"Come, girls, you'll stay here for the next few days. In two days we'll go to the market in town and help you send your letter."
The village chief's wife opened the door to a bedroom and said warmly,
"This is the room my daughter uses when she's at home, but she's been working outside for a long time and rarely comes back. It hasn't been tidied for a while—don't mind it."
When the door opened, dust danced like tiny snowflakes in the light.
But once inside, the room was surprisingly clean.
The furnishings were simple: an old wooden cabinet, a neat and spacious bed, a central table with matching stools. Though no one had lived here for some time, someone clearly cleaned it regularly.
The villagers here weren't originally natives—generations ago they were borderland refugees who migrated and slowly settled. Their lifestyle now leaned toward central culture, but they kept some borderland customs—such as the wolf-fang pendant on the wall, several bows, and animal hides.
"To take us in is already more than we could ask for."
Shen Changyin gave a proper bow. Xie Yu followed behind her, mimicking awkwardly.
The village chief's wife dug out two sets of old clothes and handed them over.
"They're washed and clean. Change into these first."
"You young ones rest up. I'll go ask the village doctor to make you some medicine for your wounds—our hunters use it, works real good."
She left the room, thoughtfully closing the door.
Xie Yu and Shen Changyin glanced at each other, then both closed their eyes.
"You change first."
With eyes firmly shut, Xie Yu listened to the rustle of fabric. After a short while Shen Changyin whispered, "I'm done."
Xie Yu opened her eyes.
Shen Changyin was now dressed in a pale blue homespun outfit, her hair tied in a far simpler style.
Xie Yu had seen her in luxurious fabrics, but unexpectedly, she realized—some women don't need fine robes to be breathtaking.
She picked up her own clothes. Shen Changyin turned away.
Xie Yu changed into a grey-white outfit, tied her hair high, stretched a bit.
"This really feels like training attire."
Shen Changyin looked back.
"The number of young people in this village is at least one-third fewer than in a normal one."
"But their economic condition isn't bad," Xie Yu tugged the fabric.
"This is fine cloth. Not cheap for farming families."
After analyzing a bit, the two became increasingly convinced that this village might be one of the places responsible for recruiting the death-soldiers who tried to assassinate them.
Shen Changyin poured a bit of tea on the table and used a fingertip to trace diagrams while sorting her thoughts:
"If I were a noble in need of death-soldiers, and needed to avoid government detection, selecting them from hidden households under my own control would indeed be easiest."
"Death-soldiers die frequently. Their work is dirty and unspeakable. More importantly, loyalty is essential. Threats or money aren't enough — they must volunteer."
Xie Yu continued,
"So the death-soldiers keep limited contact with their home villages. They're even allowed to marry and have children. They brainwash them, make them believe everything they do is for their family."
"Having death-soldiers raise children has another advantage: training generation after generation, selecting the strongest children each time. The rest stay in the village—as the soldiers' weakness."
"But the village clearly isn't sealed off. They'd never let ordinary villagers know what their daughters, wives, or mothers are actually doing away from home. And death-soldiers themselves wouldn't tell—so their families don't worry."
"Not all death-soldiers die. Some survive to old age and return."
Xie Yu's head snapped up.
"This place is dangerous."
As soon as she said so, footsteps sounded outside. The village chief's wife entered carrying two packets of medicine and some food.
Seeing Xie Yu open the door for her, she smiled even more warmly.
"Apply the medicine, fill your stomach a bit, but don't overeat."
"Our hunters are returning around noon. There will be game! You must come!"
Xie Yu smiled sweetly, spoke a few flattering words, and sent her off.
Once the door closed, her face turned serious.
"Among those hunters there must be several retired death-soldiers. Their alertness will be extremely high."
Shen Changyin:
"We still need to meet them. Avoiding them is even more suspicious."
They applied the medicine, timed their exit, waited until noise rose at the village entrance, and only when the returning hunters reached the chief's yard did they step outside.
At the front were pairs of young hunters carrying wild boar, roe deer, and deer on poles. Several older hunters walked lazily at the back, bows on their backs, small game in their hands—their momentum no weaker despite their age.
Scars covered their faces and hands.
"Ay, Old Li!"
The village chief's wife enthusiastically called out to a middle-aged woman with a long diagonal scar on her face. She introduced Shen Changyin and Xie Yu:
"These two young girls were robbed by bandits on their way to take the exam in the capital. They're staying with us a couple of days."
"I told them they don't need to pay, don't need to pay—but they insisted on giving me an earring as compensation for room and food. Ah, daughters of wealthy families really do things properly."
Old Li nodded, casually twisted and snapped the wild goose's neck, handed it to a waiting villager, then turned her gaze on the two.
Xie Yu unconsciously clenched her hands behind her back.
Being stared at by women like this felt no different from being watched by a hunting tiger—every weakness exposed.
Her body tensed immediately.
Shen Changyin, however, was relaxed—far too familiar with that kind of gaze. She bowed.
"Auntie Li, my wife is a scholar. She's naturally shy. Consider this greeting on behalf of us both. We'll be troubling you for a few days."
Old Li's gloomy gaze swept over them from head to toe, lingering deliberately at Xie Yu's waist and abdomen. With that scar across her face, her expression looked even more menacing.
After a long time she suddenly smiled—hoarse and strange, like sandpaper being scraped.
"What trouble? Our village is warm and welcoming. Stay at ease."
"I brought back a deer, some roe, some boar. Tonight the village will feast—celebrating the peak of the flowering moon. You two must come."
"No need. Villagers gathering with villagers—two outsiders like us would only disrupt things." Shen Changyin smiled.
"You must come."
Old Li's smile vanished instantly. Her face darkened, turning fearsome as a demon.
She softened only after a moment.
"It's livelier with more people. If you respect me, you'll come."
"Then we would be honored." Shen Changyin replied.
Old Li nodded, gave Xie Yu one more deep look, then left.
Back in their room, both faces were solemn.
"She suspects us," Xie Yu whispered anxiously. She wrapped her hand around her dagger, turning it restlessly.
She had faced danger many times—but always sudden, short moments.
She hated this—this constant, suffocating vigilance in a place full of hidden threats.
Real assassinations she could deal with.
But this?
This uncertainty, this human unpredictability—this she could not stand.
"Calm down."
Shen Changyin seemed much more composed.
"She may not have noticed a flaw. She may simply suspect every outsider."
"As long as we make her believe our story tonight, it will be fine. Once they trust us, we can slowly investigate who wants me dead."
They perfected their story—details about their home, how Shen Changyin became a child bride, what exam Xie Yu was taking, the number of bandits, how they escaped.
That night, they reached the large open space at the village center. A dozen long tables formed a square, with a huge bonfire in the middle and four small fires around it.
The small fires, nearer the tables, already had iron grills for roasting meat. The central bonfire had space around it where children were already playing.
Around the clearing stood a ring of tall, sturdy double-petaled pear trees. The night wind carried down a shower of white blossoms like falling snow.
When all four grills lit and the women brought out the staple dishes, vegetables, and cold plates, the village feast officially began.
Xie Yu and Shen Changyin, as guests, were seated with the village chief's family, Old Li, and several hunters.
The translucent, milky-white rice wine was poured into the bowl, releasing a warm fragrance.
Old Li casually asked many questions, and the two of them answered fluently.
"My family is poor. One mother passed away early and the other is frail. I still have two younger sisters to support. Coincidentally, the family I serve is known for their kindness and virtue, so I sold myself into service as a maid. That is how I met our young mistress."
As Shen Changyin spoke, she placed a hand on Xie Yu's upper arm.
Xie Yu felt a jolt of electricity spread from where she was touched, her entire body tingling. She stiffened, shivered, and lowered her head to eat.
She listened numbly as Shen Changyin continued her role as a gentle, devoted, tragically-in-love wife. Xie Yu only lifted her head when Old Li intentionally directed a question at her, responding softly in order to maintain her image of a shy young scholar.
To keep up the act, she stared at a piece of venison in the large platter at the center of the table for a long time without daring to pick it up.
Only after Old Li finished his questioning did Shen Changyin relax. She tugged lightly at Shen Changyin's sleeve, signaling that she wanted the venison.
Shen Changyin rolled up her sleeve and stood, elegantly placing the venison into Xie Yu's plate, adding a piece of flatbread for her to eat with it.
Seeing this, Old Li and several hunters exchanged glances, nodding subtly. They finally believed these two were not spies.
Noticing their change in expression from the corner of her eye, Xie Yu finally relaxed and began to eat.
After several rounds of drinking, the atmosphere grew lively. Children joined hands to form a circle around the bonfire, singing nursery rhymes in slurred voices while they danced, their dusty clothes getting even dirtier.
The elders who were drunk began to sing borderland folk songs.
Borderland people were free-spirited by nature, and this village, being hidden farmland, had never been influenced by the restraint of Central Plains customs. Several young couples took the chance to snuggle beneath the pear trees, touching foreheads and sharing kisses.
Seeing how stiff Xie Yu and Shen Changyin were, the village chief's wife slapped the table. "You two don't need to be shy. We aren't as uptight as people from the Central Plains. When you love someone, you kiss."
"Kiss. Kiss." She started the chant, and soon the whole gathering joined in.
Under that pressure, Xie Yu and Shen Changyin glanced at each other. Xie Yu had no idea what hid underneath Shen Changyin's unbreakable gentle mask, but she herself was already collapsing inside.
It wasn't like they had never kissed before, but that time both were drunk, drugged, and the situation was understandable.
Now they are sober. Neither had touched alcohol because of their injuries.
A kiss now would be unbearably awkward.
Shen Changyin watched the shifting expression on Xie Yu's face, while her own remained largely unchanged. She sat straight, maintaining a graceful and gentle smile.
But as the chanting grew louder and their hesitation grew longer, Shen Changyin noticed Old Li's expression shifting again.
Not good. Suspicion was returning.
Without hesitation, she grabbed Xie Yu's shoulder and pushed her gently forward.
Xie Yu froze, startled. She instinctively turned her head aside and Shen Changyin's lips brushed against her burning ear instead.
Seeing Old Li's expression, Xie Yu instantly realized she'd made a mistake.
She acted quickly. Turning toward the table, she lifted a bowl of cloudy wine and drank it all in one go. With a troubled expression, she looked around the group and sighed.
"I cannot keep hiding this."
She patted Shen Changyin's hand and had her sit properly. "All the sisters in this village are kind. Even kinder than my own mother who tried to force me into marriage. I cannot pretend any longer."
"My trip to the capital was never meant for the imperial exam."
Shen Changyin played along and changed her expression. "My lady, what are you saying?"
"I already have someone I care for. Do you remember Xiao Wei, the girl who used to listen outside the school when I was young?"
"I remember." Shen Changyin nodded. "She disturbed your studies, so I sent her elsewhere."
"I never needed you to do that." Xie Yu suddenly acted furious. Although she still looked like a shy, weak scholar, her eyes held a faint flame.
"I never wanted to marry you. I liked her. I wanted her to stay and listen outside the room, but you drove her away."
From the corner of her eye, Shen Changyin saw Old Li and the hunters straighten up. They put down their wine, suddenly attentive.
"She had no education and you suppressed her, leaving her unable to stay in town. She was forced to wander to another place to find work. Life outside is so hard. Her hands were so small and pale, yet she soaked them daily in cold water washing dishes in some kitchen. In winter she got chilblains, painful and itchy, and she couldn't even afford treatment."
The young lady spoke with heartbreak. "I wronged her."
"To tell you the truth, I came to the capital because I received a letter from her. I came here to marry her, to spend a simple life together as ordinary wives."
The gentle, dutiful child-bride pressed a hand to her chest, her voice weak. "My lady, then what about me? Where do you plan to leave me?"
The young lady turned her head away, unable to bear it, yet her words remained cruel. "Since things are clear tonight, from now on you and I will marry elsewhere. We will have nothing to do with each other."
The enormous gathering fell silent. Even the children stopped dancing and stared blankly.
Suddenly, a sob broke the silence.
They saw the delicate, fairy-like woman lift her pale fingers to her face, shoulders trembling as she wept.
Old Li couldn't bear it. "Sister…"
The child-bride pushed her stool aside, covered her face, and ran into the night, her sobs fading into the air.
The heartless young lady sat stiffly at the table, refusing to look back. She sighed heavily and drank another bowl of wine.
Old Li finally snapped. She walked over and slapped a hand the size of a bear paw onto Xie Yu's shoulder. "Girl, I treat you like a sister, so I'll tell you honestly. Whether you like her or not, she's taken care of you all these years. You need to be gentle."
"She's worked so hard for you. Now she's running off in the middle of the night. What if she gets hurt? Will you spend the rest of your life drowning in guilt?"
She yanked Xie Yu up. Her strength was terrifying. Xie Yu felt like she had been lifted off the ground.
"Listen to me. Go after her. Whatever you need to say, say it gently. Even if you really don't want to be with her, you owe her kindness after all these years."
Xie Yu softened and nodded. "I'll go after her."
"That's the spirit!" Old Li slapped her shoulder so hard Xie Yu felt she shrank two centimeters.
"But let me tell you something. Your girl is gentle, virtuous, and most importantly, truly devoted to you. Such a woman is rare. Don't throw away a good person for some passing fancy."
"Go." Another slap to her back sent her stumbling forward.
Xie Yu steadied herself and ran in the direction Shen Changyin had fled.
They jogged all the way to the edge of the fields. Only when they confirmed no one was around did they stop.
Shen Changyin pressed a hand to her chest, breathing heavily. Xie Yu bent forward, hands on her knees, also gasping for air.
In the moonlight, Xie Yu looked at Shen Changyin and burst into laughter.
Shen Changyin gave a faint smile, shaking her head. Then, remembering something, her smile dimmed. "That confession of yours sounded so real and heartfelt."
A sickly hand, a wrinkled letter flashed through her mind. Against her better judgment, she asked, "Did you speak so truthfully because it comes from experience?"
Xie Yu joked, "Yes. I loved someone until it hurt."
Shen Changyin's smile froze. It slowly faded.
"Is that true?"
The wind tore her voice apart, yet it still reached Xie Yu's ears.
Looking at the pale woman before her, Xie Yu thought she was as beautiful as ever, fragile like a celestial maiden fallen from the moon.
But she wasn't a celestial maiden. She was the regent, holding armies and power, ruthless when necessary.
Yet this person now looked at her with an indescribable expression, as if asking a question of life and death.
Her gaze was like the thinnest glass, a transparent and delicate cup that evoked the urge to shatter it even if its shards would cut her in return.
A sudden intuition struck Xie Yu, sharp and lifesaving.
If she wanted to successfully divorce and leave in three years, she needed to say yes.
Once the glass cup shattered, their relationship would remain at the level of friendship. Friends could drift apart. Wives, even political ones, could not.
Xie Yu smiled, bright and cruel. "Of course I have someone I like. Doesn't Master Shen?"
—
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