Seeing Han Shizi finally release his grip, Ding Pei hurried to Su Hongmeng’s side. While gently rubbing her husband’s swollen red wrists, she spoke in a soft, ingratiating tone: “Such a precious thing — why would Shizi give it to this little girl? A blind merchant’s daughter like her, how could she possibly be worthy of a noble’s grace?”

Her words carried a double meaning. She seemed to be nudging the Shizi to avoid wading into murky waters — or, alternatively, to utterly destroy Su Luoyun’s reputation outright.

Han Linfeng did not spare Ding Pei so much as a glance. He simply accepted the fresh cup of tea poured by the court attendant and remarked with indifference: “Oh? Is it precious? My household seems to have quite a supply of the stuff. I never concern myself with such matters — it’s common enough for the steward to take some for Thin Fragrance Studio to use in their salves.”

That breezy dismissal neatly refuted Ding Shi’s insinuation, while neatly shifting responsibility for the gift onto the steward.

Since all the questions had now been answered, the prefect saw no reason to press further.

It was approximately his own blundering interference that had drawn the Shizi here and caused his companion to be detained in the first place. He felt compelled to offer Su Luoyun a few words of apology.

Since the whole affair had turned out to be a misunderstanding, everyone was free to disperse. Yet Han Linfeng languidly asked: “Since this was a false accusation, there ought to be a complainant. Might I ask who submitted the complaint?”

Had anyone else posed the question, the prefect would have had no obligation to answer.

Reports of illicit traders were often mistaken — if informants were punished for every erroneous tip, who would dare come forward in the future? It was generally the practice not to pursue such matters.

But when a Shizi of the imperial surname inquired, the prefect had no choice but to give a clear accounting. He had the complainant brought before the court at once.

Su Luoyun, now supported by Xiangcao who had hurried over from behind, listened to the trembling voice of the man as he spoke, and recognized immediately that it was Li Rong — a former apprentice who had been dismissed from the shop.

The prefect fixed him with a stern expression and asked what evidence he had to level an accusation against his former employer.

Li Rong, still unaware of how dramatically the winds of the courtroom had shifted, declared to the prefect with great conviction: “My lord, the proprietress of Thin Fragrance Studio has always forbidden her staff from entering the spice storeroom, so I grew suspicious that something underhanded was going on. Moreover, some days ago, several black-market traders came to visit the proprietress. After that, she suddenly had access to large quantities of frankincense for us to work with. She must have purchased it from those traders!”

So that was it — he had seen various black-market traders visiting Su Luoyun, and when Thin Fragrance Studio abruptly found itself flush with premium frankincense, he assumed the proprietress had taken a shortcut. Moreover, Su Luoyun had paid him off with a single silver tael to dismiss him. That, combined with his resentment, had led him to sneak a copy of the shop’s purchase ledger and file his report.

One could not entirely fault the young apprentice for this reasoning — it had been a genuine misunderstanding. His vigilance in responding to the court’s call to crack down on illicit trade might even be considered a counterbalance to his error.

Yet Han Linfeng appeared anything but satisfied. He drawled in a long, unhurried tone: “My lord Prefect — deliberately filing a false accusation, disturbing a member of the imperial family, and forcing me to come testify before this court — what punishment should that merit?”

The prefect thought to himself: Who dared impose on you? You could have just sent your steward! Ah — so it’s revenge he wants.

Well, put that way, this young worker had been thrown out of the shop for misconduct, and had then nursed a grievance and framed his former employer. A beating seemed warranted.

The prefect, his backside thoroughly numb from sitting so long, was eager to be rid of this lord as quickly as possible.

And so several court bailiffs swept in, pinned Li Rong to the ground, and set about delivering a fierce flogging.

The young apprentice had never witnessed anything so terrifying. Already half out of his wits from the beating, when the blows grew particularly savage, he suddenly cried out toward Granny Zhao, who stood behind Ding Pei: “Auntie Zhao, save me! You said it would be fine to report this, that’s why I came — ow, ow!”

His paternal aunt was a fellow villager of this Granny Zhao. It had been Granny Zhao who, upon hearing that he worked at Thin Fragrance Studio, had sought him out of her own accord, given him silver, and asked him to look for evidence of the young mistress’s wrongdoing.

Li Rong had at first refused — but Granny Zhao’s silver was too generous, and greed had gotten the better of him.

Later, when he was caught sneaking into the spice storeroom, the proprietress had dismissed him.

After that, Granny Zhao had orchestrated the rest: first directing him and his mother to make a scene and steal the purchase ledger, then finding someone to draft his complaint.

She had assured him clearly that even if the accusation proved wrong, it would not matter — she would still pay him.

Li Rong had believed her and done as she said. What Granny Zhao had failed to mention was that a mistaken accusation would earn him a flogging! In his panic, he could no longer heed her warning to keep quiet, and the name burst from his lips.

Granny Zhao, however, could not overrule the prefect. She only twisted her plump body and pointedly avoided his gaze.

Ding Pei’s expression had turned ugly as well. She had not anticipated that Han Shizi would intervene and cause Li Rong to be flogged in open court — and certainly not that it would expose Granny Zhao in the process.

The blows raining down on Li Rong grew harder with each stroke. His cry had not yet faded when his neck slumped to one side and he lost consciousness.

Yet that single outburst had been more than enough.

Han Linfeng, who had been watching the spectacle with idle satisfaction, turned his gaze toward Granny Zhao: “He was just calling out for you to save him…”

Granny Zhao, an old domestic servant who had never in her life witnessed a flogging that left a man’s backside in ruins, found herself the Shizi’s next point of interest and was so terrified she nearly wet herself. She threw herself to her knees with a thud: “He’s only seen me around — he was just calling out to anyone at random. I… I…”

Before she could finish, the fright proved too great, and she could not draw another breath. She fainted dead away in the middle of the courtroom. The little maidservant beside her could only rush over and press the resuscitation point beneath her nose.

Amid the chaos, Han Linfeng rose unhurriedly to his feet and turned to Su Luoyun: “On the recommendation of Princess Yuyang, I had commissioned Thin Fragrance Studio to prepare certain fragrant goods for me — and all of this commotion is what came of it. I had nothing better to do today, so I took the opportunity to drop by the prefect’s court and testify on your behalf. Should anything of this sort arise again, please inform your brother not to come knocking so recklessly next time.”

With that, without so much as another glance at Su Luoyun, he led his attendants out the door and departed with unhurried ease.

His words had sounded impatient enough, yet those around him were left half-uncertain what to believe. It appeared that Han Shizi and Miss Su truly had nothing between them beyond a business arrangement in fragrant goods.

Once they were out of the courtroom, Su Hongmeng found himself unable to look anyone in the face. He had, before the prefect had even concluded his examination, been ready to cut ties with his own daughter without waiting to learn the truth.

Now that the case was closed and the whole affair revealed as a misunderstanding, he found himself at a loss for how to smooth things over.

Su Luoyun, by now fully aware of who had put the apprentice up to it, kept her voice cool and level as she stepped out of the courthouse and addressed Ding Pei: “How very thoughtful of Madam to have arranged one of Granny Zhao’s acquaintances into my shop. You’ve gone to all this trouble and made an empty trip of it — I am truly sorry.”

Ding Pei’s face tightened the moment she heard this. The whole affair had indeed been her doing. She had originally intended to use Granny Zhao to ingratiate that young apprentice to her, hoping to steal some of the shop’s recipes.

Later, when the apprentice reported that after a period of interrupted supply, Thin Fragrance Studio had suddenly obtained frankincense of unknown origin, something clicked in Ding Pei’s mind, and she had instructed Li Rong to find out where it had come from. Li Rong replied that the young mistress had said nothing, and even forbade them from entering the spice storeroom.

Led astray by Li Rong’s account, Ding Pei had concluded that Su Luoyun was quietly purchasing contraband.

As it turned out, Su Luoyun had grown far too sharp for that — the moment she discovered Li Rong’s misconduct, she had sent him away.

Fortunately, Granny Zhao had goaded Li Rong into making a scene, which led to the theft of the purchase ledger. With that piece of evidence in hand, Ding Pei had directed him to file the complaint.

Ever since the Lu family had broken off the engagement, Ding Pei had turned the matter over in her mind again and again, and could not shake the feeling that the leak of her origins was somehow connected to Su Luoyun. She could never pin down proof, but whenever Su Hongmeng left her in the cold, bitter resentment would rise up in her heart.

She had calculated that if she could catch Su Luoyun for trafficking in contraband and have her arrested, three to five years behind bars would be inescapable. And with Su Luoyun imprisoned and her brother in Ding Pei’s own hands, even if Su Luoyun wished to make trouble for her, she would have to think twice about striking out for fear of harming her own.

But who could have foreseen that a Shizi would appear out of nowhere, testify on Su Luoyun’s behalf, and with just a few words cause Li Rong to receive an inexplicable flogging? That worthless apprentice had proved himself utterly fragile — the moment the blows landed, he had cried out for Granny Zhao. And Granny Zhao herself was no better, fainting from sheer fright before even being questioned, only coming round after having her pressure point pressed.

Now, out of the courthouse, with Su Luoyun making such a pointed and direct insinuation about her scheming, Ding Pei was on the verge of opening her eloquent mouth to offer some defense.

From the day she had married into the household, Ding Pei had always been the one to have the last word. What she relied upon was nothing more than her husband’s favor. Su Hongmeng felt that since taking her as wife, his fortunes had expanded and his luck had flourished — and she knew how to please a man — so he had been devoted to her. Yet Su Hongmeng’s inner state at that moment could only be described as being caught between fire and ice.

The previous evening, while seeing off a colleague departing for Sichuan to procure goods, the man had drunk too freely and quipped with a laugh: he’d heard that Old Master Su had often frequented the houses of flowers and willows during his time in Sichuan — could he perhaps recommend a familiar establishment?

It was an idle, drunken remark, carelessly made — but carelessly heard as well. It left Su Hongmeng convinced his colleague had caught wind of something.

Su Hongmeng asked himself whether, if he could live his life over again, he would still choose to marry Ding Pei — and found he could not be certain.

Now in middle age, with much experience behind him, he could not help but feel regret. Had he, after Hu Shi’s death, remarried properly through formal ceremony — taking a respectable woman as his second wife and relegating Ding Pei to the role of concubine — perhaps he would not now find himself in such an awkward position, afraid of becoming others’ laughingstock.

He was standing there lost in his private regrets when, unexpectedly, Ding Pei started stirring up trouble again — fabricating charges against his eldest daughter and making him lose face before the prefect.

Even now, with tears shimmering in Ding Pei’s eyes, her expression the very picture of aggrieved fragility, and her words carefully measured and plausible, he could not take in a single syllable. He found the woman grating, with no sense of proper conduct.

Without waiting for her to say a word, Su Hongmeng suddenly raised his hand and delivered her a sharp, unsparing slap across the face — then turned and walked away without a backward glance.

Ding Pei had never imagined that Su Hongmeng would turn on her again like this — and without even a shred of proof, in full public view, he had humiliated her in front of everyone.

Consumed by shame and fury, she could only shoot a vicious glare at Su Luoyun before hastily climbing into her sedan chair and hurrying after Su Hongmeng to argue her case.

Though Su Luoyun could not see, she had heard that crisp sound a moment ago and knew her father had lost his temper — that slap had been utterly merciless.

Xiangcao, her earlier alarm now fully past, felt tremendously gratified. But when she looked back at the young mistress, her face bore no trace of relief or satisfaction — only a long, quiet sigh released into the gentle passing breeze.

She asked the young mistress whether she still felt it had not been enough to vent her frustrations.

Su Luoyun shook her head and said, with a note of quiet contemplation: “That vile woman spent all her cunning scheming against me — how can one slap ever be enough to vent my feelings? Yet as for Father and that woman — he once treated her with deep affection. But the moment she dragged down his dignity and held him back, he showed her no mercy whatsoever. They call it a man’s love — but most of it is thin as water.”

When she thought about it, it all felt rather pointless.

The more she reflected, the more Su Luoyun felt grateful for her blindness. Without it, she would likely have been like most women of the world — moving into another household, day after day attending to her husband’s domestic comforts, treading carefully around his every mood and whim.

But precisely because her father had shown such coldness, the matter ahead would be easier to handle.

Ding Shi had proven herself incapable of holding still — one slap was clearly not enough. She would have to give things another push, and drive that vile woman to stand down sooner, rather than allow her to continue stirring up storms.

When she turned and reached the entrance to Sweet Water Lane, she paused at the corner for a moment, hesitating over whether to stop by the Shizi’s residence to express her gratitude.

After all, this time the Shizi had come forward in person, deftly and without ostentation cleared her name before the court, compelled the prefect to flog Li Rong, and in doing so drawn out Ding Shi’s involvement.

Yet some instinct told her she did not wish to become entangled with him any further.

After wavering for a short while, she paced back and forth several times, then finally made up her mind and turned back toward her own home.

She had barely taken two steps when a man’s voice sounded behind her: “It seems all my trouble in making that trip was not worth so much as a word of thanks directly to my face from the young miss…”

As it turned out, while she had been hesitating over whether to enter Green Fish Lane, Han Shizi had been standing silently at the corner of the alley entrance for quite some time.

He had watched as the young woman in her embroidered shoes turned about in indecision — and then chose to return to Sweet Water Lane after all.

Even a man who prided himself on equanimity felt a smoldering irritation rise in his chest, and he spoke up to demand his acknowledgment.

Su Luoyun, realizing he had been standing there at the alley entrance all along, hastily composed herself with a proper bow and expressed her sincere thanks to the Shizi.

However, as she was a woman of “meager fortune and humble fate,” a merchant’s daughter — she could not be the recipient of gifts too heavy in weight or too deep in significance. She would have someone deliver the remaining fragrant beads along with silver to make up the remainder, and send it all to him.

If Shizi wished to put a stop to others’ idle gossip, she asked him to please accept it in full.

Han Linfeng let out a quiet laugh. Even now he was not entirely sure what he had been expecting from that cold, indifferent demeanor — that some warm and forthcoming words might emerge. But she was not wrong: today’s courtroom affair had indeed arisen from his own insistence on pressing that precious string of fragrant beads upon her.

If anything, he was the one who owed her an apology.

Before Su Luoyun had finished her courteous words of thanks, he cut her off coolly: “If that is how it is, then I shall trouble the young miss no further. Please, go as you wish.”

With that, he turned and walked away with long, unhurried strides.

Su Luoyun let out a quiet breath of relief and hurried back to Sweet Water Lane.

Before Nanny Tian had so much as started cooking her a bowl of pig’s trotter noodles to wash away the day’s ill fortune, Luoyun spoke: “Though I have not yet settled on a new residence, I wish to move to a different one. The shop is keeping a great deal of capital tied up, so I cannot free up too much ready cash to purchase a property outright. I am thinking of finding a housing agent to rent a place first — I should have an answer within a couple of days. You and Xiangcao begin packing the things up in the meantime. Once the lease is signed, bring whatever is most important to the new place first.”

These words came as a genuine surprise. Su Guiyan, equally puzzled, asked her sister why — the courtyard, though a little worn, was perfectly livable, so why the need to move so hastily?

Luoyun did not wish to explain too much. She simply said she felt the residence had unfavorable feng shui, and wanted to change their fortunes before her brother’s examinations.

An appeal to superstition was difficult to argue against. Moreover, after that day’s ordeal with the lawsuit, the feng shui did seem genuinely inauspicious. In all household matters great and small, he deferred to his sister, so he naturally went along with it.

By the following day, after a busy morning, Luoyun felt weary from sorting through her things and lay down for a short nap. When she woke, she could not hear the sound of reading coming from the study, and asked Xiangcao whether her brother had grown tired from his studies and might want a bowl of sweet soup.

But Xiangcao replied: “Young Master has gone to the neighboring Green Fish Lane. He said since we are moving, he wants to return the books he borrowed from the Shizi’s household, and also say farewell to Teacher Shao, and personally thank the Shizi…”

Luoyun felt a quiet tightening in her chest. She had been so preoccupied with the move that she had forgotten what a courteous, warm-hearted child her brother was. She could only hope he would come back soon and not give rise to any further complications.

Meanwhile, Han Linfeng was informed that the young gentleman from next door had come to call, and made time to receive Su Guiyan in the study.

Su Guiyan’s gratitude toward this Shizi — whose name was known throughout the city — was entirely genuine.

When he had come knocking at the Shizi’s door that day in desperation, with nowhere else to turn, he had not dared to hope that the Shizi would be so forthcoming — going in person to the prefect’s court to testify for his sister and clear her name.

A nobleman of such approachability and warmth — even if his head had been stuffed with straw — would have seemed endearing.

Han Linfeng listened to Guiyan’s expressions of gratitude, then asked after his examination preparations, and offered to let him take more books from the study.

Guiyan waved both hands in refusal: “Shizi has already been more than generous — I borrowed quite a number of books before. I’ve come to return them this time. How could I possibly take more?”

Though the Shizi had said at the time the books were gifts, they were rare editions of considerable value. He had copied every single one by hand and intended to return the originals to their owner.

Han Linfeng smiled: “We are neighbors. There is no need for such ceremony. Whatever you need, simply let the steward know.”

Su Guiyan said, a little embarrassed: “I would not trouble Shizi further. My sister and I will be moving away before long — we may rarely have the chance to see Shizi again. I came expressly to thank you and to say farewell.”

Han Linfeng had not anticipated that the neighboring residents would be moving away so suddenly. With his perceptive mind, he immediately surmised that the lawsuit must have still tarnished her reputation somewhat, and she was choosing to relocate partly to avoid further speculation.

His thoughts shifted, and he deliberately set aside the discomfort stirring somewhere beneath — and said with studied nonchalance: “Since you are moving away, I must all the more give you something to remember our acquaintance by.”

Su Guiyan heard this and smiled awkwardly, naturally waving his hands to decline.

But seeing the Shizi’s tone was sincere and his insistence genuine, he began to feel it would be ungracious to refuse further — to press the point would be to give offence.

His gaze happened to fall on the incense burning in the censer of the Shizi’s study. He thought of how his sister had specifically asked about this fragrance once before — she must have liked it — and said without thinking: “If it would not be any trouble, Shizi, might you spare me some of this incense?”

Han Linfeng’s gaze moved to the censer. The study’s book boy had lit it these past two days because the weather had been damp, to keep the books from gathering moisture.

He asked idly: “Just this? Your household sells fragrant goods — surely you don’t carry this particular scent?”

Su Guiyan replied: “This incense contains camphor root native to Liangzhou — its fragrance is rather distinctive, and almost impossible to find on the market. My sister had never encountered it before…”

The moment the words left his mouth, he noticed the Shizi’s expression shift ever so slightly. That face, perpetually cast in casual indifference, had taken on an inexplicably grave quality.

Han Linfeng slowly raised a long finger and gave the air a delicate, unhurried sniff. Then, as though suddenly understanding something, he gave a faint smile and said in a mild tone: “It is indeed quite distinctive. We don’t have much of this left in the household — once the next shipment arrives from Liangzhou, I will certainly have some sent over. But seeing as the young gentleman has come today to say farewell, why did Miss Su not come as well? We have been neighbors, after all — the least I can do is set a table and see you both off properly.”

Such warm hospitality did not leave much room for refusal. Su Guiyan was just drawing breath to decline when Han Linfeng had already turned to instruct his steward: “Go and invite Miss Su to my residence. I am setting a table today — I shall share a cup of farewell wine with the Su siblings.”