Chapter 4

It was quiet inside the carriage.

Now and then, the clack of the night watchman’s wooden rattle reached us.

Leaning against the carriage wall, Song Jin suddenly asked, “What’s your name?”

I looked at him.

We had bowed to Heaven and Earth that very day, yet he did not even know his wife’s name.

“Shen Lingyi.”

“Lingyi,” he repeated. “‘Reverent and dignified in bearing, a model for the people.’ A fine name.”

I smiled. “You’re too kind.”

“Aren’t you angry?”

“Would anger help?”

“No.”

“Then I won’t be angry.”

As though I had said something entertaining, Song Jin leaned closer.

“Shen Lingyi, what is it you want?”

The smell of wine mingled with agarwood incense washed over me.

I did not draw away.

“To secure my place as your wife.”

“Is that all?”

“For now.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And later?”

I straightened his crooked collar.

“That depends on what you can give me.”

Song Jin caught my wrist.

His fingertips were hot, but his gaze had abruptly sobered.

“You’re certainly frank.”

“If I said all I wanted was for us to love no one else for the rest of our lives, would you believe me?”

“No.”

“Then why say it?”

He studied me for a moment, then suddenly let go of my hand, threw back his head, and laughed.

When the carriage stopped outside the little residence in the south of the city, his smile still lingered.

The moment we stepped inside, it vanished.

The courtyard was a wreck.

A stone table lay overturned. Broken flowerpots littered the ground, and two serving women knelt trembling beneath the covered walkway.

Liu Ying’er lay on the bed, deathly pale, with traces of blood seeping through her skirts.

The woman physician tending her pregnancy was there too.

On seeing me, she gave a discreet shake of her head.

This was no ordinary complication.

Someone had tried to kill Liu Ying’er.

Song Jin rushed to the bed. “What happened?” he demanded.

Tears streamed down Liu Ying’er’s lovely face.

She said only that people had broken in and tried to force her to drink a medicine that would end the pregnancy.

When she refused, they shoved her about.

Fortunately, soldiers on night patrol had passed by and frightened the attackers off.

It was while pursuing them that Song Jin had clashed with the city patrol.

I walked slowly around the room.

Half a footprint lay beside the window.

A strand of dark blue-green silk clung to the lattice.

Beneath the corner of the table lay a fragment of a wooden token.

I bent and picked it up.

It was an identification token worn by a servant of the marquis’s household.

Song Jin’s expression changed at once.

Liu Ying’er stopped crying and stared at me in terror.

She probably thought I had sent them.

After all, I had married into the household that day. No one stood to gain more from the loss of her child than I did.

I handed the token to Matron Zhou.

“Do you recognize it?”

One glance drained the color from her face.

“It’s from our purchasing office.”

“Who oversees it?”

Her lips moved.

“The second young madam.”

The room fell deathly silent.

Lady Cui, wife of Song Jin’s second brother, Song Qian, came from the Cui family of Qinghe.

She managed most of the household’s domestic affairs.

When I arrived that day, she had even given me a white-jade statue of Guanyin, the granter of children.

Song Jin turned to leave, his face cold.

I stopped him.

“Where are you going?”

“To make Cui answer for this.”

“On the strength of half a token?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“A household token can be stolen. With so many guests today, servants from every part of the residence were milling about.”

“If you storm back and make a scene, you’ll only warn whoever did this. You won’t find out a thing.”

His eyes turned icy. “Of course you can be calm. It’s not your woman lying in that bed.”

I raised my hand and slapped him.

The sharp crack left everyone stunned.

His head turned with the blow. He pressed his tongue against his cheek and stared at me in disbelief.

“Shen Lingyi.”

“Song Jin.” I looked straight at him.

“If you truly care about her, make sure she survives before rushing home to throw your weight about.”

His expression darkened by degrees.

I did not retreat.

On my wedding night, his mistress was bleeding, my husband had been arrested, and his own household was implicated.

Anyone else could lose their head. I could not.

After a moment, Song Jin actually mastered his anger.

“What do you suggest?”

I turned to the physician. “Can Miss Liu bear to be moved tonight?”

“If we’re careful, it should be safe.”

“Then prepare a carriage.”

Matron Zhou exclaimed, “Where will you take her, young madam?”

I tucked the quilt around Liu Ying’er.

“To the marquis’s residence, of course.”