Great Zhou, the thirteenth year of Jinghe, winter.
The Hanlin Academy gave its officials leave on the fifth, fifteenth, and twenty-fifth of every month.
On the fifteenth of the eleventh month, snow began drifting down before dawn.
When Wei Nisheng rose, the charcoal brazier in his room was already lit.
Qu Niang wore a lotus-root pink, narrow-sleeved jacket, with a blue-gray short-sleeved vest over it.
A bean-green sash encircled her waist, and her hair was gathered into a simple round bun, secured with three silver hairpins.
At twenty-one, Qu Niang had shed her girlish immaturity, her figure tall and full.
She came in carrying a copper basin and set the hot water on its stand.
Stepping back, she said softly, "Young master, it's time to wash," then turned to straighten the bedding.
At seventeen, Wei Nisheng was more than half a head taller than he had been three years ago. He had grown into his full height, his shoulders and back a little broader.
Three years of paperwork at the Hanlin Academy had not worn away his edge.
Instead, those sharp angles had been polished into something more restrained, no longer exposed.
Since he had the day off and did not need his official robes, Wei Nisheng put on a long, straight-cut robe.
Over it, he wore a crow-blue crane cloak, his hair secured with a silver hairpin and a plain sash tied around his waist.
By the time Wei Nisheng had finished dressing, Qu Niang had brought in a bowl of hot porridge and set it on the table.
"Young master, since you have the day off, aren't you going to the Feng Residence?"
"I am," Wei Nisheng said. "I'll go in a little while."
Qu Niang nodded and went out.
The jujube tree in the courtyard was