Sunlight beat down on her head, her shadow beneath her feet blurring into a shapeless patch of darkness.
In the bustling market, pedestrians crammed the already narrow stone-brick road to a standstill, punctuated by the occasional outburst of cursing.
Along the main street, soldiers were dispersing the crowd. Su Zheyun tilted her head, glancing at the several black-clad servants hauling goods a few steps away.
“Young Master Su, your tuition gift.”
Auntie Wang from the butcher shop called out in her hearty voice. Su Zheyun turned back, accepting the dried meat neatly tied with red twine, a warm smile spreading across her face.
“Alright, that’s two strings of cash, right?” Su Zheyun opened her coin pouch and carefully counted out the silver coins in her hand.
“These cuts were all slaughtered fresh today, young master—won’t you buy some for your little sister to try?” Auntie Wang took the weighty coins with both hands, eagerly pitching her wares.
Su Zheyun was tempted, but only shook her head, a hint of embarrassment flickering across her face.
Auntie Wang understood at once, her tone rising: “Has Registrar Li withheld your wages again? Why don’t you go argue with him?”
Su Zheyun offered an appeasing smile, her delicate, striking face etched with helplessness.
“Forget it. He’ll pay me eventually. I can make do with what’s left if I’m frugal.”
Auntie Wang’s face flushed with indignation. She sucked in a breath and spat a wad of yellow phlegm onto the ground.
“Tsk, nothing but a pack of corrupt officials! They’ve got money to buy rare treasures and curry favor, but no money to pay their underlings? What kind of people are they!”
Following her gaze, Su Zheyun saw the servants in front of the Treasure Pavilion having already hitched the carriage, which now drove off laden with countless valuables.
“They’ve been moving things since yesterday. Who could it be that has Magistrate Chen so worked up?”
A magistrate was only eighth rank, but in these parts, he was the top authority.
“No idea. Seems they’re from the capital.” Merchants and gentry always had better sources than she did. Auntie Wang went back to sharpening her knife, the blade scraping against the whetstone with a rhythmic hiss.
“But Fang County is a backwater—what big official would come here? Just talk, I say.”
Su Zheyun nodded at that. Magistrate Chen Daoyong was a sycophant, but he hadn’t committed any grave offense. Though her wages were often delayed, her work as an advisor was easy enough, and she had no real complaints.
She walked along the blue stone paths through street after street, the sun gradually shifting its position in the sky.
The moment a pair of black cloth shoes crossed the threshold, the little girl who had heard the commotion rushed over and wrapped her in an affectionate hug.
Su Zheyun’s forehead was beaded with fine sweat, but a gentle smile curved across her face as she leaned into the embrace and stepped inside.
She set down the heavy bundle of dried meat, her gaze falling on a sheet of white paper nearby. The black ink strokes on it were crooked and wobbly, like a caterpillar crawling along a branch.
Su Zheyun couldn’t help but laugh. Before she could look closer, Su Wenyu snatched away the evidence, hiding it firmly behind her back, her cheeks flushing crimson.
“Big Sister, you’re not allowed to laugh! Yours looked exactly like this when you first learned to write!”
“Alright, I won’t laugh.” Su Zheyun suppressed her smile, watching Su Wenyu circle the dried meat on the table.
“Big Sister, are we eating meat today?” The girl’s voice could barely contain its excitement.
“We’re eating those today,” Su Zheyun said, pointing at the potatoes and cabbage on the table, dousing her fiery enthusiasm. “The dried meat is the tuition gift for Master Chen. I have the day off tomorrow, so I’ll go with you.”
Su Wenyu’s spirits sank, her doe eyes glistening with moisture. “Big Sister, do I have to go to Master Chen’s? There are no girls studying at the school… and practicing calligraphy is so tiring. I think gathering herbs like before was just fine.”
“No,” Su Zheyun said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “I’ve already spoken with Master Chen. After the school session ends, he’ll tutor you privately—you won’t be mixed in with the others.”
Her hand reached up to touch her sister’s little bun of hair, and she sighed inwardly. Su Wenyu was already nine, yet she only came up to Su Zheyun’s waist—a consequence of never having enough to eat in the past.
“Wenyu, you must keep studying.” Su Zheyun was determined to set her straight. “Big Sister won’t force you to earn a living with your knowledge later. If you still want to gather herbs then, then go gather herbs—I’ll go along with whatever you choose.”
“If you learn to read, and later decide you don’t want to gather herbs anymore, you can do other work. But if you don’t learn to read, and later decide you don’t want to gather herbs—what will you do then?” Su Zheyun rarely spoke so earnestly. Uprooting deeply ingrained ideas required patient, persistent effort.
“Besides, reading teaches you reason. That alone is enough.”
Su Wenyu nodded in a daze, though it was unclear whether she truly understood. She shouted “Got it!” and scooped up the ingredients with both arms.
“I’ll go cook now. Big Sister, wait a bit—it’ll be ready soon.”
Watching her bustle off into the kitchen, Su Zheyun smiled faintly and picked up the book she hadn’t finished reading.
It wasn’t that she refused to help—Su Zheyun, a university student in her past life, could hold her own in any formal setting, but she’d never set foot in a kitchen. She’d tried a few times, only to be shooed out by Su Wenyu every single time.
When she had first transmigrated here, it was early spring, and the snow on the mountains hadn’t yet melted. She had collapsed in the cold mountain woods, and it was Su Wenyu who found her while gathering herbs and dragged her back to the dilapidated thatched cottage.
Her fever would not break, so Su Wenyu went to the herbalist who had bought her herbs and recklessly applied every potentially useful remedy she could find, barely managing to snatch her back from death’s door after she had been unconscious for three or four days.
Su Wenyu’s parents had both died of plague three years prior, leaving her alone with neither enough to eat nor warm clothes to wear. Su Zheyun had also grown up in an orphanage and could empathize most deeply with that feeling of utter loneliness and helplessness, so the two became each other’s family.
After she recovered fully and was about to look for work, a band of brigands happened to stir up trouble in Fang County. Su Zheyun offered the county magistrate a brilliant strategy, and the brigands were quickly dealt with. In return, she received a full fifty taels of silver as reward and was taken on as an advisor.
Afterwards, she brought her younger sister into town, bought a small courtyard, and had someone register them in the household records. She also reclaimed her original modern name, and since her sister had originally been called Wenyu, she added the surname Su to the front of her sister’s name.
“The food’s ready!” Su Wenyu brought over steaming dishes, and the moment Su Zheyun caught the aroma, it was as if every greedy craving in her stomach had been lured out.
The sun was dipping toward the west, painting the sky in rich, vivid colors. Crimson remnants of clouds glowed with warm light that spilled across the table onto the two relaxed figures.
Thump—thump—thump—
A frantic knocking sounded at the door, the flimsy wooden panels rattling from the force.
“Who is it?”
“Master Su, it’s me.”
Hearing the answer, Su Zheyun felt a flicker of surprise—now here was an unexpected guest.
At the door, Chief Clerk Li’s thin face wore a fawning smile, his two wisps of mustache splaying outward in a perfect figure-eight shape.
When she saw what Chief Clerk Li was offering with both hands, Su Zheyun raised an eyebrow slightly but did not take it, merely keeping a smile on her face.
“I could just as well collect my salary the day after tomorrow. Didn’t Chief Clerk Li say funds were tight lately? Why trouble yourself to bring it over in person?”
Li Shouren gave an awkward laugh and pressed the silver wrapped in red paper into her hands, his tone carrying a hint of ingratiation.
“I couldn’t keep putting it off forever! The moment the salary from above came through, I brought it straight to Master Su.”
Su Zheyun discreetly weighed it with her hand hidden in her sleeve, her expression betraying nothing. Well, well—the sun really must be rising from the west. Not only was there no delay, but the salary seemed more generous than before.
“It’s just that there’s urgent business at the yamen, and I must ask Master Su to return with me.”
Sure enough—a weasel paying respects to the chicken.
Su Zheyun feigned surprise, drawing out her voice with a hint of reluctance.
“Aren’t there other advisors at the yamen? Besides, tomorrow is my rest day!”
Li Shouren wore a pained expression and shoved the bundle in his hands toward her as well.
“All the advisors are there, just waiting for Master Su. I’ll make up your rest day at another time, and after tonight you’ll receive double pay.”
Why didn’t he say there was double overtime pay earlier?
Though her heart had already been won over by the money, Su Zheyun kept up her air of reluctance on the surface. Without responding, she flipped through the contents of the bundle.
“There are clothes too? For me?”
Moon-white brocade embroidered with silver thread in cloud patterns, the fabric smooth and supple, faintly shimmering with flowing light in the dim lamplight—clearly worth a small fortune.
“How about triple? Master Su, please hurry and get ready—the magistrate is still waiting at the yamen.”
“Fine then. Wenyu!” Su Zheyun called into the house, and Su Wenyu came pattering over to take the red paper and bundle.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Li Shouren reached out to stop her. “Master Su, you need to put the clothes on.”
Su Zheyun’s face fell, her brows knitting together.
“Didn’t you say they were a gift?”
“They are a gift, but you need to wear them today.”
Su Zheyun glanced down at her plain hemp robe with no embroidery, faded from countless washings, and gave a wry tug at the corner of her mouth. So that was it—he was afraid she’d embarrass him. No wonder he was willing to part with such fine clothing.
“Fine then. Chief Clerk Li, please wait outside.”
Li Shouren broke into a wide grin, cupping his hands in salute. “Take your time, Master Su. A carriage is already waiting outside—we’ll ride over.”
Su Zheyun craned her neck to look out. The catalpa-wood carriage outside gleamed pitch-black, with copper studs set into its walls, utterly out of place among the shabby surrounding houses.
It was indeed Magistrate Chen’s carriage. The slight unease in her heart settled—otherwise, Li Shouren’s excessive eagerness would have made her feel like she was about to be sold off at any moment.
Moonlight fell softly as the carriage wheels ground over the stone slabs, carving faint ruts through the dust with subtle sounds in the night.
Su Zheyun lived in a remote area with poor road conditions, and the carriage jostled about. Li Shouren watched the figure across from him struggling to keep steady, a scheme forming in his mind.
As the saying goes, fine clothes make the man—he felt there was considerable truth to it. Even in her usual coarse hemp garments, Su Zheyun could hardly conceal her refined features, but today, in a simple elegant brocade robe, she took on the cultured bearing of a graceful young gentleman.
He stroked his figure-eight mustache and smiled at Su Zheyun.
A few days earlier, word had leaked from above that Prince Duan, Jiang Weixu, would pass through Fang County on his way back from inspecting the salt trade in Chengzhou. It was a rare honor for a member of the imperial family to grace their humble county, and since Prince Duan enjoyed considerable favor with the emperor, Magistrate Chen Dao naturally scrambled to curry favor.
But what to offer him proved a difficult question.
A prince raised with a silver spoon in his mouth—what rare treasures or jewels had he not seen?
It was then that Li Shouren came up with an idea.
The upper class of this dynasty had a marked fondness for male companionship, yet Prince Duan was famously indifferent to women. Perhaps…
Chen Dao, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but clap his hands in approval. However, sending people off was ultimately not something that could be done openly, so it still had to be done discreetly. Moreover, Qie County had no male performers, so Chen Dao even sent people to Yi County to purchase a few.
Everything was ready, but unexpectedly…
“Registrar Li, is there something wrong with my face?”
Perhaps Li Shouren’s gaze was too intense, causing Su Zheyun’s hairs to stand on end, and she finally couldn’t help but ask.
The carriage had already entered the bustling market, and the clamor outside was unceasing.
Li Shouren withdrew his gaze, leaned forward, and deliberately lowered his voice.
“Prince Duan has arrived.”
“Oh?” Su Zheyun’s mind turned quickly—so this must be the “big official.”
However, Aunt Wang’s information had been inaccurate. Though she didn’t know which prince, she knew in her heart that this was truly a formidable figure.
“Since His Highness Prince Duan has come, what does he want with me?”
Li Shouren leaned in closer, and as the carriage steadied considerably, Su Zheyun also leaned forward.
“Prince Duan wants to ask about the bandit suppression from a few months ago. The Magistrate believes that since that was your idea, it would be better for you to explain it to Prince Duan yourself. If you manage to win favor before His Highness Prince Duan, you might even receive a reward.”
Upon hearing this, Su Zheyun’s eyes brightened considerably, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl upward.
Setting everything else aside, that matter had been handled exceptionally well—it was the stepping stone of her work as an advisor, and its value went without saying.
“It was still the concerted efforts of my colleagues; I wouldn’t dare claim all the credit alone.”
The carriage came to a steady stop before the vermilion-painted gates of the government office. Li Shouren was the first to alight, extending his hand in a gesture of invitation.
“Master Su need not be so modest—the Magistrate understands your abilities well.”
A gentle breeze brushed against the loose strands of hair on her forehead. Hearing Li Shouren’s flattery, her face was radiant with delight. Even this road she walked every day now stirred a somewhat different feeling within her.
Praying to gods and Buddhas really worked! She was truly about to turn her luck around.