Mu Fulan first let out a long, slow breath of relief.

On the road racing back here, her mind had been consumed with speculation about the purpose of his visit. She had turned it over and over, and her greatest fear was that she had failed to keep Zhu Liuhu in check — that he might already know of Changsha’s secret expansion of its army and military training. Otherwise, she truly could not imagine what other matter, given the state of things between them, could have compelled Xie Changgeng to travel a thousand li from Hexi all the way here to seek her out in person.

Just moments ago, when she had pushed open this door, she was still tensely considering how to handle things if that truly was his reason for coming — how she might navigate through the crisis smoothly.

Never in her wildest imagining had she expected that what Xie Changgeng opened his mouth to interrogate her about was the question of Xi’er’s identity.

How on earth had he arrived at such a conclusion — that Xi’er was her illegitimate son with Yuan Handing?

It was beyond absurd. It had crossed into the laughable.

But no sooner had that breath of relief escaped her than she immediately recognized the gravity of this new problem.

Judging by Xie Changgeng’s manner, those words he had spoken were no bluff.

He had genuinely, truly, come to that very belief.

Mu Fulan’s silence, in Xie Changgeng’s eyes, looked exactly like guilt and tacit admission.

“Splendid.”

His fury had reached such a peak that it inverted into cold laughter. He gave a small nod.

“Lady Mu, the agreement you and I made previously is null and void from this moment on. Do as you see fit.”

He strode away.

Mu Fulan’s heart suddenly hammered.

Yuan Handing had promised he still needed one more year.

Before the troop expansion plan was even close to complete, those words of Xie Changgeng’s were not a joke that Changsha could afford to dismiss.

She dared not take his fury lightly.

She turned her head, watching that retreating figure nearly at the doorway, and said, “Do you truly believe I gave birth to this child some time ago, kept him hidden all along, and only now brought him back to my side?”

Xie Changgeng’s retreating figure gave the faintest pause, then continued stepping toward the door.

It was plain that that was exactly what he believed.

Mu Fulan hesitated no longer. She immediately went after him, stopping in the doorway.

His hand had already reached for the door; she blocked it.

“I know you met Xi’er last night,” Mu Fulan said.

“You heard that he is an orphan, with neither father nor mother since childhood, raised in the Protection of the Nation Temple in the capital. When I was summoned to the capital by Empress Dowager Liu at the end of last year, I happened to encounter him at the temple. I was exceedingly fond of him — we were extraordinarily well-suited to each other — and so I brought him back to Changsha. If you do not believe me, go ahead and seek verification from the temple’s Elder Huiji. Xi’er was the child the Elder took in from behind the rear mountain; he grew up in the Elder’s care!”

“At that time, the reason I did not tell you about this was twofold: first, I assumed it was a minor matter; second, I was in a difficult position then. You and I, though sharing the same roof, were strangers to each other in every way that mattered. I truly found it inconvenient to speak to you of such a personal thing, and I reckoned you would not have wished to hear it at the time anyway.”

Xie Changgeng’s gaze rested on her face. Watching her speak, her eyes meeting his directly throughout, her expression utterly composed and unguarded, he could not help but pause. The hand that had been about to open the door slowly lowered.

But then the words from Zhang Ban’s letter rose in his mind, and the child’s face from the previous night floated before him again. His fury rekindled.

“Lady Mu, the depth of your scheming and the darkness of your methods — I confess I cannot match them. The brows and eyes of this child resemble yours so strikingly — where in this world is there such a coincidence? If he did not come from your own body, then whose could he be? Looking at his age, it is plain he was conceived around the time I came seeking your hand in marriage. How is one to know you did not give birth to him back then to facilitate the union, only to send him far away afterward? Elder Huiji only knows of the time after he took him in. You tell me to ask the Elder — what can the Elder possibly prove?”

He gave a cold laugh.

“It is one thing for your entire Mu clan to band together to deceive me, but now you still fill your mouth with lies. Do you think I will let you continue to manipulate me?”

“Step aside!”

Mu Fulan did not move.

A flash of fury crossed the depths of his eyes. With a sharp ring of metal, he drew the long sword at his waist.

A cold gleam swept past Mu Fulan’s eyes; killing intent bore down upon her. Her neck went cold simultaneously, and her delicate skin erupted in goosebumps at once.

“Get out of my way.”

He repeated himself. Seeing she still did not move — rooted to the spot like a tree — the three-foot blade of pale steel was laid flat across her neck.

Mu Fulan’s body went rigid. But very quickly, rather than stepping aside, she instead leaned into the precious sword in his hand — the one bearing the dried blood of her son’s neck — and slowly squared her slender, delicate shoulders.

She said: “I truly do not know how you can be so pigheaded as to insist on believing Xi’er is my illegitimate child. I will tell you — Xi’er is indeed my child. For this entire lifetime, from the moment I encountered him and heard him call me ‘Mother’ for the first time, he has been my child. I swear before heaven, but he is not born of me and another man! He and General Yuan have no connection whatsoever!”

“Xie Changgeng, even if you kill me today, even if you destroy Changsha tomorrow, I have only this one answer to give.”

As her words fell, the room grew quiet.

“How do you explain the fact that his brows and eyes resemble yours so closely?”

His voice reached her ears suddenly.

Mu Fulan gazed steadily at the man still pointing his sword at her throat, and said, “It is precisely because his brows and eyes resemble mine that I felt such an immediate affinity with him after our encounter. Besides — there are tens of thousands of faces in this world. That some should bear resemblance to others — what is strange about that?”

Xie Changgeng gave a cold snort.

“On your very first night in the capital last year, you called out in a dream the name of this adopted son you had not yet met. If the resemblance truly was mere coincidence as you claim, how do you explain that?”

“That night, in my dream, I witnessed my previous life. In that previous life, I once had a child. I died before I could see him grow up, and in the end, that child too did not live to adulthood…”

Her gaze dropped, falling upon the sword in his hand.

The evening sun’s dying rays fell upon the sword held flat at her neck. At the very edge of the blade, there was a dark reddish glimmer, like an old bloodstain impossible to erase.

“The child I saw in that dream — his name was Xi’er. This child grew up in the Protection of the Nation Temple; he had no name of his own. It was after I encountered him that I gave him this name, and so he came to be called Xi’er.”

Silence fell upon the air once more.

Mu Fulan raised her wrist, and with two slender fingers, gently pinched the cold blade against her skin and slowly pushed the sword away from her neck by a little.

Her pair of beautiful eyes gazed into his.

“I know you did not come here simply for this one matter. I have already explained Xi’er’s origins to you clearly. If you have other business, go ahead and say so.”

Xie Changgeng stared at the woman before him who had reached out and pushed his sword away from her own neck.

More than once, his subordinates had given him suggestions — some oblique, some barely veiled — reminding him to bring her back, that having her step forward might help resolve the thorny, long-unresolved problem of the indigenous people of Hexi.

Xie Changgeng had naturally already seen this point for himself long ago.

Letting her try — whether viewed from the standpoint of reason or of cold utility — was not a bad idea at all; a wise approach that could resolve a large problem at minimal cost.

He had no reason not to use it.

That day when he returned from Xiutu, the letter he had sent out was precisely to summon her back and order her to help him resolve this matter.

He had helped her considerably, had promised to shelter Changsha, and asking her to do things for him in return was only natural and proper.

But now, he found himself unwilling to raise this matter — not in the slightest.

Even if it meant expending twice, ten times, a hundred times the effort, even if he ultimately had no choice but to resort to the military force he had not wished to use — suppressing with troops, blood flowing in rivers — he would not open his mouth to this woman and say that he needed her help.

Mu Fulan finished speaking and saw the corner of his lip curl faintly, his face taking on the expression of a cold smile.

He said: “Lady Mu, your tongue is silver, and I know you will never admit to this matter under any circumstances. Xie Changgeng has walked this world for many years; this time, to have been bested by someone of the Mu name — I accept that.”

He sheathed his sword. With a sharp ring, the pale blade returned to its scabbard. He then commanded her to step back, reached out, and opened the door.

Mu Fulan silently stepped aside.

As he turned to step out in that final moment, he turned his head and fixed his eyes on her, saying: “Lady Mu, remember to keep your private affairs well concealed. If so much as half a whisper of rumor gets out, you know what that means.”

It sounded like a threat, and yet also like a warning. Having said it, he turned and left.

Mu Fulan stood behind the door, watching the retreating figure as he walked away, her feelings somewhat complex.

She knew he still did not believe her explanation. But judging from his tone, it seemed the matter would end there. However it played out, this was something to be grateful for.

She slowly exhaled, thinking of how he had seen Xi’er the night before — not knowing the details, worried Xi’er might be left with some shadow on his heart — and promptly headed back to her own quarters.

Xi’er was overjoyed to see her finally return. That night, as Mu Fulan sat with him until he fell asleep, she heard Xi’er ask her: “Mother, that man — he said he married you. Will he take you away from me and not let you stay with me anymore?”

Mu Fulan had long since learned from Nanny Mu the details of Xie Changgeng’s meeting with Xi’er the previous night, knowing he had frightened the child; her heart filled with quiet resentment. She immediately said, “He has already left. He will not be coming back. Xi’er need not be afraid. No matter what, Mother will never be separated from Xi’er. Be good and sleep now. Wait here for Mother a few more days — by the end of the month, Mother will have finished her business, and we will go back together.”

Xi’er made a sound of assent, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Early the next morning, the magistrate of Liancheng came to see Mu Fulan, reporting that Xie Changgeng and his party had already departed.

There were many sick people over in Liyang, and after the physicians they had brought were dispersed to the various settlements and caves, their numbers were stretched terribly thin.

Now that he had gone, Mu Fulan set her heart at ease. She took stock of a newly arrived batch of medicinal supplies and very soon set out again, riding back to Liyang alongside Yuan Handing. Toward evening, as they were nearly there, the group was passing along a mountain road carved into the hillside when the horses suddenly became skittish and uneasy. The ground beneath seemed to tremble faintly — the sensation vanished almost instantly, but overhead, fragments of stone began to trickle and shower down along the cliff face.

Everyone halted, frozen in place at first.

“An earthquake! Move quickly — get to open ground and stop there!”

Yuan Handing reacted swiftly, leaping from his horse, snatching the coachman’s whip from his hand, taking the coachman’s place, and urging the small carriage carrying Mu Fulan at a gallop toward a stretch of open land not far ahead.

Everyone followed close behind. They had barely reached the open ground when the earth trembled beneath them again; many people lost their footing and tumbled to the ground.

On the mountain road they had just passed through, boulders came crashing down like rain.

This earthquake arrived suddenly and departed quickly. In only a moment, it ceased.

“My Lady! Are you all right!”

Yuan Handing gripped the reins tightly to keep the horse from bolting in fright. When the earthquake subsided, he flung open the carriage door and asked after Mu Fulan.

Mu Fulan held fast to the carriage window, steadied her nerves quickly, and said, “I am fine.”

Though the earthquake had not been severe, Yuan Handing, fearing aftershocks might follow, told everyone to remain in place and not move.

Everyone obeyed, waiting in place for a stretch of time. When it seemed no further tremors would come, they finally let out a collective breath of relief.

The earthquake, though brief and not especially intense, made Mu Fulan think of Xi’er, and she grew deeply worried. She asked the others to take the medicinal supplies on ahead to Liyang while she herself prepared to turn back — only to be told that a plank bridge they had crossed earlier had collapsed; below it was a deep gorge, and no ferry could be found for the time being, making crossing impossible.

Seeing that nightfall was not far off, Mu Fulan had no choice but to follow Yuan Handing’s arrangement: dispatch a skilled swimmer among their attendants to swim across and go back to the city to find out what had happened, while she herself continued forward.

She arrived at Liyang, where the chief was waiting with his people, craning their necks in anxious expectation. Several tens of homes had collapsed here, and several hundred people had been injured, with varying degrees of severity. She immediately led her people into the work of treating the wounded, busy until deep into the night. Exhausted beyond measure, she dozed fitfully in the quarters the chief had prepared for her. The next morning, that attendant hurried back, bearing good news.

Xi’er was safe and unharmed. Nanny Mu had sent word telling her not to worry. Over at Liancheng, the impact had been minimal as well — the townspeople had felt only mild tremors; only a few old houses had been damaged, and a single person had been hurt, and that only because they had panicked, run about in fear, and broken a leg in a fall.

Mu Fulan finally set her heart at ease.

There were other settlements and cave-dwellings nearby, with people who had also been injured. Knowing she was here, they came seeking her one after another.

Mu Fulan had no time to rest, and plunged again into the work of treatment.

She was caught up in the midst of it all — and since the end of the month would allow her to finish things here and go home, how could she have imagined that because of this sudden, unforeseen disaster, the seemingly secure and tranquil life she and her Xi’er were on the verge of would be shattered along with it?