The inn was wonderfully warm. Hua Zhi paused at the entrance to adjust before stepping inside.

The attendant had already come to greet them, recognized Gu Yanxi at once, and led them upstairs. “Just as you instructed, everything has been freshly tidied — the bed linens have all been changed. Please see if it is to your satisfaction. The food is also ready. Would you like it brought up now or a little later?”

Hua Pingyang could not help but take another look at Gu Yanxi. He was a man of experience, and something about this young man struck him as not quite straightforward in his intentions.

“Send up some hot water first. Bring the food about a quarter of an hour after that.”

“Of course! Scalding hot water will be up for you all shortly.”

The attendant had a naturally cheerful face — born for the trade. Hua Zhi watched him and found herself half-tempted to poach him for one of her own shops.

“Oh, and attendant — open an additional room next door. Fourth Uncle, to save you the trouble, you needn’t go back tonight.”

Hua Pingyang agreed without a second thought. Not just tonight — for as long as his niece remained here these next few days, he intended to stay right here as well.

“Right away! I’ll go fetch the key for you now.”

The hot water was scalding indeed. There was a half-bucket of cold water beside it, but Hua Zhi had no wish to dilute it. She pinched a cloth between her fingertips, wrung it slowly, then spread it open and pressed it over her face. She let out a long, deep breath of relief. Shielded by the cloth with no eyes on her, she let herself go for just a moment — exhaustion written plainly across her face.

“Hua Zhi, the food at this inn is so good!” Shao Yao came bouncing in, brimming with energy. Looking at her, Hua Zhi wished she knew some technique to draw off a little of that vitality for herself.

“The food has been brought up?”

“Yes, it’s in Fourth Uncle’s room.”

Hua Zhi wrung out the cloth again and pressed it directly onto Shao Yao’s face, teasing her: “Do you know what it means to eat on the sly and not wipe your mouth afterward? You are the perfect example.”

Shao Yao scrubbed at her face in a haphazard way, about to toss the cloth onto the rack, but caught a glance of Hua Zhi watching her and reluctantly walked over to rinse the cloth properly before hanging it up.

“Let’s go.”

The doors on both sides opened at the same time. Hua Zhi’s reaction was a little slow — she blinked for a moment, then nodded at Gu Yanxi.

Gu Yanxi walked over and gestured toward the room on her right. “Fourth Uncle is in this room.”

The door was left open. Hua Pingyang was sitting at the table waiting for them, with several large covered dishes arranged on the surface.

“Come in, come in.” Hua Pingyang stood and lifted the lids one by one. A rich, hearty aroma surged forward — large chunks of meat, large bones, and even the vegetables nestled among them were cut in generous pieces.

“Don’t let the roughness of the food fool you — it may bear no comparison to the refined dishes in the capital, but the flavor is nothing inferior. The one who cooks here is the proprietor himself, apparently a skill passed down through the family for generations. Excellent, really.”

Without needing her fourth uncle to say more, Hua Zhi could tell from the smell alone — across two lifetimes of eating well — that the taste would not disappoint. But perhaps because she was simply too exhausted, even though mealtime had long since passed, she felt no real hunger. What she could barely contain any longer was the fatigue.

She made herself finish one bowl of rice, and when she looked up, she found everyone watching her. Hua Zhi instinctively touched the corners of her mouth — no grains of rice, no bits of food.

Shao Yao set down her bowl and let out a wide yawn, stretching her arms out lazily. “I’m so sleepy. Hua Zhi, let’s go back to the room and sleep.”

“…”

It was a transparently poor performance, but Hua Zhi accepted the kindness all the same. Better for Fourth Uncle to think she was sleepy than to let him know how exhausted she truly was. She did not want her family to feel they owed her anything. Whatever she had done, she had done willingly — no one could have compelled her to do what she was unwilling to do.

Hua Pingyang and Gu Yanxi sat across from each other, eating in silence. Before long Shao Yao returned. “She was asleep the moment she lay down. I checked her pulse — it’s only exhaustion. She’d been holding herself together to get here and see the people she wanted to see, and the moment she arrived she couldn’t hold on any longer.”

Hua Pingyang found the food suddenly tasteless, however fragrant it was. He managed to tug the corners of his mouth into some semblance of a smile. “Sit down and eat. It’ll go cold.”

Shao Yao ate with great relish — more heartily than either of the two men.

After the meal, the two men went to Gu Yanxi’s room. Shao Yao, of her own accord, went back to keep an eye on Hua Zhi.

“Master Lu’s care throughout the journey has been a tremendous help. The Hua family is deeply grateful.”

Gu Yanxi had known of Hua Pingyang before ever meeting Hua Zhi.

For the Hua Family to have produced two Hanlin scholars in one generation was an honor, but for Hua Pingyang personally, it had been an obstacle. The Old Master of the Hua Family was not unaware that his youngest son was the most exceptional of that generation — yet because there was already a Hanlin scholar among the elder brothers, he had no choice but to cut short Hua Pingyang’s path to advancement.

Another man might have harbored bitterness and resentment over such a thing. Hua Pingyang had not. He had devoted himself to the Hua Family in his own way, wholeheartedly — even when most members of the family had no idea what he had done, or any way to understand it.

When Gu Yanxi had first learned of this man, he had recognized immediately that here was someone of genuine intelligence with a remarkably open and magnanimous spirit. It was a pity he had been born in the wrong order. Had he been the eldest son of the Hua Family, he would likely have done better than Hua Pingyu.

So to be seen through by him came as no surprise.

“Drawing a salary from the Hua Family, I am naturally obliged to do my duty.”

“Is that all there is to it?”

Gu Yanxi looked up, and there was a smile in his eyes. “Not just anyone can afford to hire someone like me. That I sought out the Hua household of my own accord naturally means I have something in mind — but the time is not yet right, and to say more now would be superfluous.”

Hua Pingyang had not expected such candor. His estimation of the man rose by a measure, though he still felt there was no one worthy of his Zhi’er. The reason she had been matched with Shen Qi before was that the young man had grown up before their eyes — his character was known from root to branch, and he would not be able to cause any real trouble. Who could have guessed that for all their vigilance, the geese had pecked out their eyes in the end.

Thinking of Shen Qi, Hua Pingyang ground his teeth in private. Just wait until he got back. He would break that man’s legs. The third one.

“The Hua Family at this time is a name every decent person would step well clear of, and yet you dare to get involved?” Hua Pingyang said coldly. “Knowing Zhi’er’s nature, if she ever did marry, she would bring the Hua Family along as her burden. Are you prepared to bear the consequences?”

“The things you left for Hua Zhi — she has not touched a single one. After I did her one service, she gave me a formula for making ice in return. Worth a fortune beyond reckoning. Fourth Elder Master of the Hua Family, earning silver has never been a difficulty for Hua Zhi. She has no shortage of ways to do it. What she thinks about, what she plans for, has never simply been earning enough silver to support a large household. It has always been how to get all of you back.”

Their eyes met across the table, and neither flinched nor looked away.

Hua Pingyang felt a tightness in his chest from those words, and at last could not hold back. His voice came out hoarse. “What are you trying to say?”

Gu Yanxi let go of every last restraint on the pride that ran through him. “Her appearance, her family name, her talents and accomplishments — none of these are things I give any weight to. What I am drawn to is the protectiveness in her heart toward her family. I am drawn to that ferocity of hers — the kind that, even if everything were falling apart, would have her fall before everyone else. I hope that one day she might also take me in as family and place me at her back. Compared to someone with formidable martial ability, she is fragile enough to shatter — yet her strength is not the kind that can be easily destroyed. Many things that others would regard as magnificent or extraordinary, she simply does not see as worth a second look.”

Gu Yanxi took out the small, sharp hairpin he kept on his person and held it out for Hua Pingyang to see. “With only this small thing, she held her own against someone who had slipped through my hands — nearly trading her life for his. Yet even with half her life spent in that struggle, she did not retreat a single step. Tell me — what woman could compare to her?”

Hua Pingyang’s lips trembled as he stared at that hairpin, thinking of what Zhi’er must have gone through in all the time they had not been there to watch over her.

PS: This chapter was an absolute joy to write. Many thanks to the reader who corrected me — I had it backwards: the Mao hour is in the early morning, and five o’clock in the afternoon is the You hour. I will ask the editor to fix this tomorrow. And thank you all for the monthly vote tickets! Everyone, please leave comments — they are this author’s spiritual sustenance. You cannot let this author go hungry!