Fang Xiuhe must hate her to the core. How could there be a woman so heartless as to sacrifice her own husband’s life for the sake of investigating a case? But she truly had no choice at that time. The Ministry of Justice was heavily guarded. Even as a female clerk, she couldn’t freely move evidence from important cases. She didn’t intentionally want to get him killed. She didn’t.

“Let, let him go.”

“What?” Daoba picked at his ear. “Speak louder.”

“I said, let, let him go!” Fuman jumped down from the carriage with red eyes, holding a bundle in her hands. “I’ll give, give you the things. Let him go.”

“How did she become a stutterer?” Daoba looked her over twice, sensing something was wrong. “You’re not Hua Fuman.”

The one they saw that day with superior martial arts was the real one.

“Trying to deceive us?” Daoba cursed, looking left and right warily.

“Boss, it’s a diversionary tactic. They probably have a backup plan,” someone said.

“Did I need you to tell me that?” Daoba angrily grabbed Zhao Yanning. “Kill them both. Doesn’t matter who they are—leave no survivors.”

“Yes!”

The snow-white blade was raised in the air, somewhat dazzling in the sunlight. Fuman’s pupils suddenly constricted, and she ran toward Zhao Yanning almost recklessly.

The wind around them suddenly became very slow, and the falling leaves also became very slow. She reached out in panic, only able to see the scene of the blade pressed against his neck, slashing hard across it.

A string that had been taut in her mind seemed to snap with that slash.

…

“My name is Zhao Yanning. From today on, I’ll be under Lord Shen of the Ministry of Justice, investigating cases together with you.”

“Hua Fuman, even men get tired sometimes. Why are you being so stubborn?”

“I know you’re married. I just consider you a friend.”

“I don’t like you. Who would like a stutterer?”

“If possible, I’d want to trade my life for Fang Xiuhe’s life.”

“Fuman, stop crying.”

Cold wind howled, and Hua Fuman suddenly shivered.

She saw Zhao Yanning slowly falling down, his phoenix eyes half-closed as he looked at her, still carrying some trace of a smile.

Long ago, on a summer night, he had leaned against a railing looking at the moon in the sky, his eyes carrying that same smile. What had he said then?

He said: A poet’s love for the moon is the poet’s business. The moon bears no guilt. If rumors and gossip would harm you, then I’ll come to marry you before the rumors spread.

He said: You don’t need to respond to me. If there are words you don’t want to hear, I’ll never say them in my lifetime.

Her throat felt blocked. Fuman flew toward him through the falling leaves, holding Zhao Yanning tightly in her arms.

“Don’t die.” She sobbed twice, finally unable to hold back her wailing. “I, I can’t fall in love with a third person anymore. You, you mustn’t die!”

Daoba raised his blade again. The white light flashed into Zhao Yanning’s eyes. Before he could say anything, he turned to embrace Fuman, using his body to press her down beneath him.

In a flash of lightning, a long arrow shot through the air, striking right through Daoba’s heart. Blood splattered out, covering Zhao Yanning’s back.

He looked back in confusion to see Shen Qiyuan nocking a second arrow with fury on his face. The feathered arrow rode the wind, instantly piercing through another black-robed man’s skull.

“Take them down!” he shouted.

Officers from the Ministry of Justice swarmed forward, tying the thirty-plus black-robed men together with hemp rope and escorting them back to the city with harsh words.

Fuman nervously looked at the person on top of her. When she reached out and touched warm blood, tears immediately fell: “Who, who asked you to protect me? I, I’m not afraid of something happening to myself. I’m only afraid of you, only afraid something would happen to you.”

She didn’t want to taste the pain of losing a beloved a second time.

“My Lord!” Seeing Shen Qiyuan there, Fuman cried as she got up and helped Zhao Yanning to his feet. “Please save him!”

Shen Qiyuan’s face was also somewhat pale. He dismounted and hurriedly walked toward Zhao Yanning. When he reached out to examine his injuries, he froze in astonishment: “You…”

Zhao Yanning straightened up, somewhat embarrassedly touching his neck: “I seem to be fine.”

Fuman was startled and also turned to look at him.

She had seen that blade slash across his neck just now. How could he be unharmed?

“I don’t know what happened either. It’s like I was wearing armor or something.” He felt around left and right, looking at Fuman innocently. “This doesn’t count as me deceiving you. It’s because…”

“Wuu.” Before he could say more, Fuman jumped up and hugged him, crying loudly. “I was so, so scared wuu—”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry.” Zhao Yanning was both delighted and at a loss. “I, I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I? Don’t cry anymore.”

Shen Qiyuan stepped back half a pace and also let out a long breath.

If asked what regrets he had in this mortal world, it would be his failure to protect Fuman and Yanning’s families. Being able to remedy this situation today was also a kind of comfort for him.

Fuman was too heartbroken. It made listeners’ eyes water involuntarily. He turned his head away to wait, waiting for the two to calm their emotions before escorting them back to the city.

“I’ll personally investigate the Duke An manor case,” Shen Qiyuan said. “You can stay at the Zongzheng villa. It’s safe there.”

Fuman listened in a daze, only saying quietly after a long while: “Thank you.”

His spine stiffened. Shen Qiyuan somewhat guiltily gripped the reins: “It’s my duty. What’s there to thank me for?”

Fuman shook her head. She knew Lord Shen had always been feared by the nobles and royal relatives. To reopen a case that His Majesty had already decided wouldn’t be easy for him either. He could have completely ignored it, but he spoke up purely to preserve their lives.

Seeing the atmosphere was somewhat heavy, Zhao Yanning spoke carelessly: “Now we don’t need to leave Lin’an. When I go back, I’m going to give the shopkeeper a piece of my mind first. Today, when Fuman and I were leaving, she didn’t even try to make us stay. Are we still good brothers or not?”

Hearing this, Shen Qiyuan’s expression relaxed somewhat: “You think you can out-argue her?”

“I can out-argue her, yes.” Looking at Fuman, he sighed and shook his head. “This one here, not so sure.”

Every time, she protected Liu Ruyi like she was protecting something precious, giving him plenty of eye-rolls.

Fuman smiled with swollen eyes.

After this bout of crying, her heart seemed to feel completely light.

Heavy yet beautiful memories were like a huge gemstone—precious indeed, but one couldn’t hold onto them every day to get by.

“I, I want to go back, go back and talk to her,” Fuman said quietly.

Zhao Yanning rolled up his sleeves: “Wait until I settle accounts with her before you go up.”

He’d been at the wine house for so long. If not devoted unto death, he’d at least been conscientious and responsible. Yet when leaving, Liu Ruyi told him to get lost. Yanning was quite indignant. As soon as he got off the carriage, he charged straight to the counter and shouted at the person standing inside: “I’ve rolled back again!”

Ruyi stood behind the counter without even lifting her eyelids: “Perfect timing coming back. No matter how I look at this account, you calculated it wrong. Come take a good look—were you busy with other things and just trying to fool me here?”