That dish had not been among the ones she had planned today.

She quietly asked a maid about it, and learned that the kitchen matron had been flustered and accidentally burned the fresh perch, so she had hastily pulled a few pieces of cured fish from the courtyard to fill the gap. In itself, that was not such a problem — after all, the Sixth Prince was quite taken with local specialties he couldn’t get in the palace, and frequently raised his chopsticks.

But Chu Linlang clearly remembered that Situ Sheng did not care for that flavor — the last time he had come to the Zhou household, he had hurried away the moment he caught a whiff of that fish.

She suddenly also recalled that the young “plague-child” back then had been equally repulsed by cured fish.

She had felt sorry for that wretched boy back then, and had once brought him a meal — and if she remembered right… it had been braised cured fish.

The plague-child had felt not the slightest gratitude for her kindness. First, the smell of the fish made him retch, and then he had upended that entire bowl of fish all over her brand new skirt.

That time, Chu Linlang had — in one of her rare moments — burst into tears in front of others. For that skirt had been specially made for her by a seamstress at her elder sister’s wedding, and was the only new garment she had ever worn from childhood that was not someone else’s hand-me-down.

But crying alone was no way to vent her fury. She remembered that in the end, she had pinned the wretched boy to the ground, sat on top of him, grabbed his collar, and beaten him…

These sealed memories of childhood mischief came tumbling out of her mind one after another, she did not know quite how.

When Chu Linlang thought about how she had once sat on top of Magistrate Situ and beat him, her forehead began to throb. She hastily stood up, intending to move that reeking plate of cured fish to somewhere far away from him.

But before her hand could touch the plate, she saw that Situ Sheng had already raised his chopsticks, picked up a piece of cured fish, and placed it composedly into his own mouth.

Eating one piece was not enough — he helped himself to two more sets of chopsticks’ worth before finally setting down his cup and taking a satisfied drink of wine.

Chu Linlang was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and reached for the fresh dish a maid was bringing over, inviting the others to continue eating.

But she had a sharp eye and noticed that the young manservant called Guanqi, standing behind Situ Sheng, was watching his master with a face full of worry — as if what he had swallowed was not fish but some kind of poison…

The guests ate and drank for another stretch. Situ Sheng seemed to have had too much wine and felt somewhat unable to hold it, so he rose and excused himself to use the privy.

When he stepped out of the hall and made his way to a corner near the outhouse in the outer courtyard, he could no longer suppress the churning nausea — and bent over a nearby shrub and retched.

Guanqi patted his back in sympathy, saying: “Why did you have to force yourself to eat that dish, Master?”

Situ Sheng retched for a while, then straightened up, took the purple-clay teapot Guanqi handed him, and rinsed his mouth. He said nothing in reply.

But Guanqi understood perfectly well why his master had put himself through that ordeal, and said indignantly: “Could it be she recognized you, and is deliberately using the cured fish to test you?”

Noble guests at the door — who would serve the cheap, pungent cured fish that only the poor ate? Yet the Zhou household had done precisely that, and placed it right in front of the master.

One could not help but suspect that this woman surnamed Chu… had discovered something, and was using that reeking fish to probe the master.

Situ Sheng half-closed his eyes. The foul taste spreading through his mouth had not yet dissipated. That rancid, fishy odor permeated deep into his bones, surging and spreading — like a dark current sweeping up, dredging the long-submerged shadowy memories from within him…

He had to press hard against them to keep the demon that was straining to break free from its shell under control.

After drinking the last of the tea in the purple-clay teapot, Situ Sheng once again stepped back into the dining hall.

The banquet was still in full swing. The ever-talkative Zhou Sui’an kept things from going cold, and with the wine loosening his tongue, he talked freely, sharing the experiences and anecdotes from his years of studying in the countryside.

Perhaps because Zhou Sui’an was at ease with wine and behaved entirely differently from his carefully measured manner in front of his superior, his witty remarks had the Sixth Prince laughing heartily. The Sixth Prince only now discovered that if one set aside official matters, this Zhou gentleman was actually a most entertaining person.

Even Xie Youran, who had been making dark faces at Situ Sheng, found herself with something to converse about.

But the moment Situ Sheng returned, the laughter at the banquet table noticeably diminished.

After all, he was the young mentor of the Sixth Prince — even though he never raised his voice or spoke harshly to the Prince in ordinary times, his position as teacher still carried weight.

When speaking in front of Situ Sheng, even the Sixth Prince felt he needed to be a little more measured.

And Second Miss Xie, nursing a resentment born of love turned to bitterness, watched Situ Sheng looking for reasons to pick a quarrel. Naturally she had lost any desire for cheerful conversation.

Situ Sheng seemed not to notice that his arrival had cooled the atmosphere. He only looked toward the space in front of his seat — and found that the plate of sauce-braised cured fish that had been there a moment ago was now gone.

He asked, with a seemingly casual air: “That plate of fish tasted quite good — has it all been eaten so quickly?”

Zhou Sui’an immediately explained: As it turned out, Chu Linlang had also eaten two pieces from it just a moment ago, and said the taste seemed off — the cured fish might have spoiled. Afraid the honored guests might upset their stomachs, she had the maid take it away and had a large bowl of roasted pears with rock sugar and preserved fruits brought up instead.

Everyone had been deep in animated conversation, and no one had paid any attention to Madam Chu’s actions.

But when Situ Sheng heard Magistrate Zhou’s explanation, he gave Chu Linlang a light, unhurried glance.

Chu Linlang kept her expression composed, though inwardly she was quietly regretting it, feeling she had been too obvious — perhaps she should not have taken that plate of fish away.

At that moment, Second Miss Xie decided to make trouble, and asked Situ Sheng with a cold laugh whether his love for that fish was because like draws to like — that a pedantic man naturally loves rotting fish?

The Sixth Princess Consort had not originally intended to bring her sister today. It was Xie Youran who had insisted on coming.

She had thought her sister had come around and was no longer averse to seeing Master Situ. She had not expected her to be so insolent at the dinner table.

Situ Sheng, however, acted as if he had not heard a word, and simply drank his wine steadily — wearing the detached air of a gentleman who did not stoop to argue with women, and making no attempt whatsoever to give Second Miss Xie any way to save face.

The Princess Consort as the elder sister was also left looking bad with him, and with a deeply uncomfortable expression, she secretly pinched Xie Youran’s thigh under the table.

Chu Linlang was an expert at smoothing things over. Seeing the banquet table on the verge of erupting into a full confrontation that would blow the roof off the Zhou household, she immediately clapped her hands and said she had several clusters of flowers she had transplanted from Lianzhou that were now in full bloom, and if they were used for hair ornaments they would be lovely — and invited the Princess Consort and Second Miss Xie to come admire the flowers and pin a few blossoms in their hair.

At that, the Sixth Princess Consort squeezed her sister’s arm and finally managed to drag her away to the back garden’s greenhouse.

Chu Linlang pretended to go fetch a pair of scissors, but in truth slipped out to the outer courtyard for a moment’s respite, giving the Princess Consort space to scold her sister to her heart’s content.

As for this courtyard that had been assigned to them — it was a great deal larger than what they had in Lianzhou. The outer yard had not yet been staffed with servants, since the Zhou household’s help were all in the kitchen assisting with cooking. This made it exceptionally quiet.

Chu Linlang sat on a long bench along the wall, idly plucking at the newly opened apricot blossoms drooping from the branches overhead.

Just then, a voice broke in overhead: “Why is Madam here alone?”

Chu Linlang turned to look, and found that Situ Sheng had also come alone to this empty courtyard, seemingly from nowhere.

With neither of them attended by servants, an unaccompanied man and woman alone together was deeply improper. Chu Linlang immediately stood up, preparing to go find the Princess Consort.

But Situ Sheng blocked the only exit from the courtyard, leaving her unable to leave.

Chu Linlang simply arched a brow and looked at Situ Sheng. Situ Sheng looked back at her, his gaze deep and probing.

To avoid awkwardness, Chu Linlang could only smile and ask: “Did you eat enough, Magistrate? Why did you leave the table so early?”

Situ Sheng said lightly: “The dish I wanted to eat was taken away. Naturally I am satisfied.”

Chu Linlang thought for a moment and spoke with candor: “Truly, I apologize for that. But the last time you visited our Lianzhou household, I noticed you seemed not to care much for cured fish — and so I had someone take the plate away. After all, that fish has a smell many people find hard to endure. If you do enjoy it, feel free to take some home with you.”

As she said this, she casually plucked a piece of fish hanging to dry on one side of the courtyard wall and held it out toward Situ Sheng.

But with the fish uncooked, the smell was even stronger, and Situ Sheng’s extended hand slowed almost imperceptibly.

Chu Linlang, resigned, hung the fish back up, and smiled as she offered Situ Sheng a way out: “I thought it was only my husband who liked to put on a brave face. Turns out you are even more so, Magistrate. You are no longer a child — even if you are fussy about food, no one is going to spank your backside for it. Why force yourself?”

With the cured fish taken away, Situ Sheng visibly relaxed a little. Listening to Chu Linlang’s teasing words, he paused and said: “In the past I truly did not like it, but your household’s cook is not bad…”

And so the topic naturally shifted to the local flavors of Chu Linlang’s hometown.

Chu Linlang half-heartedly responded, her whole heart bent on leaving this courtyard quickly.

But Magistrate Situ was clearly enjoying the conversation and showed no sign of stopping. He talked about Magistrate Zhou’s recent achievements in water management, while Chu Linlang could only smile and keep up with the pleasantries. Situ Sheng then said leisurely: “Everything about Jizhou is fine — only there are too few bridges. Oh, do you still remember the stone bridge over the river where you pushed me in?”

Chu Linlang replied without thinking: “A stone bridge? It has always been a rope bridge there…”

The moment those words left her mouth, she gave a violent start and whipped around to stare at Situ Sheng.

At some point she could not say, Situ Sheng had drawn so close to her, and had pressed her up against the courtyard wall. His face still wore a smile, but the warmth did not reach his eyes.

That day in the rain, he had noticed something off about Chu Linlang. He had said something to provoke her, and yet she had gone blank and forgotten to retaliate, looking at him with that strange expression.

He had not thought too much of it at the time, but when he went back to change his clothes, the sight of the wet, transparent shirt made him abruptly understand the significance of that moment.

He well remembered that in their youth, she had pushed him into the water, and when he climbed out she had pointed at his back and berated him — saying his birthmark was the imprint of a turtle shell.

Situ Sheng had guessed she might have connected the dots.

And the cured fish served at the Zhou household dinner today had confirmed his suspicion.

She was too clever — she had indeed recognized him, and had even used the fish to test him.

At that thought, his gaze grew deep and dark, a dangerous light passing through his eyes, as cold and shadowed thoughts surged through his mind — if he wanted to frighten her, to seal her mouth completely, he had a thousand ways to do it…

Watching him open his mouth as if to say something — too late to cover it — Chu Linlang panicked, and in one reckless move, simply struck out…

With a loud crack, Situ Sheng’s face was sent clean sideways by this fierce woman’s open palm.

Chu Linlang grabbed his hand, yanked up his collar, and bearing down on him while dropping her voice to a fierce whisper: “You have deceived the emperor by altering your own background records — that has nothing to do with me! If it comes to light someday, only your head gets cut off! Stop trying to drag me into it! Before all this, I did not know who you were!”

Heavens — Situ Sheng was furious that she harbored a secret he could not afford to expose, and had dared to try probing her. Now he thought he could come to her and strike up the old acquaintance. That was outright deceiving the emperor, tampering with official records on his own — and if he wanted to drag someone down with him as a scapegoat, then he could forget about it!

As for any childhood playmate sentiment — all of it could go straight to perdition! She had a whole family to look after. She could not afford to play games like this with him!

Situ Sheng had truly not anticipated that when his secret was exposed, he would turn out to be the one getting a hand yanked up by the collar and being threatened into silence.

Madam Chu, so full of tricks, seemed to manage to catch him off guard every single time.

Still, what she said was not without reason. After all, no one in Jiangkou had ever known the true origins of him and his mother. In her eyes, he was simply a boy who had been too ashamed of his disgraceful past and had falsified his own records.

At this moment, his cheek was blazing with heat. Clearly this woman had held nothing back — her fierce, willful nature was identical to her childhood self, not one bit changed.

Just then, the sound of movement came from the other side of the courtyard wall: “Madam Chu, where are you? Have you found the scissors?”

Chu Linlang immediately called out in a bright, sweet voice: “Coming, just a moment!”

She quickly straightened the collar she had yanked askew on Situ Sheng, dropped her voice to issue one final warning: “I truly do not know who you are!”

Warning delivered, she shifted her expression again to a pleasant smile and asked: “Magistrate Situ, would you mind stepping aside? The Princess Consort and the others are still waiting for me to bring the scissors.”

Situ Sheng seemed to only now notice that he was blocking Madam Chu’s way. He seemed to draw in a deep breath, and with a completely blank expression, stepped a large step to one side.

Chu Linlang walked a few steps, then remembered the purpose of tonight’s gathering. She stopped and tried carefully, cautiously: “Magistrate… last time, my mood was not good, and if I spoke carelessly and gave offense, please do not take it to heart. And just now — I was truly agitated, which is why I lost my composure…”

This time, Magistrate Situ also became a touch more perceptive, and did not press Madam Chu further on why she had been in a bad mood last time. He only said calmly: “Every time I see Madam, I feel… as if touched by a spring breeze. You say you gave offense — which time would that be?”