Cheng Jiao-niang’s residence was in a prime location. Though situated in a bustling district, the entire alley had once belonged to a high-ranking minister. After his downfall, the properties were divided and sold off—just as the Chen family had acquired one of them, other officials had discreetly purchased the remaining houses.
They didn’t rely on renting them out for income but kept them as future residences for their children. Thus, the neighboring houses had no proper occupants, only caretakers.
Since there was usually no interaction, how would one not be startled when someone suddenly peered over the wall?
“It’s you again!” the maid snapped, scowling.
“It’s you again!” echoed Duke Jin’an. “You meddlesome maid, I’m speaking to your mistress—why must you always interrupt?”
“How dare you speak like that?” the maid shouted.
Before she could finish, the young man on the wall lost his footing and slipped downward.
Once again, the servants in the courtyard erupted in screams.
Duke Jin’an gripped the top of the wall to stop himself from sliding further.
“Hold steady down there,” he called to his attendants below before turning back to Cheng Jiao-niang with a complaint. “Who builds a wall this high anyway?”
Cheng Jiao-niang smiled faintly.
“Indeed,” she replied.
The maid let out a disdainful huff and moved to support her mistress. “Miss, let’s go inside,” she urged.
“You there—didn’t you hear me? I came to speak with your mistress!” Duke Jin’an snapped. “I even went through all this trouble just to have a proper conversation!”
This was his idea of a proper conversation? The maid glanced back, momentarily speechless.
Sharp-tongued and quick-witted, she prided herself on handling any situation—even that incident with the wolf pack hadn’t reduced her to trembling terror. Yet two exceptions always left her flustered: mentions of murder, and encounters with this eccentric young nobleman.
Was it because humans could be far more frightening than beasts? And somehow, this boy gave her the very same feeling.
The maid couldn’t help but stare at the young man perched on the wall.
Bathed in sunlight, his face possessed a porcelain-like delicacy yet carried a masculine vigor rarely seen in women. His smiling expression made his dark eyes sparkle brilliantly.
Such a youth might indeed be handsome enough to “kill with looks” – where was this supposed fear-inspiring quality?
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice Cheng Jiao-niang had already turned to address him.
“What did you want to tell me?” Cheng Jiao-niang asked.
Duke Jin’an smiled, resting his arms comfortably on the wall. “I’ve bought this property. We’ll be neighbors from now on,” he announced.
This shameless rogue!
The maid snapped out of her daze, glaring indignantly.
“I see,” Cheng Jiao-niang responded with a simple nod.
Duke Jin’an smiled again, then seemed to remember something as he glanced downward.
“Wait a moment,” he said, stretching one hand down while keeping the other on the wall. “Pass it to me.”
Balancing precariously with just one hand supporting him, his whole body swayed slightly—a sight that made the maid and Jin Ge’er in the courtyard tense up. Ban Qin, however, had already walked away to tend to her own tasks the moment Cheng Jiao-niang began responding to the young man.
“Serves him right if he falls!” the maid muttered under her breath.
But unfortunately for her, the young man steadied himself and even managed to retrieve a small box.
“I’ve brought you some pastries,” he announced, giving the box a little shake before flashing a smile.
Cheng Jiao-niang regarded him silently.
“It would be impolite not to reciprocate a gift,” he declared, then waved at the dumbstruck Jin Ge’er. “Hey, boy—come here.”
Jin Ge’er started at being addressed, hesitating until he glanced at Cheng Jiao-niang for direction.
“Go ahead,” she said.
Only then did Jin Ge’er acknowledge the order and approach the wall.
But then Duke Jin’an hesitated again.
“Are you sure you can catch it?” he asked, frowning as he measured the distance with his eyes. “We should probably tie it to a rope to lower it down.”
No sooner had he spoken than he turned to give orders to his attendants below. Soon, a rope was handed up to him.
During all this commotion, Cheng Jiao-niang had already taken a seat under the corridor eaves, while her maid simply watched in silent resignation.
“All right,” he announced at last.
Cheng Jiao-niang and the maid looked up to see him carefully lowering the clumsily-tied box with the rope. The rope proved too short – even when Jin Ge’er stretched his arms, he couldn’t quite reach it. With a shrug, Duke Jin’an simply let go, and the box dropped neatly into Jin Ge’er’s waiting arms.
Both parties exhaled in relief, as if they’d just accomplished some monumental task.
“Your pastries were delicious,” he said, looking toward Cheng Jiao-niang under the corridor eaves. “Now try mine.”
Jin Ge’er carefully carried the box over and handed it to the maid.
With deliberate pointedness, the maid also produced the box sent by Zhou Liu-lang.
“Now we have two,” she said pointedly. “Which one will you try first?”
Cheng Jiao-niang raised her eyes to look at her.
“These two are different,” she replied calmly. “One contains food, the other carries a message.”
The maid froze momentarily, staring at the two boxes in her hands.
Different?
“Someone has gone to Jiang-zhou,” Cheng Jiao-niang said.
The maid suddenly understood and lowered her gaze to the box in her hands—Xuan-miao Temple.
“What are they going to Jiang-zhou for?” she asked.
“To propose a marriage match, most likely,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied.
The maid’s expression turned complicated. Of course. Although the Qin family matter had been left unresolved, it had served as a reminder to the Zhou family—this young lady wasn’t without suitors. Even without the Qins, there were plenty of other prominent families in the capital. They would surely find one that satisfied their demands and served their interests.
Seeing the mistress and maid engrossed in their own conversation, Duke Jin’an gave a deliberate cough to interrupt them.
“I should be going now,” he said with a light smile.
The maid rolled her eyes.
No one asked you to stay, she grumbled inwardly.
“Thank you,” Cheng Jiao-niang said, looking up to give him a slight bow.
Duke Jin’an’s smile broadened.
“My pleasure, my pleasure,” he replied with an airy wave.
Perhaps having stood too long and forgotten he was on a ladder, his movement made him wobble precariously, forcing him to clutch at the wall in undignified haste.
The maid couldn’t suppress a gleeful chuckle at his predicament.
Even Cheng Jiao-niang allowed herself a small smile.
“It really is quite high up here,” Duke Jin’an remarked, chuckling at his own predicament. “You’d feel unsteady too if you tried standing like this—believe me.”
“Indeed,” Cheng Jiao-niang replied.
“Well, I’ll take my leave then,” he said with a smile, steadying himself against the wall. But then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he turned back to her. “Ah, one more thing—how did you know the wolf pack was lured there… by human hands?”
The moment these words left his lips, the bright, cheerful summer day seemed to darken abruptly. The young man, visible only from the shoulders up atop the wall, might as well have blotted out the sun itself—his presence casting an immense shadow that swallowed the courtyard whole.
The once-vibrant summer air turned as sharp and chilling as autumn.
The maid’s hands clenched into fists at her sides.
She remembered that morning in the valley—her mistress and this young man drawing close, exchanging whispered words. The expression on his face then must have mirrored her own now:
Terror.
She had never asked her mistress what was said, though she’d privately wondered. No answers came, and she’d assumed their paths would never cross again. Yet here they were, reunited in the capital.
So this was what her mistress had told him that day.
The wolf pack… was lured by humans…
Indeed, what inspired true fear was never beasts, but men.
This young noble, traveling by night, besieged by wolves—it had been an assassination attempt. What family had he crossed? What enemies sought his life?
No wonder. No wonder she’d sensed danger from him.
His deliberate efforts to approach her mistress, his covert watching and waiting—it was all born of suspicion.
It seemed even he hadn’t known about the wolves being lured. Yet her mistress had. How could a stranger know more than the intended victim? Such knowledge could only invite doubt.
The maid turned to Cheng Jiao-niang, her face etched with worry.
How did Miss know about the wolves?
What could Miss possibly say now?