Zhao Lijia was annoyed. At the same time, she was also… utterly helpless.
She looked sympathetically at the smiling Lin Zeyan before her.
A perfectly good man… No, what was she saying? The bastard had been looking down his nose at her just days ago, as though he wanted to bore a hole straight through her with that cold, disdainful stare. Just yesterday, he had looked as though he wanted nothing more than to strangle her.
And now…
“Did Yan’er insist on sleeping with the two of us again last night?”
There was an indulgent warmth in Lin Zeyan’s handsome eyes. He looked every inch the helpless yet doting father as he lifted his chin toward Zhao Lijia.
Zhao Lijia was filled with regret.
Why had she been so curious about Lin Zeyan’s head injury that she had come sneaking over to peek at him again?
If she hadn’t come, he wouldn’t have caught her and forcibly held her here by the hand.
She darted a glance toward Qingyan, desperately trying to signal to him with her eyes.
“Uh… this…”
A single syllable was squeezed from Qingyan’s throat. He looked up at the cousin Miss, trapped beside the bed by his own master and wearing a miserable expression, then wiped the sweat from his temple.
He frantically signaled to Qingshu.
Quick, think of something!
How had he failed to keep an eye on them for even a moment, only to find the cousin Miss and his master tangled up together?
Qingshu stepped forward.
“Y-Your Lordship, no, cousin Miss, are you here to see Madam? I-I’ll take you to her.”
Zhao Lijia nodded so vigorously it was almost comical. A grateful smile appeared on her woeful face.
“Yes, yes, exactly! I came to see my aunt. Take me there!”
There was no way she was staying here with this brain-damaged Lin Zeyan, who was spouting complete nonsense!
Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan.
Lin Zeyan’s brows drew sharply together. His grip on her hand tightened, and Zhao Lijia was pulled back down onto the edge of the bed.
Even worse, her bottom landed directly on the hand Lin Zeyan had hanging over the side of the bed.
Zhao Lijia saw stars.
Her breathing quickened as humiliation swept over her. Beneath her was the broad palm of an unfamiliar man, warm against her. The heat seeped through her clothes and seemed to spread into her entire body.
She twisted, trying to escape.
But the hand beneath her moved.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
“You—you…”
Lin Zeyan gave the flustered girl beside him a puzzled look. Her face was flushed, her ears burning, tears almost spilling from her eyes as she writhed beside him like a fish thrown onto dry land.
Then, as naturally as could be, he withdrew his hand from beneath her and placed it around her waist, gently stroking her once.
“What’s wrong?”
What’s wrong?! Where are you putting your hands?!
Zhao Lijia was about to explode, but Lin Zeyan beat her to it.
“Qingshu. You don’t even know how to address someone properly?”
The amusement and indulgence vanished from Lin Zeyan’s eyes, replaced by a chilly edge.
“My wife. You don’t call her niangzi, and instead you call her cousin Miss? Do you think things are still the way they used to be? You’re becoming more and more insolent!”
Qingshu glanced at Zhao Lijia, shut his eyes, and dropped to his knees with a thump.
“Niangzi, it’s all this servant’s fault. Please forgive me!”
Zhao Lijia’s eyes widened.
She was utterly stunned by how quickly Qingshu had changed his form of address.
As for Qingshu, he had thought the matter through quite clearly.
His master had injured his head and was now stubbornly convinced that the cousin Miss was his beloved wife. If he didn’t play along, was he supposed to wait around for his mad master to punish him?
Things were different now.
The smartest thing was to read the wind and steer with it.
The only problem was…
He glanced at his master and the cousin Miss above him and suddenly had a profound sense that the future was going to be very lively.
If his master recovered and realized how he had been treating the cousin Miss—the woman he supposedly loved—would he become so mortified that he took his embarrassment out on the servants?
After all, only a few days ago, his master and the cousin Miss had been at each other’s throats. His master had practically treated her like some demon or criminal.
Ahem.
Truly, fate had a strange sense of humor.
Zhao Lijia was shocked by the speed of Qingshu’s transformation, but when she looked at Lin Zeyan’s utterly serious expression, she could only let out a long sigh as well.
Ahem.
No matter what happened, there was no way she and Lin Zeyan were supposed to end up like this!
Heavens above, you can’t be playing this kind of joke on me!
Just yesterday, Lin Zeyan had looked as though he wanted nothing more than to drive her out of the marquis’s residence!
Zhao Lijia closed her eyes. She couldn’t bear to look at that face that had her thoughts in such a hopeless tangle.
One Month Earlier
Zhao Lijia pushed open the lattice window, and a morning breeze heavy with the fragrance of flowers swept in, carrying a trace of coolness.
She rested her chin on the windowsill and looked out at a small garden behind the restaurant.
The sudden morning shower had just passed. Golden rays of sunlight slipped through gaps in the clouds. Droplets of water rolled back and forth across the lotus leaves in the pond, weighing down the emerald-green leaves until they bobbed up and down before the droplets finally fell with soft splashes into the water.
“Miss, which one do you think looks better?”
Han Guang held a golden hairpin set with jewels in one hand and a pair of double-butterfly gilt hairpins in the other, looking thoroughly torn.
Zhao Lijia’s hair was styled in twin buns with sweeping wisps that rose like immortals gazing toward the heavens. She wore a goose-yellow, wide-sleeved gauze blouse with a cherry-pink, patterned high-waisted skirt. An exceedingly thin spring-green gauze shawl lay loosely over the crook of her arm.
Without hesitation, she pointed at Han Guang’s right hand.
“That one.”
Tieyi grinned and nodded toward Han Guang.
“I knew the Miss would pick that one. The General bought it, after all. Of course she likes it.”
Han Guang scratched her head.
“Miss, this golden hairpin is pretty too. Why not wear both? I’ve seen all the young ladies in Chang’an—they’re practically covered in hair ornaments.”
Zhao Lijia tilted her head, looking uncertain.
Tieyi took the golden hairpin from Han Guang and placed it back in the jewelry box. Then she picked out a pair of jade-winged butterflies set in gold, the wings designed to tremble and sway with every movement.
“I heard that the women and young ladies of Chang’an even have rules about what kinds of jewelry they can wear according to rank. It’s not like Liangzhou. We’d better follow the proper etiquette.”
Zhao Lijia nodded like a little chick pecking at grain.
“Father’s hairpins and buyao are already very pretty. I’ll just wear these.”
Once she had spoken, Han Guang and Tieyi began fastening the ornaments in place before the bronze-framed mirror.
“Miss, take a look. How does it seem?”
Zhao Lijia raised her head and looked into the mirror.
At the center of each bun sat a double-butterfly gilt hairpin, accompanied by a pair of gold-and-jade butterfly-wing buyao. They were lovely without being overly extravagant.
“Mm. Very pretty.”
Reflected in the bronze mirror was a small, full and luminous face, its rounded features touched with a soft glow. Her fair skin held the faintest flush of pink, like the downy surface of a peach in early summer, or fine porcelain beneath a thin glaze.
Whenever she smiled, two tiny dimples appeared in her cheeks, holding both youthful innocence and sweetness.
Once Zhao Lijia was finished dressing, Han Guang brought her a letter.
The moment she saw the words “To My Litchi, Open Personally” written on the envelope, she resigned herself to another sigh.
“I said so much before I left. Why is he still writing letters?”
Han Guang smiled.
“The General is just worried about you, Miss.”
Zhao Lijia couldn’t understand what there was to repeat over and over. Before she had left Liangzhou for Chang’an, her father had fussed around her like an anxious old hen, circling her again and again and repeating the same things hundreds of times.
And now he had written her a letter on top of that.
She opened it with an exasperated smile.
Ever since her mother had died of illness when Zhao Lijia was five, her father had been both mother and father to her. Even a dignified great general had gradually become long-winded.
The contents of the letter were, naturally, the same as always.
First, take care of your health.
Second, behave properly and know your boundaries while staying with her maternal aunt. Don’t cause anyone trouble.
And third—the purpose of her trip to Chang’an.
Her father was still emphasizing his requirements for a future son-in-law:
Gentle and attentive.
A scholar.
Preferably an orphan with both parents deceased…
Zhao Lijia had come all the way from Liangzhou to Chang’an for the sake of marriage.
The matter had begun several months earlier.
Several months ago, Zhao Lijia’s father had attended the wedding banquet of General Qin, the Zhechong Duwei of Lishui Prefecture in Liangzhou, whose daughter was getting married.
That was when he suddenly remembered that his own daughter had reached marriageable age.
Naturally, he began to grow anxious.
Old Master Zhao was a rough man.
Orphaned as a child, he had joined the army in his teens and risen to his current position through military achievements. The Emperor had bestowed upon him the title of General Zhongwu and appointed him military commissioner of the Chishui Army in Liangzhou.
His wife had been the daughter of the governor of Suzhou.
But his parents-in-law and his wife had passed away one after another, leaving only him and his daughter to depend on each other.
His neglect of his daughter’s marriage now had him frantic with worry.
The trouble was, he looked around and realized he had no respectable relatives he could consult.
He had considered taking matters into his own hands and finding a suitable young man among the men around them.
Unfortunately, the young men of Liangzhou were either rough and unruly or hopelessly uneducated.
Every time he saw one, he could only shake his head.
Then, suddenly, he remembered his late wife’s cousin—the woman who had later married into the second branch of the Lin family of the Duke of Xian’s household.
Zhao Lijia’s mother had come from the Wu family of Suzhou, whose main branch was based in Chang’an. The connection between the two families was distant enough that calling them relatives was something of a stretch.
But when Zhao Lijia’s mother had studied at a women’s academy in Chang’an in her youth, she had grown very close to this cousin from the main family. The two women had even sworn a sisterly bond despite their existing kinship.
After Zhao Lijia’s mother died, her cousin had never severed the relationship.
Every Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and on Zhao Lijia’s birthday, she continued to send gifts.
Thinking of this, Old Master Zhao—who had been rushing around like a headless fly over his daughter’s marriage—suddenly felt as though he had found a lifeline.
He immediately wrote a letter, carefully worded and full of gratitude.
At Butler Qian’s suggestion, however, he did not send the letter directly to the Second Madam of the Lin family.
Instead, he sent it to her husband, hoping that he would pass it on to her.
Old Master Zhao had considered the matter carefully.
The Liangzhou frontier was frequently troubled by Turkic incursions and was hardly a safe place. He wanted his daughter to leave Liangzhou and marry into a family in Chang’an.
His efforts eventually paid off.
A month later, a reply arrived from Chang’an.
The letter said that the Second Madam of the Lin family was more than willing to help arrange a suitable marriage for Zhao Lijia.
And so Zhao Lijia, who had previously been having the time of her life running wild through Liangzhou City, was packed up and sent to Chang’an by her father.
It was her first journey far from home, and at first she was frightened.
But before long, fear was replaced by curiosity and excitement.
She was going to Chang’an!
Who in all the world did not yearn for Chang’an?
Their party had only arrived in Chang’an yesterday. After traveling all day through wind and dust, they had stayed overnight at a restaurant to rest.
Now that they had washed, changed, and properly prepared themselves, they were finally going to pay a visit to her maternal aunt’s household.
Zhao Lijia folded the letter.
“Where’s Uncle Qian?”
Tieyi answered, “Uncle Qian went out early this morning. He said he was going to have a look around. Miss, why don’t you eat breakfast first?”
When Zhao Lijia traveled from Liangzhou to Chang’an, her father had sent Butler Qian and eight personal soldiers to escort her.
He had originally wanted to send several more.
But the imperial court had regulations limiting the number of personal soldiers accompanying military families on journeys to eight. And given her father’s special status, bringing too many guards would only invite gossip.
So he had also sent four household guards.
Even Han Guang and Tieyi wore martial attire and stayed close by her side, never daring to relax their vigilance.
Han Guang and Tieyi were orphans whom Zhao Lijia’s father had adopted.
Their names came from one of the few pieces of literature Old Master Zhao knew—the Ballad of Mulan:
“Cold light shines upon the iron armor.”
The two girls had learned martial arts and trained from childhood. They were both Zhao Lijia’s bodyguards and her maids.
Although Zhao Lijia thought her father was worrying far too much, the journey was long, and she had to admit that such arrangements made her feel safer.
Now she looked at Han Guang and Tieyi’s martial uniforms and laughed.
“You two spent all morning getting me ready. How did you forget about yourselves?”
Han Guang and Tieyi froze.
Then they looked down.
Sure enough, they were still dressed like guards.
A quarter of an hour later, the two had changed into simple dresses.
Yet both felt distinctly uncomfortable, as though their entire bodies were itching.
They had always worn men’s clothing and followed their Miss all over Liangzhou, free and carefree. Now, dressed in fluttering skirts, they felt thoroughly out of place.
But they did not dare to be unconventional in Chang’an.
After all, the family their Miss was about to visit was one of the most prestigious noble households in the capital.
They had no intention of causing trouble for her.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Butler Qian dusted off the hem of his robe and walked into a small roadside teahouse.
A waiter hurried over warmly.
“Come in, sir. We have a seat by the window. It’s the perfect place for watching the rain.”
When the old man nodded, the waiter called toward the back,
“Three by the window!”
He turned back.
“Sir, besides tea, would you care for some snacks? Our Longjing goes especially well with our osmanthus cakes. Shall I bring you some?”
A smile showed faintly through Butler Qian’s beard.
“Very well. Some osmanthus cakes, then. What other pastries and snacks do you have?”
The waiter happily began listing the teahouse’s specialties.
Butler Qian ordered every one of them and asked for them to be packed up to take away.
The waiter liked him considerably more after seeing how straightforward and generous he was.
He took the tray another waiter handed him, set three cups of tea on the table, and placed the osmanthus cakes in the middle.
As he did so, his eyes swept over the three men seated there.
“Sir, judging by your accent, you’re not from Chang’an, are you?”
Butler Qian took a sip of tea and smiled.
“That’s right. We’re from Liangzhou. We’ve come to Chang’an to visit relatives and friends.”
“Liangzhou? That’s a long way indeed. I’ve heard Liangzhou is very close to the Turks, and that We took a walk around this morning. Chang’an is truly a magnificent place. The streets are bustling with carriages and people, and grand towers and imposing mansions rise one after another. great noble families are concentrated in the east. The imperial family resides in the north, and the south it’s nothing but desert for miles.”
The waiter tucked the tray beneath his arm.
He glanced toward the door. Seeing no customers outside, he decided to chat with these travelers from afar.
Butler Qian exchanged an amused glance with the two guards at his table.
“That’s right. We took a walk around this morning. Chang’an is truly a magnificent place. The streets are bustling with carriages and people, and grand towers and imposing mansions rise one after another. Liangzhou simply cannot compare.”
The waiter’s heart swelled with pride at hearing Chang’an praised.
“Not to boast, sir, but Chang’an is prosperous indeed.”
He pointed around the teahouse.
“This is a fine place too.”
Butler Qian took another leisurely sip.
“How so?”
The waiter flipped the white cloth draped over his shoulder.
“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘The west is wealthy, the east is noble, the south is poor, and the north is honored’?”
Seeing the curious expressions on the men’s faces, the waiter happily continued.
“It means that the wealthy Hu merchants live in the west of Chang’an, while the great noble families are concentrated in the east. The imperial family resides in the north, and the south is somewhat less prosperous.
“And Chongren Ward happens to occupy the finest part of this ‘noble east.’ The southern office of the Ministry of Rites under the Ministry of Personnel is located here as well. Whenever the examination wonder. We walked all the way along Chunming Avenue this morning and saw an imposing with gates opening directly onto Chunming Avenue. Every time the results are posted, scholars and students gather here.”
He paused, then smiled.
“Our teahouse is right here in Chongren Ward. Wouldn’t you say that makes it a fine location?”
The two guards obligingly praised Chongren Ward as well, and Butler Qian agreed that it was indeed a good place.
The waiter was delighted.
Butler Qian said, “No wonder. We walked all the way along Chunming Avenue this morning and saw an imposing residence with grand gates. It looked truly magnificent.”
The waiter immediately understood.
“There aren’t many households with gates opening directly onto Chunming Avenue. The only one is the Duke of Xian’s residence.”
The residents of Chang’an lived within the wards. Aside from the East and West Markets, each ward was essentially a world of its own, enclosed by ward walls.
Only the most powerful and prestigious families were permitted to open their main gates directly onto the great avenues.
For lesser households, their gates could only open onto the streets within the ward, and everyone entered and left through the ward gates.
Butler Qian put on a curious expression.
“The Duke of Xian’s residence?”
The waiter glanced outside again.
Rain was falling, leaving the street quiet and deserted. The shopkeeper and the other waiters were gathered near the counter, chatting among themselves.
Satisfied that no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice and continued.
“The Duke of Xian’s household is among the most distinguished noble families in all of Chang’an. If they had merely relied on the blessings and accumulated merit of their ancestors, there wouldn’t be anything particularly different about them compared with the other ducal and marquis families.
“But fortunately, the younger generation has lived up to the family name. These days, the Duke of Xian’s household has restored its former glory and is more prosperous than ever.”