Yan Tongshu had spoken at length, but Lady Qing hadn't actually understood much of it—though she did catch that one line about how every married couple fights and has, at some point, wanted to strangle the other.
And that was true, wasn't it? She wasn't beating or scolding Chen Sizhen every single day. She only lashed out when her temper got the better of her, when she was at her wit's end. Then maybe she'd yell at him, maybe give him a shove or two.
If he couldn't take it, why didn't he just say so? If he couldn't live with her anymore, why not file for divorce?
Instead, he'd stew in silence, play the wounded martyr, nurse his grudges—all while pretending to be some innocent little flower.
What a bastard.
Lady Qing spat venom in her heart. A literate bastard, too—always using his book learning to bully her because she couldn't read or write, couldn't argue with him in fine words.
A knot of bitterness clogged her chest. She whipped her head toward the two children beside her.
Back in the day, they'd been too poor to even feed themselves properly, let alone send anyone to school.
But now she'd paid the price—a steep price for never having learned to read. So help her, from this day forward, she'd sell the pots and pans if she had to, starve if she had to—but her children would go to school!
Yes, and Yingge too. Otherwise, the girl would end up just like her—slow of tongue and slow of wit, and bullied half to death by her husband's family.
Just then, Granny Chen's eyes snapped wide open, and she let out a piercing cry: "A-si——"
Lady Qing hurriedly poured a cup of hot water and rushed to her side: "Mother, are you all right? Are you still feeling unwell..."
"Get away!"
Granny Chen knocked the cup clean out of her hand with a sweep of her arm, and the hot water splashed across Lady Qing's chest.
Fortunately, it was autumn, and Lady Qing was wearing thick clothes—she wasn't hurt.
Lady Qing stared, stunned: "Mother, what's the matter with you?"
Granny Chen's milky eyes bulged round and fierce, like a wolf guarding its cub deep in the mountains. Every wrinkle on her face twisted into something ugly and menacing. She fixed Lady Qing with a hateful glare and hissed through her teeth: "It's all your fault, you poisonous woman!"
She raised a withered, bony finger and pointed accusingly: "It's all because of you! The day my blessed son married you, you drove my good A-si out of this house! You scared my filial boy into not daring to come home! You viper! You're the one to blame! Who gave you permission to hit him, to scold him? He's the son I raised with my own blood and sweat, and who do you think you are! You damned cursed thing, you're his wife, and you dare lay a hand on him, you dare raise your voice at him..."
At the height of her anguish, she began pummeling her own chest in grief, sobbing loud and raw: "This old woman deserves to die! A bad wife ruins three generations! It's all my fault—I forced A-si to marry a shrew like you, who brings nothing to this family, and I've ruined him, ruined the entire Chen family!"
In the past, Lady Qing had always put Granny Chen first—seen to her meals, seen to her comfort, and Granny Chen had been nothing but kind in return. She'd always asked after Lady Qing with warm concern. Even back when they'd first learned that Chen Sizhen had planned to do them harm, Granny Chen had unhesitatingly backed Lady Qing's plan to report him, even threatening to disown her own son.
Lady Qing had never imagined that this woman—whom she'd served like a mother for ten years, whom she'd called "Mother" for ten years—would one day suddenly accuse her of ruining the Chen family.
She was innocent.
She was so wronged her voice shook: "Mother, I really didn't. I only lose my temper occasionally, that's when I might shove him or shout at him. You've lived with us day in and day out—you know exactly how I treat A-si, don't you? I bring his food to his very hands. He hasn't touched a drop of cold water all day, not once."
Granny Chen let out a cold, scornful huff: "Who knows what you do to A-si when nobody's looking. Otherwise, my boy—so good, so filial—how could he abandon his own mother? Turn his back on his own children?"
Lady Qing felt as though a knife were twisting in her heart—wronged and grieving all at once.
She was hurt by the false accusation.
But even more, she was pained—pained that the mother-in-law she'd loved like her own flesh and blood didn't trust her even a shred.
In the blink of an eye, the woman had turned her face like turning the pages of a book.
She'd shown Lady Qing less goodwill than Yan Tongshu, a complete outsider.
"Enough!"
Yan Tongshu could take no more. She rose to her feet and leveled a cold stare at Granny Chen.
Granny Chen, who had been shaking with fury and grief just moments before, somehow quieted under the sharp edge of Yan Tongshu's gaze.
Yan Tongshu took a slow breath, then said in a low, firm voice: "Since you two can't stand to look at each other anymore, it's time you lived apart. From now on, food, clothing, and shelter will be separated. You each go your own way."
Granny Chen opened her mouth as if to argue—it seemed she'd never once considered actual separation.
But Yan Tongshu gave her no chance to refuse. Her voice was steel: "I'll have the officers prepare another room shortly."
She turned to Chen Yingge and Chen Jiangge: "And you two? Do you want to live with your grandmother, or with your mother?"
"With Mother, of course." Chen Yingge didn't hesitate a second—she threw her arms around Lady Qing. "Don't be sad, Mother. Yingge will stay with you forever."
Chen Jiangge pressed his lips together tight, glanced briefly at Granny Chen, then shuffled his feet and moved to stand beside Lady Qing.
Granny Chen stretched out a trembling hand: "Jiangge... you're my own grandson..."
Yan Tongshu promptly asked: "Who gets this room, then?"
Granny Chen dropped her gaze. Lady Qing spoke up: "Give it to Mother. She's old and not in good health—she shouldn't have to deal with moving around. I'll take the children to another room and clean it up myself."
Yan Tongshu nodded and led Lady Qing and her children out to find another room.
Outside, the cold wind bit at them as it blew. Lady Qing blinked, and tears suddenly spilled down her face: "I don't understand. I truly don't—why would Mother... ten years we lived together day and night. She saw for herself what kind of person I am..."
Yan Tongshu exhaled a long sigh and gave her the brutal truth: "But Chen Sizhen is her own flesh and blood."
Lady Qing trembled, as though struck by lightning.
Yan Tongshu said no more. She called over Xu Qiu, a yamen officer passing by, and told him to have some men help Lady Qing and the children clean and set up the new room.
A little while later, Pearl and Jinbao returned, bursting with excitement, and bubbled over with what they'd learned.
Zhao Kuangzhi was twenty-six years old. He knew every law and statute word for word, and he'd made a name for himself as one of Kaifeng's most notorious legal sharks. As long as you paid, he would take any case—no distinction between right and wrong, no sense of good or evil.
They'd also fetched copies of the records from some of Zhao Kuangzhi's previous cases.
Yan Tongshu slowly flipped through the dossier on Zhao Kuangzhi when Jinbao suddenly spoke up: "Oh, by the way, master—when Pearl and I came back, we ran into Zhao Sheng at the gate. He said he needed to see you."
Yan Tongshu turned the page: "Tell him to come in."
Jinbao escorted Zhao Sheng inside.
It was Zhao Sheng's first time in the inner hall of the Kaifeng prefecture, and he looked around with great curiosity.
Yan Tongshu turned another page and asked without looking up: "Did you need something?"
After making his bow, Zhao Sheng said: "Lord Yan, I came with my older brother to watch the excitement at the Kaifeng prefecture today. While we were in the alley next door, I spotted one of Princess Tijia's household servants—he was speaking with Lady Qing's son."
Yan Tongshu's hand stilled on the page, and she looked up: "And what did they say?"
Zhao Sheng repeated every word he and Gao Qi had overheard, without missing a single detail.
Yan Tongshu rubbed her chin, thinking hard: "So they're trying to get every witness on our side to flip their testimony."
Zhao Sheng scratched his head with a sheepish grin: "Heh, that's what I figured, too. Lord Yan—this Consort Chen's case isn't going to fall apart, is it?"
Yan Tongshu answered with another question: "The evidence is solid. Why would it?"
"But... the princess's household..." Zhao Sheng hesitated, as if he wanted to say more.
Yan Tongshu said calmly, "Some things, you can't just look at the plot of land right in front of you. You need to broaden your horizons. Their little tricks that can't even be brought out into the open won't change anything."
Zhao Sheng's face immediately broke into a grin. "Right, with Lord Yan saying that, we can just sit back and enjoy the show."
Yan Tongshu looked at Zhao Sheng with a puzzled expression. "You're this happy that Chen Sizhen is in trouble? Do you two have a grudge?"
Zhao Sheng let out a series of nervous chuckles, trying to dodge the question, but Yan Tongshu just stared at him without saying a word. Before long, Zhao Sheng's conscience got the better of him, and he admitted, "To be honest with you, Lord Yan, it's not Consort Chen I hate. Consort Chen has nothing to do with me, we're not even connected by a mile..."
Pearl curiously leaned in closer. "Then who do you hate? The Princess?"
Zhao Sheng's carefully maintained nonchalant expression immediately crumbled. Pearl gasped. "You really do hate the Princess?"
Yan Tongshu pressed further, "Do the two of you have some kind of grudge?"
Zhao Sheng snorted, his tone turning heavy. "That Princess Tijia is no good. Eight years ago, I was fourteen, and I used to follow my big brother at the time to the brothel to swipe things."
"Swiping" meant stealing.
Zhao Sheng continued, "My brother didn't get caught, but I did. There was this older girl at the brothel called Liuyun—pretty face, kind temperament, and she had some say in the Spring Breeze Pavilion. She saw that I was pitiful, so she put in a good word for me. Sometimes she'd even give me leftover chicken or duck scraps—the backsides and bones that guests left behind—to take home and boil into broth. At the time, my mother's pancake stall wasn't open yet, and our family was so poor we couldn't even keep the pot boiling. After Liuyun found out, every time she finished with a client, she'd save extra food for me to bring home to my mother."
At this point, Zhao Sheng's eyes gradually turned red. "One day, I went to see Liuyun as usual to ask for something to eat. That's when I heard the brothel's thugs saying Liuyun had been beaten to death. They said she'd seduced the Consort, and Princess Tijia had her killed. Along with Liuyun, four other girls from the brothel who had also been summoned by the Consort were killed too. I asked the thugs where Liuyun's body was, and they said it had been thrown into the unmarked graves. I ran over to the graves, and luckily, the thugs had just tossed her body on the very edge, so I found it right away. She didn't even have a straw mat wrapped around her. Liuyun's face had been slashed beyond recognition. The other four girls beside her were the same. I dug a pit right there and buried all five of them.
That Princess Tijia is a real piece of work, completely unreasonable. The Spring Breeze Pavilion did good business, and the customers who came through were nothing but rich and powerful. Even if Liuyun could say a few words to the thugs on my behalf, she was still a girl being sold. She couldn't choose which client she got, and she couldn't refuse. The other four girls were the same—could they pick which customer to take? If they didn't take a customer, they'd get beaten half to death with a salt-soaked leather whip. What person could withstand that?"
Pearl and Jinbao were listening with tears welling up in their eyes.
Pearl stomped her foot in anger. "Disgusting! How can this Princess Tijia be so evil?"
Jinbao clenched his fists too. "So evil! If the Princess is mad at the Consort for seeing other women, she should go after the Consort, not beat those poor souls who were being sold!"
Yan Tongshu pressed her lips tightly together.
Last time, when Li Fulin had spoken of Princess Tijia and her former consort, he'd only said that the Princess had broken the Consort's legs and taken savage revenge on his whole family. She never imagined that five lives were caught up in the middle of it too.
Those at the very top, when they get angry, they need to vent. But the consort's family wasn't made up of ordinary people, and breaking his legs was already the limit. So the Princess had taken all her pent-up rage out on those poor girls from the brothel who had been summoned by the Consort.
Yan Tongshu spoke up, "About Princess Tijia killing those five girls from the Spring Breeze Pavilion—besides you, can you still find any other witnesses from back then?"
Zhao Sheng quickly ran through his mind. "Probably, yeah. It was a pretty big deal back then, a lot of people knew about it."
Yan Tongshu's gaze was sharp. "Slashing their faces wouldn't be fatal. So how exactly were Liuyun and the other four women beaten to death?"
Zhao Sheng recalled, "I don't know the exact details, but I heard some of the thugs mention it. They said the Princess's household servants held them down on the ground and beat them with wooden planks until their arms and legs were broken, and then... then they crushed their heads in."
Pearl gasped sharply. "That's beyond cruel."
Not just killing—they were tortured savagely before being killed.
Yan Tongshu's face darkened with a terrifying grimness. She told Zhao Sheng, "Go gather witnesses and secure the evidence."
Zhao Sheng finally understood what Yan Tongshu meant at this point. "Lord Yan, are you saying... we can get justice for Liuyun?"
Yan Tongshu's gaze was heavy. "A life is a life. If someone kills, they must pay the price."
"Yes!" Zhao Sheng shouted in excitement. "I'm on it right now!"
Zhao Sheng turned and ran off, brimming with enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, on the other side, after the trial of Chen Sizhen was concluded, Yan Liangyu and Yan Liangrong walked out together.
Zheng Chun quietly followed behind the two.
Zhou Zhengxun chased after them. "Liangyu, Liangyu..."
Yan Liangyu was about to stop, but Yan Liangrong tightened her grip on her hand. "Since you've already made up your mind, don't drag your feet."
Yan Liangyu nodded. Just as the two were about to step into the carriage, Zhou Zhengxun quickened his pace and blocked their way. "Liangyu, let's talk."
Yan Liangrong stepped in front of Yan Liangyu. "Eldest Young Master Zhou, my sister Liangyu has nothing left to say to you."
Zhou Zhengxun's gaze passed over Yan Liangrong, staring at Yan Liangyu with a lovesick look. "Liangyu, my father said my appointment is about to come through. It's a proper seventh-rank position as Grand Master of Propaganda. There's no need for the Yan family to pay for connections anymore."
Zhou Zhengxun thought that by saying this, he'd win some sympathy from Yan Liangyu and Yan Liangrong. But instead, Yan Liangrong let out a cold snort, her tone icy. "So the Zhou family actually has money now, and doesn't need to spend that ten thousand strings to grease palms anymore? I thought your family was too poor to survive without resorting to extortion."
Yan Liangrong's words were sharp—but she'd meant them that way.
The Zhou family had been pushing things further and further these past two years. If it hadn't been for Tongshu being promoted to acting prefect of Kaifeng, heaven knows how much more trouble the Zhou family would have caused during these "quiet" two months.
Zhou Zhengxun, stung by Yan Liangrong's words, could only offer an explanation. "Our household really was short on funds. We sold some storefronts and borrowed some money. But once the family collects the debts that are owed to us, things will ease up. Once Liangyu marries into the family, I won't let her suffer."
Yan Liangrong looked at him coldly. "There's no need. The Zhou family and the Yan family are done with each other. From now on, we walk separate paths, and we won't interfere with each other."
With that, Yan Liangrong pulled Yan Liangyu into the carriage.
"Liangyu..." Zhou Zhengxun looked utterly heartbroken. If someone didn't know the full story, seeing him so tormented and pitiful by love would make anyone feel sorry for him. Yan Liangrong warned Yan Liangyu, "Don't you dare soften."
Yan Liangyu sniffled and lowered her head.
Zheng Chun tugged at Yan Liangrong's sleeve. "This is your sister's own business. Ultimately, it should be up to the two of them. Now that Young Master Zhou's official post has come through, there's nothing to argue about with the betrothal gifts or the dowry anymore."
Zheng Chun turned his gentle, kind gaze to Yan Liangyu. "Liangyu, if you really can't bear to be so cruel, why not give the two of you one more chance? At the end of the day, the Zhou family just wanted to secure a bit more for you both..."
Yan Liangrong shot a sharp glare his way, and Zheng Chun shut his mouth, swallowing back all the other words he had been about to use to persuade Yan Liangyu.
After seeing Yan Liangyu home, Yan Liangrong pinched Zheng Chun's arm. "What was wrong with you today? You were actually taking Zhou Zhengxun's side."
Zheng Chun yelped and cried out in pain, but didn't dare dodge. Only after Yan Liangrong had squeezed her fill did he explain, "The truth is, Young Master Zhou came looking for me a few times. He had been drinking, and this grown man just kept sobbing and calling Liangyu's name. It was honestly a pitiful sight.
The Zhou family — at bottom, it's just Lady Zhou and Lord Zhou who are snobbish. But now Tongshu holds a third-rank position, so the Zhou family wouldn't dare step out of line. Given how calculating they are, if Liangyu marries into that household, she'll be fawned over, not treated badly.
The problems between her and Young Master Zhou are already solved. If the two of them truly love each other, why make things hard for a pair of lovers? And from what I could see, Liangyu hasn't completely let go either, has she?"
"Oh, you!" The more Yan Liangrong heard, the angrier she got. She pinched Zheng Chun's arm again, twisting hard. "So now you feel sorry for Zhou Zhengxun? Have you forgotten how the Zhou family treated Liangyu before? How they treated our Yan family? Zheng Chun, Zheng Chun — as Liangyu's brother-in-law, you should be protecting her, not feeling sorry for Zhou Zhengxun. How can you be so blind to right and wrong?"
"Ow, ow!"
Yan Liangrong pinched hard enough to bruise Zheng Chun's arm purple. Only then did he realize she was truly angry, and he quickly begged for mercy. "Dear wife, I'm wrong. I'm truly wrong. I just saw that the two of them still have feelings, and I was worried that if you block this too hard, and then they patch things up later, you'd end up caught in the middle."
Yan Liangrong twisted again. "I think you're the one caught in the middle — of being a fool."
Zheng Chun begged for mercy once more, and only then did Yan Liangrong let him go, warning, "Let me tell you something — Liangyu finally made up her mind to break off the engagement. Don't you go filling her head with nonsense and making her waver, or I won't let this go."
Zheng Chun rubbed his bruised arm. "Yes, dear wife."
—
That evening, after finishing his official duties, Jinbao waited with the carriage at the gates of Kaifeng Prefecture.
Yan Tongshu stepped out of the office with Pearl in tow, gently rotating his sore waist as he walked.
So tired.
He just wanted to go back to Xianlin Lodge and lie on the couch for half a month.
Still, at least today he was getting off early. Once the prefecture's procedures were streamlined, his quitting time would get earlier and earlier.
"Lord Yan."
Just as Yan Tongshu was about to climb into the carriage, the distant sound of hoofbeats approached.
A white horse walked slowly forward.
A graceful figure dismounted.
Cen Xu wore a white robe with subtle bamboo patterns embroidered along the hem. He stood like a green pine under the moonlight — tall, elegant, refined.
He swung down from the horse, walked up to Yan Tongshu, clasped his hands in salute, and bowed deeply.
Yan Tongshu raised a slight eyebrow.
Cen Xu lifted his head. Under the faint starlight, his eyes glimmered. He extended a red wooden box. "Lord Yan, congratulations on your promotion to Acting Prefect of Kaifeng. In the past few months, I was away from the capital and missed the opportunity to congratulate you in time. This is a belated gift — I hope you don't mind."
Cen Xu opened the box, his voice warm and gentle. "Victory cakes, coconut cakes, and triple-bliss cakes. Just a few regional snacks — nothing worth much."
Nothing valuable — no hint of bribery — but nothing you could find in the capital either.
Yan Tongshu took the box. "Mm. Thank you."
Cen Xu clasped his hands, said farewell, and left.
Pearl tilted her head, utterly puzzled. "Young Master, who was that? I've been at your side all this time, and I have no memory of him at all."
Yan Tongshu tilted his head in the opposite direction. "Me neither."
Pearl's eyes went wide. "Huh? Young Master, you don't know him?"
Yan Tongshu nodded. "I raised my eyebrow earlier because I was wondering who he was."
Pearl: "..."
Pearl was silent for a moment, then looked down at the cakes in Yan Tongshu's hands. "Could there be poison in these? Wait — could he be an assassin sent by the Princess's household?"
Yan Tongshu gave Pearl a little knock on the head. "What are you thinking? Who poisons someone so openly?"
Pearl rubbed her head and "oh"ed. "Then... should we take them home to try?"
Yan Tongshu said, "Mm."
The two of them happily climbed into the carriage, and Jinbao drove home.
Back home, the three of them sat in the room, brought out the three kinds of pastries, split them three ways, and savored each bite.
Pearl covered her face. "Wuwuwu, this is so good. Especially that coconut cake. It's my first time eating it — such a unique flavor."
Yan Tongshu and Pearl nodded in perfect sync. "Mm-mm, that's the taste of coconut."
Pearl's eyes went wide in surprise. "So this is what coconut tastes like? It's my first time trying it. Young Master, how do you know? Have you ever eaten coconut?"
Yan Tongshu said, "Of course."
Hmph — coconuts might not be easy to come by in ancient times, but in the modern world, they were everywhere.
Not only had he eaten coconut milk, but also coconut meat, shredded coconut, and coconut cream.
—
That night, Yan Tongshu fell asleep holding Yuanzi.
The moonlight was hazy, and outside the window, bamboo branches swayed.
Shadows shifted across the trees.
He suddenly dreamed of something from shortly after he had first transmigrated.
At fourteen, one month into his new life, he was still worrying about how to escape the imperial court when he witnessed the eldest son of the Secretariat Drafter's household strip a servant of his clothes and drag him behind a horse. The servant was torn to shreds, flesh exposed down to the bone.
He then submitted thirty-two memorials in a direct remonstrance, and the late emperor, who had always struggled to balance the factions, was forced to order severe punishment.
When the eldest son of the Secretariat Drafter's household was arrested, Yan Tongshu was there. A young, fresh-faced boy was also there. He stared at Yan Tongshu, walked a full circle around him, and said, "So you're the fourteen-year-old top scholar?"
Yan Tongshu nodded.
The boy snorted. "My surname is Cen — Cen Xu. I'm two years younger than you, twelve this year. You wait — when I'm fourteen, I'll also become the top scholar. Then we'll see who's better."
—
When it was time to get up, Yan Tongshu woke. He held Yuanzi close, chin resting on the cat's head.
He thought he remembered now — the man who had sent the cakes was named Cen Xu.
That year, he had declared he would become the top scholar at fourteen and take his revenge.
Hmph.
Wishful thinking.
Did he think becoming the top scholar at fourteen was like picking cabbage from a field? That anyone could just do it?
Didn't he see how many people studied until their forties or fifties just to pass the imperial exams as a jinshi?
After the morning court session, Yan Tongshu went out of his way to look up this Cen Xu who had sworn to challenge him.
Hmph. Sure enough, he hadn't passed the top scholar exam.
Still, becoming a second-place graduate (bangyan) at seventeen did count as a prodigy.
Barely worth considering a rival. He supposed Guo Fu would keep a slight guard up.
On the other side, as the second hearing of Lady Qing's case approached, Zhang Jiu still hadn't found a lawyer willing to take her case, and Yan Tongshu was troubled.
In the courtroom, he couldn't keep speaking up for Lady Qing over and over. But Lady Qing's education level was far too low, and she always got tricked into dead-ends from which she couldn't escape.
Just as Yan Tongshu sat in the corridor fretting, Yan Liangrong snatched the case files out of his hands. "I'll handle it."
