Fan Changyu asked in puzzlement, “Why would the yamen tell lies?”

Xie Zheng slightly furrowed his brow. Thinking of how she had lived in this small place since birth, the highest official she had seen was at most the county magistrate, he found himself more tolerant of the naïveté and clumsiness she was showing now.

Her parents perhaps taught her many principles for conduct in life, but they had not told her about the intrigue and treachery of officialdom.

He, unusually patient, explained to her, even giving an example: “It’s like when your eldest uncle wanted to usurp your family’s land and approached that shiyé [local administrative advisor]. In the small world of a county office there are currents and storms; go higher to the prefectural yamen or the court, the relationships only become more entangled—factions, colleagues, marital kin, teacher-student… Behind every official there is a web of power. Some cases touch on the interests of higher officials; what seems like a grievance of common people at the bottom may in fact become a battle among high officials.”

After frowning and thinking for a long time, Fan Changyu said, “You mean to say my parents’ deaths might also involve the interests of many high officials?”

A trace of surprise showed in Xie Zheng’s eyes—she was not stupid after all.

He lowered his gaze. “I only gave an example. The yamen may have told only half the truth, or they may have told a complete lie. None of that is important. What is important is: the yamen gave you a false truth—what will you do?”

This question indeed slightly exceeded Fan Changyu’s understanding. In the minds of commoners, officials were the heavens for the people; one corrupt official was already enough for the people to cry endlessly. After hearing Xie Zheng’s words, she suddenly felt that those officials might not all be upright magistrates.

If all the officials in the Great Yin officialdom covered for one another, then above them would not be heaven but a net that wrapped them tightly.

Fan Changyu was confused for only an instant; her gaze quickly hardened again. “When Fan Da sought out Adviser He to scheme for my family’s property, I wanted to go find an official higher than Adviser He to use connections. The highest official in Qingping County is the county magistrate; the county magistrate and Adviser He are cut from the same cloth. I could not rely on the county magistrate, so I thought of binding my eldest uncle.”

“The Great Yin court’s officialdom, however vast, is only larger by more people in high positions. If I knew high officials, in my eldest uncle’s case I would probably go to the prefectural yamen’s high officials for help. If Fan Da also sought out the prefectural top official, and if I still had channels, I would go to the capital’s officials to seek redress; tracing these relationships to the end would only involve poking it before the emperor.”

“The highest official of Qingping County is the county magistrate; the highest official of the Great Yin court is the emperor. In seeking redress, there is not much difference between the two. In the end, what distinguishes right from wrong are still evidence and iron laws.”

She looked at Xie Zheng, her eyes clear and fearless. “No matter what my parents’ deaths are entangled with, I will investigate thoroughly. That vast net of interwoven connections in the Great Yin officialdom is nothing to fear.”

That she could say such words truly surprised Xie Zheng.

He asked, “How will you investigate?”

Fan Changyu looked toward Changning, who was still playing with snow in the courtyard. “I am not afraid of danger, but Changning is still too young. If the people who killed my parents notice the two of us, I cannot guarantee I can protect Changning. So before that, I will first send Changning to a safe place.”

Xie Zheng showed a look of approval. “And then?”

Fan Changyu said, “If I were a son, perhaps I would choose to sit for the keju [civil examinations] or the wuju [martial examinations] to enter officialdom, and personally uncover whatever my parents’ deaths are tied to. But I am only a daughter; I cannot enter officialdom, nor do I know any high officials. Only one route remains: money can make ghosts turn the mill.”

Xie Zheng propped one hand against his temple. “It is a good plan, but it sounds like it will take many years. To have those high officials grind for you with money is not a small sum.”

Fan Changyu choked slightly. “This is the only plan I can think of right now. In the theatrical stories, women disguise themselves as men to sit for the keju; I have neither the scholarly mind for that, nor the identity of brothers at home to borrow. Unless—”

She scratched her head and said, “Then should I go sponsor a few poor scholars? Maybe I can get lucky and sponsor one with a conscience. When he passes the imperial examinations and enters officialdom, I’ll at least have someone within the bureaucracy. It’d probably be much easier to investigate my parents’ deaths then?”

This time it was Xie Zheng who was choked speechless. He lifted his eyelids and said sharply, “And what if you run into someone like your former fiancé again?”

Fan Changyu noticed that this man had been acting a bit strange lately—he always liked to bring up Song Yan for no reason.

She said, “It’s the New Year—can we not mention him?”

Xie Zheng slanted her a glance, pressed his lips together, and said nothing more, as if his foul temper had risen again.

Fan Changyu muttered, “Still think I’m not unlucky enough already…”

Xie Zheng had sharp ears and caught that mutter as well. The corners of his originally straight lips suddenly curved upward. He said, “Regarding your parents’ case, you can wait a bit.”

Fan Changyu was very confused. “What do you mean?”

Xie Zheng said, “If your parents’ deaths are deeply entangled, within the bureaucracy there will be those who wish to cover up the truth—and those who wish to uncover it. What you should do now is, while ensuring the safety of yourself and your sister, wait for the ones who want to reveal the truth to come find you.”

Fan Changyu said, “But I know nothing about my parents’ past. Even if someone comes to me, they won’t be able to get what they want.”

Xie Zheng thought to himself that as long as He Jingyuan’s mouth could be pried open, her parents’ deaths would surface.

But since Wei Yan knew he was alive, he would stop at nothing—even sacrificing all of Qingping County or even Jizhou—to kill him again. Before the situation of heaven and earth was settled, revealing his identity would only invite disaster.

He said, “You underestimate officialdom. Someone will come looking for you.”

Fan Changyu still looked confused. After hesitating a while, she decided Xie Zheng was probably just trying to comfort her, so she thought no further about it. She only said, “I’m starting to feel that reading more really makes a person smarter. Yan Zheng, you’ve read a lot, so you’re very smart.”

Xie Zheng had heard all sorts of compliments before—when it came to flattery, no one could compare with the literati—but those words of praise had never mattered to him. Yet this simple and straightforward “smart” from her lips stirred an unfamiliar emotion in his heart.

Still, he corrected her, saying, “It’s not that reading a lot makes one smart. Reading makes one understand reason, broadens knowledge, teaches when to advance and retreat—your outlook becomes less shallow, and that’s enough for conducting oneself.”

Fan Changyu nodded. “My mother used to say the same. Unfortunately, I was too foolish back then. When she told me to study, I’d act like a pig being driven out of its pen for New Year’s slaughter. Now that I want to learn, it’s too late.”

At this moment, she truly felt that reading was useful. To say nothing of other things—when Fan Da wanted to steal her family property, Yan Zheng didn’t even need to resort to underhanded tricks; he won the lawsuit simply by using the laws.

If she herself were more knowledgeable, even selling pork might be done with more flair.

She had once thought “sugar-tossed cucumber” was just that. Only when she helped make braised meat at the Yixiang Tower did she learn that there they called it “Green Dragon Lying in Snow.” Once the dish’s name sounded elegant, its price doubled.

Fan Changyu recalled how, when she returned, he seemed to be teaching Changning to read. She thickened her skin and said, “If you have time, could you teach me to read too? It won’t take much of your time. You can just tell me what to study, and I’ll look at it myself. If I can’t understand it, I’ll come ask you.”

Xie Zheng raised his eyes lightly—her request genuinely surprised him—and then asked, “What books have you read?”

Fan Changyu thought for a moment and said, “Three-Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Text—those I can recognize completely.”

When she finished, she saw Xie Zheng’s face darken.

Fan Changyu, afraid he might find teaching her troublesome, forced herself to add, “I’ve also read The Analects and The Great Learning a little.”

Xie Zheng’s voice was faint and cool. “It’s The Great Learning, not The Great Academy, right?”

Fan Changyu was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a hole. She confessed, “I only flipped through them back when Song Yan was reading. I couldn’t understand the text, and he guarded those books like they were treasures, so I just returned them to him. I didn’t even dare ask what the essays meant.”

After speaking honestly, she suddenly felt a chill all over her body.

She looked toward Xie Zheng and found that his handsome face at this moment was cold and sour.

Fan Changyu had no idea why.

Xie Zheng spoke, each word edged with ice: “Since you’ve already studied The Analects and The Great Learning, next you can read Mencius.”

Fan Changyu looked utterly bewildered—had she said she’d studied them?

She clearly meant she had only flipped through them without understanding a single thing.

Not only that—at lunch, she’d keenly noticed that Xie Zheng had switched the ribbon on his hair back to his original one.

Fan Changyu had no idea what she’d done to offend him. At the table, she cleared her throat and asked, “This afternoon I plan to take some cured meat to the county to sell, and I’ll also bring Captain Wang a piece as a New Year’s gift. Is there anything you’d like me to buy?”

The man who usually “did not speak while eating” finally replied, “The paper is finished. I used the last of it yesterday for writing spring couplets. The ink is also gone. Buy some paper and ink—five-foot pure-pelt lined xuan paper, and pine-soot Hui ink.”

Fan Changyu’s head spun. “What kind of xuan? What kind of ink again?”

Xie Zheng’s brows drew slightly together. “Forget it. I’ll buy it myself.”

Fan Changyu felt he was being distant. Thinking his wounds still weren’t fully healed, she added, “I’ll hire an ox cart this afternoon—want to come along?”

As soon as Changning heard this, her two chubby little hands began clapping on the table. “Changning wants to go to the fair too!”

The two of them—one big, one small—stared straight at Xie Zheng. He was silent for a moment, then finally said, “Then we’ll go together.”

Because she was going to the fair, Changning was overjoyed. Running around the courtyard wasn’t enough—once outside, she even chased the Zhao family’s dog all the way to the mouth of the alley before she was satisfied.

Fan Changyu’s decision to sell cured meat in the county today wasn’t a sudden whim. Every year around this time, her father would also take a cart of cured meat to town to sell.

Families visiting relatives for the New Year, if they hadn’t prepared gifts ahead of time and the meat market wasn’t open, would often buy from roadside vendors.

Upon reaching the county seat, Fan Changyu, experienced as ever, parked the ox cart on the main street in front of the county academy.

Many students passed through here, and quite a few families even rented houses nearby so they could look after their sons who were studying.

When students went to pay New Year visits to their teachers, ordinary tea and wine were too commonplace, and expensive gifts too costly—so a strip of cured meat made the perfect holiday present.

Once she set up her stall, Fan Changyu made several sales in quick succession.

Xie Zheng had intended to head toward the bookshop, but Changning kept tip-toeing and craning her neck everywhere, asking eagerly, “Sister, can I go with brother-in-law to watch the flower-drum performance?”

Fan Changyu said, “Your brother-in-law isn’t going to watch the flower drums.”

So Changning turned her big hopeful eyes toward Xie Zheng instead.

Xie Zheng glanced at Fan Changyu, who had only sold half of her cured meat so far, and said, “Wait until your sister finishes selling, then we’ll go together.”

Fan Changyu estimated that it would still take some time before all the cured meat she brought was sold, so she said, “I’ll be a while before I can pack up. If you’re not in a rush to buy the paper and ink, take Changning around for a bit. She’s just overly curious—once she’s had her walk, she won’t fuss anymore.”

Xie Zheng nodded.

With that permission, Changning tugged on Xie Zheng’s sleeve and trotted ahead, full of excitement, her energy like that of a little calf.

Feeling the tug on his sleeve, Xie Zheng thought that if this child hadn’t been born frail, she might have turned out just as spirited as her elder sister.

Perhaps because the county was preparing for a lantern festival this year, most of the county academy’s students hadn’t gone home. The streets were lively, and Fan Changyu’s twenty-some strips of cured meat sold out half an hour earlier than she expected.

Just as she was packing up her stall, Xie Zheng returned with Changning, who had wandered around enough.

In her left hand, Changning held a candied haw stick; in her right, a colorful pinwheel. Her face was sticky with syrup, her cheeks flushed with joy.

Fan Changyu could only sigh helplessly and said to Xie Zheng, “You just spoil her.”

Changning squinted her eyes with a bright grin. “Brother-in-law bought a candied haw for Sister too!”

Fan Changyu said, “I’m not a child, what would I want that for—”

Before she could finish, a candied haw stick was already held out before her.

Xie Zheng’s expression was calm and indifferent. “Your sister said she wanted to buy you one.”

Fan Changyu had meant to refuse, but when she noticed he still held one in his hand, she suddenly thought—he probably liked sweet things, but since he wasn’t taking medicine today, he must have been too embarrassed to eat it openly, so he used her as an excuse. Realizing this, she didn’t turn him down, simply took it and said, “Thank you.”

Fan Changyu ate just like Changning—one bite per haw, her eyes half-closed, cheeks puffed up like a hamster.

When she finished the first piece, she saw that Xie Zheng still hadn’t taken a bite of his. “Why aren’t you eating?”

Xie Zheng’s gaze shifted away from the sugar crumbs at the corner of her mouth. He glanced down at the candied haw in his hand, hesitated, then bit off half a piece.

The sugar coating was sweet and glossy, while the hawthorn inside was slightly sour; when chewed together, the tangy sweetness mingled pleasantly in his mouth.

Watching this, Changning—who had just bitten into another haw—smiled until her eyes were curved crescents. How clever she was: asking her brother-in-law to buy one for each of them really worked—her sister didn’t scold her this time.

Across the street, there were not only street vendors selling goods but also impoverished students from the county academy who had set up stalls to paint portraits for passersby.

The trio across the road—the man, the woman, and the child—made for quite a striking sight. The man was extraordinarily handsome, the woman’s smile as radiant as spring flowers, and even the child they brought with them was adorably fair and charming.

One of the students kept glancing their way, and before long, he began sketching rapidly on his paper.

When Fan Changyu finished her candied haw and tidied up her things, she was just about to take Xie Zheng to buy paper and ink when she suddenly saw his expression tighten. He strode quickly toward the opposite side of the street.

Fan Changyu followed his gaze—there was only a scholar selling paintings and calligraphy there. Fearing trouble, she hastily grabbed Changning and followed after him. “What are you doing?”

The scholar had just put down his brush when a large hand suddenly reached out, snatching away the freshly drawn portrait.

The man who, moments ago, had been standing across the street eating candied haws was now right in front of him, his white jade-like face cold and forbidding. He gripped the scholar by the collar and demanded, “Who told you to draw this?”

The scholar was so pressured by the force of his presence that he could barely speak, stammering, “Th-this humble student… merely saw that sir and madam with their child looked so harmonious and beautiful, and could not resist painting them. If I have offended, I beg your forgiveness.”

Just then, Fan Changyu arrived with Changning and saw him looking ready to strike the scholar right there on the street. She hurriedly pried his hand off the man’s collar. “What are you doing?”

Xie Zheng said nothing, only lowered his gaze to look at the painting in his hand.

The scholar’s brushwork was meticulous, and though the style was fine and delicate, what made the painting striking was how vividly the figures were captured.

In the painting, Fan Changyu squinted her eyes as she ate a candied haw; his own gaze fell exactly upon her face, as though he had been watching her every move.

Changning stood in front, biting into a candied haw while glancing back at the two of them, smiling wide enough to show her little teeth, her brows and eyes full of mischievous spirit.

When Fan Changyu saw the painting, she let out a startled “Eh?” and asked the scholar, “You painted us?”

The poor scholar was terrified of the cold, intimidating man beside this lively young woman. He quickly nodded, his words tumbling out like free-spilling coins:

“Madam and sir are a truly well-matched pair—he handsome, she fair; heaven made you for each other! Even your young daughter is so adorably lovely. If madam likes, please accept this painting as my humble New Year’s gift. I wish you and sir harmony and happiness—and perhaps a young son next year.”

Fan Changyu nearly bit the skewer of candied haw in her mouth clean in half.

Author’s Note:

The little couple’s about to be separated soon, so let’s have a few extra sweet moments first~