Song Juqing had been recalled to Shangjing by the Emperor following the Nanzhou affair, and after a round of reassurances and rewards, was left to stay in the capital for two months.

As a result, Zhang Zhixu frequently encountered him at the palace gates or on the training grounds of the Ministry of Justice.

At first, he paid it little mind, thinking the man was simply bored and looking for somewhere to exercise.

But each time his gaze swept past, it would collide with Song Juqing’s eyes fixed directly on him, and Zhang Zhixu began to sense something was off.

“Is he idle with nothing to do?” he asked Ningsu.

Ningsu’s expression was complicated: “This man has been asking around about General Chen’s movements, saying he wants a rematch with the General. The General paid him no attention, so he appears to have redirected his focus onto you, Master.”

“Oh?” Zhang Zhixu raised an eyebrow. “In other people’s eyes, she and I are already family?”

“Not quite. Ordinary commoners believe you two are merely colleagues with no particular intimacy; minor officials who have had some contact with you both believe there is a degree of feeling between you, though no formal status has been established.”

“And the court officials with closer dealings?” he pressed immediately.

Ningsu was silent for a moment, then said honestly: “Naturally, they believe you two are colluding in underhanded schemes and conspiring together to overthrow the established order of Dasheng’s governance, making enemies of all.”

Zhang Zhixu: “…” So they’d become a pair of notorious villains then.

He scratched his brow in dissatisfaction, about to leave, when he saw Song Juqing suddenly cut across the training grounds toward him.

“I’ve heard Lord Zhang is accomplished in both letters and martial arts. Having spent so long in Yunzhou, I’ve never had occasion to witness it,” Song Juqing said, clasping his hands in a bow. “I’d like to ask Lord Zhang to offer me a pointer or two.”

Zhang Zhixu still had documents in hand, his wide sleeves billowing out, white as magnolia petals tossed by the wind.

He nodded with courtesy: “Zhang is a civil official, not well-versed in martial matters.”

“But you’re Chen Marquis’s friend,” Song Juqing said, looking him up and down. “For such a courageous general, would she really keep a weakling around?”

A clumsy attempt at provocation.

Zhang Zhixu didn’t even bother to raise an eyebrow.

“Ten arrows — whoever hits the bullseye more wins.” Song Juqing pressed a bow into his hands with casual authority. “Come — let me see what the man rumored to be General Chen’s beloved is actually made of.”

“…”

As a civil official who upheld propriety and orderly conduct, he absolutely could not get into a contest with these overbearing military men.

—But he had called him General Chen’s beloved.

“Very well.” Zhang Zhixu drew back the bowstring.

Song Juqing laughed heartily, accepted a bow from one of his men, and lined up beside Zhang Zhixu with arrow nocked and string drawn.

The two arrows flew almost simultaneously, but Song Juqing’s reached the bullseye before Zhang Zhixu’s, and was more precisely centered.

Song Juqing nodded in satisfaction and nocked the next arrow.

“Master,” Ningsu said, sweeping a glance at the bow in his hands and lowering his voice, “this man is cheating. He gave himself a lighter bow and gave you a heavier one.”

Zhang Zhixu had of course noticed the moment he drew it — this had to be at least a one-stone bow, and the target was not far away, putting him at a considerable disadvantage.

But one arrow had already been loosed, and calling a halt now would look like poor sportsmanship.

He shook his head slightly and continued to nock his arrow.

Zhang Zhixu’s aim was already quite good — of seven arrows, he missed only one — but the bow was genuinely taxing, and by the eighth arrow, his wrist had grown somewhat unsteady.

Song Juqing had hit eight out of ten and turned to look over: “Lord Zhang, running out of strength?”

Arrow on the string, yet the bowstring refused to draw back even after a long moment.

Song Juqing was just about to laugh when, without warning, three feathered arrows came cutting through the air from behind him, passed along his side, and struck Zhang Zhixu’s target dead center with a resounding crack.

“…” He turned in astonishment.

To the left and behind, Chen Baoxiang stood in white-and-red riding attire, her heavy bow still vibrating from the release. The gold hairpin adorned with a red tassel in her hair glinted in the autumn light.

“You win.” She lowered her bow and raised an eyebrow, beaming a radiant smile at Zhang Zhixu.

When Song Juqing had come to Shangjing, he had heard people say that Chen Baoxiang was devious and calculating, using everyone around her with no genuine feeling for anyone.

But right now, this person was bounding over toward Zhang Zhixu with a skip in her step, not a trace of calculation on her face.

“I happened to be patrolling in this area — shall we head back together?” She took hold of his arm and asked.

“Of course.” Zhang Zhixu answered, his expression soft.

Song Juqing suddenly felt that perhaps all that business about calculating and having no genuine feelings was false — and that the only true thing was that Zhang Zhixu was her beloved.

“General Chen.” He came back to himself. “You rarely have a free moment. Shall we have a match?”

“Oh, is Lord Song here too?” She turned as if noticing him for the first time, clasped her hands in salute, and said, “Unfortunately, today I’m afraid we can’t.”

Song Juqing was not convinced: “Before, you said you were too busy with official duties — I could accept that. But right now you’ve clearly just finished your shift and are heading home. How can you still say you have no time?”

They had traded blows twice, and he had come away the loser both times, and that sat uncomfortably with him. Since there would be no more opportunity for battle, Song Juqing thought, at least recovering some ground on the training grounds would do.

But Chen Baoxiang smiled easily: “It’s not that I have no time today — it’s that you have no time, my lord.”

Song Juqing: ?

Wait — he was standing right here. Could someone really just assign him tasks out of nowhere?

Apparently yes.

Not long after Chen Baoxiang’s words fell, a junior official from the Court of Judicial Review came running up behind them, clasped his hands, and said to him: “General Song, please follow me to the Court of Judicial Review.”

He looked in astonishment toward Chen Baoxiang. She was already holding Zhang Zhixu’s arm and waving farewell.

Song Juqing: “…”

He assumed he must have done something wrong, or perhaps it was illegal in Shangjing to use a light bow against someone with a heavy one.

But when he entered the Court of Judicial Review, Xie Lanting asked him: “Are you aware that Cheng Huaili had a daughter?”

Song Juqing was baffled: “Cheng Huaili only had two nephews and never had any children. Where could a daughter have come from?”

“Chen Baoxiang,” Xie Lanting said. “Someone has identified her as Cheng Huaili’s daughter.”

Song Juqing was shocked. Song Juqing was bewildered.

Song Juqing finally looked Xie Lanting over carefully, then let out a slow, understanding laugh: “The way you people in the capital do things when you want to be rid of someone is so complicated — and you have to go digging up a father for them in the bargain? If you can’t stand the sight of her, just issue an imperial decree and have her executed. We soldiers are fated for such things and wouldn’t be too surprised by it.”

Xie Lanting: “…”

Why were these military men all so utterly unreasonable? He was investigating a case, not framing someone.

He reached for a hand-copied edition of the Pharmacopoeia and opened it on the table before him, then explained: “The Court of Judicial Review has gathered a great deal of evidence, and piece by piece it all points to the fact that Chen Baoxiang had a long-standing grievance with Cheng Huaili. I am not wronging her.”

According to the physician from the Cheng household, this Pharmacopoeia had been copied by Chen Baoxiang, and the description of the blood-replenishing herb’s appearance within it was identical to that of the blood-corrupting herb.

Cheng Huaili had originally taken the wrong herb because of this, causing uncontrollable blood loss from which no cure could be found — he could only have his leg amputated to preserve his life.

Song Juqing looked it over for a moment, then appeared even more confused: “I can’t read. What does it say?”

Xie Lanting raised a hand and rubbed his face.

Was illiteracy some sort of prerequisite for becoming a renowned general of Dasheng?!

“I’ve been with Cheng Huaili since the old border garrison, and I knew him as well as anyone,” Song Juqing said. “If he’d had a daughter that capable, he would long ago have married her off to bring himself some benefit in return — he would never have hidden her away until he died before anyone found out.”

Even Xie Lanting was beginning to doubt himself a little upon hearing this.

“No.” He shook his head. “Anything can be falsified — but that purchase contract cannot be falsified. If Cheng Huaili and Chen Yuan’er were not husband and wife, he would have had no authority to sell her corpse; and if they were husband and wife, then the child Chen Yuan’er was carrying should have been Cheng Huaili’s blood.”

Song Juqing leaned back in his chair and regarded Xie Lanting, then gave a low laugh.

“Lord Xie, I don’t think you quite understand what the person who filed this accusation actually wanted to accomplish.”

Xie Lanting looked up in surprise.

“Killing Cheng Huaili was an imperial command. Whether or not Chen Baoxiang is his daughter, the bond of sovereign and subject takes precedence over that of father and child.”

Song Juqing sighed. “The one who filed the accusation must know perfectly well that Chen Baoxiang won’t face any real punishment. All this commotion is nothing more than an attempt to ruin her reputation and drive away everyone close to her. The goal has been achieved, and she’s probably long past caring about the outcome of the case. You’re the only one still fixated on it, my lord.”