Chu Linlang blinked twice, and refused to admit a thing — insisting stubbornly that she really had intended to end her life a moment ago.

Sniffling, she said: “Everyone has their moments of despair. How fortunate that I encountered you, my lord — you saved my life, so I must live well going forward!”

Situ Sheng knew this woman was capable of changing her expression faster than anyone he had ever met, and could shift between hard and soft depending on what an audience required. But the very last thing he had expected was that one day she would turn her scheming on him.

He must have taken leave of his senses! How had he ever managed to think this crafty, calculating woman bore any resemblance to his frail, gentle mother?

If his mother had possessed even half this woman’s sharp cunning and worldly sense, how could she have been manipulated to such a wretched, tragic end?

Looking at it this way, her claim that she had been reaching down to rescue a grasshopper didn’t sound quite as far-fetched and absurd as he’d first believed.

In the end, it was simply his own foolishness — he had stuck his nose into someone else’s business when he had no business doing so.

With that thought, he lifted his foot and prepared to leave.

In truth, Chu Linlang hadn’t actually held out much hope that this man would help her.

But Situ Sheng had fallen out with the Sixth Prince over the Xie family’s relative’s lawsuit, and his relationship with Zhou Sui’an was also poor. Even if he did nothing to help, he would most likely treat the Zhou household’s troubles as a piece of entertainment — he would hardly go and tip off the Zhou and Xie families.

Chu Linlang decided to try everything she had, treating the situation like a dead horse being given medicine as though it were still alive. Perhaps she could soften him with a show of tears and gain a small measure of support.

More importantly, what she had just done was less a plea for a favor than a demonstration of weakness.

She only had to think of the lengths he had gone to — not wanting anyone to know of his past in the river port, to the point of burning off his own birthmark — and a tremor went through her. It was genuinely frightening.

So she wanted to make her position clear to Situ Sheng: once she had divorced Zhou Sui’an, she would have no further connection to anyone in the capital’s official circles.

She would not even remain in the capital — Lord Situ could set his mind completely at ease. She would have absolutely no ability to affect his future.

Moreover, Situ Sheng appeared to have a soft spot for women in tears. After all, the several times she had fallen into his hands, he had always handled things with unexpected leniency, letting her off lightly each time.

And the fact that Lord Situ had mistaken her for drowning and jumped in to save her without a moment’s thought only further proved that the iron-handed Vice President’s heart could, on occasion, be moved.

True to her prediction, though Situ Sheng had made no promises, he still courteously and attentively escorted her back into the city.

Chu Linlang had no illusions that anyone would wade into the murky waters of the Zhou household on her behalf. She simply thanked Lord Situ once more for the “lifesaving” he had provided.

Situ Sheng was capable of polite formalities as well. At parting, he said to her: “I still have pressing official business today… your matter — allow me a day or two before we speak again…”

Chu Linlang smiled slightly, and did not take these pleasantly evasive words to heart.

By the time she returned to the Zhou household, it was already well into the evening.

Zhao Shi had just finished dinner and was quite displeased to see Chu Linlang coming in at such an hour. She sent a serving woman to call Chu Linlang over and demand an explanation.

But unexpectedly, Zhou Sui’an, who was nearby, impatiently stopped the serving woman short and then hurried off alone to Chu Linlang’s room.

Ever since receiving Xie Youran’s note delivered through a manservant that afternoon, Zhou Sui’an had barely touched his food at dinner. He was simmering now in a mixture of shame, indignation, and anger, wanting to confront Chu Linlang directly and ask whether it was really true that she intended to divorce him.

As for Xie Youran’s claim that Chu Linlang had come at her with scissors and fought like she was ready to kill — Zhou Sui’an was of two minds about that.

In his memory, Chu Linlang had never been that kind of vicious, malicious person. The idea of her threatening to cut open someone’s belly with a pair of scissors was impossible to imagine.

But what he hadn’t counted on was that Chu Linlang had apparently parted with the second Miss Xie early, only to come home this late.

When he returned to the room, Chu Linlang had already changed out of her outdoor clothes and was directing Xia He and the others in packing up several trunks of clothing.

Madam Chu was fond of beautiful things — she loved vivid reds and pinks that others might call garish. Her dresses were bright, but she didn’t own many — fewer than half the garments he had accumulated himself. She had packed them out the previous morning before leaving, so getting them together again was not difficult.

Zhou Sui’an dismissed the maids with a wave, and said, struggling to believe it: “Are you really… going to divorce me?”

Chu Linlang did not stop what she was doing. She said calmly: “The months don’t wait for anyone. Congratulations, Master Zhou — a double blessing, wife and concubine both with child at the same time, two sons in a single stroke. We were husband and wife for a time, so let us part on good terms. I am without talent and unworthy — I’d best step aside promptly, to spare you any further difficulty.”

Zhou Sui’an felt as though his head had been struck with a gong. He said urgently: “Was it Xie Youran who forced your hand? How could she do this — I already told her…”

Chu Linlang had no patience for excuses, and snapped her head up to cut him off: “Told her what? That she would be the wife and I the concubine? That in consideration of our years together, you would generously grant me a bowl of rice at the Zhou household? Zhou Sui’an — don’t push it too far!”

Zhou Sui’an flushed with a mix of shame and resentment and scrambled to justify himself: “Chu Linlang, you know full well you’ve never produced an heir — that’s the foremost grounds for repudiation. But knowing what your family is like, I’ve been aware that a formal dismissal would leave you with no good life to go back to. That’s why I’ve tolerated the situation until now. It was only a drunken mistake on my part. Why can’t you show some consideration for me and help me through this one crisis? Behind closed doors, who would actually dare treat you as a concubine and order you around? After so many years of marriage and all the affection between us — can you truly throw all of that away?”

Hearing him speak with such self-righteous conviction, Chu Linlang let out a cold laugh: “Is that also what you told Miss Xie? So she decided she had me in the palm of her hand, and could just offer me a concubine’s position as if it were something precious? The face you’ve both given me is truly priceless!”

What Zhou Sui’an had said to Xie Youran at the time had been nothing more than an offhand remark — he’d simply wanted her to feel some sympathy for Chu Linlang’s difficult background. He had never imagined Xie Youran would use Madam Chu’s origins as a weapon to threaten her.

In truth, his original entanglement with Xie Youran had been driven far more by wounded pride than genuine longing — she had looked down on his musical abilities, and it was that dismissal that had stirred his desire to conquer her. He couldn’t honestly claim he felt deep devotion to her.

He had simply not anticipated that things would spiral, step by step, into what they had become now. Nor had he imagined that he would end up so completely at that wretched girl Xie Youran’s mercy.

When Chu Linlang and the others had only just arrived in the capital, Xie Youran had wormed her way into extracting information from his mother Zhao Shi at the princess consort’s banquet. Upon hearing that he had spent a drunken night in Madam Chu’s room, she had flown into a towering rage at him, demanding he not sleep in the rooms of either his wife or concubine — threatening to report him to the Sixth Prince if he did.

Left with no choice, he had been keeping Linlang at a cold distance and sleeping in the study. But this constant management and restriction had left him deeply uncomfortable as well.

He had originally counted on Chu Linlang to once again work her clever, nimble ways and help him quietly bury the scandal without a trace. He had never in a million years expected Chu Linlang to add to his troubles by causing scenes herself.

After a labored explanation, he said helplessly: “After all these years of marriage, can’t you bring yourself to think of me and bear a little hardship for now?”

Chu Linlang smiled — but a few involuntary tears escaped from the corners of her eyes: “I haven’t thought of you? It’s precisely because I’ve put the Zhou household first every step of the way that I’ve ended up exactly here…”

She had originally believed that accepting him taking a concubine would be enough to stabilize the false peace between them.

But in the end, Zhou Sui’an had backed her into a corner with no way out, step after step — and yet had the nerve to say it was her fault?

Seeing Chu Linlang shed tears, Zhou Sui’an felt a pang of conscience and looked away. He continued stiffly: “And listen to what you’re saying — drawing up a compensation list for her? Going to the Xie family for money? What does that even look like? How is she supposed to produce all of that? How can you ask that of them?”

With Chu Linlang casting her net so wide and demanding shops at an outrageous price — how was that any different from extortion? It would only humiliate him in the Xie family’s eyes.

Besides, he had absolutely no intention of agreeing to divorce. If he divorced Madam Chu and then turned around and married Xie Youran, wouldn’t he become exactly like Chen Shimeai — the man who cast aside the wife who had helped him rise the moment he found success? What would remain of his reputation?

Chu Linlang hadn’t even considered trying to negotiate an outcome with Zhou Sui’an. She knew her husband too well — he valued appearances desperately, yet in all his life, large matters or small, he had never been capable of making a real decision.

So when it came to the divorce, she had simply gone around him entirely and negotiated directly with the Xie family.

That was how negotiations worked — give and take, exactly like doing business. You started high, so you had room to come down later.

As for the outrageous shop demands she had made of the Xie family — those were deliberately inflated as a feint. Zhou Sui’an wanted to save face with his future father-in-law; the Xie family would certainly be hoping to resolve the matter quietly and without incident. Whether they preferred to settle it the civil way or the forceful way was, of course, another question.

She had no backing. She needed to leave herself as much room to maneuver as possible, so the negotiations could continue.

In truth, Chu Linlang was not greedy. What she wanted when the divorce was finalized was simply to take back the two shops she had built up through her own labor in Zhou Sui’an’s hometown.

Those she had grown from almost nothing, starting with her meager dowry. Taking them back would be with a completely clear conscience.

But this meant cutting off the Zhou household’s source of income, and it meant she could not remain in the Zhou household any longer. If she stayed, once Zhao Shi found out, the woman would certainly make a scene, and there would be no smooth way to transfer shops registered in the Zhou household’s name over to her.

She had no interest in wasting more words on the Zhou family mother and son right now. In these past few days of wandering the capital, she had not only been scouting shops — she had also quietly rented a place to stay. She intended to pack her things now and move out for the time being, bringing only her two maids with her.

After his outburst, Zhou Sui’an looked over to find that Chu Linlang had already finished packing. Incensed, he grabbed the bundle from her hands: “I haven’t agreed to this divorce, so you’re still the Zhou family’s wife. Without your husband’s permission — do you dare walk out of this house!”

Chu Linlang rose slowly, fixed her eyes on Zhou Sui’an’s face, and stared him down with unblinking intensity, saying word by deliberate word: “Try to keep me here, and I’ll go knock drums and beat gongs at the Xie family’s gate and wail for the whole neighborhood to hear!”

Chu Linlang had always had a sharp, bold streak — but that side of herself she had only ever shown to the outside world, never in front of Zhou Sui’an. There had been no need to show it before.

But now she was done protecting him. There was no longer any reason to maintain the decorous image of an official’s virtuous wife.

Zhou Sui’an had his most sensitive point seized — he couldn’t help but shrink back. Chu Linlang called in the manservants and had her clothing trunks carried out.

The carriage she had arranged early that morning was already waiting at the Zhou family’s gate. Chu Linlang loaded her belongings into it, along with her two maids.

It was only when the commotion reached the front entrance that Zhao Shi realized Chu Linlang was leaving the household. She was helped to the doorway by a serving woman, and at the sight of her son standing there dumbstruck, she was both shocked and furious: “In the dead of night — what kind of spectacle is she making of herself!”

The younger sister-in-law Zhou Xiuling was also at the door, holding Yuan’er’s hand, standing there at a loss.

Her elder sister-in-law had always been sensible and reasonable — never once showing a flushed face even when their mother made things difficult. How had she suddenly, without a word of warning, simply packed up and walked out?

Yuan’er had come out late and saw Chu Linlang’s carriage pulling away. She immediately broke into a run after it, and a serving woman hurried to catch hold of the child.

But Yuan’er would not be stopped, and continued to call out after the carriage in a high voice: “Mother! Mother — where are you going? Take Yuan’er with you!”

Zhou Xiuling turned urgently to her brother: “Elder Brother, what did you do to make elder sister-in-law so upset? It’s so late — how could you let her go out alone like this?”

In a moment, the crying and shouting filled the quiet lane in an unbroken chorus. Zhao Shi found it mortifying and ordered the servants to pull Yuan’er back inside. She scolded the child, then quickly had everyone bring the house gate firmly shut — after which she pulled her son aside and demanded to know exactly what had happened.

Zhou Sui’an knew there was no concealing it now, and could only hang his head and recount in dejected tones the foolishness he had committed in the months he had spent alone in the capital.

Even Zhao Shi, hearing it, felt her ears buzzing. She fell back a step, then began striking Zhou Sui’an in fury: “You useless wretch — do you have any idea what you’ve been gambling with? Your own future!”

But after ranting for a while, her heart began to stir with something else — from what she had just heard, the second young lady of the Xie family had set her heart on her son and refused to marry anyone else.

If they could just weather this storm and bring things to a tidy resolution, it truly wasn’t a bad match at all!

After all, her son’s official career was on the rise, his future limitless. He had long outgrown the salt merchant woman Madam Chu — she was no longer fit to be his match. The only question was whether the Xie family, having found out, might come to cause trouble.

Her heart swung between elation and anxiety, and she paced the floor in circles before finally making up her mind: “If she wants a divorce, we’re not the ones dismissing her. Since that’s how things stand, better to go through with the divorce sooner rather than later — otherwise we’ll have nothing decent to say to the Xie family!”

Zhou Sui’an was worn out by all the circling and said with weary resignation, eyes shut, what Chu Linlang’s conditions for the divorce were.

At that, Zhao Shi stopped pacing, slammed her palm on the table, and said with wide eyes: “She’s dreaming! Never mind why the Xie family would compensate her with shops — the two shops back home have your name on the deeds. Those are the Zhou family business, not her dowry! What did the Chu family bring as a dowry to begin with? Hardly a respectable sum. How does she have the nerve to ask for two shops in return?”

Apart from Zhou Sui’an’s official salary — which barely covered his own expenses and social obligations, let alone the household — the family had always relied on those two shops back in the hometown for their daily livelihood.

Madam Chu had been jealous and possessive, which had prevented her son from siring an heir. She should consider herself lucky not to have been formally dismissed. Now she was the one crying for a divorce — she could leave, but taking the shops with her? Not even the heavens themselves could make that happen.

Zhou Sui’an, at this point, couldn’t bear to listen to his mother’s relentless chatter. His mind kept returning to the image of Linlang stepping into the carriage without so much as a backward glance. Had his wife truly gone so cold-hearted as to be done with him for good?

Never mind the chaos engulfing the Zhou household — Chu Linlang, sitting in the carriage at this moment, felt a hollow emptiness in her chest.

She had heard Yuan’er’s cries just now, clear as anything. She had pressed everything down and stopped herself from leaning out to look.

She knew that no matter how reluctant she was, she could not take Yuan’er with her. The child was not her own by blood, and the Zhou family would never allow her to be taken. To say nothing of the fact that her own future was still uncertain — how could she drag a child along to suffer beside her?

She looked around at the few small trunks inside the carriage. These were all that remained after eight years of marriage — nothing more than these, and a hollow, empty heart, and a quietly wordless sense of desolation.

But Chu Linlang had no wish to dwell on that sorrow any longer. When the carriage stopped, she stepped out and took in the place that would be her home for some time to come.

Between the two moves, the earlier losses at the restaurant, and the money she had lent her elder sister, she did not have much left to her name. And with rental prices in the capital so much steeper than elsewhere, this was the best foothold she could manage for now.

When Xia He entered the small courtyard and gave the creaking, groaning gate a push, then looked around at the windows with soot-darkened paper and the worn, aged furniture, she was struck speechless.

But Dongxue was quick and capable. She drew water from the well by the courtyard gate, gave the room a brief sweep, laid out the bedding they had brought, and said to Chu Linlang: “Young Mistress, please lie down and rest.”

The events of Chu Linlang’s plunge into the lake earlier that day were still fresh in Dongxue’s mind. She felt lingering unease and only wanted her Young Mistress to fall asleep quickly, so as to prevent any dark thoughts from setting in.

Though the wooden bed was a little hard and the quilts they had brought were not very thick — and the sound of the two maids next door feeding a fire with firewood was a constant presence — Chu Linlang fell asleep in the end.

It seemed to be the first night in quite a long while that she had slept so soundly.

But in the middle of the night, she was woken by shuffling footsteps and chaotic, clamoring sounds from outside the courtyard gate — and then came the sharp, thunderous pounding on the door.

With only three women in this small courtyard, the sound of that knocking in the dead of night was like hammering from the underworld itself. No one dared to answer, no matter what.

But whoever was outside refused to relent. The pounding had now given way to kicking — and a voice bellowed out: “The chimney of this residence is smoking but no one answers the door. There is certainly something suspicious here. Break this gate down!”

Then came a tremendous crash, and the none-too-sturdy gate was kicked flying open in a single blow — nearly knocking Xia He flat where she stood in the courtyard, startling a shriek out of her as she threw herself into Dongxue’s arms.

By now Chu Linlang had come out as well, hair loose, throwing a robe around her shoulders. Forcing herself to sound composed, she called out: “Who is there? How dare you force your way into a private residence!”

Looking at the newcomers, she could see they were all dressed in military uniforms — so they were presumably not criminals.

But the one who appeared to be in command spoke in a high-handed, overbearing manner: “We are under orders to apprehend a wanted fugitive. Someone is in this residence — why did you not answer the door? Who else is in the household? Everyone come out and give an account of yourselves!”

When the officer heard Chu Linlang say there were only three women, he looked genuinely puzzled: “Where is the household head? There is a male resident registered in the household records here!”

While Chu Linlang was struggling to explain that she was not the original tenant, only temporarily renting the rooms, a voice cut through: “You… what are you doing here?”

Chu Linlang looked up — and there was Situ Sheng, the very man she had just seen that very day, standing before her. He was dressed now in formal crimson official robes, his official cap in place, clearly on duty.

Situ Sheng had not expected to encounter Chu Linlang here, but once he heard she had rented the place, it all made sense.

She had said she was getting a divorce, and she had truly acted with swift, decisive efficiency — moved out of the Zhou household that very same night.

But being new to the capital, she probably had no idea that in the capital’s jurisdiction, a single woman without property deeds or household registration faced obstacles at every turn.

Thinking this, he waved the intrusive soldiers back, then said to Chu Linlang: “Those men were borrowed from a military garrison — their conduct is rough. Please forgive the disturbance, Madam Chu.”

Chu Linlang understood all too well that there was no reasoning with soldiers of that sort. But now the gate was broken, and in the middle of the night, where would she find a craftsman to fix it? Without a man around, even rough physical tasks like this were inconvenient.

She assumed Situ Sheng would exchange a few words with her and then be off, given his official duties.

But to her surprise, he surveyed the gate lying flat on the ground, then looked around the courtyard and eventually walked to a corner where tools and baskets were stored. He found a hammer and a few rusty nails, rolled up his sleeves to reveal long, firmly muscled forearms, and — to everyone’s astonishment — began to knock the broken door back together with steady, practiced taps.

In Chu Linlang’s estimation, though he had been rough and unrefined in his younger years, since growing to adulthood he had always projected an air of scholarly refinement and elegance. Those long hands of his, though large, seemed best suited for holding a brush.

And yet here he was — a Vice President of the Court of Judicial Review in full official robes, sleeves rolled up, crouched on the ground driving nails with a hammer with practiced ease. Somehow, bizarrely, it did not look out of place at all.

Chu Linlang quickly had Xia He bring a low stool for Lord Situ, while she herself went back inside, lit a candle, and returned to the courtyard where she crouched beside him, personally holding the light for Situ Sheng to work by.

Watching his technique prove quite skilled, Chu Linlang couldn’t help but say: “I never would have guessed you knew carpentry!”

Situ Sheng glanced over at Chu Linlang crouching across from him.

In the candlelight, her hair was loosely pinned and somewhat disheveled, making her look considerably younger — without the look of a married woman about her at all. Her face, in that soft glow, was like the bright moon at the edge of the sky.

He lowered his gaze and said quietly: “When I was young and poor, everything had to be patched and mended with one’s own hands…”

Chu Linlang pressed her lips together. That made her think — he really had been quite capable as a boy. Later, after the woman who had helped him and his mother could no longer continue, all the household tasks had fallen to him.

Once, looking over a courtyard wall, she had even seen the troublesome boy quite earnestly mending his mother’s clothes.

But they both held an unspoken understanding — that neither would dredge up the past. So for the time that followed, the only sound was the steady rhythm of the hammer.

Situ Sheng worked as swiftly and efficiently as he conducted his cases. In a short while, the gate was hung back in place.

Chu Linlang thanked Lord Situ, and then, out of habit, added the polite formula: “You’ve been busy for so long — would you like to have a cup of tea before leaving?”

The offer was entirely without sincerity. Situ Sheng had urgent official business to attend to, and had just spent the better part of the night fixing a gate. By any reasonable expectation, he would never linger here any longer.

Unfortunately, she had forgotten Situ Sheng’s fatal flaw: when there was tea to be had at someone else’s expense, he never passed up the opportunity.

And so, just as he had turned toward the door to leave, he turned back around, said a composed “I am imposing,” washed his hands, and settled himself in the small front room to wait for his tea.

Not just Chu Linlang — even Xia He and Dongxue were left gaping.

Three women squeezed into the cramped little kitchen, heating water and whispering among themselves: “Lord Situ seems like a man of discernment — how can he be this utterly lacking in propriety? In the dead of night, drinking tea at a woman’s home — what does that look like?”

Chu Linlang had only just moved out of the Zhou household. Apart from a small bag of rice for cooking porridge, she had no tea leaves whatsoever.

But having already extended the invitation, she had to produce something drinkable. The only solution was to grab a handful of rice, toast it in a pan, and pour boiling water over the charred grains to make a rice tea.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t made this in years. The rice ended up badly scorched — and when she added the hot water, the liquid was a murky black, the smell deeply uninviting.

Even so, Situ Sheng showed not the slightest objection. He held the tea bowl with unhurried elegance and appeared to sip and savor it with genuine appreciation.

The room Chu Linlang was renting was far too sparse — there wasn’t even a proper table yet, so once the tea was finished, the cups had to be set on a low stool.

The tall, long-limbed Vice President sat with his long legs bent double on a short stool that barely suited his stature. There were not enough seats, so Chu Linlang stood and kept him company awkwardly.

Several times she tried to open her mouth to usher him out, but each time she started to speak, he would lift his cup and sip away at great length — as though he were savoring some finest vintage from a famous spring.

Not wanting to kill the mood, Chu Linlang could only wait patiently for him to finish the cup of charred, smoky rice tea.

At this moment, the soldiers searching the area in the distance apparently made some new discovery, and voices rang out again.

Under ordinary circumstances, Situ Sheng should have gone to investigate. But he remained completely still, his gaze calm and unhurried as it drifted leisurely over the cobwebs hanging from the room’s ceiling beams…

Chu Linlang knew beyond any doubt that this man was not the sort to be this carelessly idle.

A thought began to form. She turned it over slowly, trying to piece together his intentions.

She had already noticed earlier: the Court of Judicial Review men he had brought were still waiting outside the gate and had not left.

But those soldiers in military uniform were clearly not men of the Court of Judicial Review. And right now, those soldiers were banging on doors and shouting everywhere, searching far more vigorously than the Court of Judicial Review’s own constables.

Perhaps the carpentry and the tea were both pretexts. Whoever was being hunted tonight was a source of trouble too murky to touch. Situ Sheng was taking cover in her quarters to keep himself clear of the whole business.

Once she understood this, Chu Linlang no longer felt any urgency to send him away. Without a word, she filled his cup again to the brim with the smoky, charred rice tea.

This time, Situ Sheng actually raised an eyebrow and looked at Chu Linlang for a moment, then said: “This tea… is not bad at all. Why is Madam not drinking any?”