When Ning Yi went out to run before dawn, Xiao Chan had already returned to her room and was quietly packing things, with Juan’er and Xing’er already up to help.

These past few days, his exercise route always ended at Nie Yunzhu’s little building, keeping pace with the breathing rhythm and training method Lu Hongti had taught him, so he barely broke a sweat anymore. When he arrived, Nie Yunzhu was already waiting in front of the building, a faint yellow light spilling from the window behind her.

“…Xiao Chan’s father has passed away, so she’ll be accompanying her home for a few days. She can only come back after the seventh-day mourning rites and the burial, so I won’t be coming by for a while.”

“I — I wasn’t waiting here for you…” The words slipped out of Nie Yunzhu before she could stop them, and she felt a flush of embarrassment, lowering her head. “Er, well, I suppose I was also waiting to chat with you, Liheng. But sitting here drinking tea, waiting for dawn — it’s actually rather pleasant. I’ve grown used to it.” She smiled faintly, then paused. “But with the two of you leaving the city now, if more refugees come in the next few days and the gates get closed, what then?”

“It shouldn’t happen that fast. The flooding in the nearby prefectures isn’t too severe yet; even further out toward Jiangzhou, it would take some time for people to reach here. If the gates really were to close, it probably wouldn’t be for another half a month or until the end of the seventh month. As for Xiao Chan and me, counting today, we should be back within five days. Even in the worst case, the army would escort people out of the city daily at first to distribute food and porridge, and with the Su family’s connections, we could get back in without any trouble.”

“Mm.” Nie Yunzhu nodded. “Still, since it’s refugees coming through, there’s always a risk of trouble or robbery along the way. You should still be careful.”

Hearing this, Ning Yi laughed. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m quite the martial arts master these days — they call me the Butcher of the Bloody Hand in the martial world, you’ll see. Besides, I’ll have Guard Geng and his gold-ringed broadsword along too. Shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

He waved his bandaged left hand through the air with a rather dashing flourish, and a strip of the bandage came loose, flying up. Nie Yunzhu, sitting beside him, caught it reflexively, then blinked in surprise before silently pulling his left hand toward her and rewrapping the bandage properly before letting go. She then turned and sat a little apart. It had all come out naturally and smoothly, though in truth her face was burning and her heart was pounding — fortunately the light was too dim for Ning Yi to notice much. He only heard her murmur softly, “And you still talk big…” — still with a trace of complaint about his injured hand.

“Heh.” Ning Yi smiled, picked up his teacup, and drank. After a while, he finally asked, “Yunzhu… what was your family like, before?”

“Hm?” Nie Yunzhu’s eyes widened as she looked over at him.

“Ha, I know it’s a bit forward of me to ask, but… I’d like to understand.”

Nie Yunzhu’s face flushed again. Normally, she would never speak of these things in front of others, but now that Liheng said he wanted to understand, things felt more complicated. She thought it over for a moment.

“My family’s ancestral home was originally in Xuanzhou — an official family too. My father doted on me; when I was little he had tutors teach me poetry and song… I was even called something of a talented girl back then. But the year I turned ten, my father got into trouble… I was sent into the Bureau of Music, and then… what exactly did you want to know, Liheng?”

Though her feelings were complicated, she didn’t mind speaking plainly to Liheng about it — but when it came down to it, only a few simple sentences came out. She asked what specifically he wanted to know, and Ning Yi thought for a moment before saying gently, “Is there… any family left that you could still find?”

Nie Yunzhu shook her head. “There’s no one to find… I heard my father and mother both died on the road during their exile. I heard an aunt remarried — there might be other relatives, I suppose. I could have gone back to Xuanzhou to look, these past few years… but, well, my parents are dead anyway…”

Her voice dropped lower toward the end, close to tears. Ning Yi waited until she’d calmed a little before speaking again. “That old man who used to push his cart around, who still walks about now, setting up his chess stall — you must know him by now, Yunzhu. And there’s another, the imperial son-in-law, named Kang Xian — you’ve delivered preserved eggs to him, and he even helped play along as a shill during the Dragon Boat Festival.”

Nie Yunzhu sniffled, her nose a little red, then gave a soft laugh and nodded. “Mm, we greet each other whenever we meet now. Old Master Qin is very kind, and the imperial son-in-law has come by the shop a few times for porridge and snacks.”

“Old Master Qin comes from a family of scholars, a good man, well cultivated. I’ve been thinking lately — if he were willing to take you as his adopted daughter, Yunzhu, what would you think?”

“I… me?” Nie Yunzhu froze, eyes going wide. After a moment she grew flustered. “That’s… how could that possibly…”

“If I say it can be done, it can.”

“But… of course you’d say that, Liheng!” Nie Yunzhu grew a little anxious, frowning. “I— I used to work at the Golden Wind Pavilion after all… Saying this, aren’t you putting people in an awkward position…”

Ning Yi smiled. “The idea is theirs too, actually.”

“How… how could that be…”

“Ha, the other day we were all chatting together, and you happened to come up, Yunzhu. I told the two old gentlemen about you learning to slaughter chickens, learning to sell pancakes, and then… somehow the conversation turned to this. Imperial Son-in-law Kang even said he’d like to take you as his adopted daughter too, though honestly, getting you a princess title would be rather troublesome. Old Master Qin’s case is simpler — he’s good-natured, and he has two sons, one a scholar, one a soldier, both serving as officials elsewhere. With those two as your older brothers, no one would ever dare bully you again.”

Nie Yunzhu sat there looking at him, and once he’d finished, she lowered her head so he couldn’t see her expression. “Liheng… why would you go to such lengths…”

“Tch, they brought it up themselves while we were talking — what does it have to do with me?” Ning Yi spread his hands, then laughed. “Though honestly, they do genuinely like your character and integrity. My own motives are rather more self-interested. Old Master Qin used to be a high official, got dismissed over some incident, and now spends his days playing chess — but his connections are broad, and his influence, well, not many in Jiangning might know of it, but it’s certainly not weak. With two big brothers like that, no one would ever dare cause trouble for you doing business, selling preserved eggs and the like. We’re friends, after all — I get to benefit a little too. Honestly… I wouldn’t mind them adopting me as a son too. Nothing in this world beats having a powerful father, no matter how well you do on your own — but we’ve played chess together for so long now, that idea doesn’t seem too promising, missed my chance there…”

Nie Yunzhu burst out laughing at that, and once she started, she couldn’t seem to stop, tilting her head back and then lowering it again. Truthfully, she looked lovely when she laughed like that, unable to help herself — but as she lowered her head, resting her arms on her knees and her forehead against her arms, the laughter gradually turned strange. Ning Yi waited a moment, then realized she was sitting there with her head bowed, crying, the oil lamp behind her lighting up the side of her face where tears clung.

Ning Yi let out a breath, and after she’d cried for a while, finally spoke. “Hey now, that’s not a good reaction.”

“I… I… with my background… it would cause trouble for the old gentleman…”

“No trouble at all. For someone scheming their way up through official circles, maybe it would be trouble — but not for him, and not for you. If I say there’s no trouble, there’s no trouble!” Even if someone did gossip, Ning Yi could always spin a story, manufacture some publicity angle, and steer the reputation wherever it needed to go.

“I happen to be leaving the city these next few days — think it over. Don’t feel like you’d be reaching above your station. Once you accept him as your adoptive father, you become family — from then on he’ll treat you as a daughter, and you in turn must serve him as you would a father; when he’s old and ill, you’ll need to look after him too. Old Master Qin has a good character, he’s a good man — that’s exactly why you’d choose him as your adoptive father. If he weren’t, there’d be no point even considering it. It’s not about… proving something to other people by having a powerful adoptive father. It’s just… having a family, from now on.”

Nie Yunzhu sat there, sobbing quietly on her own. Ning Yi raised a hand, meaning to pat her back, then thought better of it and drew it back, sitting there waiting for her to finish letting it out. Before long, the first light of dawn began to show, and Nie Yunzhu finally wiped her tears and sat up, breaking into a smile. Her crying hadn’t come from sadness, so the smile that followed came naturally too — only her eyelids had reddened.

Shortly after, Ning Yi got ready to head home. After they said their goodbyes and he’d walked a few steps, Nie Yunzhu called out from behind him: “That… that… I just thought of something…”

“Hm?” Ning Yi turned back. The woman stood there, eyes still a little red, smiling somewhat bashfully.

“That… you and Old Master Qin and Imperial Son-in-law Kang are on equal terms as friends, aren’t you…”

“Mm, we just play chess and chat casually, no real distinction of generation or rank.”

“Then… if I really were to accept Old Master Qin as my adoptive father, wouldn’t I have to call you Uncle Liheng?” She tilted her head, thinking it over with a playful look. “If one day the three of you were sitting there chatting and I came over to pay my respects, would I have to say, ‘Greetings, Father, greetings, Uncle Kang, greetings, Uncle Liheng’ — and would you then have to answer, ‘Good girl, niece Yunzhu’? I’m older than you, you know…”

She was holding back laughter, looking thoroughly troubled. Ning Yi’s mouth opened slightly, and he stood there stunned for a good while, then his mouth twitched a few times before he pointed at her, somewhat helplessly. “You’re just making trouble.” He turned and walked off.

Behind him came the sound of her laughter bursting out, a bright, bell-like, happy sound in the morning light. Though he didn’t look back, he could almost “see” in his mind Nie Yunzhu covering her mouth with that playful, delighted expression. Ning Yi smiled and kept walking straight ahead.

“Be careful these next few days — don’t go getting yourself hurt again!”

The call carried after him. Ning Yi raised his right hand and waved it behind him without turning around. “Got it!”

…

For two families to become one family was no small matter. With things settled on Nie Yunzhu’s end, and a few days given for her to think it over, the next order of business was accompanying Xiao Chan out of the city for her father’s funeral.

Back at the Su estate, everything needed had already been prepared — a carriage loaded with plenty of supplies, accompanied by Guard Geng, a seasoned man of the martial world who carried a great broadsword, with the driving handled by a young man named Dongzhu, who had joined the household the previous year. Xiao Chan wore plain white mourning clothes with black ribbons prepared as well, looking every bit the pitiable maidservant — though she’d likely only cried the night before, and having clearly slept poorly, showed faint dark circles under her eyes. Ning Yi patted her head, and she sniffled and smiled back at him.

“I’m fine, young master.”

With all four of them assembled, they said their farewells to Su Tan’er, who gave a few instructions about what to do if the city gates closed and reminded Ning Yi to take good care of Xiao Chan. Then the carriage left the Su estate, left Jiangning, and set off toward Xiao Chan’s hometown — a small mountain village called Nanting…