The past was beyond reach, and Xue Dongyu chose not to dwell on it. She instructed them to put the things away.
Having napped too long in the afternoon, by the hour of Hai, Xue Dongyu still felt wide awake. The entertainment options for ancient people were limited: commoners rose with the sun and rested at dusk, while the nobility and officials spent their nights feasting, drinking, and enjoying music and dance. In the palace, where rules were strict, everyone retired early. Xue Dongyu, accustomed to a modern schedule of staying up until one or two in the morning or even pulling all-nighters, had her nocturnal habits reshaped by the dull nightlife here, turning her into a good child who slept at seven and rose at seven.
Bored, Xue Dongyu watched the candle sparks flicker from the thick red candles on the table, as thick as her arm, idly chatting with Bai Xing and Bai Liu.
Suddenly, she heard Bai Xing say, "Today is the fifteenth. I wonder if the moon is full." Xue Dongyu’s interest was piqued. When she transmigrated here, Su Shi and his friend Huaiming were all the rage—she even had a meme of Huaiming’s "not yet asleep" expression.
Since she couldn’t sleep, why not go look at the moon? Bai Xing saw Lady Xue suddenly perk up and say excitedly, "Bai Xing, let’s go admire the moon." Though puzzled, Bai Xing agreed.
Stepping out of the rear hall, perhaps because the night was deep and quiet, Xue Dongyu’s heart gradually calmed. The palace at night held a unique beauty—a cluster of flowers, a single tree, all carried more charm than in daylight.
Unconsciously, as she admired the scenery, Xue Dongyu wandered farther and farther. Reaching a secluded spot with few people, she found a clean rock, sat down, and earnestly gazed at the moon.
Back when she joked with netizens, she couldn’t understand why Su Shi insisted on admiring the moon in the middle of the night and dragging Zhang Huaiming along. Now, Xue Dongyu finally grasped why the ancients regarded moon viewing as a special form of literary romance. For the first time, she realized moonlight could be so beautiful.
The unpolluted sky was clear and vast, a solitary moon hanging high above. Soft moonlight spilled like quicksilver, casting a cool hue over everything around. Even the wind felt delightful. In the distance, eaves and tree leaves shimmered faintly in the night.
This scene perfectly aligned with the aesthetic sensibilities of Chinese literati. Even Xue Dongyu felt moved to recite poetry.
"Under this bright moon, all gaze afar, yet whose heart holds autumn’s sorrow?" she wondered. Were her modern family members looking at the same moon?
Bathed in moonlight, Xue Dongyu quietly lost herself in her thoughts. It felt like a long time, yet also like an instant, before she drifted into a hazy sleep.
In her drowsiness, she seemed to hear Bai Xing’s voice, probably reminding her not to sleep on the rock. Never mind, I really want to sleep.
Xue Dongyu opened her eyes in confusion, her muddled mind unsure of where she was. After a moment, she came to her senses and noticed something amiss. She remembered falling asleep on a large rock, and Bai Xing hadn’t brought a cloak. Yet now, a thick cloak was draped over her.
Clearly, she hadn’t felt the chill of the late May night because of this mysterious cloak. Xue Dongyu sat up abruptly, the cloak falling away and releasing a faint, lingering fragrance—likely from its previous owner.
Her movement startled the person beside her. The Sage, dressed only in a simple green robe, turned and smiled. "Awake? Did you feel cold?"
Xue Dongyu's heart was filled with unease. At this moment, the lingering drowsiness vanished completely. Guanjia's attitude was gentle now, even more amiable than the last time she had seen him, yet she still felt very nervous.
Guanjia looked at Xue Dongyu, whose face was marked with lines from the stone she had been lying on, and suddenly felt a sense of relaxation. A long-absent smile appeared on his face.
Xue Dongyu opened her mouth slightly. "I'm not cold, just woke up." She didn't know what Guanjia was smiling about. Did I drool or snore in my sleep? When did he arrive?
Embarrassed, she searched for a topic. "Where did Bai Xing go?" The person beside her pointed in a direction. Following it, Xue Dongyu saw Bai Xing. Guanjia and she were sitting together on this large stone, while Bai Xing and a young eunuch stood not far away. The night was already deep, and in the darkness, she couldn't make out Bai Xing's expression.
Guanjia merely smiled faintly and said nothing, turning his head back to gaze at the moon. Time passed minute by minute. In the tranquil atmosphere, Xue Dongyu couldn't help but wrap herself tighter in the cloak draped over her. It really was a bit cold after all.
Guanjia noticed her movement and asked, "What are you doing out so late? Is something troubling you?" Zhao Zhen felt a stirring of curiosity. Logically, once a lady in the palace became pregnant, she would be wholly focused on carrying the child to term, hardly daring to step outside her palace doors. Why would Xue Dongyu come to this place in the dead of night?
Most people in the palace had probably forgotten by now: today was the birthday of the late Emperor's Consort Chen. Originally, this year the Li family should have stepped forward, acknowledged by the Emperor, and begun their lives of glory and wealth.
The palace would have recorded every detail about this woman who lived in obscurity during her lifetime. But having lived through it once before, even though he still held special feelings for the woman who gave birth to him, his obsession with his maternal family had somewhat eased.
In his previous life, it was precisely because of his insistence that he bestowed immense wealth and status upon his maternal family, which not only harmed Fukang but also Li Wei. In this life, he suppressed the matter of the Li family, merely granting them land and residences. Very few inside or outside the court knew of this.
After finishing reviewing the memorials, he took Zhang Maoze for a casual stroll and inadvertently entered this place. Under the moonlight, Xue Dongyu lay sleeping soundly on the stone. Unwilling to disturb her, he dismissed her attending palace maid and Zhang Maoze, then followed her example and climbed onto the stone.
At one point, seeing Xue Dongyu sleeping restlessly due to the night chill, Guanjia felt a pang of pity and took off his cloak to cover her.
Xue Dongyu didn't know how to answer, so she simply gave up and relaxed, replying truthfully, "I slept too much during the day and couldn't fall asleep. I heard from those around me that today is the fifteenth, so I came out to admire the moon."
Zhao Zhen was taken aback, never expecting such a simple answer. Unable to sleep, so she came out to admire the moon. Most consorts in the palace came from official families and were taught to be demure and observe propriety. Even if not before entering the palace, they were constantly reminded afterward to uphold virtue and rules. Almost no consort would be so bold as to come out to admire the moon in the middle of the night.
"Doesn't Guanjia think tonight's moonlight is beautiful?" The young girl beside him, seeing he hadn't spoken, quickly added another sentence.
He snapped back to reality, hearing these words, and looked up at the moon. The deeper the night, the fuller the moon became. The stone was slightly elevated from the ground, and sitting atop it, the moon seemed almost within reach. Zhao Zhen wondered how long it had been since he had gazed at the moon like this. He responded, "Indeed, tonight's moonlight is truly beautiful."
Xue Dongyu suddenly burst into laughter. She hadn’t realized it when she spoke, but upon hearing Guanjia’s reply, she realized what she had said. The more she thought about it, the funnier it became, until she was laughing so hard she could hardly straighten up.
Guanjia looked at Xue Dongyu’s laughter with confusion, unable to understand why she had suddenly started laughing so joyfully. Perhaps he was getting old and could no longer grasp what young girls of this age were thinking.
Seeing Guanjia’s puzzled expression, Xue Dongyu quickly suppressed her laughter, though a smile still lingered as she spoke. "Because I once heard a story about a great sage from overseas who was walking with his disciple. The disciple asked the sage how one could express admiration for a woman besides saying 'I love you.'"
Xue Dongyu paused before continuing, "The sage told his disciple, 'If you truly like her, you can subtly say to the woman, "Tonight’s moonlight is truly beautiful."'"
As her words faded, Xue Dongyu regretted her inability to hold back. Would Guanjia misunderstand…? Guanjia remained silent, and for a moment, the stone grew quiet, yet something seemed to flow between them.
So, was she so happy because I said those words to her? Guanjia was unsure how to react to the implied meaning in her words, feeling as though something soft had gently struck his heart.
In this life and the last, so many consorts had used exquisite poetry and songs from the past to express their love for him, each line more beautiful than the last. He had grown accustomed to it, even weary of it. Perhaps it was because tonight’s moon was truly beautiful, and the person speaking was lovely too, that his heart softened.
They quietly admired the moonlight together.
Nearby, Bai Xing was growing increasingly uneasy. It was good for her lady to encounter Guanjia, but she was still pregnant, and coming out in the middle of the night—would Guanjia blame her? When Guanjia appeared, she was stunned and wanted to wake her lady, but Guanjia stopped her. Then, Zhang Maoze pulled her aside, and she could no longer hear what the two were discussing.
Zhang Maoze watched Bai Xing fidgeting and chuckled, offering her some advice. "What are you so worked up about? If you can’t hear, just watch. It’s rare to see Guanjia smile like this."
Zhang Maoze marveled as he watched the two figures in the distance gradually drawing closer. Even though he knew Lady Xue was pregnant and nothing too improper would happen, it was clear what Guanjia’s intentions were toward Lady Xue. Ah, Lady Xue.
He glanced at Bai Xing, remembering she was Lady Xue’s trusted confidante, and decided to do her a favor. "Don’t worry, your lady is destined for great fortune." Bai Xing was taken aback, not understanding his meaning, and pressed him for answers, but Zhang Maoze only smiled without replying.
As the moon began to tilt westward, Guanjia broke the silence. "It’s late, let’s head back," he said, jumping down from the stone.
Xue Dongyu lowered her head. The cloak wrapped around her was too large, making it difficult for her to climb down, and she couldn’t simply discard Guanjia’s belongings. She hesitated, unsure what to do.
Seeing her dilemma, Guanjia smiled gently and extended his hand. "Hold onto me to get down."
Xue Dongyu tentatively grasped Guanjia's hand. Her first impression was that it was large, completely enveloping her own. His palm was warm and dry, with distinct knuckles on each finger that pressed against her skin, and there were some faint calluses at the base of his thumb.
No wonder they say the fingers are connected to the heart, Xue Dongyu thought dizzily. It felt as if her heart had been grasped too, thumping wildly in her chest.
Even after they descended, their hands remained linked. Guanjia walked ahead, while Xue Dongyu, wrapped in her cloak, trailed half a step behind, completely forgetting her earlier resolve to be more proactive before her nap.
Zhang Maoze and Bai Xing followed behind the pair, each lost in their own thoughts.
As they reached an open area, patrolling guards spotted their figures and approached to investigate. Just as they were about to speak, Zhang Maoze, trailing behind, made a swift gesture to silence them.
Upon arriving at Pifang Hall, Xue Dongyu mustered her courage to say "goodnight." Without waiting for a response from the person beside her, she turned and hurried inside, leaving Guanjia alone, lost in thought. After a moment, he shook his head and left with Zhang Maoze.
Finally calming down, Xue Dongyu lay in her bed, burying her face in her hands, her cheeks flushed. She rolled back and forth in agitation. Ahhh, what were you doing, Xue Dongyu? Why were you so timid? Had all those handsome guys online been for nothing? How useless! And saying "goodnight" like that—so embarrassing!
Xue Dongyu replayed the scene in her mind over and over, until, without realizing when, she drifted off to sleep.