Xu Qiaoxi was so furious she saw stars, gripping the railing with all her might to keep from collapsing.
"Who did this! This is slander!"
"Who else but Princess Xincheng?" Lu Yun shook her head sorrowfully. "She saw you with the young master that day, and he protected you. She must have been furious when she returned. Now all of Luoyang knows the young master keeps a… at his side."
"The Grand Commandant flew into a terrible rage and personally took up the family rod—a long, long ruler." Lan Yan gestured to its length, a look of disgust on her face.
Noble families prized their reputations above all; future official appointments depended entirely on moral character and recommendations. With such a scandal spreading, the Xie family's accumulated honor would become a laughingstock. Xie Jilian would be lucky to escape with his life.
Xu Qiaoxi whipped around to look back inside, rushed in to open the mother-of-pearl inlaid chest, grabbed a box of scrolls, and ran downstairs.
"What are you doing!"
"Saving him!"
"Goodness, you fool!" Lan Yan stamped her foot in panic, but Xu Qiaoxi had already reached the courtyard.
"You need to hide! Do you think you can interfere with the Grand Commandant disciplining his son?"
Lan Yan's voice grew faint and distant as Xu Qiaoxi sprinted with all her might, only the howling wind in her ears, the fresh green spring scenery receding rapidly behind her into a blur of continuous motion.
This era was ruled by filial piety—"Body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents." The Grand Commandant could even beat Xie Jilian to death in the name of upholding family discipline.
All this trouble had started because of her. Xu Qiaoxi could not stand by and do nothing.
The closer she got to the Grand Commandant's residence, the quieter it became. Servants and maids along the way all stood frozen in place, eyes downcast, minds elsewhere.
"Whack—"
The sound of something cutting through the air, followed by a dull thud against flesh.
"Since childhood I have taught you to be cautious and self-disciplined, to know honor and shame. You have always been introspective."
"Whack—"
"Even when you said you had no interest in romance and didn't wish to marry, your father trusted you had your reasons. Who knew you would be bewitched by some demon!"
"How can you face the Xie family?"
Xie Jilian, sweat beading on his forehead, knelt on the ground in silence, listening to his father Xie Cheng's reprimands.
His plain white robes at the back were soaked through with layers of blood, all marks from the ruler's blows.
Grand Commandant Xie Cheng, thirty-five or thirty-six, tall and imposing with an air of authority, raised the ruler high with one hand, ready to strike again.
"Wait!"
Xie Cheng looked up to see an unfamiliar young woman stumbling toward him, clutching in her hands—the paintings he had made for his late wife.
Xu Qiaoxi raised the scrolls high with both hands and dropped to her knees before Xie Cheng.
"Grand Commandant, when you discipline the young master, you should think of the late mistress! She carried him for ten months and endured great hardship to give birth to your only son. Do you not cherish him?"
"Moreover, rumors are fearsome. The young master has been slandered. If a father only harshly blames his child, it will break the child's heart!"
Xu Qiaoxi didn't know where she found the courage, but she kept spitting out words with resounding force.
Xie Cheng studied her, then asked coldly, "This is the one you picked up in the woods?"
Xie Jilian's voice was weak and hollow. "Yes."
She was delicate and pretty—far from the image of a "demon."
Xie Cheng took the scrolls from Xu Qiaoxi's hands, gripping them tightly until his knuckles turned white.
The courtyard fell completely silent, leaving only the slow, heavy sound of his son's breathing.
His heart tightened as the image of his wife's frail form on her deathbed surfaced before his eyes.
That same slow breathing—she had leaned against the headboard, eyes bloodshot from exertion, looking at him, looking at the infant in his arms…
Enough.
This young woman had a point. Lingjia's life had been bought with his wife's life. Her dying words were that father and son should not wallow in grief—that was also why he had named his son "Jilian" (Do Not Pity).
If so, should he make her spirit grieve from above?
Xie Cheng suppressed the surging emotions in his chest. "Where are you from? What family do you belong to?"
"Ah…" Xu Qiaoxi hadn't expected Xie Cheng to ask her. For a moment she was stunned, opening her mouth but unable to produce a sound.
"Qiaoxi is from the Xu family of Xiahang, living east of Luoyang city. On the day of Spring Shooting, she was separated from her parents in the woods. I later sent people to find her family, only to learn that the day before, Jie tribesmen had caused a disturbance and abducted and killed her parents. With nowhere to go, I took her in."
Xie Jilian knelt before his father with demurely lowered eyes, yet not a single truthful word came from his mouth. Xu Qiaoxi's heart pounded beside him, her pupils involuntarily widening.
Xie Cheng slowly nodded. "Though her origins are humble, she is acceptable as your concubine."
He shot his son a glare, disappointed that he wouldn't amount to anything: "You're twenty years old now. At your age, I could already recite the 'Rhapsody on the Three Capitals' from memory."
Xie Cheng sighed, gripped the scrolls, and turned to leave, leaving Xu Qiaoxi too stunned to process his words.
"Qiaoxi…"
She turned her gaze. The man before her looked weary and listless, his breathing faint. His already pale face was now even more pallid, save for his lips, which had taken on an unnatural crimson from biting down against the pain.
Like drops of blood about to fall.
Those lips curved slightly toward her, and he said:
"Thank you."
With that, Xie Jilian collapsed headfirst into Xu Qiaoxi's arms, as if his breath had given out, and went still.
Basin after basin of bloody water was carried out from beside Xie Jilian's bed. Xu Qiaoxi waited outside the screen, her fingers twisted together like a tangled knot.
By the time the incense burner beside them had burned to ash, Yu Pu popped her head out from behind the screen and waved at her. "The young master wants to see you."
Behind the screen was a wide bed of antique elegance, draped with curtains of lustrous brocade. A sweep of blue-green filled the bed, like the damp rust on a bronze door knocker—refined, yet impossible to hide its coldness.
Xie Jilian reclined against a soft pillow of gold thread, his ink-black hair cascading behind him. The look in his eyes as he watched Xu Qiaoxi shimmered with a distant light.
"That's a drafty spot. Don't stand there. Come, sit here."
He patted the edge of the bed, signaling for Xu Qiaoxi to sit beside him.
Xu Qiaoxi pressed her shoulders against the edge of the screen, her feet seemingly glued to the floor, refusing to move closer. She leaned against the screen in silence.
Xie Jilian propped himself up, leaning toward her. "Were you frightened? Ah…"
The movement pulled at the wound on his back. He furrowed his brow, closing his eyes to steady his breathing.
Seeing his pain, Xu Qiaoxi instinctively stepped closer. "No, I wasn't frightened."
Xie Jilian opened his eyes slightly, still appearing pained but speaking in a gentle tone. "Then why do you look like the sky is falling?"
Because the sky truly had fallen.
"Your father wants me to be your concubine?"
Her hands hung at her sides, but her nails dug deep into her palms.
To a female college student from the 21st century, those words were like a stinging slap of humiliation. The moment they left her lips, tears tumbled down, sliding to her cheeks.
Her shoulders ached from suppressed sobs, but Xu Qiaoxi still pressed her lips together, refusing to let out a single sound of crying.
Xie Jilian witnessed this stubbornness, his mind going blank for a moment.
Why was she crying? Shouldn't she be overjoyed to become his concubine?
How many noble ladies in Luoyang longed for him in vain, and yet she was crying?
He didn't understand.
Xie Jilian slowly collected himself and rose, intending to get off the bed to approach her.
"Hey, don't move."
Xu Qiaoxi stepped forward to stop him, tears still spilling as she worried about him. "Mind your wound."
She had already reached his bedside, so he simply tugged at the corner of her sleeve and made her sit down.
"Does Qiaoxi have someone in her heart, and so is unwilling to be Lian's concubine?"
Xu Qiaoxi shook her head, tears blurring her vision so thoroughly that her round face looked like a fresh peach dripping with water.
"This… Lian deserves a beating. I meant to tease you, but instead I made you cry." Xie Jilian was caught between laughter and tears, curling his fingers to wipe away her tears.
He opened a small drawer beside the bed and took out an embroidered pouch. Opening it, he tipped out a crystal-clear piece of candy.
"Lian often eats these osmanthus candies. Would Qiaoxi like one?"
Xu Qiaoxi hadn't tasted anything in a long time. Even through her tears, her eyes still glanced at the candy.
She picked it up between thumb and forefinger and put it in her mouth. The rich fragrance of osmanthus blended with the melt-on-contact sweetness, mingling across her teeth and tongue. Miraculously, her mood settled.
"Lian has never had womenfolk around him. Suddenly you appeared, and with all those rumors, it's understandable that Father misunderstood. But what if I said that Lian needs Qiaoxi's help?"
His unhurried voice carried an endless, magnetic quality that drew Xu Qiaoxi in.
"Do you remember Princess Xincheng? She wants me to be her consort."
Xu Qiaoxi spoke around the candy, her words muffled: "If you become a princess's consort, you can't hold office. You don't want that."
Xie Jilian nodded, but seemed to hesitate. His amber eyes shifted slightly, and after a moment, he leaned close to her ear and whispered:
"The princess likes women."
"What?!"
Xie Jilian pressed a finger to his lips and gave her a mysterious smile. "Shh, it's a secret. Just between you and me."
"Then why does she keep pursuing you?"
"This is our helplessness. Feelings, marriage, family standing, kinship… all of it is currency. So what if she's fond of women? The royal family needs to use a princess's marriage to bind the noble clans, so she must pick a consort from among them to spend her life with."
"Cruel and boring, isn't it?"
"Imagine being entangled for a lifetime with someone you can't stand, who you could never truly connect with. What torture that would be. Lian won't have it, and I will never be one to imprison myself."
Xu Qiaoxi nodded in agreement.
The candy in her mouth dissolved, leaving a faint bitter aftertaste of osmanthus on the tip of her tongue—elusive and hard to grasp.
"To be honest," Xie Jilian said, his palm resting on his own thigh, "Lian even considered breaking his own leg to escape fate."
"But Qiaoxi, you came."
His voice could barely contain its delight. "That day's twist of fate, though it harmed Lian's reputation, also showed that the princess no longer insists on choosing me as her husband."
After all, with such rumors stirring in the inner quarters, would Princess Xincheng still rush to compete with a "fox spirit"?
"So, could Qiaoxi let this mistake stand and stay by Lian's side? Just pretend to be my concubine, and give Lian an excuse to push away those shackles from now on."
"You lied to me."
The sincerity in Xie Jilian's eyes suddenly turned cold, a flash of bewilderment crossing his face.
Xu Qiaoxi's chest rose and fell, her eyelids flushed pink but her eyes no longer held tears.
Her voice was low yet calm. "You said you hadn't figured out what to do with me, but you'd already planned it all along, hadn't you?"
Once the words were spoken, the anxiety in her heart dissipated like smoke.
Why would a free pie fall from the sky? Xu Qiaoxi hadn't attended those anti-fraud lectures at school for nothing.
A nobleman like Xie Jilian—why would he take in a person of unknown origins for no reason? Unless what he wanted was precisely her unknown origins.
"If she were any other young lady, she could easily become a pawn in various interests and bring you trouble. But I have no household registration—just a lone soul. I'm the safest choice for you."
Their eyes met, and Xie Jilian was silent for a long moment. Yet slowly, appreciation and amusement gathered in those amber pupils.
"Qiaoxi is clever."
"Not just clever—kind and courageous too. No one in the entire household dared to stop Father, but you alone were willing to fight for me."
Few people praised her so directly. Xu Qiaoxi touched her burning earlobe.
But wait—she had played the beauty saving the hero, and in the end, he wanted her as a concubine?
Returning kindness with enmity.
She continued to ignore him, silently guarding her bottom line.
Seeing her puffed up with anger, Xie Jilian lowered his gaze and extended another piece of candy to her with his right hand.
"If you're unwilling, that's fine too. Lian said he would respect Qiaoxi."
That was only fair. Xu Qiaoxi snatched the candy quickly, and just as she was about to put it in her mouth, her peripheral vision caught his hand slowly lowering.
Wrapped in gauze, with a long gash beneath the bandage.
He had taken a blade for her.
Xu Qiaoxi was startled by this ghostly thought, her heart thrown into chaos.
She had been born by C-section and had known since childhood that the scar on her mother's belly was left for her sake. In all the world, only her mother had ever taken a blade for her.
The osmanthus candy melted slightly at her fingertips, sticky.
She suddenly realized that between her and Xie Jilian, fairness was no longer possible. This debt was muddled and unclear, but it had landed on her nonetheless.
Xu Qiaoxi lowered her head and asked slowly, "You said being a concubine was a fake arrangement—you're not lying to me?"
Finally, those words came.
Xie Jilian quietly raised his eyes and held up three long, slender fingers. "If it were a lie, may Lian forever lose what he loves most, and live in solitude for all eternity."
Xu Qiaoxi ate the candy, then scraped the syrup off her fingers with her teeth, not letting a single bit of sweetness go to waste.
"Then—I'll play your concubine for at most a year. During that time, you help me look into one matter. Deal?"
The TEM-4 exam had two chances, the last one in the junior year. She only had one year to spend here.
Xu Qiaoxi described her true origins in vague terms, and after listening, Xie Jilian revealed a look of pleasant surprise.
"Like Zhuangzi's butterfly dream, a cycle turned over?"
"Something like that."
"Interesting." Xie Jilian nodded to her. "Then let us establish a one-year pact. After one year, you and I shall both be free."
"The camellias at Hongyu Terrace are in full bloom—perfect timing. Move there. From today onward, you are the young mistress of Qianshan Chunting."
"Gurgle…"
Of all times, those two candies had awakened her cravings.
Embarrassed, she covered her stomach, while Xie Jilian smiled serenely and gave orders to those outside: "Bring in the food table."
Before long, a row of servants filed in, setting down plate after plate of exquisite dishes—fish, meat, vegetables, soups, and congee, everything one could want. Not only were they fragrant and tempting, but several dishes were clearly labor-intensive and extravagantly costly.
Xu Qiaoxi was dumbfounded.
Was this what class disparity looked like?!
Xie Jilian handed her a pair of red-lacquered chopsticks and said softly, "Though you are a concubine, from now on you will dine with Lian at the same table. In daily living expenses, Qiaoxi will never be wronged."
The corners of her mouth flew upward beyond her control.
Heaven is big, earth is big—eating and drinking are the biggest!
Xu Qiaoxi aimed precisely at a plate of roasted meat. The honey-glazed meat bounced with savory fragrance the moment it entered her mouth. She had never tasted meat this good.
"What meat is this? It's delicious!"
"Venison."
The ecstasy on her taste buds came to an abrupt halt.
"…The deer that was shot with an arrow?"
Xie Jilian nodded.
A bitter numbness rose in Xu Qiaoxi's throat, and she immediately turned her head to spit the venison into an empty plate.
"Didn't Qiaoxi like it?"
"I… I don't like it."
Xu Qiaoxi buried her head in her rice, desperately trying to suppress that numbing sensation.
That deer—how could it be that deer? The deer she thought still had a chance at life had died in her mouth…
Xie Jilian propped his elbow on a soft cushion, his gaze sweeping over her fluster.
"The prey from Spring Shooting is always shared among friends to show closeness. I don't know who shot the deer. If Qiaoxi doesn't like it, then from now on, no matter who hunts what, we won't take it—alright?"
Xu Qiaoxi looked up from her bowl. Her small, petty fussiness was gently cradled by his tenderness, and her nose betrayed her with a sting of warmth.
"Thank you, Langjun."
Xie Jilian smiled faintly. "You should be thanking Lingjia."
At that moment, footsteps sounded from beyond the screen, and Yu Pu bowed toward it.
"Langjun, I've brought back the news."
"No rush. Wait until the young mistress finishes her lunch."
"Young mistress?" Yu Pu was startled, glanced at Xu Qiaoxi's shadow eating on the screen, and silently closed his mouth.