Chu Linlang panicked. Watching Situ Sheng slowly lean down toward her, she quickly propped herself up — only to see Situ Sheng merely extending his hand toward her, apparently just wanting to help her up.

But Linlang had a feeling that what he had intended just a moment ago may not have been something so simple.

Back when her foot had been injured, Situ Sheng had carried her around quite a bit.

Chu Linlang was no fool. In all these mundane daily moments, how could she not sense that Situ Sheng treated her just slightly differently from how he treated others?

She knew she could not bear children, but she was also well aware she had some degree of beauty. If a man were to be bewitched by appearances, unable to resist his nature, and developed a certain fondness for her — that was unavoidable.

But she knew — and Situ Sheng himself ought to know as well — that this little fondness was best kept hidden quietly at the bottom of one’s heart.

If it were brought out into the open, not only would things become awkward between the two of them, she would no longer have any reason to remain here.

The reason was simple: she and Situ Sheng could not possibly have any future together.

A man at the height of his official career — even if he had some personal imperfection, it wouldn’t matter. A man of great use to the court would never lack for a wife. A woman like her, even serving as his chamber maid, would become a laughingstock among his colleagues.

And although Chu Linlang came from a poor background, had been divorced, and could not have children, she did not think of herself as someone lowly who needed a man to prop her up, to come to such a pitiful end as selling her charms and submitting herself to someone.

She could support herself, and she had no desire to get entangled in the kind of messy complications that came with a man of his standing.

Since they were like a fish and a bird — creatures that could never come close to one another — then it was best to maintain a proper master-and-servant bond, to walk a stretch of road together, and then part ways and bid each other farewell. That way, their acquaintance from childhood would not be in vain.

Lord Situ should understand this as well. Though he was very attentive and caring toward her, he always stopped at the bounds of propriety in public, never putting her in an awkward position before others.

As for the subtle undercurrents in private — well, that was a mutual, unspoken secret between the two of them. As long as neither brought it up with anyone else, it was fine.

Chu Linlang had always been comfortable with the way things were. She felt this was the beauty of spending time with a clever man — when both parties knew they weren’t the other’s cup of tea, even if one craved a taste, they still followed the rules and didn’t reach for the chopsticks.

Yet she also felt that Situ Sheng couldn’t really be counted as a gentleman either. Sometimes, in private, he would deliberately play at being confused.

Just like now — after pulling her up, he quite openly reached out and began tidying her loosely scattered hair.

Chu Linlang felt this was entirely inappropriate. She slapped his hand away with a snap and glared at him: “What are you doing?”

Situ Sheng took down her hair pin, letting the dark tresses cascade free. Then he reached out and began gathering her long hair, saying as though it were perfectly natural: “Your hair is a mess. I’m just fixing it for you — surely you don’t want to go out looking like this? Oh, and by the way, that hair style you taught me last time — I’ve finally gotten it. Take a look and tell me if I’m doing it right.”

What he meant by “last time” was the incident when Chu Linlang had injured her foot.

The two of them had fallen asleep practicing calligraphy in the study. Her hair pin had somehow gotten caught in Situ Sheng’s bun again.

At the time, there had been no mirror in the study. Situ Sheng’s hands had been too clumsy — no matter how she tried to teach him, he couldn’t get it right, and in the end her hair hadn’t been properly fixed.

But now there was a bronze mirror in the room. Even if her hair were messy, she certainly didn’t need him to deal with it.

Nevertheless, Situ Sheng persisted in wanting to practice his technique. He held her by the sleeve and led her to stand in front of the bronze mirror, had her sit down, and then positioned himself behind her, preparing to try his hand with her dark locks.

The man used his slender fingers as a comb, smoothing and gathering the hair along the temples. Each time his fingertips passed through, a faint shiver ran from her feet straight upward.

Linlang endured it without moving, simply staring at their reflections in the mirror.

This time, he was noticeably more skilled — she wondered what he had been practicing on before…

The figures reflected in the gleaming bronze mirror had a quality of familiarity, as though she had seen this scene before.

Back in the early days of her marriage, she had once shared the mirror with her husband, arranging each other’s hair and adorning her face with flowers.

But now the face reflected in the mirror was no longer the tender, youthful look of a carefree young girl, and the handsome man beside her was no longer her beloved husband.

Everything had a dreamlike quality about it — illusory and insubstantial, like a flower reflected in a mirror or the moon in water, as unreal as a dream without boundaries.

Chu Linlang no longer moved. She simply watched through the mirror as the man whose hands were accustomed to holding brushes and ink turned with a light, deft motion, binding her long ebony hair into a very presentable style.

While arranging her hair, Situ Sheng answered the question Chu Linlang had raised earlier: “I’m different from Xia Qingyun. You needn’t worry that I’m going to start a family. With you here at the residence, I can focus on my official duties without distraction. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have reconciled with Director Qi Gong either, and I certainly wouldn’t have the opportunities I have now…”

Chu Linlang knew he meant to observe mourning for the so-called “mother,” and so when he said he wouldn’t be starting a family, she assumed he meant he simply couldn’t marry during these two years of mourning.

So she replied openly, as if a weight had been lifted from her mind: “Not marrying for two years is hardly the same as never marrying at all. I’ve stayed with you far too long already — it will truly affect your reputation. A widow’s doorstep invites gossip, and a divorced woman is no different. If you can’t adjust to someone new, then at worst, before I leave, I’ll help train up a capable estate manager for you…”

Just as Situ Sheng was pinning her hair ornament back in, he leaned closer, his lips seemingly about to brush near Linlang’s ear. Reflected in the bronze mirror, it made for an image of unmistakable, inexpressible intimacy.

She heard the low, quiet voice knock gently at her ear: “I was never someone who deserved to have anything — couldn’t think about it, didn’t dare to think about it. But recently, I’ve been wondering whether I should try hard to find myself a different path. At the very least… to allow myself the luxury of this longing… to keep one person by my side…”

Chu Linlang felt a faint warmth rising at the tips of her ears. Words as suggestive as these were not fit to be responded to directly — the right move was to deflect them with a joke and let the moment pass.

She understood all of this perfectly. Yet the words, by the time they reached her lips, had subtly changed. She parted her lips and said softly: “…You know I won’t be anyone’s concubine.”

The voice came even closer, accompanied by a low murmur: “I know. And you should know — I cannot promise you anything right now. But watching you leave with someone else, I find I cannot bear that either… not yet. If I cannot protect you properly, then when the time comes for you to go, I will personally make arrangements for your departure. Would that be all right?”

And with these words — irresponsible as they sounded, seemingly unwilling to commit to anything — her back at last fell into a warm, solid embrace…

This embrace was entirely different from that earlier one in the carriage, the one offered for warmth and comfort.

That one had been the desperate, despairing reach of a lonely soul. This was a man full of intent, pressing his attentions upon a woman.

She could feel the man behind her reaching for something too precious for her to give.

At this moment, all she needed to do was refuse him firmly, struggle free from his improper embrace, pack up her belongings, and leave the capital together with the two maids and Xia Qingyun.

Even as her heart turned over these calculations, Linlang slowly turned her head. One hand gently cupped his jaw. Her large eyes, glistening and full of complexity, looked steadily into the man’s deep, dark gaze — and then she leaned in just slightly, her lips resting against his…

This time it was Situ Sheng whose body stiffened slightly, as though — yet again — he had not anticipated that the ever-unpredictable Chu Niangzi would respond quite like this.

But very quickly, he reversed the roles, drawing the woman closer and holding her more tightly.

In the moment their tongues tentatively met and tangled together, Linlang still found room to mock herself: she must have lost her mind — she had actually dared to reach out and take a bite!

She had meant to open her mouth to hand in her resignation notice — not to open her mouth to taste this man.

At this point, thinking about it was just a muddled blur. Accompanied by the clean, sharp scent of soapberry on her breath, and the rising, steaming warmth of their shared kisses, all rational thought was temporarily cast to the far corners of the sky…

That day, Xia He and Dongxue were out in the courtyard hanging bedding to dry.

After quite some time, they saw their young mistress emerge from Lord Situ’s bedroom.

The young mistress’s hair bun was perfectly neat, with faint traces of a fine comb having been run through it.

The two maids thought nothing of it. Then Dongxue suddenly caught a glimpse of a small red patch on the young mistress’s slender neck and asked offhandedly: “Young Mistress, what happened to your neck?”

Chu Linlang quickly covered her neck with her hand, then smiled with a hint of awkwardness: “A mosquito must have gotten into my room — I got bitten… I’ll… I’ll go back to my room to put some ointment on it.”

With that, her skirts swaying at a rapid pace, she scurried back to her bedroom in the adjoining courtyard — like a frog that had just leapt out of a pot of boiling oil.

The two maids still hadn’t noticed anything amiss. They chatted and laughed, debating what to have for dinner that evening.

It was only afterward that Dongxue muttered to herself: “Hm, it’s not even spring yet — how are there mosquitoes already?”

Chu Linlang walked back to her room at a brisk pace. The moment she pulled the door shut, her heart was pounding wildly.

Good heavens — someone please just put her out of her misery. Had she been possessed just now?

Why hadn’t she pushed him away? Instead, she had let him hold her, even tangled herself up with him lips and teeth together, and let him kiss his way right up her neck. It was only after quite a long while that she had come back to her senses, shoved him away, and bolted out the door.

Chu Linlang picked up the small mirror from the dressing table and checked — sure enough, the “big mosquito” had left quite a substantial red mark!

She turned around and sat down on the bed, kicked off her shoes, and lay back to collect herself.

But the moment she recalled the intimate closeness of what had just happened, she still couldn’t help but feel her face flush and her heart race.

That feeling of her heart nearly leaping out of her chest — it was something she had never felt even when she first got to know Zhou Sui’an.

Chu Linlang couldn’t make sense of it herself — how had she ended up making such a losing deal? Knowing perfectly well that nothing good could come of getting tangled up with this man, she had gone ahead and gotten involved with him anyway.

Then again, she was no saint. With such a fine-looking man right in her arms, losing her composure was only human.

She took a long, deliberate breath, and found herself wondering: what did “cannot promise” mean? Could it be that Situ Sheng wanted to be her… lover?

The scoundrel! Hearing that she wanted to leave, he had bewitched her with his looks, and then had the brazenness to tell her outright that he was just playing around — that he had no intention of marrying her, not even of taking her as a concubine.

And yet she was the one who had gone mad — listening to his shameless, irresponsible words, she had actually felt strangely relieved.

What else could she do? The man was too attractive. She had simply craved a taste, hadn’t been able to help herself from reaching out to sample something tender and fresh — but she didn’t want to pay the bill.

It was just a little stolen indulgence. If, like Prince Zhoumu and the Queen Mother of the West, they were to enjoy each other’s company for a few days and then part as equals with no debts between them — that kind of stolen pleasure was the stuff of timeless legend!

Between a man and a woman, the beginning was always the most beautiful. If you actually married and lived together for a long time, all those petty, trivial irritations were truly insufferable.

Situ Sheng, unable to see Linlang’s face, was in no hurry. He said simply: “Tilt your head up a little — the hair pin is nearly falling out…”

Qi Gong was narrow-minded by nature, and he had certainly not forgotten the girl who had humiliated him in public back then!

Seated at the center, surrounded by a circle of young women, was one who stood out in both looks and bearing — a young woman of elegant temperament and uncommon beauty. She was the youngest legitimate granddaughter of Yongning Gong, the maternal grandfather of the Crown Prince: Tao Yashu.

At these words, several of the other young ladies — all except Miss Tao — covered their mouths and laughed softly.

Qi Jingtang answered honestly: “It is to give women who are devoted to learning a place where they can continue their studies, so that they may grasp the fundamental principles and eventually become moral teachers to the children of the Jin dynasty.”

Of course, he did not know that his father still had words left unspoken.

This young woman was seventeen years of age, yet had remained without a betrothal for a considerable time. It was said that her appearance bore a seventy-percent resemblance to her late aunt — the deceased Empress Tao, who had been the Crown Prince’s mother.

Chu Linlang had only just escaped from a mess of tangled feathers, and had no desire to climb into another henhouse.

She was not consumed by attraction every waking moment — for instance, having just satisfied her craving a little while ago, she now felt considerably more clear-headed and composed.

This was exactly what Chu Linlang found comfortable about Situ Sheng.

No wonder this scoundrel could play two imperial princes off against each other while simultaneously getting on famously with his former political adversary Qi Gong.

Moreover, the Yilin Academy had maintained its illustrious reputation for twenty years without decline. To be admitted and complete one’s studies at its newly established sub-academy — the Rongling Women’s Academy — was a dowry worth more than any amount of gold!

But it was all useless to think about. For the remaining two days, Chu Linlang deliberately avoided Situ Sheng. She didn’t want to be bewitched again by his looks and honeyed words, and was afraid that Situ Sheng would push further if given an inch.

By the time Chu Linlang had started mulling things over and wondering whether she’d been tricked again by Situ Sheng’s smooth talk, the carriage had already arrived at the entrance of the Yilin Academy.

If he hadn’t dragged her out today, there was no telling how long she would have gone on hiding from him…

Hearing his father’s words, Qi Jingtang was full of shame, nodding agreement one after another.

The news about the Rongling Women’s Academy’s enrollment had been circulating in the capital for a while.

Besides these two, there were also a few other young women from noble and high-ranking families — every one of them from distinguished backgrounds, poised and self-assured.

Fortunately, after the move, there were endless trivial matters to keep her occupied, more than enough to keep her level-headed. And Situ Sheng was wise enough to know not to press a retreating opponent. He made no tiresome attempts to pursue her.

This young woman’s background was also distinguished — she was the niece of Lady Consort Jing, who was currently highly favored in the palace. She had earlier received an imperial commendation, and at the mere age of twelve, had been granted the title of Yixiu Junzhu.

The Rongling Women’s Academy was a sub-academy of the Yilin establishment. After passing through a secluded path lined with bamboo, one arrived at the entrance of the newly completed women’s academy.

Qi Jingtang, the eldest son of Qi Gong, and his wife were standing at the entrance to formally welcome the honored guests who had come to attend the incense-burning opening ceremony of the academy.

The stubborn old man had asked him sternly what the original purpose behind establishing the women’s academy was.

And so, when Situ Sheng proposed that his own female estate manager — whose calligraphy looked like earthworms crawling — should attend classes alongside those noblewomen, Qi Gong had shaken his head until it practically rattled like a rattle-drum, belittling Chu Linlang at length. And the stinging words he had delivered to his own son were actually lines that Situ Sheng had originally used to put him in his place.

After all, truly privileged women who loved learning could, even after marriage, continue their studies if their husband’s family was open-minded — it posed no problem.

When Lady Hua, wife of the Hanlin academician of the Qi family, introduced Chu Linlang and mentioned that this beautiful and spirited young woman was actually only the estate manager of a Deputy Minister’s residence, Yixiu Junzhu — sixteen years of age — couldn’t help but give a small, light laugh: “Lady Hua is far too kind. We are all here to study. Why on earth would you arrange for a servant to accompany us? It’s not as though we haven’t brought our own maids to wait on us.”

Chu Linlang could not resist him, and so was dragged along like this all the way out of the courtyard and toward the carriage waiting at the gate.

Chu Linlang’s eyes darted around as Situ Sheng watched her face with an amused, unhurried gaze.

The two maids, upon hearing this, each broke into a look of delighted surprise and stopped trying to hold Chu Linlang back. They even called out to her: “Congratulations, Young Mistress — to think you’ll get to go to an academy like that!”

And so Chu Linlang, guided by Lady Hua, made her way to the main hall of the Rongling Women’s Academy.

After all, the late Empress Tao was said to have been a woman of exceptional talent herself. Learning more could only be a benefit.

The Yilin Academy had undergone renovations the previous year and had separately opened a sub-academy called Rongling Women’s Academy.

And the one who could hold her own against Miss Tao in brilliance and radiance was another young woman — the luminous and vivid Yunxiu.

When Chu Linlang was facing books, she had a thin and fragile self-esteem — and Situ Sheng’s considerate flattery had sheltered it carefully, leaving her unexpectedly far less reluctant about the idea of entering the academy.

A woman like her, who only knew enough characters to scrape by — going to an academy like that would be nothing but exposing her own inadequacy.

With her father’s recommendation smoothing the way, even though Chu Linlang’s background was genuinely not very distinguished and she was currently just a servant working as an estate manager at a Deputy Minister’s residence, Qi Jingtang’s wife, Lady Hua, still greeted her with a smile and treated her with due courtesy.

And yet her current identity was that of a mere servant working as an estate manager in a Deputy Minister’s residence — and beyond that, a divorced woman who had been sent away. In what capacity was she to mingle with those noblewomen?

Yixiu Junzhu continued, with no attempt at subtlety: “What kind of women come here to study? And yet you bring in a serving staff member to sit alongside us — are you trying to insult us?”

Fortunately, although Situ Sheng had been promoted, his habit of not seeking out social connections had not changed significantly. For the vast majority of invitation cards, he observed the courtesy of sending a gift without showing up in person.

When she heard Situ Sheng say this, Chu Linlang momentarily forgot to keep struggling, and just like that was pulled right into the carriage.

She felt that the nonsense Situ Sheng was spouting had nothing to do with anything at all. No longer thinking about keeping her distance from him, she got into the carriage and asked: “What nonsense were you just saying?”

Ordinary women’s schools would not operate in such a manner. But the Rongling Academy had chosen to do precisely the opposite — providing a place for women who had received some education in their youth to continue refining their literary and artistic accomplishments. Surprisingly, this approach had been warmly welcomed by the great scholars and wealthy families of the city.

Chu Linlang was a little taken aback. This kind of women’s academy was designed for noblewomen with an existing foundation of learning. Word had it that the student body included county ladies and even provincial princesses…

Being highly educated scholars, they were typically the last to speak openly of money or material things. Yet he did not speak disparagingly of money. Instead, he said that earning money was not difficult for Chu Linlang — rather, he hoped she might challenge herself with something harder.

The dead troublemaker — he had the nerve to mock her as if nothing had happened! Linlang felt she really shouldn’t be acting so coy about all this. It wasn’t as if she were some tender young cucumber still wearing its flower. Why should she be the only one blushing after the two of them had exchanged a few liberties?

At these words, a hush fell over the room. All the noblewomen looked at one another in disbelief, wondering if Lady Hua was making a joke.

When the opportunity arose, she still needed to make things clear to that scoundrel — a moment of confusion didn’t mean either of them should take it to heart.

Seated here were over a dozen young women of marriageable age, each dressed in tasteful finery of distinguished quality — all of them candidates who had come hoping to pass the entrance examination and be admitted.

Everything at the Situ residence seemed to carry on as usual. Although new servants had been added and a deputy estate manager for purchasing had been hired, the estate manager who held the household account books and keys was still Chu Niangzi.

Lady Hua knew that Chu Linlang had not been long in the capital, and that her former husband had apparently been only a sixth-rank civil official, so she would not have had exposure to these noblewomen. With a warm smile, she picked out a few of the more important ones to introduce to her.

However, if the plan were to groom her for entry into the palace, she shouldn’t really have come to this academy in the first place. It seemed that Miss Tao had long admired the teaching masters of the academy and had personally pleaded with her grandfather to be allowed to come and cultivate her character and temperament here.

So others speculated that Lord Tao had kept Tao Yashu from being betrothed all this time because he intended to have his granddaughter enter the palace — to soothe the Emperor’s grief over his late wife and revive the Tao family’s glory as imperial in-laws.

When he first heard his father suggest enrolling a serving woman from someone’s household into the school, Qi Jingtang had kept shaking his head, asking his father why he would propose something so absurd.

When Qi Jingtang saw Situ Sheng approaching with a slender, graceful young woman, he knew at once that this must be the female estate manager his father had once mentioned — the one who had turned his own argument against him with a single word about the law.

Qi Gong had also said: “When Confucius established his school long ago, he accepted three thousand disciples — ranging from royal princes and noble sons at the top, to merchants and common men at the bottom. No one ever saw that great sage of his sort things out by the social standing of his students. If this Chu woman is female and devoted to learning, why should you turn her away based on the distinction between noble and low birth? If you are really going to carry on like this, you might as well change the name of your academy — instead of ‘Rongling,’ rename it ‘Difficult to Enter’ or ‘For the Privileged Only’!”

In the Jin dynasty, women typically married at the age of sixteen or seventeen. So if the academy were to enroll this type of young woman, they would often leave before completing their studies, having to withdraw to get married.

As for the matter of being bewitched by his looks — that, at least, was not such a big problem.

At the time, Qi Gong had been so thoroughly rebutted that his mustache bristled upward, and for a moment he could not find a single word to say in reply. He then turned around and delivered these exact same words squarely into his own son’s face.

Before she had re-armed herself properly, she needed to lay low for a while.

Today, with both academies newly constructed, the incense-burning inauguration ceremony was to be held, and Qi Gong had his son send Situ Sheng an invitation.

Chu Linlang lowered her head, refusing to look at him, and muttered that she was feeling unwell and that a gathering of great scholars and distinguished personages was no place for someone as unlettered as herself.

These past two days, the two of them had clearly been living under the same roof, yet no matter what he tried, he couldn’t catch a moment with her. It was plain to see that this woman wasn’t just good at retreating into her shell — she was an expert at hiding inside it.

The most obvious change was that the number of invitation cards arriving at the residence had recently increased considerably. Chu Linlang had assumed that after separating from Zhou Sui’an, she would no longer need to keep track of all the noble households in the capital. Yet she now found herself having to manage matters far more complicated than those she had dealt with as the wife of a sixth-rank official.

Techniques like that alone were enough to keep her studying for half a lifetime!

Only Qi Gong’s invitation was one he would never decline. Qi Gong’s eldest son was also a man of broad learning and deep reading — a Hanlin academician, and the founder of the renowned Yilin Academy in the capital.

Situ Sheng replied calmly: “The academy has established a women’s school, and I’ve registered Chu Niangzi for it. But she’s been too lazy to go, so I’m bringing her along personally to meet the examining masters.”

Before leaving, Situ Sheng had Dongxue summon Chu Linlang and instructed her to accompany him.

Lady Hua gave a light cough and looked at Chu Linlang, who had remained composed and unruffled throughout the exchange, a faint smile on her face. Lady Hua spoke up to clarify: “Junzhu has misunderstood. She is here to study alongside all of you, just the same.”

Unlike other women’s schools that enrolled young girls for elementary instruction, this academy catered to older women.

Thinking this over, she took a deep breath, lifted her head with composure, and was just about to say something to cut herself free from the whole affair — when the man had already grabbed her by the sleeve and was striding out the door.

The two of them walking like that through the courtyard looked entirely improper. Dongxue and Xia He, seeing them, hurried after them and called out: “Hey, my lord — why are you dragging Chu Niangzi along like that?”

Situ Sheng disagreed, and replied composedly: “Earning money is the easiest thing in the world for you, isn’t it? While you’re still young, you ought to try something harder — only then will you know whether you can do it or not. Opening your eyes to a wider world will benefit your business as well.”

Chu Linlang, unable to hold back, gave him a fierce glare and said loudly: “Was that deliberate? Knowing perfectly well what my weakness is, you’d still have me embarrass myself in public! Not to mention I’m busy with my business — where would I find the time to study?”

With the master’s change of position, it was as one man rising to power and carrying all those around him along with him — even the estate manager of the household could suddenly feel the sky-and-earth shift in their situation.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to refuse,” Situ Sheng said. “I’ve only secured you an interview slot — whether you can get past the masters is entirely up to your own abilities.”

Seeing that she had finally turned her face toward him to speak, Situ Sheng smiled and said: “It’s not nonsense — it’s true. The Director has always been fixated on your calligraphy. So when I asked whether you might be allowed to enroll as well, Qi Gong said you could come and give it a try.”

Here, the male and female guests were separated. Situ Sheng remained in the front hall, exchanging pleasantries with the male guests and engaging in the customary poetry and literary conversation.