Escorting the Lady
Chu Linlang gulped down a mouthful of tea, finally catching her breath. When she lifted her head, she was startled to see that the one handing her the cup was none other than Mr. Situ, whom she had not seen for a long time. He was still dressed in that faded shirt, his gaze calm as he stood by her table, carrying an air of effortless freedom. Bowing with clasped fists, he greeted her: “Madam Chu, I trust you have been well.”
Chu Linlang swallowed hard and quickly rose to return the courtesy. As she lowered her head, she noticed that the hem of his robe and his shoes were dripping wet.
Judging from the sight, he must have leapt from a boat that had yet to dock properly, wading through the water to reach the shore.
That was rather impressive!
Curious, Chu Linlang glanced past his shoulder—only to see a dazzling young maiden in a rainbow-colored gown, sharp-browed and bright-eyed, storming down from the boat in pursuit. Her pace was swift, leaving the maids and attendants struggling to keep up.
The young lady, seeing Situ Sheng abandon her to leap into the water, only to stand at a tea stall conversing politely with another striking woman, immediately rushed over. Her expression was hostile as she demanded, “Who is she?”
Chu Linlang herself was intrigued. Who was this heroine who could drive Lord Situ to jump ship?
Situ Sheng, unbothered by being caught in such a bedraggled state, remained composed and elegant even as water dripped from his hem. He calmly made introductions.
The seemingly imperious young woman was named Xie Youran, the youngest daughter of General Xie Sheng of the Fifth Rank, and sister-in-law to the Sixth Prince. She had come with her mother to visit her elder sister and was traveling from the capital alongside Situ Sheng on his official mission to Jizhou. As for what had just transpired to force Situ Sheng into the river, neither of these noble visitors from the capital seemed inclined to explain.
Upon learning that Chu Linlang was already married—indeed, the wife of an official appointed by the Sixth Prince—Miss Xie’s expression softened slightly. However, her smile remained tinged with disdain, polite only on the surface.
Chu Linlang stole a glance at Situ Sheng’s arm. He stood with hands clasped behind his back, serene, his injuries seemingly healed. That encounter on the dirt road outside the city remained their unspoken secret. Thus, after a few polite exchanges, she excused herself and returned to where her carriage was stationed.
Zhou Sui’an, having just awakened from a nap in the carriage, heard that Situ Sheng had also arrived in Jizhou. He quickly straightened his clothes to greet him.
Situ Sheng, now in dry attire, was at leisure. He chatted with Zhou Sui’an for a while, first seeing Madam Xie and Xie Youran off into the city by carriage. Then he ordered his attendants to assist the Zhou household in unloading their boat. Yet when he noticed Madam Hu, hair neatly coiled, following behind Madam Zhao, Situ Sheng cast a subtle glance in Chu Linlang’s direction.
During unloading, Zhou Sui’an invited Chu Linlang and Situ Sheng to sit together at the tea stall and share cups of tea.
When men meet, talk inevitably drifts toward affairs of state and livelihood.
After discussing Jizhou’s local customs, Zhou Sui’an naturally brought up the sensational chain murders of recent days.
“By coincidence, the wealthy gentleman gravely injured in Liancheng has a son serving here in Jizhou. I’ve heard that in the past few months, five retired officials have been killed—each of them once responsible for military logistics and local defense in Lianzhou. Strange, isn’t it? Just the other day, I even sought out clerks who had worked with them. What grudge could the killer bear, to travel a thousand miles and slay them one by one?”
The speaker was casual, but the listener was shaken. Chu Linlang, lowering her head over her tea, struggled to suppress a gasp. She slowly raised her cup to hide her shocked expression. For in the past, to aid her husband, she had painstakingly gathered rosters of Lianzhou’s officials from previous years, even consulting minor clerks familiar with old affairs, all for his reference.
In these past days, so many people had died—and those victims matched almost exactly the roster she had once compiled for her husband!
And she had also handed that very same roster, unchanged, to Situ Sheng.
At the thought, Chu Linlang used the act of sipping tea as cover, her gaze sliding along the rim of the cup as she quietly lifted her eyes to glance at Situ Sheng across the table.
Unfortunately, Situ Sheng was drinking tea too. Between the fingers clasping his cup, a pair of sharp, cold phoenix eyes gleamed—and they were fixed directly upon her.
Their gazes collided. Chu Linlang faltered, unable to withstand his stare for long, and quickly lowered her head to busy herself with the fruit platter.
Before long, the unloading of goods was finished, and the tea at the stall had cooled. The group mounted their carriages and set off in grand procession toward Jizhou City.
The Sixth Prince appeared in good health—still thin, but commanding respect without effort.
Seeing Zhou Sui’an arrive together with Situ Sheng, it was inevitable that a banquet would be arranged to honor such talent.
Besides the officials, the wives and families of Jizhou’s administrators also attended, serving as a welcome reception for the Sixth Princess Consort’s younger sister.
The hall soon grew lively, cups clinking and wine flowing, the atmosphere bustling and festive.
Those assigned to Jizhou were either officials defeated in political struggles or honest men unsuited to climbing the ranks. The officialdom here was utterly different from Lianzhou, that military stronghold—Jizhou carried its own rustic simplicity. Thus, the officials spoke openly with one another, without the need for hidden meanings or excessive caution.
Zhou Sui’an, after merely exchanging greetings with these colleagues, already felt far more at ease and relieved.
The officials’ wives were not very skilled in adornment. When they saw Xie Youran dressed in the latest fashions, they all gasped in surprise, praising the young ladies of the capital for their style.
Madam Chu from Lianzhou was not lacking either. Though her clothes were not made of rare fabrics, her beauty was so striking that people could not help but look her up and down.
Miss Xie sat with dignified composure beside her elder sister, Princess Consort Xie. Glancing at these provincial women with their rustic airs, she only curled her lips in polite courtesy, with no intention of making acquaintances. Her gaze swept across the hall, taking in the crowd of men—among the short, stout, and coarse figures, only Situ Sheng shone like the moon among the stars, impossible to ignore.
Aside from him, they were all mediocrities… oh, that one called Zhou was barely passable. It was said his family hailed from Jiangkou, a watery southern land, and he carried the gentle grace of a southern gentleman.
Thinking of how Situ Sheng had leapt from the boat earlier just to avoid her, Xie Youran still fumed. Seizing a quiet moment, she complained to her sister: “Situ Sheng is truly hateful! Sister, you must have His Highness punish him severely!”
Sixth Princess Consort, Xie Dongli, well aware of her younger sister’s feelings toward Lord Situ, could not help but gently remind her: “You are no longer a child. Lord Situ may be His Highness’s tutor, but he is still an outsider. It is only proper for him to avoid suspicion. You should not tease him—what fault is it of his to keep his distance?”
Xie Youran, seeing her sister unwilling to support her, puffed her cheeks in anger.
With so many people present, the sisters could not speak freely, though Princess Consort Xie felt it was time to counsel her sibling.
Her sister’s intentions were plain to see—she had simply taken a fancy to the handsome Situ Sheng. But Situ Sheng had already sealed his lips before the Xie family could even speak, declaring that his mother had passed away the previous year, and that he must observe three years of mourning. During this time, he would not consider marriage.
By that reckoning, when his mourning ended, Xie Youran would already be nearly twenty, an age too late to delay. Moreover, their father had long planned to marry her to the third son of Censor Wang.
At present, the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince, backed by King Tai, were locked in fierce struggle. Far-sighted officials dared not take sides, preferring to remain neutral.
General Xie Sheng was a master of such prudence. He had married his eldest daughter, Xie Dongli, to Liu Ling, a prince of little favor, precisely to ensure a life of peace and safety.
What others scorned as an unfavored prince was, in truth, a secure refuge for a lifetime.
Censor Wang, as a man of integrity and upright conduct, was highly esteemed. Lord Xie admired the Wang family and wished to form an alliance through marriage. Yet Xie Youran refused outright, declaring that Wang’s third son was as ugly as a toad in the mud, and that she would rather die than marry him!
In truth, the young man’s face was merely a bit flat, his figure stout, his mouth large, and his skin marked with red blemishes. Beyond that, he was hardly so intolerable. Besides, if Young Master Wang were truly handsome, would the Xie family ever have the chance to claim him?
Thinking of this, Princess Consort Xie could only shake her head and sigh, unwilling to argue further with her spoiled sister. Instead, she turned to speak with Chu Linlang.
By the end of the banquet, Chu Linlang and Princess Consort Xie were conversing warmly, having already formed the bond of close confidantes.
Xie Youran sipped her wine, arching her fine brows with a smile: “Madam Chu, you really know how to coax people. My elder sister is slow to warm up—never have I seen her take to anyone so quickly. One might even mistake you for her own blood sister!”
Chu Linlang found the words sharp with jealousy. Unable to read this Second Miss Xie’s temperament, she chose not to respond, only smiling as she helped serve dishes to the two sisters.
But Xie Youran’s face soured again, and she fired off several barbed remarks, needling Chu Linlang.
Fortunately, Chu Linlang had a gift for sensing ill winds. She felt the hostility whistling past her ears, yet paid no heed to the Second Miss’s words.
After the banquet, Princess Consort Xie offered Chu Linlang an apology. She explained that after her mother gave birth to her younger sister, she had been frail in health. A fortune-teller had declared that Xie Youran’s birth characters clashed with her mother’s, and so the child had to be sent away to another household until the age of eight before she could return.
The Xie family believed it, and so Xie Youran was fostered among relatives of her maternal clan until she was eight years old.
Perhaps because those relatives dared not neglect her and indulged her excessively, Xie Youran had grown spoiled. If she spoke out of turn, Princess Consort Xie asked Madam Chu not to take offense.
Only then did Chu Linlang understand why the Sixth Princess Consort, with such fine manners and temper, had a sister with such a quarrelsome disposition.
Still, for Second Miss Xie to drive someone as deep and composed as Situ Sheng to leap into a river—she was indeed extraordinary, with some talent of her own!
After Zhou Sui’an arrived in Jizhou, his official rank remained the same: he continued as a magistrate. Yet the riverworks project in Jizhou was vast, and this post was far from leisurely. He had to spend his days running along the riverbanks.
Chu Linlang had heard him complain several times about the meals at the river site—too simple, sometimes leaving him hungry—and he often begged her to make him her special pork-and-noodle soup. So that day at noon, she carried a large food box to deliver his meal. But when she arrived at the shaded shed by the river with Xia He and a servant boy, Zhou Sui’an was not there. Only Situ Sheng was present, studying the river maps spread across the table.
Seeing her, Situ Sheng explained that Lord Zhou had gone with His Highness to inspect the riverworks in a neighboring county and should return shortly.
Curious—wasn’t Situ Sheng supposed to have been transferred to the Ministry of Personnel? Why had he come to Jizhou?
Chu Linlang felt that this man carried a baleful aura, always stirring bloodshed and misfortune. Every time she encountered him, calamity seemed to follow. Since the meal was delivered, there was no need to linger. Besides, she felt uneasy in his presence and wished to avoid him.
As she made to leave, Situ Sheng stepped out of the shed and said: “Lord Zhou did not tell you? Jizhou has been unsettled of late. Several cases of merchants being robbed have occurred. With Lord Zhou away, allow me to escort Madam home.”
Without waiting for her polite refusal, he gestured invitingly, motioning for Chu Linlang to go ahead.