Situ Sheng lying there motionless like that made it impossible for Chu Linlang to concentrate on shaking her tortoise shell — she had to keep reaching out every so often to check beneath his nose, to see if he was still breathing.

After she shook out yet another gravely inauspicious sign, Chu Linlang lost patience, flung the tortoise shell aside in frustration, and gave up divining altogether.

She took a deep breath, fixed her gaze on Situ Sheng’s handsome closed face, and gave the matter serious thought: if he truly died in her carriage, where could she bury his body in the most discreet manner possible to preserve her reputation?

She thought about it for a while, then reached out to check beneath his nose again.

But this time, the moment her fingers moved close, Situ Sheng suddenly opened his eyes. His dark gaze seemed to hold within it a thousand years of frost, and he glanced down at the impudent slender finger hovering below his nose.

Chu Linlang gave an awkward smile, and smoothly moved her hand lower, pulling the blanket up for him in a considerate manner: “It’s cold in the carriage. Lord Situ, please keep warm.”

Whether Situ Sheng believed her or not was unclear. He merely looked at her for a moment, then closed his eyes again and lay still.

Chu Linlang could not very well keep testing him, so she pressed her lips together and stared out the window — a dense stretch of forest all along the way, any number of ideal spots to dispose of a body, but there was no iron pickaxe in the carriage. What was to be done…

But just at that moment, Situ Sheng let out a muffled groan and, looking down at the wound on his arm, said very quietly: “This is bad — it seems the blade that cut me had poison on it…”

Chu Linlang jolted upright, startled: “Then… are you going to die in my carriage?”

Situ Sheng did not answer, but fortunately Chu Linlang had earlier bound his arm tightly with a strip of cloth, slowing the spread of the poison somewhat. The wound was going numb, but the toxin was not moving quickly — it was likely not a lethal variety, more the kind hunters used to fell prey.

Those people had originally intended to knock him unconscious on the spot…

As long as the poison could be drawn out, he should be fine. He tried to suck out the wound with his own mouth, but the angle of the injury was too awkward — he simply could not reach it.

Chu Linlang could see what he had in mind, and looked on with anxious urgency at his slow, halting attempts.

In the end, she simply steeled herself, pushed Situ Sheng’s head out of the way, took a sharp breath, pressed her lips firmly to the wound on his arm, and sucked hard — drawing out all of the poisoned blood in one pull.

Situ Sheng may have felt the sharp pain, for he went rigid all at once, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth.

Chu Linlang had no attention to spare for him — she drew several more long, deep pulls, then spat the contaminated blood onto the blanket beside her.

Situ Sheng lowered his eyes. All he could see was a stretch of snow-white neck peeking out from the fuzzy collar, framed beneath a sweep of jet-black hair.

And the slender back bent over him, and the rosy pink brocade skirt encasing a waist he could have circled in one hand — all of it lay before him without concealment…

Somehow, it called to mind words the inebriated officials had bantered about at a banquet some time past, teasing Zhou Sui’an: “Of all the official wives in Lianzhou, everyone else has women as weathered and dark as earth. How is it that only your household keeps one as white and soft as a snowball? What’s your secret?”

And now, this snowball-soft Madam Chu was working diligently to treat his wound. Yet she seemed not to have noticed that her soft body had also pressed itself against him in the process… Actually, the last time at the city gate, when they were watching an execution, she had accidentally knocked into his back as well…

He drew a deep breath, and looked away from the mound of dark hair resting against his arm, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, as though struggling to hold something at bay.

It was not until the tainted blood ran clear that Situ Sheng said in a low, hoarse voice: “That’s enough…”

Chu Linlang immediately reached for the teapot nearby to rinse out her mouth, in case she had inadvertently swallowed any of the poison.

Still somewhat uneasy, she asked quietly: “Are you certain it’s been drawn out completely? You absolutely cannot die in my carriage — I have no shovel in here to bury a body!”

Lord Academician’s eyes narrowed slowly, and he said in an unhurried tone: “Why not shake the tortoise shell once more and divine when I might draw my last breath, so you can plan the burial?”

Only then did Chu Linlang realize she had blurted that out in a moment of agitation, and immediately she laughed it off and fell silent.

The truth was, she was afraid of death herself — but she was even more afraid of Situ Sheng actually dying in her carriage. Weighing the two against each other, it had been worth the risk.

And if she had been unlucky enough to swallow some poison, she could simply faint conveniently and leave the whole wretched mess for that nuisance Situ Sheng to sort out.

As for things like propriety between men and women — those had been temporarily tossed out of Chu Linlang’s mind entirely.

Fortunately, heaven was merciful, and the thing she had feared most did not come to pass. The road proved smooth and uneventful, and they arrived at the carpenter’s shop without incident.

Chu Linlang had the carriage pulled around to the back of the shop, and sent the coachman and Xia He inside to press for the order.

Situ Sheng seized the moment while there was no one around to climb out of the carriage. He cradled his arm and was about to walk away, then stopped, turned back, and said quietly to Chu Linlang, who had not yet had a chance to catch her breath: “As for the matter of encountering me today — I ask that Madam keep it in strictest confidence, and say nothing of it even to Lord Zhou, to protect your own reputation.”

That did not need to be told — Chu Linlang understood this perfectly herself. This was the kind of thing to be taken to her grave. She would not breathe a word even if someone killed her.

Situ Sheng thought for a moment, his gaze settling on Chu Linlang’s face again: “I also know a little of the divinatory arts. To repay you for saving my life, allow me to read a hexagram for Madam. In a little while, the winds of fate in Lianzhou will shift. If Lord Zhou can be moved to a different posting, it would be of great benefit to the fortunes and destiny of your whole household…”

Chu Linlang was rather skeptical: “Can Lord Situ truly divine accurately?”

Situ Sheng gave a cold snort: “Not particularly accurately. But… somewhat more reliably than your tortoise shell.”

With that, he cradled his arm and strode away without looking back, disappearing swiftly among the smoky cooking fires of the village dwellings.

Xia He came out of the carpenter’s shop to find Chu Linlang standing beside the carriage, gazing into the distance.

Earlier, after attending to her own needs, Xia He had not been allowed inside the carriage. She had frozen out on the seat the whole way, and when she could no longer bear it, had finally ducked back inside the carriage, intending to find the hand-warmer.

But the moment she entered, she was startled by the blood-soaked blanket: “Madam, this… this…”

Chu Linlang climbed into the carriage as well, and quickly lowered the curtain. In a hushed voice she said: “My monthly bleeding came on suddenly and I accidentally got it on things. Don’t say a word.”

Xia He was left dumbstruck — the timing of her monthly cycle was not right at all. And besides, had the First Mistress flooded? How could a monthly flow produce this much blood?

But Chu Linlang’s expression darkened: “Not another word. Let us go back.”

Midway home, Chu Linlang used the excuse of needing to relieve herself again, had the carriage stopped, and with the coachman’s back turned, wrapped the blood-soaked blanket into a bundle, carried it down from the carriage, and dropped it through the ice-fishing hole in the river surface.

Though Xia He sensed something was not right, seeing how Chu Linlang went about things — and the gravity of her expression — she did not dare ask further questions.

After wiping down the inside of the carriage until it was clean, Chu Linlang finally realized how bone-deep tired her whole body was.

That nuisance Situ Sheng had given her such a fright that even her fever seemed to have had the sense to retreat.

She felt that those final words of Situ Sheng’s were not empty pleasantries. She did not think Situ Sheng was the kind who trusted in geomancy and divination the way she did — so what did he truly mean by those parting words? And how much of it could be believed?

Why had Situ Sheng, who ought to have been in the capital, appeared in Lianzhou without a sound? And who was bold enough to want his life so badly?

Chu Linlang could not work it out. The blood in the carriage had been wiped away, yet a faint, lingering scent of soapwort remained — the smell from Situ Sheng’s person — and it tangled with her churning thoughts, pulling at Chu Linlang’s racing nerves without restraint.

By the time the carriage reached the city gate, soldiers from a nearby garrison were assisting the gate officers in inspecting every carriage entering the city. Not even the carriage of the prefectural judge’s wife was exempt.

Chu Linlang had no choice but to step out of the carriage and stand to one side, waiting for the soldiers to search the interior. Fortunately, she had cleaned things up thoroughly, and nothing out of the ordinary was discovered.

By the time she arrived home, it was already approaching evening. Zhou Sui’an had not yet returned.

Chu Linlang sent someone to ask around at the home of a nearby clerking official — to find out why the city gate had suddenly been put on lockdown.

It was not long before word came back from inside the official offices: there had been a killing! A retired official in the neighboring county — a man who had once served in Lianzhou, whose son was the assistant magistrate of Ji Prefecture — had come to grief right within Lianzhou’s jurisdiction. The entire city was now hunting for the killer!

Hearing the servant’s report, Chu Linlang bit down on her fingertip in alarm. She was frightened — afraid that she had unwittingly helped a murderer escape.

If Situ Sheng truly was the one who had committed the killing, would she not be the very person responsible for letting the true culprit flee?

Chu Linlang paced several circles around the table, and made up her mind: the moment Zhou Sui’an returned, she would tell him the truth — that she had accidentally sheltered Situ Sheng.

Yes, a woman’s reputation was important — but she could not lend aid and cover to someone who had acted without conscience or law!

Just as Chu Linlang had reached her decision, Zhou Sui’an at last returned from outside the city.

He did not go to the new concubine’s courtyard, but came directly back to Chu Linlang’s room, and without even waiting for her to speak, said with an air of someone eager to show off: “You always have your ear to the ground — I wonder if you’ve heard anything?”

What Chu Linlang had heard was quite a lot indeed! But none of it was fit to share with Zhou Sui’an, so she probed by asking in return: “What’s this all about — where does one even begin?”

Zhou Sui’an drained three large cups of cold tea in quick succession before lowering his voice and saying: “In the neighboring county, there was nearly a killing!”

Chu Linlang’s eyes gave a small jump. She ventured cautiously: “Nearly? So — no one died?”

Zhou Sui’an nodded: “The moment the assailant struck, a servant happened to stumble upon the scene. By all accounts, two people were fighting inside the room, so the servant called for help. In the commotion, both fled — one of them injured. Later, someone discovered a body in a grassy meadow nearby, but of the other person there was no trace. So the city gates in several surrounding prefectures have been put under strict inspection, hoping to find the one who ran.”

Chu Linlang pressed him urgently: “You still haven’t said whether the person died or not!”

Zhou Sui’an continued: “That retired official is a man of truly remarkable fortune — everyone thought he was beyond saving, yet he somehow managed to draw breath again. I went to the neighboring county and heard the report from the county magistrate himself. He spoke in fragments about what had happened. He said that when the assailant came to cut his throat, a young gentleman suddenly burst in and blocked the blade with his own arm, then grappled with the masked attacker — and that is how he managed to survive by a hair. In all the confusion, the retired official could not make out who the gentleman was, and is not yet well enough to go and identify the body. His wound is quite deep — even speaking causes his voice to leak air…”

Having said all of this, he looked over to find Chu Linlang gnawing anxiously on her fingernails, and could not help laughing: “Look at how frightened you are. Don’t worry — all the officials’ residences in the prefecture have been given additional soldiers. That killer cannot reach our household!”

He thought his wife had been frightened by the murder case, and hastened to reassure her.

Little did he know that his wife was turning the situation rapidly over in her mind.

She needed to determine the truth: had Situ Sheng been the one doing the killing — or the one who had stepped in to block the blade? She prayed she had not sheltered a murderous madman.

A distinguished academician to the imperial prince, traveling a great distance to Lianzhou to commit murder — no matter how she turned it around, it made no sense.

But why had he appeared at the scene of the killing without any prior warning? What dark current and hidden vortex lay beneath all of this?

Zhou Sui’an had come to gossip about official business, but really had been looking for something to say. As it was, he had barely managed a few sentences before a knocking matron called him away again.

Zhao Shi was now keeping a close watch over her son, terrified that Zhou Sui’an would keep wasting his time on Chu Linlang, the way one tries to grow crops in barren salt flats.

Chu Linlang paid no heed to her mother-in-law’s scheming at this point. That night, she spent far more time thinking about Situ Sheng than she spent thinking about Zhou Sui’an.

That man — he truly seemed to be her opposite in the stars, fated to make her anxious and lose sleep every single time they crossed paths!

After several days of anxiety, the badly injured retired official had recovered enough to go and make an identification — and confirmed that the body was indeed that of the attacker who had wounded him.

Once Chu Linlang was certain that the body was not Situ Sheng’s, she let out a long breath.

It seemed she had not, after all, aided and abetted a killer. Since she had done a good deed, and Situ Sheng clearly did not wish it to be known, there was no need for her to speak of it and drag herself into this mire of murky business.

As for what Situ Sheng had said about divining official fortunes, Chu Linlang had also set that aside and let it fade entirely from memory.

Chu Linlang kept her secret tucked away inside her, while Zhou Sui’an, for his part, had no cause for any comfort either.

The case of the attack in the neighboring county was dropped in the end without resolution, no one knew quite how.

And his bitter rival Zhang Xian, having returned from the capital, was as if he had acquired the tail feathers of a phoenix and gilded his own image — his arrogance and overbearing manner worse than ever, putting absolutely no one in his eyes.

There were even several occasions when Zhang Xian spoke in cutting, insinuating tones that left the Governor himself without a graceful way out in front of his colleagues.

As for the young hothead Zhou Sui’an who had once struck him across the face, Zhang Xian had never once ceased to remember it.

For small men nurse their grudges — they always have, and they always will.

—