◎”I suspect the diseased branch is diseased because I am diseased. But how much does he know of the cause of my disease?”◎

Yuanshao Year 50, third month. Yu Qingwu and Lan Shanjun went together to the Gong family to attend a wedding feast—Gong Lin had finally married the wife he’d been yearning for.

The groom was flushed with success. After drinking several extra cups, he became unguarded with his words, pulling Yu Qingwu and saying loudly: “I’m getting married today. At the latest, by this time next year I should have a child. Minister Yu, you must work hard too.”

Yu Qingwu: “…”

He wouldn’t argue with a drunk.

Everyone at their table was from the Court of Imperial Stud. Hearing this, they burst into laughter. Director Zhao from the Bureau of Chenghuang winked suggestively. “Minister, I have a secret formula for producing sons.”

The director of the Bureau of Stables immediately said: “Forget it, forget it. That’s for horses. You’d better keep it for yourself to produce little foals.”

When men gathered together, it was either about women or children—they could never escape these two topics all day long.

The director of the Bureau of Chariots, who managed Luoyang’s carriages, said in a low voice: “I heard that Prince Wei bought a residence near Fangzhi Gate, very close to the Ministry of Personnel. At noon when he’s off duty, he runs back there… to do that thing. He’s in a hurry to have children!”

Prince Wei only had Prince Wei’s heir as a son. Seeing that this son wasn’t very promising, he wanted to produce another one.

Director Zhao: “How do you know?”

The Bureau of Chariots director gave a sly smile. “Have you forgotten what we manage?”

All horses were registered.

He said: “Once you’re familiar with a horse, you can tell where its hooves have been with one look. Minister, with my skills, the Court of Judicial Review should hire me to investigate cases!”

Yu Qingwu poured them all a cup of wine. “That’s exactly why the Court of Imperial Stud needs people like us. Those who just fill positions—how could they understand these things?”

The whole table was harmonious.

On the women’s side, Lan Shanjun was talking with Su Hexiang. She hadn’t expected Su Hexiang to come to the banquet.

Su Hexiang: “I owe Princess Anning a favor.”

Princess Anning was Gong Lin’s mother.

As for what favor, she didn’t say, so Lan Shanjun didn’t ask. But she could vaguely guess that the Su family had previously had dealings with the Gong residence. Otherwise, Gong Lin wouldn’t have entered the Court of Imperial Stud that Minister Su had previously managed.

Lan Shanjun asked about her plans. “I insisted on inviting you back to Luoyang and had you make a round trip. What are your plans next?”

Su Hexiang sat lazily in the spring light, raising her eyes with a smile: “I have a strange temperament. If I’m unwilling to return, even if I owe you a favor, I won’t come back. If I’m willing to return, even if you hadn’t invited me, I would have come back anyway.”

She continued: “Sister Shanjun, you needn’t worry about this.”

Lan Shanjun was grateful for her kindness. Just as she was about to say something, she heard Su Hexiang look at the joyful scene throughout the courtyard and say: “I must also thank you for finding me such a good escort.”

Male escorts were common, but female escorts were rare. Female escorts who shared the same aspirations were even rarer. Lan Shanjun must have asked many people and spent much effort to find such a person.

Su Hexiang: “Neither of us has any intention of marriage or such matters. We both enjoy traveling through the great rivers and mountains. I have money and places I want to go. She lacks money and has no specific place she must go. We hit it off immediately and have already become good friends.”

Hearing this, Lan Shanjun already understood her meaning without asking more. She asked gently: “When will you leave?”

Su Hexiang: “She has some family matters to handle. I’m waiting for her.”

Lan Shanjun: “Can I help?”

Su Hexiang: “Even upright officials find it difficult to judge family disputes, let alone you and I? If I have a request, it would only be to ask you to help me pay respects to my grandfather during the Qingming Festival.”

This truly was a forthright and clear-minded young lady. Lan Shanjun smiled with pursed lips and clinked cups with her. “Alright.”

Her warm and cheerful conversation with Su Hexiang made Zhu Shi uncomfortable. She said in a low voice: “We’ve been sitting here for so long. Your sister doesn’t come sit with us longer, but speaks so happily with others.”

She was displeased. “Does she think that now she’s married and risen above us, she doesn’t regard us as important?”

Hearing this, Lan Hui didn’t even furrow her brow. Instead, she asked: “Didn’t Sixth Sister eat at our table before going to speak with Miss Su?”

The seating arrangements for such banquets were all arranged by the host family early on. They were family, and since the Yu family had no other members, they were naturally arranged together.

She asked Zhu Shi: “Is Mother angry because our family’s power is weak, or because Sixth Sister didn’t flatter you?”

Zhu Shi was furious but had to swallow her anger. “How dare you speak to me like this?”

But Lan Hui said: “If it’s the former, Mother should be angry starting with Grandfather. If it’s the latter, Mother should be angry with herself.”

Even between birth mother and daughter, not every daughter had to flatter her mother.

She gently set down her chopsticks, no longer enjoying the feast. “Things were fine, but Mother always has to say a few words to upset me.”

Zhu Shi’s eyes burned with fury. Even when the banquet ended, she was still unhappy.

As Lan Shanjun was about to leave, she looked at Zhu Shi sulking in the carriage, then at Huihui standing beside the carriage unmoved. She sighed, patted Huihui’s head, and pulled her aside. “Have you found a family you like?”

Huihui shook her head. “During this time, things have been quite distressing. I haven’t thought about these matters.”

Lan Shanjun: “When you have such thoughts, come find me.”

She said softly: “I’ve sought favor for you from both the Empress and the Grand Imperial Grandson’s Consort. You needn’t rush, and you needn’t fear.”

Lan Hui’s heart warmed. She nodded. “Alright.”

Then after a pause, she asked in a small voice: “Sixth Brother-in-law… does he have some dissatisfaction with our family?”

Lan Shanjun didn’t understand. “There shouldn’t be.”

She thought about it. “As for our family’s matters, everything he should know, he knew before we married.”

But he still chose to be respectful to Zhu Shi, kind to Fourth Master, and sarcastic toward the old madam.

She asked: “Has he done something?”

Lan Hui: “I can’t quite say. It’s just that, starting from New Year, his attitude has changed considerably, especially toward Fourth Uncle. Now when he sees Fourth Uncle, he doesn’t say much. Fourth Uncle, with his personality, doesn’t dare ask directly and came to ask me instead.”

Lan Shanjun pondered this thoughtfully. On the return journey in the carriage, she asked Yu Qingwu: “Fourth Uncle is kind by nature. Though somewhat weak, he surely has no intention to harm others… Has he treated you poorly?”

Yu Qingwu had drunk quite a bit and was somewhat dizzy. He didn’t dare get close to her, afraid she’d smell the alcohol. But hearing these words, his head immediately cleared. He quickly shook his head. “No. Fourth Uncle must have misunderstood.”

But Lan Shanjun, thinking carefully, discovered that his attitude toward Duke Zhenguo’s household had indeed worsened considerably.

She asked: “Really?”

Yu Qingwu said firmly: “Really!”

But Lan Shanjun’s heart grew heavier. She probed: “Do you resent Mother and Fourth Uncle?”

Yu Qingwu: “I don’t resent them.”

But Lan Shanjun saw his slightly furrowed brows, his eyes containing resentment, his tightly pressed lips. She saw that though his face tried desperately to endure and restrain itself, hatred could still be detected.

That evening, she deliberated as she wrote in her notes: “From the winter of Yuanshao Year 49 to the spring of Yuanshao Year 50, I looked up at the paulownia tree and discovered it had grown another branch, bristling with fury, breaking through dawn to rise into the sky.”

Unlike the other paulownia-shaped crane-boned branches and leaves, this section of branch was stained with hatred, looking exactly like a diseased branch.

A diseased branch…

Because of hatred that didn’t belong to him, transferred onto him, it appeared diseased.

Lan Shanjun’s hand trembled slightly. She set down her brush on the desk, taking a deep breath.

Could it be because of her?

He inexplicably began to hate Zhu Shi, to hate Fourth Uncle, relentlessly clamping down on Song Zhiwei…

She closed her eyes, contemplating for a moment, then picked up her brush again to write: “I suspect the diseased branch is diseased because I am diseased. But how much does he know of the cause of my disease?”