Spring had finally settled over the capital, bringing warm sunlight over the dark tiled roofs and softening the cold air that had remained from winter, yet inside Bai Mansion the atmosphere had somehow become colder with every passing morning. The servants had learned to walk carefully whenever their master appeared because Bai Jue, who could face thousands of enemies without changing his expression, had spent the last several days watching his wife leave the mansion as though each step Yang Mi took away from him personally offended the heavens.
Yang Mi had not argued with him after Sun Jin's attack, nor had she demanded explanations about the Heaven Realm or the woman who claimed to have loved Bai Jue for centuries. She simply became quiet, and that silence was far worse than anger because she still ate with him, slept in the same mansion and answered when necessary, yet the warmth she once gave him had disappeared behind a wall Bai Jue could not seem to cross.
That morning, Yang Mi walked out of the inner courtyard wearing a pale blue dress with only a simple white jade pin holding her hair. Tan Qi followed behind carrying a small basket and the book Yang Mi had been reading the night before, while Bai Jue stood beneath the corridor holding a memorial that had remained on the same page for nearly half an hour.
"Mi'er," he called when she passed.
Yang Mi slowed for only a moment before continuing toward the gate. "Tan Qi, did you bring the money pouch?"
"Yes, my lady."
"The book?"
"It is inside the basket."
Bai Jue lowered the memorial and looked at his wife's back with disbelief. "Yang Mi, I am speaking to you."
This time she stopped and finally turned around. "I heard you."
The simple answer immediately changed Bai Jue's expression, and Da Yi, who had been standing several steps behind him, almost wanted to congratulate his master because four days ago Yang Mi would not even give him that much.
"Then where are you going?" Bai Jue asked, trying to sound casual even though he already knew the answer.
"Out."
"Where?"
Yang Mi looked at him for several seconds before answering, "Everleaf Tea House."
Bai Jue's fingers tightened around the memorial. "Again?"
"It is a tea house. People normally return when they like the tea."
"I can have the same tea brought here."
"I don't want to drink it here."
Bai Jue opened his mouth, but Yang Mi had already turned away, and Tan Qi hurried after her before her mistress could disappear through the gate.
For several moments Bai Jue remained where he was, staring after the carriage as though he could force it to return through sheer will. Da Yi wisely said nothing until his master finally handed him the memorial and walked toward the opposite corridor.
"Bring me the dark brown cloak."
Da Yi sighed. "My lord, Lady Yang Mi recognized you yesterday."
"The merchant moved his vegetable cart."
"You were hiding behind cabbages."
"I was observing."
"Of course."
Bai Jue stopped and slowly looked over his shoulder.
Da Yi immediately bowed. "I will bring the cloak."
Everleaf Tea House was neither the largest nor the most elegant tea house in the capital, and that was precisely why Yang Mi liked it. Located near the eastern river market, it stood between an old medicine shop and a silk merchant, where traders, scholars and travelers regularly passed through without paying much attention to one another.
Inside, the wooden tables had been polished smooth from years of use, small bamboo screens separated several private corners and the aroma of roasted tea leaves mixed with sesame cakes, lotus buns and steamed dumplings from the kitchen. Nobody there cared that Yang Mi lived in Bai Mansion, nobody bowed until their forehead nearly touched the ground, and nobody looked at her with the strange mixture of curiosity and fear that had followed her ever since Sun Jin appeared.
When Yang Mi entered, Ren was already sitting beside the eastern window with a book in one hand and a cup of tea beside him.
"You are early today," Yang Mi said as she approached.
Ren looked up and smiled. "I was beginning to think you would not come."
"You said the same thing yesterday."
"And you still came."
Yang Mi sat opposite him while Tan Qi chose the smaller table beside the window where she could remain near her mistress without interrupting the conversation.
Ren pushed a bamboo plate toward Yang Mi. "The sesame cakes were just made."
Yang Mi looked at the pastries and then at him. "You ordered them before I arrived?"
"You always order them."
"That means you have been paying too much attention."
"Perhaps you are simply predictable."
Yang Mi picked up one sesame cake and took a bite. "Careful, Scholar Ren. If you continue speaking like that, I may stop sharing the good tea with you."
Ren laughed softly. "Then I withdraw my statement immediately."
Across the street, Bai Jue sat inside the medicine shop behind a half-lowered bamboo blind, his eyes fixed on the tea house window while Da Yi stood beside him pretending to examine jars of dried herbs.
"She laughed."
Da Yi did not look at him. "Yes, my lord."
"He made her laugh."
"Apparently."
Bai Jue's expression darkened. "What did he say?"
"We are across the street."
"Then move closer."
"If I move any closer, Lady Yang Mi will see me."
Bai Jue turned toward him. "You have spiritual cultivation."
"I also have a face she recognizes."
Before Bai Jue could answer, the medicine shop owner approached and smiled politely. "Young masters, are you buying something?"
Da Yi looked at the mountain of herbs they had been standing beside for nearly twenty minutes. "Yes. Headache medicine."
The owner glanced at Bai Jue's expression and nodded with immediate understanding. "For your friend?"
"No," Da Yi replied. "For me."