The next day.
Shen Ling'er closed her third medical book and tapped the cover twice with her fingertips.
Gu Moran had slept in the study again last night.
Six brides had entered the residence, and he had not touched a single one.
In another man, that would be called propriety. In Gu Moran, it was called an illness.
Judging by his complexion, though, he did have kidney deficiency.
Cui'er stood nearby clutching a handkerchief. When she saw her young mistress start counting medicine bottles again, her back stiffened.
The last time her young mistress had been this idle, three apprentices at the Imperial Medical Bureau had suffered diarrhea for two days.
"Cui'er."
"Yes?"
Shen Ling'er put a small black bottle back on the medicine shelf and smiled sweetly.
"I'm going to pay my respects to my husband."
The handkerchief nearly flew out of Cui'er's hand.
"My lady, didn't His Highness say yesterday that there was no need to pay your respects?"
"That was my husband being considerate."
Shen Ling'er picked up the plate of osmanthus cakes on the table, brushing her fingertips over its rim.
"I'm a newlywed. I can't neglect the proper courtesies."
Cui'er looked at the plate of cakes.
The osmanthus smelled wonderful.
It smelled so wonderful that she was even more frightened.
The Green Vine Courtyard was not far from the study, just beyond a moon gate.
The study door was open.
Gu Moran sat behind his desk, leafing through a book for pleasure, his feet propped on the edge. There was a method to his laziness.
Shen Ling'er knocked twice on the door.
"Husband, I've come to pay my respects!"
Gu Moran looked up, his gaze falling first on her face, then on the cakes.
She's here so early.
And she brought food.
She's either drugged them or here to pump me for information.
He took his feet down and closed the book.
"What brings you here today, Ling'er?"
"I have nothing to do."
Shen Ling'er set the plate on the desk, and the sweet scent of osmanthus spread through the room.
"This is an old recipe Grandfather taught me. You can't buy these outside."
Gu Moran picked up a piece and held it close for a sniff.
"Fragrant."
He turned the cake between his fingers a couple of times.
He did not eat it.
Shen Ling'er blinked.
"Won't you try one, Husband?"
"My stomach hasn't been well lately. I have to avoid sweets."
"Which imperial physician said that?"
"Your grandfather."
The corner of Shen Ling'er's mouth twitched.
Her grandfather had spent the past two days busy sticking needles into those old men from the Censorate who had tried and failed to kill themselves by dashing their heads against pillars. When would he have had time to worry about Gu Moran's stomach?
Make it up.
Go on, keep making it up.
"Then what do you like to eat, Husband? I'll make it next time."
"Anything."
"Sweet? Salty? Spicy?"
"Anything."
"What do you usually do for amusement in the residence, Husband?"
"Drink."
"What else?"
"Sleep."
Shen Ling'er rested her chin on the back of her hand, her smile growing softer.
"When do you go to sleep, Husband?"
"Before the sun's three poles high."
"When do you get up?"
"When the sun's three poles high."
"Then you only sleep a little while each day, Husband?"
"I have plenty of energy. What, do you want to try three poles?"
Standing outside the door, Cui'er felt her ears burn as she listened.
If this conversation went on, it would get rather improper.
Shen Ling'er was not led astray.
She tried another approach.
"When you studied in the palace, Husband, which subject did you like best?"
"None. I slept through every class."
"What did your teacher say?"
"He said I treated every subject fairly."
"Have you ever finished a book, Husband?"
"Yes."
"Which book?"
"Collection Among the Flowers."
"Poetry?"
"Poetry written by young ladies."
Shen Ling'er's fingers tapped lightly seven times inside her sleeve.
Seven questions.
Seven answers.
All answers she could listen to.
All useless.
A real wastrel would talk about which tavern served strong wine, which girls knew how to coax a man to drink, and which gambling tables had cost him silver.
Gu Moran's answers were too clean.
As clean as a freshly wiped medicine grinder, without so much as a speck of herb residue left.
She raised her face, her sweet smile fading a little.
"Are you doing this on purpose, Husband?"
Gu Moran spread his hands.
"Doing what on purpose? I'm being very cooperative."
Shen Ling'er looked at him.
He wore that wastrel's skin so securely that it made her want to prick it with a needle and see if it leaked air.
She reached for the plate.
Gu Moran was a step faster, pressing a hand against its rim.
An inch separated their hands.
Shen Ling'er stopped.
"Husband?"
"You made these cakes. What a shame it would be to take them away."
Gu Moran picked up a piece and held it to her lips.
"I must avoid sweets. Will you taste it for me, Ling'er?"
The cake stopped in front of her mouth.
A trace of medicine lay beneath the osmanthus fragrance, detectable only to her.
Cattail pollen.
After eating it, a person would be more likely to tell the truth for half an hour.
She had originally prepared it for Gu Moran.
Now it was her turn.
Shen Ling'er took half a step back, her smile perfectly demure.
"You're so sweet to me, Husband, but I've already had breakfast."
Gu Moran put the cake back on the plate.
"The hour of the dragon has only just passed, and the Green Vine Courtyard's kitchen hasn't lit its fire yet."
Shen Ling'er's hand froze inside her sleeve.
Gu Moran leaned back in his chair.
"Uncle Fu checks the kitchens in every courtyard halfway through the hour of the hare. He reported to me this morning."
"The Green Vine Courtyard starts the latest, because you get up late."
He tapped the rim of the plate.
"So you haven't eaten breakfast."
"But you don't dare eat the cakes you made yourself."
The sweet smile finally slipped from Shen Ling'er's face.
Outside the door, Cui'er lowered her head and stared at the ground.
It's over.
Young Mistress went fishing. The fish swallowed the hook, then snatched away the rod for good measure.
Gu Moran turned the cake over. There was a little pale yellow powder on the bottom.
"Care to explain?"
Shen Ling'er was silent for two breaths, then decided to admit it.
"Cattail pollen."
Her tone turned brisk; her sweet-girl shell clocked off on the spot.
"It makes people speak more honestly for half an hour."
"A pity you won't eat it, Husband."
Gu Moran nodded.
"Good medicine."
Shen Ling'er raised an eyebrow.
"You're not angry, Husband?"
"Why would I be?"
Gu Moran put the cake back.
"I've profited from your visit."
"How so?"
"First, the cattail pollen didn't change the color or taste of the osmanthus cakes. Your skill with medicines is more refined than Elder Shen's."
Shen Ling'er lifted her eyelids slightly.
"Second, your seven questions followed a sequence: first small talk, then my habits, then my connections. That's how you conduct a medical consultation."
Gu Moran looked at her.
"Third, you're very interested in me."
Shen Ling'er did not answer.
"You wouldn't spend a whole morning making this plate of cakes for someone you weren't interested in."
The study fell quiet.
A breeze blew in through the window, carrying a trace of ink and osmanthus.
Shen Ling'er looked at him for quite a while, then suddenly laughed.
This time, she was not pretending to be demure.
"You're quite entertaining, Husband."
"I have many virtues. You'll discover them in time."
Shen Ling'er picked up the plate and turned to leave.
At the door, she looked back.
"You should get your health in order first, Husband. I'll come again another day."
Gu Moran reminded her.
"You can take the cakes, but don't add anything to them."
Shen Ling'er replied with a smile.
"Where's the fun in that?"
She left with the cakes in her arms.
She hadn't eaten a single one.
When she returned to the Green Vine Courtyard, Cui'er came to greet her.
"My lady, how did it go?"
Shen Ling'er thrust the plate into her hands and sat down at the table.
The sweet smile vanished from her face.
"Cui'er."
"Yes?"
"Go find the Imperial Medical Bureau's manual on the Qi Observation Technique."
Cui'er froze.
"The Qi Observation Technique? Isn't that what Elder Shen uses to examine his patients' constitutions?"
Shen Ling'er tapped her fingertips on the table.
"I'm going to use it to read someone."
"Who?"
Shen Ling'er looked toward the study.
"My husband. I want to see just how many layers of skin he's wearing."
In the study.
Gu Moran leaned back in his chair and picked up the osmanthus cake again.
The faint yellow powder on its underside had been very carefully concealed.
The little fox had a few tricks.
Unfortunately for her, once a fox entered the prince's residence, she first had to learn to read the nameplate on the door.
The system panel popped up.
[Shen Ling'er's favorability: -2 (↑4)] [Source of fluctuation: outwitted in a battle of wits, curiosity increased] [New tag: met a match for the first time]
Gu Moran looked at the words "a match" and chuckled.
"Good."
"At least it's not 'met a good-for-nothing for the first time.'"
The sound of chopping wood came from the Azure Wolf Courtyard.
Murong Xue was practicing with her saber in the courtyard. Three clusters of flowers had already vanished from the flower bed.
Batuer crouched in a corner, gnawing on a leg of mutton. She sighed at the petals scattered all over the ground.
"Princess, the gardener only planted those yesterday."
Murong Xue lowered her saber and looked at the fourth cluster.
"Plant them again."
Batuer fell silent and went back to gnawing.
Murong Xue wiped the sweat from her temple and looked over the eastern wall.
The study was over there.
She still hadn't figured out the Northern Territory warrior's salute from last night.
Where had a Central Plains wastrel learned it?
And learned it so perfectly, too.
When she returned to her room, her fingers brushed the handkerchief on the corner of the table.
Noble Consort Chen had given it to her.
Murong Xue pushed the handkerchief away and lay down on the couch.
"People from the Central Plains are such a bother."
In the Iron Plum Courtyard, another table had met its end.
Zitang knelt outside the door, her voice weak.
"Miss, if you keep kicking the tables, there won't be anywhere left to write..."
Lin Qingdai's voice came from inside.
"Then I won't write."
After a while, the room fell quiet.
Zitang pushed the door open a crack.
Lin Qingdai sat on the floor, a longsword gripped in her hand.
Her grip had changed.
Her index finger was loose, and the web between her thumb and forefinger pressed against the hilt.
She turned her wrist.
The sword tip traced a semicircle. This time, it didn't veer off course.
Zitang stared in a daze.
After all that cursing, her young lady really had learned it.
The Tranquil Ink Courtyard was the quietest of all.
The window was open, and the door was shut.
Xie Wanqing stood before the bookshelf, her fingers moving slowly along the spines.
She had put all the books on propriety in the corner.
At the very front were three travelogues, two collections of strange tales, and a book on flowers.
The servant who delivered the books had said that His Highness told her to choose whatever she liked and that she didn't need to return them.
No one had ever asked what she liked to read.
Gu Moran had.
Though he hadn't asked her in person.
She pulled out Travels in the Mountains and Rivers and sat down by the window.
In the distance, Gu Moran and Uncle Fu could be heard bickering.
"Don't touch that plate of cakes in my study. There's something in them."
"Your Highness, which lady sent them?"
"Guess."
"This old servant wouldn't dare."
"Then why did you ask?"
Xie Wanqing lowered her head and turned to the third page.
A dried osmanthus flower was pressed between the pages.
Her fingertips paused, and she tucked the flower back into the book.
In the study.
Gu Moran stretched and opened the system panel.
Shen Ling'er had gone up four points.
Xie Wanqing had gone up another point and was now in the positive.
Su Yao was still at -63.
Murong Xue was at -45.
Lin Qingdai was at -62.
Gu Moran looked at those three hard bones and tapped his fingers on the table.
"All right."
"One at a time."
"I may not have much else, but I have plenty of ways."