After listening to Sun Feng'an's Mother ramble on and on, Gu Youning hadn't said a word, but once she returned to her own room, her tears began to fall.
Sun Feng'an panicked, at a loss as he tried to console her: "Now that I've gotten this good position, our days will surely get better soon. I will never fail you. As for my mother's temperament, just ignore her."
If this had been before, Gu Youning would have been touched by Sun Feng'an's private words of comfort, but now she didn't quite believe him.
He wouldn't even try to find a way to get her a single book, yet he talked about the future. Never mind that the future might not hold any prospects—even if it did, he might just turn out like his father, keeping a few mistresses outside!
Sun Feng'an grew anxious, putting his arm around her shoulders, humbling himself, then hurriedly rummaged through chests and cabinets, dug out a bundle, unwrapped it layer by layer, gathered up the bits of silver on his person, and thrust it all into her hands: "Look, what's mine is yours. It's all for you."
Gu Youning slowly stopped crying and sighed before speaking: "I don't want any of what you've offered. But today I want to say a few heartfelt words to you. If you agree to them, then no matter what my mother-in-law says, I will bear it silently and ask for nothing else—I only hope your heart is true to me. If you won't even agree to this, then I—"
The tears in her eyes threatened to fall again.
Sun Feng'an ached with love for her, and at this moment he was naturally willing to agree to anything.
Only then did Gu Youning wipe her tears and slowly explain to Sun Feng'an, telling him the gossip she had overheard. Sun Feng'an listened until his face turned red, but in the end he said nothing.
Seeing this, Gu Youning understood that he had known all along and had simply been covering for his father.
She sneered inwardly, thinking: birds of a feather, this father and son!
Still, she swallowed her anger and counseled him as calmly as she could: "We live under the same roof. You may not care about losing face, but I do. His mistress outside is a year younger than me. Tell me—walking through the prince's residence, you may be shameless, but I still have my dignity!"
Sun Feng'an was so anxious that sweat broke out on his head: "How could you take that seriously? It's just a passing flirtation, a bit of fun, nothing more!"
Gu Youning: "Oh? A bit of fun?"
Sun Feng'an: "My father manages affairs in the prince's residence, and so many people outside seek his favor. Those shameless maids in the residence all throw themselves at him. A man's heart is fickle—it's only natural that he might lose control now and then."
Only natural? Gu Youning could hardly believe her ears.
Sun Feng'an hurriedly swore to Gu Youning: "But I'm not like my father. I've never spared a second glance at the maids in the residence. You're the only one in my heart. If I ever prove faithless, do with me as you please!"
Gu Youning gave a cold laugh, too weary to pursue the matter further, and brought up her monthly allowance: "My monthly allowance is a full tael of silver. Each month I'll hand over two qian for household expenses, and the remaining eight qian I'll keep for myself."
Sun Feng'an agreed repeatedly: "Fine, fine, of course that's only right. I'll speak to Mother later too—I hand over nine qian, which is too much. From now on I'll only hand over four qian and keep six for myself. That way, you have eight qian and I have six, and together we can save one tael and four qian a month!"
Gu Youning only looked at him: "Those are just pretty words to placate me. But how will you actually speak to Mother later? If she refuses and cries and carries on, calling you unfilial, grabbing a strip of silk and threatening to hang herself, how will you handle that?"
Sun Feng'an: "If she wants to make a fuss, let her make a fuss. Father is leaving the capital in a couple of days, and I'm the only man of the house, so naturally I have the final say."
Gu Youning: "No need to brag and boast in front of me. First settle the matter of my monthly allowance."
As she said this, she thought of her wish to have a child as soon as possible, and decided that if the allowance couldn't be settled, she simply wouldn't be in any hurry to have one—let whoever wanted to worry about it do the worrying!
Seeing her like this, Sun Feng'an found her all the more captivating for that bit of anger. His heart itched, and he pulled her into his arms to kiss her.
But Gu Youning pushed him away, saying, "Stop fooling around. I'm so tired it's unbearable. At least let me rest a while."
Sun Feng'an was clearly worked up, breathing heavily, the rims of his eyes red, staring straight at her.
Gu Youning found it amusing—he was greedy as a cat—but she was in a stubborn mood and simply refused to let him have his way.
When Sun Feng'an tried to force the matter, she pinched him in anger. As husband and wife stood off against each other, Sun Feng'an's Mother started shouting outside again.
Sun Feng'an felt utterly deflated and, with no other recourse, climbed off the couch, panting hard.
So Gu Youning rested and slept soundly. In the early evening, she headed over to the prince's residence ahead of schedule.
In truth, she could have waited for Sun Feng'an to return and taken advantage of the time after supper to attend to the matter with him, sparing him such torment—but she simply wasn't in the mood.
Without even a monthly allowance, why bother at all?
After hurrying into the prince's residence, her mind was set on the books at the Yijin Study, so she deliberately wandered around outside it. But who would have thought—after waiting quite a while, instead of Shu Juan from the day before, there were only a few unfamiliar female clerks. She smiled and made inquiries, but those clerks were very cold in demeanor. Hearing her out, they said Shu Juan had some unexpected business and would not be at the Yijin Study for the next few days.
Gu Youning was sorely disappointed—Shu Juan was actually gone. The female clerks on duty now seemed very difficult to deal with, and she held out no hope with them.
Left with no choice, and seeing the time was about right, she headed to the changing quarters. Meaning to take a shortcut, she went by way of the rockery behind the Yijin Study. The rockery was made of Cloud-slab Stone and Taihu Stone, with lotus vats placed among them and a small square pavilion with a Four-cornered Pyramidal Roof.
As she passed by, Gu Youning suddenly noticed there seemed to be someone on the small square pavilion. When she looked over, she saw Prince Duan, sitting in the pavilion reading a book.
He wore only a plain-colored long robe, his brows and eyes cold, even the motion of turning pages gentle, as if everything around him had nothing to do with him.
Gu Youning hesitated and stopped, deliberating whether she should go forward and pay her respects.
The truth was, this spot was too close to the pavilion—deliberately pretending not to see him would also be a breach of etiquette. Besides… she was still thinking of the Yijin Study in her heart. Since the path through Shu Juan was blocked, now that she had happened upon Prince Duan, she couldn't help entertaining the idea.
After a moment's hesitation, she went forward after all and softly offered her greeting.
But who could have known—Prince Duan seemed not to have heard her at all, lifting his hand to turn a page, his movements cool and aloof.
Seeing him like this, Gu Youning knew it was not right to disturb him, so she gave a slight curtsy, bowed her farewell in silence, and prepared to leave.
As she raised her eyes, a casual glance swept over—and she felt something was off. Involuntarily, she looked more carefully.
Prince Duan's hands, the ones holding the book, were pampered and unusually slender, the nails neatly trimmed—yet on the fingertips there seemed to be traces of some color remaining, as if stained by something.
It looked strange… After all, he was no laborer. How could that be?
Just as she was wondering about this, Prince Duan happened to look up, his gaze carrying a chill, like a pond in deep autumn, its depths unfathomable.
Startled and somewhat afraid, she quickly lowered her head: "This servant greets Your Highness."
Prince Duan paid Gu Youning no heed. He withdrew his gaze and continued reading his book. Gu Youning hastily took her leave and hurried away.
She thought to herself that this Prince Duan was truly unfathomable—cold and peculiar. She really ought to find a way to keep her distance.
But she couldn't bear to give up on the Yijin Study. Over the next few days, she tried lingering near it, but alas, Shu Juan was nowhere to be seen, and the other female attendants were too aloof—she simply couldn't figure out how to get close to them.
During this time, she did catch two glimpses of Prince Duan. Both times his face was cold, and the way he looked at her was especially distant, as if she were a stranger.
She vaguely guessed what Prince Duan was thinking. Having heard her say with his own ears that she was Sun Feng'an's wife, he must have decided he wanted nothing more to do with her.
For her part, this was a relief. She would simply pretend the past had never happened and forget it completely.
It was just a pity that the book in the Yijin Study seemed out of reach now. Much as Gu Youning regretted it, she could only accept it.
As luck would have it, the Sun household then became busy. Since Sun Futang was leaving the capital, Sun Feng'an's Mother, along with the maids and servants, was packing luggage, and she often ordered Gu Youning about during this time. Gu Youning, eager for Sun Futang to leave as soon as possible, put real effort into it—carefully sorting out clothing for all four seasons and everyday items, arranging shoes, socks, and handkerchiefs neatly, and packing travel provisions into the trunks and chests.
Once everything was finally packed, Sun Futang departed the capital with the entire party from the prince's residence, bound for Huzhou.
After Sun Futang left, though Sun Feng'an's Mother grew even more domineering, for Gu Youning, having no father-in-law out there fooling around indiscriminately actually made her feel more at ease.
Otherwise, whenever she thought of Sun Futang keeping a little mistress, she felt uncomfortable.
Sun Feng'an's Mother was a woman, and Sun Yue was a woman too. No matter how much women carried on, it amounted to no more than a few harsh words.
And after Sun Futang left, Sun Feng'an indeed landed that plum position in medicinal purchasing. Being newly appointed and not yet able to handle things on his own, he first familiarized himself with the various medicinal materials at the herb storehouse, and from time to time visited the major pharmacies to learn the current market prices for medicinal materials. He was clever and quick, and before long he knew all the commonly used and rare medicinal materials inside and out.
One day, Sun Feng'an spoke to her about this purchasing business. Having learned the ropes and gained some knowledge of the market, he was thinking of pooling some capital to quietly do a bit of medicinal trading on the side.
Gu Youning was somewhat worried: "Better not. Can't you just do your job for the prince's residence properly?"
But Sun Feng'an said, "What would you know of the inner workings? I've already made thorough inquiries—everyone who's ever managed medicinal purchasing does a bit of trading on the side. As long as they don't touch the residence's allotted share, that's all. It's just a matter of conveniently buying a bit extra. For those precious medicinal materials, quietly purchasing a few catties won't attract any attention. Sell them on, and that's a hundred or so taels of silver coming in."
A hundred taels of silver?
Gu Youning couldn't believe it: "That much?"
Sun Feng'an said, "Yes. I don't dare dream of earning too much right now. If I can make a few dozen taels, I'll be perfectly satisfied."
But Gu Youning was still worried. She urged him over and over to be cautious in everything, and never to let small profits ruin his future prospects. Sun Feng'an agreed, but Gu Youning remained uneasy after all.
She had hoped that with Sun Futang gone, she would feel more at ease, but without a father-in-law to keep him in check, Sun Feng'an was still young, and she was terrified he would get into trouble.
As she worried, one evening she went to the residence to take up her duties, only to find the sky overcast. The wind brushed her cheeks, faintly damp. Gu Youning only hoped it wouldn't rain, but of course, what one fears is exactly what comes—no sooner had she stepped into the residence than fine threads of rain began to fall, neither heavy nor light, and the bluestone slabs soon glistened with moisture.
When Lin Bingzhong's Wife saw this, she couldn't help complaining: "Of all people, the two of us had to get caught in it, and we're not even wearing thick clothes!"
Gu Youning fished an oil-paper umbrella out from a corner: "Let's go. We can't waste time."
Lin Bingzhong's Wife sighed—there was nothing for it, so she had to go out with Gu Youning, one holding the umbrella and the other carrying the lantern. It didn't feel so bad at first, but not far along the corridor, a gust of night wind swept in with cold rain, and both of them shivered.
Lin Bingzhong's Wife muttered, "It's freezing!"
Gu Youning sighed, "Let's hurry. When we get back, we'll hug the stove and drink hot tea."
Lin Bingzhong's Wife: "Mm-hm!"
As the two were talking, Liu Kanyuan happened to be coming out of the Old Consort Dowager's Fortune and Longevity Garden. Because of the rain, the Old Consort Dowager, fearing he might catch a chill, had long since had a Feather-gauze Cloak prepared for him, along with thick-soled Cloud-toe Shoes.
Lips pressed together, he walked along in silence—then suddenly stopped.
Those beside him couldn't help feeling anxious. What was wrong?
Liu Kanyuan was silent a moment before asking, "What watch of the night is it?"
The guard hurriedly and respectfully replied, "Your Highness, it is nearly the first watch—we are at the changing of the watch."
Liu Kanyuan gave a soft "oh," his gaze sweeping over the residence in the misty rain. Then he walked straight through the flower-lined path nearby. The guards naturally dared not say anything and respectfully followed.
Liu Kanyuan came to the Chengrui Pavilion, ascended the steps, went straight up to the second floor, then pushed open the door and stepped out onto the gallery.
The guards had no idea what was going on and dared not ask. Once outside, Liu Kanyuan stood with his hands behind his back, silently gazing down at the rain-soaked residence.
The rain fell in slanting threads, and the evening wind blew damp against their faces. Liu Kanyuan's gaze fixed steadily on a spot not far away: beneath the white pear blossoms, two women of the night patrol were walking past under an oil-paper umbrella.
From where Liu Kanyuan stood, he could see clearly that the pear blossoms, washed by the rain, were exceptionally white—and when the wind blew, the petals scattered like snow.
A few petals happened to land on one of the women. Carried by the wind, they pressed against her blue cloth skirt, clinging to her body together with the fabric, outlining its soft contours.
Liu Kanyuan gazed for a long while. The snow-white pear blossoms blurred into the rainy mist, creating a dreamlike feeling—as if he had returned to that damp, sensual night.
When he looked again, the figure below had already walked far off, disappearing behind the flowering trees.
Liu Kanyuan frowned, watched in silence for a moment, then suddenly called a guard and gave a few orders.
The guard was puzzled but dared not ask, and hurried downstairs to carry them out.
By the time Gu Youning and Lin Bingzhong's Wife finished their round of patrol, their clothes were half soaked, and the two of them returned shivering to the watch room. But the back room faced no sun—untouched by daylight, it grew cold and damp at night, all the more so on a rainy day like this.
Once inside, they quickly put away the umbrella and poured hot tea, huddling their bodies against the little tea stove and hastily taking sips of the hot drink.
Lin Bingzhong's Wife sighed, "What sins must I have committed in a past life, to come do this night-watch work in this one!"
Gu Youning laughed. "We get to keep the night watch at the prince's residence—we should count ourselves lucky. Most people couldn't get such a job even if they wanted it!"
Lin Bingzhong's Wife smiled at that too.
The two of them drank a few sips of hot tea, and the chill slowly faded from their bodies. Lin Bingzhong's Wife's mood lifted as well, and she began eagerly sharing the gossip she'd picked up: Madam Jiang often went to curry favor with the Old Consort Dowager, and a few days ago her natal family had even sent people over with holiday gifts—a Five-Pungent-Spice Platter, assorted pastries and fresh fruits—all wrapped in lacquered boxes and brocade cloths, several full loads of them.
On this subject she couldn't help curling her lip. "Truthfully, all this is thanks to our late Princess Consort. It has little to do with Madam Jiang herself."
Madam Jiang was born of a concubine, and was now merely a secondary consort—her rank didn't even qualify.
Gu Youning said, "She's still a secondary consort, and the Duke's household is her proper natal family. Even if she sends a bit more over, isn't that only fitting?"
But Lin Bingzhong's Wife said, "What would you know? Madam Jiang was forced on us. Our Highness never wanted to marry her at all—he simply couldn't refuse the favor. Since she was delivered to his doorstep, he took her in."
Gu Youning was puzzled and asked about it, and Lin Bingzhong's Wife spilled everything like pouring beans from a bamboo tube. It turned out the Duke of An and the old prince had been friends since childhood—they'd fought together on the battlefield in their youth, friends who'd saved each other's lives—and so a marriage betrothal had been promised early on: the two families were bound to be joined. As fate would have it, Prince Duan's residence welcomed a young heir, and the Duke of An's household gained a daughter, only a year or two apart in age—a match made in heaven.
In those early years, the Old Consort Dowager often brought the eldest Jiang daughter into the residence. The two children studied together and played together—childhood sweethearts, naturally devoted to each other.
Gu Youning said, "So that's how it was…"
She couldn't help imagining Prince Duan in his youth—he must have been strikingly handsome, peerless in his elegance—and that eldest Jiang daughter must have been a beauty of exceptional looks and graceful bearing. Growing up side by side, so familiar with one another, after marriage they surely would have been in perfect harmony, mutual respect and devotion—what a match made by the immortals.
A pity the eldest Jiang daughter was ill-fated, and died so young.
Lin Bingzhong's Wife glanced outside, and seeing no one around, lowered her voice. "I did hear some murmurs, though—that the late Princess Consort's death may have been rather suspicious—"
Gu Youning listened, looking over in surprise.
The stove fire lit Lin Bingzhong's Wife's face, those usually coarse, careless features now full of mystery.
Gu Youning pressed eagerly, "Suspicious how?"
Lin Bingzhong's Wife started to speak, then hesitated and stopped herself. "Never mind. Such things mustn't be said carelessly. I only heard the old servant women gossiping behind everyone's backs—it's all groundless talk anyway. If word got out and the higher-ups caught me, a beating with the paddle would beat me to death!"
Seeing this, Gu Youning asked no more.
After that, the two of them fell silent.
Outside the window, the damp night rain pattered against the window lattice, and the whole world seemed to grow quiet, with only those scattered wet sounds, far away and near.
Leaning against the tea stove, Gu Youning drifted into reverie without meaning to—imagining Prince Duan in his youth, picturing how beautiful and noble that late Princess Consort must have been, how devoted the two of them had been to each other.
She dreamed on, lost in thought. This must be what the operas called a match made by the immortals, a union ordained by heaven.
At times she would wonder: if she too appeared in one of those plays, who would she be? The maid or servant girl who appears only once, standing off to the side pouring tea and handing water—the kind who never even shows her face properly?
The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't help laughing at herself, and it also felt somewhat ironic.
That night, keeping watch, she stayed up until dawn, foolishly lost in such thoughts the whole night, so that when she finally handed over her shift in the morning, her mind was muddled as if stuffed with cotton, unable to turn at all.
She pressed her thumbprint on the duty roster and floated back on unsteady feet.
As she passed the small path beside the rockery, she suddenly saw a figure before her, someone with a smiling face.
It was Shu Juan.
Gu Youning looked at the person before her with her dazed, foggy brain, and only after thinking sluggishly for a while did some hope finally arise: "Miss Shu Juan, it's been several days since we last met."
Shu Juan, however, was exceptionally warm, taking her hand and saying, "Yes, it's been several days. Now that I'm back, why didn't you come looking for me? You seem rather distant!"
Hearing the hint of reproach in her voice, Gu Youning hurriedly explained, "Miss Shu Juan, a few days ago I went to the Yijin Study, but they only said you weren't there, and no one knew where you had gone."
Shu Juan said, "Well, I've just returned, and I was thinking of you. As it happens, I've also gotten some fine new tea. Come quickly and taste it with me."
Gu Youning said, "I appreciate your kind intentions, Miss Shu Juan, but I've just come off my shift and was about to head home—"
Shu Juan cut her off: "Just off your shift? You'd still need to eat some breakfast before going back, wouldn't you? If you ask me, sit for a while first. We'll have some pastries together and a cup of hot tea, then you can go home and rest—no harm done."
Before Gu Youning could react, Shu Juan's face had already darkened with displeasure: "What, so Sister Gu won't do me the honor?"
Gu Youning shook her head quickly: "Of course I would, please don't be angry, Miss Shu Juan."
Things having come to this, naturally she could not refuse, and so she muddled along, following Shu Juan to the Yijin Study.
Along the way, Shu Juan's words were quite cordial. She made small talk with her, spoke of how she'd been busy with family matters these past few days, and asked what Gu Youning had been busy with.
Poor Gu Youning, having gone a sleepless night thinking this way and that, her brain a complete mush, didn't even notice at this point that the repeated "Sister Gu" was different from how she had addressed her in the past.