Wu Zhenzhen spent some money to renovate and decorate the courtyard buildings that Granny Song had given her to use. She also organized and cleaned the furniture and utensils in the upper floors, making overall preparations that were adequate for opening a shop. During this time, Granny Song constantly urged her to go to the city to handle the permits needed for opening a shop, saying: “The city’s management of shops is primarily for tax collection. Before opening a shop, you must contact the commercial tax office in the city, the town administration office in the town, and the relevant wine office, tea office, and restaurant office one by one to obtain permits. If there are any oversights anywhere, the consequences will be endless.”

Wu Zhenzhen naturally understood the reasoning, but to apply for shop permits, the relevant officials would examine her household registration documents. Apart from an Imperial City Department name plate that couldn’t be used here, she had no other credentials to prove her identity. Now that she was almost like a fugitive, it was inconvenient to explain her difficulties to Granny Song, so she could only tentatively ask Uncle Zheng Er, saying that she had left home in haste and hadn’t thought of opening a shop in another prefecture at the time, so she hadn’t brought her household registration documents. Her hometown was far away, making a round trip very difficult, and she wondered if there was any flexible way to handle this. Uncle Zheng Er thought for a moment and said: “Actually, the officials at the commercial tax office and town administration welcome people to open shops, as it facilitates tax collection. I’ve heard they’re not very strict about document verification. If you really have difficulties, you can find Sun Balang in the city who prints small newspapers to help you. Tell him the contents of your household registration, and he can make one for you. Then give him and all the relevant officials who review documents some benefits, and it should work.”

Wu Zhenzhen followed his advice and found Sun Balang, who created a document for verification purposes. One day, she brought it to apply for permits at the Ningguo Prefecture Commercial Tax Office, but as soon as she reached the main gate, she saw two soldiers escorting a dejected person out the door toward the prefecture office. Onlookers hurriedly asked each other about the reason, and an official coming out from inside loudly announced to the crowd: “This person forged household registration documents to apply for shop permits. The Commercial Tax Office is severely punishing him according to the new prefect’s intentions, escorting him to the prefecture office for punishment. Those coming to apply for permits should carefully examine their documents—if there’s even the slightest falsehood, this person serves as a warning.”

Those who heard this whispered among themselves, all saying that this prefect was indeed a new official taking office, acting with swift determination and urgency to reform social customs. Someone asked what the new prefect’s surname and name were, and the official said: “Haven’t you heard about this? This one is extraordinary—he’s the direct Imperial Prince of the current Emperor, ranked second, now enfeoffed as Prince of Wei, judging Ningguo Prefecture.”

This news greatly shocked Wu Zhenzhen. She instantly recalled Yin Que’s words and felt a pang of heartache for Zhao Ai being sent out of the capital, feeling that he had been implicated because of her. She felt very guilty and could no longer listen to others’ discussions, standing silently in place until the people behind her in line urged her to go in before she came back to her senses.

She was numbly pushed through the Commercial Tax Office gate by those behind her, slowly walking toward the official reviewing documents. Thinking of what had just happened, she became even more apprehensive. Only after the official repeatedly demanded did she take out the prepared documents, slowly presenting them with both hands.

The official stared at her suspiciously, reaching out to take them, when suddenly an old woman outside the door shouted: “Wait!”

Wu Zhenzhen looked back in surprise to see Granny Song walking step by step to her side with her walking stick, handing her a document booklet with one page already opened, text facing up.

“You careless girl, afraid the Commercial Tax Office would close, rushing here in such a hurry that you took the wrong documents without even knowing… This is our household registration document!” Granny Song scolded affectionately.

Wu Zhenzhen took it in a daze and saw that the name written on the opened page was “Song Taozheng,” noted as the household head’s granddaughter. She flipped through to look at the household head’s page and discovered the household head was named “Song Wuniang.”

Granny Song indicated for Wu Zhenzhen to hand the household registration to the Commercial Tax Office official, pointing at Wu Zhenzhen and smiling at the official: “This is my granddaughter Taozheng. She lived in another prefecture for many years and only returned this year.”

The official carefully examined the household registration, calculated her age based on the birth date, then stared at Wu Zhenzhen up and down, asking suspiciously: “You’re twenty-seven years old?”

Granny Song quickly answered: “This girl lived carefree outside, never worrying about anything, completely childlike, so she looks young.”

The official scrutinized the household registration again and, finding no other suspicious points, stopped asking questions and processed the permit for Wu Zhenzhen under the name Song Taozheng.

Granny Song took Wu Zhenzhen to complete all the permits, and only after returning home did she tell Wu Zhenzhen the whole story from the beginning: “I originally lived in Bianjing, then migrated south to Lin’an, making a living selling fish soup by West Lake. Later one day, the late Emperor took a boat to tour West Lake and had his attendants buy local foods from the lakeside to taste. He drank my fish soup, found it quite good, and hearing that I was from Bianjing, summoned me for an audience. We talked about old times in Bianjing, both feeling deeply moved and wiping away tears together. From then on, the late Emperor often sent people to buy the food I made. When the Lin’an people heard about this, they came every day to compete for the fish soup. I quickly saved a large sum of money and opened a big restaurant by West Lake. Business was excellent, with full seats every day, and my family’s life became increasingly prosperous.”

Wu Zhenzhen then asked her: “What happened later that made you decide to move here, Granny?”

Granny Song sighed deeply: “My husband died early, leaving behind a daughter who grew up depending on each other with me. Later, as our family situation improved, wealthy families came to propose marriage to my daughter. I chose a rich young man of suitable age and appearance and married my daughter to him. After three years of marriage, my daughter hadn’t had children, and her in-laws began gossiping and criticizing her for being infertile. Later, when my daughter finally became pregnant, her husband contracted consumption and died just as my granddaughter was born. Now his parents despised my daughter even more, insisting that she had drained her husband’s strength by bearing the child and killed him. So in the depths of winter, in the ice and snow, they wanted to drive my daughter, who hadn’t finished her confinement, out of the house. My daughter cried and held the child, refusing to let go. Her in-laws probably thought that since she had given birth to a girl who couldn’t inherit the family business anyway, they didn’t want this granddaughter either and expelled both mother and child… I took my daughter and granddaughter back and cared for them well. Seeing that my daughter couldn’t bear the neighbors’ ridicule, I sold the restaurant in Lin’an and brought them here… This place was still called Xuanzhou then.”

Wu Zhenzhen instantly understood why Granny Song had been so empathetic and shared her indignation when she had mentioned her own experiences. She very much wanted to ask Granny Song why her daughter and granddaughter were no longer there, but afraid of making her sad, she remained silent. However, Granny Song continued without being asked: “I opened a restaurant in Xuanzhou and made it flourish as before. A year later, a young woman calling herself Chunrong came to my restaurant to apply as a servant, saying she was an orphan raised by pleasure quarters in Yangzhou who was later sold to an official as a concubine. However, his principal wife couldn’t tolerate her and drove her out, leaving her destitute. I pitied Chunrong and took her in. Seeing her work diligently, I gradually began teaching her cooking skills and had her help in the kitchen. She learned very earnestly and could soon handle things independently, becoming the restaurant’s head chef… But the day before my granddaughter Taozheng’s third birthday, my daughter and I went to town to buy her presents, leaving Chunrong to watch Taozheng. When we returned, we found they had both disappeared. My daughter and I nearly went mad with worry, running everywhere to search for Taozheng, searching surrounding towns and offering rewards for information, but we exhausted almost all our family assets and still found nothing. My daughter had developed health problems during confinement, and this incident caused her even more physical and mental torment. Her illness grew worse and worse until she finally left me…”

At this point, Granny Song couldn’t help but burst into tears again, crying heartbrokenly. Wu Zhenzhen hurried to embrace her, offering gentle comfort.

After crying for a while, Granny Song wiped her tears and held Wu Zhenzhen’s hand, saying: “I know you have your difficulties and can’t produce household registration documents, so today I let you use Taozheng’s name to apply for permits… Household registrations are checked every three years. All these years I’ve hoped Taozheng would return, so I never had her removed from the registry, always telling people she just went to another place and would return someday… If you don’t mind, I’ll call you Taozheng from now on.”

“Good.” Wu Zhenzhen readily agreed, saying sincerely, “I have no grandmother. Since fate has brought me to meet you, Granny, I’m willing to recognize you as my grandmother and care for you like a real granddaughter from now on.”

Granny Song smiled through her tears in agreement, then said: “From now on, you’ll use the name Song Taozheng to operate the restaurant. If someday Taozheng really returns, the money the restaurant earns will still be yours. If you need to change your name, I’ll have Taozheng cooperate—we won’t dispute these things with you.”

Wu Zhenzhen embraced her and said: “I only seek a place to shelter. Thank you, Granny, for letting me use Sister Taozheng’s name. When she returns, I’ll naturally return everything to her, but I’ll still stay with her to continue caring for you.”

Wu Zhenzhen named the restaurant “Zhanle Lou,” taking the meaning from “drumming the zither and qin, harmonious and joyful.” She hired a helper cook, a maid, and a tea master. After everything was prepared, she opened for business. Considering that there wouldn’t be many customers initially, she didn’t purchase ingredients extensively for customers to order from. Instead, she determined the menu based on the fresh ingredients purchased that day, having customers choose from three price levels of set meals—upper, middle, and lower—with specific dishes determined by the proprietress. This way, costs were controllable, ingredients wouldn’t be wasted, and customers didn’t need to worry about ordering.

Because Wu Zhenzhen was skilled in cooking, every dish was perfect in color, aroma, and taste. The local cuisine was rarely seen, refreshing people’s senses, and most customers were very satisfied after tasting. To ensure quality, Wu Zhenzhen also controlled the daily number of customers. After gradually building a reputation, customers could only dine at Zhanle Lou by making advance reservations. With beautiful food, beautiful scenery, and even a beautiful young proprietress, Zhanle Lou became famous throughout Ningguo Prefecture. The customers who came were either local gentry or wealthy merchants and nobles from the city. Wu Zhenzhen had no shortage of clientele, and her income became increasingly substantial.

One day, Ningguo Prefecture Chancellor Li Tang sent someone to reserve a banquet for the next day’s noon, saying he would bring distinguished guests. The maid Xiao Ou took the order and informed Wu Zhenzhen. Wu Zhenzhen instructed Xiao Ou to purchase ingredients and prepared carefully, but she had been working continuously for days and was exhausted. She had also been exposed to cold wind during the day, and by evening began developing a fever. Sensing something was wrong, she quickly had Xiao Ou ask Uncle Zheng Er to take a look. After taking a dose of medicine he prescribed, she soon fell into a deep sleep.

Wu Zhenzhen still lived with Granny Song in the original small courtyard. That night she slept deeply and woke to find it was already noon. Remembering the banquet reserved by the Chancellor, she broke out in a cold sweat, immediately dressed and got up. After brief grooming, she hurried to Zhanle Lou.

Entering the small courtyard of Zhanle Lou, she saw Granny Song slowly emerging from the building. Wu Zhenzhen hurriedly asked her: “Have the Chancellor and his guests arrived?”

“They have,” Granny Song said. “Don’t worry, I’ve prepared the banquet for you. They seem quite satisfied and are eating now.”

Wu Zhenzhen handled all restaurant affairs personally to avoid tiring Granny Song, never letting her help with cooking, and had never seen Granny Song go down to the restaurant kitchen. Now hearing Granny Song say this, she felt grateful but also somewhat worried, asking: “What did you prepare, Granny?”

“Stir-fried eel, sauced crab, basin loach river fish, soft lamb roasted kidneys, four-soft soup, mock beef jelly, Dongpo tofu, chicken noodles, plum blossom cakes… I also stir-fried winter bamboo shoots and mushrooms, and made my specialty fish soup,” Granny Song replied in a rush. “Don’t worry, I won’t damage your reputation. They all said it tasted good, but they asked about you repeatedly. You should still go up and greet them—they’re in the pavilion on the second floor facing the river view.”

Wu Zhenzhen agreed and hurried up to the second floor. However, just as she reached the second floor staircase and was about to approach the pavilion door, she heard a familiar male voice from inside: “Ningguo Prefecture has many waterways, making it most suitable for extensive polder construction. Yet I see large areas of polders collapsed and abandoned, with fields lying waste—such a pity. Building dikes to enclose fields keeps water out. Inside the enclosure, dig channels and set up sluice gates—during droughts, they can draw river water for irrigation; during floods, they can drain excess water from within the dikes. With such flexible drainage and irrigation, the fields can be protected from severe drought and flood damage. Once the polders are restored, large areas of swampland can be transformed into fertile farmland, and Ningguo Prefecture’s rice and wheat production will surely increase greatly.”

It was Zhao Ai’s voice. Wu Zhenzhen stood frozen in place, not daring to enter, passively listening to the continued discussion in the pavilion.

A middle-aged man then said: “What Your Highness says is naturally reasonable, but constructing polders requires considerable manpower and financial resources. Building each li of polder dikes costs at least over a hundred strings of cash, more than ten shi of grain, and over six thousand work days. Currently, the prefecture doesn’t have enough money and grain.”

Zhao Ai then said to him: “I’ve thought about this. Chancellor Li, see if this works: each year, part of the taxes Ningguo Prefecture should remit can be temporarily retained instead of being delivered to the Ministry of Revenue. I’ll petition His Majesty to use this portion of tax money for polder construction. Thus, taken from the people and used for the people, His Majesty will surely agree.”

This Chancellor Li must be Li Tang who had reserved the banquet. Wu Zhenzhen often received noble guests from the city and had heard people discuss prefecture office affairs. Chancellor Li Tang and Administrator Ding Xiyao were nominally staff assistants to Prince of Wei Zhao Ai, who judged Ningguo Prefecture, but actually managed Ningguo Prefecture’s finances and legal affairs respectively, often making decisions independently. This effectively kept real power in their hands, making Zhao Ai’s position as prefect nominal only.

As soon as Zhao Ai finished speaking, before Li Tang could respond, another person rejected the idea: “Absolutely not! The court evaluates each prefecture’s performance mainly based on tax revenue! Prefects all wish they could collect more taxes and remit surpluses to the court—how could there be any logic in withholding taxes to build polders? Polder construction costs greatly and shows results slowly—it can’t be completed in a year or two. If Your Highness wants His Majesty to quickly see your achievements, it’s more convenient to collect more taxes.”

Li Tang quickly agreed: “Administrator Ding speaks very truly.” He then advised Zhao Ai: “Imperial princes of our dynasty are all noble scions who enjoy comfort and ease. Though His Majesty had Your Highness condescend to judge Ningguo Prefecture, that must be out of consideration that Your Highness has lived in the palace for many years and rarely traveled to see mountains and waters, so he’s using this opportunity to let Your Highness come out and enjoy yourself. Your Highness need only regard Ningguo Prefecture as your own fief and peacefully accept the people’s support. As for such trivial matters as governing the prefecture, let Administrator Ding and me handle them for Your Highness.”

Administrator Ding Xiyao also laughed: “Your Highness is young and rarely has the chance to escape palace restrictions. Why think about such tedious matters? Better to seek pleasure on horseback and enjoy poetry and wine while young… By the way, Chancellor Li chose to host Your Highness here because he heard this restaurant’s female proprietress is extraordinary—not only does she cook well, but she’s also extremely beautiful. Your Highness must meet her. If you find her agreeable, we’ll help arrange it and bring her back to serve Your Highness exclusively.”

After speaking, Ding Xiyao and Li Tang both burst into lewd laughter, while Zhao Ai fell silent and said no more.

At this moment, Xiao Ou came up with wine. Seeing Wu Zhenzhen standing silently, she called “Proprietress.” Li Tang heard this from inside and immediately called out: “Is Lady Song outside? Could you come in so we can meet?”

Wu Zhenzhen took out a silk scarf to cover her face below the eyes, lowered her head, and entered, deliberately speaking in the Ningguo Prefecture dialect she had recently learned, greeting the three men with a curtsy.

Li Tang asked her in surprise why she was covering her face. Wu Zhenzhen claimed she had caught a cold and feared passing the illness to the guests, so she had no choice but to do this. Li Tang waved his hand saying he didn’t mind and wanted Wu Zhenzhen to remove the scarf. Wu Zhenzhen coughed repeatedly and still politely refused. Ding Xiyao grew angry at the sight and stepped forward to forcibly pull at Wu Zhenzhen’s scarf, but fortunately Zhao Ai spoke out to stop him, saying: “Since Lady Song is unwilling, don’t force her.”

The two men therefore desisted. Wu Zhenzhen again curtsied to thank Zhao Ai, and Zhao Ai bowed in return, then silently observed her without saying anything more.

After the three men finished their banquet, they sat briefly, looked at the surrounding scenery, then rode back to the city. Seeing snow beginning to fall outside, Wu Zhenzhen didn’t want to return to the small courtyard immediately, so she unlocked her bedroom door and rested in the room she had shared with her mother as a child. In the evening, after all the guests, the cook, maid, and tea master had left, she opened the account books and wrote down the items for the maid to prepare the next morning. After handling everything, she got up to check the sky outside and prepare to return to the small courtyard.

At this time, the snow had stopped and the wind was still. Outside the round window, a trace of cool moon hung like an eyebrow, and under the pale moonlight, a young man in a black horse and white light fur was riding along the riverside path, treading through the snow toward her.

He stopped his horse in front of Zhanle Lou and raised his hand to knock on the door. Wu Zhenzhen on the upper floor recognized his figure. After hesitating, she finally picked up a lantern and went downstairs, gently opening the courtyard gate.

The man outside raised his head, his hood slipping back to reveal Zhao Ai’s features. Having not seen him for a long time, his elegance remained as before, though he appeared slightly thinner. The moonlight deepened the shadows of his contours, and the wind and frost of the journey had touched his brow, making his eyes appear deeper and his features more mature and handsome than in years past.

“Wu Zhenzhen,” he smiled at her, “I knew it was you just by looking at your eyes.”

“Second Brother,” she also managed a calm smile, calling him this, “Thanks to Crown Prince Zhuang Wen’s blessing, perhaps I can address you this way.”

His smile immediately froze, understanding her intention for him to maintain distance.

The address “Second Brother” was something he had once suggested she use, but she had not adopted it. Now she was finally willing to call him this, yet she didn’t forget to remind him that this was thanks to his elder brother, and she was addressing him as a member of his elder brother’s family.

He was silent for a moment, then said sadly: “You still accepted Father’s arrangement, or perhaps it’s to repay Big Brother’s kindness…”

“No,” she firmly denied his speculation, stating directly, “I gave myself to him because I love him.”

“Love…” he repeated this piercing word, asking her, “Love him the way you loved Lin Hong?”

“Love him the way I love a husband,” she answered without hesitation.

He felt his heart like ice on a lake surface when spring winds first stir—sharp cracks spreading from within.

He struggled not to let this feeling show on his face, finally only smiling faintly: “I understand. I came back only to tell you that finding a place to settle is not easy. I won’t disturb you, and I hope you won’t leave because of my arrival.” After pausing, he added, “When necessary, please don’t refuse the kindness I show to Big Brother’s family members.”

“Very well, Second Brother, thank you,” Wu Zhenzhen also smiled at him lightly. Later, the smile faded as she lowered her eyes and said, “I’ve implicated you to this extent—I’m deeply ashamed… If there’s anything I can do for you, I’m willing to do it.”