At that thought, Situ Sheng slowly released his grip, not wanting to see the look of revulsion cross Linlang’s face, and turned to push open the door and leave.

But Linlang reached out from behind and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist, pressing her face against his broad back, and said in a muffled voice: “If you’ve thought of so many ways… why not try one?”

Situ Sheng went rigid once more. He turned back, barely daring to believe it, looked at Linlang, and breathed: “What are you… talking about? Say it again.”

How could words as shameless as those be repeated a second time?

Linlang had had quite enough of Situ Sheng’s perpetual monk-like self-restraint. There was no good reason why, with her about to leave, she should go without even a single taste of what she’d been craving!

With that thought, she glared up at Situ Sheng with stubborn resentment and said in aggravated suspicion: “What does it matter what I say! You’re not actually… incapable, are you?”

As she said it, her skeptical gaze drifted downward slightly — heavens, if that were the case, provoking him like this would only make things more mortifying for everyone involved.

Well, fine then — even a tiger who had retracted its claws was not about to be mistaken for a sick housecat, no matter how pitifully he behaved.

Situ Sheng himself had been maddened by this audacious little cat who dared to tweak a tiger’s whiskers.

He spun around, seized her, and crushed her lips in a deep, fierce kiss.

The moment their lips met, every thread of rational thought snapped clean apart. Chu Linlang threw herself in entirely, her mind churning with nothing but his words.

He had said the only reason he had never touched her was because he had been keeping things hidden from her. He would rather drown himself in the flames than deny her any avenue of escape.

But how unfortunate — he seemed to have forgotten that Chu Linlang had never once walked an easy, unobstructed road in her life.

She had always moved forward. There was never any need to keep a retreat.

This time, Situ Sheng seemed to have had every last seal of restraint stripped clean away. He abandoned all self-control entirely — and after a long, tender, consuming kiss, swept her up in his arms and threw her down upon the bed.

He gripped her slender waist as though making a vow, and said in a low voice: “Chu Linlang — don’t regret this. From now on, I…”

Chu Linlang had no patience for any more words. She sat up and pulled off her own outer robe, and like a fish slipped in fragrant oil, slid herself straight into his arms — then nipped playfully at his chin and nose.

With only a thin inner robe between them, pressed together in such intimacy, the heat rising between them scorched along every fine nerve, until it seemed that even the faintest breath was amplified a hundredfold.

Chu Linlang, true to form, was playful and unrestrained, like a child who didn’t know what it was lighting when it struck the tinder.

Situ Sheng kissed her fiercely, with barely restrained urgency, and asked in a muffled voice: “Do you really think I’m not a man?”

Chu Linlang’s hands had been pressed down onto the pillow by his large palms. She looked up, slightly breathless, at the handsome man pinning her down, and thought to herself that she was very much in need of a large drink — she just didn’t know if this man was strong enough liquor.

So she deliberately raised her head and bit the tip of his straight nose, the meaning in her eyes unmistakable: “Whether you’re a man or not — that would have to be put to the test to know.”

Not long after saying this, Chu Linlang had some regrets.

Rumor had it that the lord suffered from a serious hidden ailment — but given the intimacy between the two of them over these past days, he didn’t seem like someone with any such grave condition.

But if he really proved to be incapable in a moment… should she pretend to be satisfied and preserve his dignity as a man?

Still lost in this line of thought, her cheek was caught between his teeth with just enough pressure, as though he were displeased that her mind was wandering at such a critical moment.

Chu Linlang stopped drifting. She lifted her head slightly and melted into a long, consuming kiss with him.

For this moment, setting aside all questions of identity, all murky uncertainties about the future — they simply raised their cups to each other, and drank their fill.

The night was long and tempestuous, and how many times they drifted into rest and woke again could not be counted.

Chu Linlang had long since been utterly exhausted and conceded defeat, feeling that her earlier dark hints about Lord Situ’s hidden ailment were nothing short of… the fearless ignorance of someone who didn’t know what she was walking into.

She who prided herself on having weathered some storms in her life had not expected to be completely undone by this supposedly inexperienced young man!

True, Situ Sheng had at first been without experience — a little green and overeager — which had led her to genuinely suspect he had some early-onset condition after all, and she had quietly consoled him, assuring him that she truly didn’t mind about the length of time, that he was still young, and that if he was bothered by it, he might consider seeing a physician.

What she had not anticipated was that this carefully prepared reassurance detonated a hornet’s nest.

Situ Sheng’s smile turned thoroughly unsettling. The gentle, cultured, slightly-green Vice Minister vanished without a trace, and what remained said in a low voice: “Then why don’t you treat me right now?”

In the space of a blink, a harsh interrogator from the Court of Judicial Review had taken over, applying every one of his most refined and ruthless questioning techniques to the narrow confines of the bed.

Once he had grasped the essentials, the relentless examiner settled into an unhurried, methodical approach — precise and thorough — until the only option left was to surrender, disarmed and at his mercy, forced to yield completely.

In the end, she wearily pushed away the man who had reached for her yet again, tears still glimmering at the corners of her eyes as she said with breathless exasperation: “If you come at me once more, I will actually die! Will you not let anyone rest? You… this is also a grave illness! You should see a physician!”

Linlang did not realize it herself — but her elaborate pinned-up hair had come completely undone, cascading like a black waterfall of silk across the pillow, like a celestial being who had descended to earth.

The candlelight filtering through the bed curtains fell across her: the corners of her eyes flushed red and glistening, her full cheeks connected to her slender neck still suffused in crimson — like a flower battered open by heavy rain, delicate and breathtakingly beautiful, enough to make one want to press close once more.

But Situ Sheng had no intention of tormenting her further. The desire that had accumulated over so long had at last been satisfied, and he had now tasted the exquisite pleasure that had circled through his dreams so many times before.

Only, once that pleasure was tasted, it proved rather addictive — he still wanted, with some dissatisfaction, to hold the soft, tender woman in his arms.

Unfortunately, he had worn her out too thoroughly. Linlang refused to let him hold her, wrapping herself tightly in the quilts and leaving him out in the cold.

What had begun as a farewell had ended on the bed. This was, in truth, entirely in keeping with Chu Niangzi’s style — completely unexpected, impossible to predict.

He simply gathered up the small woman bundled inside the quilts and pressed soft kisses to her forehead, yet could never quite bring himself to ask whether she still intended to leave.

This woman was hungry for him, and made no effort whatsoever to hide it. With no heart and no conscience, if she had satisfied her craving and fulfilled her wish, it was entirely possible she might still get up and walk away.

Sure enough, after a while, Linlang of her own accord pressed her damp, flushed face against his broad, solid shoulder and murmured to him: “I still plan to go back to Jiang Kou in person…”

The moment she finished speaking, the man holding her went rigid.

Linlang, half-amused and half-exasperated, reached out and pinched his nose gently: “Now that you and I are like this, if I go on staying in your household, it becomes a matter of a servant conducting a private affair with the master — something that sounds bad no matter how it’s told.”

She shifted against Situ Sheng’s chest and continued: “I’ll find a pretext to go back to Jiang Kou, and in doing so I can naturally resign my position at your household — which also gives a proper, respectable explanation to the outside world. Once I return, I want to buy a shop and go into business. The shop will do perfectly well as a place to stay and sleep. When my lord is not too busy, come by the shop on an evening when no one’s about and keep me company. What do you say… would that be agreeable?”

Situ Sheng listened to her soft, quiet voice and understood her plan clearly enough.

She disdained the notion of a servant conducting an illicit affair with a master, and so wished to develop this into a case of “an official colluding with a merchant?”

But her idea was not a bad one. As long as she was no longer a member of his household, even if things were discovered in the future, she would not be implicated in the consequences of his downfall.

And he could still see her whenever he wished.

At that thought, Situ Sheng tacitly accepted her proposal, only asking in a low voice: “When I come to your shop — will I be sitting in the chair, or sitting on you?”

Chu Linlang discovered that once this man had broken through a certain threshold, his words became thoroughly unconstrained.

But was she going to be cowed by this tender young thing? She deliberately tapped the tip of his high-bridged nose, then looked at him with warm, melting eyes, and breathed softly: “Both at the same time would also be acceptable…”

That one line was enough to undo him. Situ Sheng slowly lowered his head, seeming to contemplate the meaning behind her words — and when the delightful implication fully settled in, he reached out and pulled back the quilt, clearly ready to test this theory immediately.

Chu Linlang burst out laughing in fright, wrapping her arms around his neck to hold him back. But the moment she did that, the conversation that had been attempting to plan out their future devolved into impropriety all over again.

Chu Linlang’s decision to move out of the Vice Minister’s residence, however, was not about distancing herself from Situ Sheng.

Now that the fact of their liaison was settled, there was all the more reason to be discreet.

Beyond not wanting to be the subject of gossip, Chu Linlang also wanted to earn more money.

In the past, not knowing Situ Sheng’s background or his true intentions, she had simply thought that when two people’s affinity ran its course, they would each go their own separate ways, as a bridge goes back to being a bridge and a road goes back to being a road.

But now she understood him completely.

His purpose had never been advancement in rank or titles — he carried a burden that could not be spoken aloud.

Beyond avenging his grandfather, he also wanted to fulfill the great undertaking his grandfather had left unfinished — to root out and cut down the poison that was draining the Great Jin, and more than that, to restore the honor of three thousand Yang family soldiers who had died unjust deaths.

Just hearing about this path was enough to feel it was riddled with thorns at every step, extraordinarily difficult — and that there was no retreat.

So Chu Linlang wanted to put forth every ounce of effort she had, earn as much money as possible, and in the event of any calamity — she wanted to be his avenue of escape.

Even if one day he was ruined and cast out by the world, she could unhurriedly provide him a place to take shelter.

After their revelry had run its course, as Chu Linlang quietly described her plans and intentions, Situ Sheng only looked down steadily at the drowsy woman in his arms, then silently held her tight and murmured: “Have no fear. That day will not come. I will not fail you…”

Hearing him say this, Chu Linlang jolted awake and quickly added: “What you and I share is a friendship between honorable persons — it must never become a burden. I make no demands of any promise from you, my lord. If in the future you meet a suitable woman, you should of course establish a proper household and family. I imagine old General Yang would also hope to see his eldest grandson carry on the family line and give him descendants.”

She herself could not bear children, and she had no wish to marry — but she absolutely could not be the reason for the lord’s marriage being delayed.

Some things were better spoken plainly early on, so that neither party would face the awkwardness of not being able to bring them up later.

When the time came for him to want to marry, it would surely be when his wish had been fulfilled and he had no more entanglements. By then, she would not cling to him — she would simply make herself scarce with good grace.

Hearing Chu Linlang cut both sides of the tofu cleanly smooth, once again trying to draw a clear line between herself and him, Situ Sheng gave a cold laugh, the look in his eyes toward her unfathomable and deep.

Chu Linlang thought that today had set out to be a farewell and had somehow turned into a tumble in bed — which was absurd enough. Looking at the late, dark sky outside the window, she urged Situ Sheng softly to hurry up and leave.

But Situ Sheng didn’t move. He simply tucked her into his arms, closed his eyes, and went to sleep without a care.

Lying in his embrace was genuinely comfortable. Linlang rubbed her cheek against his firm arm, and drifted off to sleep beside him.

Resting like a pair of mandarin ducks with necks entwined, they slept until broad daylight.

Situ Sheng did not leave Chu Linlang’s room until the early hours of the following morning.

Dongxue was fetching water and saw him at a glance — so startled that she shrank back into the corridor, and only after the lord had gone did she dart like a flash into the young mistress’s room.

She burst in to find her young mistress humming a little tune as she tidied the disordered bed.

Dongxue’s unexpected appearance startled Chu Linlang so badly she gave a full-body jolt, and the song scattered into silence. When she saw it was Dongxue, she let out a long breath: “What is it! You nearly frightened me to death!”

Dongxue looked at her young mistress — glowing with vitality as though she had drunk a great restorative tonic — and managed to stammer: “My mistress — you… last night you and he…”

Chu Linlang made a hushing gesture, swiftly pulled the bracelet from her own wrist, and slipped it onto Dongxue’s: “Good Dongxue, not a word — act as though you know nothing!”

Dongxue was practically exasperated to death by her young mistress, and gave her wrist a sharp shake: “Stuffing jewelry onto the maidservant’s wrist to buy her silence — you’re getting more and more accomplished at running a household, young mistress!”

Chu Linlang smiled apologetically: “I know my Dongxue is an upright and incorruptible woman — not the sort to be bought off!”

Dongxue put on a stern face and pointed in exasperation at Linlang’s other wrist: “If you’re giving, give a matching pair. What am I supposed to do with just one?”

Linlang pinched the stubborn girl’s ear, then slid the other bracelet off and put it on her as well.

Seeing her young mistress looking so radiantly pleased with herself, Dongxue understood that Situ Sheng must be a man who knew what he was doing — and that the young mistress had walked straight into his trap and couldn’t find her way out.

But one couldn’t entirely blame the young mistress for being so thoroughly smitten — given how strikingly handsome and refined Situ Sheng was, what woman could look at him for long without losing her head?

With that thought, Dongxue muttered: “Young mistress, you’d better keep your wits about you. Being charmed is one thing — but hold tight to your money and don’t end up subsidizing him!”

But in Chu Linlang’s view, as far as being charmed went, it was hard to say who had taken advantage of whom — and as for being subsidized, it seemed to have been Situ Sheng doing all the subsidizing of her throughout.

Within a few days of Chu Linlang’s decision to leave the residence, Situ Sheng pressed into her hands the deed to a small house — situated in Qiushui Alley, a thriving part of the capital, with her name registered as the owner.

“The house is a bit small, but it has the advantage of being in a very safe area, and it’s not far from my own residence. Have a look inside and see what’s missing — I’ll have it purchased for you.”

Chu Linlang looked the deed over, then looked up and asked: “I heard from the household accounts keeper that you withdrew a very large sum — but even so, this wouldn’t be enough to buy this house, would it?”

Property in the capital had never been cheap. Even with years of accumulated savings, it wouldn’t be sufficient.

Situ Sheng said without the slightest embarrassment: “It fell a little short, so I borrowed some from the Sixth Prince as well — I’ll pay him back gradually from my monthly salary.”

Hearing that he had actually borrowed money to buy her a house, Chu Linlang felt simultaneously annoyed and touched, and said in gentle reproach: “I could have rented a room on my own — why did you have to go and buy one?”

Situ Sheng told her with great seriousness: “One doesn’t sleep well in a bed that isn’t one’s own. Besides, in the future — if something happens, this way property is split off cleanly in advance for you, so it can’t all be seized in a confiscation.”

Hearing him put it that way, Chu Linlang immediately saw the sense in it.

Though a lord who thought about having his household confiscated at every turn was surely unique in all the capital. She silently warded off the bad omen — the ramblings of a fool!

And then — what kind of improper thing was he saying? She couldn’t help murmuring: “Who said you could come and sleep there?”

Situ Sheng took the opportunity to pull her waist toward him and said in a low voice: “What’s that? You eat and then deny it? Wasn’t it you who invited me to come by and spend some time there in the evenings?”

With that, he pressed his lips to her neck. This woman was soft enough on the bed that she could barely hold herself together — yet she always loved to fan the flames.

But Chu Linlang wasn’t having it: “All right, it’s the middle of the day — don’t let the servants see!”

Situ Sheng relaxed his hold slightly, but asked in a low voice whether she’d like to come to his room tonight.

Chu Linlang shook her head — no. Last night she had gone to his room. The bed was as hard as a plank; being pressed down on it she had yelped with pain again and again, unable to bear it in the slightest — it was comparable to a punishment.

Situ Sheng understood, and indicated that tonight he would come to her room — her bed was indeed more comfortable, layered with such thick quilts, pleasant no matter how one pressed down on it.

Now that the Qiushui Alley house was purchased, the matter of leaving the residence — plus the trip back to her hometown — truly needed to be put on the schedule.

When Chu Linlang said she was going back to her hometown in Jiang Kou and resigning from her position as steward at the Vice Minister’s residence, Dongxue was as overjoyed as if the young mistress were about to remarry.

It seemed the young mistress had finally come to her senses, had recognized that Situ Sheng was not someone to entrust a lifetime to, and after one brush of romance had severed the relationship.

This was all for the better. After all, it had just been a brief indulgence, a dew-drop affair — no one would ever know about the young mistress and Lord Situ’s secret.

Dongxue’s elation persisted right up to the second evening after moving into Qiushui Alley.

When someone came knocking softly at the door after nightfall, Dongxue watched with her own eyes as that unvanquished spirit — Lord Situ — wrapped in a black cloak that covered his head and face entirely, entered the young mistress’s courtyard as though he had the place entirely to himself.

Fortunately, Situ Sheng was busy with official affairs this time and only stayed in the young mistress’s room for a little over an hour before leaving.

But the one left speechless this time wasn’t just Dongxue — Xia He, who had not noticed a thing from start to finish, had also begun to sense that something was off.

She asked Dongxue quietly: “Do you think… Lord Situ came to our mistress’s room to settle up the Vice Minister’s household accounts?”

Dongxue gave Xia He’s head a hard thump: “Are you truly that simple-minded? What kind of life-or-death accounts require settling with the lamp put out?”

It was only then that Xia He finally woke up to the situation: “How can the young mistress and Lord Situ… they… they…”

Dongxue slipped the bracelet from her own wrist: “Here — take it, and not a word to anyone.”

Xia He took it in dumb bewilderment: “What do you mean by this?”

Dongxue sighed: “It’s the young mistress’s hush money. Just take it.”

Xia He was speechless again, and found herself thinking of her own foolish brother Xia Qingyun.

No wonder the young mistress hadn’t been willing. Compared to the dashing and distinguished Lord Situ, her own brother was nothing but a country bumpkin — how could he possibly measure up?

She couldn’t help herself and asked in puzzlement: “But… why doesn’t the lord simply propose? Why all this sneaking about?”

Dongxue found Xia He’s boldness of imagination rather admirable, and looked at her with a new sort of respect. She simply pulled the other hush-money bracelet from her own wrist and added it to Xia He’s.

Once Xia He had finally turned it all over in her mind, she stamped her foot in anxiety: “Our young mistress is such a sharp woman — could it be… that Situ Sheng has some kind of hold over her? Is she being kept under his thumb?”

The young mistress was not the sort to suffer in silence — so why was she involved with him in this murky, unresolved way?

But then she turned and looked — at the young mistress sitting before the window in the candlelight, humming a gentle Suzhou melody, chin resting in her hand, gazing dreamily at the moon with a sweet, besotted smile. She didn’t look the slightest bit like someone being coerced.

Word that Chu Linlang had left the Vice Minister’s residence spread in small circles before long.

The first to notice were the colleagues at the Ministry of Finance, who suddenly found that the taste of the food boxes Situ Sheng brought was all wrong.

Asking around, they learned that in the past, all those food boxes had been personally prepared by Steward Chu of the Vice Minister’s household for the employer. But Steward Chu had now resigned her position, so in all likelihood the colleagues would never again taste those authentic Jiangnan small dishes.

The Ministry of Finance colleagues, whose palates had been thoroughly spoiled by Situ Sheng’s food boxes, teased him: “Such a skilled and beautiful female steward — and you were willing to let her go?”

Situ Sheng smiled without answering and went on eating his own meal.

He could hardly tell his colleagues that though lunch was less appetizing now, in the evenings he could make up for it — going to the rooms of a certain female merchant in the capital, where “with delicate hands and mellow wine by candlelight,” he could enjoy a far more satisfying private feast.

Of all the people who were pleased to hear that Chu Linlang had left the Vice Minister’s residence, none was happier than Zhou Sui’an.

Ever since that day in Ji County, when he had inadvertently caught sight of Situ Sheng helping Chu Linlang into the carriage, the image had lodged in his mind and grown more troubling with every passing day.

Once the thought that “Linlang might have given herself to someone else” had taken root, it burrowed through him like creeping vine, gnawing at him without respite.

The anxiety this thought brought Lord Zhou was far greater, in truth, than the anxiety brought by his own divorce from Chu Linlang.

In Zhou Sui’an’s view, even if Linlang had divorced him, she would not be able to remarry in a hurry.

And Xie Youran had been making a tremendous scene of late, constantly threatening divorce at every turn.

Zhao Shi also kept asking him to go and console Xie Youran, since she was heavily pregnant and all this anger wasn’t good for the child. But Zhou Sui’an couldn’t even bring himself to enter Xie Youran’s room anymore.

He had thoroughly lost his appetite for a woman like Second Mistress Xie — all poetry and refinement in public, and more mercenary than a country wife in private.

It turned out that not every woman could manage the household’s inner affairs with the effortless order that his former wife Linlang had — could show filial respect to a mother-in-law, treat concubines and younger sisters-in-law with courtesy, raise another woman’s illegitimate child as her own, and without complaint or resentment pour her own resources into the household, leaving him completely free from worry to attend to his official duties.

What had once seemed ordinary and stale, the flat taste of years of married life — now, each time he revisited those memories late at night, they struck him as precious beyond measure, precious enough to make him weep alone in the dark.

He had even secretly begun to hope that the things Xie Youran said in anger would actually come true — that once she gave birth, she would pack her things and divorce him and go back to her family.

At which point, could he not go and find Linlang, offer her proper amends for the hardships she had endured during this time outside, and begin again?

In any case, Chu Linlang’s departure from the Vice Minister’s residence had reignited Zhou Sui’an’s endless, hollow hope.

As for the girls’ school — the person most delighted to hear that Chu Linlang had resigned from her post at the Vice Minister’s residence was Yixiu Junzhu.

It served Lord Situ right — he had finally seen through that woman’s unworthiness and driven her out of the household.

Even though Situ Sheng had just declined the marriage proposal brought by a matchmaker, Yixiu Junzhu’s infatuation remained undimmed.

After all, Situ Sheng had refused the Yun family, but he hadn’t agreed to anyone else either.

The Fourth Prince valued him so highly, and the Yun family had made clear their interest — they certainly weren’t about to stand by and let him marry some other family’s daughter!

Small friends like Guan Jinhe were also pleased. In their view, Chu Linlang was, after all, a woman who had once been a wife in an official household — only life’s ups and downs had brought her to a low point, where she had been forced to enter domestic service for others.

Now that her business had improved, it was only natural that she would establish her own independence.

Tao Yashu said nothing publicly, but afterward had her maidservant secretly deliver a bank note to Chu Linlang.

The maidservant Tingxi conveyed that the Seventh Young Miss had instructed: in the future, if Chu Niangzi found herself in difficulty, she could come to her.

It seemed Miss Tao felt she was short of funds and wished to extend some assistance.

This kind of tangible care — even unspoken — moved Chu Linlang to give her sincere, heartfelt thanks.

Although she didn’t need the bank note, in dealings with people of distinguished status, one couldn’t afford to be petty and calculating. Since Tao Yashu had the goodwill to help, refusing outright would put Miss Tao in an awkward position. So she simply accepted it graciously and received the good intention for what it was.

Though thinking about it — the fact that Tao Yashu’s little aunt and Situ Sheng’s birth mother were bound by the hatred of a stolen husband made this friendship rather difficult to navigate.

She finally understood why Situ Sheng had originally rated the Tao family at the third tier in his ledger of people.

In the tragedy of Wen Jiangxue’s marriage, Tao Huiru had played a thoroughly dishonorable role.

She had not merely seduced another woman’s husband — she had also, with calculated intent, insinuated herself into the life of the mentally fragile Wen Jiangxue, deliberately cultivating a close friendship with her, and then subjected her to a double betrayal. She was one of the chief culprits responsible for driving Wen Jiangxue to madness.