At Su Jing's insistence, they set off for the market town on the outskirts of the city.
"I heard there's a fair today—it's supposed to be wonderful! And there'll be lanterns tonight!" She bounced ahead, a rabbit scattering flower petals.
Shen Yuan trailed behind at an easy pace, a blade of grass dangling between his lips, adding a boyish charm to his usual composure. He watched the skipping girl with softness in his eyes.
Su Jing stopped dead.
"What's wrong, Your Highness?"
"Listen—in the bushes. Is that a baby crying?"
* * *
Shen Yuan followed the thin, kitten-like wail into the tall grass and found a newborn boy swaddled in a white silk cloth, hidden deep in the undergrowth.
He lifted the infant carefully and carried him to Su Jing, a crease between his brows.
"There's nothing in the blanket—no letter, no token. We've no idea where this child belongs. What would Your Highness like to do?"
"The poor thing—why would someone abandon him here? Let's take him to the magistrate's office. They can search for his family."
Su Jing's heart ached at the sight of the gurgling infant. She took him from Shen Yuan and cradled him close. Only then did she see his face clearly.
Enormous, grape-round eyes swimming with tears. Long lashes still wet. The moment he settled into Su Jing's arms, the crying stopped; he gazed up at her with wide, curious eyes. Utterly adorable.
"What a sweet little thing…" She pinched his tiny cheek and carried him on, guarding the bundle as though it were made of glass.
Shen Yuan watched the tenderness bloom across her face, and a familiar ache stirred inside him.
She could marry any ordinary man and have children, a home, a whole noisy, laughing household.
With me, she would never have a child.
Would she come to regret it?
* * *
An hour later they reached the market. Su Jing and Shen Yuan had already changed into ordinary clothes and drew no attention on the busy streets.
The baby in Su Jing's arms burst into fresh wails. No amount of rocking or cooing made a difference; his tiny face reddened with fury.
"Do you think he's hungry?" Su Jing looked at Shen Yuan, at a loss.
"I believe so, but where would we find a wet nurse in the middle of a market?" He was equally helpless.
A passing woman with a basket on her arm took pity and marched over.
"Is the young missus running low on milk? No need to be embarrassed—my daughter-in-law just gave birth. She has more than enough. Bring the child to our house and we'll sort it out."
Su Jing had been a wife in her last life, yet being mistaken for a nursing mother was a first. Her cheeks flamed.
Shen Yuan opened his mouth to correct the misunderstanding, but Su Jing was already thanking the woman profusely and following her home.
He had no choice but to stick close to her side.
The woman's home was nearby. Her kind daughter-in-law took the baby, who was indeed ravenous; he drank his fill and fell asleep in seconds.
"Thank you so much!" Su Jing bowed again and again. Shen Yuan added his own respectful nod.
"Oh, it's nothing! What an adorable child—and no wonder, with parents as handsome as you two. It takes a couple like you to produce such a beautiful baby!" The woman chuckled.
The misunderstanding was spiraling. Shen Yuan was about to set the record straight when Su Jing beat him to it.
"My husband and I thank you again."
Husband.
Two syllables, sharp and sweet, that hooked into Shen Yuan's heart and flung it from peak to abyss and back again.
Elation warred with the question he couldn't stop asking himself.
Is this allowed? Do I deserve this?
Two syllables, and every certainty he had ever held crumbled to sand beneath his feet.
Su Jing, however, was purely, incandescently happy. She was certain: they might never be an ordinary couple, but they could still find their way to something wonderful.
* * *
Lost in their separate thoughts, they carried the baby toward the magistrate's office.
A veiled woman stepped into their path.
"My child—that's my child!" Her voice was ragged with desperation. She reached for the bundle in Su Jing's arms.
Shen Yuan was already between them, sword drawn, shielding Su Jing.
"Who are you? How can you prove this child is yours?" His gaze cut like winter.
The woman fumbled in her sleeve and held out half a jade pendant.
"The other half hangs around my baby's neck. Fit them together and see for yourself."
Su Jing checked. A small jade piece dangled from a cord at the infant's throat. She pressed the two halves together. A perfect match, seamless as if they had never been broken.
* * *
The woman's anguish seemed genuine. Su Jing and Shen Yuan exchanged a glance, then placed the baby in her arms.
"Huai'en—Mama is so sorry. I will never lose you again." The woman's eyes rimmed red as she cradled the child.
She told them her story: a young lady of good family who had fallen for one of the household guards and borne a son out of wedlock. Her family had cast her out. The matriarch had even tried to dispose of the child to bury the scandal.
"But do you have a place for you and your son when you go back?" Su Jing asked.
"I knelt outside my father's door for three days. My sincerity moved him. He has agreed to take us in—all three of us. From now on, we will never be separated again."
The woman lifted her face and smiled. Her narrow eyes curved upward at the corners—features that did not belong to the central plains.
"Then I wish you and your family every happiness."
"And I thank you both. If the day comes, I will repay your kindness in full." The woman bowed deeply and disappeared in the opposite direction.
"Did that woman seem a little… odd to you?" Shen Yuan asked quietly.
"Half of what she said rang true; the other half, I'm not so sure." Su Jing frowned. "Her features didn't look local. Something about her reminded me of the people of Qi. But which great family in this city has blood from the Kingdom of Qi? And her voice was strange, too."
* * *
"Shall I go after her?"
"No." Su Jing shook her head. "The way she looked at that baby—that was a mother's eyes. Love like that can't be faked. Let's just wish her well."
She paused. "But still…"
"But still what?"
"I've heard women from Qi are famously petite and pretty. So why is she that tall, while I barely reach your shoulder?" Su Jing pouted.
"Look—" She pressed her palm flat against Shen Yuan's arm, measuring the difference. "Not even close."
Shen Yuan couldn't help it. A laugh escaped him.
"You're laughing at me for being short?!"
Su Jing punched his arm. His laughter only grew louder.
Then he reached down, mussed her hair, and bent until his eyes were level with hers.
"However you are, Your Highness, you will always be the most beautiful person in my world."
The sudden tenderness caught Su Jing off guard. A blush crept up her neck. She whipped around and marched ahead at double speed.
Shen Yuan followed the flustered girl, his gaze soft.
Without realizing it, he had stopped being the lowly servant who locked every feeling away in silence.
He had learned to smile. To blush. To sulk. To lose his temper out of sheer embarrassment.
And every one of those things traced back to a single person.
She was his devout faith—and his most shameful desire.
* * *
Evening. The first lanterns flickered to life.
"Look—that rabbit lantern is beautiful!" Su Jing tugged Shen Yuan through the night market, her head swiveling in every direction.
"Oh! And they have candied hawthorn!" She dragged him to a sweets vendor.
"Your High—"
"Hmm?" Su Jing shot him a look, her voice rising at the end.
Right. She had reminded him at least three times: no titles in public. They were in disguise.
But the name she wanted him to use—those two syllables—simply refused to leave his throat.
"Jing'er…" He forced the word out, his face scarlet.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Jing'er, you've had more than enough sweets today. No more, or you'll ruin your teeth."
"But, darling, I don't want them. The baby does." She rubbed her conspicuously flat stomach with a melodramatic sigh.
The sweets vendor leaned in with a grin.
"Come now, young sir—your wife is that pretty and carrying your child, and you won't buy her a single stick of hawthorn? Where's your heart?"
"Exactly!" The crowd joined in.
Shen Yuan's face turned to stone. He glared at Su Jing, who was laughing so hard she could barely breathe, and grudgingly bought a glistening crimson stick of candied hawthorn and thrust it into her hand.
"Brother Shen, are you angry?" She bit into the hawthorn, crunching happily.
Ha.
Shen Yuan's inner monologue dripped venom. Every time she calls me "Brother Shen," she's either just committed a crime or is on her way to commit one.
"Angry? Why would your husband ever be angry with you, Jing'er?"
Fine. If she wanted this absurd game, he would play.
"Only—"
He leaned in, close enough for his breath to brush her ear.
* * *
"Remember last time you had a cavity, Jing'er? Dr. Wang clamped the iron pliers on the tooth and yanked for half an hour before it budged. He ended up tying a silk thread around it and ripping it out by brute force. The blood, Jing'er—it filled your mouth. Your husband was terrified. You couldn't eat solid food for two weeks."
The hawthorn in Su Jing's hand tasted like ash.
Shen Yuan allowed himself a quiet laugh, one brow arched in triumph.
Su Jing pinched his arm in retaliation, shoved the half-eaten hawthorn into his free hand, and tried to storm off.
Shen Yuan caught her sleeve.
"Jing'er, there are too many people here. Let me hold on to you—I don't want you getting lost."
"That's not how you hold hands." She grumbled, placed her palm flat against his, and laced their fingers together, tight.
"Don't you dare let go. It's crowded and I'm scared." A firm warning.
Shen Yuan had no choice but to let her keep his hand. His composure, however, was another matter altogether. Within minutes, a fine sheen of sweat dampened his palm.
"You like me too, Brother Shen. Don't you? Your hand is shaking." Su Jing pressed.
He dropped his gaze and said nothing. His thoughts remained his own.
Su Jing let the question go. She simply walked beside him, fingers intertwined, through the lantern-lit streets, past market stalls and alleyways.
As though they really were an ordinary couple—walking together until their hair turned white.