Hold one by the hand while thinking of another.
Song Heting played dumb on purpose, wanting to tease Lü Yanghua. He deliberately beat around the bush and said, ” setup gift for Physician Wang has already been sent over.”
“You know very well that is not what I am referring to.”
Seeing her growing anxious, Song Heting casually unhurriedly acted as though he had just realized, “Godfather’s message just came through this morning. He said His Majesty intends to take a stroll in the Imperial Garden this afternoon.”
“Is that true?” Lü Yanghua’s interest was instantly piqued. She stood up in a flurry and headed into the inner room. Noticing that Song Heting had not followed, she turned back, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him inside with her.
Once inside, Lü Yanghua pulled open her wardrobe chest, pulling out one garment after another to hold them up against herself for comparison. As she did so, she asked, “What do you think of this piece? Or should I wear this pink one?”
Without waiting for Song Heting’s answer, she tossed both garments aside on her own and pulled out a goose-yellow robe from the chest. “Does this one make my skin look fairer?”
Song Heting felt like telling her that she needed no embellishments at all; merely standing there, she was as pleasing to the eye as a lustrous, glowing pearl.
Yet, watching her bubbling with such excitement, Song Heting delivered the second half of his sentence: “However, His Majesty invited the Noble Consort to accompany him.” It was as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured directly over Lü Yanghua’s head.
“…I will just catch a glimpse from afar to see if you lied to me. How about that?” Lü Yanghua paused for a long while before squeezing out this single line.
Naturally, one could engineer a chance encounter with the Emperor in the presence of the Noble Consort. Which woman in the inner palace did not cherish such thoughts of winning the Emperor’s favor? Yet, she had just been punished by the Noble Consort on her front foot; to step forward on her back foot and ruin her good moment would mean she need not dream of surviving her remaining days in the palace.
Seeing that Song Heting remained silent, she raised her eyes to stare at him. After staring for quite some time, she finally saw him nod his head.
“Young Mistress, do not wander about recklessly. We shall take a quick look from afar and leave immediately.”
“That goes without saying.” Lü Yanghua went back to rummaging through her chest, making it seem as though meeting or speaking with the Emperor was secondary—she simply wished to dress herself up beautifully.
In the end, she selected a moon-white dress, had Lanzhi braid her hair, and adorned her ears with two lustrous, deep green jade studs.
She looked at herself in the mirror from left to right, her lips curving into a satisfied smile.
“Let’s go!” She stood up to walk outside, only to realize that Lanzhi had not followed her and was instead standing still on the spot, staring at her. She asked, “What is wrong with you?”
Lanzhi shook her head and replied, “This servant is fine.”
“Then why are you standing there like a fool? Hurry up, or we won’t make it in time.” Her excitement did not look like someone going to meet a lover, but rather like someone heading out to view some rare, novel attraction. “I have never even seen the Emperor before.” During the draft selection, the distance between them had been vast, and she could only recall a blur of bright yellow in her memory.
She reached out to take Lanzhi’s hand, but Lanzhi evaded her touch. Retracting her hand, Lanzhi took half a step back and explained, “Please allow Tingyuan to accompany you, Young Mistress. This servant fears defiling the Imperial presence.”
Lü Yanghua wondered what she meant by being dirty or not, which prompted her to look closely at Lanzhi for the first time. It was then that she noticed the faint, dark bruise hidden beneath the strands of hair on Lanzhi’s forehead.
With a moment’s thought, she realized it must have been sustained that day when Lanzhi kowtowed repeatedly to beg for her shelter, and surprisingly, it had not healed yet. This girl had truly spared no effort out of fear that she might be rejected.
The smile faded from Lü Yanghua’s face. Returning to the room, she rummaged around the head of the bed until she pulled out a porcelain bottle and pressed it into Lanzhi’s hand.
“Take this,” she said. “This is an ointment to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. Apply it once every morning and evening; it should heal in two or three days.”
Lanzhi curled her fingers back, not daring to accept it as she protested, “How could this servant make use of such a precious item?”
The two pushed the bottle back and forth until Lü Yanghua grew impatient. Knitting her willow-leaf brows, her voice rose slightly, “Just take it!”
Taking advantage of Lanzhi’s moment of dazed astonishment, she pressed the medicine bottle firmly into Lanzhi’s palm. Then, without looking back, she gathered her skirt, stepped over the threshold, and hurried outside, calling out, “Hurry up, Tingyuan! It really will be too late in a moment!”
Inside the room, Lanzhi clutched the medicine bottle and turned her gaze toward Song Heting, only tucking it into her bosom after he gave her a subtle nod.
There was little else to see in the Imperial Garden during the winter; if one insisted on admiring something, it would undoubtedly be the plum blossoms. Therefore, Lü Yanghua did not need to wander around like a headless fly. She only needed to find a somewhat concealed plum tree, stand behind it, and wait for the target to arrive.
The weather today was not particularly clear, with no sign of the sun. Standing outside for just a short while felt exceptionally cold. Having left in a hurry, Lü Yanghua had forgotten to bring the hand warmer she usually carried.
“It is so cold.” Lü Yanghua clenched her numb fingers inside her sleeves and exhaled a puff of white mist.
She strained to look down the narrow path that served as the only passage. The present chill made her feel as though her eyelashes were frozen together, causing her immense discomfort.
Song Heting stood straight beside her. Though he was dressed even more thinly than Lü Yanghua, he showed not the slightest trace of feeling cold.
This made Lü Yanghua’s teeth itch with quiet resentment.
“You must be pretending, right?” Refusing to believe it, she reached out to grab his fingers hanging by his side. The contact yielded a soothing warmth, prompting her to stuff her hands entirely into Song Heting’s palm.
“So warm.” She tilted her small face up, looking at Song Heting with a hint of admiration. “How are your hands so warm?”
Song Heting allowed her to treat him as a hand warmer, gently rubbing her smooth, lustrous fingers one by one until her fingertips regained a rosy color from the returning blood flow.
“Young Mistress’s body is too weak. Nourishing it further will bring much improvement.” His tone was entirely dignified, leaving no room for fault to be found.
Lü Yanghua was like a cat having its fur stroked by him, comfortably narrowing her eyes as she exhaled another cloud of white mist. “Mm… we will see later.”
That medicine was still far too bitter; merely mentioning it made the root of her tongue feel astringent.
With her hand held by one man, her heart was nevertheless occupied with another. She asked, “Why has the Emperor not arrived yet?”
Leaning her back against the tree, she felt her legs growing stiff from standing there, and she could not refrain from voicing a complaint. However, a finger from Song Heting pressed horizontally against her lips.
The sudden tacit understanding made her close her mouth, and right after, the rustling sound of footsteps crunching on snow echoed through the air.
She exchanged a look with Song Heting and saw him give a small nod.
She then cautiously turned around, poked half her head out from behind the tree, and looked toward the intersection.
Approaching from the opposite side was the Emperor’s grand procession. The Emperor sat upon the palanquin dressed in bright yellow, with the Noble Consort accompanying him by his side.
The two were admiring the plum blossoms while conversing. Because of the distance, Lü Yanghua could not hear them clearly. She could not resist taking half a step forward, only to have a hand catch her around the waist and pull her back to her original spot.
Lü Yanghua’s back bumped against a firm chest. Snapping out of her trance, she found herself tucked within Song Heting’s embrace, turning her head to look up at him with an innocent expression.
Song Heting maintained a expressionless face, giving her a gentle shake of his head before leading her away from the area.
Having seen the Emperor up close for the first time, Lü Yanghua was extraordinarily excited, tossing and turning in bed at night, unable to sleep.
Song Heting guarded her sleep by her side as usual. Seeing her rustling about on the bed in this manner, he found it somewhat amusing and indeed let out a soft laugh.
This gave Lü Yanghua’s pent-up emotions an outlet. Wrapping herself up like a silkworm cocoon, she turned around to face Song Heting.
“Heavens above, I was actually so close to the Emperor during the daytime!” Her voice trembled slightly as she continued to savor the earlier events.
“You really can find out his whereabouts! Tingyuan, you are truly amazing.”
Just from catching a glimpse of the Emperor from a distance, her mind was already conjuring scenes of her future favor. She could not help wondering when their next meeting would take place, what clothes she should wear then, and what makeup she should apply.
“Tingyuan, you must help me.”
Song Heting scrutinized her through the fervor in her eyes, refusing to let any subtle expression slip past him. Finally, he nodded and said, “That goes without saying.”
He agreed readily, leading Lü Yanghua to believe that their next meeting was just around the corner. Even when drinking the extremely bitter medicinal brew every day, she coaxed herself internally that it was all for the Emperor’s sake.
In her night dreams, she envisioned herself sitting regally upon a sedan chair, lecturing those who usually bullied and looked down upon her.
However, two days, three days, and eventually another half-month passed. Every time she questioned Song Heting, he simply told her to wait longer, saying His Majesty was not moving about the inner palace today.
At first, this managed to appease Lü Yanghua, but as so much time slipped by, she began to notice that something was amiss. Tingyuan clearly did not want to help her!
He had agreed so readily, yet went back on his word in the blink of an eye—a true hypocrite who broke his promises! Harboring resentment in her heart, she naturally showed no pleasant expression toward Song Heting.
Thus, when Song Heting delivered warm soup to her today, she irritably brushed his hand away.
It was only when the bowl shattered across the floor that she snapped out of her temper, realizing she had done something wrong and injured someone. She hurriedly grabbed Song Heting’s hand to check; a patch of redness had already spread across it, prompting her to call Lanzhi in a rush.
“Hurry outside and grab some snow to apply on Tingyuan’s hand!”
Looking at that patch of red, Lanzhi felt even more anxious than Lü Yanghua. She rushed out like a gust of wind, thinking secretly to herself: these two ancestors, each one is more troubling than the other.
Lü Yanghua cradled Song Heting’s hand, the corners of her eyes flushing red. Anyone who did not know better would think she was the one suffering from the painful burn. Words of apology hung at the tip of her tongue, yet owing to her status and that strange suspicion, she was unwilling to utter them so easily.
Song Heting, on the other hand, comforted her from the side, saying, “It is fine, Young Mistress. It is merely an ordinary burn; it will heal in a little while.”
Hearing this, Lü Yanghua felt slightly relieved, only to hear him add another sentence right after.
“You need not blame yourself.”
These words completely stepped on Lü Yanghua’s tail. Snatching her hand away from Song Heting, she glared at him with furious eyes and retorted, “I’m not!”
Lanzhi walked through the door from outside, handing a cloth bundle filled with snow to Song Heting, saying, “Go tend to it quickly. I will stay here to attend to Young Mistress.”
“Very well.”
Lanzhi took over Song Heting’s place. She took a look at Lü Yanghua, then said she would go to the small kitchen to ladle another bowl of soup before taking her leave once more.
Only Lü Yanghua remained in the room. Thinking about the swelling and redness on Song Heting’s hand made her feel restless and uneasy. She instinctively walked toward the doorway, wanting to check on his condition.
Just as she was hesitating, she spotted Lanzhi—who was supposed to go to the small kitchen to the east—actually heading toward Tingyuan’s room to the west instead.
There seemed to be something peculiar between the two of them.
As if possessed, she lifted her feet and followed behind. The door was left ajar, and she did her utmost to conceal her figure in the shadows, listening to the conversation taking place inside the room.