The man bowed and smiled very pleasantly: “I’m just a carriage driver. My master has instructed me to invite the master for a bowl of mutton soup, just at the old Lao Xi Mutton Soup Shop next door. It won’t take much time.”

Hu Rong frowned: “Do you know who our master is… Do you think you can just invite him as you please? Get out of my way quickly!” He raised his whip.

The man smiled again: “Please don’t be angry. My master and your master are old acquaintances. Look, I even have a token here!” The man stepped forward and stuffed the note into Hu Rong’s sleeve.

Hu Rong was stunned and looked back at Jiang Yan. Jiang Yan glanced at the short man wearing a yellow-brown cotton jacket and black trousers, looking very unremarkable. But the courage to stop their carriage was unusual. He reached out to Hu Rong for the note and turned to enter the carriage.

“Third Master, I think this person is unusual. Please look at this…” Jiang Yan handed the note to Third Master Chen.

Third Master Chen slowly unfolded the note.

His face revealed no expression, making Jiang Yan’s heart tighten. What if he had judged wrongly? If he had carelessly accepted something from an irrelevant person and shown it to the Third Master, he would be at fault. Jiang Yan reluctantly said: “Otherwise, this official will immediately drive that man away…”

Chen crumpled the note into a ball, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth: “Since they have sincerely invited us… Let’s go down and have some mutton soup.”

Jiang Yan was stunned, but Third Master Chen was the first to get off the carriage. He hurriedly followed, still wondering what was written on the note.

The door of the mutton soup shop opened, and rising steam and dust mixed with sunlight as it shone in. Jin Chao immediately stood up. She saw Third Master Chen walk in, still wearing a crimson round-collared right-lapel robe with a rhinoceros leather belt at his waist—the official uniform of the second rank. He had just come from the Ministry of Revenue’s office, with a black cloak draped over his shoulders. Behind him followed a man wearing a reddish-brown robe who was looking at her. Hu Rong was outside, speaking quietly with the shopkeeper, asking him to step aside.

This man in the reddish-brown robe must be Jiang Yan, a capable advisor to Third Master Chen.

Chen looked at her, still wearing a scholarly smile, but his gaze seemed to penetrate her thoughts.

For a moment, Jin Chao was dazed. She had never observed Third Master Chen so carefully before. Compared to her previous life, he seemed at least ten years younger. In her previous life, when she had glimpsed Third Master Chen before he went to Sichuan, the man in his thirties already had white strands at his temples. Had he ever smiled at her like this before…

Jin Chao stepped forward, bowed, and said: “I’m sorry to disturb your peace, sir. The young lady met you once in Tongzhou. Do you remember?”

Chen Yan Yun didn’t say anything but turned his head to instruct Jiang Yan: “…Go ask the shopkeeper to bring hot water, and a plate of mutton as well.”

In the great cold, mutton was good for dispelling the chill.

Then he said gently to Jin Chao: “No hurry, first have some hot tea to warm your stomach.”

She had been out for so long, and there was no stove in this room for heating. Her cheeks were flushed from the cold.

Jin Chao was momentarily speechless.

It was her first time experiencing how difficult it was to talk with Third Master Chen. He neither asked who she was nor why she wanted to find him, but instead, as if they were familiar, invited her to drink hot tea. Unhurried, it seemed truly like a meeting between friends.

She asked Third Master Chen to sit down, but she stood to the side and said: “This young lady’s mother has passed away, and I rarely touch meat or fish. Please forgive me, sir.”

Third Master Chen made a sound of acknowledgment and said nothing more. After a while, the shopkeeper brought mutton and hot tea, his hands trembling as he served the tea.

Third Master Chen began to eat the mutton slowly.

When the plate of mutton was almost finished, he finally put down his chopsticks.

“…You guessed the note was written by me?”

Jin Chao responded with a “Yes.”

Third Master Chen nodded: “And you dare to find me like this, so you must not be too foolish.” He raised his head to look at Jin Chao, his tone slowing even more, “Then you should also know that I will not help you.”

The reason Chen Yan Yun had initially warned Jin Chao was because he knew they had no chance of turning things around. If Jin Chao’s father discovered the problems with the granary, he could submit a petition admitting guilt and at least save his life. He hadn’t expected Jin Chao would guess that he had sent the note, let alone boldly come to intercept him on the road.

…Her boldness had always been both amusing and perplexing to him.

Jin Chao bowed and said: “If you were not going to help me, sir, you wouldn’t have written the note to me in the first place. Even if you don’t help me, I still come to thank you. May I ask why you would help the Gu family?”

Chen Yan Yun sighed: “…It seems I truly made a mistake.”

Hearing these words, Jin Chao felt uneasy. Could it be that her guess was wrong, and Third Master Chen wasn’t helping them because of some connection with her father or political struggle, but merely out of compassion… But he was Third Master Chen—how could he possess something like compassion?

Thinking of the corruption case of Liu Xin Yun in her previous life, she still felt apprehensive. In the third year of Wanli, Zhang Ju Lian’s nephew, Zhou Hu Sheng, the Associate Director of the Salt Transport, forcibly took Liu Xin Yun’s second daughter as a concubine and beat to death the young lady’s wet nurse and personal maid. Liu Xin Yun submitted a memorial, but before it reached the inner cabinet, he was arrested by the Censorate on charges of embezzlement. Liu Xin Yun pleaded innocence, even knocking his head bloody before the throne, but no one cared.

Third Master Chen suppressed all memorials submitted on Liu Xin Yun’s behalf and demoted several deeply involved high officials, so no one dared to cry out for Liu Xin Yun’s innocence. Later, his entire family was exiled to Ningguta. Zhou Hu Sheng, on the other hand, was merely confined by Zhang Ju Lian for one month.

“If the situation weren’t so critical, I wouldn’t have sought you out, sir. This young lady boldly guesses that although you hold a high position, you are not without opponents in the cabinet. As far as this young lady knows, the one suppressing disaster relief has been Grand Secretary Wang of the Jinshen Palace, and because of the disaster relief matter, you have been greatly constrained by Minister Wang…”

Jin Chao had long suspected this. The discord between Wang Xuan Fan and Chen Yan Yun was well-known in her previous life when Wang Xuan Fan was demoted to the prefect of Yangzhou. And according to Cao Zi Heng, the disaster relief funds were still being withheld, yet the Ministry of Works had already begun dredging waterways, which had earned Wang Xuan Fan favor from Zhang Ju Lian. This led to her suspicion, though she wasn’t entirely certain.

Chen Yan Yun continued to smile, but his left hand began to finger his string of beads.

He looked at Jin Chao calmly, but his gaze was very sharp.

Jin Chao suddenly felt her palms sweating. She somewhat regretted speaking so directly. How could a young lady in seclusion know such secrets of the court?

She didn’t know how Chen Yan Yun might suspect her.

But for the sake of saving her father, she couldn’t worry about these things.

She wore a white jacket with light purple bamboo leaf patterns and a deep indigo-blue Xiang skirt, standing tall and graceful. Her black hair was combed into a simple bun. She lowered her head silently, her lips pressed white. Her jade-like face appeared somewhat hazy in the sunlight, her long eyelashes covering eyes as clear as autumn waters, beautifully captivating with the charm of a crab apple blossom.

Her attire was too simple, making one feel it was a pity.

Third Master Chen recalled when she was picking lotus pods by the lake pavilion, wearing a light pink jacket sprinkled with red cherries and a deep red crepe eight-panel Xiang skirt. On her wrists were a pair of red gold bracelets inlaid with white jade, a finger’s width. She sat casually by the pavilion, her deep red skirt trailing to the ground, with one corner dipping into the water. But she didn’t care at all, reaching out to hook lotus pods while turning back to chat with her maid.

The maid was so frightened that her voice trembled as she spoke.

At that time, he had just entered the Secretariat, his official career not going smoothly, having just completed the mourning period for his father.

He paused to watch for a moment. The young lady said to the maid: “Hold onto me, there are some farther ones I can’t reach.”

The maid said softly: “Young Miss, let’s just forget about it…”

But she wouldn’t listen and lifted her skirt to wring out the water. The maid could only fearfully hold her hand as she moved further out of the pavilion. Her black embroidered silk shoes stepped on stones by the lake. She smiled and said: “Don’t you dare tell Grandmother, or I’ll tell her to find a matchmaker to sell you to the mountains, to be a child bride for someone, and have you starve at every meal…”

Before she could finish speaking, her foot slipped, and with a splash, she stepped into the water. The lake wasn’t deep, and after stumbling, she stood steady, but her skirt was completely soaked. She was dumbfounded, too angry to speak. After a while, she said to the maid: “How could you not hold me tightly? Now everything’s wet…” The maid’s voice was also tearful, “Miss, I don’t want to be sold as a child bride.”

The maid was even a bit younger than her.

Jin Chao huffed angrily: “Aren’t you going to pull me up? If I go back like this, you really will be sold as a child bride!”

The two were in disarray, with the maid hurriedly reaching out to pull her.

Chen Yan Yun watched and couldn’t help but smile.

Seeing that it was about time, he turned to leave through the small path. But from behind came the sound of someone falling into the water, followed by the maid’s loud crying: “Young Miss, hold onto me! How could you fall into this pond… I’ll go call the guards!”

He turned to look back, but there was no sign of Jin Chao on the water’s surface, only a corner of red crepe floating.

His heart immediately tightened, and he hurried back. The maid was already too frightened to move, crying uncontrollably. Seeing a man walk from the small path to the lakeside pavilion, she appeared very surprised, then knelt, kowtowing while crying: “Please save our Young Miss! She fell into the lake.”

He comforted the maid: “Don’t panic, your Young Miss will be fine. Now quickly go find your Old Madam and tell her your Young Miss has fallen into the water. Bring more guards.”

The maid wiped her tears and hurriedly nodded before leaving.

He stepped on the lakeside stones and waded into the water. Indeed, the water wasn’t deep, but there was a pit below, bottomless and dark. He had no extra time to judge and held his breath as he sank into the water pit. He quickly found Jin Chao, who was sinking and carried her up to the pavilion.

Jin Chao was truly in a sorry state. Her clothes were completely wet, her satin-like black hair tangled, and her small face as pale as snow, but her features were as delicate as a painting.

Saving a life was urgent, so he couldn’t worry about propriety between men and women. Fortunately, Jin Chao quickly spat out several mouthfuls of lake water and regained consciousness. She unconsciously grabbed his sleeve and said softly: “Don’t tell Grandmother… or she’ll sell me as a child bride…”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and could only comfort Jin Chao: “Mm, I won’t tell.”

Jin Chao spoke again: “I feel terrible… my head hurts, I want to vomit…”

Chen Yan Yun continued to comfort her: “You’ll feel better soon.” He removed Jin Chao’s hand, intending to leave. Although he had rescued the young lady, he had still transgressed. If pursued, it would inevitably damage her reputation. If he left quietly, no one would know.

But Jin Chao held onto his sleeve, persisting: “Don’t go… don’t tell Grandmother…” Her voice gradually weakened.

Chen Yan Yun sighed helplessly, prying open her fingers one by one before leaving through the small path.

Chen Yi was waiting for him outside and was very surprised to see him completely wet.

“Prepare the carriage, we’ll return to Wanping immediately,” he said calmly.