Hearing her sister-in-law say this, Han Yao felt a little ashamed, thinking that she — a member of the imperial clan — was less poised and composed than a sister-in-law of humble origins.

She knew it was wrong to keep hiding away. In the end, she summoned her courage, dressed and tidied herself properly, and went out together with her sister-in-law.

The two of them rode in one carriage together to the Li family’s home.

Just as Su Luoyun had said, the Li family came from modest origins — even now that they held a high position in court, their household manner had long been formed, steeped in the virtues of frugality. It was entirely unlike the extravagant and flamboyant banquets hosted at Princess Yuyang’s manor.

The table bore no rare or exotic fruits, no delicately crafted pastries — only fragrant roasted peanuts and ordinary dried fruits.

The wives of the Hanlin scholars were no few of them accomplished and well-read women in their own right. Gathered together, they rarely spoke of household gossip, and even less of the cut and style of skirts. Instead, they would exchange newly composed verses, reading and commenting on them with laughter.

When the mood took her, one of the Hanlin wives simply called a maidservant to bring over ink, brush, and paper, and proceeded to paint with broad, free strokes — a few branches budding with new growth, a lucky spider half-suspended in mid-air on a trailing thread.

This was a composition expressing the sentiment of “joy descending from the heavens,” offered in celebration of the Li family’s double blessings: one, Official Li Guitian’s miraculous escape from death, and the other, the joyful addition of a son to the Li household.

Such a cultured and refined atmosphere did indeed put Han Yao at ease. Having studied with a female tutor back in Liang Prefecture, she had a general grasp of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and found she had quite a lot to talk about with these literary-minded ladies.

Yet what she admired most was still her own sister-in-law, who could hold a conversation with these refined women without a single awkward lull.

Of course, this was also in part due to Madam Li’s own attitude.

Madam Li had previously had no dealings whatsoever with the Beizhen Wang Manor, and had heard something of the Shizi’s unconventional marriage. She had held no particular warmth toward this blind woman of merchant origins.

Yet her husband and the Shizi were companions who had shared hardship and danger together. And it was thanks to the Shizi consort being a woman of method and resolve — not one to sit passively and await her fate — that she had thought to entrust her uncle, who served in the water garrison, with sending boats out to search for them.

Otherwise, given the severity of Official Li Guitian’s injuries, even had he not drowned, he would not have held on for long.

Madam Li was genuinely grateful in her heart, and received the two honored guests from the Beizhen Wang Manor with warmth and attentiveness.

When the assembled wives of scholars and officials heard that the Shizi consort’s own younger brother was none other than the young top-ranked candidate from this round of childhood examinations — the one who had been exceptionally appointed to the Hanlin Academy — they were full of admiring remarks. They agreed that this Shizi consort, who had come from a modest household and was still young in years, had accompanied her brother through years of diligent study and cultivated him into someone so distinguished. She truly deserved to be counted among the ranks of virtuous women of the order of Mencius’s mother.

And so their warmth toward the women of the Beizhen Shizi Manor deepened, rising from something genuine within them.

Han Yao sat beside her sister-in-law, smiling and exchanging pleasantries with the guests, her earlier shattered confidence gradually being pieced back together, little by little.

She did, however, notice that her sister-in-law was truly of merchant stock and never forgot her roots wherever she went.

Over the course of the meal, her sister-in-law had somehow managed to sell several batches of the Beizhen Wang Manor’s sleep-inducing fragrances, with many of the ladies expressing that they would be sure to visit Shou Xiang Zhai after returning home for a proper look.

After all, most of the ladies present were of some age, and not a few suffered from insomnia and weakness in varying degrees — and with her sister-in-law’s soft, unhurried descriptions offering subtle and understated praise of the fragrance’s medicinal properties, it was rather persuasive.

Watching this, one could not help but think she had probably made back the cost of the red envelope gifts they had brought.

Still, this manner of doing business amid refined company was hardly in keeping with elegant sensibilities. Han Yao gradually began to feel uncomfortable again.

In the end she could hold back no longer, and quietly asked her sister-in-law whether it was not getting rather late, and whether they ought to head back to the manor.

Su Luoyun nodded. She had been diligently taking medicinal soups of late, which did not mix well with wine — so it was better to leave early, lest she be tempted to indulge.

Just as the two rose to bid farewell to their host and make their way to the Li family’s front gate, Prince Consort Zhao Dong happened to arrive with his son Zhao Gui Bei, coming to offer their congratulations to the Li family.

Though Princess Yuyang had little connection with scholars of modest origins, Zhao Dong himself came from humble beginnings and had always gotten on well with Official Li. Hearing that the Li household had welcomed a new child, he came personally to deliver the red envelope gift.

Han Yao was walking rather quickly and almost collided with young Master Zhao, who was walking just ahead, dropping the handkerchief from her hand in the process.

Zhao Gui Bei quickly picked up the handkerchief and held it out to Commandery Princess Han.

Zhao Dong glanced at the two of them. Harboring genuine distaste for Han Shizi, he could not be bothered to exchange pleasantries with the women of his household, and simply looked away as though he had not seen them, striding with his son through the gate.

On the way back, Han Yao chose her words with some difficulty and tactfully pointed out to her sister-in-law that bringing business transactions into the homes of the nobility was perhaps not entirely appropriate, and would inevitably invite private ridicule.

Su Luoyun understood Han Yao’s meaning. She was a pampered daughter of the imperial family, untouched by the concerns of the world — naturally she did not understand that money did not grow on its own in the storeroom.

So she smiled gently at her young sister-in-law and said: “I understand what you mean — that I ought to simply give the fragrances as gifts to the ladies. But these scholars’ households are the very people who believe one should not accept gifts without having rendered some service. Those fragrances are not inexpensive things; if you give them away for nothing, it looks as though you are seeking favor, and creates a burden in their hearts. Besides, these fragrances are things one uses over a long period of time. I will instruct the shop manager to offer these households a favorable price. They will understand the goodwill behind it, and that is enough.”

Han Yao shook her head and said quietly: “Sister-in-law need not work so hard running a shop to earn money — Elder Brother will provide for all your needs.”

Su Luoyun smiled and said nothing more. Her own background, experiences, and outlook were entirely different from this pampered young Commandery Princess, and there was no need to exhaust herself convincing the other.

She knew her own mind well enough: if one wanted to accomplish anything in the world, money was never sufficient no matter when. Take the ceremony just past — though a substantial sum of charitable funds had been raised, Han Linfeng himself had donated a considerable amount. The manor’s finances would likely be stretched for some time, and daily expenses would require careful management.

However, Han Yao’s notion that her sister-in-law harbored the petty, money-grubbing instincts of someone from a small household was about to be soundly refuted.

After helping Su Luoyun run the charitable funds affair to its conclusion, Uncle Hu Xuesong prepared to return to his water garrison.

When Su Luoyun saw her uncle off at the front gate lodge of the Shizi Manor, she picked up a wooden box and held it out directly to him.

“This is some of the money I have earned from the shop. It is not a great deal, but it should be enough to purchase some cotton quilts, medicinal herbs, and bedding — to help the women and children of Yan County.”

Hu Xuesong opened the box, and found inside a thick sheaf of silver notes. He immediately pushed the box back: “You haven’t pawned your mother’s dowry, have you? This money is a woman’s security — how can you give all of it away?”

Su Luoyun laughed: “Mother’s properties and fields are all intact. This is money I have saved from running the shop. It was originally set aside for Guiyan’s studies at the academy, and for his future marriage and children. But he has done well for himself and secured his own future — I need not trouble myself over his marriage and family as his elder sister any longer. As you yourself said, the people of Yan County are wandering and destitute — how could we possibly sit by indifferently and go on living our lives of comfortable ease in the capital? I have no pressing need for this money right now, and I can earn more later… My good fortune has always been thin. If these silver notes can be put to their fullest use and preserve even a few lives, that too would be accumulating merit for me.”

Hearing his niece say this, Hu Xuesong finally accepted the box: “Very well, then I shall receive this on behalf of the people of Yan County. With your name, I will hire physicians to hold free clinics — and let the people also remember the Wang Manor’s kindness.”

Su Luoyun shook her head quickly, smiling with a touch of wry resignation: “The Shizi is by nature discreet and keeps a low profile — there is no need to make a show of it. I made such a point of crying poverty earlier to encourage more donations from others, so I can hardly produce this money directly in public myself. Besides, the capital is full of powerful noble families — if I step forward prominently with a large sum, I put myself on display and overshadow the others. You would do better to establish the free clinics under the name of the water garrison. That way, the people’s gratitude will go to the soldiers of the Great Wei and to the commanding general… You have been stationed in Yan County for so long — it is only right to leave some credit for your superior officer, as a way of thanking him for his accommodation.”

The sum Su Luoyun had contributed was in fact greater than what many of those noble ladies and princesses had donated. Had she produced it openly at the time, she would truly have upstaged all those aristocratic great ladies.

Hu Xuesong, knowing his niece to be thorough in her thinking, nodded in agreement: “I will follow your guidance in all things. You are a married woman now — and your husband seems to be a man who both cherishes his wife and understands the greater good. That gives me most of my peace of mind. Once the affairs in Yan County are settled, I will come to visit you again!”

With that, Hu Xuesong turned, mounted his horse, and departed in haste.

Just moments before, Han Yao had been standing nearby as an attendant, accompanying her sister-in-law in seeing off her elder relative. She had naturally witnessed the supposedly mercenary sister-in-law produce a substantial sum of silver to aid disaster victims, without the slightest thought of seeking credit or recognition.

Only then did it occur to her that she herself might also give money to help the people of Yan County.

Yet for all that she bore the title of Commandery Princess, her monthly allowance was spent down to the last coin each month — she never saved anything. Naturally she had no means of giving out money as freely as her sister-in-law.

Han Yao recalled the words she had used to lecture her sister-in-law not long ago, and was seized with a rush of shame.

Nanny Xi had once mocked Su Luoyun behind her back for her lowborn, small-minded ways. Yet that manner of scattering gold without a backward glance — it was the spirit of the wandering heroes one read about in books. Where was there anything small-minded or petty about it?

By comparison, she herself — the esteemed daughter of the Wang Manor — was the lesser woman next to this merchant girl who earned her own money by her own abilities.

When she returned after seeing Uncle Hu off, she approached her sister-in-law and apologized with embarrassment.

Su Luoyun smiled and reached out to find and take her young sister-in-law’s hand: “You were born into an aristocratic clan of the imperial family — it would be unseemly for you to become entangled with the vulgarity of money matters. Why envy me? The toil of earning a living and scrambling through the world — not knowing that hardship for one’s entire life is no small blessing… Did you not say you would teach me to play the qin? Let us go to the music room quickly — I love best the piece you play, ‘Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank.'”

And so the two of them, their unspoken grievances dissolved, walked toward the music room laughing and chatting.

That evening when Han Linfeng returned, he heard from his younger sister about Su Luoyun’s donation of the silver notes. As he gently dried her freshly washed long hair, he sighed: “I spent all my available funds on buying grain and am now something of a pauper. You worked hard for that money and donated every last bit of it — if we were to part ways, would you not walk out with absolutely nothing?”

Su Luoyun did not believe for a moment that he would be willing to let her go at this point — those words were most likely said just to provoke her. So she smiled and replied: “You said yourself that after we part ways, you would be sure to arrange for my future. So why are you crying poverty and going back on your word now?”

Han Linfeng swept her up in his arms in one motion and walked in long strides toward the bed, smiling as he said: “In that case, I may as well pledge myself to you on credit. See how much that will fetch.”

And so amid a burst of laughter, the two of them tumbled together.

At first it was nothing more than their usual playful wrestling, but somewhere along the way things went further than intended.

Though the Shizi possessed a deep and steady discipline, once the fires were burning beyond control, even the gods themselves could not have intervened.

Su Luoyun was half-willing, half-reluctant, and her refusals were not particularly forceful.

Yet at the crucial moment, Han Linfeng managed to stop himself. He buried his face in the curve of her neck and pressed down hard on his own desires.

Su Luoyun, still bewildered by such things, asked in confusion: “What is the matter?”

Han Linfeng was not trying to play the saint. He only lowered his voice beside her ear: “You have never seen my face. If one day in the future your sight is restored, and you discover that I am not the sort of man you would have chosen — what then?”

Han Linfeng was not a man who harbored insecurities about his own appearance. Yet as a child, because his brow and eye contours carried a faint hint of exotic features, somewhat different from the children around him, he had been mocked by those thoughtless children.

Words like “half-breed” — he had heard them before, and more than once.

Su Luoyun had not been blind from birth. The physician he had brought in had also said that she might one day recover her sight.

When that day came and her vision was restored, if she found that her husband was not the man she would have wished for — would she resent him for having made her truly his wife while she was still blind?

Su Luoyun did not answer. For she felt that her feelings toward the Shizi were not those of a woman for a man — only a deep current of gratitude and respectful fondness.

The two of them had similar histories, and both carried burdens not entirely of their own choosing. It was like two solitary creatures wandering alone through a cold night, chancing upon one another, and suddenly discovering the warmth of being close — from which, it seemed, a certain reluctance to part had quietly taken root.

Su Luoyun truly felt now that living out her days with a man of Han Linfeng’s relatively gentle disposition was perhaps not as frightening as she had once imagined.

And yet — this man, handsome enough to have captivated the second young master of the Fang family beyond all reason, was here fretting over his own appearance, genuinely afraid she might not find him pleasing…

Something stirred in Su Luoyun’s heart that she could not quite hold back. Even without seeing his face, she could picture his expression — the way he must be privately tying himself in knots — and it seemed, in some way she could not articulate, impossibly… endearing.

She said nothing. She only pressed a light kiss to his brow, then asked: “Is this not pleasing to look at?”

Then she kissed the hollow beneath his eye: “Or is this not pleasing enough?”

When those soft, playful kisses — scattered like stars — gathered and merged into one, they were the spark that set the prairie ablaze.

Han Linfeng was no rigid, bookish fool. When the woman he cherished had already given so unmistakable a hint, to fail to respond would be to squander the glorious bloom of spring.

In the end, by some alchemy, dry wood and leaping flame slow-cooked into a pot of fragrant, perfectly steamed rice.

Because her eyes could not see, all her other senses were deepened and made more vivid.

After that fierce storm had passed, Su Luoyun, pleasantly spent, found herself thinking that all those romantic tales of talented scholars and beautiful women she had idly read in the past had been written with a certain pallid inadequacy.

Yet after that night of rain and dew, the maidservants attending the Shizi consort were left in considerable bewilderment — the two masters had been married for over a month, so how was it that suddenly, overnight, they seemed to have returned to the state of newlyweds?

No — that was not quite right. Even on their actual wedding night, it had not been quite so honeyed and inseparable as this.

The two masters slept until the sun was high in the sky, and the chamber door could not be pushed open before the sun had fully risen.

What was more, their young mistress seemed to be smiling a great deal more, and in her manner with the Shizi appeared far less carefully guarded and formal than before.

Xiangcao was young and could not quite articulate it. In any case, she simply felt that their young mistress had only now, at last, come to share with the Shizi that sense of a young couple inseparably bound together.

And the Shizi even more so. Every time he looked toward Su Luoyun, the intensity of his gaze was such that no one could mistake its meaning.

It was said that no price could buy the return of a wayward man. The noble families of the capital gradually came to notice that the Beizhen Shizi — who had once been such a conspicuous presence in the city’s streets — seemed to have reined himself in considerably. Not only had he made a clean break from his former circle of idle companions, he no longer haunted the wine houses, tea houses, and theaters to while away his hours.

So when they encountered him at banquets and gatherings, people inevitably tried to find the reason.

Whenever they asked, a look of profound comprehension — as though he had fathomed the deepest truths of the Buddhist teachings — would settle across the Shizi’s handsome face.

“I am a man who came within a breath of death. When I was hanging from a tree branch with Official Li, in my daze I fell into a dream, and in the dream the Buddha himself spoke to me. He told me that if I were to survive this ordeal, it was not only by the grace of His Majesty’s divine light — but also through the protective blessings of one particular person. That I must never again give myself over to a life of dissipation, for this life of mine had been earnestly begged from the Buddha by another. I found myself wondering at the time — who could be so sincere in their faith, to have prayed and obtained such a miraculous turn of fate for me? Later, when I returned to the manor, I discovered that it was my blind wife who had been kneeling before the shrine day after day, praying that she would willingly give ten years of her own life to bring me back…”

At this point in the telling, the Shizi’s eyes would always grow soft and warm, as though moved almost beyond words.

It was well understood that anyone who had passed through such a brush with death tended to have their mind somewhat shaken by the experience.

Take this Han Shizi, for instance — his dreams were filled with gods and spirits practically every night.

The Shizi repeated this account to person after person, with tireless and apparently inexhaustible patience, until in the end everyone had come to understand that it was the wholehearted sincerity of that blind wife which had brought the wayward man back to the right path.

Though Han Linfeng was still far from diligent, doing his work at the Ministry of Works in fits and starts, he had reined in his taste for outside entertainments, spending his days in the company of his beautiful blind wife.

The ladies of the various noble households found this story — one that could easily have been adapted into a morality play about reforming a husband — highly gratifying. They too harbored the hope that if their young male relatives were to marry virtuous wives, some transformative power might work wonders upon their own useless young men.

As for the blind Shizi consort who had enlightened her dissolute husband — she now seemed deserving of a place in books of filial piety and moral virtue, as a model of wifely excellence.

How else to explain why Madam Li — always so careful and discerning in her associations, a household known for its upright family manner — should speak so highly of Su Luoyun and show her such courtesy in public?

And this common-born Shizi consort’s younger brother was the young Compiler who had been exceptionally appointed by the Emperor himself, a young man of boundless promise.

For a time, the contempt that the noble ladies of the capital had formerly shown toward Su Luoyun diminished greatly. If they encountered her at tea gatherings or banquets, they were now quite willing to exchange pleasantries and converse with her.

This improvement extended to Han Yao as well — she gradually settled into the social circles of the capital.

For reasons not entirely clear, the Jun Guo Duke Manor had continued to delay and make no move toward discussing the dissolution of the betrothal with the Beizhen Wang Manor. It appeared that the poor timing of recent events genuinely accounted for the postponement of the wedding.

Perhaps they felt it was not well done to continue neglecting the future daughter-in-law of the Beizhen Shizi Manor. Using the occasion of the eighty-year-old Matriarch’s birthday celebration as an opportunity, the Jun Guo Duke Manor sent an invitation, asking Su Luoyun and Han Yao to attend and offer their birthday congratulations over a cup of celebratory wine.

Such a formal invitation could not be declined, and so both Su Luoyun and Han Yao prepared generous gifts and prepared to attend in person.

On the day of the birthday celebration, Su Luoyun pressed down the restless hand of the man in the bed: “You knew perfectly well I have an engagement today — why do you insist on being so demanding?”

The pleasures of a man’s beauty, if one can appreciate them with the eyes, are naturally the finest way. Yet if one’s sight is impaired, those same pleasures can still be assessed and savored through other means — and with no less precision.

Su Luoyun had no knowledge of the skills that lay behind the bed curtains of the courtesan Red Cloud. But this husband she had come to by a strange turn of fate — setting aside any considerations of his outer appearance entirely, purely on the basis of what lay within the depths of the embroidered bed curtains — ought by rights to hold the foremost position in any establishment of that other kind.

Su Luoyun had never before tasted these particular delicacies of the mountain and sea. The result of her initiation had been to go straight to abalone and sea cucumber, a richness that was somewhat overwhelming.

Today, at last, there was a legitimate reason at hand. Su Luoyun intended to decline this morning’s serving of nourishing tonic soup openly and without apology.

Han Linfeng also understood that a woman needed time to dress and prepare. He let this little fox off for once, and rather than going to his morning martial practice, he stayed to sit with her at the dressing mirror while she washed and dressed.

Since Su Luoyun could not see, her clothing these days was chosen according to the Shizi’s preferences.

Fortunately, Han Linfeng’s taste for fine and splendid garments did not extend to imposing it on others. According to Xiangcao, the colors of the clothing he selected, as well as the hairpins and hairstyles, were all of a refined and understated elegance — making their young mistress look even lovelier.

“The Ministry of Works needs to complete the year-end reconciliation of accounts today — even I, as one of the idle staff, ought to put in an appearance for the sake of form. But the Jun Guo Duke Manor today will once again be a gathering of all manner of formidable creatures. If you would rather not go, you can feign illness and let Han Yao go on her own.”

Han Linfeng said this with a perfectly straight face and without a trace of embarrassment. After all, it was Han Yao’s future in-laws — his younger sister could figure out how to handle them herself.

Su Luoyun thought it truly inappropriate for this elder brother to speak so. He knew perfectly well that formidable creatures would be gathering today — how could she, as the sister-in-law, simply absent herself and leave her young sister-in-law to be picked apart by others?

“I cannot keep hiding away either. I know my own mind — I will go, get through the pleasantries, and be done with it.”

Han Linfeng smiled slightly: “If I finish early at the Ministry of Works, I will come to collect the two of you. Old Cui sent word that they have just slaughtered a black-bristled pig at the country estate, and have made plenty of blood sausages and castrated pork. We could go over for a taste of something fresh.”

And so, once Su Luoyun had finished dressing, she and Han Yao set out together for the Jun Guo Duke Manor.

Just as Su Luoyun had anticipated, her young sister-in-law was plainly full of misgivings about visiting her future in-laws. In Han Yao’s own words, she could not help but wish that at dawn that morning, heaven and earth would have collapsed and some great calamity descended, giving her an excuse to avoid the whole affair.

This kind of despair — the sort that wished the entire city would perish alongside her — was both exasperating and, in its way, rather pitiable.

Su Luoyun comforted her: “When your brother met with his misfortune, the second young lady of the Fang family happened to be in the midst of completing her marriage to the Ninth Prince. And recently the corruption case in Yan County has somewhat implicated Prince Rui, the Ninth Prince — he has had to maintain distance from court and has reportedly taken the Princess Rui out of the city to a country retreat to enjoy some respite, and has not attended court for several days. You should not encounter the Princess Rui today — set your mind at ease.”

Han Yao’s greatest dread was encountering the second young lady of the Fang family. Now that she heard the woman was not in the city, she naturally felt somewhat more at ease — though she still wondered whether her future mother-in-law would receive her with any warmth.

Upon arriving at the Jun Guo Duke Manor, Su Luoyun’s guess proved correct: of the Fang family, only the wife of King Heng had come, and the Princess Rui was nowhere to be seen.

When the two women of the Beizhen Wang Manor were announced by the servants and entered the main hall, all eyes turned toward them at once.

What they saw was the Beizhen Shizi consort walking at the front, draped in a snow-white fox fur over a long dress of crimson that faded gradually into palest white. Though the colors were striking, they were put together with beautiful effect. And since the Shizi consort had no fondness for gold and silver ornaments, there was none of the garish vulgarity that red so often risked — instead, it only made her complexion appear all the more luminously beautiful and distinguished.

Her jet-black hair was swept up high, adorned with a single pearl-tassel hairpin, swaying with an elegant and graceful charm as she walked.

No wonder that careless, wayward Beizhen Shizi had been transformed overnight. With such a peerless beauty in his manor, why would he ever look twice at the ordinary flowers and grasses of the outside world?