Thinking back on all the ways his mother had treated Luoyun over the years, Lu Shi at last understood her heart — and understood with despair that her feeling for him was not enough to make her trust him completely, nor lean upon him without reservation.

Just then, a hurried female voice came from the inner staircase on the other side: “Master Lu, where are you?”

Su Caijian had arrived.

Fearing that her elder sister might be alone with Lu Shi, Caijian’s heart had seized with anxiety. The moment she stepped down from the carriage, she did not wait for her younger brothers, shook off her maidservant’s hand, lifted her skirts, and rushed up ahead of everyone else.

When she arrived breathless at the top, she found her betrothed standing pale-faced and dazed, staring blankly at a landing on the corridor.

As for her elder sister Luoyun, she was sitting calmly in the tea room with Guiyan and Lu Lingxiu, unhurriedly going about the preparations for steeping tea.

Though the atmosphere among the group was subdued, the two had clearly not been alone together, and Caijian finally caught her breath.

Hearing her younger sister’s footsteps, Luoyun lifted her head with a smile: “I did not dare steep the tea before you arrived — come, sit down quickly, and let us have a proper cup together.”

Jinguan and Jincheng, the two brothers who arrived last, knew nothing of what had passed and grinned as they pulled their brother-in-law-to-be Lu Shi over to the tea table to join them.

The lively young men and women set the room abuzz completely, and the laughter that filled the tea room was more than enough to drown out one man’s quiet desolation.

None of them knew that in the corner just adjacent to the tea room, on the other side of the wall, a tall figure stood behind a hanging roll curtain by the window, having taken in everything that had transpired in the corridor.

The tall man had also heard every word of Luoyun’s speech, with perfect clarity.

“Linfeng, what are you looking at?” Guo Yan, the Shizi of Yong’an Prince’s residence, came up behind Han Linfeng and followed his gaze, standing on his toes to peer — only to see an empty corridor.

Han Linfeng turned his head with an air of unconcern and gave a light laugh: “Nothing in particular — only that the surroundings here are rather refined. I find it pleasing.”

The late Prince of Yong’an had been a prince of different surname who had distinguished himself greatly in military service. By the time of Guo Yan’s father, however, nothing remained of that legacy but a talent for eating, drinking, and merrymaking.

As for Guo Yan himself, he was a seasoned connoisseur of pleasure and a frequent habitué of the entertainment quarters.

Since Han Linfeng’s arrival in the capital, he and Shizi Guo had found themselves entirely in accord on the subject of amusement. Under Guo Yan’s guidance, the newly arrived Han Linfeng had made the acquaintance of a whole circle of the capital’s idle young lords.

The incident a few days prior — busking in the street with a zither — had been a ridiculous wager between Han Linfeng and this same Guo Yan.

But today’s tea gathering was Guo Yan coming to make his apologies to Han Linfeng.

It was only yesterday that he had learned from his father: Han Linfeng, in the course of hosting several cuju champions, had spent the night drinking at a restaurant during the late emperor’s memorial day, and had been subjected to a furious dressing-down from His Majesty.

Word had it that His Majesty had summoned Han Linfeng to the imperial study and, in front of a full assembly of senior officials, berated him in the harshest terms for conduct unworthy of his character. Had Han Linfeng been His Majesty’s own blood grandson, he declared, a descendant so defiant and disrespectful as this would have been put to death before the ancestral shrine.

But precisely because Han Linfeng was Emperor Xianzong’s great-grandson by descent, His Majesty — though incensed — showed restraint out of deference to Xianzong’s act of abdication, and let the matter rest with a thorough tongue-lashing.

When Guo Yan heard the news, he was so thoroughly shaken it was as if his soul had left his body. For it was he who had asked Han Linfeng to recruit those cuju champions on his behalf.

The terrified Shizi immediately disbanded the cuju team he had already assembled, then waited until the storm had blown over before coming to find Han Linfeng to probe for the details.

Han Linfeng had suffered such a humiliation, yet his expression was entirely composed. He only said that His Majesty was magnanimous and benevolent, and would not trouble himself over an ignorant young man such as himself.

Guo Yan nodded in ready agreement — His Majesty’s reverence for the late emperor was no different from Emperor Xuan before him, and could truly be called exemplary. By comparison, Han Linfeng, as the late emperor’s descendant, fell quite short indeed.

Hearing Guo Yan’s words, Han Linfeng gave a faint smile. But as he turned his head, the smile faded considerably, and what remained in his eyes was an indescribable blankness.

Yet those guarded and unfathomable thoughts seemed to dissipate somewhat as his gaze drifted to the window overlooking the street.

It appeared that the tea gathering next door had concluded. The blind woman who would not walk down a dangerous staircase was being helped into a carriage by her maidservant.

And that besotted Master Lu, his face drawn and sunken, stood at the teahouse entrance, gazing after the departing carriage with a hollow, fixed stare.

Han Linfeng gave a quiet laugh. This Miss Su, though a woman, had a mind that was keen and clear as crystal — her independence and decisiveness far surpassed that of many men.

Setting everything else aside — she simply refused to depend entirely on others. What a pity that she had lost her sight entirely. Heaven truly was jealous of such beauty.

As for Luoyun, upon returning home that day, she was summoned once again to the main house by Ding Shi.

Though Su Luoyun had not met alone with Master Lu on this occasion, from Ding Shi’s perspective, this was precisely Su Luoyun using her cunning to lure Lu Lingxiu into arranging a meeting with the Lu family’s young master.

Her daughter Caijian had no guile of her own — as her mother, she could not afford to be unwatchful.

Since Su Luoyun had stubbornly planted herself in the capital and refused to leave, the time had come to make things plain and deliver a firm warning — lest Luoyun have a change of heart and start entertaining old ideas of entering the Lu household alongside Caijian.

“The Lu family may have been a step above ours in former days, but times have changed. Your father and Master Lu’s father now both serve in the same trade bureau. If both daughters of the Su family were to marry into the Lu family, I am afraid their colleagues would mock your father behind his back.”

Su Luoyun gave a faint smile: “Why is the First Madam telling me all this? Were the betrothal documents between the Su and Lu families not exchanged long ago? Who is speaking any such nonsense about sisters marrying into the same household? If Father were to hear you say this, he would think I was bullying my younger sister again.”

Ding Shi, knowing she could not be seen, did not bother with a pleasant face, and let a cold smile sit at the corner of her lips. Her voice, however, remained warm and gentle: “You have never been willing to call me Mother, yet I know you are the most sensible of the two — unlike your younger sister, who has no cunning in her. You, as the elder sister, would do best to yield to her. If you do not, even I, as your stepmother, will find it difficult to say anything on your behalf. Think about it — your father dotes on you so much. When you wanted to live separately, he bought you a courtyard, never mind that the family is now split across two residences and expenses have grown. And your courtyard still needs extensive repairs, which requires a great deal of money.”

She paused here, then continued: “You are also aware that your younger sister is to be married shortly — money pours out like water. Your father has been reproaching me for not managing the household well enough, not knowing how much I worry. He too has come to understand the family’s difficulties and can only attend to the most pressing matters first. And although that house is old, it is still livable. If you are not in a hurry, I would like to wait a little longer. Of course, once your younger sister’s wedding goes smoothly, the household will naturally have more to spare, and your rooms can be properly repaired. Guiyan is still young, and you are as you are — even if you were to marry into a good family, they may not treat you with genuine care. You and Guiyan will have many occasions to rely on your father’s household in the future. As the elder sister, you ought to set an example — do not let Guiyan, young as he is, start disregarding the family’s wishes. Otherwise, you know your father’s temper. If father and children come to be at odds, it is always the younger generation that suffers in the end.”

Su Luoyun understood what Ding Shi was saying. She was using money as a cudgel to keep her in line — warning her to behave, and not to interfere with Caijian’s marriage. She gave a cold smile inwardly: “Thank you for the reminder, First Madam. It would of course be best if Father took proper care of his children and was not swayed by others’ influences.”

Ding Shi pretended not to understand the sarcasm, and smiled sweetly on: “Naturally. And if you could produce a few more new formulas, so that the shop’s business improves — would there not be more profit to divide? With the household funds more plentiful by then, your father could buy you a better place, and you would not need to worry so much about where you live.”

Su Luoyun now understood it all. Ding Shi had not only no intention of providing the money for repairs at present — she was also planning to use money as a lever to squeeze more incense formulas out of her.

After all, the formulas her mother had left behind were getting on in years. Though the fragrances were rich and full-bodied, some of the methods had by now leaked out to varying degrees and been copied by competitors.

Shouwei Zhai’s ambition to dominate the market was becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

Su Luoyun had no interest in wrangling with her stepmother over a few taels of silver. When she had asked for the courtyard, she had already decided she would not go to the Su family begging for a living. Still less would she follow in her mother’s footsteps — giving everything she had, only to find herself dressing the bride for someone else’s benefit in the end.

After offering Ding Shi a few perfunctory and noncommittal replies, Su Luoyun rose and took her leave.

Ding Shi watched her retreating figure, her gaze turning cold.

Just as her husband had said — this was an ungrateful wretch who could never be tamed, with ambitions far beyond her station. If this girl were ever to get her hands on a large sum of money, she would think even less of her as the mistress of the household.

But setting aside Ding Shi’s full measure of scheming — Su Luoyun’s thoughts were entirely occupied with the matter of finding a tutor for her younger brother.

Her brother was clever. If a suitable tutor could be engaged to go over the material with him in the period before the examinations, the effort would yield twice the results.

The trouble was that at this particular juncture, accomplished tutors had all been taken on by various academies and private schools. To engage a good one would require a willingness to spend.

Gritting her teeth, she pawned several of the fine hair ornaments and jewelry her mother had left her, spent a considerable sum, and secured a tutor of genuine quality — ensuring her brother would not be left without guidance.

Listening to the sound of the tutor’s careful instruction drifting from the study, Luoyun felt a measure of peace settle within her.

Xiangcao, however, felt a pang of sorrow on the young miss’s behalf. What she had pawned were all fine hairpins and bracelets. If a proper tea gathering came along in the future, the eldest young miss would have nothing left to wear on her head.

Luoyun herself was entirely unbothered: “I cannot see anyway — why should I put on so many ornaments just to please others? Besides, I did not pawn them as a dead pledge. When I have earned enough money, I can redeem all of Mother’s pieces.”

For the time being she was short of funds. The rental income from the farmland her mother had left her was not quite enough for all her needs, and those ornaments were doing nothing but gathering dust — far better to turn them into ready silver for now. Once her father gave her the earnings from the new fragrance, she would no longer need to struggle to make ends meet.

Beyond the tutor, her brother also needed to purchase a great many books. Most of the books he had used before had been shared with the two brothers. Now that Guiyan had struck out on his own, he had brought very few books with him.

There was nothing for it at present but to have the tutor draw up a reading list and go to a bookshop to make the selections. And so, taking advantage of a quiet day when business was not pressing, Luoyun brought her brother along to purchase books at a bookshop.

The lane was narrow, and Luoyun instructed the driver to go slowly. But just as they emerged from the lane entrance, the carriage jolted violently. Su Luoyun was caught completely off guard and struck her head against the side of the carriage, unable to suppress a muffled sound of pain.

“What kind of driving is that? Did you not see there was a carriage from the Shizi’s residence? Why did you not give way?” Someone outside the carriage shouted loudly.

Su Guiyan quickly steadied his sister and leaned out to look — and saw that their carriage had been struck by one coming out of Qingyu Lane.

The intersection where Tianshui Lane and Qingyu Lane met was a narrow one. There had been talk before of carriages and sedan chairs colliding there at the lane mouth. It had simply not occurred to either of them that today, it would happen to Luoyun and her brother.

But in such collisions, the question of who was in the right and who was in the wrong came down to whose carriage was larger and whose household’s tablet carried greater weight.

By some particular misfortune, Luoyun’s carriage had collided with none other than the carriage of the Beizhen Shizi’s residence. Naturally, the one deemed at fault would be her own driver.

Luoyun ought by rights to have stepped down from the carriage to offer her apologies — but the blow to her head had not been light, and it had jarred her old injury. She felt the world spinning and her ears ringing, and could not even speak.

Guiyan had once before been terrified by the sight of his sister losing consciousness from a head wound, and now, seeing her with her eyes closed and silent, he could not spare a thought for the commotion outside. He cried out in a voice breaking with panic: “Elder sister! Elder sister, what is wrong — wake up, please do not frighten me!”

Inside his own carriage, Han Linfeng had also been jostled by the impact. When he frowned and leaned his head out, he found that his carriage had collided with another.

Hearing the young man’s desperate cries coming from inside, he waved a hand and silenced his shouting servants: “Go and see — if anyone is hurt, send for a physician at once.”

But after giving the instruction, Han Linfeng caught sight of the “Su” household tablet hanging from the other carriage, and called out to Qingyang to investigate: “Go and see whether that is Miss Su Luoyun’s carriage.”

When Qingyang came running back to report that it was indeed Miss Su’s carriage, and that Miss Su appeared to have been knocked unconscious by the impact, Han Linfeng’s brow furrowed even more deeply.

His encounters with this Miss Su — seemed to be occurring with rather too great a frequency.