The night was deep, and the atmosphere in the study of the East Wing of the Marquis of Ying’s mansion was tense.

The veins on Wei Ling’s hand stood out. If it weren’t for Lü Jiaxue sitting before him, he might have already lost his temper.

Lü Jiaxue waved his hand slowly and said thoughtfully, “Don’t be angry. I haven’t ruined your daughter’s marriage. I have imperial orders to capture spies.”

“Is the head in your box that of Zeng Yingkun, the General of Datong?” Wei Ling asked, taking a deep breath.

Wei Ling wondered why else Lü Jiaxue would go to such lengths to transport a head from Shanxi. He suspected Lü Jiaxue might have found the spy and was acting first before reporting. If it were an ordinary spy, such effort wouldn’t be necessary. The spy’s identity must be quite special.

Lü Jiaxue shook his head, “He’s not the spy. Although Zeng Yingkun was tyrannical, he was still a renowned general. He wouldn’t commit treason.” He continued, “The traitor was his son, Zeng Heng, who became a minor official in the Zhenfu Si thanks to his father’s influence. Though his position was small, he was like a local tyrant in Datong. His father spoiled him so much that he even kept the tiger tally in his son’s room.”

Lü Jiaxue took a sip of tea to moisten his throat: “This man was also extremely clever and cunning. I was almost ambushed by him in Datong. He was audacious, so I killed him.”

“You killed Zeng Yingkun’s son?” Wei Ling was surprised. Even though he wasn’t close to Zeng Yingkun, he knew that the man’s first wife had died early, leaving only this one son. Zeng Yingkun, a lifelong military man, had an unusual devotion to his first wife and never remarried. This only son was the apple of his eye.

“Was I not supposed to kill him?” Lü Jiaxue glanced at him.

Wei Ling’s lips tightened, “You killed his son, so Zeng Yingkun sent assassins after you?”

Lü Jiaxue straightened his legs and said, “That’s not it. In that box, besides his son’s head, there’s also evidence of their collusion with the Oirats. They wanted to retrieve it, otherwise, Zeng Yingkun’s failure to discipline his son and allowing Zeng Heng to become so rebellious and cause such a grave error would surely result in the execution of their entire clan.”

Wei Ling found it strange. Zeng Yingkun was the General of Datong, so how could his son think of betraying the country?

“The Oirat tribe trades at the border, and he gets forty percent of the profits,” Lü Jiaxue explained. “He’s not betraying the country. It’s more of a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Oirats. Their family became wealthy through this, with businesses all over Shanxi. When you went there to close the horse markets, you were cutting off their income source. Who else would they target but you?”

This wealth didn’t come easily.

Wei Ling’s tone softened slightly, but his expression remained grim: “But you took too great a risk. If something had gone wrong on Yi Ning’s wedding day…”

“My capture of their men was necessary,” Lü Jiaxue waved his hand to stop him. “Besides, didn’t I save your daughter? She wasn’t hurt.”

Wei Ling, thinking of how Lü Jiaxue had killed Zeng Yingkun’s son, which indirectly helped him, decided not to say more. Having been through life and death with Lü Jiaxue for so many years, he understood his temperament well. Lü Jiaxue didn’t care about the lives of unimportant people, and that included Wei Yi Ning.

“Compared to your daughter’s wedding today, I’m more concerned about Luo Shenyuan,” Lü Jiaxue said. “It’s one thing that Zeng Yingkun’s son was a traitor, but what’s strange is that he had been corresponding with your new son-in-law.”

Wei Ling frowned upon hearing this. Luo Shenyuan had been in contact with Zeng Heng?

“I don’t know the content of the letters, as Zeng Heng had destroyed them,” Lü Jiaxue lifted his teacup and took a sip. “Luo Shenyuan helped you, which means he betrayed Zeng Yingkun’s son, even leaking false information to him. Since he had been secretly corresponding with Zeng Heng, it must have been going on for some time. Why would he betray Zeng Heng to save you? Just because you’re the father of his adopted sister?”

Wei Ling had wondered how Luo Shenyuan knew so much about the situation, how he knew about the spy’s existence. And why he was always one step ahead of Zeng Heng.

“Your new son-in-law is deeply scheming. His sudden decision to marry your daughter is not simple; he likely has other motives. You should think carefully about this.”

Lü Jiaxue put down his teacup, preparing to leave. “I need to report to the Emperor. I’m sorry for disrupting your daughter’s wedding today… Consider the dowry I sent her as an apology.”

“You and I have been friends for many years,” Wei Ling suddenly said. “We shouldn’t let the incident at Pingyuan Fort come between us. You’re the Commander-in-Chief, and now the Governor of Xuanfu and Datong. I should naturally defer to you.”

Lü Jiaxue heard this but didn’t turn around. He sighed and said, “Friendship is the most fragile thing, it can disappear in an instant. You should defer to me. As a patron, there’s probably no one more reliable than me.”

With that, he left the Marquis of Ying’s mansion.

Wei Ling sat alone for a long time, surrounded by the festive decorations that had yet to be taken down. He suddenly recalled how Luo Shenyuan had skillfully commanded the Divine Machine Battalion during the intrusion earlier that day. If Yi Ning and Luo Shenyuan were to have a falling out in the future… she would certainly be no match for him. Lü Jiaxue’s words had planted some concerns about his new son-in-law in Wei Ling’s mind.

Yi Ning slept surprisingly well that night, even better than at home. But in the morning, she suddenly woke up from her dream, as if remembering something, and sat up abruptly. She looked around, and the unfamiliar surroundings, the red silk and brocade bedding, reminded her that she was now married. This wasn’t the Marquis of Ying’s mansion, but the Luo family home in Fuxue Hutong.

Hearing that Yi Ning was awake, Pearl led the little maids in, carrying a copper basin, fragrant soap, and other items to help her wash up.

Yi Ning noticed the space beside her in the bed. “San Ge…” she started, then hesitated, dipping her hand into the warm water in the copper basin. She changed her words, “Where’s the young master?”

Pearl smiled and said, “The young master asked me to tell you to wash up and have breakfast first. He got up at the fifth watch and seemed to go to the study.”

He probably went to handle official business.

This morning, they were supposed to serve tea to the elders. He should be back soon. Yi Ning sat down by the window on the large kang bed, letting Pearl wash her face. She picked up the dowry list and started flipping through it, suddenly freezing: “Why are there so many extra pages?”

Farms in Wanping, shops in Daxing. There was even a pure gold carved double-happiness pattern plum vase, a jade Buddha statue…

Yi Ning remembered, weren’t these items from Luo Shenyuan’s betrothal gifts list? Those were betrothal gifts, how did they end up in her dowry list? That was a full 40,000 taels. Did Wei Ling just add them to her dowry?

Yi Ning immediately asked Pearl to call in the accompanying matrons, Lou Mama and Fan Mama. These two were assigned to her by Wei Ling, saying they were experienced in serving people.

As soon as the two old women entered, they could tell from Yi Ning’s complexion and posture that the young master and mistress hadn’t consummated their marriage last night. Their smiles softened a bit, knowing how to report back to the Marquis of Ying’s mansion. They bowed and asked, “What instructions does the mistress have?”

Yi Ning put the dowry list on the small table and pointed to those pages: “What’s this about?”

The two matrons looked at each other, and then Lou Mama said, “The Marquis said to add it to your dowry, so it was added.”

Yi Ning held the thick dowry list with shaking hands. It was so heavy, 60,000 taels of silver! She took a deep breath. Even if Wei Ling doted on his daughter, a 60,000-tael dowry was too much.

However, there was no precedent for returning a dowry, so Yi Ning could only look through it several times. She didn’t know whether to marvel at her San Ge’s wealth or her father’s wealth. These priceless items were treated so casually, and now they were all hers.

Just as she was recovering from the shock of the dowry list, moments later, more maids came in to pay their respects. These were new maids assigned to her by Luo Shenyuan. As they entered one by one, Yi Ning’s eyes immediately fell on the fair-skinned, tall, and slender Fu Jiang. Last time, she had been secretly talking to Lin Hairu, saying that San Ge wouldn’t touch them, but she had…

Seeing Fu Jiang reminded her of last night’s events. Their breaths intermingled, his hot body pressing down on her. She could feel his reaction, yet he did nothing.

Yi Ning coughed, uncomfortable with unfamiliar people serving her. These new maids were arranged in the back room to handle miscellaneous tasks.

These girls had all previously served Luo Shenyuan; he seemed to have given her half of his servants. The maids were respectful and showed no signs of discontent, treating her with great deference. They were indeed well-trained from serving Luo Shenyuan.

Seeing that the sun had risen high in the courtyard, Yi Ning estimated it was almost time and asked her maid to do her hair.

Luo Shenyuan returned from outside. From beyond the screen, he saw her leaning against the pillow, her maid had spread out all her hair on the bright red Lu silk. Her hair was like precious silk, with a faint blue-green luster. She was looking down at the list in her hands, the bright red four-happiness pattern on her jacket making her face appear like a white jade plate, with a kind of translucent glow. There was a thin layer of warm fuzz, making her look even more tender as if she could break with just a bite.

The maid outside announced his arrival, and only then did Luo Shenyuan enter.

Against the morning light, he appeared even taller, his body momentarily blocking the light as she read the list. But it was just for a moment, and he walked to her side and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Hearing his voice, Yi Ning suddenly felt at a loss, remembering last night’s events. Although they were originally siblings, they hadn’t lived together. Now that they were living together, when he came to her side, Yi Ning could smell the clean scent of soap on him, a sudden closeness.

She dared not look at him, her fingers tightening on the list.

While she was in a daze, that hand with distinct knuckles took the dowry list from her hands.

“The dowry list…” he looked up at her, “Why are you studying this?”

Yi Ning saw his thick eyebrows, high nose bridge, and his clear, handsome jaw. She tried to take the dowry list back from him: “You’re not supposed to look at this…”

Luo Shenyuan looked at her: “Why can’t I look?”

Yi Ning was determined to get it back! It wouldn’t be good if he saw that the betrothal gifts he sent had become part of the dowry. But he was so tall, that Yi Ning had to kneel on the bed to try to snatch it from him. Even then, she wasn’t as tall as him. He deliberately kept it out of her reach, moving it away just as she was about to grab it, then putting it behind his back to continue reading.

Yi Ning felt like a little girl being teased in front of him. She forgot about her shyness and tried several times to snatch it back, both annoyed and amused: “There’s nothing special, just that father added your betrothal gifts to my dowry! Don’t think about it anymore.”

Seeing the healthy flush on her face, Luo Shenyuan raised an eyebrow and said, “Aren’t these things I sent to the Marquis of Ying’s mansion? How could I think about them?”

Yi Ning didn’t mean it that way. She had never been teased by him like this before and didn’t know how to respond.

Luo Shenyuan’s gaze softened, and he smiled, “Now you finally dare to look at me?”

He had done it on purpose. Yi Ning realized he had noticed her discomfort towards him and wanted to break the awkwardness between them from last night.

Luo Shenyuan handed her dowry list back to her as if she were a little dog protecting its food. He even patted her head and added, “Don’t worry, San Ge won’t take your things.”

Yi Ning gritted her teeth. She smiled slowly and said, “Of course, only weak and incompetent men would steal a woman’s dowry. San Ge is the honorable Minister of Works, a former top scholar, talented and brilliant. At most, he just bullies a little woman like me.”

Luo Shenyuan’s mouth twitched slightly upon hearing this, as if he couldn’t detect the underlying meaning in her words, and said, “Well said.” He picked up the comb, his fingers sliding over its teeth. He saw that Yi Ning had already sat down at the dressing table, letting Daimao do her hair. The maids who served her closely had all come with her as part of her dowry. She was talking to her matrons.

Luo Shenyuan put the comb down, his smile fading. He had never had any intimate relationships with others and didn’t know how to interact closely with people. Last night, they hadn’t gotten along well, and now he was afraid she wouldn’t like it if he tried to help her with her hair.

Shortly after, Lou Mama called for breakfast. The breakfast was noodles, but it was eel noodles, with a thick, rich soup base, drizzled with some sesame oil, and served with fresh pickled cucumbers. Yi Ning liked noodles and ate a lot. Luo Shenyuan, however, ate very little. He watched her finish and put down her chopsticks, then gently took her hand.

“Let’s go, it’s time to pay our respects to them.”

Since they hadn’t divided the family and weren’t living in different places, there was no reason for the Luo family to live separately. Therefore, they all moved to Fuxue Hutong, which was also more convenient for Luo Shenyuan, as living in Xinqiao Hutong was too far from the Six Ministries.

As he led her along the way, Yi Ning suddenly felt it was like when they were children. But back then, she had always insisted on holding his hand, while he was reluctant to let her. Now, he was the one holding her hand.

Luo Shenyuan, who usually doesn’t like to talk much, said to her, “Don’t be surprised when you see Mother later. She has prepared another big red envelope for you. No one could dissuade her.”

Lin Hairu?

Yi Ning was a bit curious. Given Lin Hairu’s usual unconventional ways, what had she prepared for her this time?