According to Sui Qiye, these people were likely all from Jing.

Although they were all dressed as merchants and spoke fluent official Jin dialect, they were identified at a single glance by the sharp-eyed Seventh Master.

After he had told Linlang, over the following several days Chu Linlang did not venture outside at all, and stayed sensibly at the shop to mind the store.

She had hired plenty of shop assistants anyway, and there were people to handle matters outside.

Yet for some unknown reason, after a few days like this, those people keeping watch on her seemed to stop appearing altogether.

However, Tao Yashu from inside the palace wrote a lengthy letter sealed with wax and stamped with her own seal, and had it delivered through a reliable person.

In the letter, besides comforting her close friend, she also expressed her absolute disbelief in all the words that slandered Lady Chu.

Tao Yashu asked Lady Chu to take heart and be patient. She was certain to find the source of the rumors and clear Lady Chu’s name completely before the Empress Dowager.

Chu Linlang could tell that between the lines of this close friend’s letter was a worry that she might, in a moment of desperation, end her own life to prove her innocence.

It was not only Tao Yashu who was anxious — even the two maids, Xia He and Dongxue, were on tenterhooks!

At this critical juncture, the Situ Sheng who had half-ruined the elder young lady’s reputation refused to come out and clear things up and restore some of her standing — which made him truly hateful!

Dongxue, too furious to contain herself, had once gone to find Guanqi and asked him to pass on the message.

Yet that Guanqi had followed his master’s example — both of them turtling into their shells, refusing to show their faces.

It was said that due to the arrival of Jing’s envoys, Situ Sheng and the most trusted advisors of His Majesty had practically taken up residence in the Imperial Study, and barely returned to their own offices at all!

But the elder young lady seemed not to worry too much about the rumors.

Other than spending a few idle days minding the shop at the start, she had spent the rest of her time busy meeting with skilled smelting craftsmen, negotiating their fees, and then arranging to take over a smelting workshop in the northwest to refine gold ore.

Besides that, the elder young lady perhaps found the capital too full of noisy gossip and wished to find quieter surroundings, for she had long since purchased a very large residence in the outskirts of the capital.

Prices in the capital’s outskirts were far cheaper than within the city.

This residence had previously been the home of a fifth-rank official, and both inside and out it had been put in good order. It had a front gate and a back gate, and outside the courtyard walls were fertile fields stretching in all directions — lush and verdant as far as the eye could see.

After a period of tidying and repair, it was already habitable.

Perhaps it was the excitement of having a new home that finally brought some cheer to the elder young lady.

After the furniture had been moved in and an especially soft and large bed purchased, Linlang had Dongxue send a letter to Guanqi informing him of the address of the new residence, asking that when Master Situ had a free moment, he should come and visit.

Dongxue accepted this errand very unwillingly and told Chu Linlang: “If it is to make a clean break and sever all ties, one letter is enough. Why do you still want to invite him over to speak? The new residence is perfectly good — must it be tainted with such bad omens?”

Chu Linlang pulled a straight face and said: “You are asked to go, so go. So much unnecessary talk!”

Although Dongxue was sent with the letter, Linlang did not hold out great hope. For she knew Situ Sheng must be extremely busy these days.

The arrival of Jing’s envoys had thrown the entire court into chaos. The war faction and the peace faction were brawling again in the halls of government.

The recent border skirmishes had all been provoked by Jing, the implicit threat of force heavy and obvious.

But this new Khan Angu was truly a master at learning the ceremonial learning of the central plains, performing ‘courtesy before force’ to perfection — sending an envoy was precisely to make Jin state its position. If Jin did not want war, then it had to agree to continue opening the markets and could not use the assault on the Oasis Women’s Academy as justification for making a scene.

The envoy in the delegation called Ke Cha must have had excellent instructions behind him, for when he confronted Benevolent Emperor Jin in the throne hall, every sentence was a pearl striking the vital point.

All of this Chu Linlang had heard from casual talk among her classmates at the women’s academy before she withdrew.

But since she no longer attended the academy, she naturally had no way of learning about these matters of state.

When Dongxue returned, it was just as she had expected — she had not seen Master Situ, but she had seen Guanqi. Guanqi said the master was too busy and had no time to come.

Evidently Jing’s envoys were to conclude a new alliance with the court, and the formal negotiations were now at a white-hot stage. The master truly could not get away.

As for Situ Sheng’s side — because Dongxue had not managed to hold back, a burst of burning anger came over her and she cursed Guanqi roundly until he was drenched in spittle, then turned and walked away.

Guanqi, cursed into a face full of saliva, could only slink back and report the matter to Situ Sheng when he saw him.

Situ Sheng looked up from the pile of documents on his desk and rubbed his eyes, looking somewhat weary.

In recent days, Yang Yi had seemed possessed and had actually sent people to trail Chu Linlang, apparently wishing to determine how infatuated this son of his was with that young woman.

Situ Sheng watched but made no move to alert the prey.

He had, however, quietly and without making a ripple, dug up a few old romantic debts for his father.

Yang Yi, though disguised and changed in appearance, had embedded himself among the envoy delegation. Yet someone familiar with him, if they looked carefully, would still be able to recognize him.

So just two days ago, the Nun of Forgetting Dust had suddenly received a secret letter, and then appeared white-faced at the gates of the guesthouse where the Jing people were lodged.

This nun’s eyesight was truly exceptional. Aided by the pointers in the secret letter, she had indeed recognized the man from her dreams.

In the moment of recognizing her former husband, Tao Huiru was seized with violent agitation, and actually charged forward.

She did not call out Yang Yi’s name, but only fixed her gaze on the disguised Yang Yi with the stare of one looking at a dead man — a look so chilling that all who saw it felt their skin crawl.

From that point on, for several days, Tao Huiru would bring along her bewildered son Tao Zan and several household retainers, and every morning would go to take tea at the teahouse directly across from the guesthouse.

The result was exactly as Situ Sheng had foreseen: every person who had been shadowing Chu Linlang was recalled to the guesthouse, where security was tightened against a move by the former wife.

The effect of the Nun of Forgetting Dust was enormous. She should be able to keep her former husband troubled and preoccupied for quite some time, and would not go disturbing the peace of Linlang’s shop again.

Having made these arrangements, when he then heard that Linlang had bought herself a country villa on the outskirts of the capital, Situ Sheng felt a lightening of his heart as well, and prepared to finish the documents in hand as quickly as possible before going to see Linlang.

He was in the middle of writing when Liao Jingxuan walked in.

He had come to deliver the Ministry of Works’ supply documents. Now that Jin-Jing relations were under strain, although His Majesty had no wish to go to war, some preparations still had to be made. So the Ministry of Works had to submit the number of fortifications built along the frontier for the Ministry of War’s reference.

And the Ministry of Works needed silver, and so had to come to the Ministry of Finance to reconcile accounts and request funds.

With official business concluded, Liao Jingxuan could now say something personal. He spoke with a hint of guilt: “It was only recently that I learned someone had spread such intolerable words. I have heard that Lady Chu has been advised to withdraw from the academy. Truly, rumors are hateful things!”

Situ Sheng’s head shot up, brows furrowing: “What? She was expelled from the academy?”

Liao Jingxuan was taken aback. Only then did he realize that this official so relied upon by His Majesty had both ears closed to the affairs of the world, and knew nothing of all this.

So Liao Jingxuan laid out the entire sequence of events — the rumors circulating the capital, the Empress Dowager disparaging Linlang’s common-market character in the palace, and her subsequent departure from the academy — from beginning to end.

It would have been better not to speak of it. But once he had recounted all the heaven-and-earth changes that had taken place in the human world over these past days, he saw the man across from him listening with veins throbbing at his temples. He sprang to his feet, grinding his teeth: “Why did you not tell me sooner!”

Liao Jingxuan replied in surprise: Do you not eat dinner with Lady Chu every day? You even boasted to me about how exquisite her cooking is. How could someone you spend every day with not know about her own affairs?

He did not know that this one sentence of his would cause Situ Sheng to clench his fist tight. He happened to be holding a small silver knife used for breaking the wax seals on documents.

That tightening of the grip drew blood from his palm in a steady flow.

Liao Jingxuan smelled blood, looked down in puzzlement, and only then discovered that the man was actually gripping a silver knife with great force. He rushed over, yanked Situ Sheng’s hand open, and said quietly: “What are you doing — how do you not feel the pain?”

But from Situ Sheng’s reaction, he could guess the reason. He could only sigh: “For men like you and me, these rumors are nothing but stories of romantic escapades — they do no real harm. But for a woman, they can destroy heaven and earth. When you have a moment, go back and see her. If there is anything I can do to clear this up, you have only to ask…”

Before Liao Jingxuan had even finished speaking, Situ Sheng had already spun around and rushed out of the office.

Liao Jingxuan still had official business that had not been settled. Seeing him charge out in such a hurry, he called out frantically after him.

But in the blink of an eye, the man was gone.

On Dongxue’s return, she reported grumpily that Situ Sheng was too busy to show his face.

At such a cold and heartless refusal, Chu Linlang seemed not to take it much to heart, and only went to the country villa in the afternoon to continue directing the servants to move and arrange the furniture.

Because the courtyard was quite large, no one had to be crowded together. She had specially arranged for her mother to have the main courtyard, while she herself would live in the more secluded west courtyard.

In this way, mother and daughter were separated by a small flower garden with a pond, and neither could disturb the other.

It would take a few days of work like this before everything was in tidy order.

Linlang knew that it could not all be settled in a moment, so she simply took it easy first and told the rough servants to bring everything inside into empty rooms and leave it there, to be sorted the next day.

She was thoroughly exhausted, so after washing up she collapsed onto her bed, nestled into the soft quilt, and fell soundly asleep.

When she slept until the middle of the night, she suddenly heard a sound at the door — accompanied by a creaking noise, as though someone were pushing the door open and entering.

Linlang listened to the footsteps and knew who had come.

It appeared that after all these days apart, he had still not wasted his time practicing the art of climbing over walls.

She had been so exhausted from moving house during the day that she lay half-asleep with her eyes barely open, too lazy to move. When the figure drew close to the bed curtains, a mischievous impulse rose in her, and she called out softly: “Why have you only now come, Zhao darling? This handmaiden has been waiting an age!”

The figure outside the bed curtains seemed to have been struck by an acupuncture needle — it stood completely still. Linlang immediately feigned a hint of alarm: “Oh dear, this handmaiden was half-asleep just now and called the wrong name — you must be the dear Qian fellow?”

Seeing the figure’s shoulders go taut, Linlang hesitated again and called out the name of a Master Sun.

This time, before the soft creature on the bed could finish reciting her way through the family names, the figure impatiently flung back the bed curtains and said in a drawn-out tone: “Chu Linlang! How many have you invited exactly?”

Chu Linlang looked at the handsome face of the man, alight with barely contained sourness, and still carried through with her playful act, exclaiming in feigned alarm: “Oh my, it is Master Situ — what shall I do? You have come at the wrong hour. This time slot was never supposed to be yours — and now that you have both happened upon each other, what is to be done? Why do you not hide under the bed until the others have gone?”

Situ Sheng was truly at a loss with this cunning woman. He could only sit down on the edge of the bed.

He had ridden here on horseback, but that dolt Guanqi had gotten the address wrong, causing him to ride all around in circles. By the time he had finally found the place, it was this late hour.

The wound on his hand had been roughly bandaged on the road, but Situ Sheng’s heart, bottled up the entire way, had been heavy and miserable.

During the days he had not seen her, Linlang had actually endured such enormous grievances.

And before all of that, the thoughtless words he had spoken in front of Yang Yi had also been overheard by her…

Resting his hands on her shoulders, Situ Sheng opened his mouth with difficulty: “It is all my fault. I should not have…”

Halfway through, Situ Sheng could no longer continue. For Linlang was looking at him just like that, her beautiful hair hanging loose, her gaze serene as still water, and before such a gaze, however full his explanation had been, it would not come out.

The one who had said those distancing words before Yang Yi had been him. The one who had chosen, throughout all these days, to keep away in order to prevent Yang Yi from noticing how much Linlang meant to him — that had also been him.

And most devastating of all was that, during all this time, Linlang had actually endured such a tsunami of grievances, and he had stood apart from it, letting her struggle alone in the scalding oil.

At the moment he learned of all the wrongs Chu Linlang had suffered, Situ Sheng felt as though a raging fire were burning his heart to ash.

He had once secretly sworn to himself that he would absolutely never again let her be subjected to the cold contempt and disdain of others!

Yet he had not imagined that this heaven-collapsing, earth-shattering grievance was caused by his inability to give Linlang a name that could be shown to the light of day!

Thinking of this, Situ Sheng was overcome with the urge to give himself a hard slap across the face.

Things had come to this pass — what did he have to explain? She could beat and scold him as she liked.

There was only one thing: if Chu Linlang wanted to cut all ties with him the way she had with Zhou Sui’an, it was absolutely out of the question!

His mind made up on this point, Situ Sheng looked at Chu Linlang, his voice low and hoarse: “It is all my fault. I should not have…”

Chu Linlang had no such patience for sitting in judgment. She had abstained from meat for so many days — she had long wanted something rich and satisfying!

Now the man was right here at her bedside, wearing an expression of guilt and restraint, his eyes flickering, his lips trembling — and truly… he looked good enough to eat!

So Chu Linlang reached out, grabbed the man by the collar, and with great impatience yanked her prey onto the bed, sealing his unfinished words with her lips.

Situ Sheng’s heart had been heavy the entire journey here. If this woman had misunderstood him, how fierce and resolute her anger and resentment would be was something he could well imagine.

He had even steeled himself to be roundly cursed and given a beating by Linlang.

Yet from the moment he stepped through the door, this woman had not acted according to any convention. First she had killed him inwardly, nearly reciting her way through a whole book of family names’ worth of sweethearts.

And just when he was waiting for Linlang’s thunderous fury and bellyful of grievances, this woman had thrown herself at him like a burning coal and kissed him with a passion free of any trace of resentment.

Situ Sheng could not read her moves, and could only reach out to grip her shoulders and pull the impetuous woman back a little, asking haltingly: “What do you mean by this?”

Chu Linlang knitted her slender brows. This sort of thing could only be felt, not spoken — how could the man be so unresponsive tonight?

But then in the next moment she caught sight of his injured hand, and the playful mood evaporated at once. She only let out a soft cry: “Your hand — how did you…”

This time Situ Sheng finally came to his senses and stopped asking those foolish questions. He simply pulled her back into his arms once more, sealing her question with his lips, and their clothes fell one by one, entwining on the floor.

Now that she had a new house in the suburbs with no one nearby, Chu Linlang was utterly uninhibited, hooking her arms around his strong neck and kissing him back with ardor.

When busy all day she would not think of him, but now, breathing in the musk scent on his body, all restless desires were stirred awake — like a blazing mountain fire, impossible to contain.

The expensive bed lived up to her investment. The thick wool felt underneath absorbed more than half the force, so she was no longer pressed until her waist ached.

After a thoroughly satisfying union of deep feeling, Situ Sheng contentedly held the soft, gentle woman in his arms — yet something stirred in his thoughts.

Chu Linlang’s reaction was completely unlike anything he had imagined. She had not offered a single word of grievance or reproach…

Could it be that… she truly only desired his body, had never given her heart, and had no thought of any future together with him — that it was nothing more than ‘a passing dalliance’ after all?

Thinking of this, Situ Sheng had no wish to let it slide past in a muddle. He abruptly sat up and asked Chu Linlang what she meant by all this.

Chu Linlang had eaten and drunk her fill and was preparing to wipe her mouth, roll over into Situ Sheng’s arms, and sleep a good sleep.

And yet, who would have expected the man to sit up with a grave face, wanting to settle accounts with her.

So she flopped in the man’s arms like a boneless thing, running her fingers over his slightly grown-out stubble, listening half-heartedly as he spoke.

When he asked why she showed no anger, Chu Linlang said in puzzlement: “Why should I be angry? I heard clearly enough — that man is your father Yang Yi. Was I really going to expect you to take me by the hand and introduce me to him? Of course you would have distanced yourself from me.”

Situ Sheng was startled. He had not anticipated that Linlang would understand what he had meant when he said those words at the time.

Yet Linlang said with evident fury: “It was fortunate that Xia He dropped something. That was what made me snap back to my senses and pull her away. Otherwise, listening to his words, I would truly have been maddened with rage. I could hardly keep from charging over there and helping you scold him back. Having not seen you for so long, and the moment you do meet, it is nothing but accusations — the nerve of him to say it out loud! It was exactly because I could not vent that anger then that I stewed in silent rage for days. Every time I thought of how he treated you, I wanted to give that man a smack with a mop when I was mopping the floor!”

Situ Sheng was completely stunned. So it turned out that when Dongxue and Guanqi said the elder young lady had been sulking for days, the sulking was on account of his father!

So she truly did not mind what he had said?

Linlang said in a low voice: “It was only recently that I understood why you used to go into a self-destructive rage when you received letters from that side — it turns out your mother is being used to keep a hold on you. The way you spoke was nothing more than you not wanting me to fall into his hands as your mother did. If I could be angry over that, you would be underestimating me far too much. And it was precisely because of this that I held out all this time without going to find you — not until I had bought this place, which is secluded and can escape the gossipy eyes and ears of the capital, did I have Dongxue fetch you, thinking we might meet here at this residence…”

Situ Sheng stared blankly at the woman in his arms and said quietly: “It was I who brought you all these days of slander and reproach, and caused you to be censured by the Empress Dowager, and even the women’s academy…”

Linlang had by now gotten up and taken out a medicine chest from the small side table, and was applying medicine and wrapping fresh bandages on Situ Sheng’s injured hand.

“Only those who are wrongly accused feel aggrieved when people talk about them. But you and I were genuinely entangled and not fully proper with each other. At the time I was also furious and lost my composure thinking there was a misunderstanding about Master Liao using his seniority to take advantage of a female student, so I acted indiscreetly. What does it matter if people say a couple of things? As long as they do not say them in front of my face, I can still dress, eat, and go about my business perfectly well. As for the palace and the women’s academy, those were never places I should have gone to begin with. Now that I am free of them, it is actually a relief.”

Looking at Linlang’s unbothered manner, Situ Sheng was silent.

She always said she had not studied much, that she was lacking in poetic refinement and literary elegance compared to those well-born young ladies.

Yet little did she know that this quality alone — this composure of hers, unmoved by honor and disgrace — was something even he, a proud and vigorous man, could not but feel ashamed to fall short of.

This woman who, like him, had been steeped in hardship from childhood, had nevertheless preserved a vigorous, sunflower-like vitality and a weed-like resilience throughout all this grueling life…

In the past, he had always felt himself supremely unfortunate — losing one beloved person after another in rapid succession, fearing he would have to live out his whole life like a rat that could not show its face in the light, hiding under a false name.

Yet now he knew that heaven had also shown him one small mercy. After so much endless and hopeless suffering, it had bestowed on him this rare and precious taste of sweetness.

A woman so exactly after his heart was now his. Yet he could not even give her a proper name and standing, and still had to let her be vilified and spoken of foully by those vicious women…

Thinking of this, Situ Sheng abruptly pulled her tightly into his arms and said softly: “Linlang, let us marry!”

In that instant, all reason dissolved into smoke. He only wanted to give Linlang a proper name and identity, to make her his wife, and to have her name no longer connected to those inexplicable men in people’s mouths.

Linlang was also stunned. She had not imagined that Situ Sheng would actually open his mouth and put forward such a preposterous suggestion, and couldn’t help but laugh: “Situ Sheng, do you know what you are saying?”

Yet Situ Sheng had already thought it through. He said in a low, firm voice: “Although we cannot marry immediately, a marriage contract must be signed. The marriage contract, betrothal gifts — all the proper rites will be fulfilled. Only in doing so am I, once again, wronging you…”

Chu Linlang was not at all thinking of this as a grievance to herself — she thought Situ Sheng had gone mad. They were getting along so well right now — why must they talk of marriage and taking wives?

Furthermore, if he signed a marriage contract with her and afterward met a woman more suited to his heart, how were they to proceed? Did he not fear handing a source of leverage against himself into her hands?

He may have spoken words about not liking children before, but those were said in the heat of affection, making overtures to please her — they could not be taken as binding!

And so Chu Linlang immediately shook her head like a rattle-drum, declaring that she truly did not want to marry, and was it not getting rather late, perhaps the master had better get dressed and be on his way.

Occasionally taking a walk at night was good for one’s head, and blowing in all that cool breeze along the way would help clear his thoughts considerably.

Situ Sheng had no wish to hear Chu Linlang say any of this, and only turned to lie back down on her wool felt bed, asking in a drawn-out tone whether she was in such a rush to drive him away because she still had private appointments with her ‘Zhao, Qian, Sun, and Li.’

Chu Linlang laughed and pummeled him, but a large palm closed around her wrist, and smoothly and effortlessly she was drawn back into the quilt.

That night, it was not until early morning that Chu Linlang finally saw the clingy Master Situ off.

And after that, Chu Linlang gave not a single thought to what Situ Sheng had said.

In the heat of passion, people always said sweet tender words. Marrying Situ Sheng was something so impossibly distant it could never become real.

So much so that when Situ Sheng invited her out of the city on one particular day and she found herself meeting Qi Gong and Liao Jingxuan at a lakeside pavilion, she was still somewhat in a daze, not knowing what was happening.

As it turned out, Situ Sheng had invited these two gentlemen to serve as witnesses, so that he might first conclude a formal marriage contract with Lady Chu.

After all, he was still within his mourning period and could not marry immediately.

However, during a mourning period, it was a common practice among many people to quietly conclude a marriage contract with one’s intended, and then formally marry after the mourning period had ended.

The two witnesses Situ Sheng had invited were Sacrificial Wine Qi Gong and his friend Liao Jingxuan.

He had invited these two with deeper meaning.

First, Qi Gong was a man of great moral standing and prestige. Second, he was a man of integrity — once he had agreed to something, he would absolutely be able to keep a secret for the two young people.

As for inviting Liao Jingxuan, that was a case of needing the one who had tied the knot to untie it. After all, some unknown source had spread the false tale that Liao Jingxuan also lusted after Chu Linlang.

If he could be present, it would be the perfect opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding with Qi Gong and restore Lady Chu’s name.