Li Juan finally laid her first egg on her third day in the Li household.

Shen Zhuxi had learned to tend the fire by now. She carefully boiled the egg without causing any kind of kitchen disaster. That singularly meaningful egg ended up in Li Wu’s stomach.

Li Wu had wanted to give it to her, but it took considerable effort on her part to convince him to eat the one and only egg himself.

If anyone needed to replenish their strength, it was still Li Wu.

Although the official start of autumn had arrived, the late heat of autumn still held its own formidable power. Shen Zhuxi set out while the sun had not yet fully risen, taking the flower-patterned stationery with her to make a delivery to He Liu Hall.

The stationery had established a steady clientele at He Liu Hall. Every month at the end of the month, Li Wu would bring back seventy or eighty taels of silver, and when custom orders came in, the earnings could climb well past a hundred taels.

She kept all of this silver in the wooden chest Li Wu had given her. Each month she would add silver to the small crock in the kitchen, but within two days it would reappear, every time, back inside her wooden chest.

Li Wu would not take her money. His pride was so fiercely unyielding that it left her all the more unable to say what needed to be said.

“Stop being a male consort.”

Six short words, yet they consumed every last bit of her courage.

Li Wu carried so much on his shoulders, and all she could do was boil him an egg. Every time this thought came to her, Shen Zhuxi would toss and turn on the bed, while the person lying beside her had no idea of the turmoil inside her, would fling an arm over and pin it heavily across her quilt, and decree that she was not to move —

“How could you possibly sleep when you are squirming around like that? Stop moving and you will naturally fall asleep. Close your eyes. Sleep.”

He did not understand her distress, yet she understood his exhaustion.

At the very thought that the next day he might have to go and face those difficult patrons again, Shen Zhuxi would not dare to toss and turn any further. Strangely enough, once she stopped moving, she would gradually drift off to sleep.

And after all that — Li Wu still had the nerve to complain that she did not care about him —

Did she not care about him enough? She spent every single day fretting herself to pieces for the sake of helping him leave that life behind!

She could not tell anyone about Li Wu being a male consort, could not seek advice from others, and could only bottle it all up inside herself. Was that not difficult enough?

Like today, for instance — she had gone into town to deliver the stationery, and in the market she ran into Fan Sanniang. Looking at that millstone-round face lit up with a wide grin, and that waist broader than two of Shen Zhuxi put together, Shen Zhuxi smiled back in a way that was strange and rigid. It took every last ounce of her willpower to keep herself from blurting out:

“Please stop roughing Li Wu up…”

After parting ways with the overly enthusiastic Fan Sanniang, Shen Zhuxi felt as if the smile had frozen solid on her face.

In the end, she still had not managed to say it.

If Li Wu, proud as he was, were to find out that she already knew what he was doing — what a devastating blow that would be to him!

Every day Shen Zhuxi was mired in this kind of agonizing uncertainty. All she could do was boil him an egg, set aside a few choice morsels of food for him with her chopsticks, and silently endure his endless grumbling and nonsense.

Li Wu had it difficult, but so did she!

Shen Zhuxi walked along the country road back home with a heart full of worry, when she was suddenly drawn by a sound that resembled sobbing.

She stopped in suspicion and looked all around.

Both sides of the field path were lush green farmland. It was midday, and not a single farmer’s silhouette was anywhere to be seen. A breeze swept through, and the rice stalks — grown taller than Shen Zhuxi herself — rustled and whispered.

Had she imagined it?

Just as she was about to continue on her way, the same muffled crying sound rose again.

This time, Shen Zhuxi clearly caught hold of its source. That altered yet faintly familiar voice brought a name immediately to her mind —

Sui Rui!

Shen Zhuxi’s expression changed in an instant. Without pausing for much thought, she leaped down the high embankment and ran along the muddy path below toward the source of the sound.

She rounded a tall stand of rice, and her expression turned to one of horror!

Sui Rui was being held down on the ground by Zhou Zhuang, a hand clamped over her mouth, her appearance disheveled and distressed. Zhou Zhuang’s right hand — the one missing a finger — was wet with her tears.

Zhou Zhuang’s clothing was in disarray, as if his ill intent had been interrupted mid-act. Shen Zhuxi quickly looked at Sui Rui’s clothing and saw that, though it was disarranged, it had not been undone. A breath of relief passed through her.

She drew a deep breath.

Zhou Zhuang was just about to press forward with menace when the woman before him — who looked as if a strong wind could blow her over — suddenly tore open her throat and screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Li Wu, come quickly—”

Zhou Zhuang jolted violently. The hand clamped over Sui Rui’s mouth loosened involuntarily, and Sui Rui seized the chance to sink her teeth hard into his missing-fingered hand. Then, as he reeled in pain, she drove her foot squarely into the most vulnerable part of him.

Zhou Zhuang lurched off Sui Rui and rolled on the ground clutching himself, letting out screams like a pig being slaughtered.

Shen Zhuxi immediately seized Sui Rui’s hand and pulled her away, running for the embankment without looking back.

“You two — stop right there!” Zhou Zhuang’s voice came from behind, wracked with pain and fury.

“Do not look back! Keep running!” Shen Zhuxi gripped Sui Rui’s hand tightly.

The two of them stumbled and staggered back up to the main road on the embankment. Zhou Zhuang still had not chased after them — the kick Sui Rui had landed was evidently no small blow.

Shen Zhuxi dared not linger, and pulled Sui Rui in a run all the way back to her own home, where she slid the bolt across the door with trembling hands.

“…Are you all right?” Shen Zhuxi locked the door and immediately turned back to look at Sui Rui.

Sui Rui clutched the front of her clothing, pale-faced, and gave a nod.

“…Where is Li Wu?” Sui Rui asked.

“He went out.” Shen Zhuxi helped straighten Sui Rui’s disheveled clothing. “Do not be afraid. Stay here — when Li Wu comes back, I will have him escort you home.”

Sui Rui was ordinarily a spirited and bold person, but in the end she was an unmarried young woman who had never faced anything like this. Shaken and at a loss, she nodded and stood rigidly as Shen Zhuxi tidied her clothes.

Li Juan ambled out from the back courtyard and looked on with unhurried calm at the two figures standing by the door.

After a long while, Sui Rui said in a trembling voice:

“I came to tell you… that in three days’ time, I will be leaving for Xiangyang…”

Shen Zhuxi’s hands stilled. If not for coming to tell her this news, Sui Rui would never have encountered such a thing. Shen Zhuxi had never been through anything like this before and did not know what to say in comfort, so she simply opened her arms and held her.

Sui Rui stood there without a word, and by degrees her expression steadied.

“…Do not tell anyone about this. Not even Li Wu.”

Shen Zhuxi hesitated a moment, then agreed.

Until Li Wu and his two brothers returned home, Zhou Zhuang never appeared at the Li Family’s door.

“Hmm? Why is it locked?” Li Que’s voice came from outside.

Li Wu’s voice followed immediately: “Shen Zhuxi—”

Shen Zhuxi and Sui Rui exchanged a glance, composed their expressions, and walked quickly to the courtyard to open the door for the three of them.

Li Wu was first through the door. “Why was it bolted?”

“I was alone at home — it is safer to lock the door,” Shen Zhuxi said, forcing a calm composure.

Li Wu looked at her for a moment longer, then shifted his gaze to Sui Rui, who had come out from the main room. “Sui Niang, people do not visit temples without cause — what brings you here?”

Sui Rui’s face was still pale, though her manner was otherwise back to its usual self.

“I came to see Shen Zhuxi, not you.”

Li Wu swept his gaze over Sui Rui as well. Shen Zhuxi involuntarily held her breath, terrified he would notice something was wrong.

Fortunately, he did not appear to have detected anything unusual.

“I heard you are leaving for Xiangyang in three days?” Li Wu said.

“Sharp ears you have,” Sui Rui said, with a cutting edge. “Playing deaf and dumb while eavesdropping again, were you?”

“You hold grudges too easily.” Li Wu shook his head. “A person ought to be broad-minded — more like me. Since you are leaving, let Li Kun escort you home later. Consider it a modest gesture of hospitality from me.”

“Calling this hospitality is a stretch…” Sui Rui half-protested, half-acquiesced.

Li Kun looked from Li Wu to Sui Rui and back again, puzzled. “Who is leaving?”

“You big lummox, it is me who is leaving!” Sui Rui said.

“Where are you going?” Li Kun kept bouncing out questions one after another. “How long will you be gone? When are you coming back? When you come back, bring something good to eat…”

“You ask too many questions!” Sui Rui turned and took Shen Zhuxi’s hand, saying, “When I am gone, remember what we talked about before.”

Shen Zhuxi hesitated a moment, then nodded in agreement.

After Sui Rui and Li Kun left, Li Que brought a large quantity of fresh vegetables and fruit into the kitchen. Li Wu still stood in the courtyard, with no apparent intention of going inside to rest as he usually would.

“Stop standing there — come inside,” Shen Zhuxi said with a forced smile.

“What happened between you two?” Li Wu refused to be deflected, fixing his eyes steadily on her.

Shen Zhuxi fumbled for words and could not get a single clear thing out.

“Was Sui Rui assaulted?” Li Wu asked.

“…I do not know. Stop asking me.”

Shen Zhuxi turned hastily and went into the inner room.

This matter concerned Sui Rui’s reputation. Sui Rui had specifically told her not to tell anyone — how could she take it upon herself to disclose something so serious to Li Wu?

Sitting on the bed, Shen Zhuxi could not settle her mind.

Why would Zhou Zhuang set his sights on Sui Rui? She did not doubt Sui Rui’s appeal, only — was it not Li Qingman Zhou Zhuang had been pursuing?

Was it a moment of impulse, or had he been planning it for some time?

Shen Zhuxi pulled the gold hairpin from her hair and held it in her hand. Li Wu had purposely sharpened the tip to a degree that was sharp enough to wound but would not easily turn against oneself. Holding the keen gold pin, she felt a measure of reassurance at last.

The bamboo curtain was suddenly pushed aside.

Li Wu stood beneath the doorway — tall and lean, his deep black eyes calm and knowing.

“When you are ready to talk, come find me.”

Shen Zhuxi’s throat moved.

After a long silence, she mustered the effort to form an answer:

“…All right.”

……

“I beg of you, I beg of you… give me just a little more time, I will certainly scrape the money together! Master Hu, Master Hu, trust me just this once…”

Zhou Zhuang knelt in the shallows of the stream, weeping and wailing as he knocked his head against the riverbed again and again. Stream water and tears splashed across his face; the hard, smooth river stones ground his forehead until it bled.

He was out of his mind with terror, his soul all but flown from his body, and he knocked his head desperately, not daring to stop even for a moment.

“You have said these words many times now.”

On the bank stood more than a dozen men of varying height, all powerfully built. Hu Yishou sat in a rattan chair dressed in brocade finery, his thumb idly stroking a dagger that gleamed with a cold light.

Without lifting his head he said, “Zhou Zhuang, out of consideration for the history between us, I have given you many extensions — yet every time, what you bring me is nothing but disappointment.”

“Master Hu, Master Hu, it will not be like that this time! Truly it will not!” Zhou Zhuang said in a shaking voice. “I will have the money together very soon!”

Hu Yishou raised his eyes, a cold smile curling his mouth. “As far as I know, your mother’s dowry and your family’s property deed have both been pawned away. What do you have left to scrape together?”

“I am going to marry Sui Rui! Master Hu, do you know the heiress of Sui’s Chicken Shop? It is her! Once I marry her, Sui’s Chicken Shop will be mine as well — would you still doubt I could come up with the money to repay you?”

“Miss Sui is willing to marry you?”

“She will be willing! She will absolutely be willing!” Zhou Zhuang moved forward on his knees, only to be frozen in place by a look from Hu Yishou’s bodyguard. He crouched there trembling in the water and explained desperately, “I have something to use against Sui Rui — even if she is unwilling to marry me, she will certainly pay a large sum to buy my silence! As long as I get that money, I can repay the gambling debt! Master Hu, please give me just a few more days! I will definitely pay you back!”

Hu Yishou considered for a moment, then said slowly, “…You understand what the price of deceiving me would be, I trust?”

“I would not dare deceive you, Master Hu, even if I had ten times the nerve!” Zhou Zhuang said, his face drained of all color.

“Very well, then. I will give you five more days.”

Zhou Zhuang, reprieved from what had felt like certain death, threw himself into frantic kowtows once more. “Thank you, Master Hu, thank you, Master Hu…”

“Do not thank me too soon. The five days I am giving you come with a price.”

Whatever little color had returned to Zhou Zhuang’s face vanished completely.

“…Wh-what… what price?”

Hu Yishou handed the dagger in his hand to one of the men at his side. The man took it, and along with two other young, able-bodied men, walked toward Zhou Zhuang.

“Do not — do not — stop, please… Master Hu… have mercy, have mercy, mer—AAAAAAH!!”

The clear water of the stream continued to babble serenely.

Vivid red blood bloomed and spread through the current, and a severed finger drifted away downstream.