Gu Yan Xi had always known Hua Zhi would make more than one such trip. He simply asked, “When are you thinking of going?”

“Around the seventh month, probably.” She entered the study and took her seat. “Why are you here so early today? No morning court?”

“Court is suspended today. Barring sudden emergencies, from now on it will be one rest day in every four — a rule I’ve just established.”

Hua Zhi gave the man a long, considering look. Even if she placed this person in the era she had once lived in, he would surely have been a figure of great consequence. He had no need of a cheat code like her rebirth — he was simply someone born with formidable ability.

Gu Yan Xi caught her gaze. “What is it?”

“I was thinking that I’ve found myself quite a good prospect.”

“……” Gu Yan Xi was suddenly overcome with a rush of warmth to his face. For reasons he couldn’t identify, he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Hua Zhi. He lowered his head and sipped his tea.

He didn’t recognize it as shyness — but the faint flush on his cheeks didn’t escape Hua Zhi, sitting not far across from him. She startled for a moment, and then her whole heart went soft. She had never imagined this kind of feeling could appear on a man who, by every account, stood tall and unshakeable.

For a time neither of them spoke. Yet the warmth between them was overwhelming — enough that Shao Yao, who burst in on them without warning, felt a vague discomfort she couldn’t quite name.

Gu Yan Xi decided he had made an error. He should have thrown Shao Yao back into the palace immediately.

Hua Zhi was always indulgent with Shao Yao and didn’t feel she had broken anything. She waved her over. “What’s the matter?”

Shao Yao sensed something was off and didn’t dare draw closer — she retreated to the doorway instead, hanging off the frame. “I want to go to the food house.”

“Craving Fu Dong’s cooking?”

Shao Yao nodded rapidly. She couldn’t explain it herself — she just especially loved eating what Fu Dong made.

“Remember to put your hat on, and go with Baoxia.”

“Alright.” With Hua Hua’s nod of approval, Shao Yao bolted. Yan-ge’s eyes were so terrifying!

Gu Yan Xi had leisure to do nothing in particular. Hua Zhi did not — inside and outside, there was far too much for her to manage. Gu Yan Xi simply stayed at her side to keep her company, and after a while asked for her painting tools and began idly putting brush to paper.

He was painting Hua Zhi. Yet however many attempts he made, not a single one satisfied him. The figure on paper was too stiff, not a fraction of what she was in person. By the time half the day had passed, the wastepaper basket was piled full of crumpled sheets, and the painting paper before him remained blank.

Hua Zhi laughed at him. “Please stop wasting my good paper and ink.”

Gu Yan Xi simply set down the brush and gave up the wasteful endeavor. He cast his gaze around this room he already knew intimately. Even with how often he came, the changes in the study never escaped him — most noticeably, there were more and more books on the shelves.

He walked over and flipped through them. A thorough miscellany — half were unofficial histories, miscellaneous records, and travelogues. One glance could speak for the whole. That bookshelf alone revealed what kind of vast and open world Hua Zhi held inside her.

“The Hua Family has a famous library known throughout the realm,” Hua Zhi’s voice came from behind him. She hadn’t risen from her seat, and sat leaning back in her chair with an easy, unhurried air. “But what’s inside isn’t quite what others imagine — it’s not all distinguished histories, classics, and canonical texts.”

“A considerable portion of it is miscellaneous books. Grandfather said that when one cannot travel ten thousand li in person, these books can open up one’s horizons and broaden one’s mind. No book is without value; what exists has its reason for existing. Even frivolous poetry and risqué verses appear because there is a demand for them — though, rather regrettably, even those books spent most of their time gathering dust in the Hua household. Only I and Fourth Uncle ever read them, and later I gradually drew Bolin into enjoying them as well. When we left the old residence, most of what we carried out were the classics and canonical texts — yet he managed to smuggle out quite a few travelogues hidden away.”

“You’ve set up another study elsewhere?”

“Yes, placed within the clan school. The books we brought out are kept there. The ones here are privately mine.” Hua Zhi tilted her head and looked at the still-unfilled shelves. One day, when she finally had time to breathe, she would set aside a library even larger than the Hua Family’s, collect one copy of every book available on the market, then put a soft couch in there and read to her heart’s content. Simply imagining it was already satisfying.

Gu Yan Xi observed her deep love of books thoroughly, and something quietly settled in his mind.

“Young master.” Wang Rong’s voice came from just outside the study door. They all knew the rules — without a word from Hua Zhi, not one of them would step across the threshold.

Gu Yan Xi stepped out. He returned a moment later, his eyes carrying a smile. “Just as you guessed — Yang Qi has been telling anyone who’ll listen that you are vicious, that you had him seized and forced him at knifepoint to write the letter of release.”

Hua Zhi didn’t pause in her writing, and didn’t look up. “He has no evidence. No one will believe him. Let him talk.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nothing. To act is to invite error. This was likely approved by Yang Zheng — he wants to feel out my reaction.” Hua Zhi set down her brush, blew lightly on the ink, and passed it across to him. “Yingchun has the best hand at tea-roasting. But you’ll need to get these things in order first.”

It was a vast and meaningful benefit she was extending — and yet she offered it as though handing over nothing more than a plain flatbread to satisfy hunger. Not a single word about how the profits would be divided. Gu Yan Xi knew that for Hua Zhi, this was a gesture of treating him as one of her own. Toward her own people, Hua Zhi was always generous.

The Zhu Family had been stirring quite a bit lately — that too was likely tied to Hua Zhi in one way or another.

He had once wished with everything in him to be someone Hua Zhi would look after as one of her own. Now that she truly was looking after him, he finally understood what kind of happiness that was. She said nothing of what she did — she simply took care of you, in every way, to the full extent of what she was able.

And yet he could not simply accept it as a matter of course.

“This venture will be registered under my private name.”

Hua Zhi raised an eyebrow. “That identity of yours as Shizi Gu?”

“Yes. In truth, that identity of mine is quite well-off.” Gu Yan Xi lowered his eyes; his expression was unreadable. “When my mother married, the Lu Family stripped itself nearly bare — her dowry was extremely substantial. Afterward, my imperial uncle had it all transferred into my name, and gave me an additional gift on top of that. All together, it amounts to no small sum.”

Hua Zhi began to understand a little why he felt differently about the Lu Family. Indeed — a family that so wholeheartedly cherished a daughter they were sending away was difficult to despise.

“When the time comes, we split the profits equally.”

Hua Zhi’s brow arched slightly. “Equally?”

“If you prefer, giving it all to you would suit me just as well.”

“That’s too premature.”

Gu Yan Xi loved deeply the unabashed ease with which Hua Zhi spoke of marriage — “You decide when the time feels right.”

Hua Zhi’s eyes curved with warmth. That, she thought, was more or less the same as saying “as you wish” — and it was every bit as pleasing to hear.