Rain fell beneath the eaves, dim light seeping in through the window. Ning Yi sat there for a good long while before finally letting out a sigh and rising to his feet.
He hadn’t been able to make out the words, but by now he could see the situation clearly enough regardless. Right or wrong, in the end it probably all came down to honesty, because at this point, there was nothing left to do but admit that this was a matter beyond his control. And since that was the case, he might as well concede the game outright — if nothing else, to spare the two of them from being put through such a farce on his account any longer.
He pushed open the door; outside, the rain had suddenly grown much heavier, Jiangning’s sky steeped in a murky darkness. Coming down the stairs, Xing’er and Juan’er, seeing him descend from above, both looked utterly startled. He gave a small wave of his hand and walked straight through the door. With no lamps lit in this weather, the sitting room was dim as well. He walked over and knocked on the bedroom door; the faint sounds that had been coming from inside fell silent all at once.
Ning Yi knocked again.
“I’m coming in.”
With those words, he set his hand on the door handle and pushed with one hand — there came a sharp crack, the latch snapping, and the door slowly swung open. He stood there for a few seconds before stepping inside, his eyes sweeping across the room. In the dim light, Yun Zhu stood by the bed, arms crossed over her chest with a hint of embarrassment, her outer robe drawn closed but the sash still untied — the whole scene carried a certain provocative air, as though she’d only just begun redressing after having been fully undressed. Su Tan’er stood not far in front of her, looking his way, and said, “Husband.” Her tone carried something like a soft, quiet amusement.
Ning Yi glanced at them for a moment, then finally turned his head away and slowly retreated from the room, pulling the door shut behind him. He hadn’t actually intended to go in and speak with either of them directly — the words he’d overheard earlier had been too unclear to be certain of, but now, at last, he could confirm it. In certain respects, Tan’er’s way of thinking was stranger than most women’s, and at the same time far more direct — one could tell as much from the time she’d torched the tower with a torch in hand.
She had invited Yun Zhu over without so much as mentioning herself, the baby, or their private affair — which certainly reflected her innately kind nature, her reluctance to hurt anyone. But at this particular moment, extending an invitation like this ultimately served the same purpose any ordinary woman’s would: she simply wanted to know the thing that mattered to her most. If Ning Yi had felt puzzled by Tan’er’s actions before, it was only because concern for her had clouded his judgment — there had really been nothing to be puzzled about at all.
He’d hesitated upstairs for quite a while, and in the room below, plenty of time had passed for a great deal to happen. He had no idea whether Yun Zhu had actually taken off her clothes in that bedroom, or whether something even stranger and more chaotic had occurred. But in truth, the moment Yun Zhu had loosened her sash, Tan’er had already obtained every piece of information she’d wanted.
He sat in the sitting room for a while, had Xing’er light the lamps, and after some time, Yun Zhu came out of the room, gently supporting Tan’er. Yun Zhu’s expression was complicated; she stole a glance at Ning Yi. Tan’er’s own expression betrayed little sign of anything unusual — only, as Yun Zhu helped her sit down, she said a soft “thank you.”
“Husband’s back so early…”
Tan’er said this quietly, and what followed was an entirely ordinary conversation. She mentioned inviting Yun Zhu over to apologize on the family’s behalf, spoke a few words about Yun Zhu’s past experiences, admirable in their own way — all things Ning Yi already knew. Yun Zhu, evidently preoccupied with something, seemed on the verge of speaking several times but held back. When Tan’er invited her to stay for dinner before leaving, and asked if she’d like to see the baby, Yun Zhu declined, somewhat haltingly: “There’s… there are still some important matters to attend to at home, and my little sister’s waiting for me. And with the rain coming down so hard now, I think… perhaps another day…”
Looking at her expression, it was clear something genuinely weighed on her mind. Ning Yi had grown used to all manner of scheming and calculation in his time, but he found he had no wish to see those close to him caught up in that kind of atmosphere. After a few more words, he had Xing’er fetch an umbrella, and walked Yun Zhu out. Beneath the eaves, he said quietly, “Don’t overthink it. I’ll come see you tomorrow, even if… even if…” He never quite managed to finish putting his feelings into words. Yun Zhu seemed about to say something too, but seeing him falter like that, she said, “Actually…” — and then didn’t finish either. Just then, Xing’er arrived with two umbrellas.
Xing’er saw Yun Zhu the rest of the way out, as expected. When Ning Yi returned to the sitting room, the lamp flame flickering, Tan’er sat there cradling her teacup in both hands, lost in thought. He considered for a moment, then went over and helped her back to their bedroom. Tan’er rested her head against his arm and murmured softly, “Husband, Miss Nie used to be a young lady from an official’s household, you know.”
Ning Yi made a small sound of acknowledgment.
“No wonder I thought her bearing was so refined. To go through everything she has and still come out untouched by it all — a woman like that is bound to be liked by everyone, don’t you think.”
Noncommittal, Ning Yi made another small sound. He reached the bed and laid her down; as her face left his arm, Su Tan’er looked up at him, her eyes bright and glistening, and said softly, “Miss Nie really does love you…”
Ning Yi looked at her. Su Tan’er’s face carried a complicated yet clear smile; she bit her lower lip, doing her best to keep smiling and hold back her tears. Once Ning Yi sat down on the edge of the bed, she struggled to sit up as well, wrapping her arms tightly around him from behind, sniffling.
“Normally, after something like this happens, if a woman is still willing to come pay a visit alone at a time like this, it’s either because she’s the fiery type wanting to give someone a piece of her mind to their face, or because she’s the proud, upright type who can’t stand being wronged either. But the moment Miss Nie walked in, the very first time I laid eyes on her, I could tell she wasn’t either of those kinds of women. She came because she loves you, husband.”
Ning Yi said nothing. When it came to reading people and human nature, Su Tan’er might not be quite as seasoned as Ning Yi himself, but she was still remarkably sharp. Yun Zhu’s behavior held no secrets from her at all, and Ning Yi had no way to refute it. Tan’er held him tightly, gave a small smile, then sniffled again.
“Miss Nie is such a considerate person, too. Maybe she was worried about putting you in a difficult position, causing you too much trouble, which is why she came today. She probably thought, if she just handled herself properly, no one would go on making wild assumptions about you. But what she never expected was that I’m far more wicked than she is. I told her — you’d told others she was still a maiden, and I didn’t know how to explain that to people, so I wanted to see for myself…”
Her voice trembled slightly, and she paused. “Such an outrageous request — it must have thrown her into complete turmoil, husband, do you understand? A request like that, which no ordinary woman in her position would ever agree to — and yet, after thinking it over, she actually agreed… I understood everything in that moment, husband. Miss Nie really, truly loves you… A woman with that kind of strength of character, who values her own dignity and self-respect above everything else — and yet she loves you so much she was willing to set aside even that… She kept herself pure through all those years in the brothel, would rather have starved than bow her head, and yet she loves you so much that her pride simply didn’t matter anymore…”
Tan’er murmured this softly, repeating the words over and over, while Ning Yi listened quietly. After a moment, he finally asked, “You… did you actually look?”
“Go ask Miss Nie yourself, husband.” Su Tan’er answered, her voice cracking slightly from what was clearly a bittersweet ache in her chest. She pushed Ning Yi away with gritted teeth and lay back down on the bed, staring up at the canopy of the mosquito netting, choking back tears. After a moment, Ning Yi lay down beside her as well.
“I’ve known Miss Nie for a very long time now…”
“I still care, deep down.” Su Tan’er’s voice broke as she spoke, cutting Ning Yi off. “I used to think that, whether or not a man had literary talent or ability, if he was a scholar attending those literary gatherings and banquets, catching the eye of young women was simply a natural thing. A man like you, husband, with both talent and ability — of course women would fall for you, and even if something improper happened, it would only be to be expected. In the past, when you always stayed away from all that, I used to find it strange in my heart, thought you kept too much distance from those people. But later I realized — deep down, I actually liked that about you more than I could say…”
The more she spoke, the more her voice broke with emotion, her hand wiping away tears again and again. “It was during those days when you and I talked together on the terrace every day that I gradually came to know you, husband. Then came the whole affair with the imperial merchants, and later the trip to Hangzhou, and I — these past two days I’ve been wondering, is this some kind of punishment, for not having been honest with you from the start…”
“Sometimes I think to myself, I would never try to stand in your way about these things — Xiao Chan, that Manor Lord Liu in Hangzhou. You’re a capable man, husband, and if some women fall for you, there’s no stopping that, and besides, what’s wrong with a real man having three wives and four concubines? Everyone in this household always assumed you, as a kept son-in-law, would be this way or that — but after everything that happened in Hangzhou, even before that, I already knew that if you truly wanted something, the title of matrilocal son-in-law could never hold you back. But… even knowing all that in my head, I still can’t help feeling so hurt, so uneasy — I still care, deep down, so much.”
She began sobbing loudly. “You’re my husband, you’re my husband… but you’re a matrilocal son-in-law after all, you really are… why did you have to marry in as one… you could have just married me normally… why did you have to become a matrilocal son-in-law…”
Ning Yi had no idea how to respond. To him, the whole affair reflected nothing but his own sense of guilt — from where he stood, whatever had happened, however far it had gone, neither Su Tan’er nor Nie Yunzhu had done anything wrong. How could either of them possibly be at fault? After crying and venting like this for a while, his wife gradually regained some measure of composure in his arms, and finally said, choking back tears, “Husband, I know you love her. So… find a time to marry her properly into the household… if it’s someone like Miss Nie, then she’s… she’s truly worthy of you…”
“I never thought about bringing her into the household…”
“…Huh?”
Ning Yi’s words left Tan’er momentarily stunned, and she was just about to speak when a shrill scream tore through the wind and rain outside, echoing from somewhere far away. That scream was heart-wrenching, agonized — and unmistakably from someone within the Su household. An ordinary person might have assumed it was simply some accident, someone injured somewhere. But Ning Yi and Su Tan’er, having only recently returned from Hangzhou, were particularly sensitive to a sound like that, and both of them froze for a moment. Ning Yi raised his head, his gaze turning toward the window; Tan’er, tears still unwiped, wanted to ask, “Why—” but in that same instant, she too fell silent, listening along with Ning Yi to the commotion within the rain.
After that single scream, the sounds within the downpour fell quiet once more, with no immediate follow-up near or far. But surely many within the Su household had been startled awake by it — and before long, the shouts of servants raising the alarm, along with the sudden clanging of gongs, erupted abruptly through the rain…