Opening (Part One)

She was nothing like he had imagined.

She always made him think of wild grass growing freely in the open fields—bold in a way he, bound by rules since childhood, could never be.

At some point, he had started paying attention to every move Zhou Yao made.

Zhou Yao liked money. That was fine; he had plenty of it.

He had money, so Zhou Yao would like him. To put it plainly, Zhou Yao liked him, and he was drawn to her in return.

The two of them were of mutual affection, and they had an imperial edict to boot. She was meant to be his wife. Now that his wife was upset, he, as her husband, was duty-bound to share her worries.

With that thought, Qi Yanhan decided to stand up and wrap Zhou Yao in a comforting embrace.

Before he could even move, Zhou Yao raised her tea cup and drank it all in one gulp. She let out a deep sigh, then rose and left.

Leaving Qi Yanhan alone in his spot.

Alas, with what had happened at Golden Curtain Terrace today, Zhou Yao planned to close early.

She tallied up the day's earnings—she hadn't sold a single item, not even enough to cover the five-zhu coins spent on yesterday's purchase of zongzi. The kitchen still had a large pile of zongzi meant for giveaways.

She silently cleaned up the mess at Golden Curtain Terrace. Her carefully calculated business had been ruined by others, and right now she couldn't quite say what she was feeling.

The usual laughter of Golden Curtain Terrace was replaced by silence, which said it all. Zhou Yao dismissed the servants, leaving only her and Qi Yanhan in the spacious main hall. The shredded red paper outside from the explosion formed a stark contrast to the emptiness inside.

Seeing Zhou Yao's silence, Qi Yanhan couldn't help but feel worried.

He stepped forward to comfort her, but when he actually stood before her, he saw her eyes rimmed with red. Had he not looked closely, he might not have noticed her shoulders trembling slightly.

Anyone could see that Zhou Yao was barely holding back intense emotion.

For a moment, Qi Yanhan found it almost unbelievable.

Zhou Yao was rarely like this. Whether it was their chance meeting as children or her fleeing the wedding to the Western Regions, every decision she made had been bold and decisive. He had thought a woman like Zhou Yao wouldn't have a fragile side, wouldn't even cry...

After a moment's hesitation, Qi Yanhan—who had always been a stickler for cleanliness—bent down of his own accord to help tidy up the mess. He didn't comfort her with words, only helped her take care of the other chores.

Before leaving, he frowned, still uneasy, and said, "I'll have Duyun handle today's matter." He paused, as if on the verge of saying something more. After thinking for a long moment, he carefully chose his words and said, "Your Highness was wronged today."

Zhou Yao looked up, placing the tidied zongzi into a storage basket. "It's still early. In a bit, Cui Wei and I will take the leftover zongzi outside the city to give to the needy."

"As for what happened at Golden Curtain Terrace, I'll handle it myself. No need for Mr. Qi to trouble himself. Rather than wasting time here, you'd do better to head back to Qi Manor and avoid being punished again." She hoisted the basket onto her shoulder and made to leave, but Qi Yanhan grabbed her.

Zhou Yao frowned and shook him off, anger coloring her voice. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Zhou Yao, I need to remind you—Golden Curtain Terrace is something we run together. What you're doing now is pushing me away," Qi Yanhan said in a gentle, lowered tone. "You don't have to shoulder all of this alone."

He reached out to take the basket from Zhou Yao's shoulder.

She knew he wasn't just talking about this, nor was he referring only to these things. But she, Zhou Yao, wouldn't accept it.

She took a step back, dodging Qi Yanhan's outstretched hand once more. "You funded Golden Curtain Terrace, that's true, but it's my call how to run it. Why should I not be able to accomplish what you men can!"

"Don't forget, you and I are only putting on a show for others." Zhou Yao lowered her eyes. "At the end of the day, we're just strangers."

Strangers...

Those three words struck both their hearts like arrows, a chasm Qi Yanhan couldn't yet cross. The connection between him and Zhou Yao was like walking on ice—precarious at every step.

Zhou Yao left, and there seemed to be no reason for Qi Yanhan to stay at Golden Curtain Terrace.

Yes, he ought to return to the manor.

Back to that bottomless, man-eating cage of Qi Manor.

"Duyun, let's go." Qi Yanhan's expression was downcast. The clothing at his side had been tightly clutched in his fist; when he finally released it, the fabric was wrinkled beyond recognition.

The coachman prepared the carriage, and Zhou Yao had additionally prepared some porridge and flatbreads. Not far from the city walls of Chang'an was the place where beggars typically gathered.

Cui Wei was restless the whole way there, glancing between the outside and Zhou Yao. But Zhou Yao's mind was in turmoil as well. After saying those words to Qi Yanhan, she felt something was off.

Even if they kept up appearances on the surface, at the end of the day, letting their cooperation sour too badly would benefit neither of them. Moreover, he was the one who'd been helping her—though she couldn't tell how much of it was genuine and how much mere courtesy...

The carriage had barely stopped when a crowd of refugees swarmed around them. Zhou Yao looked up and saw many among them—the old, the weak, women and children. Some old women, barely clothed, held gaunt children in their arms. Others were elderly men too old to work.

This time, they'd brought few guards. Several of them held the crowd back to keep order and prevent a frenzy. Zhou Yao and Cui Wei carried the food down from the carriage to distribute.

Far more people came to receive food than Zhou Yao had anticipated. The zongzi ran out quickly, and by the end, many still hadn't gotten any.

"Slow down, slow down. Don't push. There's enough for everyone," Zhou Yao said soothingly while speeding up her own work.

She was still handing out porridge to the refugees when, before she could react, a loud clatter sounded beside her—a clay bowl hitting the ground.

Zhou Yao turned to look. It was Cui Wei.

Her hands trembling, Cui Wei stared fixedly at the person before her. Zhou Yao followed her gaze.

It was Su'er—the one who, back at the manor, had loudly accused her of cheating people.

Su'er looked utterly different from before. Her once bright and pretty face was now covered in a thick layer of grime, and her gray clothes were riddled with tears as if they'd been ripped apart.

"What happened?" Zhou Yao's brows knitted slightly as she asked, confused.

Su'er looked much thinner. It had only been half a month, yet her change was so drastic.

Zhou Yao glanced at Cui Wei. She guessed that Cui Wei and Su'er must have shared a deep bond before—otherwise, Cui Wei wouldn't have cautioned Su'er to mind her conduct in front of her that day.

Su'er frantically picked up the flatbread that had fallen to the ground and wolfed down a few bites. Once her stomach was slightly fuller, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Before she even spoke, tears began to fall.

She sobbed loudly, then hurriedly knelt. "Please, noble lady! Please have mercy and take me back with you, please..."

"After I left, I had smooth travels at first. When I got home, I still had a good amount of the coins you'd given me. I thought I could use them to improve things for my family. But I never expected—that drunkard of a father of mine took up gambling as well..."

She choked back sobs and continued, "I'd finally gotten free of my lowly status, and now he wants to sell me into a brothel again."

She covered her face in anguish, only daring to wail aloud when she could hold it in no longer. Zhou Yao's heart went out to her. She crouched down, pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from her sleeve, drew Su'er into her arms to comfort her, and dabbed away her tears.

She didn't need to hear the rest to know—after a harrowing journey, Su'er had been lucky enough to make it back to Chang'an alive.

Zhou Yao looked at Cui Wei. At her evasive gaze, she knew the two of them must still have been in contact.

She signaled with her eyes for Cui Wei to speak. Cui Wei stammered, not daring to open her mouth.

After hesitating for a long moment, she hung her head and said, "Su'er's family has always been poor. When she first returned to Chang'an a couple of days ago, she came looking for me too."

"But at that time there was so much going on at Golden Curtain Terrace that I didn't want to bother you with it. Su'er's household registration was being held hostage by her father, so she couldn't get into the city. I... I had her stay outside the city for now. I didn't report it to you, ma'am. It's my fault."

"Help Su'er into the carriage first," Zhou Yao said, handing Su'er over to Cui Wei. She left the distribution duties to the remaining guards.

These were unstable times. The people bore heavy taxes, and a full year of hard toil in the fields was still never enough to fill their stomachs by year's end.

Handing out porridge and grain might alleviate the immediate crisis, but it wasn't a long-term solution.

A great nation like this, and yet its people were left with no one to care for them in old age and no one to raise the young.

Now that her father, the emperor, was advanced in years and pursuing immortality, the Crown Prince had been managing the state. Was this how that incompetent brother of hers was governing?

No matter how much she fumed inwardly, Zhou Yao couldn't voice such thoughts aloud. She could only grumble to herself.

By the time the rest of the porridge and flatbreads were handed out and Zhou Yao returned to the carriage, Su'er immediately knelt and grabbed hold of Zhou Yao's skirt, pleading, "Please take me in, miss! I'd work as a servant, a beast of burden—anything!"

"Do you know how many strings of coins I'd have to spend to retrieve your household registration?" Zhou Yao looked down at her, revealing nothing.

She needed to draw a clear line between herself and Qi Yanhan, which meant she'd have to pay back the debts she owed him.

Other wealthy households had fortunes in gold. And her? She was now deep in debt by thousands of strings.

"Miss, miss please have mercy. Back at Qingyun Terrace, my best skill was blending incense. If you take me in, I'll help you earn money and pay you back slowly."

Blending incense?

Zhou Yao's mind turned. She thought Su'er's skill might be reliable. Su'er had already been taught a lesson by her earlier recklessness; taking her in now would likely make her far more sensible.

"Fine. You'll come into the city with the carriage. I'll handle the rest."

"Thank you, madam!" Cui Wei quickly spoke up before Su'er could, and shot her a meaningful glance. Su'er caught on and hastily corrected herself. "Thank you, madam."

Madam.

What a mocking title.

Zhou Yao didn't like being called that, but she had no choice. Chang'an was thick with spies, and one misstep could hand an enemy a weapon against her. If her father were to learn that she and Qi Yanhan had never formally consummated their marriage rites, she'd be dragged back to the palace. And what awaited her there would surely be death.

Having her maids call her "madam" was the lesser of two evils. If she had them use other titles in daily life and they slipped up at a critical moment, better to change from the start and guard against trouble in advance.

"Enough of that," Zhou Yao said. She went back outside to attend to the vulnerable among the crowd, making sure they could pass the next few days in peace until the next food distribution.

As dusk fell and the sun began to dip, Zhou Yao packed up and returned to the city.

The guards at the city gate began their routine search of the carriage. Zhou Yao noticed Su'er beside her shrinking back into the corner of the carriage, as if trying to hide within the cracks of the planks.

With a single hand, she lifted the carriage curtain and snapped at the guards outside with feigned fury, "How dare you! Do you have the audacity to stop my carriage?"

The two guards froze, hastily bowing to Zhou Yao. "We meant no offense, noble lady. We were merely conducting a routine check..."

Zhou Yao wouldn't let it go. She was about to give them another scare and then pass through when, as if she'd failed to check the calendar this morning, her very actions drew the attention of the commander stationed at the gate.

The man walked toward her carriage, bowed in salute, and asked sternly, "Noble lady, do you have an identity token for verification?"

Zhou Yao's heart tightened. Her princess token had been confiscated along with her fief revenues. To put it bluntly, she now had nothing but the empty airs of a princess. All this time, she'd been nothing more than a fox borrowing the tiger's might.

Without Qi Yanhan's support, she'd be no better than a lowly courtesan.

Her palms grew clammy. The hand hidden inside her sleeve nervously pinched the skin at the base of her thumb. Zhou Yao forced herself to stay calm and asked, "I've come back through these gates several times in the past few days without any need for that. Why today?"

"Refugees outside the city have surged in number recently. I do this to protect order within the city. I humbly ask the noble lady to cooperate."

Zhou Yao's gaze shifted to Su'er beside her. Su'er looked absolutely terrified, on the verge of tears. Her sleeve was seized and clutched tightly in Su'er's hand—a silent plea.

This was a crisis with no way back. Zhou Yao could no longer pretend nothing was wrong, especially since she'd noticed the shift in the commander's tone.

His saluting hand had quietly moved to the sword hilt at his waist, as if warning Zhou Yao that if she couldn't prove her identity and refused to comply, then what came next...

At best, she'd be arrested. At worst, she'd be executed as a rebel.

"You're so inflexible. Do you really not fear my reprisal when I return?" Zhou Yao tried to stall for more time, but the man was a stickler for rules, unyielding!

"I do not, for I am acting on orders. If the noble lady wishes to hold a grudge, I ask for her understanding. Since you cannot produce identification, please step down with everyone in the carriage for inspection!"