On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Tang Jiayu, wrapped in a thick fox-fur cloak and clutching a hand warmer, gingerly stretched out her foot to reach the carriage step. Li Zhaoji, standing beside her, couldn't bear to watch any longer. He scooped her up around the waist and set her down from the carriage.
Tang Jiayu hastily steadied herself on Li Zhaoji's shoulder. "Husband, be careful. I've worn too much today—I might be a bit heavy."
In any case, it was absolutely not that she had gotten fat. It was all because she had worn too many layers.
Li Zhaoji set her on the ground and gave a light scoff. "With your tiny weight, even two more of you wouldn't tire me out."
Tang Jiayu tugged at her fox cloak and gave him a leisurely sidelong glance. "Other than me, who else would you want to carry?"
Li Zhaoji was stumped. Tang Jiayu laughed inwardly. A whole month had passed, and he was still such a block of wood—a little teasing from her and he was left speechless. She reached out a hand warmed by the sleeve stove and pinched his earlobe. "My heart holds only you, husband. And you're only allowed to have me in yours."
Li Zhaoji glanced at the maidservants behind them with their heads lowered and the pedestrians passing to and fro on the street. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "There are people around. Don't fool around."
"I'm just warming my husband up—how is that fooling around?" Tang Jiayu rose on her tiptoes and pressed both hands over his ears, saying with concern, "Look at you. I told you to ride in the carriage with me, but no, you had to ride your horse. Your face is all red from the cold."
A month had passed since Li Zhaoji had fabricated his bandit background. In that month, Tang Jiayu had gone to the bookshop every day, flipping through books to help Li Zhaoji find the Treasure Map—diligent and dedicated, forgetting food and sleep, having visited nearly every place in Bingzhou that had books. This was already the last secondhand bookshop. Tang Jiayu had never been so earnest in her entire life. If Chun Xia Qiu Dong hadn't been following her all day long, Pang Cheng would have suspected Tang Jiayu had been swapped for a different person.
There was no help for it—if she was going to put on a show, she had to go all the way. Tang Jiayu endured the boredom and helped Li Zhaoji search for books, putting on an utterly infatuated appearance. Li Zhaoji was extremely guarded; to earn his trust would require patience.
But Tang Jiayu wouldn't completely ingratiate herself with Li Zhaoji either. A man must not be spoiled. What she wanted was for Li Zhaoji to fall in love with her and be at her disposal—not to become his old maid. Tang Jiayu was also subtly cultivating the habit of Li Zhaoji loving her. Love doesn't arise for no reason; the more a man invests, the more he likes you.
She was wearing out her back and her brain helping him search for books—why should Li Zhaoji be idle? So for the past month, Tang Jiayu had required Li Zhaoji to escort her to the bookshop every day. He could leave in between, but he had to come pick her up in person in the evening—otherwise she wouldn't go home.
At first, Li Zhaoji found it troublesome and often came very late. When he came late, Tang Jiayu never reproached him—she only quietly pressed a hand to her stomach, pretending to be so hungry her stomach hurt. After a few times of this, the time he came to pick her up grew more and more consistent. Sometimes he would take her home first, then go out himself to "check on business."
Habit was a terrifying thing. He would gradually get used to her presence, get used to being good to her. When that time came, it would be time to pull in the net.
A cold wind blew in her face, and Tang Jiayu shivered. Li Zhaoji tightened her fur collar and said, "I'm used to it—I don't feel cold. Hurry inside."
Tang Jiayu looked at him and asked with concern, "Is something going on at the grain shop again?"
Li Zhaoji gave a vague response. The Fengnian Grain Shop had been renovated according to Tang Jiayu's design, and business had indeed improved somewhat. With the year-end approaching, every household needed to settle their accounts, so Li Zhaoji was often needed to look after things.
—This was the reason Li Zhaoji gave Tang Jiayu.
Tang Jiayu stuffed the hand warmer into Li Zhaoji's hands. Li Zhaoji refused to take it, so Tang Jiayu forcefully hung it on his diexie belt: "Don't work too hard. Be good to yourself. When you've done about enough, take a rest. A new restaurant opened on Xuande Street. I heard their roast lamb is delicious. Finish early today, and we'll go eat together."
"If you're tired, you can head back first…"
"No." Tang Jiayu looked at him firmly and said, "I'll wait for you. No matter how late, I'll wait."
Accompanied by her maids—or rather, surrounded by them—Tang Jiayu entered the bookshop and began another day of puzzle-solving. Once she was far enough away, a guard immediately led over another fine horse and bowed his head respectfully: "Young Lord."
Li Zhaoji took the reins. He had originally intended to throw away the nuisance on his diexie belt, but when his fingers touched the bronze warmer still carrying Tang Jiayu's body warmth, he paused, then let it be.
Never mind. If he threw it away, he'd have to explain when he got back. Better to avoid the hassle.
Li Zhaoji swung onto his horse. Before the guard could even see clearly, the Young Lord had transformed into an arrow, piercing through the fierce wind and shattered snow as he galloped away: "Watch her. She must not come to harm."
Outside the city, the cavalry camp.
With the year-end approaching, even though this year's harvest had not been as good as the people had hoped, it was still the New Year after all. Bingzhou City was decorated with lanterns and colored banners, the festive atmosphere growing thicker by the day. But for the military camp, these days of family reunion were the most dangerous of times.
Hedong was a land surrounded by enemies on all sides. To the north, Chidan watched with predatory eyes; to the east, the three restive garrisons of Hebei wavered on the fence; to the west, the Zhenwu Army was locked in endless civil war; and to the south, they had to guard against Chang'an and Luoyang. Throughout history, there had been countless examples of surprise attacks launched around New Year's Eve. The closer to the year's end, the more they needed to strengthen their guard against enemy raids. But being too strict was also no good—the soldiers had trained for a whole year and needed to be rewarded, their merits recognized and their loyalty secured.
Li Jichen had devoted most of his energy to administrative affairs over the years, and the matters of the military camp had gradually been handed over to Li Zhaoji. A few days ago, Li Zhaoji had inspected the outer city; today it was the cavalry camp's turn.
He first reviewed the training, mounted the command platform, and gave a speech blending reward and deterrence to encourage them. Then, accompanied by several mid-ranking officers, he inspected the horses in the stables, and visited the kitchens and barracks to share in the soldiers' company, showing himself to be humble and respectful toward subordinates.
In a military camp, the fastest and only way to win people's respect was through martial prowess. Li Zhaoji inevitably sparred with soldiers in horsemanship and archery. When the soldiers saw Li Zhaoji braving the north wind and precisely hitting a leaf a hundred paces away, their cheers thundered.
"We have long heard that the Military Governor is a superb archer. We never expected the Young Lord to also possess the Hundred-Pace Willow-Piercing skill. Truly, the younger generation is formidable." The cavalry camp officers looked at Li Zhaoji with admiration and a newfound closeness. A commandant asked: "I heard the Military Governor's wife excels with the spear. With a single long spear, she once bested over a dozen skilled fighters in the army, and the Liu Family Spear became famous overnight. I had the honor of learning from General Liu's spear techniques—truly, the spear moves like a dragon, unpredictable and ever-changing. I wonder how the Young Lord's spearmanship compares to General Liu's?"
If it were any other time, Li Zhaoji would have stayed to the end and made them concede wholeheartedly. But today, the hand warmer on his belt jingled and clinked, constantly distracting him. Li Zhaoji glanced at the sky without betraying any emotion and said, "My spear skills are not as good as my uncle's. Another day I will invite my uncle to come and let you all enjoy the show to your heart's content. But today it is getting late, and I still have to return to the city. I beg your pardon for not keeping you company."
The assembled generals were all greatly surprised and urged him to stay: "Why is the Young Lord in such a hurry to leave? We have already prepared fine wine and good food. Tonight we will not go home until we are drunk!"
Li Zhaoji thought of Tang Jiayu still waiting for him and declined: "No. Another day I will treat you all to drinks. There is other important business in the city, so I will go on ahead."
Seeing that Li Zhaoji was determined to leave, the generals regretfully let the matter drop. Someone noticed an exquisite openwork hand warmer with a crabapple pattern hanging at Li Zhaoji's waist and said in surprise, "What a delicate hand warmer. It looks like something a woman would use, doesn't it? Could it be that the Young Lord is in a hurry to return to the city to see his sweetheart?"
Everyone laughed and gave Li Zhaoji knowing looks. Li Zhaoji smiled faintly and did not say much.
With a bunch of rough men, what was there to say?
But after this commotion, no one tried to keep Li Zhaoji any longer. He left the cavalry camp, gave his horse a hard squeeze with his legs, and shot toward Bingzhou City like an arrow loosed from a bow.
He rode extremely fast the whole way and barely made it back to the bookshop by the evening meal. There were no customers left in the secondhand bookshop. The shopkeeper huddled in a corner, looking at Tang Jiayu on the other side, who had set up her own desk, couch, and pastries, and wished she could move an entire study in. He wanted to speak but hesitated, wanting to urge her but not daring to.
Tang Jiayu held a painting brush and sketched and painted in a desultory way. Behind her came the sound of the door being pushed open, and a biting wind rushed in, making the pages rustle loudly. Tang Jiayu turned back and saw a tall, slender young gentleman step into the old, humble room with wind and snow all over his shoulders. The shelves were piled with old books, dim and dusty, yet because of his presence they seemed to shine with an imposing brilliance.
Tang Jiayu paused, looked at him, and smiled: "Young Lord, you've come."
Chun Xia Qiu Dong saluted Li Zhaoji. Li Zhaoji passed through the crowd and the old books and walked straight up to Tang Jiayu, seeing that she was painting.
The painting showed a bustling, lively marketplace. Some pedestrians were buying New Year goods, some were wandering through the streets and alleys, and some were calling for their wives and children. At the end of the long street, a young gentleman came riding on horseback, snow dust beneath the horse's hooves.
Although the facial features were not painted in detail, the spirit and bearing were very familiar. Li Zhaoji was slightly stunned. Tang Jiayu smiled and rolled up the painting, saying, "I was thinking of you, and I couldn't help wondering what you would look like when you came to pick me up. Sure enough, you came."
Li Zhaoji had been riding hard the whole way, and the chill on his body had not yet faded, yet he seemed unable to feel the cold at all. At this moment, perhaps because the warmth of the hand warmer on his belt had not entirely dissipated, a wave of heat surged through Li Zhaoji's body, flushing the tips of his ears red.
Li Zhaoji said, "Did you wait long? I already said you could go back to the residence by yourself…"
"No." Tang Jiayu interrupted him, reached out toward him, and said with a bright smile, "Come on, let's go eat."
Li Zhaoji looked at her helplessly. There were clearly so many more reasonable and efficient ways, yet she insisted on the stupidest one. Li Zhaoji sighed in resignation, took her hand, and pulled her up from the couch.
During this period, Li Zhaoji was forced to escort Tang Jiayu around. She would come up with whimsical ideas from time to time—wanting to eat this today, wanting to try that tomorrow. No matter how remote the little shop, she could always find it. Li Zhaoji could not stop her from eating, so he had no choice but to accompany her. He followed her through the main streets and back alleys, through the countless hearth fires of the city. He was clearly familiar with every city defense and every secret passage in Bingzhou, yet in this moment, it seemed he was truly seeing Bingzhou for the first time.
The Zuixian Tower was doing very brisk business. They had arrived late, and the tower was bustling with a full house of diners. Fortunately, Tang Jiayu had reserved a private room early on; otherwise, they would not even have gotten a spot.
When Tang Jiayu came to a place like this, the maids were even more nervous than she was. Zhexia and Zhanqiu warily parted the crowd, while Zhandong took out the curtain-veil and escorted Tang Jiayu upstairs.
Zhenchun quietly walked over to Li Zhaoji's side and advised, "Young Lord, there are many people here and prying eyes. If you are recognized, it will be trouble. You should not have let the lady come to a place like this. How about we have the banquet packed up and brought back to the residence?"
Li Zhaoji knew rationally that Zhenchun was right, but when his gaze swept over the high-spirited Tang Jiayu, he ultimately could not bear to call her back. "Forget it, we are already here. Besides, there is a private room—we will not run into anyone else."
In any case, going out to eat was always enjoyable. Tang Jiayu was led by a waiter into the private room. She removed the curtain-veil, glanced over the room's arrangement, and thought to herself that no wonder the Zuixian Tower's business had been so good right after opening—from the staff to the restaurant's environment, everything was commendable.
Tang Jiayu was in a fairly good mood. She took the menu and asked, "My lord, what would you like to eat?"
Li Zhaoji had no particular opinion on this and said, "Just order whatever you like."
Tang Jiayu had only been asking out of courtesy in the first place. She accepted without hesitation and skillfully ordered a table full of dishes. While waiting for the food to arrive, Tang Jiayu observed the private room's furnishings with great interest. Suddenly, from downstairs came the sound of a gavel. The Zuixian Tower had invited a storyteller into the main hall. The storyteller struck a pose and began to speak in a measured, unhurried voice.
"Today, this old one will tell you all the story of that polo emperor of the previous dynasty—Emperor Xizong."
Tang Jiayu's smile froze, and her good mood vanished completely.