Shiyiniang did not stand on ceremony. She ate two pieces and drank several mouthfuls of chicken broth before setting down her chopsticks.

“My lord has returned at just the right moment — does this mean there has been some progress in the matter over there?” She looked at Xu Lingyi, her gaze carrying a faint thread of concern. “I heard from one of the little maids that a mask was discovered behind Yanrong’s room. Or perhaps my lord has something he wishes to ask me?”

Without crying out her innocence or raising any grievance, Shiyiniang spoke in an unhurried manner, her bearing earnest and composed.

Xu Lingyi was rather taken aback.

When he had left, there had been beneath Shiyiniang’s seemingly docile surface a coldness and distance that kept him at arm’s length. Yet in the blink of an eye — even after Shiyiniang had learned that a mask had been found behind Yanrong’s room — that coldness and distance had suddenly dissolved, as though a thaw had come, replaced instead by a sense of mutual reliance and shared breath.

That he himself had been so inconsistent was no wonder Xu Lingyi felt suspicious.

Shiyiniang thought of how, even when their children’s safety was at stake, he had still chosen to trust her. Then she thought of her own suspicions toward him, and a quiet guilt stirred in her heart.

To correct one’s mistakes was the greatest virtue of all.

Besides, she was not so petty a person.

Turning this over in her mind, she slanted her large almond-shaped eyes sideways at Xu Lingyi, then lowered her lashes with a faint blush and murmured softly: “Before, I saw that my lord had instructed me but then looked to my mother-in-law instead, and I thought my lord suspected me of having some part in this matter. I could not help but feel rather disheartened…”

Xu Lingyi was taken aback.

He had not expected Shiyiniang to speak of her displeasure to him so candidly. But more than that, it was because of Shiyiniang’s wholehearted sincerity toward him that something stirred from the depths of his heart.

“Little fool.” Xu Lingyi’s voice dropped without his noticing, warm and rich and deep, like thick dark chocolate, warming the heart. “At the time, Zhun Ge’s fright had come on all of a sudden, and I was afraid someone might take advantage of the confusion to frighten you, so I asked Mother to look after you.” Feeling that Shiyiniang’s careful, cautious look was rather endearing, he laughed and tousled her hair, unable to resist asking: “So when did you realize I wasn’t suspecting you?”

Shiyiniang smoothed her hair and called out “My lord” in mild reproach, then said: “I heard from the little maid that you had discovered a mask behind Yanrong’s room, yet ordered people to continue investigating. That was when I knew I had misunderstood my lord.” Her cheeks flushed crimson. “If my lord truly suspected me, it would have been easy enough to make Yanrong the scapegoat and leave the matter there. But a paper wrapper cannot contain fire — sooner or later, Yanrong being made a scapegoat would come to light. When that happened, I would inevitably be pointed at and gossiped about. Because my lord believed I had nothing to do with this, because he did not want my pure jade to be tarnished, that is why — upon hearing that the shadow had darted toward the main chamber — he steeled himself and ordered the investigation to go deeper…”

To have one’s well-meaning efforts sensed by another — Xu Lingyi felt a wave of joy rise from the depths of his heart.

He drew Shiyiniang into his arms. “You, ah — always slow to catch on, far too dull-witted!”

The words were reproachful, yet the tone was tender.

Shiyiniang, a little self-conscious, wrapped an arm around Xu Lingyi’s waist and pressed her face against his shoulder, smiling.

Then she thought back: since she had married into the Xu household, she had never done anything that could be called remarkable, yet Xu Lingyi trusted her like this — it was still rather reckless of him.

She held herself back for two rounds of inner debate, but because what she had said earlier had already been so candid, she ultimately could not hold it in, and murmured softly: “How is it that my lord is so certain this matter has nothing to do with me?”

Xu Lingyi held her gently. “Our Shiyiniang — spoiled and fussy, yes, but there is a core of dignity in her bones. She would disdain to do anything as sordid as this!”

Shiyiniang suddenly felt a faint stinging in her eyes.

She closed them.

In her heart there was no sudden surge of joy and moved surprise, as one feels when old feelings are restored in an instant. What was there instead was a tangle of loose threads, confused and messy, impossible to sort out, impossible to cut away cleanly.

Xu Lingyi did not understand the reason, but felt only that the body nestled against him had gone soft as boneless water, as though it was only his support keeping her from dissolving entirely. He could not help but pat her gently in comfort: “It’s all right. I am here for this matter!”

Shiyiniang allowed herself a moment of indulgence, then reined in her feelings and sat upright, saying quietly: “By the way — have you found out who it was that frightened Zhun Ge?”

At the mention of this, Xu Lingyi’s expression grew faintly grave.

“No one has been found out yet.” His voice was somewhat low. “First I locked the doors and had the maids and matrons inside corroborate each other’s accounts, to see whether anyone had been alone and unaccounted for.” He frowned. “It turned out that around the start of the hour of Xu, the only ones not in their rooms were Yanrong and Qin Yiniang.”

“Qin Yiniang!” Shiyiniang exclaimed, startled. Something flashed through her mind and then vanished without a trace, slipping through her grasp before she could catch it.

“Indeed!” Xu Lingyi gave a faint nod. “Cuiyu, the maid in Qin Shi’s room, said that Qin Shi had gone to visit Yi Yiniang in Third Elder Brother’s chambers. I summoned Yi Yiniang to question her, and her account matched Cuiyu’s. Then I asked Yanrong — Yanrong said she had gone to Cao An’s place to ask Cao An to take a letter home for her. Zhaobo went to question Cao An, and Cao An’s account matched Yanrong’s; he even produced the letter as proof.”

Shiyiniang listened carefully and said: “Since neither of them was in the courtyard, the matron keeping watch at the gate should know what time they left and what time they came back — and whether they went out through the front gate or the back gate…”

Xu Lingyi saw her speak one sentence after another, every one of them to the point. He smiled lightly and said “You do know a great deal,” then went on: “I asked. As it happened, both of them had used the back gate. Qin Yiniang went out first; not even a quarter-hour later, Yanrong went out as well. Since both of them had asked the gatekeeper to leave the door for them, the matron thought it was still early and didn’t bother locking it — only left it ajar. As for what time either of them returned, had Yanrong not called out to her to lock up, she would have gone right on playing mahjong with the others, and could hardly say at all when the two of them had come back!”

“And their shoes?” Shiyiniang’s brow furrowed slightly. “It had rained earlier. Tea Fragrance said the shadow had burst out suddenly, so she certainly wasn’t wearing wooden clogs. And with all that moss under the trees nearby, her shoes would surely have picked up some mud and moss.”

“Checked.” Xu Lingyi said. “Both of them claimed to have gone out in wooden clogs, and while the soles of their shoes were slightly damp, they were perfectly clean — no traces of mud or anything of the sort.”

“So by that account, all fingers point to Yanrong?” Shiyiniang’s expression grew somber.

“I know — if it were Yanrong, why would she bring the mask back at all instead of disposing of it somewhere else?” Xu Lingyi’s expression was stern. “So I dismissed the searchers and left only Linbo and Zhaoying at the side room to guard Yanrong, who has been detained there. Then I sent Fifth Brother to the scene of the incident to look around and see if anything else could be found. As for myself, I came back here.”

Drawing the snake out of its hole.

With the search apparently called off, perhaps the real culprit would lower their guard and reveal themselves.

“So my lord has had Linbo and Zhaoying detain Yanrong?”

Donghong nodded and said in a low voice: “More than that. My lord also went to the Dowager’s chambers.”

Wen Yiniang’s expression shifted between light and shadow.

If Xu Sizhun were frightened out of his wits and the blame fell on Shiyiniang, and Shiyiniang — in a fit of rage and despair — suffered a miscarriage, then this household would belong to Xu Siyu alone!

Thinking this through, she pressed her lips together tightly.

Was she to spend her days scraping by under Qin Shi’s thumb?

Wen Yiniang’s expression grew yet more complicated.

She instructed Donghong: “Go and fetch me a coin. I want to toss it for odd or even.”

It was the dead of night. The guards had only just dispersed. Rather than seizing the chance to sleep and restore her strength, the concubine wanted to toss a coin.

Grumbling inwardly, Donghong nevertheless went and fetched a coin.

Wen Yiniang pressed her palms together, the coin clasped between them, muttering: “If it is even, I will speak. If it is odd, then I am meant to stay silent.” She tossed the coin onto the low kang table.

Odd!

“This one doesn’t count — again!” She picked up the coin and tossed it once more.

Even!

A broad smile spread across her face.

Qin Yiniang, for her part, let out a wide yawn: “At last they’re gone!” Then she sat down on the edge of the bed. “I expect everyone’s eyes will be ringed with dark circles tomorrow.”

Cui’er did not find this amusing. She crouched to remove Qin Yiniang’s shoes, all the while turning over another matter in her mind.

“Yiniang,” she said with some worry, “this business should be finished now, shouldn’t it? They won’t come to question you alone again?”

“Of course not.” Qin Yiniang laughed. “Now that the trail leads to Yanrong, to keep digging further would only unearth the Madam. Given my lord’s character, he will certainly come up with a high-sounding reason to put an end to it.”

“Then the Fourth Young Master…”

“Whose fault is it that his luck is poor?” Qin Yiniang was somewhat dismissive. “There is nothing to be done about it!”

Cui’er still found it hard to believe.

“You’ve only been in the household a few years.” Qin Yiniang scoffed. “Get some sleep! The longer you’re here, the more you’ll come to understand.”

Cui’er assented and went about serving Qin Yiniang as she settled in for the night.

Qiao Lianfang had gone to bed early, but having been roused from sleep like this, the drowsiness had passed and she was not much inclined to sleep anymore. She was speaking of something entirely unrelated with Xiuyuan: “You needn’t worry about me. Nanny Xu has been training the new little maids these past few days — when the time comes, you can pick one for yourself. It’ll be just as if she’s serving me in your place.”

Xiuyuan’s eyes grew a little moist. “Yiniang, why don’t I stay at the Xu household too? At least we’d have someone to look out for each other!”

“No need.” Qiao Lianfang was quite firm. “Once you’ve been married into the Xu family, whether you live or die is no longer up to us. Better to take this chance and marry out.”

Xiuyuan said nothing, and turned over quietly.

Yang Shi, meanwhile, tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

If all the evidence pointed at Shiyiniang, what would Xu Lingyi do?

The greatest of the three filial failures is to leave no heir. He ought to place greater importance on descendants, surely?

To so brazenly harm the heir of the Marquis Yongping household — whether for the sake of face or of the heart, the punishment ought to be severe?

Even as she thought this, she could not shake the feeling that something was off, as though there was something she had overlooked that was nonetheless of great importance.

“Will my lord rest now, or wait for Fifth Elder Brother’s news?” Shiyiniang asked Xu Lingyi.

“Let’s wait for Fifth Brother’s news,” Xu Lingyi said after a pause. “One rain after another — if we don’t investigate thoroughly tonight, I’m afraid the rain will wash everything away come morning.” Then: “You should rest early. Don’t stay up keeping me company.”

Shiyiniang, mindful of the child in her womb, had just murmured her assent when a little maid came in to report: “Fourth Madam, Donghong from Wen Yiniang’s room is requesting to see you!”