The day the imperial decree arrived at the Changxing Marquis Residence was a rare, pleasantly cool afternoon.
Several white clouds hung in the sky, blocking most of the sun.
Lady Gao was in the flower hall, examining newly delivered embroidery patterns with her maidservants when the gatekeeper came to report that someone had arrived from the palace and requested that the Heir Apparent and his mother receive the imperial decree together.
As Lady Gao rose to her feet, the embroidery pattern in her hand drifted lightly onto the embroidered stool.
She first went to the study to find Ye Xian.
Ye Xian was seated behind his desk. Spread open before him was the Late Marquis’s private dossier.
After the case had concluded, he had removed the volume from the black lacquered wooden box and rebound it himself. Every page had been backed with thin paper and carefully stitched together with fine hemp thread.
The eunuch delivering the decree unfurled the imperial edict in the main hall.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
“Ye Xian, Heir Apparent of the Changxing Marquis Residence, having reached adulthood and possessing both virtue and learning, is suitable for marriage.
“Gu Jinzhao, legitimate eldest daughter of Gu Dezhao, Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud, is dignified in conduct, gentle in disposition, wise and virtuous.
“Therefore, We bestow this marriage. A favorable date shall be selected for the wedding.
“Respect this decree.”
Kneeling upon the prayer cushion, Ye Xian listened to the decree in silence. After a brief pause, he accepted it with both hands and bowed formally.
“This subject, Ye Xian, receives the decree and thanks His Majesty for his grace.”
Lady Gao was already smiling broadly beside him, though her eyes had reddened slightly.
She instructed the maids to prepare a generous reward for the eunuch, ordered the kitchen to add several dishes to that evening’s meal, and told Maid Feng to open all the newly arrived baskets of Dongting Biluochun tea.
Lady Gao’s enthusiasm left the eunuch somewhat embarrassed.
“Madam is too kind,” he said repeatedly.
After the eunuch departed, Lady Gao paced a full circle around the main hall.
Then another.
Finally, she stopped and patted her son’s shoulder.
“You certainly move quickly. You said you were going to propose, and then you did. You even submitted the memorial without telling your mother.”
“When you received the decree just now, you knelt so steadily. You kept me completely in the dark.”
Ye Xian rolled up the decree and placed it carefully into the brocade case on the ancestral altar.
When he turned around, the movement looked unusually stiff, as though every inch of his shoulders had become rigid under his mother’s scrutiny.
“Didn’t you urge me before?”
“When did I ever urge you?”
“You told me to invite the Gu family’s womenfolk to the opera. You said Jinzhao wasn’t an outsider.” He paused and looked away. “You also said that console table was only used during ancestral ceremonies.”
Lady Gao blinked.
Then the corners of her lips slowly curved upward.
Her eyes were still red, but warmth spread through them, softening the fine lines at their corners.
“Fine,” she said. “I urged you. We’ll put all the blame on your mother.”
When news of the imperial betrothal reached the Gu Residence, Gu Jinzhao was in the rear courtyard brewing medicine for her mother.
Since the beginning of summer, Madam Gu’s health had been poor. The imperial physicians had diagnosed a deficiency of qi and blood and prescribed several warming tonics.
Qing Pu came running in at twice her usual speed. Her skirt swept through the moon gate and knocked several flowers to the ground.
“Miss! Miss! Someone has arrived from the palace! Master asks you to come to the front courtyard and receive the decree!”
Gu Jinzhao set down the palm-leaf fan beside the medicine stove and rose to her feet, smoothing the wrinkles from her collar.
She realized that she was standing in the one patch of shade untouched by the fiercest afternoon sunlight. Her shadow rested quietly at her feet, perfectly still.
“Let’s go.”
Her voice was calm.
Yet she lowered her head to smooth the folds of her sleeves, then adjusted the tassels hanging from the pale moon-white sash at her waist.
Qing Pu noticed that her fingers repeatedly straightened the tassels.
One tassel was adjusted crooked, then straightened, then crooked again.
Wisely, Qing Pu said nothing and simply followed behind her.
In the main courtyard, the eunuch Zhang He had already taken his position.
Today he wore a complete palace eunuch uniform and held a horsetail whisk in his hand, smiling pleasantly.
The last time Gu Jinzhao had seen him, hidden in a corner near the Censorate, he had dressed like an ordinary steward. Now every detail of his palace attire was impeccably arranged.
“Gu Jinzhao of the Gu family, receive the decree.”
Gu Jinzhao knelt upon the cushion, folded her hands before her forehead, and bowed.
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
“Gu Jinzhao, legitimate eldest daughter of Gu Dezhao, Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud, is dignified in conduct, gentle in disposition, wise and virtuous.
“We therefore bestow her in marriage to Ye Xian, Heir Apparent of the Changxing Marquis Residence. A favorable date shall be selected for the wedding.
“Respect this decree.”
She listened as her name and Ye Xian’s name appeared upon the same decree, spoken by the same voice.
The words fell upon the blue bricks of the courtyard and seemed to settle into the cracks of the residence alongside the sunlight and the breeze.
She did not raise her head.
Instead, she bowed a second time with unwavering composure.
“This subject’s daughter, Gu Jinzhao, receives the decree and thanks His Majesty for his grace.”
After the decree was delivered, Zhang He did not leave immediately.
Switching the whisk to his left hand, he withdrew a small brocade box from his sleeve and handed it over.
His voice was lower than before.
“On this trip out of the palace, Heir Apparent Ye entrusted this item to me for Miss Gu. He said it would be improper to visit personally today and feared violating etiquette.”
Gu Jinzhao accepted the box and opened it.
Inside lay a white jade hairpin.
It had been carved from the same piece of jade as the bamboo-patterned hairpin Ye Xian wore.
But instead of bamboo joints, the head of this hairpin was carved into a begonia blossom.
It was identical to the little begonia engraved on the inside of her bracelet.
Switching the whisk back to his right hand, Zhang He offered his congratulations before departing with the palace attendants.
Holding the brocade box, Gu Jinzhao rose and hurried toward her own courtyard.
After several steps, she realized she had accidentally taken the path toward the kitchen.
She turned back and crushed several fallen green dates beneath her shoes.
Qing Pu’s eyes had reddened as well, but she wisely kept silent.
The news of the imperial betrothal spread through the capital as though it had grown wings.
Within three days, everyone knew.
Visitors came to the Gu Residence in an endless stream to offer congratulations.
The threshold had nearly been worn down by constant traffic.
The father and daughter were exhausted by the endless social obligations, but Gu Jinzhao noticed something.
Among those offering congratulations were people who had once avoided her father like the plague when he had been impeached.
The direction of political winds shifted faster than the weather.
She was long accustomed to it.
She entertained guests politely, neither cold nor overly warm.
What truly surprised her was a congratulatory gift from the Northern Pacifying Marquis Mansion.
The gift had been sent by Zhao Yu, the newly appointed Heir Apparent of the Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence—the former concubine-born son of Zhao Heng who had recently been elevated.
The gift list included a pair of celadon vases and a pair of jade ruyi scepters, along with a letter.
The letter read:
“My elder brother was reckless in speech and frivolous in conduct and offended Miss Gu on numerous occasions. I, Zhao Yu, apologize on his behalf and humbly ask for Miss Gu’s forgiveness.”
Gu Jinzhao studied the letter for quite some time.
She recalled discussing the Zhao family with Ye Xian in his study.
He had said Zhao Yu managed the family’s shops and was far steadier than his elder brother.
It seemed the new Heir Apparent was indeed intelligent enough to send gifts and offer apologies.
What he did not know was that Zhou Yun’s final words before leaving had already settled the debt incurred when the Zhao family searched her study for the lacquer box.
“Put it away.”
She placed the letter on her dressing table.
“We’ll send a return gift another day. Nothing too extravagant.”
By dusk, the last guests had finally departed.
The residence was quiet again.
Gu Jinzhao headed toward the rear courtyard to prepare her mother’s evening medicine, only to find her father seated in a wicker chair beneath the corridor.
For once, he was neither reviewing official documents nor checking account books.
“Father.”
She stepped forward and bowed.
Gu Dezhao patted the stool beside him, inviting her to sit.
For a while, he said nothing.
His gaze rested upon the pomegranate tree in the courtyard.
Most of the fiery red blossoms had already fallen.
In their place hung clusters of small green pomegranates swaying gently in the evening breeze.
“Jinzhao, when you were little, back in the old residence in West City, you followed that little Ye family heir around every day.”
He spoke suddenly, his voice carrying both nostalgia and regret.
“You left the capital for so many years. Yet in the end… it was still him.”
Gu Jinzhao remained silent.
She slowly turned the jade bracelet on her wrist.
The white jade gleamed softly in the twilight.
“I can’t quite see through Ye Xian,” Gu Dezhao continued. “But the cases he handles are always efficient, ruthless, and clean. The Late Marquis would be proud.”
“I know, Father.”
“After you marry him, you’ll be the Heir Apparent’s wife of the Changxing Marquis Residence.”
He turned toward her, his gaze gentle but serious.
“One day you’ll become the Marchioness. The Ye family holds a hereditary title that will never be revoked. The burden is not a light one.”
He paused.
“Ye Xian has a heart condition. Take good care of his health. Don’t let him overwork himself.”
“But don’t treat him like an invalid.”
“That man is proud.”
“I understand.”
Her voice was softer now.
There was a faint ache in her throat.
Gu Dezhao nodded, rose, patted her shoulder, and returned inside.
He walked slowly.
His shadow stretched long beneath the fading light, swaying through the glow of the corridor lanterns.
The Hanlin Academy selected the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month as the auspicious wedding date.
There were still nearly six months until the wedding.
Once the date was fixed, Lady Gao became more energetic than the bride and groom combined.
Every detail—the wedding protocol, banquet menu, and bridal chamber furnishings—had to pass through her personal inspection.
Whenever Gu Jinzhao visited the marquis residence to pay her respects, Lady Gao would keep her in the flower hall for half the day, surrounded by bolts of brocade and gilded betrothal lists.
Ye Xian usually sat nearby in an armchair with a book in hand.
The pages often remained unturned for long stretches.
He appeared absentminded, yet whenever his mother asked Jinzhao whether a color looked pleasing, his gaze would drift over the top of the book.
It would linger on her face for a brief moment before casually moving away again.
One day, Lady Gao brought up the banquet menu and asked whether Jinzhao liked crab-meat lion’s head meatballs.
Jinzhao nodded.
Lady Gao instructed a maid to make a note before asking whether she had any foods she avoided.
“She doesn’t like overly sweet dishes. Reduce the number of honey-glazed items. And make sure enough Junshan Yinzhen tea is prepared. That’s what she drinks every time she visits.”
Without even lifting his head, Ye Xian turned a page.
His tone remained lazy and indifferent.
Lady Gao and Gu Jinzhao exchanged a glance.
Gu Jinzhao lowered her head to drink her tea.
Behind the teacup, a small patch of her ear quietly turned red.
Ye Xian continued holding the book.
The page, however, never turned again.
Outside, the pomegranates swayed gently in the early autumn breeze.
Occasionally one ripened too soon and split open, revealing glittering seeds inside.
As she lowered her head to sip tea, the Junshan Yinzhen leaves stood upright in the cup, floating gently up and down.
The taste was exactly the same as the tea she had drunk during her first visit to the marquis residence.
In only a few more months, it would be the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.