“The people at the Zaoyesi Brewing Division have been up to no good, repeatedly bullying the farmers. So our lord has been thinking about drafting a new set of regulations to restrain officials, in pursuit of fairness.”

“Regulations can’t be conjured out of thin air — one must go out and see things for themselves. That’s precisely why our lord keeps running off to all those villages.”

With all that running around, his pampered body would naturally suffer all manner of scrapes and aches.

Ningsu tried his best to explain, “He didn’t mean to hide it from you either. He’s just been incredibly busy lately — the two of you haven’t even spoken in several days.”

Chen Baoxiang gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.

She applied the medicinal ointment for him, then had someone bring water so he could wash up.

Zhang Zhixu buried his face in a cloth towel, stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye.

She still seemed upset, though the anger didn’t appear to be directed at him.

She gripped the medicine bottle and stared out the window, muttering something under her breath — her jaw set in a fierce, biting clench. She looked a little fearsome, and yet, a little adorable.

After stealing a few more glances, he set down the towel and gave a soft cough. “It’s getting late. You should head back and rest. I’ll come by to mooch off your breakfast tomorrow.”

Chen Baoxiang lazily sank back into the chair. “It’s too dark outside. I don’t feel like walking.”

Zhang Zhixu froze.

What did she mean by that?

“Just give me the small cot over there and I’ll be fine.” She let out a yawn. “I’ll make do.”

This was completely improper — the two of them had no formal relationship whatsoever. How could they possibly share a room?

Zhang Zhixu instinctively looked toward Ningsu, but the latter closed his eyes, turned his head, and walked straight out — shutting the door behind him on his way.

Without even a word of counsel?

Chen Baoxiang didn’t seem to find anything wrong with the situation at all. She tidied herself up, curled her legs in, and rolled herself into the small cot, pulling the blanket snugly around her.

Zhang Zhixu sat stiffly at the edge of the bed. After quite a long while, he finally said, “Why don’t I take the small cot, and you sleep up here.”

She heard him, didn’t stand on ceremony in the slightest, and simply rolled over and climbed into the bed with her thin blanket.

He was about to get up, but she caught him by the wrist. He looked down to find her lying on her side, eyes wide open, looking up at him: “The arranged marriage — do you need my help?”

“No need.” He pressed his lips together. “I can handle it. It’s you I’m worried about. The Princess Imperial has been making a lot of unusual moves lately, and you’re right in the thick of it — you need to be careful.”

“I’m no helpless lamb waiting to be slaughtered anymore.”

“Still — be careful. Cheng Huaili isn’t someone to be underestimated.” Zhang Zhixu furrowed his brow. “Even Pei Ruheng has started causing trouble at the bureau.”

He was trying to revise the official conduct regulations, and Pei Ruheng had actually taken the lead in obstructing him — holding private gatherings multiple times, claiming that the new regulations were targeting all their colleagues.

No need to guess whose orders he was following.

The thought that the person in front of him had once harbored feelings for Pei Ruheng made Zhang Zhixu feel thoroughly disgruntled. “What kind of taste do you have.”

Chen Baoxiang let out an amused laugh. “Why are you blaming me again? I had no other choice at the time.”

“Not true — when I asked you to choose between him and me, you still said you’d choose him.”

“That was different.”

“How was it different?”

“If I chose him, I could get close enough to assassinate Cheng Huaili.” She blinked. “If I chose you, wouldn’t that only mean drowning in tenderness?”

Zhang Zhixu didn’t take the bait on her little joke.

His expression slowly grew serious. He looked at her, wanting to ask something, yet hesitating.

Chen Baoxiang already knew what he wanted to ask. She traced her fingers along his lean wrist, narrowing her eyes in thought for a moment.

“Have I ever told you that our village used to have someone called Chen Yuan’er?”

He shook his head.

She smiled, folded both hands behind her head, and began speaking as though telling a story: “Chen Yuan’er was the daughter of a wealthy family in the city. She fell in love with Cheng Huaili over time and willingly gave up her comfortable life to follow him back to Guilan Village.”

“At first, the two of them were still somewhat affectionate. Chen Yuan’er bore Cheng Huaili two sons in succession. But the toll of childbearing had damaged her health, and she became frail and sickly, constantly needing medicine, unable to do heavy work.”

“They had no money and life was very hard. Cheng Huaili was willing to go out and work to support the family at first, but as time went on, he began to see Chen Yuan’er as a burden.”

“Chen Yuan’er was a foolish girl. When she sensed the change in her husband’s attitude, rather than cutting ties and parting ways, she blamed herself. So she pushed her ailing body and became pregnant with a third child, thinking — if she gave him one more, things might get better. One more child, and perhaps Cheng Huaili would have a change of heart.”

“But when the baby was eight months along, Cheng Huaili brought in a shamaness to examine the pregnancy. After the shamaness left, he dug out every last bit of food in the house, took both sons with him, and walked out the door.”

“Chen Yuan’er had no idea what was happening. She thought her husband had truly just gone to the market. It wasn’t until the heavy snow fell and she could find nothing to eat anywhere in the house that she finally understood — she had been abandoned.”

“She nearly froze to death that snowy night.”

“Fortunately, the neighbors were all kind-hearted people. Wang Gengfu gave her a few sweet potatoes, Grandpa Liu gave her half a bag of rice, Auntie Hua gave her a small piece of pork ribs, and Grandma Ye — who barely had enough to eat herself — would often cook soup and bring it over to look after her.”

“Just when it seemed she might survive the winter and safely give birth, people from the neighboring village arrived with a contract — saying that Cheng Huaili had sold Chen Yuan’er’s corpse to them for five taels of silver, to be used in a ghost marriage. The silver had already been paid. Even if she wasn’t dead yet, they would beat her to death and take her away.”

“Chen Yuan’er, struck with shock and fury, died in a difficult labor. The baby girl cut from her womb was frail and thin — she didn’t even cry.”

A storm surged behind Zhang Zhixu’s eyes.

Back when Chen Baoxiang had disguised herself as a ghost to frighten Cheng Huaili in order to steal the spirit medicine, those were the very words she had spoken —

The shamaness told you I was carrying a daughter, and you wanted to starve me to death in that house — and then sell my corpse for a ghost marriage —

Cheng Sanwang, I have come to claim your life. What you owe me, you will repay with blood.

At the time he had found it strange that Cheng Huaili could be that terrified. Now he understood — everything she had said was real.

The premonition forming in his mind grew clearer and clearer. “This happened nineteen years ago,” he said.

“Yes.”

“And you are exactly nineteen years old right now.”

“Yes.”

Zhang Zhixu: “……”

He looked at her with something close to anguish.

The person before him pinched his fingers, and seemed to hesitate for just a moment — but in the end, she spoke plainly and without reserve: “At the time, I was still swaddled in a blanket, my face already turning blue. Everyone said I was stillborn. It was Grandma Ye who secretly carried me away and slapped the soles of my feet over and over again — that was how she brought me back.”

The severed threads of clues suddenly connected into a coherent line. Zhang Zhixu’s mind flashed back to that day they had played the ghost.

Cheng Huaili had not actually been afraid of ghosts to begin with — his panic and breakdown had only come after Chen Baoxiang lifted her hair to reveal her face.

A living person would only believe they were seeing a ghost if the face they saw was a dead person’s.

Chen Baoxiang must look almost exactly like Chen Yuan’er. That was why a single glance had been enough to shatter him completely.

And in the great hall — he had also pieced together Chen Baoxiang’s identity in that moment, which was why he’d thrown all caution aside and tried to strike her down right there before the Emperor. After all, given everything he had done, Chen Baoxiang would never let him go.

The person before him suddenly asked: “Have I never explained to you why I am so determined to kill Cheng Huaili?”

Zhang Zhixu didn’t understand: “Isn’t all of this the reason?”

“No. There’s more.”