Hearing that Chu Linlang had drawn the boundaries of their relationship, Situ Sheng said nothing.

He was merely navigating undercurrents — he could not promise her any future, and naturally dared not carelessly let her come fully aboard and sink along with him.

Linlang was only a household manager in the Attendant’s house without a signed formal contract — her name wasn’t even on the official servants’ register. Linlang’s arrangement of things this way was, in truth, also perfectly suitable to him.

Yet simply knowing that she harbored, at every moment, the intention of parting from him — that thought alone sat uncomfortably with Situ Sheng.

He did not reach for Linlang’s hand again. He went straight ahead down the mountain.

Just from looking at the back of his head, Linlang could tell he seemed to be angry again. Yet Linlang felt that what she had said just now had all been considerate of his reputation and honor.

So his sudden irritation now was probably related to having just encountered the Crown Prince. This man’s official prospects had been rough lately — a periodic dip in spirits was unavoidable.

So she took it as his silent acquiescence to her meaning. And well it was. This way there was no pressure on either person, and they could simply support each other through each other’s difficult times.

As for the future — well, that could wait until the future to be dealt with.

Once they were back in the carriage at the mountain foot, Situ Sheng seemed to have recovered his spirits somewhat, and with perfect nonchalance asked Linlang for one of the protective amulets.

Linlang remembered how he hadn’t even burned incense at the temple, and asked: “Are you not a non-believer? If you don’t believe, how can a protective amulet have any efficacy?”

But she still drew a small amulet pouch from her pocket, hung on a cord, and handed it to Situ Sheng.

Situ Sheng looked at it, then reached out and plucked a lock of Chu Linlang’s hair from near her temple: “May I have a lock of your hair?”

The body, hair, and skin are given by one’s parents — a woman giving a lock of her hair meant entrusting herself to someone body and soul, a lifelong pledge. How weighty and solemn an act was that?

Situ Sheng had already received the protective amulet she had sincerely prayed for, yet was still not satisfied — he was actually insisting she give him a lock of her hair? Could he possibly not know the meaning of giving one’s hair?

Before Chu Linlang had even gathered her wits, Situ Sheng produced a dagger from somewhere, made a swift cut, and severed a lock of her black hair. He wound it up neatly, tucked it into the amulet pouch, and hung it around his neck, pushing it inside his collar.

Chu Linlang watched his entirely smooth and unhurried movements, and was furious: “You… how could you take something without asking? How is this any different from forcibly seizing a civilian woman?”

Situ Sheng said: “Were you not planning to part from me someday? By that time, this hair should have grown back. Why be so miserly?”

With that, he took the other protective amulet from her pocket, cut a lock of his own hair in the same manner, put it inside, and hung it around Chu Linlang’s neck.

“Mine is yours too. Is that better?”

Who had asked for his hair? Chu Linlang was genuinely at a loss with him. She said with sulky displeasure: “One’s hair should not be given away so casually. I… am not your wife.”

Situ Sheng said with perfect seriousness: “When giving someone a gift, should one not ask what they want? You hand me a slip of yellow paper from the temple worth three coins and call it done?”

Chu Linlang moved her lips, but did not continue. She thought that Situ Sheng might not truly understand the meaning of the hair exchange — or perhaps he only saw it as a romantic gesture between two people engaged in a secret affair.

So be it. Such childish theatrical gestures she had long since stopped believing in. Even the hair of a husband and wife bound in marriage could be severed and discarded — much more so was this kind of hidden, fleeting affair like the dew on the grass.

Just as he had said — by the time that lock of her hair had grown back, the two of them would likely have waved their farewells and gone their separate ways.

Thinking this, Chu Linlang no longer argued with him. She quietly let him take her hand, and leaned against his chest, savoring this entanglement that she did not know how much longer it might last…

In the days that followed, Situ Sheng was again run off his feet with work, and Linlang was so busy she had no time to think of him.

Though the women’s academy met infrequently, the assignments were plentiful. Every day after rising, after giving the house’s deputy manager the routine instructions, she would practice her calligraphy for a while and read through a few pages of her assignments.

If there was a free moment at midday, she would go to the kitchen and stir-fry a dish or two, pack them in a food box, and have a junior attendant deliver them to his lordship at the government office where he was hard at work.

On the business front, that day Linlang’s cargo boats, fully laden with goods she had selected and purchased, were readied by Xia Qingyun for departure to the northwest.

At the boat docks, the majority of cargo boats were heading north. Linlang’s boats, heading northwest, stood out as somewhat different from the crowd.

Some of the boat captains, hearing where this fleet was headed, mocked Chu Linlang to her face, calling it a woman’s lack of vision.

For it was just these past two days that the court had finally issued a decree permitting the opening of markets in the northern territories.

With the news spreading, boat captains who had obtained the transit permits through connections had already loaded and set off over a month prior, rushing to the northern territories well ahead of time. They had made a large profit the very day after the decree was issued. Merchants pursuing profit are like flies to rotting meat — now the docks were packed with vessels heading north.

Hearing all this, even Xia Qingyun was somewhat rueful. He quietly asked Chu Linlang whether she wanted to reconsider, saying he could try to find a way to piggyback on another fleet’s transit permit.

Plenty of people were doing this now. Even if one could not obtain a permit independently, one could join together in shared rental — the rental fees were not cheap, but as long as the goods could reach the northern territories, it was profitable in the long run.

But Linlang held to her original intention and had no wish to join this craze.

She remembered that Situ Sheng had once told her that while the opening of markets in the northern territories would benefit the Jing kingdom, for Great Jin it was a case of more harm than good.

The court’s reluctant and dragging approval of the market opening meant there would certainly be many further changes down the line.

Furthermore, the entire northern route was rife with bandits. When Linlang did business, she always aimed for the safety of both people and goods. She had no intention of risking her boats by going deep into the northern territories.

Seeing that Chu Linlang was firm, Xia Qingyun complied. Going against the grain of the majority of cargo vessels, he set off for the northwest.

Having seen Xia Qingyun off, Chu Linlang also exchanged words with the shopkeeper who had come from her hometown to deliver the account books, asking him to go back and find out what price the two shops back home could fetch.

If the price was right, she would need to take time to return to Jiangkou, sell those two shops, and have the shopkeeper and workers come to the capital to join her.

When the proceeds from the three ships’ cargo in the northwest came back, pooled together, it should be just enough for her to set up a shop in the capital and open a new business.

The shopkeeper who had come from her hometown to deliver the accounts had also brought along a family letter sent by the Chu family.

Apart from her mother Sun Shi’s letter, there was also a letter from Chu Huaisheng addressed to Zhou Sui’an.

Because Chu Linlang had told her elder sister not to spread the news, the Chu family still did not know that Chu Linlang had already divorced Zhou Sui’an. The letter was still written in the tone of a father-in-law attempting to extract money from Zhou Sui’an.

Chu Linlang shook her head, sincerely happy for Zhou Sui’an — he had finally freed himself from her maternal family’s burden and need no longer be constrained by Chu Huaisheng.

Chu Linlang’s elder sister had also written a letter to their eldest sister Chu Jinyín, which Linlang’s errand boy brought along. So Chu Linlang found a spare moment to invite her eldest sister out for tea, and passed the family letter to Chu Jinyín in the process.

Ordinarily, when attending to the affairs of the house, she dared not dress too showily. When going to the academy, she again had to wear the plain, elegant “mourning garment.” Today, having a rare opportunity to go out and enjoy herself, Chu Linlang made a point of wearing the skirt sewn from fabric Situ Sheng had bought for her a few days prior.

She wasn’t quite sure why — though both were pink, the shade of the fabric Situ Sheng had chosen was somehow more pure. It was a difference she could not quite put into words, but it instantly made what would ordinarily be a garish, vulgar color far more pleasing to look at.

Even Xia He and Dongxue praised it, saying the color seemed to set off Linlang’s fair complexion even more.

Chu Linlang looked at herself in the mirror and knew the maids were not merely flattering her. Since leaving the Zhou household, the number of things worrying her each day had genuinely diminished greatly.

Situ, my lord, was far easier to get along with than Zhao Shi. Linlang got a full night’s sleep every day, and when it came to eating, she need not consider the tastes of an entire household — she could simply cook and eat whatever she herself liked. As for spending money, she no longer had to calculate and begrudge every coin with a whole family’s needs in mind.

Such a life nourishes a woman greatly. Though she bore the name of someone else’s servant, with Situ Sheng almost never at home, this household manager lived like a mistress of the house.

When a woman lives well, it shows entirely in her complexion and appearance. The Chu Linlang of today surpassed the Chu Linlang who had been the Zhou family’s wife — she looked fresher and more vibrant with every passing day.

Fragrant and beautifully dressed, well satisfied after her look in the mirror, she was finally ready to go out.

It had been quite some time since Linlang had seen her elder sister. Once they were settled in the tea house, Chu Jinyín, looking at her younger sister’s lovely attire, naturally began with a round of compliments.

People always said a divorced woman had a hard life, yet to Chu Jinyín’s eyes, her younger sister seemed to be getting on quite splendidly. This suggested that Situ, my lord — whose reputation was so poor — was actually quite a decent employer, and had not treated her younger sister harshly.

But being an elder sister, she could not help adding some nagging words. Especially since that Situ Sheng was still a bachelor — she felt compelled to warn Chu Linlang that if she did not wish to become a concubine, she must absolutely not take a misstep. Otherwise there would be gossip, which her future husband’s family would hold against her.

Since Chu Linlang was currently in the thick of her “illicit affair” with her employer, while her elder sister rambled on about all this, she kept her eyes lowered and sipped her tea, feeling too guilty to look up.

After drinking a few mouthfuls, she noticed that the tea and snacks here did not seem cheap at all. It was Chu Jinyín’s treat today — she had also ordered the tea herself.

Two taels of silver for a pot of expensive tea; the accompanying pastries were also crafted with evident care. This was usually the kind of spread one laid out for business entertaining.

Seeing her elder sister ordering so lavishly, Chu Linlang could not help teasing: “So — has my brother-in-law’s business been picking up?”

Chu Jinyín beamed: “Indeed it has. Your brother-in-law asked me to return all the money I borrowed from you before. Here it all is.”

With that, she pushed a small wooden box across the table.

Chu Linlang, always direct about money matters, counted the banknotes openly in front of her sister, but frowned: “Elder sister… did you count wrong? Why is there so much?”

Chu Jinyín refilled her younger sister’s tea and explained with a smile: “Your brother-in-law said he could not use your money for nothing — he calculated it at the highest market interest rate and made it up to you.”

Hearing her sister say this, Chu Linlang smiled, accepted it without ceremony, and then asked with curiosity: “Was my brother-in-law not selling rice before? Even if business was going smoothly, it would take at least a year to recoup the principal. Has he suddenly struck it rich? Has he taken on some other kind of business?”

Chu Jinyín nodded, her face radiant: “It truly is the God of Wealth invited in at the New Year who showed his power. Your brother-in-law recently made the acquaintance of someone important, who actually helped him obtain a northern territories transit permit. The last time he made the run, he really did make a lot of money. So now he has additionally rented several more boats and plans to transport rice to the north — the price there is three times what it is elsewhere.”

Chu Linlang’s brow furrowed slightly at this. The court had at last issued the market-opening decree, permitting trade in the northern territories.

However, merchants wishing to trade there all needed court-issued transit permits. Not just anyone could go.

The types of goods permitted for trade were also strictly limited. Apart from daily necessities such as rice and tea, and cloth and silk fabrics, everything else required approval from frontier officials before it could be transported.

And her brother-in-law had previously had no connections whatsoever that could reach the sky. How had he managed to obtain a transit permit — the rarest and most prized commodity of all?

What her elder sister said next only partially cleared up her confusion: “Oh, and that important person heard that you work at the Attendant’s house and also have cargo boats at your disposal. He would like to invite you to a meal and wine, and also ask whether you might be interested in doing some business together.”

Chu Linlang finished the cup of tea in her hand, and rather than answering, asked a question: “And what does he do for a living? What is his name?”

“His family name is Chen. He is a merchant who deals in tea, and he moves exclusively in the circles of the great capital households. His connections are extensive. If you were to make his acquaintance, whatever business you wanted to do in the future, he could lend you a hand.”

Hearing this, Chu Linlang said nothing further. Among merchants, an exchange of interests and mutual support was perfectly ordinary.

But her sister had herself said that this Merchant Chen moved exclusively in upper-tier circles, while her brother-in-law was an obscure rice merchant of no particular standing — what could he offer this Merchant Chen?

Moreover, this Merchant Chen’s generosity was hardly ordinary — he had opened with the enormous gift of a northern territories transit permit.

Merchants do not rise early without a reason to profit. Whatever this Merchant Chen’s aim was, it must be something very substantial.

He had specifically asked to be connected to her by name. Chu Linlang could not help but weigh the matter carefully.

She first tested the waters by asking her sister whether her brother-in-law was trying to introduce her to a prospective husband.

Chu Jinyín smiled with some embarrassment and gave a roundabout explanation: her brother-in-law was not without concern for Linlang’s marriage prospects, but given Linlang’s circumstances, marrying as a first wife was rather difficult, while a widower old enough to be her father would be someone she feared Linlang would look down on.

This Merchant Chen already had a wife and concubines, so that wouldn’t be a good fit either.

Hearing this, Chu Linlang could rule out the possibility that her brother-in-law was using her as a bargaining chip. What remained was easy to understand: what Merchant Chen was after was probably her employer — Situ Sheng.

He had recently been overseeing the allotment field reforms, which had entangled the interests of countless powerful households. These past few days, the gates of the new residence had practically been worn thin from so many knocks.

At this critical juncture, Chu Linlang had absolutely no wish to invite him any fresh trouble.

Having made up her mind on this, she pulled out the banknotes she had tucked away, extracted the extra ones, and solemnly returned them to her elder sister: “Elder sister, these I will not take. Please keep them yourself. After all, your brother-in-law lost you so much silver before — you ought to save a little for yourself. As for this Merchant Chen, there is no need to meet him. I have many matters to attend to while working at the Attendant’s house and truly have no time for other business ventures. I will thank you and brother-in-law for your kind thought.”

Chu Jinyín had not expected Chu Linlang to say this, and was momentarily taken aback: “It is not as though you would be meeting him alone. Third sister, why are you being so evasive? Your brother-in-law has already made the boast that he would be inviting you to a midday meal today, and they are right now in the restaurant across the way…”

In truth, her brother-in-law’s original intention had been to have Chu Jinyín bring her younger sister straight to the restaurant.

But Chu Jinyín had felt this would be rather abrupt. Her younger sister was, after all, a divorced woman — how could she be led so casually to meet an outside man?

So Chu Jinyín had taken the initiative to invite her sister to the tea house across the way first, planning to lay some groundwork over tea before going over together. She had never imagined that Chu Linlang would not give her this face, and would decline without the slightest hesitation.

This put Chu Jinyín in a rather awkward position, unsure how to explain it to her husband on the other side.

Hearing her sister’s words, Chu Linlang’s brow furrowed. She said: “Elder sister, in the future when brother-in-law makes this kind of dining arrangement again, you need not bother asking me — just decline for me outright. What is there worth cultivating connections with in a divorced woman like me? I still have business today and will take my leave first. I have made things difficult for my elder sister — third younger sister here first offers her apologies…”

Having said this, Chu Jinyín was left even more without words. Just as Chu Linlang turned to exit the private room, laughter came from the direction of the stairwell: “Senior Household Manager Chu is truly a rare person to catch. Had I not come in person, I would not have been able to intercept you.”

Chu Linlang turned toward the voice. Two people were coming up: one was her brother-in-law, and the other was a pale, plump, round-faced middle-aged man who looked for all the world like a rotund sweet potato.

From her brother-in-law’s introduction, she gathered this was his patron — Merchant Chen.

It turned out that Merchant Chen, having waited across the way without seeing anyone come down from the tea house, had proposed going to greet Household Manager Chu themselves.

They had come upstairs just in time to overhear Chu Linlang telling her sister she was about to take her leave.

Since they had already met face to face, Chu Linlang could not help sizing up this Merchant Chen.

These days spent in the company of the noble young ladies at the women’s academy had given her considerable exposure to the world of wealth and refinement.

For instance, the silk this merchant wore had inlaid within it palace-issued bird-and-flower cut-silk brocade — she had seen it on Yixiu Junzhu’s skirt. While this merchant had only a narrow strip of it at his collar and cuffs, it was worth a considerable sum. One could not obtain such a precious thing without connections all the way to the top.

Chu Linlang had a somewhat clearer picture in her mind now. She smiled all the warmer and more affably at Merchant Chen, exchanging pleasantries with him in a pleasant but noncommittal way.

Now, this Merchant Chen was the trusted aide of the Crown Prince — a paternal uncle of Chen Fang, Vice Commander of the Horse Battalion. He also helped the Crown Prince manage certain financial transactions in private. Acting on his nephew Chen Fang’s instructions, he had learned that Chu Jinyín was the elder sister of the household manager at the Attendant’s house, and had sent someone to engineer an introduction — first befriending her brother-in-law, then arranging to meet this Household Manager Chu.

Merchant Chen was very much a man of the social world and an excellent judge of people.

He had also made thorough inquiries into Chu Linlang’s background. This woman was nothing but a merchant’s illegitimate daughter whose ambitions far exceeded her station.

She had managed, with great difficulty, to serve as a proper first wife for eight years, only to be supplanted by the daughter of the Xie family because she could not produce an heir, and then swept out the door by her husband’s family.

Moreover, he had heard this woman was extremely jealous and stubborn — she would rather die than lower herself to become a concubine. What a foolish woman who could not read the situation, with aspirations beyond her means. Rather than be a proper official’s wife, she had run off to be a servant in the household of a powerful official on unstable ground.

Given such a drop in status, how could this woman be content? She must be looking for a ladder to climb back up.

Chen Fang had explained things quite plainly to his uncle Merchant Chen: first give this woman a taste of some benefit, then gradually entice her into becoming a useful informant for the Crown Prince.

However, now that he had met her in person, Merchant Chen found this woman was truly lovely and well-groomed, and at just the ripest age — the kind that made a man’s eyes hungry to look at. No wonder Situ Sheng, disregarding his colleagues’ opinions, had taken this divorced woman into his household.

What a pity that such beauty had not been born to a better fate. Whatever entanglement Situ Sheng had with her, it was no more than a bit of fun on his part.

What proper man of standing would marry a twice-wed woman who reportedly could not even bear children? Such a woman, less than even a kept mistress, would be easy to manipulate. In the end, it always came down to money and power — one of the two would be enough to keep her firmly in hand.

Thinking this, Merchant Chen, brimming with self-confidence, planted himself in the doorway of the private room, intending to make this woman understand her vulnerabilities and get a firm grip on her weak points.

With this short, rotund sweet potato blocking the doorway, Chu Linlang could not get out for the moment. She stood, smiling, and listened to Merchant Chen introduce himself.

When she heard him mention that he had a nephew in the Horse Battalion serving as Vice Commander, Chu Linlang had a very clear idea of who she was dealing with — oh, this person was the paternal uncle of the Crown Prince’s trusted aide Chen Fang.

She had heard with her own ears how Chen Fang had threatened and swaggered over Situ Sheng on the street that time. He was not someone to be trifled with.

Her brother-in-law, oblivious to the situation, was still enthusiastically animating the conversation, inviting Chu Linlang to cross over and share a drink with Merchant Chen. He even mentioned that Merchant Chen had a shipment of goods that needed transporting, and if Linlang’s fleet could handle it, the freight fees he offered were more generous than other merchants.

Chu Linlang looked at her brother-in-law’s excited face. She felt there were certain things that needed to be said plainly. Whether her sister’s family would listen was up to them.

But she also had to let this Merchant Chen understand that coming at her by getting close to her brother-in-law would gain him nothing and be a waste of effort.

So before her brother-in-law had even finished his rambling, Chu Linlang cut him off without ceremony and with a smile asked Merchant Chen: “When other employers look for a boat, they choose whoever offers reasonable freight fees. Why would Merchant Chen do the opposite — willingly spend double the money on a boat fleet like mine, about which he knows so little?”

Her brother-in-law heard this and shot Chu Linlang an awkward look.

Merchant Chen was open-handed and enjoyed making friends — it was because of this that he was not bothered about a little money. Her asking like this was simply too rude.

Chu Linlang gave her brother-in-law not the slightest opportunity to smooth things over. Thinking back to what she had asked her sister, she continued: “You helped my brother-in-law rent a northern territories transit permit, allowing him to sell rice in the north. But I have heard that a northern territories transit permit alone costs five hundred taels of silver to obtain, and is valid for only two years. Unless one is dealing in large-scale bulk goods, the cost cannot possibly be spread evenly across one’s profits. So most people who obtain one rent it out jointly among several parties to share the fees. You provided the permit without charging rent — you only had my brother-in-law sign a note of debt, saying that once he made money, he would pay you the permit rental and profit share, priced at two hundred and fifty taels.”

At this point, Chu Linlang waved for Xia He to pass over an abacus. Her slender fingers rattled across the beads in rapid succession: “Based on today’s price of rice, after deducting costs — my brother-in-law’s few boats have limited cargo capacity. Making the round trip in a year, excluding the winter months when sailing is suspended, at the very most he could make five runs. And that is assuming favorable weather and no mold or infestation in the rice. Goodness — it seems that even by the time the permit expires, there would be no way to recoup the cost of the permit rental… Merchant Chen, even a man who enjoys making friends should not miscalculate so badly as to be willing to give up two hundred and fifty taels of silver for a friend of fewer than ten days’ acquaintance — namely my brother-in-law.”

This calculation was laid out with crystal clarity. Where was the windfall? It was more like a gamble that would wager the whole family into ruin.

Her brother-in-law also froze. At the time, he had been so overjoyed at being able to rent a transit permit that he had not thought carefully. Merchant Chen had been generous and had not asked him to advance the rental fees. Moreover, Merchant Chen had said that if Chu Linlang could be brought into the partnership, the costs could be further divided — perhaps even less than a hundred taels. Such a bargain, and he had of course agreed without hesitation.

But if Chu Linlang did not join, given the few boats in his hands, it would take ten or eight years before he could earn it back.

The smile on Merchant Chen’s face was also struggling to hold. When he transported goods to the northern territories for the Crown Prince, they were large-scale shipments of goods ordinary merchants could not sell — the profit was staggering, and he had no need to share transit permit fees with anyone.

His original generosity in giving out the transit permit was, of course, a trap laid for this woman and her family.

As long as she was greedy for the northern territories business and wanted a share of it too, he could trick her and her brother-in-law into signing the joint permit rental contract together.

Once their boats were out on the water, there were people arranged to cause an “accident” on the journey.

When the time came, this Chu Niangzi would have nothing left — neither boat nor goods — and would owe the permit rental fees besides. He would have her firmly in his grip.

Never mind making her a Crown Prince’s informant — he could make this little woman walk into a brothel and take off her trousers to sell herself, and she would have no choice but to bow her head and comply.

His nephew Chen Fang harbored quite a yearning for Chu Linlang’s beauty. If he got a hold of her, he would naturally have to let his nephew slake his thirst.

Who could have imagined that this Chu Linlang, unlike her foolish brother-in-law, had a mind that worked like lightning — she had instantly seized on the critical point and left him utterly speechless.