When Yongkang came bounding over to look for Daiyu, she happened to run straight into Chu Heng, who was also on his way there. Brother and sister collided right at the entrance to the courtyard.
Chu Heng struck first. “Have you finished copying the Book of Rites?”
Yongkang waved her right hand in front of his eyes. “Fifth Brother, take a look—do you know how many characters there are in the Book of Rites?”
“That little bit, and you still can’t finish it in a day? You’re clearly slacking off. Go back and keep copying,” Chu Heng said coldly. “Two more times. Hand it in to me before evening recitation today.”
“I can’t right now,” Yongkang protested. “I have something to discuss with Sister Lin.”
Chu Heng asked, “What business do you have with Miss Lin?”
Yongkang clutched her left sleeve. “Not telling you!”
As she spoke, Daiyu came out of the courtyard with a few maids and smiled at them. “Is this place blessed with good feng shui? Both Your Highness and the Princess are chatting here.”
Yongkang hurried over and grabbed Daiyu’s hand, whispering, “Sister Lin, I’ve got something good. Let’s talk quietly—don’t let Fifth Brother know.”
Daiyu smiled. “Your Highness is putting me in a difficult position. At this hour, I already have an appointment with His Highness.”
Yongkang was just about to tease her when she suddenly remembered that she still hadn’t finished copying the Book of Rites. She immediately shut her mouth.
Chu Heng took a couple of steps forward and asked with a smile, “What good thing? Tell me about it.”
Yongkang shook her head. “No way—you’ll just go tattling again!”
“I won’t,” Chu Heng promised. “I’ll keep it secret for you.”
Yongkang eyed him suspiciously. “Really?”
Chu Heng turned to Daiyu with a smile. “Miss Lin can vouch for me.”
“Huh?” Daiyu looked at him in confusion.
Chu Heng blinked innocently. “Miss Lin, are you unwilling?”
Daiyu laughed. “Very well, I’m willing to vouch for His Highness.”
Chu Heng froze for a moment, unable to tear his eyes away from Daiyu’s smiling face.
Yongkang clenched her teeth and stamped her foot. “Fine then… come in with me.”
As she spoke, she grabbed one person with each hand and dragged them into the inner room.
Chu Heng cleared his throat and turned his head away, trying to cover up his momentary lapse, but before he knew it, he had turned back again to look at Daiyu.
After they were seated, Daiyu instructed Ziqi to pour water and tea. Yongkang fished out a bulging pouch from her sleeve.
The noise caught Chu Heng’s attention. He glanced over and couldn’t help but laugh helplessly. “What have you hidden in there? It looks so heavy…”
Before he could finish speaking, Yongkang pulled out a piece of dried meat. “Look! What’s this!”
“You—” Chu Heng was speechless. He hadn’t expected her to be so bold—coming along with the Empress Dowager to worship at a temple, yet daring to secretly bring dried meat.
Daiyu hurriedly covered it with her handkerchief, trying to hide both the dried meat and the pouch. “Princess, this really shouldn’t be seen!”
“That’s why I said we should keep it secret,” Yongkang grinned.
Daiyu: “……”
Chu Heng: “……”
“Meat and wine pass through the gut, the Buddha remains in the heart,” Yongkang declared righteously. “I’m not a Buddhist disciple anyway, and I didn’t kill anything in the temple…”
Chu Heng rubbed his forehead. “Stop talking.”
Yongkang pouted, swallowing the rest of her words unwillingly. She lifted Daiyu’s handkerchief and tried to take a bite of the dried meat she was holding.
Daiyu reacted swiftly, grabbing her hand. “Princess… do you still have more?”
Yongkang said gloomily, “I didn’t expect the vegetarian meals to be so hard to swallow, so I only brought two packets. Now there’s only half a packet left.”
She had already eaten more than one packet herself. With two more days before returning to the palace, she had brought the remainder to share with Daiyu…
It was, after all, a token of the Princess’s goodwill, and Daiyu felt a flicker of warmth—after all, Yongkang hadn’t even thought of her own elder brother.
Still, as the saying went, when you enter a village, you follow its customs. Since they were staying at a temple, they had to respect its rules. That was proper conduct as guests.
There was no way Daiyu would eat meat.
“That’s fine,” Chu Heng said, reaching out and claiming all the dried meat. “I’ll keep it for you and give it back when we return to the palace.”
Yongkang’s eyes widened. “Fifth Brother, you said you wouldn’t tattle…”
“I’m not tattling,” Chu Heng replied. “But you’re not allowed to sneak meat again.”
Yongkang shot Daiyu a pitiful look. “Sister Lin, help me out too.”
“Thank you for your kindness,” Daiyu said. “But Princess, I won’t eat it either.”
Yongkang’s shoulders drooped. After a moment, she looked at the two of them hopefully. “Just one bite, then. A tiny little bite—it’s really fragrant!”
Chu Heng and Daiyu shook their heads in unison. “No!”
“Really f—” Yongkang swallowed the four characters that had almost burst out of her mouth, lest she end up with no meat and two extra rounds of copying the Book of Rites.
Husband sings, wife follows; wife sings, husband follows!
Breathing through the same nostril!
Chu Heng said, “We’ll be back in the palace in two days. Once we’re back, you can eat as much as you want—no one will stop you.”
Yongkang stormed off angrily to copy the Book of Rites, leaving Chu Heng and Daiyu staring at the packet of dried meat.
After a while, Chu Heng said, “That girl is really…”
Daiyu replied, “At least no one else knows. Your Highness should keep it properly.”
Chu Heng handed it to Zhao Qing and instructed, “Hide it well. Don’t let anyone see it.”
Zhao Qing bowed. “Yes, Your Highness. Rest assured.”
Thinking of Yongkang, Chu Heng shook his head again. Only then did his surroundings register—he was in Daiyu’s room.
Yongkang and the dried meat were instantly forgotten. Wait—how had he ended up in Daiyu’s room?
Before today, Chu Heng had never even stepped past the gate of Daiyu’s courtyard. How had he, without realizing it, already… crossed the threshold and entered?
A familiar, delicate fragrance lingered in the room. Chu Heng’s limbs went numb. Bracing himself against the table, he stood up, his voice unsteady. “Miss… Miss Lin, it’s time to… to go.”
Daiyu looked at him in puzzlement. “Hm… didn’t we say yesterday that we’d go fishing today?” At this point she suddenly smiled. “Luckily the Princess doesn’t know we’re going fishing, or I wouldn’t know how we’d manage today.”
Chu Heng clearly couldn’t process her words right away. He forced a stiff smile, but at least his speech was clear. “Miss Lin, let’s go.”
Daiyu nodded and deliberately lagged a step behind him. Watching his awkward posture, she was utterly perplexed. What was going on?
Why had the Prince of Duan been acting so strangely these past couple of days?
Daiyu thought it over carefully. There was nothing wrong with their interactions; the Empress Dowager seemed satisfied with them and had stopped stirring up trouble—perhaps she was simply too occupied with the eldest and second princes to spare them attention.
All in all, everything seemed fine.
Perhaps the Prince of Duan had other matters on his mind. Daiyu reached this conclusion—they were not the sort of people who could talk about everything.
A breeze drifted from behind, carrying that faint fragrance straight into Chu Heng’s chest. He halted abruptly. It was the same scent that filled Daiyu’s room.
So it was Daiyu’s own scent.
The thought flashed through Chu Heng’s mind. His face instantly flushed red, and he froze, utterly at a loss.
Seeing this, Daiyu asked, “Your Highness, what’s wrong?”
Chu Heng didn’t dare look at her, fearing any hint of impropriety. He turned his head away and stammered, “N-nothing.”
Daiyu grew even more puzzled, her curiosity inevitably piqued. What on earth was going on?
But she knew she couldn’t ask.
……
Yongkang sulked for two days, and at last the Empress Dowager prepared to return to the palace.
The luggage had all been packed the day before. Daiyu and Chu Heng would accompany the Empress Dowager into the palace first, then each return to their own residences. Knowing there would be a long day of travel, Daiyu gave up the fishing she had grown fond of over the past two days and instead rested quietly to conserve her strength.
“The temple truly nurtures people,” Daiyu said, gazing at the distant mountains wreathed in mist. “I’ve been feeling much better lately—lighter than I have in years.”
She turned to Chu Heng. “Your Highness also looks better than before. You must be feeling more comfortable as well.”
Thinking of Master Pingyi’s words, Chu Heng did not dare mention them to Daiyu. He simply nodded and smiled. “The scenery and water here are good. Being at ease lifts the spirit, so naturally one feels better.”
Daiyu sighed with regret. “It’s just a pity that we’re leaving.”
Chu Heng smiled. “Longhua Temple isn’t far from the capital. If Miss Lin ever wishes to come again, just send word to me, and you may come anytime.” Fearing she might find it improper for a man and woman to go alone, he added, “I’ll have Yongkang come along to keep you company.”
Thinking of Yongkang sneaking dried meat, Daiyu couldn’t help laughing.
Chu Heng also recalled the incident and laughed as well.
Yesterday’s laughter still lingered, yet today they were parting. Chu Heng gazed at Daiyu with reluctant affection.
Zhao Qing, watching from the side, softly comforted his master. “Your Highness, it’s only a matter of a few months before Miss Lin comes to the residence…”
To Chu Heng, that was hardly comforting.
He didn’t believe Daiyu would feel happy marrying into the princely residence. Perhaps she wished that day would come later—later still.
Chu Heng let out a long sigh. Seeing Yongkang still clutching Daiyu’s hand and chatting, he couldn’t help stepping forward to interrupt. “That’s enough, Yongkang. Stop clinging to Miss Lin and go to your carriage.”
Yongkang stuck out her tongue at him, then said to Daiyu, “Sister Lin, once I beg Mother to invite you into the palace, we can play together every day! And you must come for my birthday!”
“Yongkang, don’t make decisions for Miss Lin without asking,” Chu Heng said. “She hasn’t agreed yet, and you’re already going to beg Mother.”
Yongkang protested, “Fifth Brother, you’re awful! Sister Lin will agree, won’t you, Sister Lin?”
Daiyu smiled apologetically. “Thank you for your kindness, Princess, but it’s not convenient for me to enter the palace for the time being.”
Not to mention that once they returned to the capital, preparations for the six marriage rites would begin. Given Daiyu’s current status, accompanying the Princess in the palace would be permissible, but it would inevitably feel constrained. Moreover, the palace was a complicated place, and deep down, Daiyu had no desire to enter it.
Yongkang fell silent, disappointed. “You don’t want to?”
Though Daiyu felt Yongkang was being somewhat unreasonable, the situation was awkward, and it was impossible to demand anything of the Princess. She was about to respond gently when Chu Heng spoke first.
“Yongkang, why do you want to invite Miss Lin into the palace?” Chu Heng suddenly asked.
Yongkang didn’t understand and answered honestly. “Because I like playing with Sister Lin, of course.”
“You like her,” Chu Heng said, “but must you trouble her for it?”
Yongkang froze on the spot.
Daiyu was startled and couldn’t help looking at Chu Heng, whose expression had turned solemn.