She remarried a cold-faced, powerful man, and the scumbag regretted it and cried his heart out.

“She thought I said it.” Shen Jingshu stroked the still-damp tea stains on the table, her eyes darkening slightly. “That day at Sanchunxiao, she asked me about your marriage in public, and there happened to be people from your Duke of Dingguo’s mansion there.”

The spies behind the crabapple tree heard everything clearly; she was testing me.

Gu Changyi suddenly bent over, her hands gripping her forehead tightly, her knuckles turning bluish-white from the force. Her Adam's apple bobbed several times, but she couldn't utter a single word in defense. The faint redness spreading from the corners of her eyes was even more vibrant than the cinnabar on the desk.

What should I say? Claim my innocence? Or admit my stupidity?

"If it were anyone else, it wouldn't matter..."

Shen Jingshu bent down and picked up the half-broken mirror: "I advised you not to be like that candle by the west window, only to add to your regrets."

She carefully placed the fragments of the diamond-shaped mirror into a gilded lacquer box, the gilded clasp making a crisp sound.

The copper bells under the eaves suddenly rang sharply in the wind. Looking at the sunlight scattered like shards of jade on the ground, she sighed, "It's time to go. This house needs to be swept and dusted."

Gu Changyi said in a hoarse voice, "The Duke of Dingguo's mansion and Prince Jing are secretly colluding, and Chu Xiangling's motives remain unclear..."

The last note dissipated in the draft, turning into a bitter laugh.

As the sun began to set, Jiang Jinan returned to his residence.

As soon as they passed the hanging flower gate, they saw Gu Changyi sitting on the stone steps, the twilight making his black brocade robe even darker.

Fallen petals swirled in the wind, brushing past his loose hairband and making him appear even more dejected.

Wuchen said, "Young Master Gu has been counting the fallen flowers for three hours."

Lin Yu, holding his knife, leaned against the door frame and, as usual, bantered with him, laughing, "Second Master Gu looks like a child whose candy has been stolen."

"Lin Yu." Jiang Jin'an tapped the fish-shaped tally with his finger. "It's time to settle the accounts at the rice shop in the north of the city."

Jiang Jin'an also owned several shops, and it was far too early to settle accounts. Lin Yu realized he had spoken out of turn, and awkwardly fell silent. Before leaving, he glanced at the figure in front of him on the steps and sighed.

"Prepare the horses." Jiang Jin'an unfastened the ring-pommel sword from his waist and tossed it to Wuchen. The black iron bracers gleamed coldly in the twilight, carrying a chilling aura. "Minister Wen should be at..."

"No!" Gu Changyi suddenly stood up.

His hand, gripping Jiang Jin'an's wrist, trembled violently, the jade thumb ring clanging against his black armor. "You've come here now to force her to her death..."

Shen Jingshu couldn't bear it any longer and pressed down on Gu Changyi's trembling hand. "If there is even a hint of reluctance, there is still room for negotiation. A concubine is still a concubine after all, and Minister Wen may not be willing to waste such a precious gem."

Gu Changyi suddenly let go, the gilded patterns remaining on his palm stinging painfully.

In a daze, I recalled the Empress's birthday banquet.

As the guests departed, Wen Yin, lifting the hem of her moonlit skirt, chased after him through the winding corridor, her golden hairpin shattering into a galaxy of stars before the moon gate.

She tilted her head back, her eyes and brows full of smiles: "Would the Second Young Master Gu like to try my newly made wisteria flower candy?"

She smiled radiantly, her eyes fixed only on him.

Jiang Jin'an lowered his eyes, then suddenly turned around and ordered, "Prepare the car."

He gazed at the lights gradually appearing in the twilight, "The west corner gate of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion will be locked at 9 PM."

As the carriage rolled over the bluestone road, Gu Changyi huddled in the shadows of the carriage, still clutching the lacquer box containing the fragments of the diamond-shaped mirror, making a soft creaking sound with each bump.

As the lights of Zhuque Street swept past outside the carriage curtain, he suddenly recalled a day when Wen Yin waited for him near the Duke's mansion with a glass lantern in her hand, the locust flower candy in her arms already melted into shape by the silk handkerchief.

That day, Gu Changyi was sent to the patrol camp by Gu Changfeng. When she returned, all the candles in the glass lamp had burned out.

Why does he always avoid her?

Gu Changyi couldn't remember for a moment.

Jiang Jin'an looked up and saw Gu Changyi's face covered in tears.

Upon arriving at the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, Gu Changyi did not enter but instead went to the west wall.

Watching Gu Changyi's staggering figure, Jiang Jin'an handed the fish-shaped tally at his waist to his personal guard: "Have someone keep an eye on Minister Wen's residence."

Back at the Jiang residence, Shen Jingshu was sitting in the courtyard, gazing at the moon in a daze, with a food box on the stone table beside her.

Upon seeing him return, Shen Jingshu asked, "Did you tie Gu Er to the west gate of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion?"

Lin Yu peeked out from under the eaves again: "Madam stared at that moon in a daze for a good half hour. It looked to me like she was about to ascend to immortality—"

Jiang Jin'an glanced at him, then took off his cloak and draped it over Shen Jingshu's shoulders; the cloak still carried the scent of agarwood from the Imperial Prison.

As Shen Jingshu gazed at the gradually brightening stars on the eaves, she suddenly felt a loosening in her hair.

“Wen Yin went to the Daxiangguo Temple at three-quarters past noon.” Jiang Jin’an took out the filigree gold hairpin, twirling it around the end of her hair with her fingertips, “and drew a very bad fortune stick.”

"What does the divination slip say?"

“The Buddha said it cannot be spoken.” Jiang Jin’an pulled the person into his arms.

Shen Jingshu pushed the food box over, "Minister Wen is well-informed and sent twelve boxes of locust flower candy as an apology."

Jiang Jin'an raised an eyebrow slightly. Was he going to apologize with locust flower candy?

He flicked open the food box, and a cloud of white mist billowed out. Twelve square porcelain dishes with lotus scroll patterns held amber-colored sugar cubes, with half a Ministry of Personnel document with unfinished vermilion annotations underneath—the very same relocation order he had rejected a few days earlier.

Shen Jingshu picked up a piece of candy and held it to his lips, adding, "It's said to be a family heirloom locust honey recipe."

The official documents from the Ministry of Personnel, tucked inside the candy box, required more thought than the memorials to the throne.

As she bit off the candy with her fingertips, Jiang Jin'an said, "Gu Er was holding a lacquer box and counting peonies against the wall, saying that seven blooms were an ominous sign." He chuckled, "I had Sikong send him a jar of strong liquor."

Shen Jingshu chuckled softly, then coughed up tears as she laughed.

Jiang Jin'an lowered his eyes and saw the shadow cast by her eyelashes.

As the cicadas' chirping broke through the summer heat, he suddenly scooped the person up in his arms and carried them into the inner room: "The Pingyang Marquis's residence sent two baskets of ice to chill your plum juice."

The wedding banquet gift list was blown by the wind to the page for the "Fan-Removing Ceremony," and the "August 8th" marked with cinnabar blushed faintly.

Jiang Jin'an whispered into her earlobe, "The Imperial Observatory said the weather changed on the eighth day of the eighth month, and there is a possibility of heavy rain."

“Then let’s fan ourselves in the rain.” She hooked her hand around the jade belt at his waist, “It’ll be a good opportunity to wash away the blockheads of some people.”

After the second watch gong sounded three times, Gu Changyi was still curled up against the west wall of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, counting the peonies back and forth.

Sikong squatted on the haystack, munching on his fifth slice of watermelon, the juice soaking the gilded lacquer box in his arms. "If you keep counting, the patrol battalion will think the Duke's mansion is haunted by flower demons."

"The seventh one!" Gu Changyi suddenly pointed to the wall and shouted, "Look at that twin flower, is it one or two?"

Sikong spat out the black seed, looking at him as if he were a fool: "Do you think this is a twin lotus? Twin peonies mean—"

Before he could finish speaking, a suppressed sob came from the base of the wall. Lin Yu jumped down from the eaves and kicked the drunkard huddled in the corner: "Second Master Gu's method of counting is even more refined than the branding iron in the imperial prison."

The drunkard ignored him, grabbed the lacquer box, and climbed over the wall, his black brocade robe getting torn in a crack in the glazed tile.

Sikong and Lin Yu exchanged a glance, then quickly got up and chased after them.

As the sound of the night watchman's drum echoed across Zhuque Street, the back gate of Minister Wen's residence creaked softly.

The twelve glass lamps gradually went out along the bluestone alley, leaving only the eaves of the corner tower holding up a half-moon, illuminating the silvery light of the fish-shaped tally in the darkness.

"The Vermilion Bird is weeping blood, the world is about to change—" the old beggar muttered, shrinking further into the haystack, his cloudy eyes reflecting the light of the last glass lamp.

The lampshade was clearly painted with a double lotus pattern, but the stamens were stained with a suspicious dark red.