These wastrel young men had not anticipated that in the end it would be Han Linfeng who had it most enviably easy — free to do as he pleased both inside and outside the home.

Compared to the lot of them, each managed and constrained, each compelled to watch his father-in-law’s expression for cues — Han Linfeng had the far better arrangement.

A surge of envy rose among them at once, which naturally translated into plying the new bridegroom with considerably more wine than usual, with the clear intention of getting him so thoroughly drunk that he would waste the night and miss his wedding evening altogether.

That said, not all those present at the banquet were of this dissolute sort.

Han Linfeng had not sent out many invitations, yet several guests had traveled from a distance to attend.

Xiangcao mentioned that one table was occupied by a few men in plain, simple clothing — ordinary undyed cotton, rather than the fine silks and brocades favored by those of wealthy or powerful households.

Luoyun initially wondered with some unease whether these men had come “from the north,” and thought to herself that the Shizi was surely not being so recklessly brazen.

Later, however, when she made the rounds offering cups of wine, Su Luoyun learned that these men were simply old schoolmates of Han Linfeng’s from his days at the academy in Liangzhou.

They appeared to be from humble families — their clothing was somewhat plain — yet their manner of speech was refined and their words were of no ordinary quality.

One among them, called Wen Qian, had apparently sold off everything he owned to pay for his wife’s treatment when she fell gravely ill. With young children at home and the family unable to afford food, he had come to seek out his old friend, hoping to be taken in at the Shizi’s residence as a household advisor — to be kept on at the Shizi’s convenience in some capacity.

As for the family relative from the Beizhen Wang residence itself — that was none other than the noble young woman who had just arrived in the capital, Han Linfeng’s half-sister Han Yao.

She was sixteen years of age, the legitimate daughter of Prince Beizhen’s Wang Consort Lady Li, and was of truly striking beauty.

This young commandery princess had already been betrothed to the third son of the senior master of the Junguo Duke’s residence in the capital, and so Prince Beizhen’s Wang Consort had sent her ahead to stay at her elder brother’s residence for a few months in order to be married from the capital when the time came.

Han Yao had been occupied ever since arriving in the city, busily calling on her mother’s old friends and connections — delivering calling cards and gifts to various households — and was almost never at home during the day. As a result, she had not yet had occasion to meet her new sister-in-law.

It was not until this formal occasion that she finally laid eyes on her.

Attending this young commandery princess, aside from a dozen or so inner and outer maidservants, was a matriarch of standing from the Beizhen Wang residence — Nanny Xi.

Nanny Xi was a figure of long service and seniority in the Wang residence, having attended two successive generations of Wang Consorts.

According to Xiangcao, the nanny had a full head of white hair without a single strand out of place, eyes so deeply set in folds of skin they appeared almost buried and yet blazingly sharp, and she was not given to smiling — her manner suggesting she would not be easy to get along with.

Luoyun’s own interpretation was that, since Han Yao was about to be married, the Wang Consort had specifically sent along a steady and experienced nanny to instruct her in proper conduct before the wedding.

When Su Luoyun followed behind Han Linfeng and made the rounds presenting cups to the guests, Han Yao offered a cup to her new sister-in-law with a warm smile, saying with a touch of apology, “I have actually been here for some time already — I was simply occupied delivering the gifts our mother entrusted to me for various old friends in the capital, and kept putting off coming to pay my respects to you. I hope Elder Sister will forgive me…”

Before the words had fully left her mouth, Nanny Xi, standing behind her, gave a deliberate, measured cough — clearly prompting the young commandery princess about something.

Sure enough, the young commandery princess shifted to a different subject. “Ah yes — Mother received Elder Brother’s letter and was most pleased to hear of the imperial decree. She immediately sent a message by fast horse, instructing me to give Nanny Xi to Elder Sister’s courtyard, so that you would not be without attentive company so soon after arriving. I hope Elder Sister will treat Nanny Xi with due courtesy — her late husband saved our father’s life, and she watched our father grow up from childhood. She is as much a senior family member as a servant.”

On the surface, these words seemed perfectly reasonable — a mother-in-law far from home bestowing a nanny upon her new daughter-in-law.

But there was a world of difference between being given a servant and being given something closer to an ancestral elder.

Listening to the young commandery princess’s words, Su Luoyun gathered that this Nanny Xi was most likely the latter. An old woman one could neither scold nor discipline, posted to her side — hardly there to serve her.

The Wang Consort had presumably taken one look at a merchant-class daughter-in-law and, fearing for the dignity of the Wang residence, dispatched a nanny to instruct her in proper conduct and etiquette.

As a new daughter-in-law just arrived, how could she argue against the words of a mother-in-law a thousand li away? She could only bow her head and submit to instruction.

And yet — the faint scent drifting from this nanny’s direction was somehow remarkably familiar.

Luoyun drew a quiet breath, and once she had confirmed it, she simply smiled and said no more.

Beside her, Han Linfeng’s expression had grown displeased. “Has Mother forgotten Nanny Xi’s age entirely? How can she impose on her to serve anyone at this stage? Besides — the maids in my own household are all women of remarkable appearance. Nanny Xi must have been a beauty in her younger years, but now… well, what exactly would I compliment? Spare me the difficulty. Yao’er, keep Nanny Xi at your side instead. Should the Shizi consort have need of her, she may summon her then.”

At these words, everyone in the vicinity — with the exception of Han Yao and Nanny Xi — broke into loud laughter.

The Shizi’s words were not without basis. His standards were notoriously exacting. When he frequented entertainment establishments, he invariably sought out women of refined elegance, and those who were loud, showy, or plain had never been permitted anywhere near him.

Someone of Nanny Xi’s considerable age would naturally not meet the Shizi’s requirements in the slightest.

Having said his piece, Han Linfeng did not spare a glance for Nanny Xi’s suddenly rigid expression, nor did he wait for his younger sister to respond. He took Luoyun by the hand and moved on to offer wine at the next table.

Afterward, the guests at the Shizi’s residence continued to multiply, and the rounds of toasting seemed without end.

A wedding that had never been a love match to begin with, made into so large an affair — Luoyun found it all rather exhausting.

After the last of the rounds had finally been completed, Luoyun was at last guided into the bridal chamber by Xiangcao and two or three maidservants.

She made her way to the edge of the bed and, paying no mind to the startled exclamations of the maidservants around her, asked Xiangcao to first remove the phoenix crown and bridal cape and let her breathe properly for a moment.

That crown was as heavy as a punishment device.

She had expected the ceremony to be brief, and had eaten little at breakfast — she was now desperately hungry.

When she tried to ask for something to eat, however, one of the maidservants said with some difficulty that Nanny Xi had given instructions: the bride must first eat the half-cooked dumplings with the bridegroom and drink the ceremonial wedding cups before she could take any other food.

Luoyun nodded in resignation. This was not her small courtyard at home, and she could not simply do as she pleased. Not wanting to put the maidservants in a difficult position, she could only feel around quietly on her own in search of something to eat.

She was also turning over the question of where she was to sleep tonight. Having already discussed the matter of a nominal marriage with the Shizi, this was all going through the motions — but she was not sure whether the new chamber was to be hers, or whether she would be expected to move elsewhere.

As evening fell, accompanied by the sound of laughter and rowdy voices from outside, the bridegroom was ushered through the door of the bridal chamber.

But the somewhat inebriated bridegroom, in the very moment of entry, turned around and with a single deft shove sent several of those pressing in behind him back out the door.

Those men had fully intended to follow him inside and make merry in the bridal chamber. But they had not anticipated the drunk Shizi pulling a move like this.

By the time they recovered themselves and went to knock, the fine carved wooden door had already been shut fast — and it appeared something like a heavy wooden table had been braced against it from within.

“Han Shizi, this is too much! Open the door right now — we only want to measure the new bride’s embroidered shoes and then we’ll leave!” The voices outside continued their clamoring, absolutely determined to have their fun.

At this moment, Qingyang came along with a warm smile, leading the group away to sober up in another courtyard.

They were initially unwilling, declaring outright that they intended to sleep in the corridor all night and eavesdrop beneath the wall. But the guards escorting them were all men of considerable physical strength, and in the end, wearing pleasant smiles, the most disruptive of the group were lifted bodily — like someone carrying a handful of chicks — and carried off.

When outside had finally quieted, Su Luoyun ventured carefully to ask the man seated beside her whether he also intended to spend the wedding night in the bridal chamber.

When Han Linfeng had entered the new room earlier, what he had found was his new bride — whom he had gone to considerable lengths to bring into his household — sitting on the great red wedding bed, shelling peanuts and eating them.

He walked through to the inner chamber and looked down at her.

She had not even waited for the bridegroom to enter the bridal chamber before removing her own hair ornaments, pulling off the phoenix crown and its hairpins, and setting the bridal cape to one side.

As for the bridal cosmetics on her face — she appeared to have applied only the thinnest veil of powder, nothing like the heavy ceremonial makeup most brides wore.

It was exactly as she had said — she was simply going through the motions, with no particular investment in this wedding.

Han Linfeng looked at the ceremonial weighing rod in his hand, still adorned with its hanging bead tassels — evidently it had served no purpose — and set it down on the table. He too sat on the red wedding bed and began shelling peanuts, pausing to brush the peanut shells from Luoyun’s skirt as he did so, and said mildly, “I live here. Where else would I go?”

Su Luoyun rose quickly from the bed and began shaking peanut shells off her own clothes, saying, “Then I — which room am I to go to? I hope the Shizi will send someone to show me the way.”

They had agreed beforehand to be a nominal couple in name only — if the Shizi wished to sleep in the bridal chamber, she of course had the good sense to move out.

Han Linfeng recognized he would not be receiving the customary service of a new bride helping to remove his headdress and outer garments, and so removed the hair crown himself, tossing it aside, and said at a measured pace, “Ah Yun — do you still remember that ours is an imperially decreed marriage?”

Luoyun was brought up short by the sudden shift in how he addressed her. No one had ever called her that before. The phrasing had a familiarity to it that sat somewhere alongside that of the greedy cat Ah Rong — an intimacy that felt peculiar, slightly off-balance.

She deliberately set it aside and answered, “Of course I remember…”

Han Linfeng continued in his composed, even manner, “Given that it is an imperially decreed marriage, if I were to abandon my new bride to sleep alone on our wedding night, would that not be a slight against His Majesty? You heard how much of a racket those men were making — no doubt some of them will be lingering outside during the night. You and I will need to keep up appearances tonight.”

This — was indeed not without logic. Under an imperially decreed match, even if the bride’s face resembled a night demon and her figure that of a barrel, one was expected to close one’s eyes and endure a night beside her.

All the more so given that in the eyes of others, she was the beauty Han Linfeng had been so overcome with desire for that he had pulled her from a mountain path — and had apparently sustained a number of cuts in the process, the meat too hot to eat cleanly on the first attempt.

Now, on the wedding night, with everything made proper and legitimate, if the Shizi did not partake, and those dissolute companions of his discovered as much, it seemed likely to undermine the image of a wanton libertine he had so carefully maintained.

Before she had a chance to say anything, Han Linfeng walked over, moved the table away, pushed the door open, and told the maidservants outside to bring in food. Then he closed the door again and said, “The nights have turned cool now that autumn has arrived. There is no daybed in this room — whoever sleeps on the floor will suffer for it. Ah Yun, if you trust me, share the bed for one night. I give my word as a gentleman — I will not presume.”

Luoyun had no reason to doubt the Shizi’s integrity. Looking back over the time they had spent alone together before the wedding — it was not a great deal, but in Luoyun’s own experience, Han Linfeng’s conduct in private had been entirely proper.

When the table was laid with a full spread of dishes, Luoyun set aside the question of sleeping arrangements for the moment and focused first on eating.

The steamed fish was delicate and fresh, but had many bones. Han Linfeng used his chopsticks to pick the flesh carefully away from the bones and place it in a small dish, which he passed to Luoyun.

She noticed he was not eating himself — only continuously serving her — and asked him why he was not having anything.

“I drank too much,” Han Linfeng said. “I cannot eat.”

His circle of companions were all men who lived for a good time, and an occasion like this was hardly one they would let pass without excess. Though he had managed to hold them off and prevent them from coming to disturb the new bride, the penalty cups of wine he was obliged to drink had been unavoidable — and there had been a considerable number.

Luoyun could smell the alcohol on him and knew he was telling the truth.

But surely he could not simply sit here watching her eat.

With this thought, Su Luoyun shifted slightly to one side, took a few bites to settle her stomach, and then stopped eating as well.

With eating addressed, sleeping was next.

Han Linfeng’s position was that the two of them would share the bed for the night — he would conduct himself as a gentleman and not overstep.

Su Luoyun politely demurred, saying she would sleep on the floor.

There was no daybed in the new room — only the wide, imposing wedding bed. To sleep separately on their wedding night, they naturally had to avoid being seen — they could not ask a maidservant to bring in additional bedding.

Han Linfeng, meanwhile, appeared in the grip of his wine and disinclined to move. She did not want to call for a maidservant, so she had no choice but to feel her way around on her own — pulling a quilt from the bed, then making her way to the floor to find a clear space to lay it out.

It was the very beginning of autumn, and though the days were still warm, the nights carried a noticeable chill. Even wrapped in the quilt, Luoyun kept feeling a draught coming in through some gap in the door or window — blowing along the floor from below in a persistent, chilly stream.

The quilt beneath her was also somewhat thin. Laid out on the hard stone floor, it quickly became uncomfortable — she needed to shift and turn at intervals, but no position brought relief.

While she lay there tossing and turning like something on a griddle, a large hand suddenly seized her wrist and pulled her to her feet.

Luoyun had been entirely unprepared. As she was pulled upright, the loose strands of her hair fell across her cheeks, lit here and there by the points of red candlelight, giving her the appearance of something truly affecting — finally, for once, she looked every bit the bashful new bride.

Han Linfeng looked down at her small, pale face for a long moment, then said at last, “Go sleep in the bed. I’ll take the floor.”

Before she could protest or make any polite objection, he pulled her up and put her to bed, then took her place in the quilt she had laid out on the floor.

The result was that the poor soul on the floor had only changed — the restless shifting continued, and he too could not sleep well.

Luoyun lay on the soft, fragrant bed and found herself awake as well.

When she reached her hand out beyond the curtain of the bed-hangings, she felt a wave of cool air, and realized the night had grown even colder since dark fell.

She let out a small, quiet sigh. The floor was so hard, and there was that draught from the gap in the door — sleeping on it for a whole night, one might easily end up stricken with numbness and a crooked mouth and eyes. That would be dreadful.

The ceremony had been performed — the vows exchanged before heaven and earth, the rites completed. By all proper reckoning, he was now her legitimate husband. If she continued to be precious about the matter and insisted he sleep on the floor while she looked the other way — that was genuinely lacking in consideration.

After all, she still had a long stretch of days ahead in which she would be living under Han Linfeng’s roof and under his watchful eye.

With this thought, she lifted the bed-curtain, and addressed the prone figure who was still shifting restlessly on the floor below. “Why not — why not come back to bed after all…”

What she did not know was that when she leaned out to issue this invitation, with her hair half-down and her eyes soft with suggestion, the white line of her neck extended above her red collar, a trace of rouge still faint on her lips — the sight of her was enough to make a man want to tumble her right into the depths of the bedding.

Han Linfeng lowered his gaze and did not look further. Without waiting for her to finish her sentence, he rose smoothly, gathered the quilt, and climbed back into the bed.

What Luoyun had actually been intending to say was — that the Shizi should come back to the bed and sleep, while she herself, not having drunk much wine, would simply sit up at the edge of the bed and pass the night that way.

She had not anticipated that after a few measures of wine, the Shizi would spring into action before she had finished speaking — bounding onto the bed like a hungry tiger on a lamb, startling her so thoroughly that she fell backward onto the pillow. Her other hand flew instinctively to the small bun at the top of her head.

There, whether by design or by chance, a single hairpin had been left in place — one that appeared, by all appearances, to have a rather sharp point.

Han Linfeng’s eyes narrowed as he registered it. It was unclear to him whether she intended to use it on him, or on herself.

He let out a quiet, low laugh, reached out and plucked the pin free, and tossed it away as far as it would go. Then he muttered something incoherent, flung one arm firmly across her waist, pinning her in place, and proceeded to fall into a deep and contented sleep.

By now the red candles ought to have burned down to nothing, leaving the new chamber in solid darkness.

Luoyun tried to ease herself upright, but his arm and hand lay heavily across her, immovable as a thousand-weight stone.

Su Luoyun opened her mouth to wake him. The man beside her carried his own particular scent — a blend of musk and wine — and no amount of calling could rouse him.

When she tallied it up, the longest time she had previously spent in this man’s company was a walk together through the lane.

Now, in a single step, the two of them had gone from neighbors to a false married couple sharing a bed — a transformation that could not help but be awkward.

She had been up since very early that morning, and the day had been long. She was genuinely tired.

She had fully expected that pinned down in the bed like this, she would lie awake all night. But unexpectedly — after two yawns, listening to the steady and deep rhythm of the man’s breathing beside her, she found a wave of sleepiness beginning to creep over her.

She made a real effort to regulate her breathing and keep herself alert, but the heaviness of sleep came rolling in together with the subtle fragrance that hung in the room — wave after wave, relentless.

Luoyun could resist no longer. She pulled herself into as small a space as possible against the wall and drifted, hazily, off to sleep.

She did not know that once she was asleep, the man beside her turned over, opened his eyes, propped his head on one hand, and drew the bed curtain aside — letting the moonlight from beyond the window pour in and fall upon the face of the sleeping girl beside him.

This slender plum blossom of cold fragrance — he had at last, with great care, transplanted her into his own courtyard. But she still required attentive tending, lest she wither.

With this thought, he slowly extended one finger and lightly tapped the tip of her sleeping nose.

She wrinkled her nose slightly — as though displeased by the sudden intrusion — then tilted her head to one side and slept on.

The night deepened around them. The red candles burned down, weeping wax tears.

Luoyun slept with a soundness and sweetness she had not expected, dark and deep. She did not know how much time had passed before she became vaguely aware of a man’s voice somewhere close by, and the sensation of being pressed down by some immovable weight, unable to turn over no matter how she tried.

When she finally surfaced enough to open her eyes, the world around her was its usual unbroken darkness. Unable to perceive changes in light, she had the habit, upon waking each morning, of asking Xiangcao what the hour was.

Today was no different. But when the question left her lips, still hazy with sleep, it was not Xiangcao’s voice that answered her — it was a low, unhurried male one. “Just past the first quarter of mao. You can sleep a little longer.”

Su Luoyun expended considerable effort to contain the scream that rose in her throat, and simultaneously registered that she appeared to be wrapped around a solid male arm. She released it immediately, and was suddenly struck by the recollection — she was married now.

She had not allowed herself to dream much about this union, and had certainly never imagined that her first wedding night would be spent sleeping side by side with Han Linfeng — and sleeping rather well, at that.

As calmly as she could manage, she raised her hand and, using the motion of adjusting the quilt as cover, felt quickly along her collar and the ties of her garments for anything amiss.

Finding everything as it should be, she prepared to rise and call the maidservants in.

But before she could make a sound, a warm, large palm pressed lightly over her mouth.

“We are newly wed. Rising too early would look unnatural, so you will need to bear it a little longer — at the very least until full daylight before calling anyone in.”

Su Luoyun was well aware that in marrying this particular man, the entire world — both inside the household and out — was a stage, and she was expected to perform on it at any given moment.

He was not wrong. She could not have people getting the wrong impression about the Shizi’s vitality as a man — even if she was already awake, she ought to wait.

Still, even if she was not going to call anyone, there was no need to lie perfectly still without moving. When she made to sit up, Han Linfeng’s voice stopped her again.

He explained that the Wang residence’s servants kept watch in rotation through the night — if there was any sound of movement or footsteps from the floor, the maidservants outside would likely come in.

And so Su Luoyun had no choice but to remain wedged between the man and the wall, keeping as still as possible.

With the two of them lying there face to face, however, Luoyun could not for the life of her think of an appropriate topic of conversation for this particular setting. Discussing the weather and clouds seemed even less suitable.

She did not want to face him, so she turned her back toward him instead and silently willed the dawn to arrive quickly.

Han Linfeng, however, chose this moment to speak. “This afternoon, you will come with me to the palace to offer our gratitude for the imperial grace. It also happens to be Her Majesty the Empress’s birthday — we will most likely be required to stay for the palace banquet.”

On hearing this, Luoyun’s eyes flew open. She turned back toward him, visibly reluctant. “I have to go with you?”

Han Linfeng, observing that she was no longer pulling away, allowed the corner of his mouth to curve slightly upward. He said with unhurried ease, “The customs of the imperial palace are not entirely unlike those at the Princess’s residence — everything is arranged by rank and class. Not everyone sits close to His Majesty and the Empress. My seat is always at the far end of the table. Before we leave, I will have Nanny Yu in the residence explain the protocols to you. Going to the palace is not as complicated as you imagine. Once we have paid our respects, we can find a quiet corner of the hall and have a few bites. It should take no more than one hour, and then we can leave.”

He made it all sound easy. Having finished his explanation, he pulled the quilt comfortably back over himself and made ready to sleep a little more.

What he had not anticipated was that the person behind him promptly sat up and began pushing at his shoulder. “We have to appear before His Majesty this very afternoon — and I have not the faintest idea of the proper conduct. This is the perfect time — you may as well go over the protocols with me now.”

Han Linfeng reached out and pulled her back down. “Move closer,” he said lazily. “Otherwise I shall have to speak too loudly.”

After Luoyun had shifted a little nearer, he looked at her face, close now and clearly visible, and proceeded at a leisurely pace to explain the social landscape of the palace, along with the forms of address and proper etiquette for the important figures she would encounter.

Luoyun asked whenever something was unclear, and Han Linfeng answered each question in turn, patiently.

Because she was listening with such focused attention, the awkwardness of lying in the same bed with a man she barely knew dissolved considerably.

At some point during this, the Shizi gradually stopped speaking, and after a short while his breathing grew steady and even — he appeared to have fallen back asleep.

Luoyun had assumed she would be too anxious about the afternoon’s visit to the palace to rest. But having spent the better part of the morning listening to Han Linfeng’s explanations, and then working to commit it all to memory — a process more soporific than supervising her younger brother’s studies — she silently rehearsed what she had learned one more time, breathed in the faint lingering scent of agarwood in the room, and found, before very long, her eyes beginning to grow heavy again. At the hour when the sky was just beginning to lighten from dark to grey, she too drifted back into sleep.

It did not seem like she had slept for long at all before the man beside her rose to wash and change.

Su Luoyun made an effort to open her eyes and get up as well, but Han Linfeng glanced back and said, “I have a habit of practicing martial forms in the morning. Sleep a little longer.”

Luoyun, aware that she was still unfamiliar with the new surroundings and had no desire to embarrass herself, took his advice and lay back down, waiting for the maidservants to come in and attend to her shortly.

Before long, she heard the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath — and then a faint, metallic scent of blood reached her.

She sat up sharply and asked with caution, “Shizi — what are you doing?”

Han Linfeng pressed his finger against the snow-white wedding handkerchief and let a few drops of blood fall onto it. “We are newly wed,” he said with composure. “What would it look like if this handkerchief showed no red?”

Luoyun’s face flushed faintly as the meaning reached her. She realized he was marking the handkerchief.

Having done this, Han Linfeng draped the handkerchief over the washstand.

He had his habit of morning exercise, so he did not go through his usual washing and grooming — only changed into practice clothes, readying himself to go to the training ground presently to put his body through its forms.

Luoyun lay quietly, breathing in the gentle fragrance drifting through the bed curtains, and turned her thoughts to her unexpected and thoroughly satisfying night of sleep. Something shifted in her mind, and she asked with a note of hesitation, “Shizi — the incense in your room seems to have a particularly calming effect on the spirit…”

Han Linfeng gave a sound of acknowledgment. “My father suffered from insomnia in his early years, and had a master craftsman specially formulate a calming incense for him. One stick burned will yield a full night of sound sleep. I thought you might find it difficult to sleep in unfamiliar surroundings your first night here, so I had someone light it. Did you sleep well last night?”

Su Luoyun sat bolt upright.

What in the world kind of incense was this? No wonder she had been capable of wrapping herself around his arm and sleeping through the entire night without stirring.