Chu Linlang quickly withdrew her hand and greeted her employer with embarrassment: “These people are old acquaintances from home, and Xia Qingyun is Xia He’s elder brother. They only just arrived in the capital. Now that it’s dark with every house closed up and nowhere to eat, I took the liberty of accommodating them in the outer courtyard to dress their wounds — in a little while they’ll eat and then go back to the inn to sleep. They only stayed in the outer courtyard and did not go to the inner courtyard at all…”
She paused and added, “Since I brought people home without consulting the Chief Justice, I hope the lord won’t take offense. The cost of their meal will also come out of my monthly wages.”
Situ Sheng stood there with a naturally imposing air even without anger, silent for a moment, simply looking Xia Qingyun up and down.
Hearing Chu Niangzi’s words, Xia Qingyun and the others all stepped forward one by one to pay their respects to the lord. Seeing that this lord did not appear easy to deal with, they hastily finished eating their last few mouthfuls and promptly took their leave.
Situ Sheng said nothing more and retired alone to the study.
After a while, Chu Linlang carried a tray with a bowl of freshly cooked noodle soup to deliver to the Chief Justice as a late-night snack.
Xia Qingyun and his group had caused quite an uproar today, and she had also made a trip to the Sixth Prince’s estate.
She did not dare conceal any of this and needed to give the lord a full account.
She told him in careful detail — including everything she herself had said, as well as the Sixth Prince’s unusual and extraordinary warmth toward her.
When she finished, she half raised her head and asked tentatively: “My lord, did I say anything today that I should not have?”
Situ Sheng’s gaze was somewhat cold. His long fingers slowly traced circles on an inkstone. Just as Chu Linlang was growing a little anxious, he finally opened his mouth and asked: “How old is Xia He’s brother, and has he taken a wife?”
Ah? Chu Linlang was rather dumbfounded, unable to make sense of where the lord was directing his questions.
She answered honestly: “He’s… one year older than me? So he should be twenty-five this year. He hasn’t taken a wife. Whether he has a concubine, I wouldn’t know.”
Situ Sheng gave a slight smile: “A man his age who hasn’t taken a wife — does he have some hidden ailment?”
These were the very words Chu Linlang had once used to mock the bachelor Situ Sheng.
Suspecting he was revisiting old verbal debts, Chu Linlang shot him a quick glance and said drily, “Children from hard backgrounds often marry late — it’s common enough. Besides, he’s always out on the boats…”
So that explained it. The dark young man’s tender, lingering gaze at the female steward of his estate, and his dark hand clutching her delicate one without letting go — it all made sense.
A child from a poor background who hadn’t taken a wife — if it wasn’t that he was too poor to afford one, it might be that his heart was already set on someone, hoping something good would simply fall into his lap.
And Chu Shi today had utterly devoted herself for this Xia Qingyun’s sake — full of feeling and loyalty.
A woman who ordinarily would never easily invoke his prestige for her own affairs had, for the sake of this reckless young fool, used his name to force her way into the Sixth Prince’s estate alone, and had been running around until now…
Situ Sheng suddenly recalled that on the night he had hurt his hand, this woman had comforted him saying: she’d had no choice before and could only marry Zhou Sui’an. But going forward she would strive to give herself more choices.
He just didn’t know if the dark young man was one of her many choices…
With that thought, Situ Sheng idly picked up the soft clay nearby and kneaded it, rolling it between two fingers.
Seeing that he did not press further about the Sixth Prince’s estate, Chu Linlang felt the day’s matters could be put to rest. She brought the steaming noodle soup to Situ Sheng.
But to her surprise, Situ Sheng looked at the braised pork noodles with cold indifference and said, “Leftovers from someone else — I don’t want them…”
An employer who had always been so easy to please was suddenly being difficult tonight without apparent reason, and this made Chu Linlang’s eyes go wide in surprise.
This was clearly a fresh bowl of noodles made after he had returned — how was it anyone’s leftovers?
Still, Linlang guessed he must dislike having outsiders in the estate, and that today she had indeed been improper. The lord’s reproach was deserved.
With that in mind, she picked up the bowl and said quietly, “Then… I’ll go to the kitchen at once and prepare some other food. Please wait a moment, my lord.”
By now it was already late. Xia He had been separated from her brother for too long and was worried about his injuries, so she had gone along with Xia Qingyun to look after him, fearing his wounds might worsen through the night.
Chu Linlang had planned only to deliver the noodles and had sent Dongxue off to rest long ago — the maidservant was surely asleep by now.
As for Guanqi — that perpetually sleep-deprived, pampered little manservant — he had eaten his noodle soup long ago and gone running back to his room to catch up on sleep.
So if she were to make more food, Chu Linlang would have to do it alone.
She thought to herself: to hell with “not treating her like a servant.” When it came to putting the household steward to use, he was certainly handy! The mouth of a man — truly a thing that deceives!
Chu Linlang was a little dejected inside. She’d been running about all day and still hadn’t eaten. She’d make something for that fussy lord, and then eat the bowl he’d rejected herself.
Just as she relit the stove and cracked two eggs, preparing to slice the chilies, a shadow suddenly entered the kitchen.
His tall frame, upon entering, seemed to fill the cramped little kitchen completely.
Linlang assumed the lord was hungry and had come to hurry her along. She was about to speak when, unexpectedly, Situ Sheng bent down and picked up the small stool used for sitting beside the stove fire, sat himself down on it, and right there by the stove, proceeded to silently eat the noodle soup Chu Linlang had set on the stovetop.
Noodles never hold up to soaking, and that bowl had gone a little soggy — the texture was not ideal.
Yet the way he ate with large, hungry mouthfuls suggested he was starving — and so he had changed his mind and no longer minded that someone else had supposedly touched the noodles?
Chu Linlang was simultaneously amused and exasperated. She went over and crouched beside the stove to ask him: “The noodles have gone soft — they won’t taste good. Would the lord like to have a few bites while I quickly make a couple more dishes?”
Moonlight slanted through the small window, falling across her back, making the waist tied with an apron appear even more slender — so slight it seemed it could be encircled with one hand.
Situ Sheng silently watched her silhouette as she cut vegetables, then slowly set down his bowl and rose to walk toward her.
Chu Linlang felt her waist suddenly ease, and looked down to find that someone had untied her apron from behind.
She was a little flustered and turned to ask, “My lord, what are you doing?”
Situ Sheng reached his long arms around from behind her, took the chili pepper from Chu Linlang’s hands, and then bent his head to ask her: “Have you eaten tonight?”
From what she had described just now, it seemed she had been occupied settling the salt gang workers and had not eaten herself.
Chu Linlang felt as though she were encircled within his arms, trapped before the cutting board, and shifted uncomfortably to put a little distance between them: “I’m not hungry yet — after the lord has eaten…”
It was deep in the night, and they were alone together. When she thought carefully, it was rather inappropriate.
He was standing far too close. Even if she was a discarded wife, there was no reason she could be casually imposed upon by a man.
Could it be… that this Situ Sheng had suddenly harbored some wicked thoughts in the middle of the night?
With that thought, Chu Linlang wrapped her hand around the chopper on the cutting board — regardless of what official he might be, if he meant to bully a woman alone and helpless, treating her as a plaything, she would have to make this pest taste her own ferocity again.
Having made up her mind, Chu Linlang turned with furrowed brows, ready to rebuke him — but she was rather struck dumb.
She saw that Situ Sheng, standing behind her, was in fact tying on the apron. The apron, quite long in general, had become suddenly shorter on his body by quite a stretch.
Situ Sheng glanced at the cleaver in her hand, then reached out and deftly took it from her, gesturing for Linlang to sit on the small stool to one side.
Then he looked over the prepared ingredients and, to her astonishment, rolled up his sleeves and began to slice vegetables and shred meat, then heated the oil and stir-fried the dish.
From his practiced manner, it clearly was not his first time cooking.
Chu Linlang was startled. The saying goes that a gentleman keeps far from the kitchen. How could Situ Sheng, a fifth-rank capital official, be set to doing kitchen work?
But Situ Sheng gestured for her to stay seated and not move, then nimbly made a plate of stir-fried eggs with chili pepper and used the leftover broth from midday to make a large bowl of spicy hot and sour soup. He then brought it to the edge of the stove and called Linlang over to eat.
Quite a few of the scallion oil flatbreads from midday remained — they paired very well with the soup and the stir-fried eggs.
Situ Sheng’s cooking was quite good — just like his woodworking, whatever this man chose to do, it seemed he could do exceedingly well.
As he ladled soup into a small bowl for Linlang, he said lightly, “…Earlier I was preoccupied with official matters and took it out on you.”
When a man apologized so readily, Chu Linlang felt unexpectedly at ease.
She had just been suspecting him, preparing to frighten him with a knife — she felt a flash of shame. How could she have so misjudged an open-hearted gentleman?
She could only quickly pick up her bowl and take a sip of the soup — tangy and spicy, it was quite appetizing. A wave of warmth seemed to rise slowly from her stomach and enter her heart.
Linlang licked her lips and said with genuine admiration: “My lord, you actually know how to cook.”
Situ Sheng continued eating his even soggier bowl of noodles and said slowly, “Cooking occasionally is a good way to relieve the mind.”
Chu Linlang blinked, understanding. For a man like Situ Sheng, who labored over affairs of state and expended great mental energy, cooking — like practicing calligraphy — could cultivate the spirit and calm the mind.
He must have regretted making his household steward cook a late-night snack unnecessarily, which was why he had come to the kitchen to eat the leftover noodles.
The area by the stove was certainly warm, but the space was cramped. Situ Sheng’s legs were very long, and as he ate, he stretched them out casually to either side, drawing close to Linlang. But Linlang didn’t dare to scold him for his lack of propriety and could only tuck her own legs in as much as possible, lest she accidentally brush against the lord.
The Sixth Princess Consort shook her head: “As he tells it — he opened a few of the crates for spot inspection and they truly were local regional goods. However… An Feng had been to the northern frontier before. He said that among the people accompanying the ships, someone seemed to be speaking the language of the Jing Kingdom quietly. He was just about to release the ships when the Fourth Prince sent people to look into the matter, and deliberately called out the name of the person redeeming the ships, asking whether he wasn’t serving at the Crown Prince’s estate — what was he doing here, could it be these were the Crown Prince’s ships? The Fourth Prince’s people even wanted to search the ships, and both sides were at daggers drawn. In the end, the Crown Prince’s people barely came out ahead and managed to sail the ships away.”
Liu Ling heard this and felt himself go limp all over, leaning slightly back, cold sweat beginning to seep from his palms.
So Linlang settled herself and grabbed a handful of roasted melon seeds, sat beside the employer who was washing dishes, shelled them, collected the kernels into a small saucer, then served them attentively to Situ Sheng’s lips for him to eat to his satisfaction.
After the ceremony was complete, she had gone back to the bridal chamber and wept the entire time.
It should be known that the last time they had gone to Jizhou, simply because Second Miss Xie had taken advantage of the rocking of the boat to deliberately lean against the master, the master without a word had pushed her away and jumped off the boat entirely, without caring in the least whether Second Miss Xie found it awkward.
Out of habit, Linlang immediately helped pat him off a couple of times, and when she realized she had overstepped, she smiled sheepishly and withdrew her hand, burying her face quickly in her soup bowl and eating to finish and make way.
If one were to say what the Sixth Prince’s greatest gain had been from inspecting the frontier regions under Situ Sheng’s guidance, it was that when the time came to kill, he would not hesitate for even a moment.
But the Crown Prince had called him over that day to drop hints, clearly suspecting that he had colluded with the Fourth Prince to jointly seize those ships — intending to get a hold over the Crown Prince?
With that thought, he sat stone-faced and waved a guard over, spoke to him in a low voice, and then dismissed him.
So what would she tell relatives when she returned to see them in the future?
At present, the relationship between the court and the Jing Kingdom was delicate — especially in light of the defeat at Fuishui twelve years ago, in which General Yang and several capable court commanders had fallen on the battlefield, and the court had made peace, paid silver tributes, and surrendered several frontier strongholds before the situation was finally stabilized.
It must be that this fierce woman Chu Linlang had said something and used some leverage to coerce the master!
Only when Linlang raised her head did he lower his gaze and slowly sip the soup in his hand.
Guanqi, who had just woken for the toilet, stumbled drowsily past the kitchen, casually peeked through the door, and nearly startled himself so badly he could barely hold his bladder.
With that thought, Liu Ling’s jaw trembled slightly as he glared at his Wang Fei: “If Chu Shi hadn’t come today, I would never have known that your relatives had nerves of iron and dared to invoke my name to commit such a sky-toppling disaster! Tell me — how does your father intend to handle this!”
This incident had also sent shockwaves through both court and common people. It had even incited indignant civilians to attempt to assassinate the Jing envoy, triggering the riot in the pleasure quarters that same night.
When she finished saying this, she called loudly for her attendant maidservants and had the old Madam Zhao “invited” out of the room.
Liu Ling slapped the table in fury. “Foolish! How can this be let off so lightly!”
His master had always kept others at a distance. Even Guanqi, as his personal manservant, was never asked by Situ Sheng to attend him closely — much less would he ever tolerate a woman getting that near!
On her wedding day, Xie Youran had been subjected to a disrupted ceremony and public humiliation, vomiting while everyone watched. She had never been so disgraced in her life.
He quickly ran to the toilet and, as he relieved himself, recalled what he had just witnessed — his usually cold and composed master, sleeves rolled up and apron on, sitting on a small footstool like a housewife, washing dishes.
Zhao Shi felt this made sense. Although Xie Youran was a daughter from a distinguished family, now that she had entered the Zhou household, she had to follow the Zhou household’s rules. There was no such thing in the world as a daughter-in-law who outranked the mother-in-law!
Xie Youran looked at the husband she had just married in disbelief: “Zhou Sui’an, you had better be clear — your wife now is me! That Chu Shi has nothing to do with you anymore. No wonder you were doing your best just now to beg the constables to show that ruffian mercy — you were actually still thinking of earning favor from Chu Linlang!”
He had originally known Xia Qingyun — how could he claim to the constables not to recognize him?
Having had his private thoughts exposed by Xie Youran, Zhou Sui’an felt embarrassed and angry, and replied impatiently: “Alright, alright — whether he lives or dies, that’s the Xie family’s own karmic debt. What does it have to do with me? It’s getting late — get some rest quickly. You’re with child, so we shouldn’t share the same bed. I’ll go… go to the study to read.”
This notoriously vicious official from the Court of Judicial Review, apart from occasionally being moody, truly was good to his servants — no wonder he had raised that little manservant Guanqi to be so lazy.
Having said this, the bridegroom swept his sleeve and retreated to the study without a backward glance.
Thinking of her pregnancy, Zhou Sui’an could only patiently coax her, saying that Xia Qingyun had been away working in trade and had only just returned to the capital — he might not necessarily have been sent by Chu Linlang.
But when he ran back to the kitchen, the lights were out and there was no one there. As though what he had seen had truly been some absurd dream…
Zhao Shi, in her own courtyard, had heard the sound of the new bride’s scolding and naturally got up to remind Xie Shi of what it meant to be the Zhou family’s daughter-in-law.
Now that they no longer needed to go to war with the Jing Kingdom, the majority of court ministers also had no desire for too much contact with that tigerwolf nation.
Guanqi couldn’t help but suspect he hadn’t fully woken up and had seen some sort of strange hallucination.
When the Sixth Princess Consort returned from her family home in the dead of night, Liu Ling dismissed the maidservants and pulled her close to glare at her: “What did your father-in-law say?”
Xie Youran didn’t care one bit and said bitterly: “My aunt has already told me — she had someone put in a word with the authorities. Even if they don’t beat that ruffian to death, they’ll break his legs. As long as he confesses the mastermind behind him, even if she’s hiding in the Chief Justice’s residence, Situ Sheng will still have to hand her over to the constables!”
Since the employer needed cooking to relieve his mind, she did not stand on ceremony, and promptly picked up a large piece of stir-fried egg, placed it considerately in Situ Sheng’s bowl first, and then began eating with gusto.
After the meal, Situ Sheng told Chu Linlang to go rest first. Chu Linlang watched as he tossed the dirty bowls unceremoniously into the water bucket, and could not help rolling her eyes.
Xie Youran sat bolt upright: “What is there to celebrate on this wedding day? What joy is there? It’s all that Chu Linlang — how malicious, sending people to disrupt your and my wedding! And you — how dare you tell the constables you knew that Xia Qingyun!”
When Zhou Sui’an finally finished his social obligations and stepped into the room, he was immediately met by a flying flower vase.
That wretched Chu woman was sitting on a high stool with her legs crossed, idle as a mistress shelling melon seeds — looking utterly unseemly!
The old woman beside her, seeing this, coaxed Zhao Shi gently: “After all, she is a pampered young lady — there’s no need to be angry with her. Now that she is a daughter-in-law of the Zhou family, she will naturally have to abide by your rules, madam. The former Chu Shi was also a formidable sort, yet even she had to humble herself before you. There is time ahead — there is no need to fight for every small thing!”
He had already offended his former mentor. If he were also to offend the mentor’s female steward, wouldn’t reconciliation between teacher and student become even more impossibly distant?
This was something Chu Linlang only learned later. Which showed just how strong the old man’s desire for revenge was — he had even goaded her employer to his face!
The respect conveyed by the presiding official of the national examinations speaking such words was so weighty that those who heard it could not help but look up with new eyes!
By now the original Jing Kingdom envoy who had been stabbed was still recovering from his injuries and had not yet left.
The Emperor had commissioned General Li Chengyi to lead men to provide security, and certain matters also needed to be coordinated with the Court of Judicial Review at all times.
But the old Li family had spent half a lifetime fighting against the Jing Kingdom — now asking him to protect the safety of the Jing envoy was too ironic for words!
Of course, this whole chain of events could be traced back to Chu Linlang writing that character for “law” at the presiding official’s estate.
From a servant’s perspective, this kind of master was truly easy to serve — no wonder he had raised that little manservant Guanqi to be so indolent. But this actually made Chu Linlang feel a little embarrassed about taking his monthly wages without doing enough — she found herself putting even more care into the daily meals.
General Li’s expression shifted, and he no longer dared to be careless. He solemnly noted down Situ Sheng’s security suggestions, then instructed his own attendant to take the security diagram to the officer on duty to make adjustments.
Situ Sheng no longer taught the Sixth Prince, yet he had opened a private school at home and was now formally instructing his newly hired household steward.
But when Situ Sheng picked up her account ledger and looked at it, his brows and eyes stilled, his breath nearly catching — as though he had laid eyes on some earth-shattering case of embezzlement.
Since it was a gesture of goodwill from her employer, refusing outright would be rather ungracious.
She had never noticed as a child that the pest had grown to be of such fine appearance! Had he been this dashing and pleasant-looking back then, the fists she swung at him would probably have been lighter…
And so the Emperor showed mercy. By imperial decree, Consort Jing moved out of the cold palace and was restored to her former consort rank, and the Emperor’s favor for her was even greater than before.
But unexpectedly, Situ Sheng was half-reclining in the rattan chair, eyes closed, fast asleep.
Situ Sheng glanced at her and then picked up his brush to start marking — on just that single page of accounts, he circled no fewer than seven or eight misspelled characters.
Chu Linlang had assumed that the busy Situ Sheng, upon realizing she was hopeless material, would lose interest and stop wasting her time on calligraphy lessons.
He saw that General Li seemed somewhat inattentive and said meaningfully, “This is the capital — not the battlefield. As the saying goes, between two nations, the envoy should not be harmed. The Emperor is now urgently working to eliminate abuses and reform. He does not wish for trouble at the frontier. General Li — if you cannot carry out this duty well, I fear the consequences could implicate your entire family.”
In response to the drug sachet, the Emperor — leaning on his cane — personally went again to the cold palace, only to find the once magnificently dignified Consort Jing, dressed in coarse plain clothing with her hair undone, wielding a medicinal hoe in a temporary greenhouse, weeding around medicinal herbs.
She had been lazy about cooking at first, occasionally just tossing together a few simple dishes with porridge. He ate without a word and never wore a dark expression over simple meals.
When their eyes met, though the beauty of former days had faded, the sight moved him so deeply that tears ran down the face of the aged Emperor…
After that day, Situ Sheng started finding fault, asking her to bring the estate’s account ledgers for his review.
She managed Situ Sheng’s finances, so naturally she had to keep the account books herself.
But Situ Sheng said the estate’s steward was a reflection of his own face — how could he stand by while Chu Steward, such a bright person, had a shortcoming?
The palace physicians had written out prescriptions, but none were effective.
The Emperor could not sleep well. The Fourth Prince volunteered to be at his father’s bedside, and when his imperial father dozed off, he secretly applied a medicinal sachet to the Emperor’s leg.
From then on, whenever Situ Sheng had free time, he would summon the steward into the study for reading and calligraphy practice to fill in the gaps.
The Fourth Prince choked back tears and begged forgiveness — his mother, living in the cold palace, had been thinking of the Emperor’s chronic ailment. She had grown medicinal herbs including myrrh root and pubescent angelica root in the cold palace, personally prepared and mixed a medicinal sachet, and asked him to bring it to the Emperor. She said this particular formula had always worked well for the Emperor. Now that she could not see him, she still could not set her mind at rest about his health.
Yet now that she had come to work in his estate, she discovered this lord lived an exceedingly simple life.
The Emperor, hearing the fourth son’s words, recalled the leg ailment he had developed while serving as crown prince commanding troops — at that time, Consort Jing, then a concubine in the crown prince’s estate, had applied medicinal compresses every night, going entire nights without sleep.
Apart from reading, writing, practicing martial arts, and shaping clay figures, he was simply not a man given to indulgence and pleasure.
Speaking of this, Li Chengyi was actually worried on Situ Sheng’s behalf.
In truth, during the first two years she had been married into the Zhou household, when Zhou Sui’an was in the mood, he had been willing to teach her poetry as well.
When Prince Tai, the Fourth Prince, and Consort Jing had all fallen from grace together and their fires had grown cold, Situ Sheng had played a part in that.
If the Fourth Prince was not entirely foolish, he would not be too hasty to get rid of Situ Sheng — a capable donkey who still had work to do.
Just as she was staring blankly at the book pages, she heard Situ Sheng seeing off General Li, and then heard Situ Sheng call out, “Chu Niangzi! Time for calligraphy practice!”
Hearing this, Chu Linlang’s expression fell slightly. She had also forgotten one thing — in addition to his love of political maneuvering, Situ the Teacher had an even greater love of instructing others!
At the moment the blanket was laid over him, Situ Sheng seemed to startle as if struck — his whole body jolted upright, and the ferocity that blazed from his eyes was chilling.
Now that Consort Jing had regained the Emperor’s favor, the Fourth Prince’s household had become lively again. Even the Crown Prince, who had once considered himself dominant above all, began to feel increasingly uneasy. How could Situ Sheng’s days have been any better?
Chu Linlang felt herself to be quite honest and upright in the accounts, and felt somewhat indignant and aggrieved at this, asking where exactly they were wrong.
For some reason, every time he saw Situ Sheng, he felt that this person’s bearing strongly resembled someone — not in facial features, but in demeanor and in subtle, ineffable details — and it always set him thinking.
As he sat thinking, the picture book in his hands happened to turn to a page depicting Zhuge Liang performing the Empty City Stratagem from high atop the city gate.
When he thought of it, it had been nearly two months until that person’s memorial day… Li Chengyi felt a wave of emotion and silently drank down another cup.
She had once thought Situ Sheng was an obsessive official, single-mindedly climbing the ladder — surely the type whose ambition and selfish desires were overflowing.
But Situ Sheng heard Li Chengyi’s words and only said with indifference, “I did nothing but follow the Emperor’s orders at the time. Having had no private motives, why should I fear association or implication?”
This was the vigilance of a wild creature living in the jungle — even in deep sleep, able to wake in an instant.
When she finished writing, she raised her head with excitement, wanting to show Situ Sheng on the other side of the table.
Tsk — this tall man could really carry himself! That high nose bridge, and those eyelashes curved and arched more prettily than most young women’s.
He was a military man, never patient with the fussiness of civil officials, yet he had taken an immediate liking to Situ Sheng at first meeting. It must have been Situ Sheng’s calm in the face of a storm that had won him over.
She was now free to look as she liked while he slept.
After all, the idea of “making one’s mark in the palace” had been the very path Situ Sheng had personally pointed out to the Fourth Prince.
Not only had Qi Gong reprimanded the Chief Justice for one more thing: “With a talent like yours, the female steward you hired for your estate — how is it she has only a sharp tongue, yet writes characters like tangled earthworms?”
She had not expected that learning, once she stopped deliberately giving foolish answers, held a certain charm she could savor.
It was a shame — after hearing her deliberately foolish words, Situ Sheng remained composed and unruffled, and still patiently explained everything to her.
But the study was so cold, with only a small basin of charcoal. He wore very little, and sleeping like this, he would catch a chill.
This segment was something Chu Linlang only learned about afterward. Which just showed how formidable the old man’s retributive streak truly was — even going so far as to provoke her employer to his face!
The presiding official of the national examinations speaking these words of praise — the weight of that commendation was so considerable that those who heard it couldn’t help but look at things differently.
When it was Chu Linlang’s turn, things became somewhat more difficult. A woman’s hair is far too long, and without a mirror, and without a proper fine-toothed comb to hand, it was not easy to gather and bind.
He was not naturally inclined toward cultivating connections at court — he spent as little effort as possible and considered it sufficient.
And so Chu Linlang’s cheeks went a little pink and she laughed sheepishly, saying that although she could read, she was rather out of practice with writing. In the future she would find a street-side scribe to write the accounts for her, and would not offend the lord’s eyes again.
The hottest news in the capital just now was that the mother of the Fourth Prince — Consort Jing from the cold palace — had moved back into her Jingren Palace.
She had never seen him sleep in the daytime before. Could it be that having eaten his fill, he had grown drowsy?
Chu Linlang had grown a bit tired from calligraphy practice and stretched her neck, taking the opportunity to admire her employer’s handsome sleeping face.
Chu Linlang looked at him and thought that her employer, if given a beard and a feather fan, would truly have the bearing of Zhuge Liang devising strategies to overturn the heavens!
They said this consort, though strikingly beautiful in her youth, was now a middle-aged woman past her prime. By rights, with the Emperor always surrounded by new beauties, who would remember a woman languishing in the cold palace?
Having been in the estate this long, Chu Linlang knew that Situ Sheng slept lightly, sometimes going several nights in a row without sleep when matters pressed.
Chu Linlang looked around, first moved the charcoal basin closer to the rattan chair, then took the blanket from the study’s bed and gently laid it over Situ Sheng.
As for Zhuge Liang — he had pledged himself to a wise ruler and served with his whole heart until death. But what exactly was Situ Sheng scheming toward? Chu Linlang could not quite see it clearly.
Could it be that he cared nothing for pleasure or reputation, yet savored the thrill of power and political maneuvering?
Situ Sheng had previously helped her with some characters and given guidance on tracing the model calligraphy — but had largely left her to her own devices without pressing her to improve.
But the cold had been bitter these days, and the Emperor’s chronic leg ailment had flared up again.
Word had it that on that day, the presiding official had pulled the Chief Justice in for drinks, and the two had sparred constantly — from poetry to governance.
So Chu Linlang could only steel herself and apply herself to completing the lessons Situ the Teacher had assigned.
While they drank and talked, Chu Linlang had nothing to do and returned to her own room, lying on the bed and flipping through the picture book Situ Sheng had given her.
But the way he moved serenely among the princes, revealing nothing — that was certainly not the manner of someone with a pure and tranquil heart.
General Li’s mind was troubled, and he was a little distracted in carrying out his duties.
Situ Sheng looked at the security diagram he had submitted and, with a casual point, identified the weak spots.
She knew Situ Sheng was handsome, but with the proper avoidance between men and women, she had only ever stolen glances of a few moments at a time — she had never been able to look directly at her leisure.
Chu Linlang was not worried about her employer being settled accounts by the Fourth Prince.
Next, General Li and Situ Sheng chatted about various recent affairs.
Yet back when she had married into the Zhou household, when Zhou Sui’an was in the mood, he had been willing to teach her a little poetry. It was a shame she had no talent for it, and her foolish remarks always dampened Zhou Sui’an’s refined interest — after a while, he had also lost his enthusiasm for tutoring his wife.
The Emperor had not fallen asleep. He immediately asked what this secretive behavior was about, and what was being hidden.
Unfortunately the walls were thin, and so the conversation drifted in fragments to her ears.
Today Situ Sheng had asked her to trace the four-character verse text “A Whip in the Shadow of the Dragon” — with four characters per line, it went quickly. Because the teacher taught well, Chu Linlang’s calligraphy had recently taken on a slightly more presentable shape.
The presiding official had previously never had a deep conversation with this Chief Justice. But after several rounds of competitive drinking, the old gentleman had said at the time: “With a talent like yours, you should have had the makings of a top scholar — why did you rank only as third-place graduate?”
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