The Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence stood in the eastern part of the city, occupying half a street. Two stone guardian lions at the entrance were polished to a gleaming shine, and above the gate hung a plaque personally inscribed by the previous emperor. The gilded characters shimmered blindingly under the sun. Servants moved in constant motion at the gate, guiding carriage after carriage toward the side entrance and ushering guests inside in an orderly fashion.
The Gu family carriage arrived neither early nor late. When Gu Jinzhao stepped down, she glanced at the vehicles outside. At least seven or eight households had already arrived. It seemed this “small gathering” had invited quite a number of guests. Gu Lan followed behind her and jumped down from the carriage, excitedly commenting on the specifications of the nearby carriages. A glance from Gu Jinzhao immediately silenced her.
Zhou Yun stood at the second gate receiving guests. Today she wore a begonia-red brocade jacket with gold thread embroidery, and a full set of red-gold hair ornaments. When she smiled, her dangling hairpins swayed lightly by her temples, presenting the full bearing of a noble young lady.
“Miss Gu has arrived,” she greeted warmly. Her gaze first landed on the bamboo-green patterned jacket worn by Gu Jinzhao, and her smile deepened. “Last time at the apricot blossom grove, I was still thinking you might wear that moon-white one today. Bamboo green suits you as well—simple and unassuming. Very fitting for you.”
It sounded like praise for the clothing, but the implication was clearly dismissive. Gu Lan did not catch it, but Gu Jinzhao certainly did.
“Miss Zhou looks radiant today,” she replied with a smile of her own. “This begonia-red paired with your gold ornaments—there’s not another person in the capital who could carry it off so well.”
Zhou Yun only smiled without rebuttal and instead took Gu Lan’s hand, leading them inside while introducing the scenery along the way. Gu Jinzhao followed at an unhurried pace, her gaze sweeping from the plaques under the corridor to the Taihu stones in the flowerbeds. She memorized every gate they passed and every turn they took.
The garden of the Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence was far larger than the Changxing Marquis Residence, though it was maintained rather roughly. The peonies in the flowerbeds bloomed vigorously, but the pruning was careless, with branches crossing at will. The artificial rockery made of Taihu stones had some charm, but weeds grew from the crevices. In the inner part of the garden, a waterside pavilion already held seven or eight noble ladies—some familiar, such as Lin Wan, daughter of the Minister of Revenue’s deputy, and Sun Hui, eldest daughter of the Deputy Magistrate of the Court of Judicial Review; others unfamiliar, though their attire clearly marked them as from notable families.
Zhou Yun arranged everything thoughtfully, seating them in the center of the pavilion and personally pouring tea. Sun Hui glanced at Gu Jinzhao and teased softly that Zhou Yun seemed unusually attentive today, unlike her usual self. Lin Wan covered her mouth with a fan and agreed. Gu Jinzhao only smiled, took a sip of tea, and said nothing.
The tea was fine Maojian, fresh and mellow. But her mind was not on the tea.
She noticed that two unfamiliar young ladies were secretly observing her, whispering to each other. She also noticed a beaded curtain on the eastern side of the pavilion. Behind it was a side chamber; faint outlines of bookshelves and antique display racks could be seen—clearly not a place meant for female guests during a flower banquet.
“Miss Gu,” Zhou Yun sat beside her, her tone even more intimate than before. “Speaking of which, last time at the apricot grove, I suppose we should thank His Heir Apparent for speaking on your behalf. He seems cold, yet he treats you quite differently.”
At this, several gazes turned toward her. The name Ye Xian was always a topic among noblewomen in the capital. Since inheriting the title three years ago, he had never attended any women’s banquet, no matter how many invitations were sent. Yet at the apricot grove, he had intervened on Gu Jinzhao’s behalf.
Gu Jinzhao set down her teacup and suddenly laughed.
“Miss Zhou is quite concerned about the Heir Apparent,” she said. She paused slightly. “Is it because he made you lose face at the Jingyuan last time? Or because he pointed out at the apricot grove that your bowstring was mounted incorrectly? Speaking of which, did you manage to find someone to fix that reversed bowstring after returning home? If not, I can ask around for you. Though I am a woman confined to the inner quarters, I do happen to know a few weapons craftsmen—far more reliable than those in the Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence.”
The pavilion fell silent for a moment.
Lin Wan lowered her gaze, lips twitching. Sun Hui and another lady subtly shifted their cushions back half an inch. Zhou Yun’s smile faded slightly. She picked up a piece of pastry and ate it slowly before smiling again.
“Miss Gu need not speak so sharply. By the way, I heard you lived in Jiangnan for many years, raised by your maternal grandmother?”
At that moment, Gu Jinzhao’s gaze sharpened slightly. This question—and the previous probing remarks about Jiangnan and the Changxing Marquis Residence—felt too deliberate.
“Miss Zhou is quite well-informed,” she replied evenly. “Even how long I stayed in Jiangnan, you have investigated so clearly. I wonder which servant of the Gu household told you, or—were you asking on someone else’s behalf?”
“You are overthinking,” Zhou Yun said lightly, sipping tea. “It was merely casual conversation. Jiangnan people speak softly, yet you do not seem like someone raised there. You are quite direct, more so than most noble ladies in the capital.”
Another hook.
Then Zhou Yun suddenly asked, “Miss Gu, having lived in Jiangnan for so many years, do you still remember anything from your childhood in the capital?”
Gu Jinzhao suddenly stood up.
She did not answer. Instead, she smiled at the others and excused herself, saying she needed the lavatory.
Outside the pavilion, the air was noticeably cooler. She walked a few steps under the corridor before turning a corner.
Qing Pu followed closely behind. At a subtle signal from Gu Jinzhao, she led her toward the eastern side chamber. Passing two maidservants guarding the rear gate, Gu Jinzhao casually asked where the lavatory was, and they pointed the way. After thanking them, she continued along the corridor with Qing Pu.
Once they reached a corner, she slowed her steps and stopped before a half-open lattice door.
Inside was a study.
From the position she had memorized earlier, this was exactly the room whose bookshelves she had glimpsed from the pavilion. A study should not be located beside a waterside pavilion unless it was being used for something beyond ordinary guest reception.
Qing Pu remained outside on guard.
Gu Jinzhao slipped inside.
With daylight filtering through the window, she scanned the room: a huanghuali desk, a zitan brush rack, landscape paintings on the wall, antique shelves filled with jade and porcelain. At first glance, it was an ordinary study.
But her eyes stopped at the lowest shelf.
There was a black lacquered box with gold inlay cloud patterns.
The same pattern she had seen at Fuguang Temple.
That day in the bamboo grove behind the temple, the gray-clad steward had delivered a cloth-wrapped package to Ji Minzhong. She had not seen its contents directly, but later, in the carriage, her description to Ye Xian matched this pattern almost exactly. She would not mistake it.
This was not a gift from Ji Minzhong to the Northern Pacifying Marquis.
This was something Ji Minzhong had stored inside the Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence.
“Miss Gu?”
A voice came from behind.
She turned.
Zhou Yun stood at the doorway, smiling, followed by two sturdy matrons. Her gaze flicked toward the antique shelf behind Gu Jinzhao, and her smile deepened.
“Didn’t Miss Gu say she was going to the lavatory?” she said softly. “How did you end up in the Marquis’s study? Even as a guest, you should know that entering a nobleman’s study without permission is a serious offense. If I do not report this, it would be negligence on the part of my Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence. I suppose I must now invite the madam of the house to judge this matter.”
Gu Jinzhao did not panic.
She stood calmly, adjusted her sleeve, and looked at Zhou Yun.
“You were waiting from the moment you handed out the invitation,” she said evenly. “You expected me to enter this room.”
Zhou Yun smiled faintly. “Miss Gu, you are mistaken. I merely invited guests to a flower banquet. You came here yourself.”
“You deliberately steered conversation in the pavilion toward Jiangnan and the Changxing Marquis Residence. You wanted me to leave the pavilion and come here. You knew I would investigate anything suspicious.” Her tone remained steady. “Miss Zhou, that bow with the reversed string—did you bring it yourself, or did someone instruct you to lure that child in front of me?”
Zhou Yun’s expression finally changed. Not anger, but a stiff, exposed tension.
She stepped back half a pace—then stopped.
From the moon gate, a figure entered.
Lady Gao.
She wore a dark blue long jacket with a jade hairpin at her temple. Her presence was calm, restrained, yet enough to make the two matrons behind Zhou Yun instinctively retreat.
She first looked at Zhou Yun, as though observing something mildly inappropriate placed in the wrong place. Then she turned to Gu Jinzhao.
“Jinzhao, why are you here?” she asked mildly. “I did not see you in the pavilion earlier. I thought you had gone elsewhere with the other girls.”
Then, she looked back at Zhou Yun.
“If Miss Gu has been discourteous in any way, you may tell me. She is young, and her mother is not here. If she has been improper, it would be my failure as an elder.”
Zhou Yun’s composure shattered completely.
“Madam, I did not know you were coming—”
“There is no need for formalities,” Lady Gao interrupted, already taking Gu Jinzhao’s hand. “A-Xian said she would attend, so I came to join the fun.”
At that moment, the outcome was already decided.
Later, in the carriage, Lady Gao did not ask why Gu Jinzhao had entered the study.
She only said calmly, “You recognized that lacquer box.”
“I saw the same pattern behind Fuguang Temple,” Gu Jinzhao replied.
After a pause, she added, “Ji Minzhong is storing something in the Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence. Not sending gifts—storing them.”
Lady Gao sighed, but her response was unexpected.
“You are bold beyond measure,” she said. “You rushed into that room because you wanted to get there before A-Xian.”
Gu Jinzhao did not deny it.
“If he entered that study,” Lady Gao continued, “the censors would impeach him tomorrow for trespassing into a colleague’s estate.”
“I did not have time to think,” Gu Jinzhao said softly. “That box determines whether he can take the initiative.”
Lady Gao looked at her for a long time, then gently brushed her hair.
“Foolish child,” she said, with both tenderness and helplessness. “Does he even know what you are doing for him?”
“He does not need to know,” Gu Jinzhao replied. “He handles his case, I handle mine. If the answers match, that is enough.”
That evening, at the gates of the Changxing Marquis Residence, dusk had already fallen.
A figure stood at the top of the steps.
Ye Xian.
He did not move forward, nor turn away.
Only when Lady Gao lightly tapped his arm did he shift his gaze to the person behind her.
“You were speaking in the pavilion,” he said to Gu Jinzhao. “She deliberately led you into that study. The bow, the child, the questions about Jiangnan—it was all arranged. Zhou Yun was only a piece. The lacquer box belonged to Ji Minzhong, stored here in the Marquis Residence. Zhao Jin’s father could not refuse it, and dared not hide it properly, so it was left openly in the study.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I was behind the beaded curtain,” he said calmly. “Before you entered the study, I saw Zhao Jin trying to slip out through the side door. I stopped him.”
He paused.
“He said he was going to find his father,” Ye Xian continued. “I told him that if anyone entered that study and found Miss Gu tomorrow, the Censorate would tear this entire residence apart. His face turned white.”
Lady Gao frowned. “You didn’t act?”
“No,” he said. “I did not step into the study. Not once.”
He had never crossed the threshold.
Yet he had guarded it from outside.
The beaded curtain, the silence, the unseen pressure—he had stood there the entire time.
“Next time you go out,” he said to Gu Jinzhao, “report to the Changxing Marquis Residence first.”
He paused slightly.
“That’s the third time I’ve told you. Don’t make me say it a fourth.”
The next afternoon, in Ye Xian’s study, he sat alone behind his desk.
On the desk lay newly compiled documents: land deeds of Ji family holdings, records of private estates near Qingfeng Academy’s bamboo grove, and military archives from the grain transport case in the southwest.
He added one more page—drawn from memory.
A layout of the waterside pavilion, the study, and the lacquered box inside the Northern Pacifying Marquis Residence.
He placed the paper into a locked drawer.
Inside were unsent letters, official correspondence copies, and a faded old pouch whose embroidery had frayed at the edges.
Outside the window, peonies bloomed still, heavy under the afternoon sun.
He did not close the curtain.
He simply looked at the old pouch on his desk, then continued writing.