan Chuan’s faction a few months ago and personally supervised the execution of Xu Bingkun.

Her husband from her previous life.

The one who had coughed just now was First Master Ji, who immediately smiled and said: “Lord Chen, this is my niece… I don’t know why she’s here. She’s just a young girl who doesn’t know better. I hope Lord Chen will forgive her!” He hurriedly signaled to Jin Chao with his eyes, but it took her a moment before she bent in a curtsy.

Her eldest uncle hadn’t introduced Chen Yan’yun to her because her status wasn’t sufficient.

Chen Yan’yun looked at Jin Chao again, still smiling. Jin Chao was about to curtsy and withdraw when she unexpectedly heard him speak, his voice deep yet gentle: “…It’s no matter.”

First Master Ji said: “…Then please, Lord Chen, let’s go to the reception hall to talk.” He instructed a servant behind him to brew a pot of Wanchun Silver Leaf tea, and with a gesture of his hand, invited Chen Yan’yun to the reception hall. He also said quietly to Jin Chao, “Miss Chao, go tell your grandmother…”

For someone of Chen Yan’yun’s status, his presence alone was far from sufficient.

Jin Chao acknowledged the request but found her eldest uncle’s earlier words strange. Even if she had entered Ji Can’s study unintentionally, he shouldn’t have said “a young girl who doesn’t know better” and asked for Lord Chen’s forgiveness.

Jin Chao looked more carefully at the mountain-climbing painting. Under the inscription “Standing atop the highest peak,” there was a red seal carved with the name “Bamboo Mountain Hermit”…

Chen Yan’yun, courtesy name Jiu Heng, styled Zhu Shan (Bamboo Mountain).

This painting was by Chen Yan’yun!

She had just criticized Third Master Chen’s painting, and he had heard it all!

Jin Chao felt a cold sweat breaking out.

She had just said that while “Standing atop the highest peak” was grand, for an ordinary scholar it would seem pretentious.

But the artist was Third Master Chen! He was the first to enter the Inner Cabinet at the age of thirty. Among all the civil and military officials at court who belonged to Zhang Julian’s faction, who would dare to belittle Third Master Chen! For someone like him, what was a line like “Standing atop the highest peak, looking down upon all mountains”?

Seeing Jin Chao’s silence, Qing Pu quietly asked: “I wonder what this Lord Chen’s background is, for the Master to be so cautious… Miss, perhaps we should go tell the Old Madam about this matter.”

Jin Chao also found it strange—it was just the marriage of Second Master Chen’s concubine-born daughter, hardly worth a personal visit from Third Master Chen. Why would he come to the Ji family?

As Jin Chao walked toward the east wing courtyard, she thought about Chen Yan’yun.

Although she had married Chen Yan’yun in her previous life, she truly didn’t understand this man. She was familiar with Third Master Chen, but probably not as deeply as she was with the personal maids around Chen Xuan Qing. In her previous life, after Third Master Chen married her, he didn’t visit her chambers often and gradually stopped coming altogether, which at the time was exactly what she had hoped for. In her impression, he was someone who didn’t talk much and had a rather gentle temperament.

He was different from Ye Xian. If Ye Xian was a sharpened sword, he was a sheathed knife—even his sharpness was unassuming.

In some ways, dealing with Third Master Chen was much more difficult than with Ye Xian, because no one knew what lay beneath his gentle facade.

Jin Chao felt that her two comments, from a certain perspective, could also be considered a form of praise. Surely Third Master Chen, a high government official and Grand Secretary, wouldn’t take issue with her few words. After thinking it through, she felt somewhat reassured.

She returned to tell Madam Ji Wu about Third Master Chen’s visit, and Madam Ji Wu was also very cautious. “…It’s just a concubine-born daughter getting married, why would Third Master Chen suddenly come!” He wasn’t some idle gentleman but a Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet, and this was precisely the time of a new emperor’s ascension, a changing of the dynasty. Madam Ji Wu hurriedly put on her shoes from the arhat bed and called for Madam Song to accompany her to the reception hall in the west wing courtyard.

Jin Chao also wanted to see what was happening. She had always had a question in her mind about Third Master Chen.

She followed behind Madam Ji Wu to the west wing courtyard. When they reached the reception hall, she entered through the side door and listened from behind the half-drawn curtain.

From behind the curtain, she could see that in the reception hall, besides her eldest uncle, and second uncle, Ji Yao, there was also Ji Can who had returned from the bride’s dressing ceremony. Also seated nearby was her eldest uncle’s direct superior, Lord Wen, the Prefect of Tongzhou, as well as Lord Sun, the County Magistrate of Sanhe. There were several unfamiliar faces, but judging by the rank badges on their official robes, they should hold fourth or fifth-rank positions. All of them surrounded Third Master Chen like stars around the moon, while Chen sat in the first position on the lower right, slowly sipping his tea.

Upon seeing Ji Can, he nodded and said: “Your father-in-law has been delayed by snowstorms in Shaanxi and cannot return. He asked me to come and see…”

Ji Can, usually quite clever, knelt in trepidation and stammered the word “Uncle.”

Third Master Chen gave a sound of acknowledgment and had the guard behind him bring forward a red lacquered tray, saying it was a gift for Ji Can. Only then did Jin Chao recognize that this guard was the same one from the courtyard earlier. She realized why he had looked familiar. In her previous life, this guard was Third Master Chen’s right-hand man, seemingly named Chen Yi. The man moved silently, with long, uninterrupted breaths—a formidable martial artist.

Ji Can accept it without daring to look at what it was and simply withdrew with the tray.

Just as Madam Ji Wu entered, Third Master Chen stood up and cupped his hands in greeting to her: “I hope the Old Madam is in good health. My mother cannot go out, so she asked me to convey her greetings.”

Madam Ji Wu invited him to sit down and smiled: “The Grand Secretary is too polite! How can a second-rank high official like yourself be paying respects to an old woman like me!”

Chen Yan’yun fingered a strand of rare agarwood beads on his left wrist, smiling very warmly: “You are my elder.”

When Old Master Ji was alive, he had deep friendships with Chen Yan’yun’s father’s generation.

Beside them, Lord Wen smiled and joined the conversation: “The Grand Secretary truly values relationships. After the wedding banquet, this official would like to invite you to my humble abode for a visit. The river dikes in Baodi need repairs, and I’ve submitted several memorials without receiving any response… I’d like to ask the Grand Secretary’s opinion.”

Chen Yan’yun changed his sitting position, his left hand still fingering the beads without pause. But he did not speak.

For a moment, there was complete silence in the reception hall, with everyone involuntarily looking toward Chen Yan’yun.

Only then did the Prefect Wen realize he had misspoken. If his memorials had reached the Inner Cabinet without being approved, there must have been some issue. How could he bring this up directly to Chen Yan’yun? Cold sweat immediately covered his forehead, and he hurriedly said: “Even if we don’t discuss these matters, I still wish to invite the Grand Secretary for a few drinks. This official has just received a jar of Qiulu White wine from Shandong…”

Chen Yan’yun raised his head to look at him and smiled: “The matter of repairing the river dikes has been delegated to Section Chief Si Chuan of the Ministry of Works. I’m not very clear on the details.”

Prefect Wen, of course, tactfully smiled.

Court matters were not something a woman like Madam Ji Wu could comment on. After Prefect Wen fell silent, she smiled and said: “The Grand Secretary must be tired from your journey. I have prepared a banquet in the hall and would like to invite you to join us.”

Chen Yan’yun said: “Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Madam, but I must return to the capital shortly. Perhaps another day.” As he spoke, he called Chen Xuan Qing, who was sitting nearby, “…After the wedding, you must return quickly to the Imperial Academy. You don’t want to delay the spring examinations at the start of the new year.”

Chen Xuan Qing cupped his hands in salute: “Father, rest assured, I’ve already had my servant move my luggage to the Imperial Academy.”

Chen Yan’yun nodded and stood up to bid farewell to Madam Ji Wu, and Chen Yi helped him put on a gray squirrel fur cloak. Prefect Wen and several officials wearing fourth or fifth-rank badges hurriedly followed him out, while her eldest and second uncles fell behind. The officials surrounded him like stars around the moon as they escorted him to the screen wall.

Jin Chao returned to the East Wing with heavy thoughts.

In her previous life, there was one question she could never figure out: why did Third Master Chen marry her?

Even if he was looking for a second wife, among all the noble families in Yanjing, who wouldn’t eagerly try to marry their daughters to him? Marrying into the Chen family was like ascending to heaven in one step. Forget about her, a mourning eldest daughter with questionable virtue—even the daughter of Baron Yongyang or the legitimate daughter of Marquis Wuding, which one could he not marry?

She couldn’t understand it no matter how much she thought about it.

Before marrying Third Master Chen, she had never even met him.

Even after marrying him, she rarely saw him. From what she remembered, they had shared a bed very few times. Most of the time, Third Master Chen lived alone in his courtyard, attended only by servants and guards. Even his concubines rarely saw him.

Jin Chao could clearly remember things about Chen Xuan Qing, but nothing about Third Master Chen. After all, they barely had any formal interaction, and in the fifth year after she married into the family, Third Master Chen died in Sichuan while suppressing bandits.

Since he wasn’t interested in her as a person, why did he marry her?

While Jin Chao was pondering this, Madam Ji Wu returned from the screen wall. After sitting down for a cup of tea, she told Jin Chao about Chen Yan’yun: “…He is truly remarkable. When he participated in the provincial examinations in Northern Zhili, he ranked first. Later he placed second in the palace examinations and was directly granted the position of Editor in the Hanlin Academy. By the time he was twenty, he had entered the Imperial Secretariat… This year he’s only thirty, yet he’s already a Grand Secretary, a second-rank official… The guards waiting for him outside are all from the Thousand Household Guard, each one with exceptional martial skills.” Madam Ji Wu sighed with emotion, “In the time of the Chen family’s grandfather, their family was on par with our Ji family, but now we can only look up to them…”

Jin Chao just smiled: “What’s there to look up to? I think that kind of family isn’t necessarily good. Grandmother’s life is more comfortable, with children and grandchildren to care for you.”

Madam Ji Wu chided her: “You’re quite glib. Wait until the day after tomorrow when your new sister-in-law comes to pay respects and see what nice words you can say then.”

Jin Chao grinned as she helped Madam Ji Wu pour tea.