Chapter 4

A head appeared above the wall.

“Very perceptive, Fourth Miss.”

At the sight of him, Hongyu lowered her head and hurried indoors.

Jiang Qihe sprang onto the wall and sat there, meeting my eyes openly. He even looked faintly expectant.

Was he waiting for praise?

I had seen clearly when Xia Linlang fell. Something struck her as her foot came down, sending her pitching to the ground.

He had helped me, admittedly.

I would hardly have stood there and let her slap me. If we had fought, Hongyu and I would have suffered for it.

But what was he doing on my wall?

“How much did you hear?” I asked.

He was candid. “I was wondering why the general refused to see the woman he loved. It seems there’s rather more going on in the Xia household.”

Father was the one afraid of our scandals getting out. I was not.

Now Jiang Qihe knew everything. It saved me explaining.

Curious about his attitude, I asked, “And what do you intend to do now?”

I was prepared to hear “unchaste” and “shameless.”

I was only waiting for him to say it so I could give him a proper argument.

Better still, he could complain before the emperor. If I could not live in peace, I would drag the whole Xia family down with me.

Instead, Jiang Qihe expressed wholehearted approval.

“It means we have the same good taste.

“Who wouldn’t admire a young hero like the general? If he fell for you, you must be a good woman. Our general’s judgment can’t be wrong!”

I stared.

This conversation was taking a strange turn.

When I said nothing, he thumped his chest. “I don’t know why the general asked for a marriage between us, but I promise you this: you’re the woman he loves. I won’t lay a finger on you.”

Then he scratched his head. “Though there is an old saying in Xicheng: our eyes face forward because we’re meant to keep moving forward.

“I can be your husband in name. But if I fall in love with someone, I’ll have to divorce you. I won’t make her suffer.”

My expression closed, and he realized I had misunderstood.

“I know ours is an imperial marriage,” he explained. “I’ll bear all the punishment. You won’t be implicated.”

I shook my head and sighed. “You keep saying I’m the woman Li Wujin loves, yet he hasn’t treated me half as well as you have.

“You understand that the woman you love deserves to be your wife. He heard two rumors and casually promised me to someone else. I’m only grateful we can make everything clear now and avoid a great deal of trouble later.”

Jiang Qihe instinctively tried to defend him. “Perhaps there’s been a misunderstanding—”

I did not want to discuss Li Wujin anymore. “Still, this was between him and me. I never meant to drag you into it.”

The sunset blazed.

It looked as though it would burn my little courtyard.

In a sense, I had brought fire on myself. Xia Linlang had come to vent and left worse off.

She was Father’s darling now. Once the mistress complained, I would have a battle on my hands.

I sent Jiang Qihe away.

“If there’s nothing else, Deputy General Jiang, please go. Thank you for helping me today. I shall come to thank you properly another day.”

I had barely finished when faint sobbing drifted from Xia Linlang’s courtyard.

It was not that my hearing was exceptional.

The Xia residence simply was not very big.

Jiang Qihe had once been a scout, I was told. He heard it even more clearly.

Scouts were quick thinkers. He understood at once: he could help me once, but Xia Linlang would keep manufacturing trouble.

“Xia Tingchan,” he called. “There’s a lantern fair on Zhuque Avenue tonight. Come with me.”