Chapter Twenty-Three

Zhi Hao emerged from his exam cell exhausted, hungry, and thinking only of finding Ling Xin. He was unsteady on his feet and had no money to hire a rickshaw to take him to the inn. Master Gao had returned to his home, unwilling to wait three days for the exam to end.

And so Zhi Hao stumbled forward, pushing himself to run despite his exhaustion. He had to know if she was safe. If she was still there. If all of it had been real or a fever dream the night before an exam.

He made it to the inn, ignoring all the well-wishers gathered to greet the students. He rushed up to his room and…

She was there.

She sat at the desk, reading one of his study scrolls. And when she looked up at him, her face lit up with joy. He fell forward at her feet. Dropping his face into her lap, he breathed her in, and he thanked heaven for her. Nothing more. Just her.

"How did it go?"

He shook his head. He didn't know. He couldn't think. All he could do was hold her legs and rest in her lap.

"You must be tired."

He shook his head.

"Hungry?"

Well, yes, he was that.

She lifted his face up to hers. "I have found a way for us to marry. I have everything ready. If you feel up to it, we can get some food on the way."

He blinked up at her. "You don't want to wait? Until we find out—"

"Today, Zhi Hao. I will wait no longer to be your wife."

And so it was done.

He followed her without question. Later, he would ask for details on how she had arranged it. Had she hoarded all his coins? Had she eaten nothing? Where had she found the most delicious bao in China?

Eventually, she explained that she'd met the innkeeper's wife when the lady came to clean the room. Together, the two women had planned it out, and Ling Xin's jade comb paid for everything.

For now, he cared only that the magistrate was kindly, and their vows were traditional. By the time the sun set, they were wed.

That night—back in the same inn—they looked together at the Pillow Book and chose their night activity. Then in the morning, they rose, bathed, and headed out together to face her father.