Zhenghuan was alone in his study, sorting through a pile of military reports to decide which he would need to bring back with him to the capital. He was officially not meant to return to Huangcheng, given that the Shadow army was permanently stationed by the border, but he had already written in secret to the king to seek permission in lieu of "personal matters", which his uncle had readily granted. He could have, of course, allowed Lady Li to carry out all the betrothal processes on his behalf, but he did not want to. He wanted to do everything personally.

A smug smile tugged upon his lips as he went through the list of things that would have to be done inside his mind. A betrothal was not to be taken lightly, because the importance accorded to the protocols and processes reflected the importance with which the groom's family regarded the bride.

I must hunt a pair of wild geese, he thought gleefully to himself. Wild geese were not easy to come by, so most families would make do with domestic geese or wooden carvings instead, but he would not have that. Zi-ning deserved only the best.

A stray thought suddenly intruded into his mind. What was it like when the eighth prince had delivered the betrothal gifts in Zi-ning's past life? Although he had no animosity towards Ru-wen, and he knew that this had all been part of Ru-an's plotting, it still left a sour taste lingering at the back of his throat.

However well Ru-wen had done before, he had to do better.

He had already sent word to his mother in Shandu, to ask her to return to Huangcheng to handle the betrothal protocols. If everything went smoothly, then Lady Li should arrive back at the capital around one to two weeks after them, which left a good amount of time for him to get things ready—and hunt some geese.

A knock came at the doors.

Zhenghuan looked up, frowning when he saw Enling standing there, carrying a wooden tray with a porcelain bowl on it.

"It's late. You shouldn't be here, Enling," he said.

"Zhenghuan-ge, I just came to say goodbye because you'll be leaving tomorrow," Enling replied, ignoring Zhenghuan's remark and entering the room. She walked over to his side, setting the tray down on the table. "I made some chicken soup. Will you try some?"

"I'm full," he replied curtly. He still remembered the caustic and accusatory remarks that Enling had flung at Zi-ning when they had returned from the desert, and he had no patience for this supposed second cousin of his right now. If not for the fact that she was a girl, he would have picked her up by the collar and thrown her out of the room already.

"Zhenghuan-ge, are you angry with me? I know I shouldn't have said those things about Han Zi-ning earlier. I apologise! I just..."

Tears began rolling down Enling's cheeks, and it only made Zhenghuan even more disgusted with her. She leaned in as if she wanted to rest herself against him, and he quickly took one step to the side. A strong waft of her floral perfume floated into his nostrils, making him want to sneeze.

Her wrinkled up his nose, moving to the other side of the table to put some distance between them.

"Zhenghuan-ge, don't you know how I feel about you? I don't have to be your principal wife. I'm happy enough if you'll allow me to stay by your side as a concubine, or even a maidservant. Will you please take me with you to Huangcheng?" the girl begged.

"Enling, you don't know what you're saying. Leave my room now," he commanded.

To his horror, Enling rushed towards him and threw her arms around his waist. "Please don't chase me away. I love you so much, surely you must know that. I promise I won't create trouble for Han Zi-ning, as long as you allow me to be with you!"

Suddenly, the doors to the study were shut from the outside. Zhenghuan pushed Enling away and walked over to the exit, only to find that the doors had been locked.

This is a trap.

He turned back towards the girl, eyes flashing dangerously. "What are you trying to do?" he asked.

His head was beginning to feel heavy, and his vision started to blur. The room seemed to start swimming. A few versions of Enling walked slowly towards him, merging and dissociating over and over.

"Enling, you're out of your mind. This is the Du manor—how dare you do something like this!" he tried to scold, but his words came out as a garbled mess. He leaned against the door frame, trying to steady himself.

A gush of warmth was beginning to rise inside him, running up his spine and towards his head.

Shit.

"Stay away," he said, holding his hand out in front of him.

The girl had somehow managed to administer some form of spring drug on him, and it was likely an extremely strong one too, given how quickly it had taken effect.

"Zhenghuan-ge, are you alright?" he heard her ask as she came closer to him. "Is it... too hot in here?"

Enling undid the sash around her waist and slipped off her outer robes. revealing her bare shoulders and the pink silk undergarments she was wearing beneath. Zhenghuan averted his gaze, biting hard on his lower lip to keep himself sober. The drug was messing with his mind, making him uncertain of what was reality and what was a dream.

He felt a pair of arms circle around his neck, and a girl's bosom press against his chest.

"Zhenghuan-ge, don't you know how much I like you? I'm sure you feel something for me too, right?" a breathy voice whispered into his right ear.

He wanted to push her away, but he could not muster the strength to. It was taking enough energy just to stand upright. The heat inside him continued to rage on, threatening to burn him alive unless he did something to relieve himself.

Hands were fumbling at the crossfolds of his robes, trying to undo them. A voice calling out his name over and over.

He looked up. A girl's face appeared before him, so close that he could feel her breath against his cheek. His vision blurred once again, and when it cleared, the face seemed to have changed.

Was this real?

"Zi-ning?" he called.

#

Zi-ning's left eye had been twitching the entire night. They were due to leave Anyang tomorrow morning, but somehow she had the uneasy feeling that something bad was going to happen. She poured herself a cup of tea to soothe her own nerves. Perhaps it was the betrothal news that was making her anxious. A side effect of the insecurities she had brought over from her past life.

Zhenghuan is not Ru-an, she reminded herself for the umpteenth time. She knew that to be true, and yet she couldn't stop her own imagination from spiraling out of control from time to time. She sighed.

Everything had taken on a different path in this lifetime, but only the heavens knew whether or not it would work out for the better or worse.

The doors to her room suddenly flew open, and a figure stumbled in.

Zi-ning's eyes widened with alarm.

"Zhenghuan?" she exclaimed.

Something was clearly not right though. Zhenghuan was barely able to keep himself on his feet, staggering in a zig-zag manner until he crashed into the circular table in the centre of the room. His face was flushed and his eyes unfocused.

Zi-ning rushed over and grabbed hold of his wrist, quickly feeling for his pulse. She quickly held her breath when she detected the slightest whiff of a qingning flowers that lingered upon his clothes.

Chunxi-xiang. This was one of the strongest spring drugs that was available out there. If the victim did not give in to the aphrodisiac effects of the drug, then it could potentially lead to internal organ failure and death.

She helped Zhenghuan over to the bed, then hurriedly searched through her belongings for her set of acupuncture needles.

"Zi-ning," he murmured, over and over.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine," she said, gently caressing his cheek. Then, she sprung into action. Thankfully, despite its potency, chunxi-xiang was not difficult to counter. It would take twelve needles to twelve acupuncture points to force the poison out of the body. She placed needle after needle carefully in the required positions.

Once the final needle was in, Zhenghuan's discomfort visibly went away. The tension in his shoulders dissipated and the flush in his cheeks gradually subsided. His eyes slowly opened.

"What happened?" he asked, still in a daze.

"I should ask you that question," Zi-ning said drily. "You were the one who stumbled into my quarters after having taken a spring drug."

Zhenghuan blanched. He rubbed his temples. "It was Enling," he said. "She had some perfume on her... It was my fault. I was too careless." He glanced down at his robes, looking appalled. "Did you... Uh..."

Zi-ning scowled and jabbed him with a needle she was still holding between her fingers. Zhenghuan's face scrunched up in anguish.

"If you had hoped to get the poison neutralised through a different method, then you should have stayed with Li Enling," she said.

Zhenghuan pulled a face, resting his chin on Zi-ning's shoulder. "Shouldn't you praise me for being able to withstand the effects of the drug? They even locked the doors! Do you know how much effort I had to put in to escape?" he complained.

"You didn't have to try so hard. Your dear Cousin Enling must be devastated."

Li Enling was too brazen. How could she dare think of doing such a thing in the Du manor? But on second thoughts, her actions must have had the silent approval of Lady Du, else Zhenghuan's own guards should have been stationed outside his quarters. Someone must have lured them away, and Li Enling certainly would not have that authority.

"Your future husband was almost violated! Surely you should defend my honour," Zhenghuan exclaimed.

"Like you said, it's in the future. I can still change my mind," Zi-ning said, pushing his forehead away from her. She stood up and walked over to the table, pouring herself a cup of water. "Anyway I've purged all the poison from your circulation, so you'll live. You might feel a little dizzy for the next few hours though. That's normal and to be expected."

"Very useful having a physician for a wife," Zhenghuan mused to himself.

Someone knocked on the door, and the voice of a maidservant came drifting in.

"Miss Han, are you still awake? Lady Du has called for an audience with everyone in the household at the main hall."

Zi-ning shot Zhenghuan a look of disdain. "Looks like Cousin Enling isn't giving up quite yet," she said.

#

When Zi-ning stepped into the main hall, her gaze landed upon the trembling girl seated near the front of the room. The thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders did little to hide the bluish-grey bruise lining her neck.

"What exactly did you do to her?" Zi-ning whispered to Zhenghuan.

"I can't remember clearly because I was in a daze, but I think I might have hauled her by the neck and thrown her out of the room?" he whispered back.

General Du and Lady Du were seated at the head of the hall, both wearing stormy expressions upon their faces.

"Get in here right now!" the old general bellowed, wagging his finger at Zhenghuan.

Zi-ning followed Zhenghuan to the front, taking their seats across from the sniffling Enling.

She had to admit that she was impressed with Li Enling's ability to be so utterly shameless in order to achieve her goals. Even after having been thrown out so unceremoniously, she still dared to appear in front of everyone this way.

"Zhenghuan, how could you have done something like this? Enling is still an unmarried girl! For the sake of her reputation, you must marry her," Lady Du demanded, slamming her palm against the table.

"What did I do?" Zhenghuan asked nonchalantly.

"What did you do?! The poor child was found unconscious outside your quarters, with her clothes in disarray, and those injures! You dare say you were not responsible for that!" General Du scolded.

"Maybe you should ask her what she did."

Enling broke into fitful sobs. "Zhenghuan-ge, I know that you only care about Han Zi-ning, but after what happened, my reputation is ruined. Won't you take pity on me and take me in? I already said that I am content with just being a concubine, or even a maidservant in your household," she said.

"Nonsense! Your uncle and I won't possibly let you be relegated to the position of a mere concubine," Lady Du chided. She glanced purposefully in Zi-ning's direction. "Even if you cannot be Zhenghuan's principal wife, you can still be his secondary wife."

In a household's hierarchy, a secondary wife was lower in rank only to the principal wife, and above all other concubines.

"There will only ever be one woman in my household, and that woman is Zi-ning," Zhenghuan declared. "Even if there wasn't Zi-ning, I will never marry Enling. How could I possibly accept a woman who tried to use a spring drug on me? If I hadn't been strong enough to resist and thrown her out of the room, the consequences would have been dire."

"What?" the elder General Du exclaimed. Even Lady Du looked shocked by this revelation.

Enling fell to her knees. "Zhenghuan-ge, I was wrong! I shouldn't have done that! It was only because I love you too much. I can't live without you. Won't you forgive me?" she begged.

"Enling, how could you do something like that!" Lady Du wore a pained expression on her face. She turned towards Zhenghuan. "Zhenghuan, Enling made a mistake. She shouldn't have done something like that. But even so... Many of our servants saw her lying outside your door with only her undergarments on... She may not deserve the position of your principal or secondary wife, but perhaps a small concubine..."

"If that's the case..." Zhenghuan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Zi-ning stole a sideways glance at him, wondering what he was brewing in that head of his.

"...maybe you should ask my wife what she thinks? If Zi-ning is willing to take Enling in, then I have no problems with it."

Zi-ning balked. This was his brilliant plan? Throwing the problem to her?

Enling crawled over to her, grabbing hold of her leg. "Please, Zi-ning-jie, please take pity on me. All I ask for is a place in the household. I won't compete with you for anything!"

"I have the utmost sympathy for your circumstances," Zi-ning began. A flicker of hope appeared in Enling's eyes. "But I'm afraid I am not a generous sort of person. I do not wish to share my husband with anyone, so if the Shadow Lord wishes to marry me, then it shall have to be as he promised—that I shall be the only woman in his household."

She could see the slight smirk on Zhenghuan's face, and she dearly wanted to smack it away.

"Zi-ning, how could you be so selfish? It is only normal for a man to have many women in his household. It is not possible for you to be the only one!" Lady Du reprimanded.

"That's enough," General Du intervened. "If this is Zhenghuan's decision then so be it. Enling must accept the consequences of her own actions. The best we can do is to ensure that none of the servants ever speak of a word of this to anyone, so there will be no impact to her reputation."

"But, but—"

A stern glare from the elder general silenced Lady Du, leaving her no choice but to wring her handkerchief sullenly. Enling burst out in tears, but other than her own aunt, no one else in the room would have any sympathy for her.

When Zi-ning turned toward Zhenghuan, the latter quietly gave her a thumbs up.

Lady Du might be right about her being selfish, but she was done caring about what others thought. In her previous life, she had been ever so selfless, to the point of sacrificing her marriage and happiness in order to fulfill the ambitions of the man she loved. In the end, her own sister had stolen everything from her.

Never again, she vowed. Never again.