Though neither of them had spoken loudly, and Wang Rong and the others had deliberately kept people from drawing close, at this particular moment when every family was stirring restlessly, what Jiang Huanran had done and what it was for could be worked out without any great effort of thought.

Of course none of them believed Jiang Huanran was acting out of any profound sincerity. The various families, upon receiving word, cursed the Jiang Family roundly for breaking rank and getting ahead of the rest.

When Jiang Xinde heard of it, he could only sigh and let the young man have his way. In the past he would not have believed a creature of appetite would suddenly change its ways — but the way his youngest son had applied himself of late was proof enough that his talk of marrying Hua Zhi was not mere words. He had even wanted to become someone worthy of her.

Jiang Xinde was not surprised by the outcome. Setting aside the fact that Hua Zhi had no feelings for his youngest son — even if she had, she still would not have agreed. Huanran could not protect her; with a living deity of wealth in the household, who would not use her for what she was worth? He would not be able to help himself. He freely admitted it.

In the end, this outcome was not a bad one. Given Hua Zhi’s temperament, she would likely feel she owed Huanran something — and when good fortune came her way in the future, she would not forget the Jiang Family. A case of planting a willow without intent and having it take root.

Thinking of his son, who had not come out of his room since returning, he instructed everyone not to disturb him. With time, such things were eventually laid to rest. He himself had once known the tender longings of youth and understood well what that felt like.

On the other side, the Hua Family’s carriage drove directly into the front courtyard. Hua Zhi looked at the man who had lifted the curtain and raised her brows — watching him with an amused and half-smiling expression, she made no move to get down.

Gu Yanxi, reading her look with perfect ease, climbed into the carriage himself.

“…” The attendants exchanged uncertain glances. Nanny Su gave a soft cough and gestured for the others to disperse, then stationed herself nearby to keep watch. The senior maids, meanwhile, turned away to hide their laughter. Their young miss truly had that man completely in her grasp.

Sitting down beside A’Zhi, Gu Yanxi touched her slightly cool cheek and removed his outer robe, draping it over her. “You found out?”

“As the person most directly involved, I was probably the last one to know.”

Gu Yanxi smiled. “A minor matter. Knowing or not makes no difference.”

“If it were truly a minor matter, you would not have added people to my side.” Hua Zhi was, in truth, a little displeased. Knowing and not knowing were two different things — had she known what those people were plotting, she would have been on guard against them from the heart. Whether going out or doing anything else, she would have factored in the hidden dangers, rather than walking around today without a shred of alertness, as she had done.

It was a reminder to her, too. All her intelligence came through Yanxi, through the Seven Lodges Division standing behind him. Cut off those two sources, and she would be as good as blind and deaf. When all was said and done, she needed her own network of information. Easier said than done, however — to build such a network, one needed first and foremost people, and then time. She was short of both.

“Don’t be upset.” Gu Yanxi took her hand and rubbed it gently, warming her fingers. “I only…was a little jealous.”

Hua Zhi had not been deeply angry to begin with, and at this candid admission, the last trace of her pique dissolved. She shot him a sidelong look and scoffed, “So you do know I fall for that.”

Gu Yanxi smiled and brought her hand up against his cheek, his brow and eyes full of tender longing. “I was angry too. If they were all like Jiang Huanran, I could at least hold them in higher regard — but they only want to use you for their own family’s benefit, without a shred of sincerity. I wanted nothing more than to take a whip to them and leave their faces in ribbons. I have placed enough people around you — if they keep to proper means, so be it, but if they truly want to play at those base and underhanded games…”

Gu Yanxi was smiling, yet it was cold and thin. “I will let them learn what it means to wish they had never been born.”

Hua Zhi took his face in both hands and kneaded it vigorously. “That smile does not suit you at all. Give me back my gentle, warm-hearted sweetheart.”

The sheer force of the word sweetheart was tremendous. Gu Yanxi was immediately coaxed out of his mood — visibly, the cold edge receded little by little, and warmth seeped into the corners of his brow and the depths of his eyes.

Hua Zhi, as if rewarding him, kissed him lightly on the lips. When Gu Yanxi moved to deepen it, she pulled back and pressed her hand over his mouth. “Behave and talk properly.”

Gu Yanxi did not argue over whose fault it was that talking had not been happening properly. He nodded, and true to his word, spoke properly. “I am thinking that when the time is right, I would like to bring the Shizi out into the open — and use the Shizi’s identity to formally announce a betrothal with you.”

Hua Zhi considered it. “If that happens, the various imperial princes and Hao Yue — and perhaps others with their own ambitions — will guess that the leader of the Seven Lodges Division is the Shizi.”

“If there is no leader of the Seven Lodges Division after me, none of that will matter. The mask was originally meant as a safeguard against the complicated relationships within the imperial family — to maintain the Seven Lodges Division’s independence as far as possible and prevent anyone from exerting control through ties of parentage or kinship. The leader of the Seven Lodges Division has always answered to the Emperor alone. But those constraints are useless where I am concerned. If I choose not to trouble King Ling, he ought to be thanking heaven — as for everyone else, who would dare.”

“Do not rush to a decision. Wait and see.” Hua Zhi still felt uneasy about it. Instinctively, she sensed that if Yanxi were to do this, it would provoke a furious response from the Emperor. She did not care whether the Emperor treated her well or poorly — but Yanxi cared. The Emperor’s attention was the closest thing to warmth Yanxi had known in all those years. The Emperor had only a few years left; better to let that bond end without discord.

With this in mind, Hua Zhi added weight to her words. “Before you decide to do this, you must consult me first.”

“As you say.”

Sweetened by those three words, Hua Zhi suddenly recalled that he had just mentioned Jiang Huanran — which meant he clearly already knew what had happened on the road. She had turned someone else down, and though there was no right or wrong in that, she still felt she owed a debt of feeling. “Do not make trouble for the Jiang Family. Whatever schemes the rest of the Jiang Family had, Jiang Huanran’s own decency in this is genuinely rare.”

“Overestimating himself — on what basis does he speak of protecting you? He could not even withstand the pressure from his own family.”

“From where he stood, he gave what he had.”

Gu Yanxi looked at A’Zhi, who kept speaking in Jiang Huanran’s defence, and leaned in close. A dangerous undercurrent entered his voice. “You hold him in quite high regard?”

“When we first met he was still a young wastrel. Now he has settled down and his eyes have grown resolute. Given time, he will likely come to have something of —”

Gu Yanxi kissed that mouth firmly before it could finish praising another man. Jealousy churned inside him like an upwelling tide. Only after a good while did he release those now flushed and swollen lips, resting his forehead against hers, and said quietly, “You have never given me a compliment like that.”

Hua Zhi nearly burst out laughing. Had he actually been wounded by that?

“Can he kiss me the way you can? Can he hold me the way you can? Can he come and go as freely as you do? Can he —”

Her lips were stopped up once more — though compared to the storm of before, this was unmistakably gentler, like a soft and yielding wind. Like an apology.

She pushed his face away and gave it a firm squeeze. She had no heart to quarrel with a man who cared for her this much. Love, when it was real, meant staying close and cherishing it; when it was gone, you parted. There was no need for quarrels — feelings were not won through quarrelling, but they could certainly be driven away by it.

After making herself presentable, Hua Zhi put on her hood and stepped down from the carriage, keeping her head low to conceal her lips. To outward appearances at least, nothing between them had strayed beyond propriety — though naturally, that was not something that could be hidden from the maids who attended her most closely.