As dusk approached, guests were still lingering at the Luo mansion. Maids used bamboo poles to lower red crepe silk lanterns from the eaves, lighting them one by one.
Luo Chengzhang was drinking with the Deputy Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. They were in high spirits, with side dishes like braised pig’s ears and salt-roasted peanuts on the table.
The front courtyard was lively with chatter. A quick-witted servant boy ran in to deliver a message, his voice bright: “Second Master, Second Master! News from the General’s mansion! The General has publicly declared that he’s taking our young miss as his official wife, making her the Marchioness of the Ningyuan Marquis’s household!”
Luo Chengzhang nearly dropped his wine cup. He stood up, eyes shining, and walked to the servant: “Don’t talk nonsense! During the wedding, they clearly said she’d be a concubine. How did she become the official wife? Did you hear correctly? Don’t make a fool of yourself!”
The servant boy smiled again: “Second Master, the guests heard it themselves. Someone rode here at full speed to tell us. It can’t be false!”
Luo Chengzhang’s face broke into an uncontrollable smile: “Truly the official wife? My girl has become a Marchioness?”
“Yes, the guests heard it!”
Luo Chengzhang immediately had a matron bring a red envelope to reward the servant boy, who knelt to receive it. He had rushed in with the news hoping for just such a reward. Hearing this, the Deputy Minister stood up, raising his cup with a beaming smile: “Incredible, incredible! Lord Luo, you’re now the General’s father-in-law. Congratulations! I must toast to you again!”
All the guests in the room stood up.
Luo Chengzhang couldn’t close his mouth, feeling elated. He instructed a matron: “Go inform the madam and Concubine Qiao at once!” In his excitement, he didn’t even consider any doubts.
Just as they finished toasting, someone announced that the Third Young Master had returned. Luo Chengzhang immediately put down his cup and went out to greet him.
Luo Shen Yuan was wearing his court robes but not his official hat. His aura was cold and indifferent. He handed his hat to an attendant as Lin Yong and others escorted him, walking briskly towards Jiashu Hall. Behind them were many unfamiliar faces with imposing presences. Luo Chengzhang called out to him, approaching to ask: “Shen Yuan, why are you back so late? How did Lord Xu’s matter go?”
Hearing his voice, Luo Shen Yuan turned around without speaking, his gaze icy cold.
Not knowing what had happened, Luo Chengzhang didn’t pursue the question about Xu Wei. Instead, he smiled and said: “Do you know? The General publicly announced he’s taking your sister as his official wife. She’ll be a Marchioness from now on! We should go to the Lu family. Such a big event, and the Marquis didn’t even inform us. No wonder they’re still entertaining guests there…”
Hearing this, Luo Shen Yuan’s lips curled into a cold smile. He slowly walked closer and said: “He did publicly announce he’s taking my sister as his official wife. But do you know which sister he meant?”
Luo Chengzhang didn’t understand his meaning and was bewildered. He stammered: “The one who went there, of course…”
“He’s marrying the Seventh Sister, Father. Do you remember?” Luo Shen Yuan’s voice was very calm. “The Luo family’s Seventh Miss, Luo Yining, who was recuperating in Baoding.”
Luo Chengzhang was thunderstruck, unable to react for a long time. Then his face turned pale: “What do you mean… Where’s Lilian? Isn’t she…”
Years ago, the Duke of Ying had him claim that Luo Yining had died suddenly. But sudden death was inauspicious and would require a funeral, and at that time Luo Shen Yuan was preparing for the imperial examinations. So Luo Chengzhang simply said Luo Yining was ill and recuperating, unable to see anyone.
But how could Lu Jiaxue marry Luo Yining? How could he have taken a liking to her? She was already married to Luo Shen Yuan, and he had heard that Luo Yining was Lu Jiaxue’s adopted daughter…
Luo Chengzhang’s heart jolted violently. Could it be… that Lu Jiaxue was so unethical as to fall in love with his own adopted daughter? Unable to marry her due to moral constraints, he had come up with this deceptive plan. This matter involved the Luo family’s reputation, so they wouldn’t dare to make it public. Yet he could successfully marry his adopted daughter as his wife!
“This is too absurd. What exactly is going on… Where’s your Sixth Sister? Where’s Wei Yining?” Luo Chengzhang wanted to clarify, but Luo Shen Yuan no longer paid attention to him. He turned and continued walking towards Jiashu Hall.
As Luo Chengzhang stood there stunned, someone came running to tell him that the Sixth Miss had returned.
The wedding banquet hadn’t ended, but the Luo family members were no longer in the mood for festivities.
Late that night in the main hall, Luo Yilian was crying, her makeup smeared, sobbing quietly. She had changed from her wedding attire into casual clothes but hadn’t bothered to fix her hair or makeup, still wearing the bridal hairstyle and heavy cosmetics. Concubine Qiao stood nearby, almost too weak to stand. Forget about being the official wife; they hadn’t even let her be a concubine, instead sending her to Qinghu Bridge! Both mother and daughter were speechless for a long time.
At this moment, Lin Hairu found it impossible to sympathize with Concubine Qiao and her daughter.
“This shows that being too ostentatious isn’t a good thing. Now everyone in the neighborhood knows you were supposed to marry General Lu. How are we going to resolve this?” Lin Hairu thought of how Concubine Qiao, believing her daughter was about to rise in status, had made numerous demanding requests for the wedding, even wanting Luo Yining to serve tea to her daughter. She felt deeply uncomfortable. “If you had just quietly married as a concubine, we could have said there was a mistake and few would know. But you insisted on making such a grand affair…”
Luo Chengzhang felt that every word from Lin Hairu was a veiled criticism of him. His temples throbbed with pain. “Shut up! What’s the use of saying all this now that it’s happened!”
Fine, she wouldn’t say more. Let them figure it out themselves. Lin Hairu fell silent and called for the wet nurse to take the sleepy young master Nan back to bed.
“I think it must be that harlot conspiring with Lu Jiaxue, wanting to be with him!” The more Luo Chengzhang thought about it, the more convinced he became. How else could she have disappeared without a trace? “Shen Yuan should divorce her immediately with a letter of repudiation! To avoid bringing shame to the Luo family!”
Standing to the side, Luo Xuan Yuan, who had been quiet all along, sighed upon hearing this. He walked to his sister’s side and patted her shoulder comfortingly. He said, “Third Brother’s absence here likely means he’s searching for Third Sister-in-law. If she had intentions towards the General earlier, she would have gone to him long ago. Why would she have married Third Brother? Father, you’re overthinking this. It’s best not to disturb Third Brother now. He still needs to resolve Lord Xu’s matter and surely can’t divide his attention.”
Luo Xuan Yuan continued: “The urgent matter now is how to explain this. We can’t let Sixth Sister’s reputation be ruined. Switching brides between sisters doesn’t sound good either. Why don’t we say it was always the Seventh Sister who was to be married, but due to her illness and inability to move easily, the Sixth Sister stood in for her during the ceremony? We can also keep quiet about the Qinghu Bridge incident.”
Luo Chengzhang’s expression softened slightly. Luo Xuan Yuan’s suggestion was good; regardless of what others thought, they needed an explanation. He couldn’t help but think of the sweet little girl who had called him father for over a decade, only to realize he had raised her for someone else. He still couldn’t get over it, always harboring the worst suspicions about her.
Luo Yilian finally threw herself into her brother’s arms, crying. Feeling her brother’s gentle comfort, she finally understood what her mother meant when she said having a son in the family was like having a pillar of support.
The candles in Jiashu Hall remained lit.
“We’ve investigated clearly, my lord. A carriage left the city at dusk, escorted by guards from the Cheng family. But they’ve gone too far to catch up now. We’ve sent people to follow them to Datong… There’s no movement from the Ningyuan Marquis’s mansion yet, and the General hasn’t left the capital,” reported a man wearing a short jacket and a melon-skin cap, bowing.
Lin Yong and others stood silently beside Luo Shen Yuan.
Luo Shen Yuan was toying with a seal in his hand. He seemed not to have listened carefully, nodding to dismiss the man.
Shortly after, another person entered and bowed: “…The spy has sent word. There’s severe corruption in Datong, Shanxi. The emperor has secretly appointed Censorate Inspector Cheng to investigate. He’s been given an imperial order and may be away from the capital for two or three months. Also, the painting you requested has been sent to the imperial palace. The emperor said nothing upon seeing it but accepted it.”
The seal was slowly squeezed tight in Luo Shen Yuan’s hand as he closed his eyes.
Lu Jiaxue truly lived up to his reputation as one who had killed his brother, usurped the Marquis title, and accompanied the emperor to the pinnacle of power. This scheme was intricately planned, all to truly ensnare his wife.
Should he be grateful that Lu Jiaxue finally considered him a worthy opponent? Last time, when he directly took her away, he hadn’t even regarded Luo Shen Yuan as an opponent at all.
It was useless. Even if he chased them to Datong, it would be futile. Lu Jiaxue had long since made Datong his own, with heavy troops stationed there and Cheng Lang as protection. Even with his brilliant mind, Luo Shen Yuan was powerless to change the situation. He knew clearly that unless he could uproot Lu Jiaxue’s foundation and make himself even more powerful, he couldn’t move against him at all.
“Everyone, leave. I need to rest,” Luo Shenyuan said.
The others exchanged glances before bowing and withdrawing. Luo Shenyuan stood up and walked to the western side room. His maid lit a candle, but no one spoke inside. The stove remained unlit. Yining’s half-finished embroidery on his shoes and socks lay abandoned. The rabbit fur cloak she often used was crumpled on the luohan bed. He picked it up and inhaled deeply, catching the faint scent of her perfume.
Everything else remained: her favorite jewelry, the winter plum she had personally trimmed. Only her presence was missing—no silhouette, no cheerful voice. The night was cold and silent.
His wife had been taken from him.
Luo Shenyuan sat for a long time, feeling as if the warmest part of his life had been stolen. He couldn’t gather his thoughts, only sensing an urge for destructive revenge. She had been gone for just a day, yet it seemed all the darkness within him was about to break loose.
He slowly caressed the rabbit fur on the cloak, imagining her still by his side. In his mind, they sat together by the fire as usual, with her sleeping against him. This fantasy slightly eased the suffocating feeling of drowning in despair.
Outside, snow began to fall again.
Luo Yining finally awoke, her neck aching more than before, her head groggy.
Usually, she would wake up beside him as he read or wrote, always indulging her desire to sleep in his arms. Now, she saw only an unfamiliar ceiling. A single oil lamp cast weak, flickering light in the room. She made out a canopy bed, an eight-immortal table, and a folding screen. The sparsely furnished space didn’t seem meant for long-term habitation.
Yining massaged her neck and noticed her shoes were missing. Wearing only silk stockings, she walked to the window and opened it. Outside, a snowstorm raged, with the north wind driving snow chaotically. A dead peach tree stood nearby, its branches broken by the wind. Not far away, a stable’s trough was covered in snow, with horses huddled inside to escape the cold. Many guards stood with their backs to her, indicating tight security.
She stood there briefly, her hands and feet quickly growing numb from the cold. The wind seemed to pierce through her clothes, chilling her to the bone. Yining calmly reasoned that escaping in such weather would likely result in freezing to death.
What would her third brother do when he discovered her missing? He must be worried. Cheng Lang’s sudden move surely caught him off guard, leaving no time to give chase.
Suddenly, dogs barked and footsteps approached. Yining turned sharply as the door opened.
Cheng Lang entered, wearing a black fox fur cloak, snow on his shoulders, carrying a food box. Seeing Yining by the open window with snow blowing in, he strode over to close it, blocking the frigid wind. He felt her shoulder and frowned, removing his cloak to wrap around her. “You knew guards were outside. Why look? Even if you could leave, it’s cold enough to freeze water instantly. You’d die of exposure. Don’t you believe that?”
As he moved to fasten the cloak, Yining stopped his hand and returned it to him. “I don’t want it,” she said coolly, her tone unchanged yet conveying extreme distance.
The cold returned as Cheng Lang held the rejected cloak, his hand faltering slightly.
Yining walked to the table, not refusing the food. She was already thin and hadn’t eaten in a long time. In this cold weather, she wouldn’t last long without nourishment.
She opened the food box Cheng Lang had brought. Inside was a bowl of chicken soup with radish, stir-fried tofu with cured meat, steamed egg custard, and some fresh cucumber slices. She wondered where Cheng Lang had found these dishes in such frigid weather. They were certainly not in the capital anymore; it was even colder here.
Steam rose from a heaping bowl of rice as Yining began to eat with chopsticks. “Where are we?” she suddenly asked. “You’ve taken me out of the capital, haven’t you?”
Cheng Lang stood behind her, resisting the urge to drape the cloak over her shoulders. Given her temperament, she would surely refuse, and pushing the issue might provoke her to resist violently or look at him with hatred.
A pang of anguish struck Cheng Lang as he realized how much her coldness affected him. He longed for the gentle Yining who had held him on her knee and taught him to read. Any hint of her indifference, disgust, or contempt cut him like a knife.
“We’ve passed Yanmen Pass and are on the way to Ying County,” Cheng Lang said, sitting beside her. “The carriage has been traveling day and night. We originally planned to reach Datong by the second day, but the blizzard forced us to rest at this post station and change horses. Once the snow stops, we’ll continue and should reach Datong soon.”
Yining’s heart sank as she listened. They had already passed Yanmen Pass! It was clear they had been racing along prepared routes with fresh horses—this had been meticulously planned. A tightness gripped her chest; she thought she had calmed down, but anger surged anew. Cheng Lang… Cheng Lang had betrayed her to join Lu Jiaxue! Her careful nurturing and indulgence had led to this! Cheng Lang was now Lu’s lackey. All talk of loyalty and righteousness had been merely a ruse to deceive her!
Unable to contain her fury, she set down her chopsticks and raised her hand, nearly striking his beautiful face.
He was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.
But she didn’t follow through. What would be the point? To vent her anger?
Cheng Lang smiled at her reaction. “Did you want to hit me? I understand. After all, I initially said I would avenge you, then suddenly betrayed you to serve Lu Jiaxue. You should be angry.”
He grabbed her hand. “If you want to hit me, why not do it?”
Yining pulled her hand away, no longer able to eat as her chest heaved with emotion. “Cheng Lang, for all these years, I’ve treated you like my own son. Why are you doing this? I never asked for repayment. When you abandoned me in my time of need and abducted me, did I say a word against you? Why are you doing these things? Is it fun for you?”
Cheng Lang gripped her hand again, his words ice-cold: “Have you forgotten I’m a politician, the coldest of all? I’ll do anything for power. What are you to me?”
He knew how hurtful these words were, but they needed to be said. Indeed, he was someone who would use any means to achieve his goals, even helping Lu Jiaxue if necessary. This wasn’t a lie.
Yining jerked her hand away, unable to look at him. Tears welled up, but she didn’t cry. Closing her eyes, she said, “Get out… Get out!”
She trembled, unsure if it was from cold or anger. In this freezing weather, even if she ran, she couldn’t make it back. The more she thought about it, the more despair overwhelmed her.
“Finish your meal. The snow should stop soon,” Cheng Lang said, picking up the cloak from the floor. They should have departed already, but he decided to let her calm down a bit more.
After hearing the door close, Yining sat at the table and slowly ate. The food had gone cold. It had been warm when he first brought it. She drank all the chicken soup, but her head grew increasingly foggy. Her hatred intensified as she realized he had drugged the food, ensuring she couldn’t escape.
A while later, Cheng Lang returned. The snow had mostly stopped outside. Yining had become drowsy again, which was for the best. Though he wasn’t worried about her escaping—she was still just a woman with no physical strength—he feared she might injure herself in the freezing weather if she tried. Cheng Lang lifted her in his arms.
Before dawn, he carried Yining to the carriage.
Though it was still dark, the vast snowy wilderness was visible all around. They resumed their journey as soon as the snowstorm abated. It was crucial to reach Datong quickly; otherwise, he feared she might not endure.
Lu Jiaxue had remained in the capital to handle important matters. After all, only he could deal with the alliance between the Oirat and Tatar tribes. But in a month or two at most, Lu Jiaxue would surely return to Datong in his capacity as Xuanfu-Datong Provincial Military Commander. Given Yining’s current aversion to him, what would happen when Lu Jiaxue arrived?
Lu Jiaxue was not an easy man to deal with.