Chapter 6

I refused to mount.

Unhurried, Li Wujin bent down and drew my head toward him.

The overwhelming smell of wine reached me before his voice did.

His chin hovered over my head. To anyone watching, we must have looked like intimate lovers.

He said softly, “If you don’t get on, Jiang Qihe needn’t remain a deputy general.

“I have a lame subordinate who’s been a widower for years. Very loyal. I’ve always wanted to find him a wife. Hongyu isn’t married yet, is she?

“Chan’er, you’re a clever girl. You know what to do.”

This was the man who had once shared my heart.

He knew how to control me.

He knew I did not want others dragged into my troubles.

Helplessness engulfed me like a tide. He pulled me onto his horse as though I were a puppet on strings.

The lotus lantern Jiang Qihe had won fell to the ground.

Blue paving stones were no home for a lotus. Flames curled around the pink silk, consuming the lantern as they burned themselves out.

Li Wujin’s hand tightened around my waist.

But I clenched my teeth and said nothing all the way home.

…

Father had gone to my courtyard that evening and found me absent. Now he waited in the main hall with the mistress and Xia Linlang. The gate servant had barely begun, “Fourth Miss is back—” when Father’s booming voice rang out from inside.

“Ungrateful daughter! Get in here!”

The servant hurried to warn him. “Master, General Li is here as well.”

The Xias rushed outside to pay their respects.

Once, I had longed to ride openly beside Li Wujin.

But I had been afraid. Afraid the rumors of gu sorcery clinging to me would cause him trouble.

Whenever I saw him, I instinctively avoided crowds or wore a veiled hat to conceal my face.

Heaven knew how happy I had been when he said he did not care about gossip and wanted to marry me.

When something long denied arrived at the wrong time, it became a disaster.

I imagined the Xias felt much the same as they saw us sharing a horse.

Father looked up at me and could no longer force out “ungrateful daughter.”

Xia Linlang had been saving her tears for another show of wounded innocence. Instead, her eyes rolled back and she fainted outright.

The mistress’s eyes were daggers. She looked ready to tear me limb from limb.

Before, so long as what lay between Li Wujin and me stayed out of sight, they could pretend not to know.

Now they could only be grateful the neighbors had all gone to Zhuque Avenue and no one had seen us.

Father hastily invited Li Wujin inside, terrified someone might arrive to witness the family’s disgrace.

I was sent back to my courtyard.

I did not know what they said to him that made Xia Linlang swallow her resentment and leave me alone.

The next day, I found out.

Li Wujin came to deliver her betrothal gifts.