Since they would be living in the village for more than ten days, it wasn't right to keep staying in the daughter's room of another family.
Early the next morning, Xie Yu asked the village chief's wife to help introduce her to someone renting out a small, unused courtyard house.
She was a serious person—if they were going to stay, then they were going to live properly.
So around eight in the morning, she dragged Shen Changyin to the new courtyard, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to clean it thoroughly.
The moment they pushed open the courtyard gate, a cloud of dust rained down on them, making both women cough.
Shen Changyin didn't step inside.
"Can't you pay the villagers to clean this for you?"
"If you do something like that here, they'll mock you for being helpless and useless for the rest of your life."
Xie Yu shot her a look. "It's always better to clean your own courtyard. And it's not even big—this'll be quick."
"Come on." She was already inside the yard urging her forward.
Only then did Shen Changyin lift her foot and step into the courtyard.
It was called a small courtyard, but honestly, it wasn't small at all. The open area alone was the size of four or five rooms, and a lush jujube tree grew in one corner of the wall.
Although no one had lived here for years, villagers sometimes came to tidy things up, so the dirt ground wasn't overrun with weeds. Only this year's spring wildflowers trembled weakly at ground level.
But the rooms were few: one large room that served as both living area and bedroom, plus a tiny kitchen.
"I asked around. Even though there aren't many rooms, a whole family used to live here, so there are two beds inside." Xie Yu took her around inside and outside the place.
There was very little furniture—two sturdy wooden beds, a square table, four round stools, and nothing else.
Every piece was coated in a thick layer of dust.
It couldn't even be called simply furnished—this was downright bare.
They checked the kitchen next. A classic rural stove: one person had to feed the fire from the back while another cooked in front.
But the chimney was clogged and needed repairs.
Through all of this—furniture and stove alike—Shen Changyin always stood half a meter away, watching, unlike Xie Yu who touched everything here and there.
She even felt a hint of confusion at Xie Yu's enthusiasm.
But she didn't voice it.
Once Xie Yu finished inspecting, she stood in the center of the courtyard, clapped her hands, and laid out the cleaning plan:
"I'm going to borrow brooms, towels, and other cleaning tools from the village head's wife; another ox cart is going to town today, so I'll ask them to buy some washbasins and cloths; some families in the village keep brand-new bedding for weddings—if we pay extra, we can buy a set."
She slipped into the same mode she used back in school when organizing class cleanups. "We'll flip the stools onto the table, sweep the floor, then wipe down the furniture."
"When the people going to town return, we can wash the sheets using the new basins. Today's sunny with good wind—if we wash at noon, they should be dry by evening."
She was once again showing that laser-focus she got whenever she committed to something.
Shen Changyin looked quietly at her… then at her own hands.
Hands pale, soft, with knuckles slightly changed from years of holding a brush, and faint marks from practicing with the crossbow.
But these hands had never washed sheets or wiped down furniture.
She never did things that took too much time with too little gain.
Yet now she exhaled softly and said, "Alright."
They soon brought everything back to the courtyard. Xie Yu fetched water, washed the clothes, and even crushed ten or so fresh mint leaves from the riverbank into the water.
The furniture was sparse, so cleaning went fast. Xie Yu opened the windows to air out the place.
Soon, the house that hadn't been occupied for years no longer smelled dusty—freshness replaced it.
"Well?!" Xie Yu stood at the threshold, clapped once, then flung her arms open as if showing off her kingdom. "I handpicked this place. Not bad, right?"
Before Shen Changyin could answer, she slapped her thigh and rushed out. She returned with a stack of red paper and writing tools.
"Even though the New Year passed over two months ago, it still feels wrong not to have spring couplets."
She spread the red paper and writing tools onto the table, then stepped aside. "Lady Shen, you're brilliant and your calligraphy's perfect. You write them."
Shen Changyin glanced at the open space left for her, then at Xie Yu.
Xie Yu gave her a fawning grin.
Shen Changyin gestured toward the inkstone.
Xie Yu rushed to grind the ink.
Standing at the table, brush in hand, Shen Changyin suddenly didn't know what to write.
She wrote all the time, but never used blessing phrases.
She glanced at Xie Yu. "What do you want it to say?"
"I'm not sure. Just something like: I eat well, drink well, play well, and live well."
She refocused, dipped the brush, and wrote:
"Grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, hearth smoke, and tea; mountains, lakes, flowers, and trees, sun, moon, and wind."
She showed it to Xie Yu, then placed the shorter strip for the horizontal scroll before her, letting her write.
Xie Yu didn't hesitate. After reading her couplet, she wrote: "Eat, drink, play, have fun."
Even Shen Changyin, who had stepped aside on purpose, couldn't help lifting her hand to her forehead. "Your tutor must have hated you."
"Of course," Xie Yu said proudly.
She took stools outside to stand on, pasted the couplets under Shen Changyin's direction, and once she finished said, "Only one big task left—washing the sheets."
The bedding was new and drying in the sun.
But the sheets needed washing.
They went to the upper stream by the village. The water was clear, cold, and perfect for laundry.
Behind them rose green mountains. In front of them flowed cool water. A gentle breeze passed. Both women stood barefoot on stones in the shallows.
Even Shen Changyin showed a rare look of ease.
But it vanished quickly.
Because the truth was—Xie Yu was also a modern girl used to washing machines. She had never hand-washed sheets.
Large, heavy fabric soaked with water was impossible for one person; they had to work together.
The peaceful mood died the instant they started rinsing.
Xie Yu insisted, "One rinse is enough."
Shen Changyin: "Three."
Neither would budge—one thought the other was a clean freak; the other thought she was unhygienic.
"One rinse! I'm serious."
"Three."
"One!"
"Three."
…
After a long, pointless, nutritionless argument, both compromised at two rinses.
Then they each took one end of the sheet and twisted in opposite directions.
But Xie Yu was much stronger, and with a single pull, the sheet nearly slipped from Shen Changyin's hands.
She told her to be gentler, but Xie Yu genuinely had no concept of "gentle," and even using minimal strength forced Shen Changyin to exert her entire arm, leaning to one side.
Finally, even someone as composed as Shen Changyin snapped and began yelling at her.
Xie Yu, guilty, looked at the sky, then the ground, then rubbed her nose.
At last, the sheet was clean. Xie Yu borrowed a hatchet, chopped some fresh bamboo, and built a simple drying rack.
It was too short, so the sheet had to be folded once. She watched Shen Changyin fold it into a perfect, seamless rectangle—every wrinkle flattened.
She thought, This is textbook-level OCD.
They ate lunch at the village head's home and asked who could repair the chimney, only to learn that person had gone traveling.
Old Li, who adored Xie Yu and claimed she wanted her as her final hunting apprentice, happened to be there.
So, once they returned to the courtyard, she suggested to Shen Changyin that she'd go hunting that afternoon, then build a fire pit in the yard to roast meat in the evening.
She didn't worry at all about failing to catch anything.
She also planned to build a simple stove in the yard the next morning.
Shen Changyin nodded. "Do you need me to do anything?"
Xie Yu tilted her head, eyeing her hands. "You? Just rest at home."
Only then did Shen Changyin notice her fingers trembling from overexertion twisting the sheets.
She even laughed at her own weakness.
That night, Xie Yu returned with a wild pheasant and borrowed seasonings from the village head.
When the fire was finally crackling and both women sat around it, they realized…
Neither knew how to cook.
They didn't know how to pluck feathers, how strong the fire should be, how long to roast, whether to pre-marinate, or how much salt to use.
Xie Yu stared at her. "You eat so well, but you can't cook?"
Shen Changyin: "Her Highness the Third Princess eats plenty—does she know how to cook?"
Silence fell.
They eventually forced themselves to try.
Xie Yu dredged through her lifetime memories and, copying what she recalled, boiled a pot of water, scalded the bird, and plucked the feathers.
Shen Changyin used the leftover mint leaves and salt to make marinade. She stared at the mush in the bowl, silent.
She looked at Xie Yu, then at the neighbor's vegetable garden.
Xie Yu understood. "I'll go steal two scallions."
She returned with the scallions, added them to the marinade, rubbed it on the pheasant, skewered it on a stick, and held one end while Shen Changyin held the other—turning it over the fire by hand.
The marinade sputtered off in drops.
Both froze but said nothing about the stupidity of the moment.
At least they ate meat in the end.
Though some parts burned black and had to be torn off, and even the unburned parts were tough.
Xie Yu comforted, "At least there's no salmonella."
Shen Changyin had already given up asking what salmonella was.
That night, the Third Princess—believed to be noble and untouchable in the capital—and the Regent, seen as a figure of overwhelming authority…
Both deeply wronged a poor innocent chicken.
And were equally wronged by it.
By late night, after washing up, the two returned to the room to sleep, each taking one bed.
The beds weren't far apart. Xie Yu was used to that distance; it reminded her of her college dorm.
Shen Changyin, who had barely slept in the past two days, lay on the bed, breathing in the faint scent of wood and mint that filled the room. She listened as Xie Yu lay down and, within just a few dozen breaths, her breathing evened out. She had assumed this would be yet another sleepless night.
But for some reason—maybe because she desperately needed rest, maybe because she was simply too tired—she listened to that steady breathing and unexpectedly fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke later than the sun for the first time. She sat up, staring blankly at her own hands.
Even when Xie Yu woke up and called her to the village chief's house for breakfast, and even after they came back to build a clay stove, she was still in a daze.
Walking along the dirt road in the countryside, the wind felt gentler than the day before, and the air fresher.
She watched Xie Yu enthusiastically greet the villagers along the way, thinking about how she fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow and never woke up in the middle of the night.
For the first time, she understood something about Xie Yu's personality.
Maybe good rest really does make people optimistic.
After breakfast, they went back to build the clay stove.
In the military, stoves often needed to be built for cooking. Shen Changyin rarely had to do it herself, but she had seen it plenty of times.
So they ended up with a division of labor: she gave commands, Xie Yu executed them.
But they had a huge disagreement about how much water should be mixed into the mud.
Xie Yu's hands were soaked in the slurry. She lifted her head and insisted, "This is enough. If it gets any thinner, the stove won't hold."
Shen Changyin compared the mud in front of her with the consistency she had seen in army camps. "There's too little water. It'll crack the first time it dries under heat."
Neither would back down.
Xie Yu stared at the mud clinging to her hands and then at the splatters on her clothes. Meanwhile, Shen Changyin—standing half a meter away—was spotless.
She felt furious, though she didn't show it.
Instead, she became very serious. She clenched her fist, raised her hand, and made the beckoning-cat gesture again.
Before Shen Changyin realized what she was doing, Xie Yu flicked open her hand—sending mud droplets flying at her.
Seeing the neat pale-lavender robe stained with mud, she let out two triumphant laughs.
Smug: "Now you can keep instructing me."
Just then, someone knocked on the courtyard gate. A familiar voice of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl called out:
"Little Sis! I heard you moved, so I brought you a flower to congratulate you."
It was Lin Yan!
Xie Yu told Shen Changyin, "Go deal with her for me."
Shen Changyin didn't move.
Xie Yu panicked. "Now that I know she likes me, I definitely can't see her. Hurry! Go send her away for me."
Shen Changyin lowered her gaze to the mud spots on her robe, then looked at Xie Yu.
"I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong." Xie Yu surrendered instantly. "I'll follow all your instructions afterward."
Shen Changyin smiled slightly, stepped outside, and immediately closed the gate behind her.
Lin Yan, who had been standing on tiptoe trying to peek inside, blinked in surprise. Seeing who it was, she gave an awkward smile. "Sister Shen, it's you. I brought a flower for Little Sis."
"Little one," Shen Changyin said, "you haven't heard about what's going on between us?"
"I've heard." Lin Yan answered solemnly. "I know Little Sis doesn't like you."
"You didn't hear she likes someone else outside?"
The girl shook her head. "I was there that day. I don't think she actually likes that person. That person probably doesn't even exist."
Surprisingly perceptive.
Shen Changyin's eyebrow lifted ever so slightly.
A promising talent.
Lin Yan continued, "I think Little Sis made up that story because she doesn't like you and wants to shake you off."
But absolutely no tact in how she spoke.
Shen Changyin's expression cooled.
She noticed the potted jasmine in the girl's hands—full bloom, branches lush.
She immediately spotted the red string hidden among the leaves.
"She's busy now. It's inconvenient for her to see you."
Lin Yan didn't give up. "Then I'll come again tomorrow."
"No need. Weren't you delivering the flower? Give it to me. I'll pass it on for you."
Lin Yan hesitated.
"Don't worry. I'll definitely deliver it. I won't keep it for myself. Next time, you can ask her directly if she received it."
"…All right." She handed the flower over, then reminded earnestly, "Make sure you give it to her yourself. She needs to see it properly."
"Mm," Shen Changyin agreed smoothly.
She walked back into the courtyard, shut the gate, immediately pulled out the red string hidden among the branches, studied it for a moment, chuckled quietly, and tucked it into her sleeve.
Only then did she walk forward and say to Xie Yu, who was still battling mud:
"She brought you a pot of jasmine."
"That's it?" Xie Yu narrowed her eyes. "She didn't say anything else?"
"No." Shen Changyin's expression didn't shift.
She set the jasmine in the corner, returned to Xie Yu's side, and said, "Now follow my instructions."
That day, the two still managed to finish building the stove. They took the old wok from the kitchen, set it on top, and started cooking.
With only one stove, they made everything in one pot—rice on the bottom, a bowl of vegetables above it.
A few days earlier, Xie Yu had learned from the villagers how to cure meat, so now she could finally use it. She had hunted two rabbits, lowered the amount of salt, marinated them, and steamed them in a bowl.
She expected the meal to be edible at best, but not terrible.
When they lifted the lid, the rice was burnt.
It was a fire-control issue. Xie Yu had been in charge of the flames, but she stubbornly claimed it was "crispy rice."
Shen Changyin forced her to eat the blackened part.
She shut up after that.
After dinner, Xie Yu disappeared for a while. Shen Changyin didn't know where she'd gone, so she could only pace in the courtyard.
When the moon reached the willow tops, the gate burst open, and Xie Yu rushed in, arms full of white, double-petaled pear blossoms.
"Lin Yan reminded me today. I promised I'd give you flowers for a month. The cherry blossoms I gave you before should be fully wilted by now."
Shen Changyin froze, then responded casually, "All right."
She found a clay jar, washed it clean, arranged the pear blossoms inside, and set them in the center of the room's table.
On the third day—
Their cooking improved a lot. The rice was still a bit firm, but edible.
Xie Yu's hunting skills were evolving too. Soon, the animals she brought back were more than the two of them could eat.
They discussed it and decided to take the still-breathing ones to town to sell, and buy some necessities while there.
Xie Yu also bought two bamboo tubes of fresh local milk, planning to experiment with desserts.
That night, she stayed by the stove to watch the fire.
Boiling milk required precise heat—only a low flame, or it would overflow—so she focused carefully, adding twigs little by little.
Suddenly, a bowl crashed inside the house.
Danger?!
She darted inside instantly.
She found Shen Changyin standing far away, pointing at a spider on the wall.
"You're serious?" she asked.
"You've killed without blinking. You've interrogated assassins with your own hands. And now you're telling me you're afraid of spiders?"
Shen Changyin said nothing.
With a mocking smirk, Xie Yu rolled a piece of straw paper into a tube and swatted the spider dead.
She warned, "It's getting warmer, so there'll be more bugs. Who knows—maybe one will crawl up your wall at night, then onto your bed, and then onto your face."
Shen Changyin remained unbothered, quietly watching her.
She continued, "Did you know? They say a person eats around three thousand tiny bugs in their sleep over a lifetime."
Shen Changyin's lips tightened.
Xie Yu burst out laughing and went back to tending her milk.
Shen Changyin stayed behind, warily watching every corner of the room.
The candlelight flickered, casting long shadows everywhere.
She flinched at everything—she even mistook a few strands of her own hair for a spider's legs.
Xie Yu's milk finally finished boiling. Even inside the room, she could hear how cheerful she was, humming a little tune.
So annoying.
This woman was so annoying.
Sitting quietly on the bed, she felt the last few days had made her lose her mind.
Let her go? She had actually thought that?
This person was so infuriating. Why would she let her go?
But unexpectedly, after a while, that annoying person came in holding a bowl of steaming milk in one hand and a burning cattail-reed stalk in the other.
"Drink it." She set the milk on the table and used the reed to smoke out every corner of the room.
The candlelight stretched their shadows long and large, overlapping across the narrow walls.
Shen Changyin finished the slightly sweet milk and slept well that night.
The next morning, another carrier pigeon arrived.
The capital was full of hidden dangers. Even though she had delayed her return, business would not wait.
Old Jin wrote several pressing issues in his letter and asked whether she could handle matters remotely through pigeon messages.
She agreed, wrote her plans for the key issues, and sent the pigeon back.
Xie Yu saw it too. She didn't even act surprised and didn't bother to ask.
From that day on, Shen Changyin managed state affairs and military issues while still living her quiet countryside life.
The villager who knew how to repair chimneys finally returned and fixed theirs. From then on, they had two stoves—one for boiling, one for stir-frying.
Ever since boiling the milk, Xie Yu's fire-handling skills had skyrocketed. The rice she made was now perfect—sweet and sticky.
She began attempting stir-fries, swinging the ladle with fierce enthusiasm, but she had one flaw she just couldn't change—
She couldn't season food.
She could never get the right amounts of salt or sugar, let alone vinegar or soy sauce.
So she always needed Shen Changyin standing beside her to help.
The two of them had already been missing for some time. In the capital, all factions had gone from public uproar to hidden turbulence. Many interested parties believed they were already dead and were sharpening their blades.
Some temporary allies were wavering, some even switched sides outright, preparing to tear apart Shen Changyin's power.
How should she handle this?
Should she intimidate them or leak information? And if she chose to intimidate—how hard should she hit? She couldn't make enemies with everyone. If she leaked news that she was still alive, who was trustworthy? Who would leak the news immediately?
Who exactly had ordered the assassination on her? Which faction were they hiding in?
The people in the northern suburbs had also heard that the Third Princess and the Regent were missing. The military reclamation work wasn't going as smoothly—how should she calm them?
What was the Empress's attitude? What about the other princesses?
The problems seemed endless, countless threads leading only into one tangled mess.
One night, Shen Changyin sat at the table, unable to make a decision. The ink on her brush had already dried, the candlelight dimmed. From the kitchen she heard someone calling:
"Shen Changyin—!"
She put down the brush and all the swirling dangers of the capital, and rose to the tiny kitchen.
When Xie Yu saw her coming, she immediately sat behind the stove to build a strong fire.
They had bought some tender beef from town today. The two agreed to do a high-heat stir-fry.
Since stir-frying required fast timing and the seasoning window was short, Shen Changyin decided to cook this dish herself.
Conveniently, Xie Yu had just bought a lightweight wooden spatula two days ago, easy for Shen Changyin to use.
Everything in the capital was complicated and tempting—entangled power and benefits—and filled with the kind of grudges she could never let go.
But everything here was simple. Only the three meals before them each day.
Shen Changyin quickly stir-fried the beef and served the rice.
They had made a new table recently and placed it in the center of the yard.
She brought the dishes over—ready for an outdoor dinner.
Shen Changyin mentally counted the days. Today was the last day of Flower Month. During these ten-plus days, Xie Yu had sent flowers twice more, making sure that clay jar always held fresh blossoms in full bloom.
Old Jin and the others had long been in position per her orders, waiting only for her signal.
Xie Yu finished eating, very satisfied. She pulled over a stool to rest her legs and stared up at the starry sky.
"If only we had two rocking chairs. That would be so comfortable."
Shen Changyin asked, "Besides rocking chairs, don't you need anything else?"
Xie Yu thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Can't think of anything right now."
She laughed. "You'll probably think I'm lying, but if you hadn't dragged me back that first time, this would've been my life."
"But the village might've been a little bigger. Or maybe I'd live in town. Either way, it'd be an ordinary life—just caring about food."
When she finished speaking, she saw Shen Changyin staring at her. She touched her face.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"No." Shen Changyin smiled at her.
A light smile, with no hidden meaning.
A pigeon fluttered down onto the roof.
Xie Yu recognized it immediately. She got up and fetched some millet from the kitchen, but when she returned, Shen Changyin was already inside the house. She didn't think too much of it and fed the bird.
After watching the pigeon finish eating, she turned back and saw Shen Changyin standing there—nobody knew how long she had been watching.
When Xie Yu looked over, Shen Changyin walked past her, gently scooped up the pigeon, and tied a message to its leg.
She released the pigeon and walked toward the gate. She paused there and said:
"Tonight at midnight, Old Jin and the others will take control of the entire village."
"You can stay here. If you want to go somewhere else, there will be a carriage waiting on the second fork at the village entrance. There's enough silver on board—go anywhere you want. Build another little courtyard just like this one."
Xie Yu stood frozen in the middle of the courtyard.
Shen Changyin had already opened the gate. She paused again, then still turned back and said.
"If there's a next life, I'm willing to sit with you in another courtyard, with two rocking chairs. You hunt and make the fire. I'll cook and write couplets."
She spoke slowly: "If there's a next life."
She turned and stepped into the night without ever looking back.
—
T/N: If you're enjoying this translation, feel free to check out my Patreon. If you're unable to support financially, you can still subscribe for free and receive chapters two hours earlier, along with updates and announcements. Paid tiers offer early access and daily chapters.
Thank you so much for reading!
patreon.com/Baenz