Chapter 2

Perhaps I had spent too much time with the physician. Rumors began circulating in the household.

Everyone said Chu Huaizhi was impotent, and I had taken the physician as a lover because I couldn’t bear the loneliness.

When Chu Huaizhi heard, he remained perfectly composed. Turning to me, he said, “If you like him, Ah Ying, it isn’t out of the question.

“I can look the other way.”

I shook my head. “I spend time with the physician only to learn medicine so I can care for you better. I’ve never had romantic feelings for him.”

After a long silence, Chu Huaizhi suddenly took my hand and drew me close, burying his face against me.

Like a helpless child, he let out a soft sigh.

“Then you must stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Somehow, the rumors reached the head of the family. Furious, he had me brought to the hall.

The physician was already kneeling there, trembling.

“My lord, the young madam has only ever asked me about medicine. We have never behaved improperly. There is nothing between us!”

I knelt as well. “Father, please judge this fairly.”

Kneeling beside me was a “witness”: the older maid who usually swept the courtyard.

“They’re lying! I saw the young madam and the physician billing and cooing under the moonlight!

“The poor young master has been ill since childhood. Must he suffer this undeserved disgrace as well?”

The head of the family looked at me, imposing even without a show of anger. “What have you to say for yourself?”

I was about to speak when a clear, cool male voice sounded outside, breaking the impasse.

“I believe her.”

No one had expected Chu Huaizhi, who rarely even left his own rooms, to appear.

Myself included.

He covered his mouth and coughed twice before addressing the head of the family. “Ah Ying spends her days by my side. She sees the physician only to learn medicine. There has been no impropriety.”

It was as though someone had thrown me a lifeline.

A villain? This man was a ray of sunshine!

In his blue-green robe, Chu Huaizhi was tall and thin, so frail that even a light breeze seemed capable of knocking him over.

He helped me up. His pale fingers were impossibly cold.

With his back to the head of the family, he gently reassured me.

“Ah Ying has done nothing wrong. Why should she kneel?”

As he spoke, his thin lips curved into a cold smile.

Then he turned his attention to the kneeling maid.

“When, exactly, did you see my wife and the physician billing and cooing under the moonlight?”

The maid broke into a cold sweat. “On the night of the eighth. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Oh? I was unwell that night. My wife stayed dressed and tended me all night without leaving my side.” Chu Huaizhi tightened his hold on my hand, making me feel utterly safe.

“There is no rule requiring the courtyards to be swept at night. What were you doing in mine, spying on its occupants?”

The maid went white and fell speechless.

So did I.

I really had seen the physician that night.

He had discovered a new medicinal ingredient and, delighted, had rushed to tell me.

Apparently, the maid had caught sight of us in secret and turned it into a moonlit tryst.