The next day was the Qixi Festival.
In the Great Chen Dynasty, Qixi was also known as the Qiqiao Festival. It followed the traditional customs of the former Chu Kingdom.
The palace servants removed the silk and gauze lanterns hanging under the eaves and replaced them with beautiful glass palace lanterns. They also made various kinds of Qiaoguo, a traditional pastry made from flour and lard.
Zheng Zhiyi ate some Qiaoguo while practicing calligraphy inside.
Meanwhile, Qunqing led a group of people to inspect South Garden.
The flowers in the flowerbeds had all been neatly transplanted, and several plants had already grown tender green buds.
The existing flowering trees had been carefully pruned into a neat and orderly shape.
Ruochan tied bright red flowers and fruits to the branches, making the trees look as if they were covered in pomegranate blossoms. They looked delicate and beautiful.
Ruochan held onto one of the branches and said, “When the time comes, I’ll hang the wishing slips I receive here. Then everything will be complete.”
Seeing that the palace had been properly arranged, Qunqing asked, “Has the invitation been sent to His Highness the Crown Prince?”
Lan Yue immediately became discouraged.
“Should we still send it? We just passed Luan Yi Pavilion. It’s already decorated with lanterns and ribbons, and it looks like everything has been prepared for a long time.”
“Could His Highness have already made plans to spend the festival with Princess Bao’an? If we send him an invitation now, won’t we only make ourselves look foolish?”
Qunqing thought for a moment.
“I’ll write one for you.”
She went inside, dipped her brush in ink, and began writing the invitation.
Before long, several people gathered around her to watch, completely blocking the light.
Their expectant looks only made Qunqing more nervous.
After all, even an invitation written by her own hand could not magically change anything.
However, in her previous life, on this very Qixi Festival, Li Xuan and Prime Minister Meng had a terrible argument during the day over the matter of choosing the Crown Princess.
Because of that argument, Li Xuan had lost all interest in meeting Yang Fu.
Qunqing could only gamble.
She had to gamble that nothing had changed.
After handing the invitation to Lan Yue, Qunqing picked up a lantern and went outside to retrieve the wishing slip hanging from the tree.
She disliked passively waiting for an outcome.
She would rather keep herself busy with something else and distract herself.
The palace was celebrating the festival that day, and lanterns had been placed along the edge of the winding pond.
As night fell, the entire pond seemed to glow with light.
Together with the lanterns carried by hundreds of palace maids, the scene from a distance looked like a silver river flowing across the earth.
It was a beautiful sight.
Everyone had to collect a wishing slip.
Large numbers of palace maids gathered beneath several huge willow trees beside the pond. They stood in groups of two or three, chatting and laughing, creating a lively and noisy scene.
Qunqing heard people talking around her.
They said that the official responsible for writing the wishes was late and had not arrived yet.
Then, someone announced that another person had been chosen to serve as the wishing official, and everyone began cheering.
Qunqing could not clearly see the official in the distance, nor could she hear what he was saying.
She could only follow the crowd, walking forward whenever the line moved and stopping whenever it stopped.
For Qunqing, simply being able to relax beside the river and let her thoughts wander was already a luxury.
Thinking of this, she loosened her collar and allowed the gentle river breeze to blow through her hair and seep through her thin clothes.
After walking about a hundred steps, she could finally see the waterside pavilion in the center of the pond.
The wishing official was sitting inside.
That was where everyone went to receive their wishing slips.
Following the customs of the former Chu Kingdom, the wishing official was usually a civil official of at least sixth rank.
During the Qixi Festival, they took turns writing wishes for the women of the harem, hoping to bring them good fortune.
For the palace maids, who rarely had the chance to meet men from outside the palace, this was both exciting and unusual.
Just then, Qunqing heard people arguing again.
“The palace maids are already lining up. It’s one thing for them to break the rules and ask for three or five blessing slips, but look at the maid beside Lady Lu. She’s still standing there talking to the wishing official.”
“Forget about the people behind us. My legs are already swollen from standing here.”
“Just endure it. What can you do when she serves a favored concubine?”
Qunqing moved a few steps closer.
Suddenly, the noise around her died down.
The features of the wishing official in the pavilion became clearer.
He was an unusually young civil official, with a refined and elegant appearance.
All the palace maids stared at him.
None of them wanted to make a sound and leave a bad impression.
The closer they got, the clearer his features became.
There was something about him that made people feel both amazed and intimidated.
The surroundings were so quiet that only the river breeze and the soft jingling of the bells could be heard.
Qunqing suddenly stopped.
She recognized him.
It was Lu Huating!
Her first instinct was to leave the line.
But the palace maids behind her had already crowded forward, leaving her no way to escape.
At that moment, Lu Huating looked up several times.
His gaze swept over her before he calmly continued talking to the palace maids in front of him.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Only the cold sweat covering Qunqing’s body revealed how nervous she was.
Qunqing thought,
That day, when he lifted my veil, he only glanced at me once.
Today, I have changed my clothes, and it is already dark.
Could it be that Lu Huating doesn’t recognize me at all?
Thinking this, Qunqing carried her lantern and walked toward him.
The gauze lantern on the table illuminated the floral embroidery on Lu Huating’s official robe.
It was rare to see him dressed so formally.
His handsome face almost gave him the appearance of a beautiful demon.
He did not look up.
He casually gathered the papers on the table.
After a moment, he smiled and said,
“My lady, you have to at least tell me which palace you are from, don’t you?”
Qunqing realized that because this was her first time asking for a wishing slip, he had been waiting for her to introduce herself during their silence.
Their strange silence would only make him suspicious.
So Qunqing said,
“Qingxuan Pavilion.”
Lu Huating paused.
Qunqing was afraid he had not heard her clearly, so she raised her voice slightly.
“The palace of Consort Zheng, the Crown Prince’s consort.”
When he heard this, Lu Huating put down the crimson wishing slip meant for the concubines.
Instead, he picked up a light green one.
“What wish did your noble lady make?”
Qunqing had already thought of an answer.
She recited it in one breath.
“To know each other, to promise ourselves to each other, and to become husband and wife who share one heart.”
Lu Huating paused again.
Perhaps, like the officials in the court, he simply could not imagine how the wild and unruly Zheng Zhiyi and the Crown Prince could ever “know each other and promise themselves to each other,” much less become “husband and wife of one heart.”
But Qunqing did not feel embarrassed at all.
Making a wish required courage.
The stronger the wish, the better.
The river wind suddenly grew stronger.
Several lanterns were blown out, and the papers on the table scattered.
Lu Huating’s right hand, the one holding the brush, was wrapped in thick white silk.
When he exerted force, faint traces of blood could be seen through the cloth.
A sheet of paper was suddenly blown onto the silk wrapping around his hand.
The ink had not yet dried, so the words were immediately smeared.
Qunqing looked at him coldly.
She knew that the injury on his hand from catching the blade with his bare hand that day had not healed yet.
He could not withstand too much force.
If it had been anyone else, Qunqing would have immediately stepped forward to hold the paper down.
But this was Lu Huating.
She remained where she was.
Lu Huating picked up a paperweight with his left hand and pressed the paper down.
He quickly crumpled the damaged sheet, took out another one, and began writing again.
There was not even a trace of embarrassment on his face.
“Please wait a moment, my lady.”
Qunqing quietly watched him write.
Her eyes slowly drifted toward his face.
At this moment, the Prince of Yan’s residence must have been in complete chaos.
Yet Lu Huating, as the chief secretary, could still enter the palace and perform his duties so calmly.
This showed just how strong his composure was.
Qunqing had never seen him panic or become discouraged.
Even today, she could not find the slightest trace of defeat on his face.
Qunqing was struggling inside.
Naturally, she hoped the Prince of Yan would be driven out of Chang’an.
At the same time, she hoped Lu Huating would win.
If he did, she would not have to carry out that dangerous mission.
The jingling of the bells suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
The wind shook the bells and also caused the weak light inside the gauze lantern to flicker.
Seeing that the words on the paper were becoming difficult to read, Qunqing instinctively raised the lantern in her hand.
A ray of light fell onto the paper.
Under the light, Lu Huating’s fingers looked as if they had been covered with a layer of glass.
The paper suddenly became brighter.
His brush stopped.
Qunqing looked up and searched for the source of the sound.
A simple wind chime made from copper coins and cotton thread hung from the horizontal beam of the pavilion.
The jingling sound came from the copper coins hitting one another.
A hand with long, distinct fingers reached up and took the wind chime down.
Qunqing suddenly turned around.
At some point, Lu Huating had risen from behind the desk.
He held the wind chime in his hand and raised it slightly, looking at it with a faintly mocking smile.
“It’s only a small thing, but I’m glad my wife likes it.”
His gaze suddenly shifted from the wind chime to Qunqing’s face.
Seeing her frozen expression, the smile in his eyes became brighter and colder, like a sword flashing in the darkness.
“Take it. It was meant to be a gift for you anyway.”
He folded the wishing slip together with the wind chime and handed them to her.
Qunqing lowered her eyes.
She counted the copper coins.
There were exactly ten.
Not one more. Not one less.
Her mind suddenly went blank.
Then give me back my three gold beads and ten coins.
I don’t like owing people. Which palace do you serve in? I’ll have someone deliver them there this afternoon.
He had recognized her long ago.
He had simply been teasing her.
He had even managed to find out where she was serving.
“Qunqing! Qunqing!”
Just then, she heard someone calling her name.
“His Highness is here! His Highness really came…”
It was Lan Yue’s voice.
Lan Yue originally did not know where Qunqing was.
But she was so excited that she told every palace maid she met,
“His Highness has come to Qingxuan Pavilion!”
Everyone saw how excited she was and instinctively moved aside, allowing her to see Qunqing in the waterside pavilion.
Lan Yue pushed through the crowd and entered the pavilion.
She heard the complaints behind her.
Then she saw Qunqing holding a string of copper coins.
She looked up and met Lu Huating’s eyes.
For a moment, she was stunned.
“Did you get your wishing slip? What are you doing?”
“This gentleman’s wind chime fell down. He asked me to hang it back up for him.”
Suddenly, Qunqing threw the lantern into Lan Yue’s arms.
Amid the shocked cries of the people around her, she stepped onto the railing.
She quickly tied the wind chime back onto the tall pole and wrapped the thread around it several times.
When Lan Yue arrived just now, Qunqing had noticed someone in the crowd.
Shouxi.
He was a eunuch serving the Crown Prince.
He stood by the river, staring coldly in her direction.
Qunqing did not know how long he had been watching.
She also did not know whether he had seen Lu Huating get up and personally remove the wind chime for her.
As a palace maid serving the Crown Prince, becoming involved with the chief secretary of the Prince of Yan’s residence was a serious taboo.
Even returning the gift might not be enough to clear her name.
Qunqing jumped down, grabbed Lan Yue’s arm, and quickly left.
Lan Yue could barely contain her excitement.
“…As soon as you wrote the invitation, His Highness came. Can you really predict the future? Do you have some kind of magical power?”
Qunqing’s mind was in complete chaos.
Lan Yue’s words reached her ears only in fragments.
Amid the clanging and jingling around her, Lu Huating’s voice suddenly became extremely clear.
His voice was cool, like the dew of a winter night.
He was helping the palace maids behind them write their wishes.
But he suddenly continued Lan Yue’s words.
“What’s so strange about knowing magic?”
“Looking at your face, you seem to be the reincarnation of a green snake.”
Qunqing closed her eyes.
Once again, she felt that chilling sensation of being cornered.
You are the snake.
You are poisonous.
The night was cool and quiet.
The moon was bright, and only a few stars could be seen.
The wishing official finished writing the last wishing slip late at night.
The riverbank, which had been crowded and lively earlier, was now deserted.
Juan Su helped Lu Huating put away his brushes, ink, and scraps of paper.
“Chief Secretary, have we succeeded? Is Her Majesty willing to help us?”
Lu Huating sat behind the desk and looked at the bloodstained cloth wrapped around his hand.
“More or less.”
“His Highness hates anything related to gods and Buddhas. If he finds out that you persuaded the military advisor to agree to welcome the Buddha’s relics, there will probably be a huge uproar,” Juan Su said.
“Even if he is unhappy, do you think the Prince of Yan’s residence still has any room to negotiate?”
Lu Huating’s voice was indifferent.
“Indeed.”
Juan Su sighed.
“Now that His Highness has lost power, we have been begging him to stay. He is still a prince, after all. How could the Emperor completely ignore their father-and-son relationship…”
The pond before them was covered in mist, dark and hazy. Lu Huating tugged at his collar.
“I feel dizzy.”
“How could you not? That blade was poisoned! The Chief Secretary hasn’t been getting enough sleep these days, let alone had time to recover from his injuries. How can your body take it?” Juan Su said quietly.
Lu Huating was not talking about physical dizziness. He meant that he felt tired.
The struggle for power was like ink spreading through a pond. He had once waded through it and finally reached the shore. Now, he had to step into it again.
“The river wind is cold and damp, and your official robes are so thin. Our Prince Yan’s residence is like a broken paper box with wind coming in from every side. We’re counting on you to hold it together. It won’t survive this kind of wind.”
Juan Su continued, “The position of Chief Secretary is currently vacant. Since the message has already been delivered to Consort Lü, why don’t you ask for leave and return home? Why insist on getting involved in all this? You’ve written hundreds of wishing slips today. The ladies are happy, but your injured hand probably won’t recover anytime soon.”
Lu Huating played with the small wind chime in his hand and suddenly said, “I want to see her.”
Juan Su was stunned.
“Who?”
Lu Huating took a coin from his sleeve and tossed it onto the table. It rolled and clinked for a while before finally stopping, like a cold and unquestionable answer.
Juan Su stared at the Tongbao coin on the table.
That woman…
The woman who decided life and death by tossing coins.
The woman who killed people in his dreams!
“People say that scholars from Longnan had to travel through many mountains without sleeping while on their way to take the imperial examinations. Because they were so tired, they would put a small green snake in the box they carried on their backs. As long as the snake stayed awake, they would not dare fall asleep,” Lu Huating said.
Juan Su frowned.
“Then… did the Chief Secretary see her?”
Today, he had seen her wearing a blue cloak. Under the lantern light, her face looked as white as snow, her eyes were bright like shooting stars, and she looked fresh and lively.
She had even been promoted within only a few days.
Lu Huating smiled.
The wind seemed to blow away all his weariness.
“I’m much more awake now.”
“Then… are we still going to kill them?” Juan Su carefully picked up the Tongbao coin and placed it back in the box.
“There are still things about her that I want to know,” Lu Huating said calmly. “But even if you put a knife to her throat, she wouldn’t tell you.”
“If you only want to find out her secret, isn’t there an easier way? Why do you have to fight and kill?”
Juan Su leaned close and whispered something into Lu Huating’s ear.
Lu Huating remained silent after hearing it.
“I think this woman is actually quite innocent. It was only a dream. What if the dream is the opposite of reality?”
“You softened up rather quickly.”
Lu Huating smiled and glanced at him. His expression was complicated and impossible to read.
“In my dream, four of the eight of you died by her hands.”
Juan Su’s smile immediately disappeared.
As the water clock continued ticking, Qunqing could not fall asleep.
One moment, she was thinking about the blessing slip Lu Huating had written for her. The next, she was thinking about Li Xuan, who was spending the night in Qingxuan Pavilion.
She closed her eyes, but Lu Huating’s cold gaze kept appearing in her mind.
Just then, the door opened.
Lan Yue, who had been standing guard outside, rushed in. She pulled Qunqing out of bed and shoved a candle into her hands.
“Qunqing, hurry and take this candle to His Highness! See if you can find a chance to leave the palace.”
Qunqing sat up straight.
“What chance to leave the palace?”
“I just told His Highness that my stomach hurts and that you would take my place on duty. When you’re serving him, annoy him a little.” Lan Yue made a kicking motion with her foot. “Make him kick you out!”
Lan Yue naively believed that since Li Xuan had been able to drive Qunqing out of the palace once, he could do it again.
The Crown Prince was resting in the outer room.
Qunqing had been hesitant about this plan.
But since the opportunity had already been placed in front of her, she took the candle.
Inside the tent, Li Xuan was also wide awake.
He was thinking about the way Zheng Zhiyi had looked at him that day.
Normally, whenever Zheng Zhiyi saw him, she would cling to him like glue. But now, when she looked at Li Xuan, there was a hint of fear and uneasiness in her eyes.
She had not said a single word during dinner.
The two had never consummated their marriage, and they had not been intimate for a long time. After dinner, they simply sat facing each other in silence.
Li Xuan noticed that Zheng Zhiyi was holding a book. He was about to ask what she was reading when she immediately hid the book in a drawer and climbed into bed.
Li Xuan took the book out.
It was only a book about palace rules.
When Li Xuan was young, he had disliked his wife. He resented the fact that his life had been tied to her so carelessly. But his upbringing and manners had prevented him from showing that dislike.
After they had gone through so many years of happiness and hardship together, even cats and dogs could develop some affection for each other.
Now that Li Xuan held great power and Zheng Zhiyi had become a concubine in the harem, she could no longer restrain him. That sharp hatred had gradually faded.
The two of them were simply incompatible.
He did not love her, but he also did not want to make things difficult for her. Zheng Zhiyi was young and simple-minded. In his eyes, she was almost like a pet that needed to be looked after.
The last time he had confronted her was only because she had said something particularly hurtful.
Seeing that she seemed frightened of him, Li Xuan had wanted to pull the blanket over her when they lay beside each other.
Unexpectedly, Zheng Zhiyi hid in the corner and wrapped herself tightly in the blanket.
Remembering how she had once begged him to consummate their marriage, Li Xuan’s hand froze.
A strange sense of uneasiness spread through his heart.
Something about Qingxuan Pavilion had changed.
At that moment, Li Xuan glanced at his concubine, Zheng Zhiyi.
She was snoring loudly.
She and Lan Yue had spent the entire day tending the flower garden and planting her favorite crimson roses. She had worked herself to exhaustion and could not wake up at all.
Her snoring was as loud as thunder.
Li Xuan tossed and turned, trying to calm himself by closing his eyes.
Suddenly—
Crash!
A loud noise came from outside.
Qunqing stared in surprise at the broken mark on the candlestick handle.
She remembered what Lan Yue had told her and realized that this was probably the opportunity Lan Yue had arranged for her to leave the palace.
She paused for a moment.
Then she quietly crouched down to pick up the fallen candlestick.
Just then, the bed curtains were lifted.
Qunqing saw a pair of unusually pale feet standing on the carpet.
Li Xuan lowered his eyes and looked at her.
This was the third time he had seen Qunqing.
Meng Guanlou’s words still echoed in his mind.
“The secret guards of Prince Yan’s residence… Wen Su… She didn’t even lose an earring…”
Li Xuan’s gaze moved from the top of Qunqing’s head to her ears.
She was not wearing earrings.
Instead, a single sharp and shining silver needle pierced one of her ears.
“Offer the candle.”
Li Xuan looked down at her coldly.