When Wen Shuyu woke, her head throbbed slightly, her throat felt dry, and her lips still ached faintly.
She must have drunk too much last night.
Shaking her head gently, she slowly regained her senses.
Sunlight streamed warmly through the window, brushing her face. After a moment, she lowered her lashes and rose from the couch.
Xiao Liu was about to step forward and ask how she felt when Fu Ling, who had been waiting outside, heard the movement and came in. Xiao Liu quickly vanished into hiding.
Fu Ling handed her a small bowl of hangover soup. “Miss, you’re awake? I prepared this for you.”
Wen Shuyu drank it in one go but still felt her lips a little sore. She turned to Fu Ling, saying, “Fu Ling, fetch me a bronze mirror. I want to see something.”
Fu Ling handed her the mirror.
Wen Shuyu lightly traced her reddened lips with her fingertips, a flicker of confusion in her gaze.
After a moment of thought, she looked at Fu Ling, suddenly understanding. “Fu Ling, I think… last night, did I forcibly kiss Xiao Jingchen? He’s a proper gentleman, but I wouldn’t let go, and he bit me, which is why I released him.”
“I get lustful when drunk… I must have made a move on him and kissed him.”
“He must have struggled desperately, and I wouldn’t let go. Our lips… both got red from it.”
“Yes, yes, exactly! Poor Xiao Jingchen, once again taken advantage of by a drunken me.”
Fu Ling blushed. She had noticed last night that Miss’s lips were redder than usual, but as an unmarried lady, she felt it inappropriate to ask.
She nodded. “It seems so, Miss. I also saw that His Highness’s lips were slightly red last night.”
Wen Shuyu chuckled, completely without guilt, and got up from the couch.
Her gaze fell on a jade hairpin glowing faintly with spiritual energy beside the makeup chest. She asked, “What’s this?”
Fu Ling shook her head. “I don’t know, Miss. Last night, when the Crown Prince returned you, I helped you wash up and removed it from your hair.”
Wen Shuyu rubbed her head, trying to remember. “I don’t have a hairpin like this… it must be from Xiao Jingchen.”
“Could it be that he felt guilty after biting me during the struggle, so he gave me this hairpin as compensation?”
She thought it made perfect sense. She stepped forward and ran her fingers over the hairpin. Hmm, not bad—it was quite pretty.
Xiao Liu, hidden nearby, approved silently.
After washing up, Wen Shuyu sent for breakfast. During the meal, she noticed Fu Ling fiddling with a lantern.
Sensing her gaze, Fu Ling looked up and asked, “Miss, tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. Young couples often go to the river to release lanterns, wishing for lasting love. Would you like to invite the Crown Prince to go with you?”
Wen Shuyu opened her Forty-Two Strategies, her fingers resting on Fragrant Whispers, a deep meaning flashing in her eyes.
Her lips curved into a smile. “Of course. This is the perfect opportunity.”
The Lantern Festival was an important occasion in the Xiao Kingdom. Apart from young couples pledging lifelong devotion, children would write wishes on paper for the heavens, and families would release sky lanterns in memory of deceased loved ones.
That night, Wen Shuyu sneaked into the Bamboo Courtyard’s bedchamber. “Prince Brother, are you asleep yet?”
Xiao Jingchen: “…”
At this hour, he wouldn’t normally be asleep anyway.
He cleared his throat and glanced toward the door. “Come in. I’m not asleep.”
Wen Shuyu zipped inside in a flash.
She looked at him, who was flipping through documents at the desk, tears welling in her eyes. Sobbing softly, she said, “Prince Brother, do you know what day it is today?”
Xiao Jingchen’s gaze fell on the jade hairpin in her hair, then shifted to the tears at her eyes’ corners. His fingertips paused slightly. “The Lantern Festival.”
“Prince Brother, you know… I’ve been motherless since childhood,” Wen Shuyu said, her moist eyes looking pitiful. “Could you accompany me to the festival and help me release a lantern for my mother?”
“Come,” Xiao Jingchen said, gesturing with his hand for her to follow.
As Wen Shuyu walked over, he took a clean handkerchief with his slender fingers and gently wiped the two tears from her eyes. He spoke softly: “Don’t be sad. I’ll go with you.”
As if to comfort her, he added, “I also lost my mother shortly after birth.”
The two exchanged a glance and fell silent.
Thus, two motherless little souls went together to the capital’s Lantern Festival.
Meanwhile, in Kun Ning Palace, Empress Gu and Emperor Chongguang were painting intimately together.
“Your Majesty, this spot would look better.”
Chongguang Emperor held Empress Gu’s hand as they painted. At some point, his gaze drifted to her unchanged, ethereal beauty.
“It is beautiful.”
The brush had somehow rolled to the floor. The Emperor wrapped his arms around Empress Gu’s waist, moving toward the couch, ready to indulge in a private passion…