Fan Chang Yu followed Chef Li to Yixiang Tower. The moment she entered, she saw an imposing landscape screen placed prominently inside. The floor was paved with exquisitely carved blue bricks, while the doors and windows were decorated with intricate hollow carvings of flowers, plants, beasts, and birds.

It wasn’t mealtime yet, so there weren’t many customers in the restaurant. At a glance, the main hall downstairs alone held more than ten large round tables draped in silk tablecloths. Even the chairs were luxurious—not plain wooden seats, but furnished with matching embroidered cushions and backrests.

No wonder everyone in town called Yixiang Tower the Number One Restaurant.

Chef Li led Fan Chang Yu upstairs to a private room.

“The boss is inside. Just go in, girl.”

After hesitating briefly, Fan Chang Yu pushed open the door—

—and immediately locked eyes with a young woman inside who had her sleeves rolled up and was enthusiastically gnawing on a braised pork knuckle.

An entire table of delicacies sat before the woman.

Fan Chang Yu glanced uncertainly toward the doorway again.

“You’re… the owner of Yixiang Tower?”

The woman quickly set down the pork knuckle and wiped the grease from her face with a handkerchief before giving a light cough.

“You must be Chang Yu, right? Sit wherever you like.”

The moment she spoke, Fan Chang Yu knew this really was the owner.

She secretly thought the woman was rather different from what she’d imagined, though she looked very approachable.

After sitting down, Fan Chang Yu asked, “You know me?”

The woman smiled.

“I’ve heard Master Li mention you before. Your braised meat is exceptional.”

Perhaps she’d also heard about Fan Chang Yu confronting the Wang family earlier. She looked Fan Chang Yu up and down before smiling.

“Before meeting you, I never imagined you’d be such a delicate and pretty young lady.”

Unsure how to respond, Fan Chang Yu only returned a faint smile.

The woman continued cheerfully:

“My surname is Yu, given name Qianqian. I’m a few years older than you, so I’ll take the liberty of calling you Sister Chang Yu. I’m sure you already know Yixiang Tower stopped doing braised meat business with the Wang family. I’ve also had people buy some of your shop’s braised meat to try, and honestly, it’s much better than theirs. If you’re willing, I’d like to do business with you.”

This was exactly the kind of opportunity Fan Chang Yu had once dreamed of.

But thinking of her current situation, she pondered briefly before politely refusing.

“Thank you for thinking highly of me, Shopkeeper Yu, but I truly can’t take this business.”

Yu Qianqian blinked in surprise.

“Eh? Why not?”

Fan Chang Yu answered honestly:

“I plan to leave Linshui Town after the New Year.”

Yu Qianqian immediately sighed in regret before asking,

“Have you decided where to go yet?”

Fan Chang Yu actually hadn’t decided yet, so she only replied,

“I’m still discussing it with my husband.”

Yu Qianqian lightly tapped the table with her pale fingers, looking somewhat melancholy.

“If your braised meat disappears too, then this town will lose yet another delicacy.”

There was a joking tone hidden in her words.

Though this was Fan Chang Yu’s first time meeting the female owner, she found her very likable. Thinking that once she left town with Chang Ning, she might not return for many years, she said:

“If Shopkeeper Yu likes the braised meat, I can teach you the spice recipe. You can have your kitchen staff make it.”

Yu Qianqian had once worked as a cook herself before becoming a restaurant owner, so she knew exactly how valuable recipes were.

She immediately waved her hands.

“Absolutely not!”

Then she gave Fan Chang Yu a helpless look.

“You silly girl, you’re really too straightforward. If you go traveling elsewhere, you’ll need to be more cautious. Don’t let people sweet-talk you into selling yourself off.”

Fan Chang Yu could clearly feel her kindness and smiled.

“That won’t happen. I only want to give you the recipe because you seem kind.”

Yu Qianqian burst into laughter.

After thinking for a moment, she proposed:

“How about this? Business is busiest during the few days before New Year. We’re fully booked with banquet reservations, so we truly need a large amount of braised meat. Those old gourmets are incredibly picky and keep complaining the restaurant’s braised meat no longer tastes as good as before.”

“The Wang family already betrayed me once, and now they’re using Yixiang Tower’s reputation to cooperate with other restaurants. There’s no way I’m swallowing my pride and returning to them.”

“So why don’t you help supply the restaurant’s braised meat until New Year first? Afterward, I’ll think of another solution.”

Fan Chang Yu considered it carefully.

If they moved elsewhere, they’d need silver to buy property and settle down. Selling the countryside pig farm and city shop might not be enough.

Earning more money now would naturally be best.

So she nodded in agreement.

Yu Qianqian was visibly delighted.

“You’re helping me out of a huge problem. Previously, Yixiang Tower bought braised meat from the Wang family year-round at fifty wen per jin regardless of season. Meat prices rise around New Year, so I’ll pay you sixty wen per jin.”

“We sell at least ten braised pig heads per day. If your kitchen setup at home isn’t convenient, you can use the restaurant kitchen directly. Payment will be settled daily.”

Since her own house was still sealed by the authorities, Fan Chang Yu truly had nowhere suitable to cook.

“I’ll make it in the restaurant kitchen then.”

By late afternoon, Fan Chang Yu went to the meat market with a Yixiang Tower servant and bought ten fresh pig heads.

Her family had previously run a butcher shop there, so most of the butchers on that street recognized her. Seeing her buy so many pig heads, one couldn’t help asking:

“Chang Yu, is your shop reopening braised meat sales tomorrow?”

The servant accompanying her from Yixiang Tower was quick-witted and immediately answered:

“Miss Fan’s braised meat will only be sold at Yixiang Tower now.”

Yixiang Tower’s reputation in town was enormous.

Ever since word spread that the Wang family lost Yixiang Tower’s business partnership, their own reputation in town had sharply declined.

Quite a few familiar faces congratulated Fan Chang Yu.

Since her family’s butcher shop closed, other butcher stalls had finally begun seeing better business. When Fan Chang Yu bought pig heads from them, they intentionally offered her cheaper prices.

Normally, fresh pig heads cost twenty wen per jin on the market and weighed around six or seven jin each.

But Fan Chang Yu only paid eighteen wen per jin.

Using Yixiang Tower’s spices and kitchen, those enormous custom-made pots could braise four or five pig heads at once. Two pots were enough to cook all ten.

And the spices for an entire batch only cost about thirty wen total.

After calculating roughly, Fan Chang Yu realized she could still earn at least two taels and five qian of pure profit from these two batches.

She was momentarily stunned.

Back when she sold meat in her own shop, she worked from dawn till night. Selling pork meant endless haggling with aunties buying groceries, and after subtracting costs, she only earned around two taels per day.

Now she only needed to spend one or two hours selecting pig heads and braising them at Yixiang Tower—

—and she could earn even more money than before.

It was incomparably easier.

Remembering the sixty wen per jin Yu Qianqian offered her, Fan Chang Yu suddenly felt guilty.

She found Chef Li, who was currently simmering soup in the kitchen.

“Master Li, could you help tell the owner later that fifty wen per jin is enough for me?”

Chef Li frowned.

“Why?”

Fan Chang Yu scratched her head awkwardly.

“The owner is too kind. I feel like she’s paying me too much, and it makes me uneasy.”

Chef Li gave her a sideways glance.

“If the owner offered that price, it means she thinks your braised meat is worth that price. What’s there to feel uneasy about?”

“Don’t let her age fool you. The owner’s business sense is ruthless. Even though the Wang family stabbed her in the back this time, when they used to cooperate, Yixiang Tower still profited steadily.”

“So stop worrying.”

Curious, Fan Chang Yu asked:

“What exactly happened between the Wang family and the restaurant?”

The moment Chef Li mentioned the Wang family, he started cursing.

“That old bastard only cares about money!”

“The owner planned to open another restaurant in the county city before. To symbolize good fortune, she ordered twelve pig heads from the Wang family. They agreed without issue.”

“But on opening day, they never delivered!”

“When the owner sent someone to urge them, they hadn’t even purchased the pig heads yet! The entire order had been sold at a higher price to another restaurant in the county instead. They even signed several years of braised meat contracts with them!”

“Delaying pig head delivery on opening day ruined the auspicious timing. That’s a massive taboo! The owner was furious and immediately cut off all business with the Wang family.”

Only then did Fan Chang Yu realize there was such a reason behind Yixiang Tower ending cooperation with the Wang family.

Thinking again of the Wang family’s young master’s disgusting behavior, she couldn’t help saying:

“The Wang family really behaved shamelessly.”

Chef Li snorted coldly.

“Profit-seeking scum.”

Then he abruptly changed topics.

“I heard the Wang family even hired people to smash up your shop?”

Fan Chang Yu replied,

“His son hired them, but I personally went and got justice back.”

Chef Li suddenly laughed while looking at her.

“No wonder the owner likes you, girl. In some ways, your personalities really are alike.”

Embarrassed, Fan Chang Yu said:

“The owner is a capable person. How could I compare to her?”

But Chef Li only sighed.

“The owner suffered a lot too. Back then she came to Lin’an Town heavily pregnant and completely alone. Her circumstances were even worse than yours.”

Fan Chang Yu had only ever heard how formidable Yixiang Tower’s owner was. This was her first time hearing about Yu Qianqian’s past.

“What about the owner’s husband?”

Chef Li merely shook his head.

“I heard he died.”

Fan Chang Yu couldn’t help sighing as well.

Chef Li glanced at her again.

“The restaurant’s extremely busy these next few days. The owner has countless things to handle. That ten wen difference per jin means nothing to her.”

“So don’t bring up reducing the price again. The owner likes straightforward people. Acting hesitant and overly polite will only annoy her.”

Since he’d already put it that clearly, Fan Chang Yu naturally gave up the idea of finding Yu Qianqian again.

By the time she finished braising the meat and left Yixiang Tower, it was already getting late.

Remembering that the malt candy she’d bought for Chang Ning earlier was nearly gone, she confidently marched into a candy shop carrying the two taels and seven qian she’d just earned.

She bought two bags each of malt candy, pine nut candy, and dried orange peel candy.

Thinking about how Yan Zheng was actually afraid of bitter medicine made the corners of her lips unconsciously curl upward.

The man feared neither pain nor injury—

—but he was afraid of bitter medicine.

When she arrived home, Aunt Zhao had already started cooking dinner.

Chang Ning stood at the doorway like a little statue waiting for her sister, stretching her neck toward the alley.

The instant she spotted Fan Chang Yu carrying several packages, she immediately bounced over like a tiny round ball.

“Elder Sister’s back!”

Taking one paper package, she discovered it was full of candy. Her bright round eyes sparkled as she looked up eagerly.

“Is all of this for Ning-niang?”

Meeting those hopeful little eyes, Fan Chang Yu suddenly felt guilty for some reason.

“Your brother-in-law hates bitter medicine. Should we share half with him?”

Previously, every time she said the words “brother-in-law,” she felt unbearably awkward.

But now, while coaxing Chang Ning, the words no longer felt quite so embarrassing.

Chang Ning generously nodded.

“Mm!”

She herself often drank medicine too. Wrinkling her round little face, she said:

“The black goo is sooo bitter!”

“Black goo” was her special nickname for medicine.

Aunt Zhao came out carrying water and overheard the sisters talking.

She laughed warmly and teased Fan Chang Yu:

“Looks like you’ve finally learned to care for your husband?”

Even Fan Chang Yu’s thick skin couldn’t withstand the teasing entirely, and she felt embarrassed.

Just then, the medicine had finished brewing.

When Fan Chang Yu brought the candy upstairs, she also carried the medicine bowl along with her.

The person inside wasn’t asleep.

The moment she entered, he looked toward her and casually asked:

“You came back rather late?”

It sounded ordinary.

Yet somehow… strange.

“The county office didn’t find any new clues?” he quickly added.

The odd atmosphere finally eased a little.

Handing him the medicine bowl, Fan Chang Yu replied:

“The case has already been closed.”

Xie Zheng raised his eyes slightly in surprise.

But after seeing her expression, he immediately understood most of it.

Fan Chang Yu voiced her suspicions:

“Probably because so many murders happened right before New Year. The magistrate feared losing his official position, so he rushed to blame everything on mountain bandits.”

Xie Zheng said nothing.

That waist token belonged to the Wei family.

If the Wei family wanted the matter suppressed quickly, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to pressure the prefecture into forcing the magistrate to close the case.

Regardless, though, the Wei family had already set their sights on Lin’an Town.

It was no longer safe to remain here.

Looking at Fan Chang Yu, he asked:

“If these are people seeking revenge, they’ll likely come again. What do you plan to do?”

Originally, Fan Chang Yu intended to wait until his injuries improved before discussing leaving.

Since he asked first, she answered directly:

“I plan to sell off the family property after New Year and take Ning-niang elsewhere to hide for a while.”

But after hearing that, Xie Zheng immediately said:

“If you’re leaving, sooner is better than later.”

He knew that person’s methods all too well.

So many Black-ranked assassins dying in a small town like Lin’an would definitely attract serious attention.

Fan Chang Yu replied:

“There are only a few days left until New Year. I accepted work from Yixiang Tower making braised meat before the holiday. I can earn more money during these few days.”

“Besides, selling property and transferring deeds also takes time. It’ll also let your injuries recover a little before we leave.”

Since the topic had already reached this point, she naturally had to ask his plans too.

“What about you?”

Xie Zheng initially thought she was asking for his opinion and was about to urge her to leave immediately.

But halfway through speaking, he realized—

She was asking whether he planned to stay or go.

Leave?

Before weighing any pros and cons, he instinctively hesitated.

Fan Chang Yu continued:

“My parents probably made enemies during their years escorting caravans. If you come with us, you might get dragged into it too.”

“I was thinking I could write divorce papers for you and leave you some money for future travel expenses. Aunt Zhao and Uncle Zhao are good people. I can ask them to care for you until your injuries heal.”

The Zhao couple had no children.

Years ago, their only son had been conscripted into war and never returned. People said he died somewhere far away.

Fan Chang Yu intended to leave them some countryside land so they could collect rent from tenant farmers and have security in old age.

As for leaving Yan Zheng behind—

She simply feared he’d be implicated by her family’s troubles again.

Listening to her calmly arrange everything for him, an inexplicable irritation rose inside Xie Zheng.

Even his voice unconsciously cooled.

“I have my own plans. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Fan Chang Yu blinked at him in confusion, unsure how she’d offended him.

Xie Zheng also realized his tone had been wrong.

Closing his eyes briefly, he reopened them with his expression already calm again.

“If you leave, it’s best to do so within today or tomorrow. Don’t bother applying for official travel documents. Traveling with merchant caravans is safer. Avoid leaving household registration records at checkpoints whenever possible.”

Even someone as straightforward as Fan Chang Yu understood he was talking about hiding their tracks.

“So are you coming with me or staying behind to recover?”

Once she asked so directly, Xie Zheng visibly paused.

The candlelight reflected in his dark eyes alongside the girl’s figure.

After a long moment, he finally looked away and quietly answered:

“I’ll leave with you for now.”

Lin’an Town was no longer safe for him either.

And he was indeed curious about whatever those assassins had desperately searched for inside her home.

Those were the only reasons.

Hearing the word “for now,” Fan Chang Yu understood immediately.

Once his injuries healed, he would still leave.

“Alright. Tomorrow I’ll go to the county office again and sell the shop and countryside pig farm to the government at reduced price.”

When land was sold directly to buyers, naturally it fetched higher prices.

Only people desperate for quick money sold property cheaply to the government.

The authorities would then resell it later at full market value.

As for Yixiang Tower—

She could simply hand the recipe directly to the owner.

Xie Zheng suspected the assassins still hadn’t found what they were searching for and asked:

“Are there any belongings from your parents you plan to bring?”

Fan Chang Yu answered almost immediately:

“Of course!”

A faint flicker crossed Xie Zheng’s eyes.

Then she added:

“I definitely have to bring the butcher knife set! I can continue earning a living slaughtering pigs wherever we go. And if we encounter thieves along the road, it can protect us too!”

Xie Zheng: “……”

Still, his question did remind her of something.

“The county office already closed the case, but for some reason they still haven’t removed the seal on my house. Tonight I’ll climb over the wall and retrieve the property deeds.”

Xie Zheng’s eyes shifted slightly.

“The masked men who broke into your house pried up several floor bricks inside. They seemed to be searching for something.”

Fan Chang Yu frowned.

“What could my family possibly own that’s valuable? Don’t tell me they were looking for property deeds too?”

“…Probably not,” Xie Zheng replied.

Glancing outside, Fan Chang Yu said:

“I’ll climb over after dark and take a look.”

Doing it during daylight would be too easy to spot.

Her house had basically become a haunted murder house now. Since it was sealed, no civilians were allowed inside. If someone reported her climbing the wall, she’d only cause herself more trouble.

Xie Zheng asked:

“Did your parents ever tell you there was something you absolutely had to take with you if fleeing for your lives?”

Fan Chang Yu replied immediately:

“My younger sister.”

Xie Zheng: “……”

He pressed slender fingers against his forehead.

Suddenly, he no longer wanted to speak.

Seeing he still hadn’t touched the medicine, Fan Chang Yu reminded him:

“If you don’t drink it soon, it’ll get cold.”

By now, it truly was no longer hot.

Xie Zheng picked up the bowl and drank it all in one go.

Almost instantly, a smiling hand extended toward him holding a piece of orange peel candy.

“I tasted this already. It’s sweet and sour. Good for getting rid of bitter flavors too.”

Her hand was fair and graceful, fingers long and elegant.

Not soft and boneless like pampered noblewomen.

Nor rough and jointed like a man’s.

Flowers and wood each had their own unique structures.

And somehow she existed beautifully somewhere between the two.

The orange candy rested in her palm dusted with pale sugar powder. Under the warm candlelight, an utterly inappropriate phrase suddenly appeared in Xie Zheng’s mind—

“Beautiful enough to feast upon.”

Using that phrase on Fan Chang Yu…

Even he himself fell silent.

Unwilling to let his thoughts wander further into strange territory, he picked up the candy and tossed it into his mouth.

“Thank you.”

His expression remained stiff.

Fan Chang Yu assumed he was embarrassed about fearing bitter medicine and secretly found his awkwardness rather amusing.

Taking the empty bowl, she stood.

“I’ll head downstairs first. I’ll bring dinner up for you later.”

After the door curtain swayed shut behind her, Xie Zheng lowered his gaze toward the fingertips that had brushed against her palm while taking the candy.

They tingled strangely.

Numb and itchy all at once.

—

When Fan Chang Yu went downstairs, she found Chang Ning feeding something to the falcon.

“Eat this…”

The poor falcon had already retreated all the way into a corner, its bandaged wings tucked tightly against itself. It absolutely refused to open its beak and stared with terrified little bean-like eyes.

It looked exactly like a helpless maiden cornered by a local bully.

“What are you feeding it, Ning-niang?” Fan Chang Yu asked.

Caught red-handed, Chang Ning immediately hid her hand behind her back.

“N-Nothing…”

Fan Chang Yu simply looked at her silently.

Chang Ning feared that expression from her elder sister most.

Immediately, she obediently stretched out her hand again and lowered her head guiltily.

“I gave Falcon-Falcon a candy…”

Candy was precious.

Giving candy to a bird would definitely earn her a scolding.

But seeing her younger sister like this, how could Fan Chang Yu bear to criticize her harshly?

Trying not to laugh, she explained:

“Falcons don’t eat candy. They eat meat.”

Chang Ning’s round grape-like eyes widened.

“Really?”

Aunt Zhao laughed from nearby.

“These birds are fierce out in the wild! The falcon that smashed the east window before was just as big as this one, and that thing was vicious.”

“The one you caught is obedient though. It doesn’t hurt people and even protects its owner.”

Then she added:

“It just eats a bit too much.”

One enormous bowl of meat per day.

If she and Old Zhao had to raise it, they’d be eaten into poverty within days.

The more Fan Chang Yu looked at the falcon, the more she liked it.

“Maybe Yan Zheng trained it before.”

Originally, she’d planned to keep the falcon temporarily, have Yan Zheng train it properly, then sell it for money.

But the bird was clearly intelligent and had even saved Chang Ning.

Fan Chang Yu now felt it would be better to release it once its injuries healed.

That evening, after dinner, Aunt Zhao carried the sleepy Chang Ning off to her own room with Old Zhao.

Returning and seeing Fan Chang Yu still sitting by the fire pit, she asked:

“Why aren’t you upstairs sleeping yet?”

The Zhao house was laid out similarly to Fan Chang Yu’s old home.

Three rooms downstairs.

The central room contained the dining area and fire pit.

The south room belonged to the elderly couple.

The north room originally had a bed too, but after a falcon smashed the window earlier, Old Zhao temporarily filled it with lumber and furniture he was building.

At present, only the attic remained habitable.

Fan Chang Yu still planned to sneak back into her own house later and replied:

“You go sleep first, Auntie. I’ll warm myself by the fire a little longer.”

Having lived over half a lifetime, Aunt Zhao could easily tell the young couple still hadn’t consummated their marriage.

Back at Fan Chang Yu’s own house, they’d slept separately too.

Clearly, this girl intended to spend the night by the fire pit instead.

Aunt Zhao immediately put on a stern face.

“Why stay by the fire pit all night instead of sleeping properly? Firewood doesn’t grow on trees!”

Fan Chang Yu hadn’t expected Aunt Zhao to become so direct just to force her upstairs.

Thinking she could still climb onto the roof from the attic and sneak back home from there, she slowly stood up.

“I’m going upstairs now.”

Then she asked,

“Do you have an extra quilt?”

She still planned to sleep on the floor.

Aunt Zhao rejected the idea instantly.

“No!”

Fan Chang Yu tried explaining the fake marriage.

“Actually, Yan Zheng and I—”

But Aunt Zhao refused to listen.

“I don’t care what you think, but that boy Yan Zheng is wonderful! Look at this time—your family suffered such a huge disaster, and even injured like that, he still risked his life to protect Chang Ning.”

“Now he’s covered in wounds and sickness. Are you looking down on him?”

Fan Chang Yu felt utterly helpless.

“I’m not looking down on him…”

Aunt Zhao practically shoved her upstairs.

“Then why are you still thinking about sleeping on the floor? If I were that child Yan Zheng, my heart would already be cold!”

“He risked his life protecting your sister, and in the end you still don’t appreciate him…”

Fan Chang Yu felt exactly like some scoundrel son being lectured by his mother about mistreating a good girl.

Ultimately, she could only go upstairs in defeat.

The moment the door closed behind her, Aunt Zhao’s scolding finally stopped.

Taking a deep breath, Fan Chang Yu turned and met Xie Zheng’s calm eyes.

Realizing he’d undoubtedly heard every word she and Aunt Zhao exchanged, embarrassment mixed with even greater awkwardness.

Walking toward the table, she said:

“I’ll rest at the table for a while. Once Uncle and Auntie are asleep, I’ll climb over from the attic roof back to my house.”

Her own attic still had bedding. After retrieving the things she needed, she could spend the night there and sneak back before dawn.

She never intended to tell the Zhao couple about climbing the wall.

Since the house was officially sealed, if they knew and failed to report it, they could also be punished.

Xie Zheng said nothing.

Once the candle was extinguished, darkness swallowed the room.

Fan Chang Yu rested her head on the table and closed her eyes.

From the bed, Xie Zheng’s breathing remained shallow and silent.

Yet whether it was the night intensifying fear or Fan Chang Yu simply reacting slowly, once she remembered she planned to return to her own house—

—the images of the corpses littering her courtyard and the people she herself had killed suddenly began replaying vividly in her mind.

Outside, the northern wind howled like ghosts crying.

After changing positions countless times and still failing to get comfortable, Fan Chang Yu finally sat upright.

The bed remained silent.

Tentatively, she asked:

“Yan Zheng, are you asleep?”

“Not yet. What is it?”

His voice sounded especially cool and clear within the darkness.

Fan Chang Yu pursed her lips and tried to keep her voice steady.

“When you woke up at noon, you were covered in sweat. Did killing people give you nightmares too?”

Silence stretched for a long while before a quiet “Mm” finally came from the bed.

Fan Chang Yu immediately felt as though she’d found a comrade.

Swallowing nervously, she admitted:

“It was my first time killing people too.”

After hesitating briefly, she asked again:

“Are you still afraid now?”

The room fell silent once more.

After a very long pause, his calm voice finally drifted over.

“Come here.”

Actually, you don’t need to be too afraid. Just imagine you’re slaughtering pigs instead. Do you know how to slaughter pigs? I can teach you later. That way, even if you stop escorting caravans, you’ll still have a way to earn a living…”

Though she kept talking, she’d already made her way over to the bedside and sat against the bedframe.

After coughing twice, she finally regained some confidence.

“You should sleep. The elders always say butchers carry heavy killing intent, so ghosts don’t dare come near them. If I stay here, you won’t have nightmares anymore.”