Chapter 3: The Young Woman
The young woman’s body shuddered violently, and she swayed, steadying herself against the wall.
The sky had already completely darkened. The light from the street lamps swayed gently, outlining her entire figure in gold. Half a foot of snow had accumulated on the eaves, yet the young woman wore no cloak, only a sky-blue satin jacket. Her head was bowed, her expression unreadable.
Shen Zhishu frowned imperceptibly.
The white jade hairpin in the woman’s hair was of excellent quality, and the sky-blue jacket was interwoven with gold thread, its embroidery superb. Its owner was clearly not facing any financial trouble.
All Shen Zhishu could think about was having a bowl of hot soup, so she asked bluntly, “What does Your Excellency intend?”
The young woman said nothing.
At that moment, the two of them and the horse stood facing each other. It was silent all around, the night wind flowing from the south to the north of the street, yet the air felt somewhat stagnant.
Perhaps it was the cold, or perhaps it was because… they were clearly strangers, yet they were locked in a silent stalemate.
It was so quiet she could even hear the other’s breathing.
Shen Zhishu stood for a long time in this utterly baseless and baffling silence, finally growing impatient. She tugged on the reins, about to circle around, when her wrist suddenly froze.
That’s right. The wind is clearly rustling, so why can I hear her breathing?
She took a long, deep breath and lowered her head, carefully studying the young woman’s face.
The woman’s breathing grew more rapid, the fur on her sky-blue jacket rising and falling with each breath.
The lamplight made her eyes appear extremely pale, and a crimson flush bloomed at the corners of her eyes and the tips of her brows. But perhaps because her expression was not clear, it shared a certain quality with the unmelted snow on the eaves, so it did not reveal any discernible desire.
Thus, when she finally spoke, Shen Zhishu was genuinely surprised—
The young woman took a sudden step forward, almost lunging at the horse. She said, “General Shen, help me.”
What surprised Shen Zhishu was not that her identity had been so easily recognized, but the woman’s voice.
Her tone was flat, but the ends of her words trailed off slightly. It was composed, low, and husky. At first listen, it held no emotion, but upon reflection, one could easily pierce through the surface and sense what was hidden beneath.
Shen Zhishu’s first reaction was: This is a “honey trap.”
A complete stranger, who had appeared out of nowhere, recognized her identity at first glance, even though it was so dark one could barely make out shapes, and she was wearing a mask.
And she had asked for help in that hoarse voice.
Help with what, Shen Zhishu could figure out with her toes.
On any other day, she might have been willing to play along with the person pulling the strings, but tonight, her dinner was still nowhere in sight, and she was truly famished.
So, she straightened her collar and suddenly leaned forward on horseback.
The distance between them was abruptly closed, and the warm candlelight enveloped them both.
Shen Zhishu’s eyes, hidden beneath the brim of her hat, narrowed for a moment. A second later, she let out a soft, humming laugh.
She said coolly, “I’m not interested.”
She stared fixedly at the young woman’s face, not missing a single illogical expression. Then she saw the woman’s pressed lips part slightly, as if she were about to say something.
Shen Zhishu waited for a moment, but no further words came. The last of her patience finally ran out. She abruptly straightened up, her gaze shifting to the distance. The hand holding the reins was about to pull back when that indifferent, slightly hoarse voice reached her ears again—
“This situation is by no means my intention. I was careless and fell into a trap. After this is over, you can name your price, and I will give it to you.”
“General Shen, help me.”
Careless and fell into a trap?
She was drugged with an aphrodisiac?
Shen Zhishu no longer hurried to leave. She shifted her gaze back to the young woman’s face.
That face was even more flushed, the corners of her eyes so intensely colored they looked as if they could drip blood.
If this was a honey trap, the woman’s acting was truly a bit too realistic. But if it wasn’t a honey trap, and she was genuinely in trouble…
Shen Zhishu pursed her lips. Her eyes, under the hat’s brim, met the woman’s for a few seconds. She suddenly released the reins and extended a hand to the side.
Her palm was calloused, and a thin layer of blue veins rose on her wrist from the slight exertion.
She asked, “Can you grab my hand and get on the horse yourself?”
**
At the first quarter of the Hour of the Dog (around 7:15 PM), in a room on the second floor of a small inn on the street.
Light snow had begun to fall sporadically outside the window. The fireplace burned silently, and the surroundings were quiet.
The young woman on the bed was clearly in agony. Teardrops, gathering one by one, trembled and slid from the crimson corners of her eyes onto the brocade pillow, yet she still bit her lip, not making a sound.
After a long time without relief, she finally couldn’t bear it any longer. She suddenly gripped Shen Zhishu’s wrist and said in a hoarse voice:
“Gently.”
Her black hair was spread wantonly across the bed. Shen Zhishu gathered it for her and wiped away the mist of water pooled at the corners of her eyes, coaxing her in a soft voice, “Bear with it, it’s almost over.”
The young woman took a deep breath and turned her head away. She closed her eyes, and her slender, pale fingers trembled as they moved away from Shen Zhishu’s wrist.
Shen Zhishu touched the woman’s forehead reassuringly, then quickened her pace. She saw the woman’s brows furrow, her face easily blooming with a flush of desire, yet her expression remained consistently cool and detached.
It reminded her of the clear, cold morning dew on the Jade Terrace of North Mountain in late autumn.
A cold-resistant sparrow chirped twice on the windowsill. The rustling sound of the bedding followed, startling half a patch of snow from the eaves.
With a soft moan muffled in her throat, the young woman’s eyes flew open, a conspicuous flush spreading across her face.
Shen Zhishu was silent for a moment, then got up from the bed and went out to wash her hands.
She no longer held any hope of getting hot soup and simply asked the inn for a few steamed buns to tide her over.
When she returned to the room, the young woman had just finished dressing. She was propping herself up with the bedpost, hesitating, wanting to speak.
Shen Zhishu said succinctly, “Speak.”
The young woman took a breath and asked in a faint voice, “Could you take me back to my manor?”
Shen Zhishu shook her head. “I’ll call a carriage for you.”
The young woman persisted, “Could you take me back to my manor?”
“I was meaning to ask,” Shen Zhishu didn’t rush to agree, but instead sat down lightly on a wooden stool by the square table in the middle of the room, tilting her head up at the woman.
She said, “Who are you, exactly? How did you recognize me at a glance, even with my face covered? And why were you drugged with an aphrodisiac?”
The young woman bit her lip, not answering for a long time. She paused, as if having made a decision, then picked up the jacket from the clothes rack and put it on. Perhaps because she lacked strength, her hands trembled slightly as she fastened the buttons.
Shen Zhishu sat on the stool, propping her head on her hand and watching for a while. She sighed, stood up, and walked over to the clothes rack.
“If you don’t want to say, then don’t. It’s only human to have secrets when something like this happens.” She lowered her head slightly, her fingers dancing as she slowly and methodically fastened the last two buttons for the woman.
The young woman offered a soft, faint word of thanks.
The flush of desire had completely faded from her face, and the indifference at the corners of her eyes and brows made her seem somewhat unapproachable. Her body was clearly drained of strength, yet she forced herself to stand straight, her eyes lowered to watch the young woman before her tidying her clothes.
“General Shen…” she paused, then insisted again, “Could you take me back to my manor?”
“Since you say ‘manor’…” Shen Zhishu shifted her gaze to the woman’s face, staring at her with interest. “To have a manor, you must not be from an ordinary family. Are you the young lady of some noble house?”
“I…” The young woman started to say a word, but then fell silent.
Shen Zhishu smiled. “Your Excellency, if you say nothing at all, I can hardly help you. Besides, once I take you back to your manor, I’ll know your identity just by seeing where you live. There’s no need for you to be so secretive now.”
“I’m not… I don’t mean to hide it from you.” The woman’s voice betrayed no emotion. “But you know that everyone has their difficulties. I cannot say too much right now, only that someone means to harm me. Once you take me to my manor, everything will become clear to you.”
“Why must I be the one to take you? Is calling a carriage not an option?”
“There are people on this street who recognize me, so it would be inconvenient for me to take a carriage.”
Shen Zhishu’s gaze flickered toward the door, then back, meeting the young woman’s eyes.
The candlelight wavered, reflecting a dancing brightness in her eyes, making her expressionless face seem strangely more vivid.
There was a very faint mole at the corner of her eye, so faint that a dusting of powder could cover it.
Shen Zhishu suddenly wondered what this emotionless face would look like when it smiled.
Would that mole move?
So she said, “Then give me a smile.”
The young woman: ?
Shen Zhishu grabbed her great cloak, slung it over her shoulders in a few movements, and turned away. “Just kidding. Let’s go, I’ll take you to your manor.”
**
The two left the inn, and Shen Zhishu led out her horse. She first helped the young woman onto the horse’s back, then vaulted up and sat behind her.
She didn’t rush to pull the reins, but instead spread open her great cloak and asked the person in front of her, “Coming in? It’s cold on horseback.”
The white fox fur lining the cloak swayed gently in the wind.
The young woman hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
“Really not coming in?” Shen Zhishu smiled. “This cloak is loose, more than enough to cover you as well.”
The young woman still shook her head.
“I’m not lying, the wind is really strong on horseback.” Shen Zhishu then simply unfastened the cloak and, without taking no for an answer, draped it over the woman’s back. “Then you wear it. You’re probably still damp with sweat, I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold.”
The young woman’s eyes widened, and she wanted to struggle and be polite, but Shen Zhishu patted the back of her head.
“Don’t move, Your Excellency,” Shen Zhishu said softly from behind her. “We’re off. Be careful not to fall off the horse.”
The young woman in her arms stopped moving.
Shen Zhishu, guided by the shadows on the ground and the path the woman indicated, ambled slowly toward the southeast.
The road was truly quiet. Many streets were already empty of people, creating an atmosphere of leisurely freedom.
After riding for a while, Shen Zhishu suddenly spoke, “Is the hairpin on your head made of mutton-fat jade?”
The young woman in front answered, “The General even recognizes such things.”
Shen Zhishu laughed. “Now that’s a stereotype. There are coarse people among scholars, and refined ones among military officers. I’m not saying I’m particularly meticulous, but my mother did give me a lot of jade when I was young. Some were made into hairpins, some were peace charms, and there were various jade pendants. I’m still wearing a peace talisman right now.”
“A gift from Minister Shen?”
“She doesn’t give them. It was my other mother who did. Speaking of which, you seem to know a bit about official circles, to know that Minister Shen is my mother.”
“I know a little.”
Shen Zhishu continued, “I’ve only just returned to the capital, and I’m not familiar with the people or the roads. To be honest, I also thought you had ill intentions at first.”
“Then why were you willing to help me?”
“Your eyes are very clear; there’s truly no killing intent in them,” Shen Zhishu said softly. “For those of us used to fighting on the battlefield, we can tell at a glance if someone has hostile intentions. Besides, if you weren’t at your wit’s end, you certainly wouldn’t have asked for my help. It was a simple matter, so I helped.”
“Couldn’t you have misjudged?”
“Even if I had misjudged, I could have taken you down the instant you launched an attack.”
“The General is indeed extraordinarily courageous.”
“You flatter me. Which way now?”
“Turn right at the next intersection.”
“Are we almost there?”
“Yes.”
They were indeed almost there.
After turning right and riding a few dozen more steps, the young woman in her arms turned her head, nodded slightly, and said:
“This is my manor. Would General Shen like to come in for a cup of tea?”
Shen Zhishu was indeed thirsty and was about to agree wholeheartedly when she looked up and saw the gleaming golden plaque hanging above the main gate.
The plaque was impeccably crafted, inlaid with various agates and corals, and inscribed with several large characters—Eldest Prin…
…Wait, the Eldest Princess’s Manor?????
Thanks to the assassination attempt by that “serving girl” a few hours ago, Shen Zhishu at this moment wanted nothing to do with anyone from the imperial court or the inner palace.
There were two Eldest Princesses in the current dynasty. One was said to have gone south of the Yangtze River for leisure, which meant the one before her was…
The Emperor’s own younger sister, the Eldest Princess Huai’an.
2nd chap and they already did it 😭