Lord Beizhen had originally intended to wait no longer — when his son returned from the capital, he would immediately set a date with the Wang family for the wedding to take place.

But once Han Linfeng arrived in the capital and fell in with a circle of young lords and nobles, he learned rather more from idle talk and casual gossip than he ever had back in Liang Prefecture.

For instance, there seemed to be something peculiar about the illness afflicting his betrothed.

Three years prior, Wang Xi’s father, Wang Chaoyi, had been promoted to Military Commissioner of Jinghu for his meritorious service in managing relief efforts during the Anqing flood. Wang Chaoyi, full of ambition, felt that he might well be eligible to fill a vacant prefecture governorship — yet he waited and waited, and no imperial decree of promotion came.

Puzzled beyond all understanding, he sought out a trusted superior to take measure of his official fortunes.

That superior, well-versed in the ways of officialdom, offered him a pointed hint — Commissioner Wang’s abilities were beyond reproach, and he was a man of considerable use, but the pity of it lay in the marriage he had arranged for his daughter… arranged far too early!

The moment this was pointed out to him, Wang Chaoyi was struck with sudden understanding — and a cold sweat broke out down his spine.

He had once prided himself on marrying his daughter into the lineage of the Holy Virtue Emperor. What he had failed to see was that while an ordinary commoner family entering such an imperial connection might indeed rejoice, the present Emperor — though respectful toward the Holy Virtue Emperor who had abdicated in his favor — had no desire whatsoever to see the late emperor’s descendants acquire any further strength or foothold.

As father-in-law to the Beizhen Shizi, Wang Chaoyi’s prospects of promotion were, in all likelihood, finished. As for the prefecture governorship — he could forget about it entirely.

What emperor would ever feel at ease placing the finances of a vast territory like Jinghu in the hands of the future Prince Beizhen’s father-in-law?

Once he had reasoned this through, Wang Chaoyi went home and roundly cursed the Marquis of Anqing — his late father-in-law, dead these many years.

Had his father-in-law not insisted on swearing loyalty to the former Crown Prince, how could his own daughter have ended up betrothed to a descendant of that same deposed Crown Prince?

But after cursing his fill, Wang Chaoyi understood that if he wished his official career to remain stable and flourishing, he had only one path: to break his daughter’s betrothal to Han Linfeng.

Yet Prince Beizhen’s household, even if a lion that had shed its mane, was not to be insulted too egregiously.

In the end, Wang Chaoyi announced to the world that his daughter Wang Xi had fallen gravely ill — growing worse with each passing year — and planned to drag the matter out until the betrothal dissolved on its own.

Finally, early this past spring, the Wang family sent a formal letter to Prince Beizhen’s household, stating outright that they had engaged an eminent monk to examine their daughter’s fate, and that marriage at this time would pose a hindrance to Wang Xi’s span of years.

The Wang family, out of love for their daughter, would rather go back on their word than bring harm upon her — and dared not hold back the Shizi from forming a good match in the future. Therefore they requested that the betrothal with Han Linfeng be dissolved.

Prince Beizhen read the letter and sent no reply. He simply forwarded it to the capital for Han Linfeng to decide for himself.

Now the lord’s letter sat on the writing desk before him, awaiting Han Linfeng’s answer.

As far as Qingyang could see, it was obvious at a glance that Miss Wang’s illness was nothing but a pretext. This was simply a case of watching Prince Beizhen’s household decline and finding cause to withdraw from the betrothal.

Han Linfeng, for his part, showed no sign of anger. He and Wang Xi had met a handful of times previously; he could recall only that she was a girl of pleasant appearance, but of her temperament and character he remembered nothing at all.

Since she had no wish to marry him, there was no point in clinging to the arrangement — so he took up his brush and wrote to his father himself, consenting to the dissolution of the betrothal.

Qingyang watched his young lord handle the matter so swiftly and without a trace of grievance, and felt thoroughly stifled on his behalf: “What great man need worry about finding a wife — one day the Wang family and their like will live to regret this!”

But Han Linfeng was entirely unbothered: “Wang Chaoyi had long since set his heart on breaking this betrothal. There is some cause to understand it. My reputation in the capital is wretched, my conduct open to reproach. Had he stated those things plainly and openly, unwilling to let his daughter be sunk in a ditch, I would still have held some respect for him. But instead he devised this manner of cursing and hexing his own daughter — which shows he is not a man of straightforward character.”

Qingyang had not expected his young lord to take it so philosophically. All the words of comfort he had been preparing were rendered entirely useless.

Still, the capital was full of distinguished young ladies from noble families — surely any number of them would be superior to the Wang family’s daughter, and the young lord would certainly find a better match!

Thinking this, Qingyang almost wished he could go out that very instant and secure a high-born girl from some illustrious household for his lord, so as to put Wang Xi to shame.

After these words, Han Linfeng dismissed Qingyang and rose to take a stroll in the rear garden.

Qingyang watched his young lord’s retreating figure and thought that lately the lord seemed particularly fond of the north garden. He wondered whether the flowers and plants there were especially vivid and lovely, that they held his lord’s lingering gaze.

* * *

As for Su Luoyun — even having heard that the newly made incense was selling well at the shop, she felt no real relief in her heart.

The frankincense beads she had purchased before were running low, and without a settled source for this most essential raw material, she had been forced to turn away large orders even when they came her way, letting a good deal of business slip through her fingers.

In the meantime, certain private traders, having heard that Slim Fragrance Studio was paying high prices for frankincense beads, had come forward of their own accord to sell to her — some at prices so low they were genuinely tempting.

But Su Luoyun kept in mind the words her uncle Hu Xuesong had said before departing: goods without the Trade Supervisorate’s seal of approval were absolutely not to be purchased. So she declined them all, however graciously.

When her mind was in turmoil, beyond muttering a few words to Xiangcao in the rear garden, she would find herself unable to resist walking toward the mouth of the lane, listening to the bustle and liveliness of the street.

Yet these past several occasions, whenever she went out, she would encounter Han Linfeng strolling at his leisure.

The Shizi had lately taken a great liking to walking, and when he went out he almost never rode in a carriage.

Having thanked Miss Su for the gift of the scented powder, he would naturally pause and fall into idle conversation with his neighboring acquaintance.

For instance: since the new shop had just opened, he ought to show his support as a neighbor — might she be able to prepare for him some cardamom and frankincense balm or other such fine goods?

Su Luoyun shook her head apologetically: “I would not dare deceive the Shizi — the frankincense in my shop has run short. I am afraid that if I promise it and then fall behind, I would only delay matters for the Shizi.”

Han Linfeng nodded, unsurprised. He had heard this girl and her maidservant on the other side of the wall discussing the purchase of frankincense several times over, and had already formed a clear understanding of the situation.

He was quiet for a moment, then said: “I see… As it happens, my household has frankincense beads supplied by the Imperial Household Department that are simply sitting there unused. I will have someone send them over to you; after you have made two jars of balm from them, consider the remainder payment for your labor.”

Su Luoyun was taken aback at this. What sort of heavenly arrangement was this for wages?

But before she could say a word of polite refusal, Shizi Han had already strode out of the lane in long, easy steps, off to attend some banquet.

She had assumed Han Linfeng would send over a small quantity of loose frankincense fragments.

But when the Shizi’s household servant brought over a brocade box and she opened it to inspect the contents, the entire room was suffused with fragrance — and when she reached in to touch them, the beads were each the size of a fist.

Xiangcao described them as being of exceptional quality, not remotely comparable to the small loose beads available on the market.

On the open market, a single whole frankincense bead the size of a fist was worth over a hundred taels of silver! Though she had been eager to replenish stock, she had only been thinking of purchasing small loose fragments — something on this scale was beyond even her dreams.

Su Luoyun dared not accept them. She suspected that this Shizi lived so far removed from the concerns of everyday life that he had no idea how precious frankincense truly was — as though he were handing out fine mutton-fat jade like it were bean curd.

She immediately had them sent back untouched, and instructed Xiangcao to inform the Shizi that treasures of this caliber could purchase four entire Slim Fragrance Studios.

A short while later, the Shizi’s household sent someone back — and when Su Luoyun opened the delivery, the beads had been returned to her untouched once more.

The errand boy spoke frankly: “Our lord has always been the type to scatter a fortune without a second thought — when tipping singing girls at a restaurant, he’s never been known to be stingy. What the young miss considers precious is, in our lord’s eyes, truly not worth much. And moreover… the Shizi has just recently had his betrothal broken off, and his betrothal gifts have all been sent back to Prince Beizhen’s household in Liang Prefecture. He is most particular right now about having things he has given out sent back to him. I can see that the young miss is a good sort, so I’m giving you fair warning — don’t be so fussy that you offend the Shizi at a moment like this!”

Su Luoyun had genuinely known nothing of Han Linfeng’s broken betrothal, and hurried to thank the servant boy for the warning.

Noble personages had their particular quirks. If the Shizi had only just had his betrothal dissolved, it was indeed rather inauspicious timing.

Seen in that light, she could not return the frankincense beads just yet — she had no choice but to first prepare the cardamom and frankincense balm the Shizi had requested.

And truth be told, the shop’s frankincense supply was running desperately low — if she did not use some of this, she would soon run out of stock and lose orders entirely.

After thinking it over, Su Luoyun cut a portion from the frankincense bead for her own use.

But she disliked being in anyone’s debt — the portion she used, she weighed carefully on a small scale and would calculate the equivalent value in silver, to be returned to the Shizi at the first opportunity.

As for the remaining beads, she would not presume to keep them for herself — she would treat them as if the Shizi had merely left them in storage at the shop, to be returned once the cloud of inauspiciousness had lifted.

Thinking of Han Linfeng’s broken betrothal, Su Luoyun could roughly guess at the reasons — most likely, any well-bred family would have hesitations when marrying their daughter to a young lord of questionable reputation.

Though Han Linfeng was not at all sordid and base in the manner of someone like Guo Yan, a young lord who idled away his days in endless pleasure was still far from being a fine and worthy match.

She could only hope that this broken betrothal might serve as a warning to Shizi Han — and if it could move him to a thorough awakening and a genuine turning over of a new leaf, so much the better.

* * *

With the arrival of early summer, the banquets and gatherings of noble households followed one upon another without pause.

Princess Yuyang was born with a love of amusement. Only because her consort preferred tranquility did she stay by his side whenever he was home, keeping her diversions to a minimum.

But whenever Consort Zhao went away for several days on business, the princess would seize the opportunity to arrange a lavish feast and enjoy herself to the fullest.

Just so — taking advantage of the consort’s absence to inspect the territory west of the river, Princess Yuyang, urged on by several noble ladies, organized an occasion called the Hundred Flowers Gathering.

Beyond filling the courtyards with the finest flowers and plants gathered from across the capital, the noble ladies in attendance were each to dress as a flower deity — a gathering of all the divine spirits to appreciate together the fragrant abundance of a prosperous age.

Princess Yuyang planned to dress as the Peony Immortal and commissioned a full peony-embroidered ensemble from the Lu family’s embroidery house. It was said that in addition to the elaborate embroidery, real fresh flowers had been used as a base, inserted along the trailing hem of the skirt — a truly magnificent sight when she walked.

However, to prevent the flowers from wilting, they had been soaked beforehand in a medicinal solution. Though this kept their colors vivid, it stripped away the bewitching fragrance of the peony.

Princess Yuyang then ordered peony incense from Slim Fragrance Studio, planning to give her garments a thorough scenting before the banquet opened, so that her fragrance would fill every seat.

When the noble and highborn devise a fanciful idea, the lightest touch of their lips sends those beneath them scrambling to the point of exhaustion.

The shop owners and proprietors who were known to have dealings with the princess saw this as a golden opportunity to curry favor. Each made a point of making frequent trips to the princess’s household, lest they be seen as neglecting a matter of such importance to their distinguished patron.

Su Luoyun, having been kindly alerted by the steward of the princess’s household, naturally dared not be remiss.

On the day of the banquet, Su Luoyun personally brought the peony fragrance oil along with a specially made gilt-thread incense rack for scenting garments, and went to the household in person.

She was led by the steward to the dressing chamber, where she happened to encounter the young Miss Lu of the Lu family, who had come in person to deliver the peony gown and skirt.

At gatherings of this kind, those merchants who frequently entered the household to supply the princess with fragrant garments and accessories were generally permitted to stay for a banquet — and each family would typically send a madam or a young miss as their representative.

This banquet even had its own name: the Eye-Opening Feast. For young women, it was a wonderful opportunity to broaden their horizons.

It seemed the Lu family also valued dearly this chance to curry the princess’s favor — their daughter had come in person, arriving to help the princess try on her magnificent gown and insert the flowers along the hem, demonstrating their regard for the princess, while also staying behind to enjoy the feast and open their eyes to the world.

Now that any hope of a match between the Lu and Su families had come to nothing, the two former close friends found the initial moment of their meeting somewhat awkward.

Su Luoyun blended the various fragrance oils together, placed them in the incense rack, and then instructed the princess’s servants to drape the gown over the rack — filtered through the gold wire mesh, the garment would be scented this way without losing its shape, while remaining pleasantly fragrant both inside and out.

The princess was in the midst of having her hair dressed, but grew anxious and came personally to the dressing chamber to look over the flower-laden gown and give the fragrance a sniff — and was very satisfied.

Princess Yuyang exchanged a few warm words with the young women from the merchant families who had brought the garments and jewelry, then instructed them that since they had come all this way, they were welcome to stay and eat in the side hall before taking their leave — there was no rush.

She was well aware of why these merchant families sent their young women to deliver garments and jewelry. They had served the household diligently and were regular visitors to the princess’s residence. She was perfectly happy to adopt an air of easy accessibility, allowing these young women to stay and see a bit of the world.

After thanking the princess for her grace, they were led by a serving woman to the side hall.

It was some distance from the main hall, well removed from the noble guests who had come properly to attend the banquet.

But Lu Lingxiu and the others were quite content. Women of their standing would not ordinarily have been eligible to attend a gathering of this grandeur; the princess’s warm and amiable nature had allowed them to absorb a measure of the refined and distinguished atmosphere. Such an encounter was more than enough to boast about to their intimate circle of friends for a year and a half.

The side hall had not yet been laid for the meal, so Lu Lingxiu drew Su Luoyun aside to a corner and whispered a few words to her.

“In truth, now that this matter has come to pass, my elder brother is rather relieved. He had always been the one making a fuss about not wanting to marry — and now he has a proper justification. Only… between him and you… I suppose there is no longer any hope.” Lu Lingxiu said with a wistful air.

With the betrothal between the Su and Lu families dissolved, the two households would most likely cease all social contact. Though Lu Lingxiu and Su Luoyun shared a warm friendship, when family elders were present it was not convenient to speak freely.

Su Luoyun smiled faintly and had no wish to dwell on the subject, so she turned the conversation and asked after Lu Lingxiu’s own marriage prospects.

It emerged that Master Lu had already arranged a betrothal for Lu Lingxiu — a distant cousin on her mother’s side, three degrees removed. Her cousin, Lv Ying, came from a military family; his father’s generation had rendered distinguished military service, rising from common soldier through successive promotions.

Her cousin had used his connections to recently gain entry into the imperial guard garrison, and now served as a personal attendant to the currently favored imperial prince, Han Shen.

Though he was merely an outer-court official with no access to the inner chambers — essentially the servant of a prince — that prince was a fully legitimate imperial prince, no less.

The Crown Prince had died of illness two years prior. The Emperor, devastated by grief for his beloved son, had not yet appointed a new heir. The candidate with the greatest support at court was this same prince — the Prince of Hengshan, Han Shen.

Though he was ranked sixth among the princes, like the late Crown Prince he was born of the Empress and was thus the legitimate heir apparent.

The Lu family, wealthy and influential with a flourishing business, had made reasonable strides in official circles. But to form a marriage connection with the future Crown Prince’s attendant — that was a stroke of fortune one could not even dare to dream of.

Thus it was said that the dowry being prepared for the young miss was being put together with great munificence, absolutely ensuring Lu Lingxiu would have every dignity.

Lu Lingxiu herself was very pleased with the arrangement — the moment she mentioned Young Master Lv, her entire face lit up with delight.

With that, the awkwardness between them eased, and the two chatted freely for a while, before a servant from the consort’s household called them to the windows in the side hall to take their meal.

The princess was generous by nature and had no intention of letting the merchants who regularly came and went to supply her with garments and accessories leave on an empty stomach — the meal served was quite lavish in its variety.

This hall, however, was not a proper reception room — on ordinary days it served as the dining hall for the household stewards and servants.

Still, though they sat at the servants’ table so to speak, the hall lay close to the garden and stood slightly elevated, affording a view — just over the layered masses of flowers — that looked down into the rear garden where glasses clinked in the fragrant, jeweled company below.

Lu Lingxiu was sharp-eyed and spotted at once the Second Prince among the laughing, animated crowd — and naturally spotted as well her betrothed, Lv Ying, standing just behind the Sixth Prince.

She immediately grabbed the corner of Su Luoyun’s sleeve in excitement: “Look, look — that one in the green robe is Young Master Lv!”

She had barely said it before Lu Lingxiu caught herself, suddenly remembering that Su Luoyun could not see, and felt momentarily embarrassed.

Su Luoyun had no wish to dampen her friend’s enjoyment, and simply smiled: “Tell me quickly — what does he look like?”

Lu Lingxiu’s expression relaxed into a smile and she gave a rough description, but after a few sentences she grew sheepish: “Well, standing there alongside all those noble sons, he is rather… ordinary-looking… Ah, that Beizhen Shizi has such a remarkable appearance — whoever stands close to him simply cannot shine at all.”

Young Master Lv was of middling looks at best, but standing next to that Shizi Han, he looked short and stout, his features unremarkable — there was nothing to praise, no matter how one tried.

Hearing this, Su Luoyun learned for the first time that her neighboring Shizi was also at the Hundred Flowers Gathering, chatting idly with the Sixth Prince.

* * *

What no one present could have known, however, was that this conversation between the two men — which appeared from the outside to be entirely at ease — was in truth a careful exchange in which every sentence concealed a blade.

The Sixth Prince had been married for many years and had long since been formally enfeoffed by the Emperor as the Prince of Hengshan, given a household of his own outside the palace walls.

Though Prince Hengshan had never been to Liang Prefecture, he had heard something of the young Shizi’s past through Consort Zhao’s accounts.

Yet when he laid eyes on him now, the spirited young horseman of those earlier years had become a wine-soaked and food-stuffed wastrel with not a trace of his former vigour.

Han Shen had initially examined this young member of the imperial clan with a close and searching eye, turning things over carefully in his mind.

Though he had harbored a desire to probe and test him, the Sixth Prince quickly abandoned the effort. Facing someone who spoke empty words and whose head was entirely hollow, too much conversation would only breed a measure of contempt.

Sometimes even sparring with an enemy made for livelier company than idle talk with a fool.

Han Linfeng’s mind was so hollow that Han Shen could not shake a persistent unease — could the wild, untamed young man Consort Zhao had described truly be the worthless fop standing before him now?

Today was no different. At the outset the Sixth Prince had been in fine conversational spirits and brought up the matter of the northern rebel Cao Sheng.

Han Shen remarked with an air of regret: “Among the generals who held that rebel under arrest at the time, several were my household retainers. They might well have put down the unrest in the north in a single stroke — but unfortunately, the brigands who broke him out of prison used a feint to draw them away, allowing that scoundrel to slip free… Though it should be noted, the shoulder of that jailbreaker did catch a sword thrust. Even after healing, it would have left a scar.”

Han Linfeng listened with apparent enthusiasm and laughed: “Then would it not be simple enough to find him — one need only examine shoulders to know…”

Han Shen raised an eyebrow with a smile: “That method, while sound, is not so easily applied among the great masses of people… I am told by my retainers that after the rebel escaped, they searched along the river, and found you, Shizi, enjoying an outing on a painted pleasure boat on the downstream lake at that very time. I wonder — did you happen to notice anything amiss in your surroundings that day?”

As he asked this, the Sixth Prince watched him with a pleasant smile — one could not tell whether it was idle curiosity or a deliberate test.