Volume 1, Chapter 8: My Lord, it is not as if I intend to spend my life with you.

After several heavy snowfalls, Shengjing City had become so cold that water froze as soon as it dripped. Liu Wuyi lifted the curtain slightly to look outside. All she saw was a monotonous expanse of white. The streets were nearly deserted, with only a few horse carriages and small sedan chairs hastily passing by. The bustling scenes of the past were nowhere to be seen. She then lowered the curtain.

The carriage came to a stop. Liu Wuyi rose and stepped out, standing before a signboard that read “Magnolia Rouge Shop.” Magnolia was the name of the shop’s proprietress.

Chunlan glanced at the narrow alley and the small shopfront, hesitating to speak. As someone close to the Supervisor, it seemed unusual for them to visit such a modest establishment.

A young woman standing behind the counter looked up and noticed Liu Wuyi at the door. Smiling, she drew back the beaded curtain and stepped outside. Up close, her delicate and graceful appearance was apparent, and her mature elegance suggested she was no longer young.

“Oh, Little Liu, Auntie Lan hasn’t seen you in ages,” she greeted warmly.

Liu Wuyi smiled in return and replied politely.

Magnolia glanced briefly at the guards accompanying Liu Wuyi but said nothing further. She led her inside the shop. “Take a look and see if anything pleases you. We recently developed some new lip colors. Would you like to try them?”

“Of course I want to see the new lip colors you’ve created, Auntie Lan,” Liu Wuyi answered.

She took a seat and motioned for Chuntao and Chunlan to sit as well. A small maid, employed by the shop, busily brought over tea.

Chuntao looked around curiously, while Chunlan opened her covered bowl, saw only coarse tea inside, and paid it no mind.

Auntie Lan brought out several newly developed boxes of lip colors on a tray and approached them.

She opened five boxes in sequence. Chuntao exclaimed in delight at the beautiful hues. “Such lovely colors!”

Liu Wuyi smiled gently at her. “Pick the shade you like best; I’ll gift it to you.”

She then said the same to Chunlan. Chuntao happily agreed, but Chunlan pursed her lips and politely declined.

Liu Wuyi picked up a box of peach-pink lip color for a closer look. Seeing this, Auntie Lan praised her choice. “You have a good eye. It took me an entire month to perfect this shade. It suits someone as fair and radiant as you.”

“Fair and radiant, you say? Let me see that for myself.” A woman in a peach-red jacket embroidered with floral patterns entered, steadying herself with the help of her maid.

Liu Wuyi looked up and met her gaze. The woman’s eyes showed surprise. “So it was you who brought such a grand entourage outside.”

Liu Wuyi greeted her, “Sister Qiu Wan.”

Chuntao promptly rose to give up her seat. Chen Qiu Wan took it gracefully and waved her maid away.

Seeing this, Liu Wuyi also asked Chuntao and Chunlan to leave. The beaded curtain was lifted and then dropped again, bringing silence to the shop.

Auntie Lan and the maid went to the inner room to organize things. Chen Qiu Wan then spoke first: “I thought the madam wanted to groom you as the top courtesan, yet here you are, released and married off?”

“I have let madam down,” Liu Wuyi said with lowered eyes.

Chen Qiu Wan laughed heartily before continuing, “Yes, that case eight years ago landed us both in the Yiji Bureau. Among the three most beautiful girls in our batch, Xue Shuyao was determined to climb higher and escape, but I had other plans—I wanted to fight for the top courtesan spot. Yet madam favored the youngest—you.”

“Rather than nurturing me quietly for years, she chose to sacrifice me. How could a person like you end up married?”

“Could it be that you lost your virtue?”

Liu Wuyi remained silent despite the ridicule. Chen Qiu Wan, ever proud, always sought to win wherever she went. Having lost to the underdeveloped Liu Wuyi at the Yiji Bureau, she quickly climbed the highest branch by marrying well.

Official courtesans at the Yiji Bureau could only become concubines, serving men with their charms until their beauty faded and love waned. Yet Chen Qiu Wan still carried herself with the same proud, swan-like beauty from the first meeting. However, her jacket was last year’s style, and the beautiful jade bracelet once around her wrist was gone.

Her gaze toward Liu Wuyi held a clear satisfaction, though the corners of her eyes drooped with fatigue.

Liu Wuyi’s calm, lake-like eyes doused Chen Qiu Wan with a cold splash.

Lowering her head, Chen Qiu Wan’s eyes quietly reddened. After a while, she lifted her head again with a faintly raised curve on her lips.

“I wonder how long a face as beautiful as yours will remain favored.”

“Men’s affection is fleeting and competitive; the silver in hand is far more reliable.”

Before Auntie Lan could return, Chen Qiu Wan rose and left the shop with her maid.

Liu Wuyi drank half a cup of tea. Auntie Lan came out from the inner room. Liu Wuyi stood, handed the box of lip color she had chosen and the one Chuntao liked to the maid behind Auntie Lan to be wrapped.

While the maid packed the two chosen boxes, Auntie Lan sighed as she looked at Liu Wuyi, whose hair was already styled in a married woman’s bun. “Don’t take Chen Qiu Wan’s words to heart. She’s too proud. Back at the Yiji Bureau, she always had to be the best in everything.”

“Even married now, she craves both a man’s favor and offspring. The legitimate wife won’t tolerate her. Early this spring, she lost a male fetus; right after, Master Chen brought a new woman home. Her days are far from easy.”

Liu Wuyi stood frozen, surprised at how poorly Chen Qiu Wan was faring. Three years ago, Chen Shaoqing had grandly escorted Chen Qiu Wan home in a magnificent sedan chair. The sisters at the Yiji Bureau all said how fortunate she was.

Liu Wuyi felt a pang of sympathy for her and shook her head. “I don’t care what she says.”

Seeing Liu Wuyi’s downcast expression, Auntie Lan took her hand gently. “Not all men are unreliable. Good men—kind, honest, loyal, and willing to entrust their fortunes to you—are worthy of trust.”

She had watched Liu Wuyi for five years and had confidence in her. She was neither aloof nor pretentious, always true to herself in words and deeds. She believed Liu Wuyi could become another celebrated courtesan in Qi Kingdom. Now that she was married, it must be to a remarkably good man.

Speaking of men, Liu Wuyi immediately thought of Dantai Ganan. However, the common folk described him as cunning and ruthless, sly as a fox. As for his wealth, she had no right to claim any.

But that did not matter; she was not there to seek romance with Dantai Ganan. Like at the Yiji Bureau, she could maintain a respectful closeness to the madam managing affairs and get by.

He had promised her that as long as she took good care of the child, he would help clear the Liu family’s name.

If that was so, what else could she ask for?

Liu Wuyi composed herself and smiled lightly. “What you say is true, Auntie Lan.”

She called Chuntao back in to pay, then left the shop carrying their purchases. Auntie Lan saw them off at the door, smiling and inviting them to come again.

Once aboard the carriage, Chuntao happily toyed with her new box of lip color, turning it over and over with delight.

Chunlan couldn’t help but say, “Mistress, this humble place—who would come here twice? Aren’t you afraid of getting sick from using their products?”

Chuntao’s eyebrows furrowed, her round face stiffening. “What kind of talk is that?”

Chunlan retorted, “I heard people say the owner came from the Yiji Bureau.”

“So what if she came from the Yiji Bureau? Are you calling her a slave? Where’s the nobility in that? She neither stole nor robbed—she runs a proper shop selling cosmetics. What’s it to you?”

Liu Wuyi chuckled softly. “Good Chuntao, your tongue is truly sharp.”

Seeing that Liu Wuyi was not offended, Chuntao raised her chin proudly at Chunlan.

Chunlan wanted to argue that her family had served in noble households for generations, making her superior to those women, but realizing they were all just servants, she grew resentful and fell silent, retreating to her seat.