The night was long, and snowflakes as large as goose feathers danced wildly between them like a white curtain, separating two different worlds.
Shen Si was flanked by four attendants carrying glass lanterns. The bright light fell upon his black fox-fur cloak; his tall, slender figure naturally made others feel insignificant by comparison.
Behind her lay a chaotic mess; before her was the cold, icy atmosphere he brought with him.
She gathered her courage and walked toward him, looking at him through her white veil, waiting only to speak a single word to him.
The attendants by Shen Si’s side moved to drive her away, but with a slight lift of his hand, they retreated behind him.
He came to a halt, watching Ji Hanyi approach. The biting wind howling through the alley buffeted her thin yet exquisite figure, making her skirts flutter.
The cold wind brushed the white veil against her snow-white skin. Beneath a corner of the veil, her small nose was flushed red. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes, clear and tinged with a hint of charm, gazed at him urgently, filled with expectation and trepidation.
Her petite frame was wrapped in a red cloak flecked with gold. When she raised her slender, pale hands, a glimpse of her snowy wrists was revealed.
His gaze merely swept over her face once. Just as she was about to reach him, he turned and walked toward the main gate.
Shen Si had no intention of lingering before Ji Hanyi. This woman should not have appeared before him again and again.
Knowing their master did not wish to see her, the attendants quickly blocked Ji Hanyi’s path, preventing her from taking another step forward.
With the tall guards obstructing her view, Ji Hanyi watched helplessly as his statuesque silhouette disappeared behind the vermilion gates. Her eyes stung.
Only after the gates swung shut did the guards at the front entrance depart.
Shen Si walked forward with a cold, indifferent expression. A gatekeeper followed beside him, carefully presenting a jade pendant with both hands. “Marquis, the woman at the gate asked me to give this to your lordship.”
Shen Si looked down, and his footsteps faltered slightly when he saw the jade pendant in the servant’s hand.
The gatekeeper hadn’t expected the Marquis to stop and hurriedly added while watching his expression, “That woman said she won’t leave tonight until she sees your lordship.”
“Should I have someone drive her away?”
Shen Si reached out and took the jade pendant from the servant’s hand. His thumb brushed over every inch of the jade, which seemed to carry that warm, cloying sweetness of her scent, drifting through the mist of the wind and snow.
Frigid snowflakes fell into his palm, melting against his fingertips.
The dim light from the glass lanterns reflected off the wet, damp ground. Shen Si stood there for a moment, saying nothing, before resuming his stride.
The servant didn’t understand what this meant—he hadn’t said to see her, nor had he said to drive her away.
What were they supposed to do?
The Marquis’s thoughts were always difficult to discern. The servant turned his gaze toward Wen An, who was following behind.
Wen An made a gesture, indicating that they should leave it alone for now; the Marquis would give orders if he had a plan.
Wen An had seen clearly from behind his master—wasn’t that the same woman from the other day? The one who had caused the Marquis to stand on the high balcony and watch for a long time?
He felt, for some reason, that this woman was different.
Though he had only served the Marquis for a little over three years, when had the Marquis ever lingered on a woman for even a moment?
If any other woman had come tonight, she would have been driven away long ago. It would have been impossible for her to be allowed to wait outside the gates.
Shen Si returned to his study. The floor heaters had already warmed the room, and official documents were piled on his desk. He waved for the servants to withdraw and sat alone behind the desk.
However, the rustling sound of the snow outside felt like a clamor to him. He went to the window and pushed it open. Heavy snow swirled in, bringing a bone-chilling cold.
He suddenly felt a surge of irritability, a loathing for the emotions rising in his heart at this moment.
Like the wind and snow outside, no matter how much he resisted, they were pervasive.
He called for Wen An, who hurried inside.
Shen Si sat behind the desk and asked with feigned indifference, “Has she left?”
Wen An was stunned for a moment before reacting. He hurriedly replied, “She likely hasn’t left yet.”
Shen Si looked up at Wen An. After a long silence, he looked at the jade pendant on the desk and said calmly, “Bring her to see me.”
***
When Wen An reached the front gate, the woman was indeed still there.
In such freezing weather, she was just standing outside.
He tried to discern her identity, but the carriage was plain and unmarked, suggesting she did not come from a prominent noble family.
Seeing the woman in the snow, her figure small and wrapped in a silver-fox cloak and a veiled hat, he couldn’t see her face or tell if she was beautiful. He truly couldn’t understand what made her so special.
Nevertheless, Wen An was perfectly polite as he invited Ji Hanyi to enter through the side gate.
Since a woman was visiting late at night, he had to consider the Marquis’s reputation. Even if the people at the front gate didn’t dare gossip, there was always the risk of being seen.
Ji Hanyi gripped the white veil of her hat tightly, afraid of revealing her face. This arrangement was exactly what she had hoped for.
She had no desire to establish any public connection with Shen Si or invite further rumors.
The jade pendant she had intended to keep hidden for the rest of her life was, in the end, being used to beg for his help.
The gap between them now was as vast as that between the clouds and the mud. He had likely forgotten her long ago; she was already grateful that he was willing to grant her an audience.
Shen Si’s study was exceptionally quiet. Ji Hanyi was not actually a stranger to this place; even though she hadn’t visited for many years, a faint sense of familiarity returned to her as she entered.
There were no servants in the study. She was led to the outer hall to wait, where she sat in a chair, feeling somewhat restless.
Her frost-nipped hands tightly clutched a cup of steaming tea, but her heart was in a turmoil of anxiety over how to speak to Shen Si.
He likely had no time for polite pleasantries about the past, and he had probably forgotten them anyway.
Perhaps she should just beg him directly.
When she hadn’t been able to see him, her only thought was how to get an audience. Now that she was about to see him, her mind was a tangled mess. She had no idea where to start, and even the thought of opening her mouth made her nervous.
Yes, she was still afraid of him.
Afraid of his coldness.
Her thoughts were interrupted by someone coming from the inner room to deliver a message. The man said Shen Si was ready for her. She gripped her fingers tight with nerves before walking inside.
Shen Si quietly watched the figure reflected on the screen.
Through the translucent screen, he could clearly see her every move and even hear her soft, muffled coughs.
He saw her pause just before rounding the screen, then continue forward.
He withdrew his gaze and waited for her to step into his domain, observing her without a word.
When Ji Hanyi entered, only Shen Si was in the room, sitting tall behind the desk. He held a brush in his hand, and his silver silk robes accentuated his noble yet cold features.
He didn’t spare her a single glance, looking as though he were merely seeing her in the midst of a busy schedule.
Perhaps he was. He had always seemed like the cold moon hanging high in the sky—transcendent, detached from the world, and indifferent to the joys and sorrows of those around him.
She lifted the white veil and draped it over the brim of her hat. Standing where she was, she lowered her eyes and spoke in a humble, cautious tone. “My cousin has been taken to the Northern Imperial Prison. His fate is unknown.”
“His studies at the Imperial Academy were excellent, and he would have been eligible for an official appointment after passing next year’s examinations. This matter was Gu Xun’s fault, but I beg Lord Shen to help him this once.”
Having finished, Ji Hanyi knelt and bowed her head to the floor. “I return the jade pendant to Lord Shen tonight,” she whispered. “I will not trouble your lordship again in the future.”