She had only ever asked the Imperial Household Department to make a puzzle cube — how had it ended up being compared to a chess board and a stool?

When Shiyiniang had handed the diagram to Steward Bai, she had taken care to note that the craftsmen at the Imperial Household Department who worked on clocks and timepieces ought to take a look at it… Perhaps it had turned out quite differently from what she had intended.

Her mind full of bafflement, she returned to her room — and found Xu Lingyi standing with his hands clasped behind his back, studying an object placed squarely in the center of the room. It was a large square block, waist-high, red on top, green on the left, yellow on the right, blue on the face visible from where she stood. Each face was inlaid with nine cloisonné enamel glass tiles set in gleaming brass filigree, which caught the lamplight and sparkled with dazzling brilliance.

Shiyiniang broke into a cold sweat.

That was not something to be held in one’s hands for amusement — it was practically an abstract sculpture.

Her steps faltered and she stood frozen in the doorway.

Xu Lingyi heard the movement and turned as his wife came in. He beckoned to her. “What is this thing you had the Imperial Household Department make? You said each small panel can be twisted in any direction.” He pressed down on one corner of the cube as he spoke. “I have been looking for the mechanism for quite some time and cannot find it anywhere.”

A puzzle cube was meant to be held in one’s hands and twisted — placed on the floor like this, there was naturally no way to turn it.

Shiyiniang was momentarily at a complete loss for words.

“Or perhaps it is some new kind of treasure chest…” Xu Lingyi murmured, then raised his eyes and noticed Shiyiniang standing perfectly still, unmoving. He raised an eyebrow. “What is it? Has something happened at Bowstring Lane?”

Shiyiniang breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

She had been terrified he would keep questioning her about it. She nodded at once, dismissed the attendants in the room, and told Xu Lingyi about the First Master’s plans. “…I did not know how to explain it to Father. I can only ask that he come to you.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Lingyi’s attention was indeed redirected. He moved into the inner room and settled himself on the large kang by the window. “When Zhensheng comes, I will speak with him properly.”

Shiyiniang nodded. Thinking of how she had wronged Xu Lingyi the day before, she personally brewed a cup of hot tea, and smiled as she brought it over. “It is thanks to the Marquis having prepared those silver ingots that I managed not to embarrass myself today.”

In truth, the silver ingots and the silver notes had not been used at all — she had meant to slip some of the notes privately to Fifth Yiniang, but Fifth Yiniang had been at the First Mistress’s bedside the entire time, leaving her no opportunity. As for the silver ingots, since neither Fourth Elder Sister nor Fifth Elder Sister had offered any such gifts, Shiyiniang could not very well set herself apart and call attention to it.

Xu Lingyi gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment, took the tea bowl with a neutral expression, sipped once, and clearly had no desire to say more on the subject.

Shiyiniang could not be certain whether he still harbored some resentment over the matter, but she thought that flattering words were something everyone enjoyed hearing. Given that she had been at fault that morning, there was no harm in being a little more deferential. She asked after him with genuine warmth. “My Lord, have you been reading all day? Have you not gone over to Mother’s?”

“I had the midday meal with Mother.” Xu Lingyi sipped the tea once more. “Then I went with Siyu to Yiniang Qin’s rooms. We happened to run into Yiniang Wen and Yiniang Qiao, who had come over to visit. We listened to Yiniang Qiao play the piece *Melancholy Reverie*.”

Playing *Melancholy Reverie* for Xu Lingyi?

Shiyiniang barely managed to suppress a laugh.

But looking at Xu Lingyi’s expression — cool and detached, no different from usual — she decided she had been overthinking things, and let it go.

“Yiniang Qiao’s skill on the qin has long been celebrated.” She smiled brightly. “My Lord has been most fortunate with his ears today.” She promptly had someone bring out some honeycomb candy, wintermelon slices, and preserved cherries, then rose to her feet. “I am rather travel-worn. Let me change my clothes and come back to keep you company.”

Xu Lingyi watched her smile, serene and unclouded as a summer breeze. The light in his eyes shifted almost imperceptibly, and his brow furrowed into a tight furrow.

Shiyiniang had already called in Lvyun and Hongxiu, who had been waiting at home, to help her change and freshen up. She slipped into the washroom and quietly instructed Shuangyu, “Tell Hupo to have that thing from the Imperial Household Department put in the storeroom.”

Shuangyu went to see to it and returned shortly. “Madam, five or six of the coarser servant women could not move it. What would you like to do? Shall we have the manservants brought in?”

Shiyiniang wished above all else for the thing to vanish as quickly as possible. “Tell Steward Bai to have it moved into my storeroom.”

“Yes.” Shuangyu turned to go, but Shiyiniang called her back. “Ask Steward Bai how much the thing cost.”

“Yes.” Shuangyu went to see the thing moved and returned when Shiyiniang had finished tidying herself. “Madam, the item has been placed in the storeroom. Steward Bai says the piece was delivered with the assistance of the Prince Shun, and only three hundred taels were paid. He also noted that fine brass of that grade was used, along with official kiln cloisonné — a single tile alone would likely cost twenty or thirty taels apiece. Three hundred taels was not expensive.”

A single tile worth fifty or sixty taels, six faces on the cube, nine tiles to each face… Steward Bai was telling her that the Imperial Household Department had accepted only three hundred taels from the Xu household as a nominal gesture — purely because Prince Shun oversaw the Imperial Household Department, and the Xu family had merely made a token payment.

Shiyiniang pressed a hand to her forehead involuntarily.

What she had thought was a simple matter had somehow drawn in Prince Shun.

Perhaps Steward Bai had already explained everything to Xu Lingyi, but as the one who had set all of this in motion, she still felt she ought to say something to him directly. Regardless of anything else, Prince Shun had done them this kindness entirely on account of Xu Lingyi. She had no way of knowing whether there were any other interests entangled in all of this. If anything required handling in the end, it would be Xu Lingyi who had to deal with it. At the very least, he deserved to know that she understood what he meant to her.

She came out of the washroom, lowered her head, and settled into the seat across from Xu Lingyi. “My Lord, I originally wanted to have a handsome treasure chest made, so I drew up a diagram. But no craftsmen outside knew how to make it, and I had to seek help from the Imperial Household Department. I never expected that it would end up involving Prince Shun — and that they would only charge three hundred taels…” She raised her eyes to look at him, her expression genuinely worried. “My Lord, what do you think I should do to handle this properly?”

Looking at Shiyiniang with her brow gently creased, Xu Lingyi’s heart stirred faintly — and then his brow locked into a deep, tight furrow.

“If one wishes to condemn another, a reason can always be found. If the Emperor wants to act against me, if the censors want to impeach me, they will always find their pretext — one matter more or less will make no difference. Leave this to me. I will see to it.” He then changed the subject, asking after her visit home. “…And your mother — how is she?”

Though his words dismissed the matter, his expression was serious.

Looking at him, Shiyiniang let out a quiet, inward sigh.

The affair had, after all, put him in a difficult position.

But seeing that Xu Lingyi clearly had no wish to say more about it, she had no choice but to push it down for now and told him about the visit to Bowstring Lane. “Mother’s condition has been going back and forth — she can only recover slowly. Before, it was Sister-in-law attending at her bedside. Now that Fourth Mistress-in-law, Third Yiniang, and Fifth Yiniang have all come, Sister-in-law can rest a little more and does not have to work so hard.” She mentioned Zhou Shi as well. “…She seems very capable and virtuous.” She spoke of Twelfth Miss. “…She has grown quite a lot taller. Her features favor Fifth Elder Sister — not so much like me.”

Shiyiniang had just bathed and freshened herself, and was dressed casually in a pale white silk jacket with a large red scattered-flower skirt. Her dark, lustrous hair was gathered in a loose knot, her face bare of cosmetics, her cheeks faintly flushed. The warm amber lamplight poured over her, tracing a faint golden outline, making her features seem softer and lovelier than usual.

Xu Lingyi’s mouth curved almost imperceptibly. “In a little while, when my leg is somewhat better, I will go and call on her.”

His tone was composed, and carried even a faint note of tranquility.

Yet Shiyiniang knew well that he had never been particularly warm toward the First Mistress, and she could see that the First Mistress was equally displeased with him. And now there was the matter of his resignation tangled up in all of it. She decided to be direct. “The Marquis’s legs have not been well — everyone knows this. Whether it is Father or Mother, I am sure neither would fault the Marquis. The Marquis would do better to focus on recovering.”

Whether there was truly anything wrong with his legs, no one knew better than Shiyiniang.

Xu Lingyi heard her out, gave a faint, easy smile, and then asked with some abruptness, “Did you have a chance to speak with your Yiniang?”

Shiyiniang thought of the way Fifth Yiniang had sent her off — like a mother fussing over a child who did not yet know the ways of the world, urging her with the simplest of words — and could not help but smile with quiet warmth. “I did. She even told me to take good care of Mother, and to take good care of the Marquis.”

Xu Lingyi heard this and something shifted in the depths of his eyes. His expression, quite suddenly, turned a shade colder. He rose abruptly, felt around for his shoes, and called for Chunmo and Xiayi to come in and help him wash up and change. “…It is snowing outside. I will rest on this side tonight.” With that, he turned on his own and went into the washroom.

In recent times, the two of them had settled into a certain comfortable distance, and Shiyiniang had gradually grown accustomed to him spending the night. Hearing him say this, she called in Lvyun. “Go tell Yiniang Qiao that the Marquis has matters to attend to this evening and will not be going over.”

Lvyun answered with a cheerful smile and went off.

Shiyiniang went to lay out the bedding.

Shortly after, Xu Lingyi emerged from the washroom, went directly to bed, reached under the pillow for his copy of *Zuo Zhuan*, and settled himself at an angle to read by the lamp set on the small stool in the corner.

Shiyiniang looked at this and suggested, “My Lord, perhaps we should switch sides.”

Since they had married, Xu Lingyi had always slept on the inside and she on the outside. If he wanted to read, the light would fall directly on her face. She would have to turn on her side and face Xu Lingyi, and once — she could not remember how — she had woken to find she had pressed her face into his chest. It had been quite a suggestive scene.

Xu Lingyi looked up at her. “Too much trouble. We can switch tomorrow.” And then lowered his head back to his book.

Shiyiniang felt a swell of exasperation.

She wanted very much to ask whether all feudal aristocratic couples arranged things this way — the husband on the inside, the wife on the outside. But there was simply no one she could ask.

She stood at the bedside for a moment, then thought, with the weather so cold, she ought to take care of herself. She undressed and got into bed.

But before she had even pulled back the covers, a pair of arms swept around her and drew her firmly in, and she sank into a warm embrace.

“Why does it take you so long just to get into bed?” His tone held a trace of complaint.

Who else could it be but Xu Lingyi?

Since the night they had first shared a single quilt, the other one had been left to one side, unused.

In the deep cold of winter, having someone nearby for warmth — Shiyiniang had no objection. She settled into a comfortable position against him.

Xu Lingyi pulled the quilt snugly around her, then instructed her, “Tomorrow morning, go to the storeroom and choose a few proper gifts. I am going to Prince Shun’s estate tomorrow afternoon.”

Shiyiniang was taken aback.

Why had he suddenly decided to go there at a time like this — while he was supposed to be gravely ill?

And she could not help but think of the suspiciously inexpensive puzzle cube.

“My Lord…” She did not know how to begin.

Something in her voice she could not quite conceal — unmistakable worry.

“Don’t let your mind run away with you.” Xu Lingyi cut off her words, leaned over and blew out the lamp, then said, “Get some sleep.”

But his hand slipped quite naturally beneath the hem of her garment…