Once the Rain Water solar term arrived, the Qinhuai region stayed shrouded day after day in a hazy drizzle. The corridors outside were perpetually damp, and anyone standing outside for long, even under an umbrella, would find their clothes turning damp all the same.

That morning, Yun Xi checked in at the Bureau of Military Affairs, collected her sword, and headed out of the public hall.

The guard stationed at the hall entrance asked, “General, are you heading out on duty?”

Yun Xi said, “I’ll be away from the capital for a few days. If officials from other bureaus come looking for me, tell them I’ll return as soon as I can.”

The guard said respectfully, “Any business important enough to require General Yun’s attention must be urgent indeed. If the other officials learn you’re away, surely none of them would dare press the matter.” He added, “This one will remember. If any important documents arrive, I’ll have them set on your desk as well.”

Yun Xi nodded, opened her umbrella under the corridor, walked to the bureau gate, and instructed an attendant to fetch her horse.

It was now early spring of the tenth year of Zhaoyuan’s reign.

The previous autumn, Yun Xi had won a decisive victory in Lingnan and returned to the capital in triumph.

By winter, when bandits had been causing trouble near Lin’an, the local authorities had spent a full month hunting them without even brushing a sleeve of the culprits. Yun Xi took a dozen or so trusted men there and, in just seven days, caught the entire gang red-handed.

In the span of a single year, Yun Xi had achieved two major feats in succession. Emperor Zhaoyuan, hearing of this, was greatly pleased, and at the start of this year had not only promoted her another rank, to the fourth-rank title of General Mingwei, but, in consideration of her year of hard travel and toil, had personally arranged for her a light post in the Guangxi Bureau of the Bureau of Military Affairs.

The so-called Guangxi Bureau, aside from overseeing border defense in the Guangxi region, primarily handled matters of military recruitment and bandit-catching within Jinling itself.

The capture of ordinary petty thieves and bandits generally fell to the Jingzhao Prefecture; for Yun Xi’s Guangxi Bureau to be called upon, it usually took nothing less than a notorious river-and-sea outlaw gang.

As a result, since taking up her post, Yun Xi could check in each day and be done, occasionally training troops at Xishan Camp, essentially drawing her salary for free.

Who could have known that in early February this year, the Ministry of War’s storehouse had suddenly been burglarized, and a defense map of the northern frontier stolen.

For a theft to reach inside the imperial palace itself sent Emperor Zhaoyuan into a fury. He ordered the Ministry of War, the Jingzhao Prefecture, the Guangxi Bureau, and the Ministry of Justice to jointly hunt down the thieves, and had every treasury officer in the Ministry of War stripped of rank and charged. Registrar Li of the Ministry of War’s storehouse subsequently resigned in disgrace, taking responsibility.

Registrar Li’s former residence was in Yangzhou Prefecture, neighboring Jinling, and after resigning, he had taken his family back there.

But only a few days later, Registrar Li was suddenly found to have hanged himself at home, leaving behind an unfinished letter written in blood, claiming that he and the other treasury officials of the Ministry of War had been wrongly accused.

Upon learning of Registrar Li’s death, the Ministry of Justice, the Guangxi Bureau, and the Jingzhao Prefecture all concluded that there was more to the Ministry of War storehouse theft than met the eye.

Yun Xi’s departure from the capital this time was to go to Yangzhou to investigate the matter.

The rain was very fine, so light from a distance it looked more like mist. The attendant brought Yun Xi’s horse and, along with it, a straw rain cloak, but seeing the rain wasn’t heavy, Yun Xi declined the cloak. Just as she was about to mount, someone behind her called out urgently, “General Yun, wait—”

It was a registrar from the Ministry of Justice.

Yun Xi asked, “Registrar Qi, is something the matter?”

Registrar Qi had rushed over and was slightly out of breath. “Yes. This official has compiled a document detailing the general circumstances of Registrar Li’s household and his career in office, to bring to you, General. This may help General have a clearer picture of things before departing for Yangzhou.”

Yun Xi was taken aback. “You’ve already prepared this so quickly?” She added, “Registrar Qi has certainly gone to great lengths.”

The news of Registrar Li’s suicide had only reached Jinling the night before.

Registrar Qi smiled. “It’s not this official’s own diligence—it was Prince Ling’s doing.”

He explained, “At last night’s meeting at the Ministry of Justice, His Highness Prince Ling arrived, and upon learning that General Yun was to go to Yangzhou, specifically instructed this official to prepare such a document for the General. This official knows the General acts swiftly and decisively, so I hurried as fast as I could, fearing I’d be too late and fail to live up to His Highness’s trust.”

He mentioned Prince Ling once, then again, the flattery in his tone unmistakable.

This was hardly surprising.

After Prince Yun’s fall from power, Emperor Zhaoyuan’s health had declined by the day, forcing him to hand over half the affairs of state to Prince Ling.

Prince Ling had never particularly distinguished himself in his official duties before—occasionally making small mistakes, generally neither praised nor blamed. Yet ever since taking over state affairs from Emperor Zhaoyuan, he had handled matter after matter with striking decisiveness, astonishing the assembled officials.

Prince Ling now was nothing like the once-unfavored prince he had been. His accomplishments were outstanding, and with the backing of pillar ministers such as Luo Fuyou of the Bureau of Military Affairs and Pei Ming of the Ministry of Works, he had become, in all but name, the unrivaled choice for crown prince.

Hearing Registrar Qi mention Prince Ling, Yun Xi fell silent for a moment.

Registrar Qi, not troubled by her silence, asked with a smile, “Is the General setting out for Yangzhou right away?”

Yun Xi said, “I’ll return to the residence first, then set out.”

Registrar Qi said, “Then this official won’t keep the General any longer.”

He stepped back a few paces, clearing the way. Yun Xi gave him a nod, then flicked the reins and rode off.

The state of the Marquis’s residence had improved a great deal from before. Zhao Wu had recently been learning household management under Steward Bai, and the residence gate now employed a handful of servants.

The moment Yun Xi arrived, she handed her horse off to a servant and went around to Fang Fulan’s courtyard, calling through the window, “Sister-in-law!”

These past days Yun Xi had been either at the Bureau of Military Affairs or at Xishan Camp. Fang Fulan, seeing her, was quite surprised and asked gently, “What brings you back at this hour?”

Yun Xi pushed the door open and stepped in, unbuckling her sword and setting it on the table. “I need to make a trip to Yangzhou. Came back to let Sister-in-law know.”

“Yangzhou?”

“Mm.” Yun Xi nodded. “It’s official business from the court. Someone’s died there, and I need to look into it.”

She was vague about the details. Fang Fulan looked at her but didn’t press further, poured a cup of tea and handed it to her, then turned to her dressing table, took a red betrothal card from a drawer, and said with a smile, “The day before yesterday, the Vice Minister of the Imperial Clan Court sent a matchmaker over with his fifth son’s birth data card. I had someone match your fates, and it’s a remarkably good pairing.”

Seeing the red card in her hand, Yun Xi paused, then lowered her eyes. “Sister-in-law, please decline it for me.”

Fang Fulan was startled too, and after a moment said softly, “A’Ting.”

“Last time, when Grand Tutor’s household sent a matchmaker to arrange a match with his young master, I already declined it for you. This time, the fifth son of the Vice Minister’s household—I had people ask around, and he’s said to have excellent character, hardworking too, spent all these years diligently studying without so much as taking a concubine into his household. Last spring’s examination, he placed in the imperial list alongside Wang’an, and he’s already entered the Hanlin Academy. Now that you’re… well, either way, you’re serving at court—meet him first, and if you don’t like him, it won’t be too late to decline then.”

Yun Xi looked at the cup in her hands, and after a moment said quietly, “Sister-in-law, I’ve already said—I don’t want to marry anyone. Whether I meet these men or not, the outcome will be the same.”

Seeing her like this, sorrow crept into Fang Fulan’s eyes, and she sighed softly. “A’Ting, it’s been a year now. After the fire at the Imperial City Bureau, tens of thousands of Imperial Guards searched every corner of both the Da Sui palace and Jinling city, inside and out. No one has seen the Third Young Master since.”

Yun Xi didn’t respond.

Fang Fulan went on, “A’Ting, Sister-in-law knows how much this pains you. But you can’t let your whole life stall here forever—you have to move forward eventually. You’re already a fourth-rank General Mingwei. Wouldn’t it be good to start a family, to make your life a little fuller and happier?”

In Da Sui, marriage prospects were difficult for women in the military—but Yun Xi was an exception.

A year ago, no one could have imagined Yun Xi would rise to where she stood today.

Setting aside her military achievements and titles, she handled every assignment with skill and grace, commanded respect within the army, and had earned the favor of both Emperor Zhaoyuan and Prince Ling—to the point that even when she went out on ordinary business, both the emperor and the prince took a personal interest in her affairs.

She was like a hibiscus flower that had stayed in bud for years, weathered by time, suddenly bursting into bloom overnight.

If Yun Xi had once simply been bright and pretty to look at, the woman who’d returned from Lingnan now was vivid, radiant, almost blindingly striking.

The trials of the battlefield had lent a sharp, spirited edge to her clear, luminous eyes; her once merely bright features had taken on a quiet composure, and the result was beauty brimming with vitality, beauty that struck straight to the heart.

At the New Year’s court banquet, she’d worn a dark vermillion gown—an outfit that should have been utterly ordinary—yet who knew how many had been captivated by her.

So it was that, though she was a woman general, since the start of spring, a steady stream of suitors had come calling at the Marquis’s residence to propose marriage.

Fang Fulan gently urged again, “A’Ting, Prince Cong’s household has already held the funeral rites.”

“So what?” Yun Xi said. “He’s only missing. He’s simply out of sight for now. I’ll go find him. There are still so many places I haven’t searched.”

As she spoke, she suddenly looked up and smiled. “Take this trip to Yangzhou, for instance—I actually didn’t want to take on this assignment at first. But then I thought, I’ve never been to Yangzhou Prefecture before. What if the Third Young Master is there? So I have to go see.”

Fang Fulan looked at her, sighing silently to herself, then nodded and said gently, “All right then. Go and see.”

Perhaps, once she’d looked, she could slowly begin to let go.

Just then, a servant came to report from outside, “General, Young Prince Ningyuan and Commandant Tian are here.”

Hearing this, Yun Xi responded with an “Oh,” and said to Fang Fulan, “Sister-in-law, the young prince and Tian Si are here. I’ll go see them.”