Du Province, Changhua Prefecture.
Zheng Zhuxi was dressed entirely in plain white, her black hair tied with a strip of hemp cloth. It diminished her radiance a little, but made her look all the more graceful, pure, and untouched by worldly dust.
"Miss, the Hongxin Trading Company has delivered another letter," the housekeeper said with a smile.
The Hongxin Trading Company? Zheng Zhuxi, whose white-jade skin looked delicate enough to break at a touch, was briefly taken aback.
She had only received her junior brother's letter yesterday. Why was there another today?
A moment later, Zheng Zhuxi understood:
Her junior brother must have written her another letter just a few days after arriving in the Flame Capital.
Du Province lay east of Ming Prefecture, and the Flame Capital had itself been carved out of Ming Prefecture. Letters from Dingjiang Prefecture in Ning Prefecture to Changhua Prefecture in Du Province would normally pass through the Flame Capital first. If her junior brother had traveled to the Flame Capital aboard the Painted Airship, he would certainly have arrived well ahead of his previous letter. Writing another a few days later would result in the two letters arriving one right after the other.
The corners of Zheng Zhuxi's mouth lifted slightly without her noticing. She accepted the letter and politely thanked the housekeeper.
On her way back to the eastern heated chamber, she slowed her steps, opened the letter in the daylight, and began to read.
As she read, faint dimples appeared on her cheeks, and she muttered inwardly:
"Was my junior brother afraid I might hear rumors later and get a bad impression of him, so he wrote ahead specifically to explain?
*"That Twelfth Madam Luo was often pestered by drinkers. She certainly couldn't be as ordinary as he described. Hmm, he