Hearing Chu Linlang’s question, Situ Sheng slowly came back to himself, and reached out to point gently at her hair. “Your side hair is a little messy…”

Chu Linlang believed him and quickly fixed her hair bun.

After that, she let the Zhou family matter drop entirely, and took advantage of accompanying the Deputy Minister on his errands to pick up a few more things needed for the household.

The furnishings of the residence were sparse and shabby — not at all fitting for the home of a fifth-rank official.

Though Chu Linlang could not write or paint, she had a talent for creating an impressive appearance. With just the right touches, a home could be made to look neat and elegant.

Afterward she could have the Deputy Minister dash off a few calligraphy scrolls — the sort of sentiments like “A man of ambition encompasses the four seas” or “From the summit one gazes down upon the small mountains” — have them mounted and hung in the main hall, and the place would no longer look so cold and bare.

Situ Sheng, perhaps simply at leisure today, nodded his head approvingly at each of Chu Linlang’s enthusiastically offered suggestions, and told his household steward to spend freely.

But by the end, Guanqi and Dongxue’s arms were nearly buckling under the load. Guanqi couldn’t hold back anymore and cried, “Respected lady — just how much longer do you plan to keep shopping? Will the lord’s salary even cover all this?”

Chu Linlang turned and looked at the two of them, and was herself given a fright — for it wasn’t just Guanqi and Dongxue weighed down with things; Situ Sheng himself was carrying several boxes.

That old habit of hers — spending money on things whenever she was in a troubled state of mind — had acted up again without her noticing.

She laughed awkwardly and offered to help her employer carry some things — but Situ Sheng said her arms were too thin and she couldn’t manage much. These weren’t heavy — he was fine carrying them.

Moreover, Situ Sheng — who had always lived simply — seemed to have had his interest in spending money sparked by her, and he pointed to two vases on a stall and asked her which was better.

Chu Linlang said neither was particularly good, and quickly suggested they head back.

Deputy Minister Situ had been pestered by the Zhou family’s drunk at the banquet and probably hadn’t eaten properly — she had just bought a good piece of pork, and could go back and make her signature crispy-meat soup noodles for the Deputy Minister to fill his stomach.

The moment she said that, even Guanqi — who was loaded down with things — stopped complaining, and was eager to get back for Chu Linlang’s noodles.

Today was market day, and the street was rather crowded. Situ Sheng, tall and broad-shouldered, steadily shielded the petite Chu Linlang so that the crowd couldn’t jostle her.

In this way, with no choice but to abandon all pretense of maintaining proper distance between men and women, the two walked quite close together.

This scene of two people walking side by side, talking as they went, unfortunately fell under other eyes.

It happened that Xie Youran was out with her mother today, riding in a carriage to shop for trousseau items. And with them, like a piece of sticky plaster that couldn’t be shaken off, was Aunt An.

This Aunt An had been roundly scolded by her brother-in-law that day, and her own husband — trying to save face before his in-law — had actually slapped her several times right then and there.

After she went home that day, within a few days An Shi came to her elder sister’s house to cry and complain of her grievances.

She spoke of how the Su family had once been of the stock of a duke. But by the time of their father’s generation, the family fortunes had declined, leaving only an empty title as Duke Ding’guo.

And when she married into the An family, it was entirely because the An family was prosperous and willing to lend them a helping hand.

Who could have foreseen that her husband would make no effort to better himself, only guard the family legacy while frittering it away, and spend his days loitering among his concubines, becoming less and less respectful of her, the rightful wife?

Aunt An had always been practiced at crying out her grievances to her elder sister. She now insisted that she had acted purely out of love for Youran and a desire to preserve the family’s assets — that was why she had ended up getting caught in the middle. That day she had not forced the Zhou family to issue a divorce proclamation at all. It was that shortsighted Zhao Shi who had used her as a pretense, and caused her to be scolded by her brother-in-law and husband alike at her age. If her elder sister refused to speak to her now, she simply had no desire to go on living. When that time came, she would just make room for her husband’s concubines.

Su Shi understood that her younger sister’s marriage was an unhappy one. Her husband was no good as an official, and only brought women into the household. If not for such enormous expenses, how would her sister — raised in silk and fine food — have been reduced to chasing after every coin?

So this round of weeping finally softened Su Shi’s heart, and she secretly reconciled with her sister behind her husband’s back.

And so Aunt An came along again to accompany Su Shi and Xie Youran on their outing to shop and take tea.

Xie Youran had no patience for Aunt An’s tales of concubines fighting for favor, and impatiently lifted the carriage curtain to look outside.

She happened to catch sight of Situ Sheng, arms full of large and small parcels, bent toward Chu Linlang in conversation…

Xie Youran thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, and yanked the curtain wide open, leaning out to look. Only after confirming what she saw did she mutter with startled suspicion, “How has Situ Sheng gotten tangled up with that Chu woman?”

Aunt An craned her neck to look as well, and when the carriage turned and the pair was no longer in view, she pulled her neck back in and said with a cold laugh, “Just as I said — she’s no simple creature. No wonder she agreed to the separation so readily. Turns out she’d already found the next one, and hooked herself another wild man!”

Hearing this, even Xie Youran found it unbelievable, and glared at her aunt. “Will you please stop that nonsense! Does Aunt even know who that man is? Do you think he would take a fancy to a faded, divorced woman?”

Su Shi, hearing the two of them, realized what they had just seen, and explained, “Your father said Chu Linlang had nowhere to turn, and went to ask Deputy Minister Situ for help. The Deputy Minister took pity on her and gave her a position as a household steward.”

Hearing this, Xie Youran finally understood.

She had thought as much. How could a man as proud as Situ Sheng get mixed up with a woman who had already been married? As it turned out, it was Chu Linlang who had shamelessly shown up at the Deputy Minister’s door to beg for a position!

Thinking about it — Chu Linlang had her own shops and wasn’t short of money. She was a woman who had served as an official’s wife, and while her youth was still with her, she could have found a widower, or some impoverished scholar, and patched together another marriage. Why would she go out of her way to serve as a servant for an unmarried man?

This was clearly the drunk’s intent being something other than the wine.

Chu Linlang was banking on her looks, trying to use her position close at hand to her advantage, to climb up onto the branch that was Situ Sheng!

Thinking this, Xie Youran couldn’t help but give a cold laugh. Other men might be beguiled by Chu Linlang’s beauty, but Situ Sheng was a rigid, pedantic man — how could he possibly fall for her fox-like wiles?

Even if Chu Linlang were skillful enough that one day she actually climbed into the Deputy Minister’s bed, she still had to consider — with her background, would Situ Sheng ever take her as a proper wife?

Truly laughable. Chu Linlang claimed time and again that she would never be a concubine — she had left Zhou Sui’an — only to turn around and willingly crawl into the Situ household waiting to be a concubine?

Never mind looking at her own worth — it seemed she wasn’t even fit to be a bed-warmer maid!

Even though thinking this way felt considerably better, the sight of Situ Sheng carrying parcels and talking with Chu Linlang still stung her eyes. She suddenly recalled that back in Jizhou, Zhou Sui’an had also followed Chu Linlang around in just this way when they went out.

This Chu Linlang really knew how to make men run errands for her. Shopping, and she still dared to make her own employer carry all those large and small packages for her!

Then thinking back to the sight of Zhou Sui’an when she had secretly met with him the other day — Zhou Sui’an rambling on and on in complaint — Xie Youran felt a growing tightness in her chest.

Back in the day, watching Zhou Sui’an with Chu Linlang, he was always gentle and tender, knowing how to care for a person. And when he kept secret trysts with her, he still carried a scholar’s proud and graceful bearing.

She had never imagined that a single scolding from her father would send him running to take out his temper on her!

It wasn’t even her fault — it was that foolish Zhao Shi who had botched the separation, stirring up Chu Linlang’s complaint to the authorities! What did that have to do with her?

When Zhou Sui’an’s ranting had made her face flush with irritation, Xie Youran had also flared up a bit. If it weren’t for the child in her belly being his, she would truly have liked to make a clean break with him, and show him just what kind of temper she had.

But their days together were long. Once she entered the household and the door was closed, she could establish her own rules with Zhou Sui’an then!

With that thought, she noticed Aunt An was still chattering in her mother’s ear, stirring up gossip. Unable to suppress her irritation, she said with a cold smile, “What is Aunt so upset about? If you hadn’t been so greedy for our family’s silver in the first place, how would Chu Linlang have thought to go to the authorities? And my father ended up having to pay out double the original amount.”

It was precisely because of Aunt An’s meddling that the silver the Xie family paid out was double what had been originally intended.

Xie Sheng was furious over this, and besides summoning his brother-in-law to discipline his troublesome wife, he also docked Xie Youran’s original trousseau — telling her to take two empty boxes and haul them into the Zhou household herself.

In Xie Sheng’s own words: things had come to this, they could only grit their teeth and send the girl off — but let it all be simple and quiet, a discreet marriage without fanfare.

The capital’s great households were full of scandals. As long as they kept a low profile, within a few years it would all be forgotten.

But Xie Youran absolutely refused to accept this, and ran to her mother to demand to know whether she was even their biological daughter. In the end, Su Shi had no choice but to dip into her own dowry savings to supplement her second daughter’s trousseau.

But Xie Youran was still unsatisfied, feeling that compared to the grand ceremony when her elder sister had married a prince, she was being slighted beyond measure. Now seeing Aunt An again stirring up trouble, she couldn’t hold back a cutting remark, also to chase off any thoughts Aunt An might have of picking at her trousseau.

Aunt An found herself backed into an awkward corner, and could only insist in her own defense that every bit of that silver had been returned to her brother-in-law Xie Sheng. It was her brother-in-law who refused to spend it on the second daughter — how could they say she had pocketed any silver?

As she spoke, Aunt An actually worked herself into aggrieved, heaving sobs, telling her elder sister that being talked down to like this by a younger generation was more than she could bear. She had nothing left to live for, and might as well go home and throw herself in a well to make amends.

Seeing her younger sister lose face, Su Shi had no choice but to reproach her second daughter for being inconsiderate, and told her to quickly offer her aunt an apology.

But when stubbornness seized Xie Youran, even the Queen Mother of Heaven would be berated without mercy! The Xie family carriage was filled with the sounds of aggrieved wailing.

In the end, Aunt An finally found a way to step down with her brother-in-law’s help, and her sobbing gradually subsided.

But this had truly enraged Xie Youran. The old and young in this Xie family had each and every one of them treated her as if she were easy to push around!

And that Chu Linlang — a small-town divorced woman from the countryside, yet she had practically ascended to the heavens in everyone’s estimation! Just wait — when the opportunity came, she would show that woman just how thoroughly she could be made to suffer!

Now, as for the household steward who had “practically ascended to the heavens,” Chu Linlang — after purchasing all that fabric that day, she had brought the Deputy Minister home and made the soup noodles.

She was skilled at making crispy-meat noodles. Back in Jizhou she had sent a few servings to Zhou Sui’an, who was working at the river post, on several occasions.

Situ Sheng had likely eaten a few bowls back then too — which was why yesterday he had asked Chu Linlang if she could make some for him.

Since her employer had asked, she made the crispy meat pieces even larger, so the Deputy Minister could eat his fill.

After the meal, Guanqi and Dongxue together cleared the table and washed the bowls. Chu Linlang went back to her room to look at the newly purchased fabric, then took up her measuring tape and prepared to go to the study to take the employer’s measurements.

She had been in low spirits that day because of the matter with Yuan’er, and without thinking, had spent a considerable amount of Situ Sheng’s silver. That was truly at odds with the Situ household’s way of frugal living.

So the matter of cutting and sewing the clothes — there was no need to hire a tailor. She was skilled in needlework and had experience cutting men’s clothing as well.

If her years in the Zhou household had given her any achievement, it was a masterful pair of scissors.

Every time a fashionable men’s robe came into circulation from the capital, she needed only to look at it, and when she returned home she could cut out a rough approximation of the pattern, dressing her husband in elegant and stylish splendor.

How could she have imagined that now, having left the Zhou household, this skill would not go to waste — she could continue to cut and sew clothing for her employer.

Only that Situ Sheng’s build was considerably taller and broader than most men — fortunately she had bought a little extra fabric.

Situ Sheng removed his thicker outer robe and stood in his inner garment with arms extended, patiently allowing Chu Linlang to measure him with the tape.

But for certain places — the elbows, the underarms — Chu Linlang found the soft tape awkward to use. And out of long-ingrained habit, she simply extended her palm and moved it across his arms and chest to gauge the dimensions.

Situ Sheng tilted his head slightly, and could see a pair of luminously fair hands — like clever, nimble white doves — lightly touching and moving across his body, measuring inch by inch…

She was leaning very close. He could even see her fine, slender brows one by one, and the fragrant breath exhaled from her cherry lips passed through the thin fabric of his single inner garment, and pressed against his chest…

At first, out of habit, Chu Linlang had not noticed anything amiss, and only concentrated on taking the measurements and recording the numbers.

Until she measured up to the man’s neck, and suddenly raised her head — she caught sight of his bobbing throat, and then his gaze, head slightly bowed, looking quietly down at her. Only then did she startle and realize this man was not her husband.

She had been so close to him, measuring him with her hands… it had been far too forward!

Thinking this, she quickly withdrew her hands, cleared her throat, stepped back, and resumed using the soft tape for measurement.

To ease the sudden awkwardness, she began chatting about something else to lighten the atmosphere. “I didn’t understand before, and thought the Deputy Minister wasn’t good at managing a household — no gatekeeper, no one at the door. But now that I’m working here, I’ve come to understand how wise you are.”

Situ Sheng looked idly at the small stray hairs on top of Chu Linlang’s head — hair that had no oil combed through — and replied mildly, “How so?”

Chu Linlang continued recording her measurements as she spoke. “You hold a critical position and handle major cases, and every case you touch sets off a chain of consequences. So the number of people coming to seek your help has grown enormously. Since you keep no gatekeeper and don’t come home, those seeking your help can’t even get the door open. Even if they want to give gifts, they can’t find anyone to receive them.”

Situ Sheng had known Chu Linlang was clever, but had not expected her to see even through this calculation of his. He couldn’t help but give a brief laugh.

“Oh — so these past few days, people have been coming to knock on the door with gifts?”

Chu Linlang nodded. Zhou Sui’an had only handled positions with no real lucrative influence, so she, as a former official’s wife, had never witnessed such grand gift-giving operations.

The first time someone knocked, Xia He, seeing it was daytime and her guard was down, had opened the door. The people outside seemed to take this as a gate being flung open, and began bringing people and boxes and chests surging inside.

It was Chu Linlang who moved fast, grabbed a carrying pole from nearby and blocked them, demanding to know what they were doing there.

After hearing their explanation — and that they had been lingering in front of the entrance for several days without spotting anyone — she understood in an instant why Situ Sheng always returned deep in the night, leaving the residence seemingly deserted.

She had heard from Guanqi that the ministry office was not busy every single day. But the Deputy Minister had made a habit of eating dinner at the office, and sometimes even read there until deep into the night before returning home to sleep.

This was obviously deliberate avoidance!

Situ Sheng had just finished bringing down a major corruption case in the imperial court, and had made countless enemies. The Prince Tai faction was waiting for a handle to use against him.

Chu Linlang felt that at this critical juncture, not a single stitch of thread could be accepted from anyone.

So she simply didn’t let the visitors in. She told them she had just started in her position and didn’t know the situation — without the Deputy Minister’s instructions, she couldn’t accept anything. She used the carrying pole to drive the visitors out and bolted the door behind them.

Since Situ Sheng returned so late these days, there was no one to consult, and she made the decision on her own: on any day when someone came knocking, she and the others would pretend to be absent even if they were inside, and simply not open the door at all.

After all, those who had urgent legitimate business would find the Deputy Minister at the Court of Judicial Review. As for matters that couldn’t stand the light of day — they certainly wouldn’t dare go there.

Having said all this, she asked with a slight hesitation, “Was my way of handling this appropriate?”

Situ Sheng listened and gave a soft laugh. “If you were a man, you would be well-suited to take the imperial examinations and enter officialdom. The key points and critical junctures here — you’ve grasped them all without a single teacher. It seems that having a steward of your talents is truly a blessing from Heaven.”

Chu Linlang was embarrassed by the praise, feeling that Situ Sheng was flattering her excessively.

After all, her former husband had said similar things — but said that if she were an official, she would certainly be the slippery, manipulative sort like Zhang Xian, an absolute calamity for the nation.

To be affirmed by a man of Situ Sheng’s great learning and cultivation was always a pleasure. Once the measurements were done, Chu Linlang took her slip of paper with the recorded sizes and, humming a little tune, went back to her room to start on the fabric.

Situ Sheng put his outer robe back on and slowly moved to the window. He pushed it open a little, then, accompanied by that lilting melody, settled and calmed his mind, composing himself from the inexplicable restless heat of a moment before.

Only after the faint fragrance that had lingered in his nostrils had dissipated did he pace back to the desk to continue reviewing his official documents.

But when Situ Sheng casually picked up a pile of documents he had just brought back from the ministry, a letter envelope that had somehow been tucked among the pages fell out with a soft thud.

Situ Sheng paused, reached down and picked up the envelope, and from within drew out a single sheet of paper. On it were a dense array of what appeared at first glance to be random dots, as though a child had been flicking ink. But to someone versed in arithmetic notation, these dots had a certain pattern.

He stood up, casually pulled a book from the shelf, and using the numeric sequence selected out the corresponding page numbers and lines, quickly decoding the letter.

The warm, tender smile that had been forming on that handsome face gradually faded without a trace, leaving only expressionless ice.

Having read the letter, he moved both the original and the decoded copy to the nearby charcoal brazier, watching as the flames consumed them bit by bit, until they vanished without a trace in an instant…

Just as the flames were nearly extinguished, Guanqi happened to walk in. Seeing his master burning a letter, he showed no surprise — this was nothing out of the ordinary.

He only shut the window a little tighter, and lowered his voice. “They’ve pressed you again?”

Seeing Situ Sheng simply stare ahead without reacting, Guanqi was all the more certain, and a trace of frustration crept into his voice. “Knowing full well that things must be approached gradually and with patience — why do they insist on pressing so urgently? Do they not care at all about you…”

At this, Guanqi fell into a kind of despondency. In truth, the master’s own safety was something he himself didn’t particularly value, was it?

No one knew better than Guanqi that their master — who appeared composed and affable in public, mild in manner and easy in bearing — harbored a single, singular obsession at the center of his being, and for all else in this world had not the slightest attachment.

People said he was calculating, consumed with the desire for advancement. They did not know that in Situ Sheng’s eyes, promotions, official reputation, and prestige — even his own life — held little weight.

The master slept in the study because he always slept poorly. When insomnia came, he would read or shape clay figurines to pass the hours.

At times Guanqi would watch as the master started awake from shallow, nightmare-ridden sleep, then lie there with open eyes until dawn — a figure so at odds with the mundane world that he seemed to belong nowhere within it.

He was so careless with himself! The last time Prince Tai had sent assassins, the master had clearly known in advance that there was a trap set for him in the county seat of Lianzhou, yet had still gone alone and at great personal risk — precisely so that he could feign falling into the trap and lull Prince Tai’s faction into complacency.

Remembering how the master had returned from that last serious injury, Guanqi’s heart clenched hard. And even during the recuperation afterward, he had carried on with work as usual, never letting anyone notice anything amiss.

The master’s disregard for himself — Guanqi had no way of knowing into what danger he would place himself in the very next moment.

And moreover, following the pattern of past precedent, every time a letter arrived from that source, the master would fall into a pain that defied any name or description.

It seemed that for the next two days after this, as usual, he would go without eating, without drinking, without sleeping — keeping to himself alone, until he had digested the dark clouds that had suddenly thickened over his heart, and only then gradually return to how he had been…

Sure enough, just as Guanqi was about to say something more, Situ Sheng’s cold, severe gaze swept toward him. Two simple words — “Get out” — cut off whatever Guanqi had been about to say.

Guanqi said nothing. He was only a bystander outside the chess game; the slaughter and scheming among the pieces within the game — however painful and bloody — who could bear it in anyone else’s place?

Guanqi’s heart ached, but he said no more. He only lowered his head and withdrew from the study, giving the master the solitude he needed…

Before long, the dinner table in the main hall was laid with steaming hot dishes. Chu Linlang untied her apron and called out to Guanqi, asking him to invite the Deputy Minister out to eat.

But Guanqi waved his hand and said to let them eat first — the lord was busy, it wasn’t convenient to disturb him. He would bring food to the study himself later.

Chu Linlang thought nothing of it, assuming Situ Sheng was occupied with official business. She carefully portioned out a warm meal and left it covered in the steamer basket, resting over a pot of hot water.

That evening, when Chu Linlang came to the kitchen to ladle hot water for washing her face, she discovered that the dishes Guanqi had earlier taken to the study had been returned, completely untouched.

She knew Situ Sheng was still in the house, and Guanqi hadn’t gone out to buy food from outside — could it be that her cooking hadn’t suited his palate today? Was he being picky about his food again?

Linlang had originally intended to pretend she hadn’t noticed. After all, the night was deep, and even a servant bound to a lifetime contract ought to be allowed to slack off and rest a little.

But after thinking it over and over, Linlang finally sighed, and using the leftover cold rice, added an egg, fresh peas, and a small piece of cured ham, and fried up a hot, fragrant bowl of egg fried rice.

After all, so late in the night, eating something too rich and heavy wouldn’t be easy to digest.

When Chu Linlang brought the rice to the doorway of the study, the light inside had already gone out.

Oh dear — had he gone to sleep without eating? Chu Linlang looked down at the steaming fried rice, wondering whether she should just bring it back and eat it herself as a midnight snack, given that she’d already burned through that bundle of firewood.

Just then, the door suddenly swung open. Situ Sheng appeared to be on his way out, but found himself face-to-face with Chu Linlang in the doorway.

Chu Linlang was just about to ask whether he was hungry — but as her eyes dropped, she saw that Situ Sheng’s fist was clenched tight, and blood was dripping from his hand.

Chu Linlang was startled, and immediately set down the tray to look at his hand.

Situ Sheng had not anticipated that Chu Linlang would still be up so late, and his brow furrowed faintly. He did not want to alarm her, and moved his injured hand behind his back.