Although Han Shizi had a poor reputation, he appeared to be a man who kept his word.

The day after the heavy downpour, an elderly maidservant who had once served the Prince Consort’s late wife arrived in a flurry of dust and travel, having taken a carriage all the way from a neighboring county of her own accord.

Su Luoyun received her warmly, personally presenting tea and refreshments before tactfully inquiring about what fragrances the late mistress had favored. This maidservant was now a grandmother herself, having long since returned to the countryside outside the capital, and even now, at the mere mention of her departed mistress, her eyes filled with tears.

“There was no finer woman in all the world than she. Her birth was not especially distinguished, and she had known General Zhao since their humble beginnings, yet she was virtuous and kind-hearted, and held the General in the highest esteem and affection. However, she had never been fond of powders and rouge, nor did she ever use fragrances. In the old days, when she accompanied the General to guard the frontier, she would often use wild thyme from their hometown to fumigate his clothing. Ah, in those days there was constant fighting along the border, and the mistress said that when General Zhao led his troops into battle and rested in encampments, the scent of wild thyme would drive away insects and let the General sleep soundly…”

Su Luoyun listened, then let out a soft, quiet breath.

When she had first taken on the commission, she had asked the steward of the Prince Consort’s residence what fragrance was ordinarily used to fumigate the General’s clothing. The steward had told her that the Prince Consort’s daily diet and living arrangements were all overseen and managed by the Princess herself, and naturally that meant costly sandalwood and the like.

Come to think of it, wild thyme was hardly a precious or rare fragrance. It was used more often as a medicinal herb to treat coughs, or as a seasoning for braised mutton.

A personage as august as Princess Yuyang would naturally never have thought to use something so rustic as the fragrance for fumigating clothing.

And the Prince Consort himself was a man who paid little attention to his personal grooming and dress — he likely would never have noticed what his late wife had once used to fumigate his clothes…

Su Luoyun ventured a bold guess: the scent that could draw the Prince Consort into dreams was probably that handful of wild thyme — a scent he would never smell again.

Now that she had determined the answer, the path forward was clearer.

The Princess wished to mask the General’s tendency to perspire heavily. Simply fumigating with wild thyme alone was clearly not enough. She would have to find a way to purify and soften the scent, and then make it linger.

After working at it with great care, she managed to ease the originally pungent smell of the refined wild thyme, rendering it far more gentle and soothing.

Su Luoyun had spent a great deal of effort distilling a single box of incense cones for fumigating clothing, which she then presented to Princess Yuyang.

Princess Yuyang had been smiling pleasantly at first, but upon sniffing the fragrance that her maidservant held out to her, she could not help but furrow her brows. “Why does it smell rather medicinal? What on earth is this? Did you not use the ambergris I gave you?”

Su Luoyun replied without the slightest fluster: “This humble woman has heard that the Prince Consort does not care for unusual fragrances, and so I took the liberty of incorporating some medicinal herbs into the incense. Though the scent is not particularly sweet or delicate, it is calming to the mind and spirit, and is of the greatest benefit to those who perspire heavily.”

Princess Yuyang was half-convinced, half-skeptical. She sniffed it again, and still could not help wrinkling her brow. This scent… it was hardly refined or elegant!

Still, given that Su Luoyun was blind, the Princess could not very well lose her temper. She simply said in a flat, indifferent tone that it had been a great deal of trouble, then ordered her steward to see Su Luoyun out, and along the way to retrieve the costly fragrance materials that had been left in her keeping.

It was abundantly clear: the incense Su Luoyun had blended had not pleased the Princess, and so the Princess was reclaiming the precious raw materials to seek out a more capable artisan.

The steward sent a manservant who spoke in a barbed and insinuating manner, eyebrows cocked, looking sideways at Su Luoyun and sneering that a woman of such low birth simply could not grasp the tastes of noble persons.

Such a fine commission, and she had gone and ruined it entirely!

It was said that very same afternoon, the Princess had the steward seek out Master Xiao of Shouwei Pavilion and entrust the commission to them instead. It was also said that Ding Shi was exceedingly pleased, and had even gone in person to the back gate of the Princess’s residence to pass along a red envelope in thanks to the steward there.

Xiangcao had been busy alongside Su Luoyun for several days, and now, watching all of her young mistress’s painstaking efforts come to nothing, she deflated like a wilted plant — dejected and dispirited, with a heavy heart.

Su Luoyun was not exactly at ease herself. She had not expected the Princess to so summarily reject the incense without even being willing to try it first.

But then again, thinking about it, the objects in great aristocratic mansions were gilded and bejeweled down to the chamber pots. How could any fragrance intended to be worn on the body be permitted to take such a lowly, vulgar form?

She had originally hoped that by means of this incense she might gain the General’s recognition, and through that break free from her financial difficulties. Now she could see that she had been far too naive in her thinking.

It seemed she would have to find another way. Su Luoyun had already prepared herself for the worst — if there were truly no other option, she would sell off a portion of the farmland her mother had left her. Though it would be painful to part with, reviving the shop would bring in a steadier flow of income.

The ones concerned about the matter were clearly not limited to the people in the Su family’s small courtyard.

The following morning, when Luoyun set out to go to the countryside to inspect the farmland she intended to sell, she encountered Han Shizi once again.

Han Shizi had apparently been drinking through the night and was only now returning, reeking of wine. He had not taken a carriage, and had even removed his jade-adorned cap, letting his hair fall loose around his shoulders as he strolled back through the morning mist in a pale, smoky-grey long robe — likely trying to clear his head after the night’s drinking.

As Luoyun’s carriage emerged, the coachman caught sight of the Shizi and pulled to a stop to give way.

Han Linfeng, however, sauntered over to the carriage window and called through the curtain: “Has the commission for the Princess’s residence been delivered?”

Su Luoyun had not expected the Shizi, with all his many social engagements, to actually remember this, and she quickly replied: “It has been delivered… only the Princess was not particularly satisfied, and she has since gone to Shouwei Pavilion to commission new incense.”

Han Linfeng raised an eyebrow at this, and then asked out of the blue: “I wonder, does Miss have any remaining? I have grown rather tired of my current fragrances of late, and was just thinking of trying something new.”

Though Su Luoyun was generally reluctant to associate with the sons of princes and nobles of his sort, Han Linfeng had on every occasion conducted himself with perfect propriety and had not overstepped in the slightest — and moreover, he had sent so many tonics and supplements her way that it was only right to return the gesture with a small gift.

And so she agreed, simply saying that she would have someone deliver a box to the Shizi’s residence in due course.

Han Linfeng gave a nod, shook his wide sleeves with easy grace, and glided into Qingyu Lane.

It occurred to her that the Shizi had apparently spent the night drinking, and must have washed his face before returning home. The man just now had none of the powders and rouge of his usual appearance, revealing his natural complexion beneath.

After he had gone, Xiangcao was still craning her neck to watch his retreating figure, staring in a daze for quite some time before finally saying with lingering wonder: “Goodness — when this gentleman washes off his powders and rouge, why does he seem to lose that delicate, feminine air, and become so strikingly masculine instead… It’s as if he’s a completely different person?”

Luoyun heard this and curiously asked a few more questions. Xiangcao described Han Linfeng’s appearance with animated delight, then felt her limited reading had left her without the words to do justice to the charm of such a strikingly handsome man. At last she added: “But looking at the contours of his brows and eyes — why does he carry a faint hint of something exotic?”

Su Luoyun had actually heard something of Han Linfeng’s origins from Lu Lingxiu before, and said quietly: “I have heard that his birth mother was a woman presented as tribute from the kingdom of Bo, and was bestowed upon Prince Beizhen by the Late Emperor. The Princess Consort of Beizhen had no sons of her own, and so she adopted this son of the favored concubine under her own name, making him her legitimate eldest son…”

Only then did Xiangcao understand — no wonder she had always felt there was something slightly different about him. So that was it.

Still, Prince Beizhen must have had more than one heir. Why had they chosen a son born of a concubine who carried a trace of foreign blood?

Looking at it that way, the eccentricities of Prince Beizhen’s household seemed to be a family tradition passed from father to son — for what self-respecting noble household would ever make a child with a measure of foreign blood into the legitimate heir?

Su Luoyun had no wish to pass judgment on the internal affairs of Prince Beizhen’s household. Afterward, she had someone send a box of the wild thyme incense to the Shizi’s residence.

She did not hold any particular expectations that the Shizi would actually use it. Perhaps he had simply happened to cross paths with her that day and said a few polite words out of courtesy.

After all, though the wild thyme incense had a rather pleasant scent, it could not compare to those costly fragrances that proclaimed one’s elevated status.

Once it was sent off, she gave it no further thought, and turned her full attention to finding a buyer for the land.

Ding Shi had been keeping a close eye on any news from this courtyard all along. Upon hearing that Su Luoyun intended to sell the land, she actually brought her daughter Su Caijian and called in person, trying to gently persuade Su Luoyun to go home and apologize to her father.

“Child, the way you quibbled over every little thing that day truly broke your father’s heart. There is no feud between father and daughter that cannot be mended overnight. As long as you write out a few new formulas and help Shouwei Pavilion restore a measure of its reputation, your father will forgive you. Just look at yourself — if people were to find out that the eldest daughter of the Su family is not only running a shop out in the open for all to see, but has also had to sell off farmland to get by, where would your father’s dignity be left?”

Ding Shi had a sufficiently thick skin — she made not a single mention of her own manservant having stolen the formula, and in her telling, the estrangement between father and daughter had become entirely Su Luoyun’s fault.

Caijian had come along that day as well, and stood to one side chiming in without a trace of self-awareness: “Elder Sister, you’ve been making a scene outside for far too long now. Yesterday, when Madam Lu came to call at the residence, she even brought you up, saying that a young woman who always lives alone outside the family home reflects poorly on the reputations of the other daughters of the household too!”

Su Luoyun showed no reaction whatsoever. She merely took a sip of tea and said coolly: “She has only just married one of the Su family’s daughters, and now Madam Lu means to make decisions for the entire Su family? Whether I accompany my younger brother in his studies, or whether I open a shop — both were done with Father’s consent. If she says such things, is she not afraid of slapping our side of the family in the face?”

Caijian grew a little anxious: “Young Master Lu is going to become an official in the future, so of course he must consider the reputation of his wife’s family. Elder Sister, you cannot be this selfish, always calculating for your own purse — and furthermore…”

Su Luoyun had no desire to listen to her foolish prattling and said flatly: “Father has said he will no longer give me or my brother a monthly allowance. If I do not calculate for my own purse, am I supposed to sit and wait for the other sisters in the household to take pity on me?”

Caijian was struck dumb by this and immediately felt a pang of guilt. Ever since Luoyun had moved out, she had felt nothing but a sense of relief, yet she had never once come to visit her elder sister, let alone offered a single coin in support. When she had walked in just now, she had seen the paint on the gate peeling and spotted with patches, and many parts of the courtyard in need of repair — a far cry indeed from the Su family’s own residence.

Ding Shi had not come with any genuine intention of persuading Su Luoyun to return home, and so when the exchange between the two sisters fell into a cold silence, she smiled with perfect composure and said: “But if you have made up your mind to sell the land, then so be it. You are a young woman — you cannot be going back and forth dealing with peasant tenants and farmers forever. Convert it to ready cash, ease your finances a little, put it in a money house, and it will earn you interest. Since you intend to sell… why not sell within the family? I am willing to pay fifty taels of silver to purchase those fifty acres of yours. What do you say?”

Nanny Tian could bear it no longer, and said in a cold voice: “What is Madam saying? The land the late mistress left for the young miss — it may have been purchased for fifty taels at the time, but that was over twenty years ago. Setting aside the fact that land prices have doubled since then, the annual rent alone brings in thirty taels. Where does this price of fifty taels come from?”

Ding Shi was unhurried and composed, and said in a cool, measured tone: “I am not here to haggle with you, old woman. I am merely reminding Luoyun that although this farmland was left to her by the late Hu Shi and no others may lay claim to it, she is not yet married, and still counts as a daughter of the Su household. If she wishes to sell, her father must give his consent. Without his consent, a young girl like her cannot go to the magistrate’s office to have the deed transferred.”

Having delivered this firm statement, she shifted her tone entirely, and said with soft warmth to Luoyun: “As it happens, your uncle on the Ding side has recently purchased some farmland as well, and his plots are adjacent to yours. I thought that since Luoyun intends to sell, it would be better to sell within the family and join the plots together into one contiguous piece. If that were not the case, I would never presume to raise it with you. We are all family — we know each other inside and out, and know full well what that land originally cost. Surely you would not have the heart to raise the price and profit at your own family’s expense?”

The words sounded reasonable enough on the surface, yet they reeked of nonsense and could not withstand a moment’s scrutiny.

Su Luoyun said coldly: “Madam is too kind. My uncle’s surname is Hu, not Ding. If even the Ding family can shamelessly come here to take advantage, why should I be the one to sell at a loss?”