This was Shen Zhuxi’s first journey south of the Yangtze, and her first time traveling by boat.

That very afternoon, she was sick. The next day, she was sick again. By the third day, she could not eat anything, which meant there was nothing left to bring up. She could only lie weakly on the swaying bed, silently praying for an early arrival in Yangzhou.

It was also Li Wu’s first time traveling by boat, but he showed not a single symptom of seasickness. Not only was he as vigorous as ever, he would even jump into the water with the crew members to swim. He returned drenched from head to toe, and within less than three days had become fast friends with everyone on the vessel.

On the fourth day, before dawn had broken, Shen Zhuxi became aware that Li Wu beside her had risen from the bed.

Too weak to call out, she let him go.

By the time he returned, sunlight already flooded the cabin.

A fresh, clean fragrance drifted through the air as he stepped inside.

“Get up and eat something.” Li Wu came to the side of the bed and, with one hand, helped Shen Zhuxi sit up. Her face was drained of color.

Shen Zhuxi looked at the seaweed porridge in his hand. The distinct briny smell of the fresh kelp sent a wave of nausea rolling through her stomach.

She turned her head away, brow furrowed, and said faintly, “I don’t want to eat.”

“Whether you want to or not, eat a little.” Li Wu said. “I dove into the sea myself this morning to gather this.”

“You dove into the sea for it?” Shen Zhuxi turned back in surprise, and only now noticed his half-dry hair and the faint trace of salt on him.

“They said this is what you’re supposed to eat for seasickness — it helps,” Li Wu said. He picked up the porcelain spoon, stirred the gently steaming seaweed porridge, blew on a spoonful to cool it, and brought it to Shen Zhuxi’s lips. “Look at you — pale as what exactly? Whether you want to eat or not, get a little down. You’re the wife of a military commissioner. You’re not going to starve yourself, are you?”

Shen Zhuxi thought of him diving into the sea at the crack of dawn to gather kelp for her. She felt both guilty and moved. Though she had no appetite whatsoever, she forced herself to open her mouth, let him deliver that spoonful of seaweed porridge past her lips, and swallowed it with effort.

“That’s my good little simpleton.” Li Wu wiped the corner of her mouth with his fingertip, then scooped up another spoonful, blew it cool, and fed it to her.

Shen Zhuxi forced herself to finish the bowl of seaweed porridge, then sank back into a drowsy sleep.

When she woke again, it was evening.

Perhaps the seaweed porridge had given her renewed strength — she felt less wretched than before. A soft call brought Tiniang, who had been dozing at the table, hurrying over. Shen Zhuxi changed into an outer garment and, with Tiniang’s support, stepped out through the cabin door.

A dreamlike shower of golden light scattered across heaven and earth. Magnificent clouds blazed across the sea’s horizon, and the boundless waters had been stained a deep purple by the setting sun. The vast, gentle dusk draped itself over Shen Zhuxi, and the pale pink ribbons at her waist drifted in the breeze.

She stood in a daze, taking in the beauty before her, and felt something stir powerfully within her.

Against the vastness of heaven and earth, the joys and sorrows of a single person seemed so very small.

The damp and bracing sea wind swept away the stifling discomfort that had accumulated from days spent closed inside the cabin, and with it, the exhaustion that had settled into her bones. Shen Zhuxi drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled the long-stored stale air from within.

“My lady, my lady! Master Li is calling you over!” Tiniang suddenly said, patting her on the arm.

Shen Zhuxi turned and saw Li Wu on the deck, gesturing for her to come.

With Tiniang’s support, she made her way toward him. When she placed her arm in Li Wu’s, he lifted her up onto the deck with ease. The tower-boat was rounding a bend, and the deck swayed slightly. Shen Zhuxi gripped the railing before her tightly, afraid that a moment’s carelessness might send her tumbling over the side.

Li Wu gazed fixedly ahead.

“Look — Jiangnan is here.” Li Wu said.

Shen Zhuxi instinctively looked up. A stretch of waterside land was emerging from behind layer upon layer of green hills, and the storied water-country of the South revealed itself to her eyes for the very first time.

A splendid evening glow draped itself over the gentle landscape of Jiangnan. Along both banks, lush green paddies spread in dense abundance, and an air of prosperity and tranquility permeated the humid southern air. Farmers no bigger than ants were scattered across the fields and ridges — some riding yellow oxen, some wearing broad-brimmed conical hats — living out their days in quiet and unhurried peace.

Two more days passed, and the tower-boat entered Yangzhou. The scenery along both banks grew even more lavish and refined.

After the tower-boat docked at the Yangzhou wharf, the Shen family — one of Yangzhou’s leading wealthy clans who looked to the Bai family as their guide — was there at the dock to receive this “long-lost granddaughter.”

Shen Zhuxi’s current identity was that of Old Master Shen’s granddaughter who had been sent into the palace and gone missing during the palace upheaval. She had endured tremendous hardship to return to Yangzhou and be reunited with her family. Naturally, she and Li Wu were to stay in the Shen household.

Old Master Shen had specifically set aside a separate courtyard to house the three thousand elite soldiers Li Wu had brought.

Exactly how Bai Anji had persuaded Old Master Shen, and how the old master had in turn persuaded his entire family, remained unclear to Shen Zhuxi — but she received a welcome at the Shen household beyond anything she had expected. It was as though she truly were the granddaughter they had lost so many years ago.

On the day after their arrival in Yangzhou, before Shen Zhuxi had even had a chance to explore the streets, the Bai family sent over a calling card bearing the name of the Bai family head, Bai Yugeng, requesting a meeting with the Zhenzhou Military Commissioner.

Bai Yugeng was nearly eighty years old, so rather than paying a call himself, he had summoned Li Wu to come to him — which was, on balance, understandable.

Except…

“Why am I the only one invited?” Li Wu frowned at the young manservant who had delivered the card.

“The family head’s intentions are not for those of us in service to speculate upon,” the manservant said, head bowed respectfully. “The carriage is already waiting at the gate. Commissioner, whenever you are ready, please make your way.”

“May I bring my own people?” Li Wu asked.

“Of course.” The manservant gave a slight bow. “The family head has said that any reasonable request from the Commissioner will be accommodated.”

Li Wu had only been testing the waters. Hearing the manservant’s response, he actually decided against bringing anyone at all, and sauntered up into the carriage with his usual casual ease.

The Bai family’s wealth could rival that of a nation, so it was only natural that the living quarters of the main branch were something extraordinary. After the carriage delivered Li Wu to the Bai family’s main gate, he was transferred to a sedan chair, and from there made his way past lacquered red gates, soaring decorative archways, and enormous spirit walls, with rear courtyards and pavilions visible at every turn. Li Wu found himself thinking that Shen — that simpleton — would certainly love this place, even as he was quietly calculating in his head what it must have cost to construct these gardens. He arrived at one conclusion:

This family — he was absolutely going to get along with them.

After the sedan chair had turned left and right and left again, it finally set him down.

“Commissioner, this way please. The family head is already waiting within.” The guiding manservant bent at the waist.

Bai Yugeng, the Bai family head — Li Wu had made inquiries about him on the journey to Yangzhou.

A formidable man in his youth, and no less formidable in his old age. According to accounts, he had built his fortune starting from puffed rice. To recover a debt of fifteen taels of silver, he had stood before the debtor’s shop and used a razor to carve out a piece of flesh from the palm of his own hand, frightening the debtor into repaying every coin on the spot. From that day forward, no one had ever dared look down on this vendor of humble birth.

Bai Yugeng had spent the better part of a lifetime building this enterprise from nothing.

If Li Wu’s primary purpose in making the long journey to Yangzhou was to accompany Shen Zhuxi on her homecoming, then his secondary purpose was to meet this man of legendary renown. After all, in his youth Li Wu had himself harbored a dream — using a roast chicken recipe to move into roast duck, and from roast duck to become the greatest merchant under heaven.

Li Wu straightened his collar and strode into the main hall.

A wiry old man, lean and sharp-eyed, sat in a high-backed chair wearing a brocade robe, regarding Li Wu with an expressionless face, the space between his brows faintly creased. His snow-white beard extended all the way down to his chest.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Li Wu felt that the old man’s top-down gaze bore a certain resemblance to the look on a man’s face when he has just stepped in dog filth.

And yet —

Where was the dog filth in this room?

Not long after Li Wu departed, Shen Zhuxi tried to put her mind at ease by sorting through the belongings she had brought from Xiangzhou, while at the same time anxiously turning over in her mind the purpose behind the Bai family inviting Li Wu alone.

The lady of the Shen household suddenly sent a maid to invite her to the rear garden hall, saying that a distinguished guest had come to call.

She had only just arrived in Yangzhou — what distinguished guest could she possibly know here?

Shen Zhuxi was puzzled at first, then quickly thought of something. She immediately called for Tiniang to help her change her clothes and hurried off to the rear garden hall.

Sure enough, the lady of the Shen household was not present. Waiting for her in the hall was an elderly woman with streaks of white in her hair.

The moment Shen Zhuxi saw that face — bearing such a resemblance to her mother — she understood who had come. Tears welled up unbidden and spilled from her eyes.

“This old woman pays her respects to Your Highness…” The old woman took a trembling step forward and sank to her knees before Shen Zhuxi.

Shen Zhuxi rushed forward in two quick strides, reaching her just in time to help the elderly woman up from her deep bow.

“Zhuxi has been unfilial, putting Grandmother to the trouble of coming to call in person. Zhuxi begs Grandmother’s forgiveness…” She said through her tears.

“Your Highness must not speak so — you will be the undoing of this old woman…” Madam Bai clasped Shen Zhuxi’s arms tightly, her reddened eyes traveling over her from head to toe again and again. For reasons Shen Zhuxi could not quite name, the tears would not stop falling — a grief whose source she could not even identify pressed against her heart and kept them coming in an unending stream before this elderly woman.

Madam Bai drew out a handkerchief carrying a faint trace of medicinal scent and gently dabbed at the tears on Shen Zhuxi’s face. “That Your Highness has returned safely,” she said in a trembling voice, “is better than anything. If your mother knew that you were still alive and in this world, she would certainly be able to rest at peace.”

After quite some time, Shen Zhuxi finally grew calm.

She helped Madam Bai to a seat at the table and personally poured her a cup of tea. Madam Bai continued to look at her with warm and tender eyes — a gaze that made Shen Zhuxi’s heart grow hot and her eyes sting.

She had never imagined that the sense of kinship and blood connection she felt would come not from her father the Emperor, not from her mother, not from her siblings — but from this family on her mother’s side, so far away in Yangzhou.

“Zhuxi has been unfilial, causing both elders to worry over me,” Shen Zhuxi said, her voice catching. “All these years — have Grandmother and Grandfather kept well?”

“Well enough, well enough —” Madam Bai said, tears glimmering in her eyes. “Now that I’ve seen you, everything is well. Your grandfather has been speaking of you constantly. If not for the need to receive your husband today, he would not have been able to hold himself back from coming to see you.”

“How could Zhuxi impose upon both elders? If Grandfather and Grandmother wish to see me, they need only send word.”

Madam Bai thought of Bai Yugeng’s many complaints and misgivings about this son-in-law who had appeared out of nowhere, then lifted the back of her hand and pressed it gently to her eyes. She asked with great care:

“Zhuxi, Grandmother has something to ask you. Can you tell me truly, as if your mother in heaven were listening — did you marry Li Wu of your own free will, or were you left with no other choice?”

“From beginning to end, it was of my own free will.”

“But his birth is humble, and he is no more than a minor military commissioner — he is simply not worthy of you…”

“He is worthy.” Shen Zhuxi said without a moment’s hesitation. “Grandmother, Li Wu has never forced me to do anything I did not wish to do. His birth is humble — but what of it? He is loyal and full of feeling, courageous and resourceful. He treats me as a true person, not as a status or a symbol.”

Madam Bai was taken aback.

Shen Zhuxi met her eyes directly and said with quiet sincerity:

“I married him with a willing heart.”

“…Good. I understand what you mean.” Madam Bai’s expression shifted through something complex, and she patted Shen Zhuxi’s hand gently. “You may set your mind at ease. As for your grandfather — I will do my best to persuade him. Being able to see you return to Yangzhou with not a hair out of place is already the Buddha’s blessing. I ask for nothing more beyond that. Only, your grandfather is a stubborn man, and winning him over will likely take some effort.”

“Thank you for your understanding, Grandmother.” Shen Zhuxi said gratefully.

Madam Bai looked at her face with a moved and tender expression. “After your mother left to marry, we rarely saw her again. Then, when she fell out of favor at court, I had no way of even getting a glimpse of her. As time passed, I could barely remember what my own daughter looked like. But now — the moment I see you, your mother’s face becomes clear in my mind once more.”

“For the two years you were wandering outside, your grandfather and I dreamed of you and your mother often.” Madam Bai held her hand and said, choking on the words, “Your mother always hoped you would find a husband of ordinary station, leave behind the scheming and strife of the capital, return to Yangzhou, establish your own princess’s residence, and live a life of ease and comfort. Now that you have returned to Yangzhou, it may be said that her wish has been fulfilled.”

At the mention of her departed mother, Shen Zhuxi’s tears broke open anew.

In this world, those who could still speak to her of her mother numbered only her maternal grandparents.

While Madam Bai and Shen Zhuxi sat together hand in hand with tears in their eyes, Li Wu was in the Bai household engaged in a staring contest with Bai Yugeng.