“…Why are you still here?” Shen Zhuxi stared at him blankly.

“That’s none of your concern,” Li Wu said. “You’ve been crying all evening and you still haven’t stopped — all because you didn’t get a bun?”

“None of your concern!” Shen Zhuxi flung his own words back at him.

Li Wu sprang down from the railing with swift agility, landing where the balcony met the open air with only a hair’s breadth to spare. Shen Zhuxi was about to cry out in alarm when Li Wu had already gripped one of the goldsmith’s shop’s red pillars and slid down.

He brushed the dust from his palms and walked toward her, his expression as calm as ever.

“You weren’t even afraid of me — how can you still be afraid of a few beggars?”

Shen Zhuxi bit her lip. After a long moment, she said, “Those are two different things.”

“That’s right, they are two different things — they’re bad people, and I’m a good person. A good person shouldn’t stoop to your level.” Li Wu said. “Come on. Come back with me.”

Shen Zhuxi stood where she was. But Li Wu had already turned and walked away, speaking over his shoulder as he went:

“Let me remind you — this isn’t the imperial palace. Anything can happen at night out here. Vengeful spirits of the violently dead, bullies who prey on the weak, beggars who haven’t eaten in half a month…”

Shen Zhuxi felt a chill down her spine. No longer caring whether keeping up with him was dignified enough, she hurried after Li Wu’s retreating figure.

Li Wu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head — without even looking, he knew she had followed.

He said, “You were standing there in a daze for so long. What were you thinking about?”

“…”

“Your sister is only a palace maid. As long as she hides for a while, the rebel forces won’t do anything to her.” Li Wu said. “These past two days, many palace maids and eunuchs have been fleeing from the capital into the surrounding region. Your sister might very well be among them.”

Shen Zhuxi quietly glanced up, and caught Li Wu looking at her sideways. She quickly dropped her gaze.

“Am I really that frightening? Why do you always refuse to look at me?” Li Wu’s voice was displeased.

“…I’m a woman. I shouldn’t look directly at men outside my family.”

Li Wu said with disdain, “Quite a feat — dictating where other people’s eyes are allowed to go. Who made that rule? Tell them to come face me, and I’ll reason with them.”

“…Whoever it was died several hundred years ago.”

“And you’re still following their rules. Aren’t you a fool?”

Shen Zhuxi looked up indignantly, and Li Wu’s sharp gaze caught her directly. She was just about to lower her eyes again when he spoke.

“In Yutou County, there is only one person you need to listen to.”

“Who?”

“Me.” Li Wu said.

Shen Zhuxi gave him a peculiar look, wondering where in the world this man got such towering self-confidence.

The two walked in silence for a while, gradually leaving the bustle of the town behind. The distant ridgeline rose and fell against the horizon, and an unidentified birdcall echoed through the clouds. The dirt path was uneven — covered in footprints of all sizes alongside small animal tracks shaped like plum blossoms. Shen Zhuxi navigated carefully by moonlight, trying to avoid the cow dung underfoot, and when she wasn’t paying attention, her shoulder bumped into Li Wu.

“Can you still walk?” Li Wu glanced at her and said, “Do you want me to carry you on my back?”

“No need!”

“You look so soft and delicate, but you’ve got quite a temper.”

“…”

“From your days waiting on people — did you ever get beaten for it?”

“…The Princess of Yue is kind-hearted. She would never beat me.”

The two exchanged intermittent words. At the end of the narrow path, a row of sparsely spaced farmhouses came into view. Their fences stood at varying heights — some chest high, some barely there at all — revealing clotheslines laden with garments and several pots of wild-growing plants. A thin thread of smoke rose from one chimney and dissolved into the silky white clouds above, leaving behind the clean fragrance of freshly steamed bread.

Shen Zhuxi still remembered where Li Wu lived. She broke ahead of him and walked quickly toward one small courtyard gate.

“You remembered?” Li Wu seemed mildly surprised.

Shen Zhuxi looked with satisfaction at the shrub just outside the wicket gate. Dense with small white blossoms scattered between its leaves, it glimmered with a clean, white radiance in the moonlight.

“I remembered it.”

Li Wu gave a free and easy laugh. “Remember it well, then. Next time you get lost, don’t expect me to come find you.”

Shen Zhuxi followed Li Wu into the courtyard. There was no sign of Li Que or Li Diao’er.

“Where are your brothers?” Shen Zhuxi asked.

“They went home. This little place can’t hold that many people.” Li Wu pushed open the door and windows of the main hall and brought out a long bench. “Sit first.”

Shen Zhuxi sat down stiffly and looked around. “Aren’t you going to light a lamp?”

“Isn’t the old moon up there? What do we need a lamp for?”

Li Wu went out of the main hall. Shen Zhuxi sat at the table with her hands clasped in her lap, her gaze wandering around the room.

A square table, four long benches, and a small wooden cabinet — those were all the furnishings in the main hall. On the bare mud walls hung a few iron hooks from which a rain cape and a bamboo hat were suspended. Beyond that, there was nothing.

She had been in the inner bedroom before: nothing more than a hard wooden bed that creaked and pressed against one’s bones, equally bare of any decoration.

This place felt less like a home and more like a temporary waypoint.

Looking around this dwelling — aptly described as humble — Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but think of her palace chambers. Though her imperial father had barely acknowledged her existence, Fu Xuanmiao’s protection had ensured that she lacked for nothing. Even her washroom had been hung with silk and brocade. Fu Xuanmiao had also frequently sent her rare treasures and famous paintings, so that her palace had glittered with beauty and splendor.

Compared to her own quarters, calling this place humble was, in fact, being generous.

This was worse than even the side rooms where her palace maids slept.

The thatched outhouse — she needn’t even speak of that. For Shen Zhuxi, it was hell within hell, nightmare within nightmare.

Li Wu returned — carrying a ceramic basin piled high with steaming white buns. He set the basin on the table and sat down on the bench beside Shen Zhuxi.

Shen Zhuxi stared at him in disbelief. He had actually saved her some buns?

“Eat.” Li Wu picked up a bun and was about to put it in his own mouth, then caught Shen Zhuxi’s gaze. He paused, and instead held the bun out to her.

“…I don’t want yours.”

“Take it since I’m giving it to you.” Li Wu pressed the bun into her hands, then picked up another for himself. “Are all women from the palace this fussy?”

“You’re the one being fussy,” Shen Zhuxi muttered under her breath.

“What did you say?”

Shen Zhuxi switched the bun to her other hand. “I said the bun is very hot.”

Li Wu said with disdain, “Pampered and precious.”

To demonstrate what a life of hardship looked like, Li Wu took a great bite of the plump white bun — and then immediately knocked over his bench and shot to his feet.

He cursed something unintelligible and roared:

“…Why the blazes did you give me a soup dumpling?!”

Shen Zhuxi watched him charge out to the courtyard, frantically scooping up water with a ladle to drink directly — looking exactly like a monkey that had sat on a fire — and she couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Li Wu spun around with a mouth full of water and glared at her. She immediately bowed her head and pretended she’d seen nothing, taking a small, cautious bite of the bun’s outer skin.

Li Wu rinsed his mouth several more times outside before finally returning to the main hall. He sat back down on the bench — and didn’t touch another bun, just watched Shen Zhuxi eat with his eyes.

Shen Zhuxi knew he had burned himself, but she suppressed her amusement and asked deliberately, “Why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m done eating,” Li Wu said with dark vehemence. “Tomorrow I’m going to go kill Old Zhu.”

Shen Zhuxi was alarmed. “How can you just go around killing people!”

“I say ‘kill’ and you actually think I mean kill?” Li Wu said, astonished. “How do you believe everything so readily? If I killed Old Zhu, I’d have to support his whole family — that’s a losing deal I want no part of!”

Shen Zhuxi bit angrily into her bun. She was lucky — it turned out to be a meat bun. It smelled wonderful, but still wary, she held it in her mouth without swallowing.

“What filling is this?” she asked.

“Pork. Go ahead and eat.” Li Wu gave her a sideways look. “Do the fine ladies of the palace refuse to eat even offal?”

“…The Princess of Yue doesn’t eat it, at least.”

“Delicate.”

Li Wu picked up the soup dumpling he had bitten into earlier, and once it had cooled slightly, ate it in a few bites. By the time Li Wu started on his second bun, Shen Zhuxi still had more than half of hers remaining.

“…I won’t eat and stay here for nothing,” Shen Zhuxi said suddenly.

Li Wu looked up.

“I’ll earn money to pay rent. Can you take me in for a while?” Shen Zhuxi knew it was an immodest thing to ask. Her face burned as hot as a hand warmer, and she couldn’t bring herself to meet Li Wu’s eyes. She kept her gaze down as she spoke.

She couldn’t see his expression, but his voice was its usual self.

“How would you earn money?”

“I… I’ll find a way.”

“Alright then.”

The unexpectedly easy answer made Shen Zhuxi look up in delight.

“Really?”

“What can I say — I’m just a very kind person.” Li Wu popped the last bit of bun in his hand into his mouth. “You can stay here, but no more slipping away without a word.”

“Agreed!” Shen Zhuxi accepted at once.

Li Wu said, “The bedroom inside is yours.”

Shen Zhuxi replied without thinking, “Then where will you sleep?”

“I’ll make do with a reed mat out here.”

Li Wu said it lightly, but Shen Zhuxi felt a pang of guilt.

“Eat up — there’s plenty more,” Li Wu said, reaching for a third meat bun.

Shen Zhuxi managed only one large meat bun before she could eat no more. Li Wu polished off all five, and once the basin was empty, he rose and picked it up. Shen Zhuxi quickly called after him:

“Li… Li Wu.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Is there fresh water?”

“The water vat is in the back courtyard.”

After Li Wu left, Shen Zhuxi also rose and went out of the main hall. She walked along the narrow path at the side of the house and into the back courtyard, where she found the water vat Li Wu had mentioned.

It took both hands to barely lift the heavy wooden lid. The vat was three-quarters full of clear water. There was enough for bathing — but where would she bathe? This open back courtyard had nothing but the water vat and the thatched outhouse, and not a single wall to provide any cover.

Shen Zhuxi went back to the kitchen doorway. Li Wu was putting a washed ceramic basin back into the bamboo cabinet. When she appeared, he said, “Aren’t you going to bed?”

“Where do you usually bathe?” Shen Zhuxi asked, embarrassed.

“Sometimes in the courtyard, sometimes at the river.” Li Wu glanced at her. “You want to wash up?”

Shen Zhuxi’s face flushed red. She gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Li Wu shook the water off his hands, walked out of the kitchen, and headed toward the main hall. Shen Zhuxi followed close behind like a shadow. He rummaged around and eventually produced a folding bamboo screen from a corner, thick with dust. Carrying it one-handed, he walked back to the rear courtyard.

Shen Zhuxi trailed at his heels and watched as he set the bamboo screen upright in front of the water vat.

“There you go,” Li Wu said.

“Just like this?” Shen Zhuxi stared at the screen — full of gaps — in disbelief.

“Yes. What else did you want?”

“This isn’t — isn’t it see-through everywhere?!”

“At most someone might see a silhouette. What does it matter?”

“It matters enormously!” Shen Zhuxi was outraged. “And — and the kitchen window faces the water vat! You’d be able to see everything with one look from there!”

Li Wu said with displeasure, “You think I’d peep? Am I that kind of person?”

That was anyone’s guess.

Shen Zhuxi grumbled privately, but didn’t dare say it aloud.

Li Wu said, “This is all the countryside has to offer. A fine lady will just have to make do.”

Since the day of the palace coup, Shen Zhuxi hadn’t had a proper wash. She’d been through a desperate escape, a chase, a dunking in a river, and a harrowing encounter at the market — she was covered in filth. What choice did she have?

Getting into bed right now was simply out of the question.

After Li Wu left, Shen Zhuxi looked around to the left and right. Only after confirming there was no one in the courtyard or the kitchen did she quietly slip off her clothes.

The unpleasant smell from the thatched outhouse drifted over at intervals. She could avoid looking at it — but she couldn’t stop breathing.

There was no bath powder. The water was icy cold and carried a strange odor. It spilled over her skin like it was spilling into her heart.

She crouched down, held her breath, and scrubbed the soles of her shoes. In the palace she hadn’t even touched water with her own hands; now she was washing embroidered slippers caked with cow dung. As she washed, Shen Zhuxi grew more and more wretched, and her eyes reddened again.

Li Wu crouched at the main hall doorway. By the time Shen Zhuxi emerged from the back courtyard, his legs had gone numb from waiting. Li Wu spat out the wild grass he had been chewing and let his gaze rest briefly on her swollen, red eyes.

“I thought you’d fallen into the vat.”

Shen Zhuxi avoided his eyes, gave a vague sound in reply, and walked quickly inside.

Li Wu stood up and watched her disappear into the bedroom.

“…Where do all these tears come from,” he said.

That small murmur — only the moon heard it.