Just past the hour of Chen, a resounding gong echoed from outside, proclaiming the official start of the Dragon Boat Race for the nineteenth year of Pingjia.
The race was held at Taiye Lake, with twenty-four major government offices and guard divisions of the capital each fielding a dragon boat team. Teams competed in groups of six, with the top three from each group advancing, for a total of three rounds.
On the eastern shore of Taiye Lake, twenty-four colorful canopies had been erected to serve as staging grounds for the various offices. On the western shore, multi-eaved waterside pavilions were arranged for officials' families to watch the race.
As for the imperial clan, they had an even better vantage point.
Feixian Pavilion stood at the midpoint of the racecourse, offering an excellent view that took in both the starting line and the finish. Gazing into the distance, one could see the vast lake shrouded in mist, with several dragon boats over ten feet long already floating on the water.
The view was fine, but Baoying felt rather ill at ease. After the incident at Wanshou Palace, she couldn't shake the feeling that people were looking at her strangely—especially Princess Rong'an, who looked as if she wanted to devour Baoying whole.
She simply excused herself to freshen up and slipped away.
Below, the winding waterside pavilions were crowded with women from official families. Ladies and noblewomen held round silk fans and discussed with proper restraint which team would take the crown.
By now, the first round had already begun, and the shores of Taiye Lake rang with thunderous cheers—a scene of tremendous excitement.
Baoying wove her way through the crowd of perfumed hair and glittering ornaments, occasionally stealing glances at the fierce competition. By the time she finally found herself a decent viewing platform, the dragon boats of the first group had already crossed the finish line.
She quickly asked around and learned that the top spot had indeed gone to the Dragon Imperial Guard. Feeling immensely proud, she happily ran to the resting camp on the opposite shore to seek a reward from Zong Duo.
Most of the Dragon Imperial Guard's members came from noble and meritorious families, so after the race, the camp was surrounded by a bevy of beauties—many officials' wives and daughters had come under the pretext of bringing water to their brothers, secretly sizing up potential matches.
Baoying blended in without standing out.
She was looking around for Zong Duo when her gaze occasionally lingered on a handsome, strapping young man, and she couldn't help but pause for a second look. Just as she was idly taking in the sights, a leaf suddenly flew over and struck her hair ornament.
Baoying turned back in confusion to see a tall young man leaning against a tree. When their eyes met, he beckoned to her.
Not understanding what he wanted, she walked over. "Are you calling me?"
The man gave her an appraising look and laughed without restraint. "Pretty little thing, I haven't seen you before. Whose wife are you?"
"I'm your great-grandfather's wife!"
Hearing the frivolity in his tone, Baoying shot him an exasperated glare and turned to leave.
"Hold on." He called her back, laughing lazily. "You came here to look at men, didn't you? What do you think of me?"
With that, he swept open his robe, revealing his bare, muscular torso.
Baoying let out a shriek, hastily covering her eyes and turning to flee.
She hadn't run two steps before she collided head-on with someone—a chest as solid as a wall that left her head spinning.
Before she could react, the person's arm looped around her, drawing her loosely into his embrace.
Baoying wanted to cry but had no tears. She must not have checked the almanac before leaving today—first she'd run into that troublemaking princess, and now she'd encountered two lechers in a row.
Just as she was about to shove away the man holding her, a deep, mellow voice sounded from above her head: "Ji Ping, put your clothes on."
It was Zong Duo!
Baoying looked up in delight—that clean, sharp jawline and that straight, prominent nose—it was indeed him!
She immediately straightened her back and pointed fiercely at the man under the tree. "Your Highness, he molested me!"
Zong Duo's expression darkened. He raised a hand to cover her eyes and didn't lower it until the man had dressed himself.
The man called Ji Ping walked over awkwardly and bowed to her. "I didn't know you were the Princess Consort. I was presumptuous—please forgive me."
It turned out the man was named Liu Jiping, the fourth son of Duke Cheng'en. He had something of a reputation as a ladies' man, fond of seducing other men's wives.
Just now, when he'd spotted Baoying under the tree, Liu Jiping—who had seen countless beauties—had been instantly captivated.
Seeing that she was beautiful, unfamiliar, and dressed in bright, lively colors, he'd assumed she was some newlywed young wife of a low-ranking officer. Hence, he'd teased her without restraint.
He hadn't expected to miss his mark this time—he'd gone and teased the wife of Prince Yan himself.
However, he was used to being dissolute and arrogant, relying on his father's influence. Even facing Prince Yan, he wasn't particularly frightened, so his apology was rather perfunctory.
Baoying naturally refused to accept it. "What kind of words are those? Are you saying that if I weren't the Princess Consort, I'd deserve to be molested by you?"
Liu Jiping chuckled. "That's not what I meant at all. But it takes two to make a quarrel—if you hadn't been staring so intently at the men as you walked by, I wouldn't have gotten the wrong idea."
"Who was staring at men?!"
Baoying hastily denied it, then guiltily glanced up at Zong Duo.
On second thought, even if she had been looking at men, she wasn't in the wrong—after all, Zong Duo himself had said she was just a mascot he'd brought back, not his real wife.
She immediately retorted to Liu Jiping, "Looking at men isn't against the law. But you—the laws of Great Jing clearly state that anyone who harasses a woman with words shall be punished with thirty strokes of the cane!"
Liu Jiping said with unbridled confidence, "Then by all means, Your Highness the Princess Consort, go to the authorities and report me."
Baoying gritted her teeth, unwilling to let him off so easily. "Even if you escape the cane, that's only because of your family's power—not your own ability!"
Liu Jiping smiled shamelessly. "Being born into the right family is my ability."
"You—" Baoying couldn't out-argue him, so she tugged at Zong Duo's sleeve. "Your Highness, look at him!"
Zong Duo stared coldly at Liu Jiping.
This man came from a distinguished family, but his character was despicable, and Zong Duo held him in low regard. Liu Jiping had never gained any real favor in the Dragon Imperial Guard, and over time, he had struck up a connection with Zong Mao.
For this competition, Liu Jiping had been instructed by Zong Mao to cause trouble in the finals and make the Dragon Imperial Guard lose to the Divine Mechanism Camp. Once successful, Zong Mao would promote him to Deputy Commander of the Divine Mechanism Camp.
Zong Duo had known of their scheme all along but had remained silent, waiting for the finals to pull the rug out from under them—to kick Liu Jiping out and catch Zong Mao completely off guard.
He had been wondering what excuse to use, and then this blind fool went and harassed his Princess Consort, giving him the perfect pretext.
He spoke coldly. "Jiping, since you can't focus wholeheartedly on preparation, you needn't take the field in the upcoming matches."
Liu Jiping's face went pale with shock. He hadn't expected Zong Duo to punish him over this.
If he were pulled from the lineup at the last moment, it would ruin Zong Mao's plan, and his hopes of transferring to the Brocade Guard would go up in smoke. Not to mention whether Zong Mao would let him off—even staying under Zong Duo's command, his days would be numbered.
He immediately dropped to his knees in a slide, pleading desperately, "Your Highness, I truly know I was wrong! Please let me compete! Didn't we just take first place? You saw how hard I worked!"
Zong Duo was unmoved. He pulled Baoying forward. "You harassed my Princess Consort and expect to act like nothing happened?"
Liu Jiping quickly turned to Baoying. "Your Highness the Princess Consort, please be merciful. Raise your noble hand and forgive me this once!"
Baoying saw how he had gone from arrogant to servile, and she felt immensely satisfied. She deliberately played the bully with the tiger's backing. "Forgiving you is easy enough. You like taking off your clothes, don't you? Then when the match starts, if you go on the field stark naked, I'll let bygones be bygones. How about that?"
By now, quite a few officers and officials' wives had gathered around to watch the commotion. Though they all came from noble families, they had often been bullied by Liu Jiping in the past.
Now, seeing the Princess Consort humiliate him into speechlessness with just a few words, the officers clapped and cheered. The ladies pretended to be shy and covered their faces with handkerchiefs, but they couldn't hide the stifled laughter beneath the silk.
Liu Jiping had been publicly humiliated, and his embarrassment turned to fury. He abandoned all pretense of pleading and stormed off with a flick of his sleeve.
Zong Duo looked up at the sky in speechless exasperation. How could a Princess Consort of her stature say something so crude in public?
He silenced the gawking crowd with a look, then grabbed Baoying by the collar and dragged her to the edge of the pond.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to play with Your Highness!"
Baoying had won her first battle and was still buzzing with excitement.
Her smile was as radiant as the morning glow, nearly dazzling Zong Duo. He silently turned his face away.
All the way here, countless eyes had been stealing glances at her, openly or covertly—and she could still laugh so carefreely.
He thought of Liu Jiping's words and felt even more irritated. This girl had not a shred of reserve, running off to the Dragon Imperial Guard to look at men—it was exactly the kind of thing she would do.
"I don't have time to play with you."
Zong Duo ignored her, pulled the cork from his water skin, and tilted his head back to drink plain water.
Baoying watched as a thin sheen of sweat on his face trickled down to the protruding knot of his throat, condensing into droplets that fell into the hollow of his collarbone, pooling into a small lake before slowly seeping into the depths of his collar, staining a small dark patch on his firm chest.
Only then did she feel parched herself. She reached for his water skin. "I want some too."
Zong Duo raised the water skin above her reach. "I don't share my things. If you want a drink, find a servant to pour you some tea."
Baoying looked at the bustling crowd and fanned her face with her hand. "That would take too long! I ran all the way here, and my throat is about to catch fire! I want cold water right now!"
She looked up at him with pleading eyes.
Zong Duo looked at her flushed cheeks, the fine sweat beading on her small nose, and the dry, cracked skin on her glossy red lips—making one want to smooth it away.
"Open your mouth," he said.
She obediently lifted her chin and opened her mouth wide.
Zong Duo held the water skin above her lips and poured a stream of cool water in.
Baoying gulped down several mouthfuls.
He asked, "Had enough?"
She nodded quickly.
Zong Duo stoppered the water skin and handed her a handkerchief. "Wipe the sweat off your face."
Baoying took it and dabbed at her face. His handkerchief carried a crisp, faint fragrance—rather pleasant.
She stole a glance up at him, only to unexpectedly meet his dark, deep eyes, in which her own reflection was clearly visible. Instantly, her face felt even hotter.
The tips of Zong Duo's ears were also slightly flushed. Though the shade of the trees by the pond offered some cover, it was no match for the blazing sun. He tilted his head back and drained the remaining cool water from his waterskin, finally calming the restlessness stirred by the summer heat.
"It's getting late—the finals are about to begin. You should head back to Feixian Pavilion now, and don't wander off on your own."
He raised his gaze past her, his brow furrowing slightly. "Where's Bailu?"
On this visit to the palace, Bailu was still the one accompanying her.
"I don't know."
Baoying answered carelessly, as if she hadn't seen her since they were at Wanshou Palace.
But it was better that Bailu wasn't around! It saved her from having to put up with that sour face every day.
Zong Duo, however, warned her very seriously, "Keep Bailu by your side at all times. She came from the palace—if anything happens, she can help you handle it."
"I know, I know! You're so naggy!"
Baoying shrugged it off, turned around, and ran off, holding up her skirt.
Zong Duo frowned as he watched her butterfly-like figure flit away.
For some reason, the match he had been so confident of winning now suddenly felt tinged with uncertainty in his heart.