But joining Situ Sheng on the trip to Qianzhou was also the Sixth Prince.

The Crown Prince’s troubles had left the Sixth Prince feeling somewhat uneasy.

Taking advantage of the Qianzhou business trip as a pretext, the Sixth Prince asked Situ Sheng privately: “Junior Mentor, now that the Crown Prince has run into trouble—could the blame fall on my head too?”

The last time, the nephew of the An family who had come scrounging for benefits had inadvertently seen the Crown Prince’s shipboard cargo—and that ship had been packed full of gold and silver in crates of unclear origin.

It was because of this that the Sixth Prince had steeled himself and ordered the An family nephew killed to silence him.

It was only recently that the Sixth Prince had fully understood what on earth the Crown Prince had been up to in the saltpeter smuggling case that had just been uncovered.

Situ Sheng knew his student was timid and always afraid of being struck dead by a falling leaf. He said in a steady voice: “It was not the Sixth Prince who went into the palace to ‘offer lychees.’ What does any of this have to do with Your Highness?”

Liu Ling heard this and felt it made good sense. This was the Fourth Brother getting into a fight with the Crown Prince—he would just keep quiet on the sidelines.

But what concerned him most was not this—it was the hidden reasons behind his imperial father’s current grand mobilization: “Junior Mentor, I say this for your own good too—that old matter… it’s best not to get involved. The waters run too deep!”

Situ Sheng looked at the Sixth Prince with an expression of amusement: “No harm in telling me the details.”

The Sixth Prince peered outside the carriage, then leaned close and spoke into Situ Sheng’s ear: “You also know that before me there is a Third Brother. No official or minister of the court has ever laid eyes on the Third Prince, yet Imperial Father has preserved all his titles—even maintained a residence for him—and on festive occasions sends rewards to the mansion. To the outside world he claims our Third Brother is gravely ill and unfit to receive visitors…”

This was not only something he knew—anyone among the court’s senior officials with more years of experience knew it too.

But every single one kept silent as a cicada in winter and never brought it up. Behind closed doors, however, they referred to the Third Prince’s residence as “the ghost mansion,” and called this Third Prince the Ghost Prince!

The Sixth Prince continued in a low voice: “He was born of Lady Fang, a favored concubine from the Crown Prince’s household at the time. But when he was only three years old, he was kidnapped by abductors at a lantern festival… I also only heard about this later: there was something very suspicious about how Third Brother disappeared. That day, Lady Fang had not originally planned to take such a young child to see the lantern festival. But the Empress—who was Crown Princess at the time—had suddenly developed a mood and insisted on taking the household’s concubines along to view the scene from a tower. With so many servants in attendance, they still managed to lose the child! Imperial Father was enraged at the time and ordered a city-wide search. Though several kidnappers were arrested, they all said they had not handled a child of that age… Lady Fang lost her child and fell ill from accumulated grief—and then somehow died of illness not long after. Since then, Imperial Father has carried this wound in his heart. Fearing that Third Brother might never come back, he specially kept his residence and title for him. This compulsion to search flares up every few years, and there is always someone who fails in the task and becomes the target of His Majesty’s displaced anger…”

It was said that when Imperial Father was still Crown Prince, he had a deep affection for that Lady Fang, and by extension showered great favor on that third son—even more than on his legitimate son. If the child had still been alive, the position of Crown Prince today might not have fallen to the current one at all!

Situ Sheng understood what his student was getting at: if this was to be used as a lever to punish the Crown Prince, it was best to stop here—absolutely do not stir up His Majesty’s compulsion to find the child and end up saddled with an assignment impossible to shake off.

So much time had passed. Who was an immortal of the Great Luo Heaven? Where would one even begin to search for that child?

Upon hearing this, Situ Sheng patted the Sixth Prince on the shoulder and warmly changed the subject, asking about the official duties the Sixth Prince was currently assigned to.

The Sixth Prince had received Situ Sheng’s guidance on several recent matters and things had gone very smoothly. He also lately had a great fondness for bitter grain tea, repeatedly praising his honored teacher’s method for clearing the mind, which made him feel a hundred times more energetic in his work.

After the customary exchange of student praise and teacher modesty, the Sixth Prince finally stepped down from the carriage. His brother-in-law Zhou Sui’an had also come along this time to inspect the water works.

While waiting to receive the Sixth Highness, Zhou Sui’an stood to one side and, without drawing attention to himself, looked over Chu Linlang as she poked her head out of a carriage nearby.

For some reason, not having seen her for so long, he felt she was more dazzlingly beautiful than before—both her hairstyle and her clothing had grown refined and elegant.

This sensation of being struck by someone’s beauty carried him faintly back to those first few years after they met. He still remembered seeing the lovely young woman on the boat for the first time—she had seemed almost otherworldly, and he had been unable to sleep for longing.

What a pity that he, like those poor young men who had managed with great effort to marry a celestial beauty, had carelessly let the celestial beauty slip away…

Arriving at the county seat of Qianzhou, Situ Sheng and the Sixth Prince’s party parted ways, and he went with Lord Li and the others to attend to official business.

Madam He had a tea spread laid out at a teahouse in the county seat to host Chu Linlang.

Besides expressing her gratitude for Chu Linlang’s guidance in business matters, Madam He—as a close friend—was very concerned about her divorced friend’s marriage prospects.

This time Madam He had invited Linlang out for tea, and was also doubling as a matchmaker, intending to arrange a marriage match for Chu Linlang.

In Madam He’s view, Linlang’s looks and character were both first-rate—only, she had heard Linlang’s former mother-in-law Madam Zhao say in private that Chu Linlang could not bear children, and that even her daughter was not born of her. This inability to conceive would be something of a serious issue when it came to remarrying.

But if she found a widower who already had sons and daughters—would that not work out perfectly for everyone?

As it happened, her husband had a male cousin who was over thirty, whose late wife had borne him three sons and two daughters. He was financially comfortable, worked as a minor official under his cousin Lord Li, and had a steady livelihood rain or shine.

He had previously followed his cousin Lord Li to Lianzhou, and of course knew Chu Linlang—the flower of Lianzhou.

This fair and lovely Niangzi Chu had been something that the officials of Lianzhou had often envied and admired.

Everyone said Zhou Sui’an had a tremendous stroke of fortune to have married such a beautiful and capable wife.

When word came that she had parted ways with Zhou Sui’an, the newly widowed cousin immediately entreated Madam He to act as matchmaker and bring the matter up with Niangzi Chu Shi.

Hearing Madam He describe it, Chu Linlang tried, with some effort, to match up a certain dark and unremarkable figure from among the string of minor officials trailing behind Lord Li.

Taking advantage of the moment while Madam He was describing the cousin’s family assets, Chu Linlang quickly poured her a cup of tea and said hurriedly: “First, thank you, Madam, for thinking of me—but I’m not ready to remarry just yet.”

Madam He said in surprise: “Why not? Are you planning to be a servant in the Vice Minister’s residence for the rest of your life?”

With that, a thought crossed Madam He’s mind and she probed: “Unless you already have a suitable person in mind? Surely it isn’t… Lord Situ?”

Chu Linlang nearly choked on the water in her mouth.

She had deliberately worn a high-collared garment when she went out today, and the mosquito bite marks all over her neck were covered up perfectly. Madam He should not be able to see any giveaways!

She hurriedly and uncomfortably straightened her collar, laughed dryly, and waved her hand in dismissal: “Madam, how can you say such things… Has someone been spreading wild rumors?”

Madam He did not press further: “I was only guessing wildly—it’s best if it’s not him! Don’t blame this old sister of yours for nagging and being intrusive. I’m worried about you! At your age, don’t waste your best years on something with no hope!”

Chu Linlang managed to find an excuse: “You also know me—I’m someone who cares about looks. If someone isn’t good-looking, I can’t take to them.”

Madam He felt Chu Linlang was being too shallow and still hadn’t tasted enough of life’s bitterness: “Pan An’s famous looks—three months of a diet of lard and rice and he’d balloon into the Heavenly Marshal Zhu Bajie. As for handsome men—how many of them are actually reliable? Zhou Sui’an was handsome enough, and see how well you managed to hold onto him.”

Chu Linlang was rarely at a loss for words when someone fired back at her, and for a moment had nothing to say.

Because it was true—it was precisely Zhou Sui’an’s good looks that had given birth to one rotten peach-blossom affair after another.

Seeing Chu Linlang speechless, Madam He felt there was still hope for this matchmaking today, and pressed on: “My lord’s cousin is completely different—he’s a man who gets on properly with life, and he’d never get up to those cat-and-dog sorts of goings-on!”

With that, she lowered her voice and leaned close to Chu Linlang’s ear: “Have you noticed—his nose is quite big. He’s thirty-four this year, right in a man’s prime. If he were any older, he’d be like my old man—can’t even aim when he pees and splashes his own feet, good for absolutely nothing! You’ve been married before, so I won’t mince words: when the lamp is blown out, it’s all about whether the man is capable. Otherwise you’d marry into a life of being a widow with a living husband while still young! Doesn’t that make sense?”

Not for nothing was she a prefect’s wife born in the countryside—once she opened her mouth, none of the reticence of high society ladies. Madam He, when it came to the subject of marriage, always went straight to the marrow and spoke the unvarnished truth.

Chu Linlang was once again rendered wordless and could only laugh awkwardly.

Madam He saw she still wasn’t getting through to her and pressed on further: “Take your employer, for instance—he certainly looks good on the outside, but I can see there are serious problems! Back in Lianzhou, my husband, hoping to curry favor with the prince, had specially arranged several beautiful young singing girls to keep him company. Never mind that the Sixth Prince looked a bit thin and scrawny—functionally he was perfectly fine. But Lord Situ didn’t glance at them even once. My husband thought he was being picky and didn’t like women of the entertainment world, so he picked two pretty-looking maids from his own household to send over—and Lord Situ drove those away too.”

Hearing this, Chu Linlang’s interest was somewhat piqued, and she asked: “And then… what happened?”

Madam He sighed: “Don’t even get me started. My husband, heaven knows who put the idea in his head, thought he had a preference for men, and so sent over two fair-looking young male officials…”

Chu Linlang quietly caught her breath and asked timidly, while sipping her tea to steady her nerves: “Did he… keep them?”

Madam He took a sip of tea and whispered close to Chu Linlang’s ear: “Lord Situ sent the officials back and told my husband: if Lord Prefect was so fond of sending people, he might as well wash himself clean and come to keep him company in person.”

Chu Linlang heard this and very nearly sprayed the tea she had just put in her mouth.

She truly had not known that Situ Sheng had such wide-ranging tastes in his remarks.

Madam He saw her laughing and laughed herself, saying quietly: “Serving in his residence as you do now, you should also know this lord keeps himself completely distant from women—there’s not even a whiff of anyone around him. So you really can’t judge a man solely by appearances!”

Hmm… Chu Linlang thought to herself: she really had not noticed that Situ Sheng kept his distance from women. Lately he clung to her terribly—and every time he stirred her up until she was burning with heat and could no longer help herself, he would then stop short of the final step without fail.

Could it be… that Madam He had guessed correctly, and all his varied overtures were elaborate with no actual substance to follow through—willing in spirit but lacking in capability?

Madam He also saw that Chu Linlang was not taken with her husband’s cousin, but her enthusiasm for matchmaking remained undimmed: “Never mind if you don’t fancy this one. In the capital, finding a husband is easy enough. Next time, I’ll find you one with better looks.”

Chu Linlang wanted to give a vague answer and said: “All right then—if elder sister can find me a good match, I’ll take a look…”

“Take a look at what? Can I look too?”

Chu Linlang was in the middle of sipping her tea when she was startled by this familiar voice—this time she couldn’t hold it in, and a mouthful came spraying out.

And this mouthful was not wasted—it landed perfectly on the person who had just stepped into the private room.

Chu Linlang covered her mouth with her handkerchief and looked: well, what a case of the water not flowing to an outsider’s field—this entire mouthful had been sprayed squarely onto her lord’s person!

And walking behind Situ Sheng was none other than County Magistrate Lord Li himself, who had very nearly spent a night keeping someone company…

As it turned out, while Situ Sheng had been inspecting the public service fields, Lord Li had not been able to resist making friendly overtures and exchanging pleasantries about the near-bedfellow bond they had shared back in Lianzhou.

One thing led to another—and somehow Lord Li brought up the matter of his wife currently acting as matchmaker for Niangzi Chu.

He mentioned outright that if Niangzi Chu were to get married and Lord Situ’s residence no longer had a capable household manager, he might consider a distant female cousin of his—also twenty-four years old and recently separated from her husband, smooth-skinned and tender-looking, no less so than Niangzi Chu.

Lord Li had also been tireless in probing the hidden preferences of Lord Situ.

And as they chatted, Lord Li suddenly wondered whether Lord Situ might have a fondness for other men’s wives—and so he tossed out this flash of inspired improvisation.

But the moment he said it, Lord Li felt a sudden shiver run through him—because Lord Situ had looked up at him in response and fixed him with a gaze that was rather frightening, very much like the time he had been told to stay the night and keep him company…

Could it be Lord Situ had certain other feelings toward Chu Shi? Oh dear—then with his wife playing matchmaker and trying to arrange Chu Linlang for someone else, wasn’t that trampling on the Vice Minister’s territory?

Thinking this, Lord Li felt a slight flutter of panic and quickly changed the subject, saying that his wife and Niangzi Chu were having tea at a teahouse in the county seat not far from the public service fields, and asking whether Lord Situ—having been out in the sun so long—might like to come and have a cup.

And so the two of them brought their attendants by carriage to the teahouse to wet their throats—arriving just in time for Chu Linlang’s mouthful of tea.

As for Madam He, when she saw her husband and Lord Situ appear out of nowhere like figures rising from the earth, she was also thrown into a fluster.

She had just been gossiping about Lord Situ—she had no idea whether the subject of her gossip had overheard any of it—and could only frantically shoot meaningful looks at her husband, wishing she could detach her own eyeballs and fling them straight at Lord Li’s plump face.

On Chu Linlang’s side, she hurriedly pulled out her handkerchief and wiped Situ Sheng’s face and jacket front, while also mildly reproaching him: “My lord, how could you just walk in like that without making any sound—do you want to frighten someone to death?”

Situ Sheng submitted to her slender hands wiping his face and looked coolly at Madam He, who was still making frantic eye signals at her husband: “What’s this—did I interrupt Niangzi Chu and Madam He discussing matters of great importance?”

Lord Li was afraid his wife might say something foolish and immediately jumped in first: “My wife has nothing going on and just loves to talk nonsense. Niangzi Chu wasn’t taking it seriously either, hahaha…”

With that, he tugged at his wife and signaled her to hurry and leave with him.

Madam He didn’t understand her husband’s meaning, and could only go downstairs with him first—but before she left, she winked at Chu Linlang: “What I told you—do give it careful thought! We’ll pick this up next time!”

With that, Madam He went downstairs with Lord Li.

Situ Sheng’s expression was slightly displeased. Once the others had gone, he asked: “What was Madam He talking to you about?”

Chu Linlang did not want to tell him about something so inconsequential and tried to brush past it vaguely.

Unfortunately, Situ Sheng was a product of the Court of Judicial Review, and when questioning people he insisted on getting to the root of things—he would not be fobbed off.

There was nothing to be done. Chu Linlang could only say helplessly: “Madam He means well and wants to act as matchmaker for me…”

When he heard Chu Linlang describe exactly who Madam He was trying to match her with, Situ Sheng knitted his thick brows and tried to recall, but no matter how he thought about it, he could not bring to mind any promising young talent among Lord He’s entourage.

Chu Linlang remembered Madam He’s words and let out a laugh: “When looking at a man, you can’t go by looks—you have to look at whether his nose is big enough…”

Situ Sheng had never had “the size of a man’s nose” as a subject of study, and naturally did not understand the wisdom connecting a man’s nose size to his capabilities.

But he estimated it wasn’t anything flattering, and said coolly: “Does she take me for a dead man? Accepting an invitation like that?”

Chu Linlang thought to herself: it’s not as though you and I are together forever—life and death are no concern of yours in this!

But having been a wife for eight years, she naturally understood that men needed to be coaxed. So she poured him tea with one hand while speaking in a soft and gentle voice: “Oh, other people were talking—I just listened as idle gossip, exactly as you said—Lianzhou is all turnips and sweet potatoes, not even a large winter melon to be found. I wouldn’t fancy any of them.”

Hearing her say this, Situ Sheng’s expression eased somewhat, and he asked: “Want to head back together? We’re about done with the public service fields too.”

But Chu Linlang thought of how Zhou Sui’an had also come to Qianzhou with the Sixth Prince—meaning they would presumably be heading back together. The ride there had already been a bit awkward; there was no need to make the ride back awkward too. And so she hesitated and said: “…Actually, don’t worry about it. I’ll take a carriage back by myself later.”

She said this with good reason—because she wanted to take advantage of when Situ Sheng and the others were eating to slip away and talk to Zhou Sui’an in private about a personal matter.

Just now she had chatted with Madam He for quite a while, and Madam He, who knew everyone and had dealings with many officials’ wives in the capital, also knew a fair amount about the Zhou household’s affairs.

Madam He had also told her, in great detail, about the current state of chaos in the Zhou household. When Chu Linlang had separated from them, she had taken two shops with her. Madam Zhao had been distressed about this, but had not thought it would threaten the Zhou household’s survival.

After all, Zhou Sui’an was now a capital official, with a salary and some public service land. But in practice, these sources of income simply didn’t stretch far enough.

Before, all the household accounts had been managed by Chu Linlang, and daily life had been carefully calculated right down to which day they ate fish and which meal they added meat.

This way, the whole family ate and dressed without worry, and could even set money aside. After so many years of comfortable living, Madam Zhao had forgotten how to economize.

Now that Xie Youran had come into the household, Madam Zhao had seized the opportunity to reclaim control of the household finances. Xie Youran didn’t care much for this sort of money-handling business anyway and let Madam Zhao have it.

With control of the household came control of the money. Madam Zhao had her son hand over his salary.

But Zhou Sui’an found this inconvenient—in the capital, unlike in a local post, even having tea and drinks with a colleague cost ten or twenty taels of silver at a go. How could he always let others pay for him?

After complaining to his mother several times, Madam Zhao also felt her son was a high-ranking official who shouldn’t have to pinch pennies.

So the household finances grew tighter and tighter. It wasn’t just that cabbage and tofu had become the staple of every meal—Madam Zhao had even pulled Yuan’er out of the women’s academy.

And even with all that, Xie Youran still felt wronged, and quarreled with Madam Zhao day after day, saying that for a sixth-rank capital official’s household, did they really need to live in such straitened circumstances?

Xie Youran’s dowry was not large, but fortunately she could slip away to see her mother during banquet visits, and Madam Su would give her supplemental funds. So Xie Youran simply set up her own small kitchen in the main courtyard, cooking separately on her own stove, buying fish, meat, shrimp, and eggs, sending fragrant aromas wafting all through the courtyard.

She was perfectly capable of it—opening a separate kitchen only for herself and Zhou Sui’an, not sharing a bite with the rest of the family.

This left Madam Zhao and her daughter, along with Madam Hu and the others, catching the aromas while trying to swallow their cabbage soup—how were they to get it down?

She summoned Xie Youran to have words with her, hinting that the former daughter-in-law had contributed to the household finances. But Xie Youran rolled her eyes and said: “There’s hardly anyone left in the whole capital who still expects a daughter-in-law to subsidize the household with her own funds! Did I marry into a broken-down family? I’m carrying a child now—my own family is giving me something good to eat for the pregnancy, and I’m supposed to share it with others?”

Madam Zhao was fuming too hard to speak, and went out to complain to familiar acquaintances. The Zhou household had been perfectly fine before—if not for Xie Shi’s improper conduct getting entangled with her son and causing the Zhou household to make a spectacle of itself, how would things have come to such a state of belt-tightening and economy?

What Madam Zhao didn’t know was that in venting her feelings she had become fodder for other people’s after-dinner gossip. Madam He told it to Chu Linlang as something amusing.

Hearing it, Chu Linlang felt a heaviness in her chest.

Not because she felt sorry for the Zhou household’s three meals—but because hearing that Madam Zhao had pulled Yuan’er out of the women’s academy, she could not suppress her indignation.

Yuan’er’s schooling at the women’s academy had been something Chu Linlang had insisted on with all her determination. She herself had suffered for her lack of education when she was young and had greatly envied those young ladies from good families—she felt that even if a girl was not going to take the examinations, she should still read and learn to distinguish right from wrong.

Yuan’er’s studies had always been good. After entering the capital, Linlang had also transferred her to a decent academy, and she was roughly two more years away from completing her studies and being dismissed as a student.

But stopping it now—was that not abandoning the task halfway?

So Chu Linlang wanted to find Zhou Sui’an privately and tell him that she would pay for Yuan’er’s academy fees—he must not interrupt the child’s studies.

Taking advantage of the time when County Magistrate Lord Li was hosting a banquet for the Ministry of Finance colleagues and the Sixth Prince’s party, Chu Linlang glanced over and saw that Zhou Sui’an happened to be trailing behind some colleagues, so she signaled Xia He to call him over.

She would just exchange a few brief words with Zhou Sui’an at the stable behind the restaurant.

Zhou Sui’an saw Xia He come to find him and was quite pleased, assuming that Chu Linlang—just like himself—had been pining for their old conjugal bond and was missing him a little.

But when he met the person at the stable, Chu Linlang went straight to the point: she asked how much money Yuan’er’s schooling was short, and she could cover it.

Zhou Sui’an truly felt his face flush hot with what felt like a tremendous humiliation.

“Is the Zhou household so destitute it can’t raise a child without your silver, you merchant woman? Chu Linlang—are you using money to humiliate me?”

Chu Linlang was not surprised that Zhou Sui’an turned on her—he was the same as always, always needing to save face.

She only said in a level tone: “Men and women face different circumstances, and accordingly see things with different biases. You feel I’ve wounded your pride by saying this. But you should know—my doing this has nothing to do with you. It’s entirely for the child Yuan’er… How much did you mock me over the years for my lack of learning? Are you really going to let your own daughter be looked down upon by her future husband for her limited horizons too? She didn’t get this far in her studies easily—why abandon it halfway?”

Looking at Chu Linlang as she gently but pointedly persuaded him in that unhurried tone, Zhou Sui’an found himself faintly transported back to just before their separation.

In those days, every time Chu Linlang had wanted to convince him of something, she had worn exactly this expression and used exactly this tone—it was impossible not to feel a pang of longing…

Thinking this, Zhou Sui’an’s own tone softened: “Since you left, the child Yuan’er has been missing you constantly. If you truly cared for her, you should not have…”

Chu Linlang did not let him continue. She raised her hand quickly to stop his words: “My caring for Yuan’er is not a reason to live in misery myself. She and I are alike—neither of us is a proper daughter of the main wife, and we’ll both inevitably be burdened by our status in the future. That’s what makes me feel a kinship of shared suffering with her. You know very well what my father was like—I only hope Lord Zhou will not become the same kind of man: owing his daughter much and feeling not the slightest remorse.”

With that, she drew out a banknote and placed it on the railing of the stable pen: “This is not a large sum, but it is enough to cover Yuan’er’s two years of tuition and academy fees. Of course, if one were to use it for wining and dining and entertainment, it would also suffice for several rounds of indulgence. As for how to use it—that is entirely up to you, Lord Zhou…”

With that, she turned and walked away with her maids.

When it came to Yuan’er’s situation, this was as far as she could help. After all, Zhou Sui’an was Yuan’er’s father.