Without fail, rain or shine, Shen Du arrived punctually every day. Zhuyan’s stubbornness had also kicked in, and she continued to ignore him. This frustrated both Madam Ru and Madam Jin, who wanted to invite Shen Du inside, but Zhuyan adamantly refused.
Ever since he had pretended to defect to Lai Luozhi, Shen Du’s shamelessness had reached new heights. He was capable of any low act to gain sympathy from Madam Ru and Madam Jin, much to Zhuyan’s dismay.
At the Ministry of Justice, Zhuyan and Lu Chuichui were organizing recent case files.
Thinking about Shen Du’s recent pursuit of Zhuyan, Lu Chuichui felt annoyed. “When did the Cabinet become so idle? It’s one thing for the Chief to block you at the Zhu residence, but now he’s coming to the Ministry of Justice? It’s ruining my plans to invite you to watch plays at Furong Garden. There are several new productions, and I have no one to watch them with.”
The mention of Shen Du made Zhuyan’s heart ache a little more. After all, it was Shen Du who had personally written the divorce papers, meaning every word was his own doing.
Lu Chuichui’s face loomed large before Zhuyan. “We’re finishing early today. Shall we go to Furong Garden to watch a play?”
Looking at Zhuyan expectantly, Lu Chuichui made her burst into laughter. “You are an incorrigible theater enthusiast.”
Suddenly, Zhu Manshu barged in, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Zhuyan.
Startled by the unexpected visit, Zhuyan asked anxiously, “What’s wrong, Fourth Sister? Has something happened at home?”
Zhu Manshu poked Zhuyan’s forehead with her finger. “Oh, you! Why do you always think of such things? Can’t I just visit because I miss you?”
Both Zhuyan and Lu Chuichui thought to themselves that it didn’t seem likely.
“Of course, of course,” Zhuyan said perfunctorily, rubbing her forehead and feeling somewhat troubled.
Zhu Manshu pretended not to notice, grasping Zhuyan’s hand with a concerned expression. “Do you know you haven’t been home for several nights?”
To avoid Shen Du, Zhuyan had been making excuses to stay on duty at the Ministry of Justice, sleeping in the duty room.
The slight guilt Zhuyan felt vanished under Zhu Manshu’s glare. “Alright, what’s going on?”
Her fourth sister wasn’t the type to come to the Ministry of Justice just out of concern.
To their amazement, Zhu Manshu began wringing her hands shyly. “Fourth Sister, do you… have someone you like?” Zhuyan asked.
Zhu Manshu’s cheeks flushed red as if her secret had been discovered. Clutching Zhuyan’s hand nervously, she asked:
“Tell me, where can I find that Shen Du’s little follower?”
Hm? Little follower?
“You mean Jing Lin?” Zhuyan’s beautiful eyes changed color. “You couldn’t possibly…?”
“No, no, no, I’m just here to visit you, Little Six. It’s not because I find that person interesting.”
Dear sister, don’t you realize what you’ve just revealed?
“If you’re here to visit me, why are your hands empty?”
Well…
Zhu Manshu rubbed her nose, looking embarrassed. “I forgot.”
She was about to slip away when Zhuyan called out helplessly:
“Jing Lin usually follows Shen Du. If he’s not at the Internal Guard Office, he’ll be at the new Shen residence.”
The new Shen residence was the old one, newly granted to Shen Du and undergoing renovations, as explained by Gao Langxing, the Vice Minister of Justice.
“Great, thanks! Little Six, come home early, alright? I’m off!”
Zhu Manshu skipped away.
Lu Chuichui looked puzzled. “Why is your fourth sister asking about Jing Lin?”
Zhuyan was at a loss for words. She stood up. “It’s time to end our shift. Are you coming?”
“Of course! We have a play tonight, and you can’t back out.”
Zhuyan saw someone approaching from afar and covered her mouth, laughing. Lu Chuichui, confused, turned to see Jiang Langhang. His only thought was:
Is it too late to run now?
After making eye contact with Jiang Langhang, Lu Chuichui immediately lowered his head, pretending to work on the files and mentally chanting, “You can’t see me.”
“Today, a young man kept pestering me to come to the Ministry of Justice. What a coincidence, right?” Xu Xiangren teased Jiang Langhang, looking at Zhuyan.
Zhuyan caught on immediately and turned to Lu Chuichui. “As it happens, Chuichui invited me to watch a play at Furong Garden tonight. I haven’t been home for days and want to rest, so why don’t you go with Jiang Langhang instead?”
“What? I don’t want to.”
“Alright!”
Their contrasting responses made Zhuyan and Xu Xiangren burst into laughter.
Jiang Langhang didn’t know what to say, his face reddening. “Clerk Lu, then I’ll see you tonight.”
With that, he dashed off.
Lu Chuichui was quite annoyed but had no choice. He stomped his foot, cursed a few times, and prepared to go home. Before leaving, he grabbed Zhuyan’s hand, asking if he should change his hairpin for tonight.
“It’s not because I want to look better for that person. I just think this hairpin doesn’t match the play.”
Zhuyan couldn’t hold back her laughter as she left.
They were meant for each other, so why pretend to be indifferent?
It was a rest day, but Shen Du still came as usual. The entire Zhu family was exhausted by Shen Du’s persistence. Madam Jin, whom Shen Du had rescued, initially sided with him, but with Zhuyan’s insistence, she couldn’t persuade her and had to let the young people handle it themselves.
Zhuyan had prepared for this. Since it was a rest day and she couldn’t use work as an excuse, she had instructed the housekeeper the night before not to open the main door and to use the side door for any business.
So, Shen Du faced another day of being shut out on the rest day that came every ten days.
The last time Shen Du had used his lightness skill to fly in, he was surrounded and driven out by Zhuyan’s three brothers. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight them, but the divorce paper incident had angered Zhuyan so much that he dared not offend his brothers-in-law anymore, as he was clearly in the wrong.
Now, Shen Du was out of options. A tall figure braving the late spring chill, he knocked on the door with no response, reduced to begging through the crack:
“My lady, please, let me in.”
Neighbors gathered to watch the spectacle, not minding the cold. They witnessed the powerful Cabinet Chief begging for forgiveness, a rare sight that would become the talk of the town.
Seeing the great Chief Shen clinging to the door crack – how often does one get to see that in a lifetime?
But Zhuyan refused to open the door or respond, her ears plugged with cotton as she read and practiced calligraphy.
Shen Du seemed determined not to leave without seeing Zhuyan, but his busy official duties called him away after an hour when Jing Lin came to fetch him.
Shen Du’s moment of satisfaction from his sharp tongue had finally led to the arduous task of winning back his wife, with even the Empress eagerly awaiting the drama to unfold.
When this approach failed, Shen Du sought advice from others. He invited Master Chen Wen for drinks, sent Jing Lin to have tea with Fourth Sister Zhu Manshu, and pestered Chief Constable Xu Xiangren to send Jiang Langhang to get information about Zhuyan’s whereabouts from Lu Chuichui.
Of course, Jiang Langhang was more than willing, but this inquiry led to unexpected consequences. Why?
The reason was that everyone in the capital knew Zhuyan and Shen Du had divorced. In the open-minded Great Zhou Dynasty, where women held relatively high status, divorce, and remarriage were common when couples were unhappy.
Moreover, with Shen Du’s failed attempts to win Zhuyan back and her obvious avoidance of him, the entire Chang’an knew that the new Ministry of Justice official and Great Zhou’s female detective were single and available.
While there were many women in the Great Zhou Dynasty, among female officials, apart from Imperial Consort Xu Wan, the only notable name was the new Ministry of Justice official, Zhuyan. The Zhu family was considered a scholarly household, and with the addition of the uxorilocal son-in-law Han Shiyuan, it was a family full of talented officials and generals. Especially with Zhuyan’s three brothers and brother-in-law Han Shiyuan all having promising futures, and Zhuyan herself gaining the Empress’s favor to become a Ministry of Justice official at such a young age – who would mind Zhuyan’s status as a divorcee with such a family background and abilities?
Moreover, Zhuyan’s ex-husband was none other than the great Cabinet Chief Shen Du. Marrying Zhuyan would mean taking Shen Du’s woman as their wife.
Whatever the reason, after Princess Yong’an’s former consort Wei Chiyang sent a matchmaker to propose marriage to Zhuyan, opening the floodgates, the entire capital’s noble families were in an uproar, nearly wearing out the threshold of the Zhu residence.
The secret guards stationed near the Zhu residence reported everything that happened daily to Jing Lin. Recently pursued by Zhu Manshu all over the city, Jing Lin was already overwhelmed and felt even more anxious when he received the daily report on the Zhu family.
Holding the report, Jing Lin’s legs trembled: “Today, the Li Prince’s family sent an official matchmaker to propose marriage for their second son to the lady. Although it would be as a second wife, it’s still the position of a proper wife.”
“And what did the lady say?” Shen Du’s heart raced.
Jing Lin quickly looked at the left column and reported, “The lady said she would prioritize considering those who could watch her perform autopsies without flinching.”
Shen Du looked satisfied. Those pampered young masters from noble families could hardly bear the sight of an autopsy. It seemed Zhuyan still had him in her heart.
A few days later, Jing Lin informed Shen Du that the eldest son of the Xuanwei General had passed Zhuyan’s test and was now working on a case with her at the Ministry of Justice.
“What?” Shen Du jumped up, unable to sit still. “If she wants to work on a case, fine, but why bring an outsider? It violates the rules of criminal law.”
Jing Lin muttered under his breath, “Isn’t this all your own doing?”
“What did you say?” Shen Du clenched his fists, making a cracking sound.
Jing Lin shrank his neck and quickly offered a plan. Shen Du’s dark eyes lit up slightly, and he ordered Jing Lin to carry it out immediately.
Soon, all of Chang’an witnessed the cold-blooded, stern-faced Chief ordering his Internal Guards to drive away the admirers from in front of the Ministry of Justice official and Great Zhou’s female detective Zhuyan’s door. This even became the subject of plays performed in theaters, teahouses, and brothels.
Meanwhile, Shen Du could only cling to the door crack, coaxing Zhuyan: “My lady, if you won’t open the door, at least let me see you once. Just one look would be enough.”
The entire Chang’an waited to see when Shen Du would succeed in winning back his wife.
Besides these efforts, Shen Du also wrote poetry, climbing over the wall in the middle of the night to recite it outside Zhuyan’s door, completely disregarding the entire Zhu family’s presence. This embarrassed Zhuyan so much that she wished she could buy three jin of sugar cakes to stuff Shen Du’s mouth.
“Day after day, illness lingers before flowers, I don’t refuse the rosy face in the mirror to grow thin, Morning watching the sky’s hue, evening gazing at clouds, Walking I think of her face, sitting I think of her face.”
Finally, it was the Zhu family who couldn’t take it anymore. Shen Du was simply too shameless and thick-skinned. They all rushed to Zhuyan’s room to persuade her.
Zhu Mojie and others said, “Little Six, just go out and meet him. Shen Du’s awful poetry is so sour it could curdle tofu.”
Zhu Kuo and others added, “That’s right, Sixth Sister. Go out and clear things up. At least tell him not to come reciting poetry at all hours. We’re getting old and can’t handle this disruption.”
Zhuyan: …
So, three months after Chief Cabinet Minister Shen Du began clinging to her door, Zhuyan finally opened it for him.
It wasn’t because she had forgiven him, but because someone had painted a bird swallowing a moth in chicken blood on her bedroom wall.
On the twenty-second day of the first month of the Shenlong era, the day of Guimao, Zhang Xingwei led Cui Xuanzhi and other ministers, along with Princess Chaoyang, to the distant Luoyang Palace to present a memorial to the Empress, who was recuperating. They requested her to abdicate the throne to the imperial heir, Li Zhong.
– The End –