Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

In June, the Ba Bridge shimmered with golden light amid the afternoon cicadas' chirping. When Dong Bai turned around with Zhang Fubao and Zhang Qiying, the whispers of the people by the bridge suddenly rose.

"Tsk tsk, it's not enough for the Prince of Liang to have beauties on both sides, the Tianshi Mansion has sent two more beauties!"

"Look at that girl in the red dress, she's crying like a pear blossom in the rain, and the other lady in the Taoist robe has gentle eyes and eyebrows. Together with the previous Madam Zhen, they are truly three beauties in one frame!"

The sound of discussion fell like the falling petals of locust flowers. Some people looked at the four divine patterns faintly visible under Ma Chao's black brocade robe, and then looked at the red silk wedding veil swaying in Shao's carriage. The waves of envy almost overturned the bridge arch: "No wonder Mr. Li Ru said earlier that 'the King of Liang is blessed with great fortune'. This blessing of having two wives is probably unique in the world!"

Zhang Wei's fingers finally loosened their grip on the talisman bag, his sweat-soaked sleeve leaving dark palm prints on the gift box. He stole a glance at Ma Chao as he took Zhang Qiying's hand into his palm. Tears still clung to the girl's drooping eyelashes. She hurriedly stumbled forward, straightening her tilted Taoist hat: "Your Majesty, please don't blame me for my misbehavior. I will accompany you back to your palace..." Beside him, Zhang Gui had already tucked the coral beads that had rolled all over the floor back into his sleeve. He heaved a sigh of relief, the tassel of the sword at his waist swinging briskly with his movements.

Beneath the dense shade of weeping willows by the bridge, Li Ru, his bamboo canopy pressed low, smiled softly through the crowd. He gazed at Ma Chao's back, surrounded by three women. The edge of the bamboo slip clutched in his sleeve was deeply scratched by his fingernails. Written in cinnabar, it read the prophecy: "Three beauties marry together to seal the destiny of heaven, and the King of Liang will rise to dominate the western border." Now, amid the envy of the people, it was becoming a concrete political conspiracy. As Ma Chao's dark robe disappeared around the corner of the city gate, the smile in the old fox's folds finally spread to the corners of his eyes.

As Ma Chao, surrounded by Dong Bai, Zhen Mi, Zhang Fubao, and Zhang Qiying, walked toward the city gate, he suddenly felt the soft flesh around his waist tighten. Dong Bai's hand, hanging by his side, exerted force through his brocade robe, his fingertips digging into his waist, causing his Adam's apple to roll violently. He felt the pain piercing him, yet he forced a dignified smile for the onlookers, his fingers clenched white beneath his dark robe sleeves.

"The smile of the Prince of Liang is so handsome!" The boatman under the bridge shouted at the top of his lungs, "You are hugged by women left and right without changing your expression. You are worthy of being the hero of our Xiliang!" This made the people on the shore laugh. Some people pointed at the locust petals that had stuck to his temples and laughed so hard that they fell backwards. Ma Chao caught a glimpse of the half-smile in Dong Bai's eyes, and the pain in his waist increased by three points. Unfortunately, Zhang Fubao was still holding his other sleeve. When the pomegranate red skirt brushed against his ankle, the pearl necklace made a small sound: "The Prince of Liang, please walk faster. The sun is making me dizzy."

He turned sideways to avoid Dong Bai's hand, but instead bumped into the lotus-scented handkerchief handed to him by Zhen Mi. With a fleeting glance, she wiped the sweat from his forehead, her fingertips accidentally brushing against his waist, which had turned red from being pinched. Ma Chao was so startled that he almost jumped. "Are you tired, my king?" Zhen Mi asked softly. As the lilac-colored shawl brushed against the back of his hand, Dong Bai's fingertips twisted a circle around his waist, causing the corners of his mouth to twitch in pain, but he could only force a smile and shake his head: "It's okay, just go back home."

Zhang Qiying watched closely, the silver cloud pattern on the sleeve of her Taoist robe swaying gently as she raised her hand. She observed Ma Chao's forced composure and suddenly pulled a mint tablet from her sleeve, offering it to him: "Your Majesty, take some to refresh yourself." This gesture caused Dong Bai's strangling hand to pause, and Ma Chao took the opportunity to inhale a breath of cool air. Dong Bai's fingertips traced a circle on his waist, a silent warning: "We'll settle this later."

The echoes from under the bridge mixed with the envy of the people. Someone pointed at the overlapping shadows of the four people and started to make a noise: "Look, Miss Dong and Madam Zhen are protecting the king!" Ma Chao walked forward with sweat on his forehead. He felt the soft flesh on his waist burning with pain, but he stood straight and let the scene of being surrounded by four beauties fall into the eyes of thousands of people - until the shadow of the city gate fell on his shoulders, he turned around and lowered his voice to Dong Bai and gritted his teeth: "Bai'er...be gentle!"

Dong Bai looked up at him, her eyelashes casting tiny shadows under her eyelids, the curve of her red lips sweet and cloying, but her fingertips twisted his waist again: "Are you still enjoying the blessing of having so many wives, Your Majesty?"

As dusk drifted over the palace's screen wall, maids carrying goat-horn lanterns wandered through the corridors, illuminating the paths between the third and fourth courtyards. Zhen Mi leaned on the lotus carvings on the corridor pillars and gazed at the bluestone path just beyond the hanging flower gate. This was once the outer courtyard of Ma Chao's study, now with the bookshelves removed and a Xiangfei bamboo screen added. New jasmine sachets hung under the eaves exuded a sweet fragrance, perfectly suiting her quiet nature.

"Madam, please look," the maid leading the way lifted the curtains of the warm room. Camphor incense burned in a gilded Boshan incense burner, mingling with the scent of the century-old pomegranate tree outside the window. "The mother-of-pearl dressing table is ready in the west room, and the ice mirror in the east room was just replaced this morning." Zhen Mi's fingertips traced the mica inlaid on the dressing table, and she suddenly caught a glimpse of Dong Bai's figure in the mirror—she was standing outside the Moon Gate, her dark silk shawl blown by the draft, revealing half a piece of red silk tightly clutched in her sleeve.

The hanging flower gate of the four-courtyard house was carved with the eight trigrams. When Zhang Fubao kicked aside the obstructing stone steps, her pomegranate-red skirt swept past the crouching stone lions by the door, startling the gilded bells and making them clang. "What a shabby yard!" She pointed at the talisman tassels hanging from the eaves. "It's even smaller than my boudoir in Hanzhong!" Before she finished speaking, Zhang Qiying had already lifted the cloud-embroidered door curtain. The silver thread on the cuffs of her Taoist robe shimmered in the palace lanterns. "Sister, don't make a fuss. Look at the night-blooming jasmine in this yard."

The night-blooming jasmine tree in the center of the courtyard was neatly trimmed, each leaf wet with fresh dew. Zhang Fubao sat on a stone bench in a huff, but suddenly discovered half a coral bead embedded in the crack of the stone table—the very one that had fallen from Shao's carriage during the day. She snorted and turned away, only to see Dong Bai walk in, holding a brocade box in her hands: "I know you two are tired from the journey. This is the butter tea tribute from Xiliang."

When the brocade box was opened, Zhang Qiying noticed the red silk lining the bottom of the box, the same material as the heart-shaped knot she had hidden in her sleeve. As Dong Bai poured tea for them, her dark skirt brushed against Zhang Fubao's pomegranate skirt. She suddenly lowered her voice and said, "Although this courtyard is in the fourth courtyard, it's next to the corner gate of the palace." She tapped the copper clock on the table with her fingertips. "If I want to sneak out to buy sweets and cakes in the middle of the night, it's most convenient when the guards change shifts."

Zhang Fubao looked up suddenly. Dong Bai had reapplied her forehead makeup, and the crooked red line had become a neat flower ornament. Dong Bai smoothed out the wrinkled hem of Zhang Fubao's pomegranate skirt. "Sisters, please don't complain about the small courtyard," she chuckled suddenly. "Our king refuses to imitate the arrogance of the rich and powerful."

Zhang Fubao puffed up his cheeks and kicked the stones at his feet. The tassels of beads on his ankles swayed in a flash of light: "He is the Prince of Liang now. What's the big deal about expanding the palace? Is he afraid of disturbing the people?" Before he finished speaking, Zhang Qiying said: "Don't worry, sister. Sister Dong has her reasons."

Dong Bai put her arm around Zhang Fubao's shoulders. "Silly girl," she said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her handkerchief. Her fingertips paused on the wolf-tooth hairpin in her hair. "When we were in Xiliang, he actually vacated half of the City Lord's Mansion to make room for the disaster victims." The night breeze lifted her shawl, revealing the darkly embroidered lotus pattern on the lining. "Now that he's the King of Liang, he's even more unwilling to relocate the people for his mansion. He threw the expansion plan he sent to him into the charcoal fire because he thought it took up three alleys."

Zhang Fubao was stunned by what she heard, the pearl necklace on her pomegranate-red dress rising and falling gently with her breathing. She recalled the envious and admiring looks the people on the bridge had given Ma Chao during the day, and then looked at the helpless smile hidden in Dong Bai's eyes. Suddenly, she understood what kind of person Ma Chao was.

Zhang Qiying looked at the shadows of the night-blooming jasmine tree swaying on the green bricks, and suddenly whispered: "Sister Dong is so worried, does the king know?" Dong Bai laughed at this, and his fingertips ran over the coral bead embedded in the stone table. It was a token that rolled off the Shao carriage during the day: "He only knew how to be a 'fool' on the Ba Bridge, but he didn't know that Sister had worn the Gong Cao's beard white just for these few visits to the yard."

Zhang Fubao suddenly grabbed Dong Bai's hand, his fingertips rubbing against the calluses on her palm—marks left by years of wielding a sword. "Sister, if you're tired..." Before she could finish her words, Dong Bai covered her lips with a handkerchief. The gold foil on the dark silk shawl gleamed in the night. "Silly talk! Our husband is under so much pressure outside. How can we let him worry about the affairs of the inner chamber? Ever since the events of Chang'an, I just want him to be alive and well. I never want to experience that kind of heart-wrenching pain again."

The two hugged Dong Bai, one on each side, as if to give her strength. Dong Bai smiled and said, "Sisters, you must have been traveling for days and must have been tired. You should rest early. I still need to go find the king to see how to expand this palace."

After settling the three women who had just arrived from Hanzhong, Dong Bai dragged over the embroidered cushion and sat opposite Ma Chao. The hem of her dark gold-trimmed skirt swept the ground. "That's good now," she tapped the gilded tea tray on the table with her fingertips. "Originally, we had enough space in the two courtyards, but now we have to imitate the noble families in the imperial city and expand the palace into a maze?"

Ma Chao stared at the swaying herbal tea in his bowl, his Adam's apple rolling, but he didn't dare to respond. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Dong Bai straightening a wind-rippled shawl. Suddenly, he heard Dong Bai sneer, "Are you really completely unaware of Zhang Lu's daughter's marriage?" Her gaze pierced him like an icicle, startling Ma Chao so much that he looked up suddenly, meeting the cloud of suspicion swirling in her eyes.

"If Bai'er doesn't believe me," he subconsciously clenched the tea bowl, the coolness of the celadon spreading through his palm, "I will call Yuanzhi and Wenyuan to confront them right now." When Li Ru replied, he only said, "The Tianshi Mansion is willing to form an alliance," but never mentioned the word marriage?" Before he finished speaking, he heard the muffled sound of cicadas suddenly stopping outside the courtyard, as if their wings had been twisted off. Dong Bai looked at the spider webs hanging from the eaves, trembling in the wind. She suddenly stood up and walked to the corridor, her fingertips stroking the corridor pillars: "Zhang Wei, that old guy, is shaking like a sieve, and Zhang Fubao's red eyes from crying are not fake." She paused, and when she turned around, the talisman hanging from the jade hairpin in her hair brushed across Ma Chao's nose, "Who else could it be except my uncle, that old fox?"

Ma Chao slammed his tea bowl down on the table, the splash of cold tea leaving dark streaks on the brocade tablecloth. "Ma Xiu!" he shouted, and from the shadows of the corridor, a guard commander in black armor immediately emerged, his sword at his waist gleaming coldly in the light. "Take your guards with you, and search every tavern in Chang'an, Mr. Li Ru's residence, and even the post stations!" He gritted his teeth, "Even if you have to dig three feet underground, you'll bring that Li Ru here to me!"

When Ma Xiu received the order and retreated, the soles of his boots crushed the moss in front of the steps, and the sound of armor plates clashing gradually faded away. Dong Bai stepped forward to massage Ma Chao's tense shoulders and neck, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the red marks on his waist under his brocade robe - those were the fingerprints she had pinched during the day, and now they were suspiciously flushed under the lamplight. She paused for a moment and said softly: "For the expansion of the palace, let's ask the engineer to measure the foundation tomorrow." She looked at the albizzia tree in the courtyard that was wet with night dew, and suddenly chuckled, "I just don't know where that old fox is hiding, watching us perform here."