Night had just fallen. Doctor Yu had finished taking Yu’er’s pulse and was stepping out, but before he even reached the camp, a figure shot out from the darkness and threw up a hand to block his path. “Stop right there. The Young Prince has ordered you to come with me.”

Doctor Yu was startled. Looking closer, he saw it was none other than Zhang Dahu, the burly servant who always trailed after the Third Young Master.

Doctor Yu cupped his hands in greeting. “May I ask, young sir, does the Third Young Master have some instruction for me?”

“How would I know?” Zhang Dahu said. “The Young Prince told me to bring you, so you’re coming.”

With that, he grabbed Doctor Yu by the elbow without further explanation and hauled him to Cheng Chang’s door, announcing, “Young Prince, I’ve brought him,” before pushing the door open.

Doctor Yu glanced inside and saw only two servants besides Cheng Chang. He relaxed slightly and bowed. “Might I ask, Third Young Master, is there some task you wish this humble one to carry out?”

He had long heard that the Third Young Master of Prince Cong’s household was rather a muddle-headed sort. Being so muddle-headed, surely he wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

Cheng Chang asked, “Does that girl Yu’er really suffer from stomach pain?”

“Reporting to the Third Young Master, she does indeed.” Doctor Yu was the physician who attended Liu Fuyin’s household; whenever a family member there fell ill, he would go to take their pulse, so he knew every ailment that afflicted the Liu household inside and out.

“Is it serious?”

“That… it’s hardly serious to speak of. The Third Young Master may not know, but this sort of complaint is something every woman experiences to some degree — it depends on her constitution. It’s hard to bear, certainly, but not dangerous. It passes within two or three days.”

Cheng Chang said, “So this is a regular occurrence, then?”

“Yes. Though it varies from person to person, Miss Yu is without fail afflicted once a month, and each time the pain comes it’s sometimes lighter, sometimes heavier — it’s not always the same. This time, for instance,” Doctor Yu said, “this time Miss Yu’s pain was especially hard to bear, so she had no choice but to stay behind at the relay station, and had to trouble Colonel Yun to keep her company.”

Doctor Yu rattled off this whole string of medical explanation in one breath, but when he finished, there was only silence from the other side.

Puzzled, he couldn’t help but glance up at Cheng Chang — and the moment he did, he was genuinely shaken. The Third Young Master was looking right back at him, his expression as calm and ordinary as ever, but his eyes were utterly clear, as though they could see straight through a man.

There was not a trace of muddle-headedness in them.

Doctor Yu already had a guilty conscience, and under that gaze his knees went weak. He forced himself not to kneel, but his tongue tied itself in knots. “Th-Third Young Master.”

Seeing that he’d dropped the act, Cheng Chang saw no need to keep up appearances either, and cut straight to the point. “Did Liu Fuyin tell you to say all this?”

Doctor Yu lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Cheng Chang continued, “Perhaps Yu’er never had any stomach pain at all — or if she did, it wasn’t nearly so severe.”

Doctor Yu still said nothing, but his shoulders had begun to tremble.

“Answer him!” Sun Haiping barked, seeing Doctor Yu clam up like a sealed gourd. “Do you know what happens to people who offend our Young Prince? Skinning you alive would be letting you off easy!” He rolled up his sleeves as if to teach the man a lesson himself.

Before his hand could even reach Doctor Yu’s head, the man dropped to his knees. “Th-Third Young Master, spare me! This humble one never meant to deceive you, it’s just, it’s just —” He gritted his teeth, casting aside all thought of loyalty to his master Liu Fuyin; preserving his own life mattered more. He blurted out the truth. “It really was Liu Fuyin who told this humble one to say all that to the Third Young Master.”

“Please understand, Third Young Master — Miss Yu is not currently in her monthly courses at all. She is in perfectly good health. The earlier claim that she was suffering from stomach pain was a lie, meant only to keep Colonel Yun tied up at the relay station so that she wouldn’t be able to return to the capital with your carriage right away.”

At this, Sun Haiping and Zhang Dahu exchanged glances.

Keeping Yun Xi from returning to the capital immediately — why?

Seeing that Cheng Chang still said nothing, Doctor Yu, trembling, confessed everything. “It’s true, Third Young Master. It was Lord Liu Fuyin’s order for Miss Yu to do this, and he also had this humble one help deceive you — that’s why, when Colonel Yun noticed Miss Yu looking unwell earlier, it was because I’d given her a certain medicine.”

“Lord Liu Fuyin said that if Colonel Yun were to return to the capital together with your carriage, the foremost credit for escorting the Young Prince of Prince Cong’s household home would slip out of his grasp.”

Cheng Chang was, after all, the one Yun Xi had gone to enormous lengths to find — no one could take that credit from her. But finding him was one act of merit, and safely escorting him back to the capital was another. If Yun Xi traveled back together with Cheng Chang, no one else’s credit could possibly outweigh hers. She would be the very first to gain favor before His Majesty, before Prince Cong, even before the Grand Empress Dowager. But if Yun Xi were delayed along the way by some other matter, and the crucial task of escorting the Third Young Master home fell to Liu Fuyin instead, then he would be the one to first win favor before His Majesty — and everything would be different.

Rewards were secondary; what mattered was his future. Through this one affair, the masters within the palace would remember his name, and whenever a lucrative post opened up in any of the great offices, his would be the first name they thought of.

This was a golden opportunity for a meteoric rise — even if the means were somewhat underhanded, he couldn’t afford to let it slip by.

When Zhang Dahu heard Doctor Yu’s confession, he stood stunned for a long moment before it sank in. “You schemed against Colonel Yun?”

Unlike Sun Haiping, who had a shrewd mind and calculated every angle, Zhang Dahu was simple and straightforward. In the past, Yun Xi hadn’t even registered in his eyes; he knew only loyalty to the Young Prince. But after the Young Prince went missing, it was Yun Xi who had led him and the others in the search until they found him, and from then on he was utterly devoted to her.

Once Zhang Dahu was devoted to someone, he sided with them in everything.

He rolled up his sleeves. “You little —”

“Get out.” Before Zhang Dahu’s fist could land on Doctor Yu’s face, Cheng Chang spoke, his tone flat.

“Young Prince?” Zhang Dahu was anxious — if not now, when would he ever get to beat someone up? But glancing at Cheng Chang’s face, he caught a trace of icy coldness there.

Anger, barely restrained.

Ever since falling into the water, the Young Prince had grown a little more taciturn, but he had always remained easygoing. When had anyone ever seen him truly angry?

Before Zhang Dahu could react, Cheng Chang spoke again, his voice cold. “Go tell Liu Fuyin to take his men and clear out before dawn tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Doctor Yu answered “Yes, yes” over and over, grabbed his medicine box, and scrambled out of the room in a stumbling rush.

Sun Haiping cast a sidelong glance at Cheng Chang’s expression, and after a moment, seeing it had eased somewhat, he asked carefully, “Young Prince, how did you see through that petty official’s rotten scheme?”

Cheng Chang, being well brought up, did not vent his anger unfairly and answered, “When we came back to the relay station, his reaction was off.”

He hadn’t wanted Cheng Chang to ask about Yun Xi’s “condition,” and had hurried to usher him inside. And once inside, he’d been quick to apologize, even having Yu’er kneel down with him.

Cheng Chang had found this strange at the time — it was only a stomachache, after all. Why make such a fuss over it?

That was when it occurred to him that the man might have a guilty conscience.

The decision to return to the relay station had been Cheng Chang’s own, and any delay along the road was likewise his own choice — so why had Liu Fuyin claimed he feared Yu’er would delay their journey?

Once he’d noticed that one inconsistency, digging deeper made all the loose threads plain to see.

If Yu’er had truly fallen ill with stomach pain, why hadn’t Liu Fuyin left even a single physician behind for her? With so many officials and guards under Liu Fuyin’s command, surely there were trusted men among them — so why hadn’t he left several of his own trusted men to protect her, instead troubling Yun Xi, an outsider, with the task?

According to Doctor Yu, Yu’er’s condition was a monthly occurrence without fail, which meant she wasn’t fit for long journeys. If that was so, Liu Fuyin should have realized this before they ever set out — and even if he hadn’t, Yu’er surely would have told him. If Liu Fuyin knew all this, why had he still let Yu’er travel with the carriage in the first place? It could only be to strand Yun Xi partway.

Sun Haiping said, “Young Prince, do you think — in just that short time, you managed to see through Liu Fuyin’s scheme against Colonel Yun. But Colonel Yun spent the whole afternoon looking after Yu’er — might she have seen through it too?”

Cheng Chang said nothing.

He was, in fact, somewhat concerned about this. Yu’er was just a girl of fourteen or fifteen, without much guile. Even if Liu Fuyin had instructed her to feign illness, she might have fooled Yun Xi for a moment, but perhaps not for long.

Sun Haiping glanced at Cheng Chang’s expression, then spoke up on Yun Xi’s behalf, indignant. “Who does that petty official Liu think he is? He’s only accompanying the Young Prince back to Jinling, and he dares try to snatch the foremost credit? These past two months, we combed every inch of White Cloud Mountain and turned over every stone along the East Sea coast alongside Colonel Yun before we finally found you, Young Prince — and she hasn’t even mentioned claiming credit yet!”

“Exactly.” Zhang Dahu, too, was genuinely concerned for Yun Xi’s sake. “Colonel Yun is an honest sort who only cares about doing her duty well. It’s one thing if you don’t pay her much mind, Young Prince, but if the court’s reward is stolen from her on top of that, she’ll have been terribly wronged.”

Cheng Chang was startled. “I don’t pay her much mind?”

But as soon as the words left Sun Haiping’s mouth, Cheng Chang understood what he meant. He hadn’t spoken to her much these past few days, but that wasn’t entirely his fault. During the day they were all hurrying along the road, and when they occasionally stopped to rest, she kept her distance from him — he could hardly cross through the crowd to strike up a conversation with her, not with so many officials and guards watching. And at night, she mostly slept in her tent; it was late and quiet, and he didn’t think it right to disturb her.

Besides, that might have been fine before, but now that Cheng Chang knew what sort of misdeeds the former Young Prince had committed, he worried that any impropriety on his part might come across as offensive to her.

Zhang Dahu went on, “Exactly so. Colonel Yun went to such trouble to find you, and you haven’t even thanked her.”

At these words, Cheng Chang fell quiet.

Before long, he abruptly rose to his feet. “I’m going out for a walk.”

…

Night had fallen, but the officials and guards, having just finished pitching camp, gathered in scattered groups to eat their rations, bursts of noisy chatter drifting through the air now and then. Yun Xi sat by the window, listening.

She hadn’t slept in a tent tonight, choosing instead to stay at the relay station, and since they’d only traveled half a day, she wasn’t particularly tired. Even now, she felt no drowsiness.

Yun Xi was just thinking of something to occupy the time when she heard a knock at the door.

“C-Colonel Yun,” came Tian Si’s voice, “are you asleep?”

“Not yet,” Yun Xi answered, walking over to open the door. “Something wrong?”

Tian Si nodded and stepped inside, but mindful of propriety between men and women, left the door only half closed before turning back. “Colonel Yun, I — I wanted to tell you something.”

Yun Xi poured him a cup of water and handed it to him. “Go on.”

“Colonel Yun, didn’t — didn’t you notice?” Tian Si took the water and sat down at the table nearby. “That Liu Fuyin — he schemed against you.”

“Just now, when I — when I came over, I saw Yu’er, walking out as if nothing were wrong, like Doctor Yu had — had something urgent to discuss with her, and with Liu Fuyin. She — she was never sick at all.”

Yun Xi was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I know.”

“You — you knew?”

“I knew.”

In truth, that afternoon, when Yu’er had suddenly used drowsiness as an excuse to send Yun Xi away while clutching her hand warmer, Yun Xi had already guessed she’d been deceived. That was why she’d left the room and sat alone at the entrance of the relay station, not bothering to watch Yu’er and her two maids put on their little performance in front of her.

“Do — do you know why she wanted to deceive you?” Seeing Yun Xi act as if nothing had happened, Tian Si couldn’t help feeling anxious on her behalf. “She wants to help her father steal — steal your credit. To get ahead of you and win favor before His Majesty, before Prince Cong’s household.”

Yun Xi smiled and nodded again. “I know.”

A burst of noise rose from outside the window; Yun Xi turned to look and said mildly, “Let them have it, then. I was never attached to that credit anyway.”

Outside it was very loud — some of the officials were quite young and were shoving each other playfully. The sudden clamor reminded her of army life.

It was so loud outside that Yun Xi was entirely absorbed in looking out the window, and never noticed the footsteps that had abruptly stopped just beyond the half-closed door, nor the figure who had abruptly gone still there.

“You — you don’t care?” Tian Si said. “But you went to such trouble to find the Third Young Master. Finding him is a great — a great achievement. Because of this credit, His Majesty will think more highly of you when it comes time for your future promotions, for commanding troops.”

That was exactly why someone would go to such trouble to steal it from her.

But Yun Xi only said, “That’s right. I don’t care.”

She had come to find him simply because she wanted to find him — nothing more. Now that he was safe and well, she considered her mission complete.

And truthfully, in her heart, she didn’t even want to claim that foremost credit. She didn’t want the Third Young Master to think that she had traveled a thousand miles to find him merely to win merit for the court, to secure her own future.

So if someone wanted to steal her credit, then let them have it.

But these were thoughts she kept buried deep, not something to be shared with just anyone, so she said nothing more of it.

Tian Si sighed. “What a pity.”

“What’s there to pity?” Yun Xi laughed again, half joking and half in earnest. “I may not care about this credit, but if anyone dares try to steal military merit from me, I’ll knock his teeth clean out! Did you really think I had no temper at all?”

Outside, Cheng Chang heard this and smiled silently to himself.

Tian Si said, “Still, you missed — missed a fine chance to be promoted to general.”

“My credit doesn’t lie here.” Yun Xi shook her head.

She sat by the window, watching the scattered lights among the camp tents and listening to the bustling voices, and said, “I want to be like my father and my brother — someday, by my own true skill, to go to the battlefield, to earn military merit, to repel ten thousand enemies and guard a thousand miles of border. That’s what real glory looks like.”