Mĕilì sat on the floor cushion for a long while, unsure if she should move. The elderly maidservant had delivered a pot of hot water with several bags of tea for her to try, but she left quickly to meet the general in the courtyard. She said she would return as per Ānníng’s orders and with a new maidservant to be assigned to the princess. Mĕilì didn’t know if she was supposed to wait where she sat, or if she was allowed to look around her husband’s room.

 Finally growing bored enough to take the risk, she left the tea table and began to look over all of his interesting belongings. She went to the potted flowers and trees first. She smelled and touched and admired their beauty. She picked up scrolls from a shelf and tried to understand them. Unfortunately, she was never taught completely how to read or write, so she rolled them back up and moved on to his desk.

 He had a simply carved stand for ink brushes, an ink stone, and nice new mulberry paper she knew was fairly expensive for commoners. She lifted a carved jade block and looked at the bottom to see his seal engraved on it.

 She set it down and walked over to paintings on one wall that seemed to be of Ānníng and his warhorse. There were what she believed to be wall scrolls of poetry as well as battle, and she was fascinated by the contrast in his interests.

 As she moved around that part of the side room, she found her way to his armor. This one didn’t look like the one he wore when they met. It seemed ceremonial. On top of the wooden stand was the helmet she remembered.

 Qīn'ài or Năinai or whatever she was supposed to be called had brought a younger soldier with her to deliver the tea. He had hurried in to leave the masked helmet and rushed out again as though being in her presence was forbidden. She supposed it was an apprentice, though she didn’t recall seeing him before that moment.

 She looked up at the helmet and lifted the bottom piece to look underneath. Needing to see more, she lifted the whole thing from the rounded top of the stand and held it in her hands. It was heavy and thicker than she imagined. The mouth guard that was shaped like the bottom of a tiger’s face was connected to the sides of the helmet with metal rings instead of it all being in one piece.

 She thought back to the moment he suddenly appeared in the carriage after she awoke covered in blood. She could still feel the deathly chill that ran through her as she stared at the snarling teeth and believed she was about to meet her fate for the murder she had committed. She set it back on the stand as she tried desperately to shake away the memory.

 As she was reaching to put it up, the front of her robe caught on something. She looked down and saw a sword. It wasn’t like the tiger sword she had seen on him. It had a tiger but this one looked to be for ceremonial purposes like the armor it was attached to.

 Chewing her lip in contemplation, she allowed curiosity to win out and lifted it from its sheath. As the full weight was raised above her, she stumbled back and tried in vain not to fall. Just as she began teetering backward, certain the sword would slice her in two, a strong arm caught her and a large hand gripped the sword over her hands.

 She quickly looked up and behind her to see Ānníng grinning from ear to ear.

 “Is my sweet wife planning to overthrow my manor?” he chuckled and laughed harder when she blushed.

 She straightened as he helped her and released the sword so he could replace it.

 “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I was bored and curious.”

 He smiled at her and patted the side of her head. “No need to be sorry, angel. You can look around all you want, but be careful of dangerous things like sharp swords,” he told her as he put the sword back into its place.

 She shut her eyes tightly as the memory of the bandit flashed before her mind’s eye. She shook her head quickly to free herself of the vision. Sighing deeply, she smiled at his tolerance of her nosiness and watched as he took her hand and led her to his bed. Her eyes grew large and she stopped walking.

 He felt a tug on his hand and looked back to see she had stopped. He suddenly realized what she could be thinking.

 “I only want to sit and talk,” he explained. “I brought you something.”

 She followed as he sat on the wooden edge of the bed. She sat beside him as he instructed and watched as he placed a large bag onto the blanket. He untied it to reveal a new set of robes, new shoes and socks, new underclothes, and new bedclothes.

 Within that bag was a smaller bag that he shook to pour out a new comb, a jade bracelet, and a pretty wooden hairpin carved in the shape of a flower. She held her face in her hands and began to cry.

 He pulled her close and patted her back. “Why are you crying, angel?”

 “Everything is so beautiful and it’s for me,” she cried against his chest.

 He kissed the top of her head and pulled her away.

 “Get used to it,” he said matter-of-factly. “This is only what I picked up on the quick trip to the market with Chéng. We’ll be getting a lot more tomorrow. I wanted to get you something for tonight and in the morning. I, also, wanted to get you this.”

 She wiped away her tears as he pulled something from another bag. He handed it to her with a smile. She gasped and giggled as she took the new tiger doll and held it tightly against her face. She pulled it away to look it over and touched its nose with the tip of her finger.

 It was made of white silk with embroidered golden eyes, black stripes, black pads on its feet, a little red smile and a little red nose. There were whiskers embroidered in silver along the sides of its face. Inside of its ears was pink silk. Its white and black tail was long and floppy like her rabbit’s ears, and she immediately twisted it around her hand as she held it against her once again.

 “I’m sorry it isn’t a rabbit,” he said, though he could see she didn’t care. “I saw the way you were looking at the tigers on my sword and my armor. At the risk of seeming arrogant, I thought you would like to cuddle something that represents your husband.”

 Mĕilì laughed and jumped up to hug him around the neck. “It’s wonderful! Thank you!”

 He laughed again at her cheerfulness and hugged her tightly.

 “All right, angel, enough,” he said softly as he pulled away. “I have to take off this armor, then I want to show you to your new room.”

 She watched him cross the room to the side with all of his military things. She played with the tiger while he removed his sword belt, armor, and even the bracers around his forearms. He brought over a pair of common black boots and sat on the bed to change out of the sturdy battle-ready ones he had on.

 She looked him over as he stood and pulled her new things back into the bundle. He was wearing a black robe over a dark red one with a deep red belt over the black.

 “Come with me,” he said as he held out his hand for her. “I’ve had dinner brought to your new room, and I’ll have hot water brought there for you to take a bath, as well.”

 She took his hand and followed him from the room and down the corridor leading to hers. It wasn’t a far distance. They even shared the same large courtyard. This made her close her eyes and sigh quietly in relief.