The young servant was dressed in three layers himself, yet even so, he was shivering violently from the cold. Then he looked at his master, whose robe was clearly far too thin. Just looking at it made his teeth chatter.
“My lord, please put this on. It’s freezing outside.”
“No need,” Shen Xiabai said through clenched teeth.
A few carriages passed by the two men, each one bringing hope, only to leave them disappointed. From broad daylight until the faint, almost invisible sun disappeared from the sky, the person they were waiting for never came.
The young servant did not know whether his master could withstand the cold, but he himself was nearly frozen to death.
His master’s back remained ramrod straight. Only the fingers of the hand he held behind him had turned bluish-purple, and a faint layer of frost had formed over his brocade robe.
Could it be that His Majesty was coming? the young servant wondered.
Under the merciless assault of the cold wind, Shen Xiabai’s robe billowed into disarray, making him look like a stone statue—aloof, elegant, and otherworldly.
The fabric was pitifully thin.
The sky had gone completely dark when, at last, a carriage stopped outside the Discipline Office. Yu Feng leaped down from it, his face flushed and his spirits high. In his arms, he carried the hand warmer Nanny Zhang had taken pity on him and given him.
Heat seemed to radiate from his entire body. But the moment his warmth met the man standing on the steps, it was utterly dispelled.
The man lowered his gaze slightly, and the pressure he exuded was even more piercing than the icy wind.
Yu Feng’s smile froze on his face.
One glance at the beads of frost on his master’s shoulders was enough to tell him that Shen Xiabai had been standing there for far more than a short while.
“Your subordinate… your subordinate went to the Cui residence. Eldest Miss Cui said it was cold and refused to come out.”
“And then?” Shen Xiabai asked, neither warm nor cold.
And then… then he had spent the entire afternoon warming himself by the fire in the Cui residence’s gatehouse.
“And then, fearing that you might pine yourself sick, I stayed outside the Cui residence and pleaded with Eldest Miss Cui. Eldest Miss Cui said she was reading a storybook and had no time to deal with me.”
He certainly had not lied. Cui Yunchu really had said exactly that.
Shen Xiabai’s expression darkened another shade.
His gaze swept from Yu Feng’s flushed, warm face to the hand warmer in his hands, then to the carriage behind him.
At last, he turned and strode back into the government office.
A step behind him, the young servant seemed to hear the sound of fabric freezing solid, then tearing apart.
Yu Feng followed cautiously, his heart pounding with fear. But the moment Shen Xiabai entered, the main gates suddenly slammed shut in front of him, cutting him off. Had he not retreated quickly, he would have broken his nose against them.
“…”
Yu Feng stared at the tightly closed gates and rubbed his nose, his face full of embarrassment.
*
The snow the next day not only failed to stop, but grew heavier, making everyone reluctant to extend their hands or feet outside their clothes.
After enduring two hours in the cold, Yu Feng was now the very picture of obedience as he helped Shen Xiabai dress and wash.
“My lord, are you… still going to wear white? It’s terribly cold today. Why not choose another color?”
Shen Xiabai shot him a sidelong glance without saying a word. Yu Feng immediately clamped his mouth shut and continued helping him dress and fasten his belt.
He did, however, thoughtfully prepare a white cloak to match the brocade robe. Shen Xiabai did not refuse it.
He remained silent, his expression dark and heavy. His cold, proud bearing seemed to have returned to the way it had once been.
Only his face was slightly flushed.
“My lord, you seem to have a fever. Why don’t you stay home today and have a physician come examine you?”
In the end, after Yu Feng’s tireless pleas, Shen Xiabai finally drank a bowl of medicine, put on his hairpin, and climbed into the carriage.
A path had already been cleared through the streets, though the carriage wheels still occasionally rolled through the snow, making a crunching, creaking sound.
He did not even ask whether the carriage might slip or whether his Miss A-Chu might be thrown from it. He was utterly silent, as though he had been frozen stupid, transformed into a statue with neither hearing nor speech.
All the way there, he sat upright and rigid, his eyes dark and devoid of warmth.
Yu Feng felt that a madman tormented by love needed only a basin of ice water. Once cold water was poured over his head, anyone would regain at least a little clarity.
No matter how sick the brain, it would have to wake up somewhat.
*
Cui Yunchu dragged her feet and did everything she could to avoid leaving the house.
“It’s still snowing outside. Can’t I stay home?”
Xing’er said, “The invitation came from the palace. Even if it were hailing ice today, you’d still have to go.”
Cui Yunchu threw her head back and let out a long sigh.
Nanny Zhang and Xing’er dressed and made her up. But when they were ready to leave, she opened the wardrobe again and deliberately chose the thickest clothes, layering them one over another until she was practically unable to walk.
Even Xing’er could not stand it any longer.
“Miss, so many madams, young ladies, and young gentlemen will be attending today. Even if you don’t plan to stand out, you can’t dress like this.”
At the very least, don’t make a fool of yourself.
Cui Yunchu said, “Whoever wants elegance can freeze for it. I certainly don’t.”
She had no intention of marrying anyway.
Xing’er continued trying to persuade her. “What about Lord Shen? Aren’t you afraid of running into him?”
Dressed like a ball, her slender waist had become a broad barrel. A hand placed around it would meet nothing but layers of cotton. Her oversized body was topped by a tiny head, creating such an absurd lack of proportion that she looked almost eerie.
Cui Yunchu frowned. “He’s seen me in every possible state. What’s the point of worrying about it?”
Even so, she did not refuse when Xing’er removed two layers of clothing.
The main reason was that Cui Yunchu thought that if he grabbed her by the waist again and pinned her to a table to kiss her, it would be rather inconvenient if he could not find her waist.
After dawdling for half an hour, she finally left.
Whether by design or coincidence, she happened to run into Cui Qingyuan in the covered corridor.
Cui Yunchu had grown bolder these days. She pretended not to see him and darted past, lifting her skirts as she went. Prime Minister Cui stood with his hands behind his back and began walking forward with steady steps. He cleared his throat, about to speak, when a gust of wind suddenly swept past him.
“Stop.”
Cui Yunchu halted. Her pretty brows drew together in displeasure before she turned around and gave him a formal curtsy.
“What are you wearing?” Cui Qingyuan asked with a frown.
Cui Yunchu looked down at herself. It was not particularly attractive, perhaps, but it could not be called ugly either. It was simply a little thick, otherwise perfectly respectable. How had it become “what” she was wearing?
“The ancestral hall was terribly cold. I suffered frostbite, and my hands and feet went numb, so I had no choice but to dress warmly.”
“…”
Cui Qingyuan’s eyelid twitched.
Did she really think he had not known about the brazier she had lit in the ancestral hall?
Cui Qingyuan had once disliked nothing more than Cui Yunchu’s constant lies. But now, he seemed to have grown accustomed to them.
Or perhaps he simply could not be bothered to argue anymore.
“Several palace nobles will be attending today’s banquet. Be more restrained in your words and actions, and do not cause trouble.”
Cui Yunchu nodded and answered, “Yes.”
She did not argue with him. There was no point.
Still, if he thought she would embarrass him, he could simply have kept her from attending.
Cui Yunchu said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”
Cui Qingyuan frowned. After hesitating, he took a box from the young servant beside him and handed it to Cui Yunchu.
She accepted it without asking any questions, then turned and left.
The young servant said, “Prime Minister, that was the birthday gift you prepared for Eldest Miss. Why didn’t you tell her?”
Cui Qingyuan said nothing.
How was he supposed to bring it up?
The gift was indeed meant as a birthday present, but he didn’t know when her birthday was. Had he given it too early—or too late?
It felt even more stifling to say that out loud. Better to say nothing at all.
The moment she climbed into the carriage, Cui Yunchu tossed the brocade box to Xing’er. “Give it to the Second Princess once we’re in the palace.”
“Huh?” Xing’er’s mouth fell open. “W-why?”
Cui Yunchu turned her head toward the window, a mocking smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “When has he ever given me anything? Yunfeng’s birthday has already passed, so I suppose it must be for the Second Princess. He’s just too embarrassed to say so himself.”
Xing’er: “……”
Was that… really how it worked?
If the person giving the gift didn’t say anything, could the recipient simply interpret it however she pleased?
Listening to Cui Yunchu’s string of completely nonsensical explanations, Xing’er felt a little dizzy.
Cui Yunchu drew in her hands and feet, leaning against the carriage wall as she gazed out the window. She had always remembered that the brocade box he gave her as a child had contained a silver hairpin.
That hairpin had once been very important to her. Yet it had come too late. Apart from bringing her pain, it had not brought her the slightest joy.
The hairpin had meant a great deal to her when she was young, but resting in the hands of the woman she was now, it felt even heavier.
If she could, she would rather never have received that box at all.
That was why she did not want to open this one, either.
Cui Yunchu remained silent throughout the journey. Slouched lazily against the carriage wall, she looked every bit like a spoiled young heir.
