“Cousin-in-law?” Shen Zhuxi said in shock.

“I’m your cousin — I’m his cousin-in-law… pah!” Bai Rongling spat loudly, his face full of fury. “I have nothing to do with him, nothing at all!”

“The deed is done, cousin-in-law. You’d best accept this reality sooner rather than later,” Li Wu said.

Shen Zhuxi’s mind was blown apart by the sudden explosion of information. She looked blankly at this young man who had abruptly become her cousin and said: “Which cousin are you of mine?”

“Which cousin could I possibly be? The Bai family has only one son of my generation, so naturally you have only one cousin!” Bai Rongling composed himself, and then suddenly rose, swept aside his robe, and knelt before Shen Zhuxi. “This common subject, Bai Rongling, pays his respects to Her Highness the Princess of Yue. Forgive me for coming too late — a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths. After the palace coup, my grandfather and father have been using the information network of our national banking houses to search for Your Highness. But there was never any news — until a few months ago, when this subject bought the jewelry Your Highness wore on the day you were married off from a caravan about to pass beyond the border. It was only then that I was able to follow the trail here.”

Bai Rongling raised his head, his expression earnest and sincere:

“My grandfather and father have been worrying constantly about Your Highness’s safety. Please allow this subject to escort Your Highness home. The Bai family will commit the full strength of our entire clan to help Your Highness return to the palace!”

The turbulent emotion that had surged inside Shen Zhuxi was extinguished entirely by the last sentence Bai Rongling spoke.

Her face went pale and she shook her head instinctively. “I’m not going back.”

“Why not?” Bai Rongling said, incredulous. Then, with fury, his gaze swept to Li Wu beside her. “Has Your Highness been threatened in some way?”

“No one has threatened me.”

Shen Zhuxi composed herself and helped Bai Rongling, who was still kneeling on the ground, to his feet.

“It is my own choice not to go back.”

“Why doesn’t Your Highness wish to return?” Bai Rongling’s face was full of suspicion and astonishment, as though he had just heard the most incomprehensible words in the world.

Truly incomprehensible — in the eyes of the world.

From the outside, Princess of Yue, accustomed to every luxury and abundance, marrying a man of common stock, confined to the position of an official’s wife without even a formal title — looked like imprisonment, like torment. Yet what the world did not know was that for her, that place of red walls and green rooftiles, that palace of pearls and treasures, was in truth the most wretched cage in all of existence.

“Hold on, hold on — the two hundred thousand hu of grain was for you to reveal your identity, not to try to lure my woman away from me right in front of my face!” Li Wu’s brow furrowed sharply in displeasure. “Two hundred thousand hu of grain to take my woman with you — do you think that’s enough? Are you tired of living?”

“Name your price for letting my cousin go,” Bai Rongling said, glaring furiously at Li Wu, looking for all the world as though he were some shameless scoundrel who had seduced an innocent young woman.

“No price would do it!” Li Wu said without a moment’s hesitation.

He fixed his gaze on Bai Rongling, laced his right hand over his left fist, and cracked his knuckles with a sharp snap — his sharp gaze like a blade pressed to Bai Rongling’s throat.

“I never take a loss, but I respect you as my cousin-in-law, so the old grievances between us are settled and done.” Li Wu said. “Whatever you do in the future — we settle it then. Understand what I mean?”

Bai Rongling stared at him with barely contained fury, not daring to say a word.

“Is Grandfather’s health well these days?” Shen Zhuxi hesitated for a long moment before finally asking.

Before her mother’s consort had lost favor, the Bai family had regularly sent things from Yangzhou, thousands of miles away. Her mother often read the family letters aloud to her, telling her about her life during her maiden years.

The Bai family had passed the line through a single son for generations — until this generation, which had produced two children. As the only daughter the Bai family had seen in a hundred years, her mother had been doted on and indulged from infancy.

Unlike Shen Zhuxi, who held a title but lacked its substance, her mother was the one who had truly grown up surrounded by every luxury and lavished with the adoration of all around her.

Even through letters alone, Shen Zhuxi had been able to feel the deep love the Bai family held for her mother.

At the Emperor’s fiftieth birthday celebration, the Bai family had been specially permitted to enter the palace and attend the imperial banquet. It was there that Shen Zhuxi had met her maternal grandfather for the first time. Throughout the entire banquet, he was the only one present whose livelihood came from trade — he held no official rank. While guests mingled in groups, cups raised and toasts exchanged all around, his table alone sat in quiet isolation.

Shen Zhuxi had been young then. She slipped away unnoticed, picked up a cup filled with fruit milk, and walked over to him.

She still remembered his expression of surprise and delight. She still remembered the tears that suddenly shimmered in those seemingly tranquil eyes. She still remembered that right hand that had moved toward her head — and quietly drawn itself back.

After the palace coup, she had thought of going to Yangzhou to find her maternal grandfather. But how could she, a woman alone and helpless, travel alone through half of Great Yan to reach Yangzhou? After her mother was confined to the Cold Palace, she had received no further news of her grandfather. Time had changed everything — she could not be certain that the Bai family would still welcome her.

And moreover, her older brother was still alive. If she bypassed him to seek refuge with her maternal family, it would only bring gossip down on both the imperial family and the Bai family.

All these concerns had kept her ties with her maternal family frozen at the moment of that long-ago birthday celebration.

“My grandfather is in excellent health. He leads a careful, measured life every day — the physician says his constitution is so well maintained that living to a hundred is entirely possible.” Bai Rongling muttered, “…I actually wish he’d grow a little more frail. At least when he’s applying the family’s disciplinary cane to my back, he could be a little more frail.”

“That is a relief,” Shen Zhuxi said, letting out a breath.

“Only…” Bai Rongling hesitated. “After the Noble Consort met with misfortune in the palace coup, my grandfather and grandmother both fell gravely ill and were bedridden for nearly half a year. Though they recovered afterward, they were never quite as they had been before. My grandmother especially — the grief she suffered was likely too deep. Her eyesight and hearing are not what they used to be.”

The scene before Shen Zhuxi’s eyes gradually blurred.

She had met her maternal grandfather only once and had never met her maternal grandmother at all, but through their shared connection to the Bai Noble Consort, Shen Zhuxi felt a grief that bound them all together.

Li Wu said nothing. He gently turned her toward him and used his thumb to lightly wipe away the tears falling from the corners of her eyes.

Bai Rongling was still glaring at him, and still looked for all the world like a man watching fresh flowers being trampled by cattle — but now there was a trace of confusion and surprise mixed into his gaze.

“Don’t be sad.” Li Wu said. “When the time comes, I’ll take you home myself.”

“Really?” Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help looking up, staring at him with wondering eyes.

“When have I ever lied to you?”

Li Wu lightly flicked a finger against her forehead — a seal pressed in promise.

Shen Zhuxi broke into a tearful laugh and nodded firmly. “Alright, I won’t be sad anymore.”

Bai Rongling: “…”

He dragged out an exaggerated cough and drew himself out of his involuntary invisibility.

“The day is already upon us — why not just pack up and take her home today?” he said.

“Not possible right now,” Li Wu said.

Bai Rongling said furiously: “Then why did you say you’d take her home?! You’re a liar through and through!”

“I said not right now,” Li Wu said. “If you really need to meet, have your Bai family come to Xiangzhou.”

Bai Rongling stared at him in disbelief. “You want my grandfather of seventy-odd years to cross mountains and valleys and come to your Xiangzhou — are you trying to exhaust my grandfather to death?”

“You want me to take Shen Zhuxi to Yangzhou right now,” Li Wu said with a cold smile. “Are you not trying to get there so you can exhaust me to death?”

“You —” Bai Rongling had nothing to say.

“Enough arguing, both of you —” Shen Zhuxi cut in and stopped their childish squabbling, then looked at Bai Rongling with imploring eyes. “Will you tell me more about the Bai family?”

“Tell him to leave!” Bai Rongling said heatedly. “I’ll only speak to members of the Bai family!”

Shen Zhuxi found herself in a difficult position.

Though Bai Rongling said this, he had no expectations that Li Wu would actually comply. Yet when Li Wu rose from his stool, both he and Shen Zhuxi were taken aback.

“You are Shen Zhuxi’s cousin. I’ll give you that much respect.” Li Wu said, his tone carrying a clear warning. “You won’t use this chance to sweet-talk my woman into running away with you while I’m gone, will you?”

“I would never be as shameless as you!” Bai Rongling said with absolute certainty.

“Alright, I’ll believe you this once.” Li Wu lifted his chin and said, “Let’s go.”

He turned and walked out of the side room. Red Lotus followed behind him.

The door closed before Shen Zhuxi’s eyes. Four sets of footsteps gradually retreated away from the side room.

“Cousin, let’s escape — now!”

The self-professed not-at-all-shameless Bai Rongling leaped to his feet immediately and said without hesitation.

Shen Zhuxi: “…I won’t go.”

She shook her head and refused again.

“He’s not here now — you don’t have to pretend anymore!” Bai Rongling said desperately, stamping his foot. “This chance doesn’t come easily — we need to leave before he realizes what’s happening!”

“Whether he is here or not, my answer will not change.” Shen Zhuxi said firmly. “I won’t go.”

Bai Rongling looked at her blankly, the very picture of someone who had wracked their brain and still couldn’t make sense of it.

After a moment, a look of sudden realization crossed his face. “Could it be that Your Highness is afraid Fu Xuanmiao will make trouble for you if he finds out?”

Before Shen Zhuxi could answer, he said quickly: “Your Highness, please don’t worry. When you disappeared, Fu Xuanmiao, just like the Bai family, never gave up searching for you. You can see just from this how deep his feelings for Your Highness run. Besides, Fu Xuanmiao is the foremost young man under heaven — famously noble and refined in character. He will surely understand your difficulties. And even if we went back the furthest step — if he truly harbored some resentment, then at worst we simply don’t go through with the marriage! The Bai family is perfectly capable of providing for Your Highness! Why should Your Highness endure life in this remote backwater, placing herself in the hands of some petty official of unknown origin?”

Shen Zhuxi was silent for a moment, then said: “Do you believe that everything you have said and done is for my own good?”

“Is there any doubt?” Bai Rongling said, taken aback. “The Noble Consort is gone. And if truth be told, His Majesty has more than one younger sister. Naturally, Your Highness is closest to us of the Bai family. I have no other siblings — how could I bear to see you adrift out here, suffering?”

“But I was not happy in the palace, and things were not as good as outsiders imagine.” Shen Zhuxi said. “Beside Li Wu, I am ten times happier than I ever was as a princess.”

“How could Your Highness not have been happy? Was someone bullying Your Highness?” Bai Rongling asked quickly.

“From what I wore to whom I married, no one ever once asked me what I wanted. They all made choices they believed were best for me.” Shen Zhuxi said. “Just as you are doing now.”

Bai Rongling froze.

Shen Zhuxi rose and said: “Li Wu is a man who keeps his word in my presence. Since he promised to let you go, he will release you without fail. You need not worry.” She paused, then added quietly: “Please, when you return home, pass along my regards to my maternal grandparents. I will come to pay my respects in person when the opportunity arises.”

“Your Highness —”

Shen Zhuxi pushed open the door and walked out of the side room.

Li Wu was sitting on the railing not far away, lazily grinding a fallen leaf under his foot. When he saw Shen Zhuxi emerge, he stood up and said: “Two letters just arrived for you.”

Shen Zhuxi took the two envelopes — they were made of different paper — and was just turning to go to the study for a letter opener when Li Wu, unable to watch any longer, reached over and simply tore them open.

While she read the letters, Li Wu walked to the doorway of the side room. He looked at Bai Rongling, who was pretending to be composed, and said: “Cousin-in-law, you just stay here comfortably for now. Once I have the two hundred thousand hu of grain in hand, I’ll personally see you on your way.”

Red Lotus emerged from some unknown corner, and under Bai Rongling’s wide-eyed, horrified gaze, resumed her nonchalant post at his side.

The two soldiers also moved to stand one on each side of the room’s entrance. A glance from Li Wu, and they pulled the door shut again.

He walked back to Shen Zhuxi’s side and draped his arm naturally around her shoulder.

“With those two hundred thousand hu of grain, it’ll go some way toward easing the food shortage after the flood — you won’t have to fret over that anymore.” Li Wu paused, then continued: “As for the grain — I’ll carry the debt for now. After next year’s autumn harvest, I’ll find a way to repay the Bai family.”

“What do you mean by that —” Shen Zhuxi said immediately. “Aren’t the people who receive help from these two hundred thousand hu of grain my people as well? We owed this debt together — naturally we’ll repay it together.”

“…Good. We share hardship, and we share fortune.” Li Wu looked at her with a moved expression, speaking with sincerity: “Every word I have said, I remember. I told you I would give you a good life. I will never do anything disloyal or faithless, and I will never tire of you and seek out someone new. I also said I would escort you back to the Bai family with full honor — each and every promise, I remember. Shen Zhuxi… I will not let you regret this.”

Li Wu took her hand.

His expression was resolute, his tone firm and unwavering. Yet within it, Shen Zhuxi sensed something subtly different from his usual manner. Perhaps before she had given her firm answer, he too had been anxious, had doubted whether keeping her by his side was truly the right choice.

Shen Zhuxi gripped his hand back with all her strength, and smiled brilliantly:

“Alright.”

Li Wu stared at her for a moment, then suddenly turned his head aside. His expression was steady, his air careless and indifferent — but what caught Shen Zhuxi’s eye was the faint flush creeping up the tips of his ears.

“Are you blushing?” Shen Zhuxi said in astonishment.

“Who’s blushing? Your eyes need checking,” Li Wu said immediately.

No matter what he claimed, this was precisely what gave him away.

Truly — the sun had risen from the west. Li Wu was actually blushing in front of her! Shen Zhuxi was just about to seize this rare chance and take her revenge for all the times he had teased her, when Li Wu spotted her intentions at a glance and, using his height advantage, snatched the letters and envelopes right out of her hands.

“Who sent you these?” he asked.

“Li Qingman and Jiu Niang.” Shen Zhuxi’s attention returned to the envelopes in his hands. “Li Qingman is returning my phoenix token, and Jiu Niang is inviting me to accompany her to Anxi Temple to offer incense tomorrow — Sui Rui is coming too.”

“The phoenix token is important — don’t hand it to others in the future.”

Li Wu slid it out of the envelope and placed the phoenix token directly into Shen Zhuxi’s palm.

Shen Zhuxi did not explain the state of mind she had been in when she made that choice, because she did not want him to carry worry or guilt on her account long after things had passed.

“Alright,” she smiled and said.

“Women going to offer incense — it wouldn’t be fitting for me to tag along. I’ll lend you Red Lotus tomorrow.” Li Wu said. “Come back early. I’ll cook for you in the evening. What do you feel like eating?”

Shen Zhuxi thought of Li Wu’s long-missed handiwork in the kitchen, and excitement rose in her at once. Five or six dish names came tumbling out of her mouth.

“…Is that too many?” she hesitated.

“You are my woman,” Li Wu said, sweeping her under his arm and steering her toward the courtyard gate, “five or six dishes? Even a full banquet would be too modest for you.”

“Why so sweet all of a sudden? Are you up to something?” Shen Zhuxi looked at him with suspicion.

“What would I be up to…” Li Wu lowered his voice and said quietly, “It’s just that Old Tong gave me a contraceptive recipe meant for men. So — how about you take advantage of me again tonight and tarnish my good name a little more…”

The voices outside the door drifted farther and farther away, caught only in scattered, broken fragments.

Bai Rongling, who had had his ear pressed to the door the whole time, stood there blankly, his feelings a tangled mess of everything and nothing — he couldn’t have said what he was feeling.

His cousin and that man with the family name Li seemed to be genuinely at ease with each other — nothing like what he had imagined.

Could it be she truly was staying at that man’s side of her own free will?

A man of lowly common birth and the most refined and celebrated young man under heaven — two people without any basis for comparison. If it wasn’t under duress, how could anyone choose the one with no future?

If it wasn’t duress, then what was it?

“From what I wore to whom I married, no one ever once asked me what I wanted. They all made choices they believed were best for me.”

“Just as you are doing now.”

His cousin’s soft yet firm voice sounded again in his ears.

For the first time, Bai Rongling found himself doubting his own actions.

Could it be that he had always been presuming to know best — on her behalf?