Qiu Xinran choked for a moment, glaring at the man at the table. Who was wishing for what? What was she thinking?

“What exactly did the Marquis come here for?” she asked ungraciously, completely abandoning the respect and humility from moments ago.

Xia Xiuyan didn’t hold her slight rudeness against her. Today he seemed somewhat hesitant to speak. His fingers moved aimlessly on the tabletop. He cleared his throat and turned to discuss other matters: “Ten days from now, I will leave the capital to return to Qizhou.” He looked over, paused for a moment, and said concisely: “Pack your things and prepare to go with me.”

Qiu Xinran was stunned. On one hand she was thinking: There’s actually such a wish-fulfilling stroke of good fortune? What bodhisattva had Xia Xiuyan descended from to suddenly develop such kindness? On the other hand, she said cautiously: “What is the Marquis’s intent?”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her, seemingly somewhat reassured that she hadn’t directly refused, and thus asked lightly in return: “You and I both know clearly what really happened with Li Hantai’s death. Do you think you can still remain in Chang’an?”

These words were correct, but Qiu Xinran still looked at him with a strange expression: “Just because of this?”

Xia Xiuyan turned his eyes away: “Naturally it’s not because of this.”

The other party appeared to be listening attentively, so after pondering for a moment, he suddenly said: “On the day of the Great Sacrifice, when Wei Yi held His Majesty hostage, why did you suddenly call out to me?”

At that time, her cry of “Marquis” could easily expose his position and would alert Wei Yi. If Xia Xiuyan hadn’t made a split-second decision and immediately shot an arrow, the situation would only have become more critical.

Qiu Xinran was startled, not expecting him to suddenly bring this up. She stumbled over her words: “Because, because I was too panicked at the time, so I blurted it out.”

Xia Xiuyan stared at her unblinkingly and smiled faintly: “Nonsense.”

Qiu Xinran stubbornly insisted: “Then what does the Marquis say it was because of?”

Xia Xiuyan lowered his eyes: “Because you saw I was hesitating at that moment and deliberately provoked me.”

Qiu Xinran was at a loss for words and turned her head away as if being unreasonable: “I don’t understand these words.”

Xia Xiuyan continued on his own: “You saw I was hesitating, and you also knew why I was hesitating. But how could you know?”

The tea room fell quiet. Even the sounds of carriages and horses outside seemed distant. After a long while, the man in wide-sleeved brocade robes said softly: “Because you feared I would take the opportunity to plot…”

“Marquis!”

The woman in snow-blue robes suddenly interrupted him. Her face was grave as water, showing a solemnity different from usual.

After a long silence, Xia Xiuyan laughed coldly: “I entered the capital at thirteen, long separated from my parents, unable to return home, trapped in Chang’an City. I appeared prestigious and honored before others, but in reality was merely a chess piece to control the Northwest. When the Northwest is peaceful, His Majesty and I are blood relatives, uncle and nephew. When the Northwest has troubles, I become meat on the chopping block. His Majesty has contemplated killing me—I’m perfectly clear about this.”

Xia Xiuyan looked at the woman before him who pressed her lips together without speaking: “Seven years ago, you knew His Majesty wanted to kill me?” Seeing she didn’t answer, he took her silence as acknowledgment and thus stated bluntly: “Your divination before the court seven years ago was for this reason.”

Over the past seven years he had thought about this matter many times. Everyone said Qiu Xinran’s divination was meant to harm him. Though he knew in his heart this might not be so, after parting in Chang’an, there had been no opportunity to verify with her the full story behind it. On the road west traveling to Qizhou, lying on his camp bed at night he tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He had thought that someday he might have the opportunity to leave Chang’an, but hadn’t expected it would be in this manner. He didn’t know if this journey was heading toward death, or whether he truly had the ability to lead these people to resolve the Qizhou crisis.

He had experienced countless moments of confusion in Chang’an, but none had been like this, because he knew that on his shoulders he carried not just his own life and death, but tens of thousands of soldiers traveling with him and the Qizhou people thousands of miles away waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

When he lay with eyes open, his fingers rubbing the four characters “Life Opportunity in the South” on the back of the talisman, he had repeatedly felt the cowardice of wanting to retreat from battle. He couldn’t understand Qiu Xinran’s divination, nor could he understand those four characters on the back of the talisman. In the morning when the sun first rose and the first ray of sunlight leaked into the tent, he sat up and walked outside. They had just entered the Ten Thousand Peaks Mountains. During this period of travel, rushing day and night, most people were exhausted and still sleeping. In the silent early morning, looking at the majestic mountains and rivers in the distance, he suddenly recalled that night when he was abducted from the traveling palace and also stayed outdoors. At that time, the little Daoist sitting under the tree yawning had said to him with an expression of complete certainty: “My divinations for people are truly very accurate. I know this myself.” At that moment, as the sun rose slowly, he suddenly gripped the talisman in his hand tightly and felt the courage to stake everything on one throw.

She said her divinations were never wrong. He had never believed in fate, but this time, he would see if she could make him believe once!

“Why?” Xia Xiuyan gazed at the woman before him, as if coaxing her to reveal her true thoughts, asking softly: “Because you feared I would resent His Majesty?”

Few people could resist this gentle manner of his. Qiu Xinran’s heart softened and she suddenly felt wronged.

Doing good deeds was too difficult—the little Qiu Xinran in her heart pouted. So the woman sitting at the table also pressed her lips together and looked up steadily. She opened her mouth but at first made no sound. After a moment she said softly: “Because the Marquis said he wanted to be a general who leads troops.”

That night at Azure Dragon Temple, the youth sitting behind the bushes had said to her in the moonlight: “I will become a general who leads troops.” Perhaps at that time, even he himself didn’t believe these words, but before then, the young girl sitting in the moonlight had already believed earlier than him that this person before her would one day command three armies on the battlefield.

She hoped that each of his arrows would be unhesitating, that each of his charges into battle would be without hesitation. If he resented His Majesty, perhaps he could no longer be a general with single-minded focus.

Xia Xiuyan’s eyelashes moved slightly, his gaze deep and dark. That instant suddenly reminded her of how he had looked at her that morning standing by the water pool. Thus her expression became dazed, and she instinctively retreated a step. This movement seemed to startle him. Xia Xiuyan abruptly stood up and turned his back to her, standing at the window.

“You must go with me to Qizhou.” After a moment, he spoke again, not knowing to whom he was speaking.

When he turned around again, his expression had returned to normal, though his tone remained indifferent: “His Majesty trusts you blindly, and you know many things about me. I cannot leave you here.”

Qiu Xinran sat up straight, thought for a moment, and pretended to find it difficult: “The Marquis is being somewhat unreasonable.”

Xia Xiuyan was straightforward: “Name a condition.”

Qiu Xinran was secretly delighted but showed nothing on her face: “Take my house in Chang’an—I spent a huge sum of silver to buy it back then. Going to Qizhou and settling down anew will take great effort. It’s truly a waste of people and money.”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her: “A three-courtyard compound in the city.”

“Cough,” Qiu Xinran lowered her head and pursed her lips, then raised her head with a solemn expression and sighed: “My divination stall finally gained some reputation in Chang’an. Going thousands of miles away, I’ll have to start from scratch again…”

“I’ll acquire another elegant room for you in a prosperous part of the city to use as your divination stall.”

“Also…”

“Daoist Qiu,” Xia Xiuyan narrowed his eyes in reminder, “Thinking it over, knocking you unconscious and throwing you in a carriage to take along isn’t any great difficulty.”

Qiu Xinran immediately quit while ahead: “There’s nothing else important. This is excellent.”

Marquis Dingbei sat at the small divination stall on the second floor of He’s Restaurant for a quarter-hour. When leaving, Qiu Xinran personally escorted him downstairs. After watching his carriage depart from Anren Ward and turning back, she immediately saw He Xiu’er rush up curiously asking: “Was that person truly Marquis Dingbei?”

Qiu Xinran played taichi with her: “Do you think he was?”

He Xiu’er recalled the scene, her face reddening. After a moment she said in a small voice: “I think he was too handsome.”

Qiu Xinran laughed. Just as she was about to return inside, she heard He Xiu’er pestering her: “Then… then what did he come find you for?”

The main hall on the first floor was not lacking in busybodies, each one perking up their ears to listen carefully. The woman in snow-blue robes said with feigned profundity: “Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed.”

Several days later, Qiu Xinran made another trip to the Bureau of Astronomy to bid farewell to Bai Jingming. In a few days she would leave the capital with Marquis Dingbei. After today’s parting, they didn’t know when in this life they might meet again.

Bai Jingming was over fifty years old and had long grown accustomed to partings. Though inevitably somewhat sad, he was relatively calm. Yuan Zhou was extremely reluctant. Previously when Qiu Xinran only returned to the mountain, the journey wasn’t far and he knew there would always be opportunities to meet again. Now she was going to the border region—the mountains were high and the road far. Meeting again would truly not be easy.

He escorted her out the entire way, his eyes still somewhat red, making Qiu Xinran unable to help feeling sad too: “When I first entered the palace, I very much envied Zhuo Yan and the others being able to go see the Northwest. Now I also have the opportunity—shouldn’t you congratulate me?”

Yuan Zhou also knew the vast world outside the palace suited her better, but somehow he couldn’t help recalling when she first came to the palace—a thirteen-year-old little girl, fair and clean, like a little immortal child descended from some sacred mountain. Despite her young age, she always put on elder airs with him, calling him “junior martial brother” and “Yuan Zhou” one after another. Now the little immortal child had grown into a graceful young Daoist. Despite experiencing many grievances in between, she still maintained a compassionate heart and never took matters to heart.

He sighed: “At least it’s good—you can finally be considered to have cleared the clouds to see the moon.”

Qiu Xinran didn’t understand: “What do you mean by clearing the clouds to see the moon?”

“You don’t know?” Yuan Zhou was somewhat surprised. “Didn’t Marquis Dingbei invite you to go to Qizhou this time?”

“So what?”

“Before, everyone said your divination seven years ago had ill intent and Marquis Dingbei harbored resentment toward you. But who knew that now Marquis Dingbei would personally invite you as an honored guest to accompany him back to Qizhou? Doesn’t this make those rumors collapse on their own?”

Because of Xia Xiuyan’s visit two days ago, business at He’s Restaurant had improved considerably these past two days. However, many came for her. These past two days Qiu Xinran had been busy packing her luggage and was too lazy to deal with those ill-intentioned inquiries, so she had He Xiu’er turn them all away on her behalf. Hearing him say this, she learned the situation was quite different from what she’d thought. She hurriedly asked: “How do people outside know Marquis Dingbei came to invite me?”

“The Marquis told His Majesty himself.” Yuan Zhou found her question strange. “He said that before you left that year, you gave him another divination, telling him that if he wanted to achieve great victory on this journey, life opportunity lay in the south. This made him think of a strategy to feint east and attack west, ultimately achieving victory with one strike through surprise. Therefore this time he also wants to invite you to return with him to Qizhou. Perhaps in future military campaigns, you could help with strategic planning.”

Qiu Xinran was startled: “What did His Majesty say?”

“His Majesty was also very surprised, but immediately agreed.” Yuan Zhou knew some of the truth from back then, so he leaned closer and said to her in a low voice: “Though you bore the blame for the Qizhou crisis, there were also many voices among the people criticizing His Majesty for blindly trusting spirits and deities. Now that Marquis Dingbei says this, doesn’t it prove His Majesty’s wisdom?”

One sentence makes black, one sentence makes white; one sentence makes loyal, one sentence makes traitorous. People believe rumors and don’t care about the truth behind them. Xia Xiuyan experienced this back then, and she had now experienced it once herself.

Qiu Xinran smiled self-deprecatingly, then heard Yuan Zhou say with dissatisfaction: “But since the Marquis never blamed you, why did he only speak now, letting you bear this infamy for seven years?”

Qiu Xinran was understanding about this: “Previously while Wu Guangda was still around, if the Marquis didn’t speak, Wu Guangda would think my divination was at His Majesty’s instruction and would be somewhat wary, not guarding much against me. Otherwise I couldn’t have had those peaceful days in Chang’an. Now the Marquis is going far to the border and won’t easily return to Chang’an. The matter is already seven years past. Since the Marquis can take the initiative to acknowledge this favor, it’s equivalent to building a dignified step down for both monarch and minister. His Majesty naturally doesn’t want to create more disturbances and will mostly just think I’m remarkably prescient, not investigating further into that year’s events.”

Yuan Zhou still felt it was unfair to her: “So the grievances you suffered don’t count?”

“Living a lifetime, who doesn’t suffer some grievances?” Qiu Xinran smiled freely. “I held true to my heart and did what I thought was right. What does it matter how the world sees me?”

Seeing Yuan Zhou still somewhat sullen, she couldn’t help but raise her hand and pat his shoulder, saying cheerfully: “Alright, now both you and I have good news—it’s truly worth celebrating.”

Hearing her say this, Yuan Zhou indeed put aside the previous matter and said strangely: “What good news do I have?”

Qiu Xinran smiled with narrowed eyes: “Since I’m leaving, I plan to leave that house at He’s Restaurant to you. Doesn’t that count as good news?”

For him, this deed from his martial sister could indeed be considered deep affection. Yuan Zhou laughed and reluctantly acknowledged this matter, then asked: “Then what’s your good news?”

“As for me,” Qiu Xinran said contentedly, “now that I have a good reputation, I plan to take advantage of the few remaining days to raise my divination fees quite a bit more.”