Everything settled, it was just past the Hour of the Ox. The east had not yet brightened, and a flowing layer of indigo floated across the sky.
The matter was not to be spread. The Yulin Guard secretly kept watch over the residences and families of the offending ministers, claiming they were ill. Jiang Nong still couldn’t bring herself to order the execution of so many people at once—she would wait for Yu Lingxin’s return to decide.
Jiang Nong had no desire to sleep. She lay in bed clutching the military tally, trying to calm her racing heart.
This was, by far, the greatest crisis she had ever faced.
Only now did she truly feel that Yu Lingxin had planned everything for her—even leaving Xunliang behind. Even though they had quarreled before he left, even though they were in the middle of a cold war.
He gave her his complete love. Even when she said hurtful things, he did more than he said.
Again and again she pushed him away, spoke harshly to him—and again and again she found reassurance, because she had tested it time and again: Yu Lingxin was a little dog who wouldn’t leave her just because she was mean.
Her fingers unconsciously traced the token, her nails scraping along its lines. For the first time, she missed Yu Lingxin—wondered how he was doing out there… Actually, she didn’t miss him exactly; she just wanted to write to him, to tell him about tonight. Something this big needed to be shared.
Well, there wasn’t really much to say—it had all been resolved smoothly.
Jiang Nong also reflected on whether her past judgments of Yu Lingxin had been too subjective. Should she look at his actions more objectively? If his character had never changed, perhaps he would have been the one dead in Tan. Of course, she wasn’t saying everything he did was right.
But after this incident, she couldn’t help beginning to see things from his perspective.
Xunliang returned, carrying the night’s dew and moisture, and reported to her. Jiang Nong nodded, indicating she understood, and told him to rest. Xunliang hesitated for a moment, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately held back, only asking: “Dawn is near. You’ve been busy all night—is there anything Your Highness would like to eat? This servant will have the small kitchen prepare it.”
“I want fish dumplings,” Jiang Nong said. She wasn’t hungry—it had just suddenly come to mind. “Make plenty—share them with all the attendants to warm them up. They’ve been frightened tonight too.”
Xunliang paused, choked up for a moment, then finally said: “Very well.”
After a while, he rolled up his sleeves and personally carried in a steaming bowl of dumplings, with a few side dishes, and set them before Jiang Nong.
“Would Your Highness like to taste them?”
Meeting his expectant gaze, Jiang Nong took a bite…
Not very good…
She swallowed the dumpling whole, hesitated, and—not wanting to hurt his feelings—asked: “Is the cook at the small kitchen not in tonight? Did you make these yourself?”
Xunliang wanted to speak on behalf of His Majesty, but His Majesty had forbidden it. So he could only be vague: “The cook is in, but the one who knows how to make these isn’t on duty tonight.”
“Didn’t they say fish dumplings are a specialty of Tan? Can’t another cook make them?”
Xunliang wore an expression of wanting to speak but holding back, picking at his hands: “Tan doesn’t border the sea—there’s no such tradition. His Majesty forbade me to say, so please don’t press me, Your Highness.”
His reluctance to speak said more than words ever could.
“Oh.” Jiang Nong lowered her head and silently kept eating the dumplings.
Xunliang had already quietly withdrawn.
Her tears fell into the soup. Jiang Nong didn’t want to cry, so she covered her face and swallowed the food in her mouth.
Tan didn’t border the sea—there was no tradition of making fish dumplings. She didn’t eat the most common mutton filling. So the fish dumplings she’d eaten in her previous life had all been developed by Yu Lingxin.
She had always felt that Tan’s cuisine suited her taste better than Dang’s or Xi’s—but perhaps it hadn’t always been that way. Yu Lingxin had adjusted it bit by bit.
Jiang Nong missed Yu Lingxin—just a little bit. Only a little.
How could she control herself from liking someone who was actually quite bad, who didn’t meet any of her standards for a partner—someone she should, by all logic, utterly despise? This became the question Jiang Nong couldn’t stop pondering while waiting for Yu Lingxin’s return to Fengye.
By mid-April, the war was won. Song ceded five cities each to Dang and Tan.
Returning with Yu Lingxin’s victorious army came news that Chao Ning had been ambushed again—fortunately, it ended without serious injury, as Dang’s Yulin Guard had arrived in time to rescue him, and he made it safely back to his kingdom.
A month apart, Yu Lingxin had grown darker and more robust.
They had been quarreling when he left, and Jiang Nong couldn’t bring herself to suggest moving back. She tugged at her sleeve, doing her best to appear composed and businesslike, telling him to bathe, change, and eat.
Yu Lingxin could sense that Jiang Nong was clinging to him just a little—circling around him, occasionally stealing glances, and even cooking some dishes herself. One look and you could tell which ones were hers—her cooking was… rather… extraordinary…
That was probably the right word.
Still, Yu Lingxin made a point of it—even though the whole table was covered with food, he only ate the few plates she had made. Jiang Nong was quite pleased by this and even ladled him some extra soup.
Jiang Nong wouldn’t take the initiative—she would only indulge. So after the meal, Yu Lingxin lay down on her lap, just as before, resting his face in her palm: “I thought you wouldn’t want to see me again, that you still wouldn’t talk to me.”
He’d come back even better at acting coy than before. Jiang Nong rolled up his sleeve and found several new scars on his arm—already healed, faintly pink. She couldn’t help but press her face gently against them and asked: “Does it hurt?”
“If you feel sorry for me, then it doesn’t hurt.”
Jiang Nong didn’t know how to respond. After a long pause, she said: “Thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” Yu Lingxin asked, though he already knew—he deliberately lifted his head to look into her eyes, trying to glimpse her feelings.
“There’s quite a lot. All you have to say is ‘you’re welcome.’” Jiang Nong looked away uncomfortably, biting her nails—until Yu Lingxin lightly tapped her hand, and she snapped out of it and pulled her hand back.
She had been turning it over in her mind for a long time. She did like Yu Lingxin. If he slowly changed, she should slowly try to accept him too.
Yu Lingxin had come back with his own resolve—whether it was cherishing what might be their last days together, or simply having come to a clearer understanding, he had made peace with everything regarding Jiang Nong.
He didn’t want this vague, fluctuating relationship—always stringing him along. He wanted things clear and unambiguous between them. He wanted Jiang Nong to love him even knowing he was utterly despicable—even if that made him seem somewhat mad.
He took Jiang Nong’s hand, kissed her palm, pressed his face into it, greedily breathed in her scent, and then stopped moving.
Jiang Nong felt her whole body tingle from his touch. With her other hand, she gently stroked his hair.
They fell asleep on the floor again. When Jiang Nong woke, she found herself on the couch—and only after asking Xunliang did she learn that Yu Lingxin had gone to deal with Lü Chengcheng’s matter.
Yu Lingxin had long known the news, though he showed no visible anger—but he had mobilized considerable forces from the Golden Guard and the Yulin Guard.
Jiang Nong paced around the hall for a while, then decided to go find Yu Lingxin.
Wei Xiao had returned with Yu Lingxin and was giving instructions to several junior commanders in front of the hall. Jiang Nong could only catch a few vague fragments.
“All traces have been cleaned up, right?”
“This matter must not be made public.”
“…Chao Ning… escaped… next time…”
Wei Xiao, sharp-eyed, noticed her presence and quickly fell silent, waving the others away.
Jiang Nong had heard Chao Ning’s name. Connecting the dots, she vaguely guessed that this assassination attempt on Chao Ning was connected to Yu Lingxin.
She asked Wei Xiao, but he refused to say. Her heart cooled, and she decided to go ask Yu Lingxin directly.
If they wouldn’t tell her, there was something fishy.
Why was it always like this? Every time she thought Yu Lingxin had changed for the better, he suddenly hit her with another blow.
Jiang Nong hurried to the Supreme Court and ran into Xunliang.
Xunliang was carrying poison, a dagger, and white silk. Seeing the two of them, he bowed and casually handed the items to Rong Mian: “By rights, Minister Lü and the others should be shown dignity—but His Majesty is furious and has ordered lingchi. These won’t be needed for now. I’m going to deliver the decree and confiscate their properties. Rongrong, you dispose of these first.” Before leaving, he cautioned Jiang Nong: “Your Highness, it would be best not to go in—the smell of blood inside is strong.”
Rong Mian nervously asked Jiang Nong what to do with these things.
Jiang Nong stared at the poison and dagger on the tray and ordered: “Dispose of half. Keep the rest put away. We’re going back.”
Xunliang, who was usually surrounded by attendants wherever he went, just happened to need Rong Mian’s help with these items. Wei Xiao, normally so cautious, just happened to let her overhear those words.
Jiang Nong knew Yu Lingxin too well. Sometimes she couldn’t even sort out her own feelings—yet the slightest anomaly from him, and she could sense it instantly.
Her initial fury cooled in an instant. She sensed something fishy.
The imperial physician she’d brought in her dowry secretly examined the poison for her—it was indeed a lethal toxin that would kill in an instant.
Jiang Nong had Rong Mian store the poison away carefully. She didn’t let today’s matter drop. When Yu Lingxin returned, she confronted him about Chao Ning’s assassination. Seeing he couldn’t hide it, Yu Lingxin came clean.
“I just don’t like him. I want him dead. Every time you suspect me because of him—am I wrong to want him dead? If I get the chance, I’ll go after him again. You’d better pray he stays lucky forever.”
Even though Jiang Nong had prepared herself, she was still furious. She slapped him: “Can you speak like a human being? Listen to yourself—does that sound like something a person would say?”
Yu Lingxin wiped the blood from his mouth: “I’m not a person, so why should I speak like one? The moment he’s involved, you lose your mind. Compared to him, am I as worthless as a weed in your eyes?”
“Yes! Get out! Don’t talk to me!”
“If you’ve got the nerve, kill me! You have half the military tally—all the ministers who opposed you are dead. You could kill me, put a child on the throne, and rule however you please—who could stop you? Then you’d never have to worry about me doing anything to your beloved brother again!”
They hadn’t even been back half a day before they were fighting again, refusing to even see each other.
Jiang Nong was so angry her teeth itched. She waited to see what Yu Lingxin would do next.
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