"General Du, Mayor Yu, Lady Du, Lady Yu," Zi-ning greeted politely once she had alighted from the carriage, ignoring the looks of surprise and judgement coming from everyone present.

"Ah... Who might this be, Zhenghuan?" Lady Du asked, visibly confused.

"This is Miss Han Zi-ning, daughter of Minister Han of the Ministry of Agriculture. She was under orders from the king to travel to Zhuiya with the imperial physicians to solve the issue with the so-called plague. We've since discovered that it was actually a case of gu-du poisoning and the city is recovering well," Zhenghuan replied. "Zi-ning is here because she wishes to visit her older brother, who is serving in one of Father's camps."

The elder General Du frowned. "Older brother? And what is his name?"

"My brother's name is Han Yongxing, General, and I believe he is at the Nanmen camp."

"Yongxing?" A flicker of recognition mixed with surprise appeared in the general's eyes. "That scoundrel never told me that his father was a minister! I shall have to give him a piece of my mind about that." His previously sombre expression vanished, replaced instead by a warm smile, and Zi-ning was heartened to see that her brother seemed to be faring well, at least in the general's eyes. "Your brother has recently been promoted to captain and is leading a group of men on a scouting mission around the Nanmen border. He should be back within the week. I'll summon him to Anyang then so that the both of you can meet."

"My gratitude, General," Zi-ning said, curtseying once again. While she spoke with the general, she noticed somewhat less pleased looks on the faces of the other elders present, particularly Lady Yu and Lady Du. It was only then that she also noticed three other girls, possibly around hers or Meisi's age, hovering behind Lady Du. Two of them bore a close resemblance to the elder General Du, so she guessed that they were likely his daughters—and by extension, Zhenghuan's sisters. The third and prettiest of them had a delicate almond-shaped face and a pert little nose, but there was a viciousness dripping from her large eyes that marred the beauty of all that. Like Meiyan, Zi-ning thought. Whoever that girl was, she would have to be wary about her.

"Well that's quite enough. Let's take the conversation inside, shall we?" Lady Yu said, with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes.

Zi-ning followed everyone into the Yu manor, carefully observing her surroundings. Unlike the homes of government officials in the capital, the mayor's manor was far more humble in stature, comprising only one main hall and four adjoining courtyards and quarters, along with a small garden. However, Zi-ning noticed that the décor of the manor was most exquisite, with a number of rare art pieces hanging from the walls, which suggested that the mayor and his wife were people of good taste.

Perhaps it would not be so bad making their acquaintance after all, she thought.

While Mayor and Lady Yu stayed in the main hall to play host to the Dus, Zixi politely led Zi-ning towards her manor gardens, where tea would be served to the young ladies while they were waiting for dinner to begin. The other three girls also trailed along, with the pretty one still looking blatantly disgruntled by Zi-ning's presence.

They settled around a stone table within a small hexagonal pavilion, overlooking a lotus pond.

"This is the best pu-er tea that we have," Zixi explained as a maidservant poured tea for everyone, "but it will be nothing compared to what you've had in Huangcheng. Please forgive us for our poor hospitality."

"Not at all. It is good tea," Zi-ning said after having taken a sip. "I am not much of a tea connoisseur myself, so this is more than good enough for me."

"At least someone has some self-awareness," a sour voice remarked.

General Du's two daughters shared a giggle, while Zixi immediately shot the third girl a warning glare. "Enling, watch your tone," she chided. "Zi-ning is our guest." She then turned and flashed Zi-ning an apologetic smile. "Enling is still a child. Please forgive her. Allow me to introduce everyone. Enling is Lady Du's niece, visiting from Lianzhou. Aiwei and Aiying are General Du and Lady Du's daughters, born one year apart."

The conversation shifted to more mundane topics—like life in the capital and the latest jewellery designs that had arrived in Anyang—although the hostility that Enling displayed towards Zi-ning did not lessen in the slightest, despite Zixi's reminder.

A while later, Zhenghuan appeared in the garden, bearing news that dinner was ready to be served in the main hall. The minute he arrived, Zi-ning noticed that Enling sat a little straighter in her seat and a slight blush spread across the latter's cheeks.

Ah, so that's why, she thought. It seemed that Zhenghuan had no shortage of peach blossom luck back here in his hometown, first in the form of his so-called fiancée, Yu Zixi, and then in this little cousin of his, Li Enling. It was almost funny how the girls in the capital shunned the Shadow Lord with their lives, painting him to be some deformed, ferocious monster (with the exception of Princess Xuan, of course), yet here in Anyang, all these girls seemed to be treating him like some sort of priceless treasure.

As they made their way back to the main hall, Enling immediately latched on to Zhenghuan, linking her arm with his.

"Cousin Zhenghuan, will you tell us about some of your adventures in the capital? You've been gone for so long, I've missed you so much!" Enling said, eyes widened as if she were a curious child.

She's certainly playing the part of an adoring younger sister very well.

Zi-ning was surprised by her own saltiness, the moment the thought crossed her mind. Maybe it was because Enling reminded her too much of Meiyan, and how the latter loved putting on these acts.

"What adventures? I was there on official duty. There's nothing interesting to speak of," Zhenghuan replied brusquely, pulling his arm out of her grasp.

The smile on Enling's face stiffened uncomfortably, although she quickly brushed the disappointment aside. "Tell us everything!" she insisted. "I've never been to the capital before, so everything will be interesting to me. You must take me along the next time you go there."

"Enling, Zhenghuan already said that he went to Huangcheng on official business. How could he possibly bring you along?" Zixi chided, although there was no malice in her voice whatsoever. "My mother did say that she wanted to make a trip to the capital sometime soon, to visit some relatives, so maybe you can come with us then."

Zi-ning wondered if Zixi knew about Enling's affections for Zhenghuan, considering the blatant display the latter was making of it. Was Yu Zixi truly that magnanimous? Or was she none the wiser?

"Cousin Zhenghuan, will you come with us then?" Enling asked, directing her attention back towards Zhenghuan. "You can show us around, since you're much more familiar with the capital than we are."

"We'll see," Zhenghuan replied noncommittally. Zi-ning caught him throwing a sideways glance in her direction, but she simply rubbed the tip of her nose and looked the other way, pretending not to notice. He could bask in all these peach blossoms for all she cared.

The atmosphere at dinner was warm and congenial, with a wide spread of delectable southern delicacies whipped up in honour of Zhenghuan's return. Two tables had been set up—one for the men and one for the women—and so Zi-ning had to be seated with Lady Yu, Lady Du and all the other young ladies of the two households. On the next table, separated by a translucent folding screen, was Mayor Yu, General Du, Zhenghuan, Zhang Mingshen and Zhenghuan's younger brother, Du Zhengyi.

"How could the king have decided to send a young unmarried lady like yourself all the way to Zhuiya? Did your parents not object to this?" Lady Yu remarked, with a face full of false concern. Zi-ning was certain that the lady had intentionally spoken so loudly that even the men on the other table would be able to hear.

She smiled. "I was the one who volunteered to go to Zhuiya," she replied truthfully.

"You volunteered? But your reputation! Surely you must realise the implications of making such a decision."

"My reputation is secondary compared to the lives of so many citizens of Duan. Besides me and my teacher, no one else was able to administer the specific needle technique that could expel the gu-du from the bodies of the sick, and because time was of the essence, I chose to make the journey so that I could also impart the technique to the imperial physicians along the way," Zi-ning explained.

"There's no need to exaggerate," Enling said, her voice dripping with scorn. "The imperial physicians are the best in the kingdom. Why would they ever need someone like you to teach them anything? Even if you want to brag, at least have some common sense."

"Zi-ning is the sole disciple of Lady Li Wanle," Zhenghuan's voice drifted from across the screen.

Varying levels of shock filtered across the faces of everyone present.

"Lady Li of the Guilin Li clan?" General Du asked. Zi-ning thought she caught a hint of bitterness flicker in Lady Du's eyes when she heard that.

"Yes, which I think will suffice to explain why Zi-ning's skills are above that of even the imperial physicians," Zhenghuan said.

With that clarification, the matter of Zi-ning overexaggerating her accomplishments was put to rest, leaving Enling with an expression as dark as stormy skies. There were no other incidents that occurred during the dinner, with the exception of Zhenghuan and Zixi's potential engagement being raised once by Lady Yu and Lady Du, only to be quickly shut down by General Du on the pretext that this was not the right time to be discussing that matter, since it was meant to be a welcome dinner for Zhenghuan.

By the end of the night, Zi-ning had done a quick assessment of everyone in the Du and Yu households.

General Du seemed to be a forthright man, whose concerns lay with the security of the kingdom more than anything else, while Mayor Yu was kindly, albeit a little subservient towards his wife. Du Zhengyi, younger son to General and Lady Du, was a quiet figure who barely said two words throughout the span of the night, making it difficult for her to figure out what sort of a person he really was.

The two ladies of the household appeared magnanimous and gracious, but both of them had a shrewdness to them that made Zi-ning feel like they often did not mean what they said, and that there were several layers hidden behind each simple sentence. She had seen plenty of such women in her previous life, her stepmother Lady Min being one of them, but she had been too naïve to see through their charades back then. As for the younger ladies, the Du sisters were both bubbly and vivacious, with none of the pretentiousness that ladies in the capital had, although Du Aiwei seemed to be regard her with a little more reservation, likely because the latter seemed to be on close terms with Enling.

As for Zhenghuan's two peach blossoms, Yu Zixi was gracious and polite as she had always been, with an effervescence and spirit that made Zi-ning genuinely take a liking to her, while Enling was the opposite, with words constantly dripping with venom and disdain. It was tiring, Zi-ning thought, to have to deal with yet another version of Han Meiyan even though she was so far from the capital.

It was a good thing that none of these people were any of her concern. She was here because of Yongxing, and she was determined to save her brother's life this time.