Fu Xuanmiao’s footsteps moved toward the dais.

Shen Zhuxi went rigid all over. Fear seized her heart, which felt ready to leap from her throat. She was so frightened that even her tears stopped. She instinctively looked toward Li Wu in front of her.

In the span of a breath, Li Wu pulled off his sash with one hand, then yanked Shen Zhuxi’s collar loose with two quick tugs. In the very instant that Fu Xuanmiao’s figure appeared at the foot of the dais, he shoved her firmly into his embrace.

Silence spread through the hall.

Shen Zhuxi held her breath and did not move, forgetting even to blink.

“…It seems I have misunderstood the situation.” Fu Xuanmiao’s voice betrayed no change of any kind. He said as if in passing: “Magistrate Li — or rather, Military Governor Li, I should say — Military Governor Li certainly has adventurous tastes. It seems my mother and I have intruded.”

Li Wu pulled off his outer robe and draped it over Shen Zhuxi’s head, stood up to face Fu Xuanmiao, and positioned himself squarely to block Fu Xuanmiao’s view of Shen Zhuxi, who was now concealed beneath the robe.

“Li Zhuzong pays his respects to the Participating Counsellor.” Li Wu clasped his hands toward Fu Xuanmiao in a bow, then grinned and said: “This subordinate heard that the Participating Counsellor had graced Xiangyang with his presence and had originally intended to come in person to invite the Counsellor to dine at my home — but who could have expected to run into an old flame here? This opportunity doesn’t come often when the wife is keeping me on such a short leash — one moment of weakness and I just couldn’t help myself… I beg the Counsellor’s pardon. By the way — did the Counsellor bring his mother along?”

Li Wu slapped his thigh with a look of remorse: “This is a problem — I assumed the Counsellor had come alone, so I didn’t prepare a palanquin! What is to be done?”

Fu Xuanmiao’s expression betrayed neither pleasure nor displeasure. His cold gaze was fixed on every minute change in Li Wu’s face.

“You didn’t prepare a palanquin — so what did you prepare?”

“One horse!”

“…One horse?”

“One is more than enough. The Counsellor rides the horse — and Li Zhuzong is honored to walk ahead as your outrider!” Li Wu stood tall and declared this without a trace of shame.

“I am grateful for Lord Li’s kind intentions. My mother’s eyes are impaired and she requires someone close at hand to attend to her. The mountain road is rough, and I cannot entrust that to others — so Lord Li should go down the mountain on his own.” Fu Xuanmiao’s gaze swept over the outer robe, traced over the half-concealed body of a woman, and finally came to rest on a pair of feet that seemed oddly familiar.

As if sensing his gaze, the small feet shod in embroidered slippers suddenly flinched like a startled rabbit and drew back beneath the hem of a skirt.

“Is there anything else the Counsellor requires? Could you perhaps…” Li Wu laughed with a look of embarrassment.

“Of course.”

Fu Xuanmiao withdrew his gaze and turned to walk out of the hall.

Shen Zhuxi had barely exhaled in relief when Fu Xuanmiao’s voice rang out again at the entrance.

“Lord Li — just now, did you happen to see a calico cat?”

The question struck Shen Zhuxi so hard that she nearly stopped breathing.

What was his purpose in asking this? Was there some hidden meaning?

If they wanted him to believe they had come here after he left, should the answer be that they had seen it, or that they hadn’t?

Shen Zhuxi was still working through the possibilities when Li Wu had already answered, bold and breezy:

“The temple is full of stray cats — I spotted three on the walls just as I arrived. All calico ones, at that. Which one is the Counsellor looking for?”

A moment passed, and Fu Xuanmiao said quietly: “Perhaps none of them are the one I was looking for.”

He turned, stepped over the threshold, and finally walked out of the hall.

Shen Zhuxi suddenly understood Fu Xuanmiao’s intent.

Whether or not one had seen the calico cat depended on whether one had been in the hall at the time. If one had been present and heard those staggering words, one’s reaction in this moment should mirror Shen Zhuxi’s — a hesitation, a delay in response born of calculating what the other person’s motives might be. Not the instantaneous, unthinking reply that Li Wu had given.

Li Wu kept his eyes on the door for a good while before finally letting his breath go. “…He’s gone.”

The terror of having survived a close call filled Shen Zhuxi’s chest. She sat limply on the ground, too weak even to lift the robe off her head.

Li Wu crouched before her and retrieved his robe.

“Where are Sui Niang and the others? I’ll take you back.”

Shen Zhuxi told him the location of the side room. She tried to stand on her own but couldn’t. Li Wu simply scooped her up with both arms and strode out of the hall.

Shen Zhuxi held his outer robe and used it to cover her own face.

Upon reaching the side room, of course, all chaos broke loose.

The moment Red Lotus saw Li Wu, she knew something serious had happened just before. Without a second thought she knelt and begged forgiveness for her failure to protect. Shen Zhuxi’s two friends had been frantic over her sudden disappearance and pressed her relentlessly to say what had happened.

It took Shen Zhuxi a great deal of effort before she managed to calm them all down.

“Change your clothes — both of you,” Li Wu said, looking at Shen Zhuxi and Jiu Niang.

“Why?” Jiu Niang, who had dressed with such careful effort, was clearly unhappy.

“No need, no need…” Shen Zhuxi said quickly. “If anyone finds out, it would drag Jiu Niang’s reputation into it instead.”

“What on earth are you two talking about? Why does changing clothes have anything to do with someone’s reputation?” Sui Rui asked, completely baffled.

Shen Zhuxi explained briefly to the two friends: she had just run into someone in the hall she could not afford to be seen by. To prevent the person from recognizing her, Li Wu had taken a risky gamble and staged a scene of a clandestine tryst.

What she hadn’t expected was that Jiu Niang — who had been disgruntled at the thought of ruining her carefully assembled outfit — changed her attitude the moment she heard the explanation.

“Change, of course we change. If you don’t change your clothes, that person will ask around afterward and the whole thing will fall apart.” Jiu Niang cast a sidelong glance at Li Wu and said: “This lady is not some unreasonable person. As long as things are explained clearly, how could this lady possibly refuse to help?”

“But…” Shen Zhuxi still hesitated. “If word gets out…”

“This lady is a widow — she’s not afraid of a bit of gossip.” Jiu Niang said dismissively. “Once that person with no sense of timing has left, this lady will swap with you right now.”

The “person with no sense of timing” — Li Wu — let out a scoffing sound and turned to walk out of the side room.

After Shen Zhuxi had confirmed three times that Jiu Niang was truly willing, she finally exchanged clothes with her.

“Your… your upper garment is so tight this lady can barely breathe…” Jiu Niang said, looking quite strained.

At the same time, Shen Zhuxi was also adjusting the fit of Jiu Niang’s garment.

Jiu Niang’s upper garment, which fit her perfectly, left a sizable empty gap at the front when Shen Zhuxi put it on.

Shen Zhuxi tightened the garment sadly.

“It’s fine!” Sui Rui said off-handedly by way of comfort. “Jiu Niang always says that if you’re married and still flat-chested, it means your husband isn’t putting in enough effort — it’s nothing to do with you!”

“Not putting in enough effort?” Shen Zhuxi asked in innocent bewilderment. “So what effort would be needed?”

Sui Rui was just about to share the little piece of knowledge she had once learned from Jiu Niang, when Li Wu’s voice came from outside the door in a prompt: “Are you done? Let’s go.”

“Nag, nag, nag — just because you’re an official now, you think you’re all that?” Sui Rui shot back irritably.

“An official isn’t as impressive as a chicken-seller like you!” Li Wu muttered back from the other side of the door. “I’ve been standing out here this whole time — have you given me so much as a bow? Don’t call me impressive — you’re the impressive one!”

“You actually want me to bow to you? You stole our secret recipe, and the fact that I didn’t kick you to death is already me giving face to Little Zhu!”

“That was eight hundred years ago — can we not bring it up again?”

“No!” Sui Rui said with iron finality. “Even if another eight thousand years go by, I will remember that you tried to steal our family’s secret recipe to make duck!”

As the two of them bickered back and forth, Shen Zhuxi and Jiu Niang had both finished changing. Shen Zhuxi walked to the door and let the quacking Li Que — who had been making a ruckus outside — into the room.

“Why can your recipe work for chicken but not duck?” Li Wu said with dissatisfaction. “I’ve wanted to say this for a long time — what’s so great about chicken? Duck is the real deal.”

“You know nothing — duck can’t compare to chicken. If my father had made duck back in the day, Sui’s would have gone under long ago!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t know. The chicken is expensive and lean — what can compare to the plump, rich tenderness of duck? Using your recipe on anything but duck is a waste!”

Jiu Niang quietly tugged at the tightly stretched upper garment from behind and watched the two people quarreling over the merits of chicken versus duck. She said to Shen Zhuxi: “Those two cannot be put in the same place.”

Shen Zhuxi felt this deeply.

“You all get moving and come down the mountain now,” Li Wu said. “I’ll keep him occupied for a while longer. After you reach the bottom, go straight home — all of you — and don’t come out in public for a while.”

Shen Zhuxi understood this was directed primarily at herself, and she agreed aloud.

Jiu Niang called over a passing novice monk and asked him for three veiled hats that past worshippers had left behind. Each of them put one on, then descended the mountain by the same route they had come — Sui Rui, not forgetting her vegetarian dishes, packed them all into food boxes and brought them to the carriage.

“Good thing I came well-prepared. We can eat the vegetarian food on the way back!” Sui Rui said smugly.

“Yes, yes — you’re the clever one,” Jiu Niang said, humoring her.

“By the way — who was the person Little Zhu couldn’t afford to run into? And what’s your history with them?”

Jiu Niang jabbed Sui Rui with her elbow the moment the question left her mouth.

“If she couldn’t afford to run into them, she obviously doesn’t like them. Someone so unwelcome — best we not speak of them. If you have something on your mind, why not spare some sympathy for this lady instead —” Jiu Niang said. “This lady was up before dawn to get dressed, and for what? To get dressed for monks to look at. This lady’s fate is a sorry one — truly, men cannot be trusted.”

“What men? Which men?” Sui Rui was immediately redirected. “So you really did arrange to meet someone at Anxi Temple?”

Sui Rui threw herself at Jiu Niang, pressing her relentlessly with questions, and immediately forgot her doubts about Shen Zhuxi entirely.

“Who was the man? How did you meet him? Come clean — right now!”

Shen Zhuxi still had not fully recovered from her shock, but her curiosity had been roused.

Under the two women’s eager gazes, Jiu Niang finally told the whole story.

“Some time ago, I met a customer — he seemed to be stationed in the military. He pestered this lady persistently for quite some time. Seeing that his character and appearance were acceptable, I thought there would be no harm in trying. So I told him I was coming to Anxi Temple to offer incense today. That rough man, upon hearing this, was overjoyed — he kept saying he had lately felt the desire to offer incense and pay respects to the Buddha as well. This lady assumed he had understood what I meant. But who would have thought…” Jiu Niang pushed open a sliver of the carriage window, and a fleeting shadow of dejection crossed her face. “Never mind. A man who has never been married — to take a widow as his wife — would invite no end of gossip. Perhaps, like all the others, when it came down to it, he lost his nerve.”

Sui Rui, who traded barbs with Jiu Niang regularly, immediately said: “Such men with no backbone are better off cast aside! Look at me — living alone, free as can be!”

Jiu Niang rolled her eyes at her. “Aren’t you worrying about not finding a live-in husband yourself?”

“That’s my father worrying, not me — if he weren’t constantly pushing me, I’d have no desire to get married!”

The warm, lively chatter inside the carriage greatly soothed Shen Zhuxi’s nerves, which had been wound as tight as a bowstring.

Gradually, she began to join in her two friends’ conversation as well.

At the same moment, in the Xiangyang garrison, a large, strapping man was spitting and arguing heatedly with Li Que.

“Aiya, just let me go — there are so many people here, surely it won’t make a difference without me, Niuwang. I really do have something, I’m not croaking like a frog for nothing. If you won’t let me go, I won’t be able to take a wife, and if I can’t take a wife — you’ll be the one to blame for it all!”

“I said no and I mean no,” said Li Que, who was normally always smiling outside but now wore the cool, businesslike expression he usually reserved for Xiao Hu. “Big Brother told us to stay on standby in the garrison at all times. No one can leave.”

“You blockheaded boy, why are you so ignorant of human feeling? Just because you can’t find a wife, you won’t let me find one either?” Niuwang’s already rough Mandarin grew more and more mangled until it collapsed entirely into thick Sichuan dialect. “Running into you today — what terrible luck, you’ve gone and locked me up and won’t let me go — this is bad, Xiao Jiu’er is definitely not going to forgive me now… what am I going to do, I already told my brothers they were going to have a sister-in-law — Xiao Jiu’er went all the way to the temple and didn’t see me, she’s going to hate me to death for this… this is terrible, just terrible…”

Niuwang paced anxiously in circles. Li Que watched him with a furrowed brow, and said: “Niuwang, you’ll make me dizzy if you keep that up. If you really can’t wait—”

Niuwang’s round eyes went wide, and he stared at Li Que with a face full of hope.

“…I’ll send someone to pass along word, asking the person you arranged to meet to go home first and reschedule.”

“It’s too late to reschedule, too late!” Niuwang smacked his thigh in anguish, and let out a howl in full Sichuan dialect. “You little devil — you’re going to ruin my chances of finding a wife!”

Li Que covered his ears, and his gaze drifted toward the peaceful garrison gates, his eyes filled with a shifting storm of thoughts.

He quietly turned a name over in his mind.

This time, he would not let this opportunity slip away.