Starlight and petals fell together into the girl’s hair beneath the tree, highlighting her flushed, shy cheeks.
Dizzy from the wine, she closed her eyes and rolled over, nuzzling into Zhu Zi’an’s embrace. Drowsily resting her head on his chest, she murmured: “Zhu Zi’an.”
“Mm,” he replied.
That voice rumbled from his throat – fuzzy, gentle, low, and pleasant.
His chest slightly vibrated when he spoke, tickling her somehow.
“Zhu Zi’an,” she mumbled tipsily, “Deep down…I actually know already…”
He froze for a second, not understanding: “Know what?”
“Won’t tell you,” she tilted her head foxily with a smile. Emboldened by the drink, she burrowed further into his arms. Breathing in the scent of white plum blossoms, she seemed to hum contentedly and promptly fell fast asleep.
“Jiang Xiaoman, what could you be so happy to find out about?” He smiled down at her. “Don’t tell me little Master Bai told you some amusing martial world story again?”
She didn’t respond anymore. He pondered then tried calling her: “Jiang Xiaoman?”
The girl in his arms breathed deeply and evenly, her body soft and warm – resembling a well-behaved kitten in blissful slumber.
“But you’ll catch cold sleeping here,” he said worriedly. “Wake up a bit. Let’s go back inside the tavern to rest, okay?”
Still no response. He patted her head but she just gave a small grunt without opening her eyes, even nuzzling against him instead as if refusing to wake, wanting to remain inside his large cloak that wrapped around her, only a little head poking out. She leaned very comfortably on his chest, mumbling: “Don’t go.”
She even grabbed his hand, tipsily raising her face in a bid for him to hold her properly.
“Ah…” He helplessly looked skyward, sighing. “…Really going too far now.”
Yet she clung on. Left without recourse, he could only obey her command.
Holding her under the snow-white blossoming tree, he gazed up at the starry skies. Petals piled atop his shoulders while the girl’s flushed cheeks in his embrace granted him a trace of precious warmth after far too long.
He nearly indulged in that comforting warmth, momentarily embracing the illusion of eternity.
“I don’t wish to leave either,” he murmured.
Eyes shut, he listened to her breathing. Their hair intermingled amidst the winds stirring their clothes. Hugging her tightly to himself, their hearts thumped in tandem – one by one, resonating gently in the tender night.
Finally, she completely relaxed into deep slumber. Head lolling onto his shoulder.
He gazed at her sleeping face, voicelessly laughing before softly saying: “Jiang Xiaoman, since I’m your best friend in your heart, shall we happily remain so…?”
“Don’t get any closer to me…” Shutting his eyes: “I’m scared I won’t be able to leave.”
“I don’t want to bid you farewell. When the day comes that I must go, you will not know and thus not grieve. You’ll have a good friend who often writes you letters from afar, telling only happy things…”
Whispering: “I’m most afraid of your sorrow.”
Amidst the winds, the girl in his arms slept serenely. Holding her, he slowly got to his feet and walked across the petal-strewn tiles into the awaiting carriage behind the courtyard.
“Your Highness, to the Eastern Palace?” the coachman Luo Shiyi asked.
“The bookstore first,” Xie Wuyan murmured. “She probably doesn’t wish to return to the Eastern Palace.”
The carriage rolled down the tranquil, lengthy path. Stopping along an alley near Eastern Corner Tower, Luo Shiyi alighted to knock on the bookstore’s door. Xie Wuyan carried the slumbering Jiang Kui upstairs into the elegant lounge, tucking her into the warm blankets and pushing over a brazier to her side.
Sitting beside her, he rested his chin watching her awhile. Even asleep, the arcs of her brows and eyes remained cheerful and pleasing. Reaching out, he ruffled her loose hair. Unable to resist smiling.
He whispered: “See you tomorrow.”
Then left, boarding the carriage waiting outside. Wheels rumbling over the long blue stone road and past the imposing double walls until stopping by the secluded side gate near the imperial gardens’ lotus pond.
As Luo Shiyi pulled the carriage door open, the passenger inside cradled an old copper sleeve warmer. The very one Jiang Kui had taken out from the bookstore to give him earlier. The bronze had mottled patches of worn color.
Yet Xie Wuyan held it as if deriving warmth.
“Your Highness?” Luo Shiyi ventured carefully. “Still not resting…?”
The young Crown Prince silently hugged the cooler. Head bowed, leaning against the carriage wall beneath the starlight spilling inside.
“Don’t wish to sleep,” he murmured. “Want to remember this feeling.”
Luo Shiyi draped a large cloak over him then reached to support him up, fingers brushing the sleeve warmer.
He shuddered violently in that instant, icy chills hitting his hand.
The coals had long burnt out. Even the ashes were cold. The bronze surface chilled to the bone, frightening in its frigid temperature.
Yet Xie Wuyan cradled it as if for warmth.
“It’s gotten cold, Your Highness,” Luo Shiyi said. “Please stop using this.”
“I see. It’s gotten cold after all.” Xie Wuyan uttered softly.
Realization dawning, Luo Shiyi looked up sharply: “Your Highness, you are…?”
“Mm. Numb and unfeeling now. Can’t sense hot or cold anymore.” His voice was calm.
Silence descended. Luo Shiyi whispered: “When…did this start happening?”
“Can’t recall. No matter.” Xie Wuyan shook his head lightly. “Inevitable outcome sooner or later.”
Luo Shiyi pressed his lips tightly before replying: “This is manifesting earlier than Doctor Shen predicted. You must conserve inner force for your channels, absolutely cannot recklessly expend it…”
Xie Wuyan cut him off. “I know my limits.”
“Also…this is rather good in fact.” A small smile as he lowered his head. “I no longer fear the cold.”
Not waiting for Luo Shiyi’s response, he switched topics: “I may sleep a while longer today. But there is another matter requiring your attention first…that black-robed man who uses Cruelty Palm. I saw his face.”
“She saw it too. When I’m Zhu Zi’an of the martial world, I don’t care about court affairs so she didn’t say anything more. After she reports back in the Eastern Palace, we can specifically discuss countermeasures.”
He went on steadily. “As we guessed, that man comes from within the palace ranks.”
“Who is he?” Luo Shiyi asked softly.
The youthful Crown Prince gazed outside. “Someone we know. How do you do…Lord Steward Yu?”
At dawn after early court was dismissed, the Head Inner Attendant Yu Zhao’en finished all necessary tasks at the imperial residence. Donning an oversized black robe inside the manor, he quietly departed for a deserted pavilion in the northern section of the palace enclosure.
He stood highest before the dragon throne as the most prominent minister. The leader of the northern eunuch faction. The ultimate authority over the Golden Guard troops. The pillar of state admired by all. Yet when he appeared before the ministers, he resembled an ordinary old man – hair and beard fully white, smiling amicably, gentle and benign.
But once he wore these black robes, his very aura abruptly turned icy as an owl lurking in the dark.
With a “creak”, he pushed open the door to the dilapidated unused pavilion. Striding past the dusty front hall, he stopped before an ornamental bamboo screen.
A black sandalwood table stood behind it. A black-haired youth lazily propped his chin in one hand at the table. His other hand idly flipped a plum blossom-shaped copper coin up and down in midair.
The coin clinked against wood. “Failure, then?” the youth stated evenly.
“Defeat at Pingkang Ward.” Steward Yu’s voice rasped. “The Northern Beggar Chief escaped them. Unable to kill Master Pu. Feathered Forest troops cleared out Wangyue Tower.”
“Find out just who this Master Pu is?”
“We forced him to show himself at Wangyue Tower yesterday. Many saw his face. Investigations only uncovered him to be a scholar called Master Zhu.”
“Rumors in town claim this man a bookish sort who often loiters around Chang Le Lane. My men questioned and verified such details on site.”
Yu Zhao’en slowly shook his head. “The Crown Princess seems rather close to him but he doesn’t resemble palacefolk.”
“The only questionable thing is…” He murmured. “I originally ordered the Golden Guard to not interfere beforehand. Yet the Feathered Forest troops ignored me and intervened anyway.”
“I initially suspected this man had connections in their ranks. But later investigations showed a youth had knelt outside the authorities to urgently report the unrest, forcing their hand instead…Likely that person’s scheme.”
“Pity he wasn’t killed. Death settles unease with overly clever folk.” Slight regret colored his tone.
“Forget it. No killing this time since he’s no court insider. No need to mind his business.” The youth shrugged indifferently, flipping his copper coin once more. “My own ambitions don’t lie among the martial forces anyway.”
“Moreover…”
A smile surfaced. “The general’s clan will fall.”
The copper coin clattered onto the table, puffing up traces of dust.
Jiang Kui was roused awake by birdsong.
Blinking, she discovered herself inside the elegant upstairs lounge of the bookstore, bundled under thick covers with an extinguished brazier beside her.
Raising both hands from the nest of blankets, she cradled her head gazing at the ceiling. Hazy memories of drinking copious amounts of wine last night until blacking out and being carried here floated up.
Amidst melodious morning birdsong, she lazily sat up. A platter of steaming snacks and tea awaited on the nearby table. Beneath the pristine porcelain, a thin sheet of mulberry bark paper. Scrawled across it was that person’s messy handwriting – “Good morning.”
She turned the bark sheet over. The back was blank, only a few minuscule ink dots. As if the writer had hesitated on how to say something but couldn’t figure it out in the end.
“Brother Jiang!” Storyteller Liu Qinghe called from below. “Nearly noon! Stay for lunch before you go?”
“No need!” Jiang Kui shouted down. “I’m in a hurry!”
Wolfing down the refreshments messily, she vaulted straight out the open window in her haste instead of taking the stairs. Running towards the Eastern Palace. The girl’s figure amidst buildings large and small resembled a sprightly swallow darting home as winter afternoon sunlight dwindled.
“Xie Wuyan!” She yelled bursting into the bedchamber. “Got something to discuss!”
The flowered windows were open. She flipped through, moving deeper inside along the brilliant sunlight.
Entering the inner chamber, she froze briefly – at this hour, Xie Wuyan was still asleep. Curled up on a small couch by the bed, buried under thick covers. Head slightly aslant, jaw grazing blanket edge.
Dancing rays leaked from the ceiling landing on his eyes and brows. Tranquil and warm.
“You really can sleep a lot,” Jiang Kui grumbled under her breath, poking his forehead. Minimal reaction, just steady, pleasant breathing by her ear.
Startled by his temperature, she spun to gather many braziers into a ring around him, enveloping the space in cozy warmth.
Then she found his little warmer on the desk, packed it fully with glowing foreign coal and fragrant sandalwood ash before stuffing it under his covers.
The insides were likewise icy. Brow furrowing, she clenched his hand to find his entire body chilled stiff as ice.
Some indignation surfaced. “What’s Steward Qian doing caring for an ill person like this with me away barely a day?!”
Sighing, she personally boiled medicine at the pharmaceutical bureau and also had the kitchens simmer plain congee. Carrying everything back to the bedchamber.
Xie Wuyan still fast asleep, utterly peaceful. Carefully propping him against a large polished mahogany backrest, she began slowly feeding him spoon by spoon.
In her hold, he was exceptionally pliant and obedient with eyes shut, quietly ingesting the medicine until color slightly returned to his complexion, no longer so frighteningly frigid. The steaming broth and congee supplied a trace of crucial warmth, moderately raising his temperature.
After restoring him lying down, she watched his face propped on hand for a long time, but he showed no signs of waking even now. Extremely good-looking in repose – straight bridge of nose, restful brows and eyes, delicate fans of lashes with sunlight leaking through, speckling fine golden shards beneath his lids.
After some thought, she called for unfinished official scrolls and documents to be delivered into the bedchamber. Pulling over a desk, she sat processing Eastern Palace administration beside him. This way, he would immediately see her upon waking.
Sitting down, she suddenly noticed her “not returning tonight” note from yesterday still pressed under the glass lamp while the window she’d climbed back through remained wide open – everything was just as she’d left it when departing last night.
The bed she slept in was neatly made without disturbance. Curled up on that small side couch…he almost resembled someone awaiting her return.
Despite their nominal marriage, her husband truly treated her exceptionally well.
He trusted her completely with nary any interference, calmly handing administrative duties wholly into her charge. Even allowing her to frequently vanish into the martial fraternity, practically helping to deceive everyone else for her.
He likewise never evaded discussing national politics, conferring together whenever issues arose. Always heeding her opinions.
A truly wonderful person.
Unable now to hear her, yet still she wished to thank him aloud.
“Xie Wuyan,” she turned to look at him against the sunlight. “Much appreciated.”
Beneath golden rays, she lifted her brush and started reviewing documents. Amidst the rustling paper, he slumbered beside her – wordless company.
Until the encroaching dusk wind blew in carrying red dusk clouds. He slowly awoke beneath the gusty sounds.
The girl near him concentrated wholly on writing, one hand propping cheek while the other held her brush, sincere expression extremely charming. A long strand had escaped her loose hair, swaying back and forth across his nose. Refreshingly sweet fragrance trailing from it.
“Wife,” he called softly.
“You’re awake?” She set her brush down, turning to face him. Some reproach colored her voice: “Xie Wuyan, you really did sleep a long time.”
“Very tired,” his voice groggy.
Amused by his drowsy look, she stroked his head and laughed a little quirkily.
“Never mind, sleep more if still tired,” she beamed. “I’ll be here anyway.”
“Mm,” he answered. “I want water.”
After thinking a moment she took her half-finished tea, propping him up to feed it to him.
He moved his fingers as if wanting to take the cup himself but right now, extremely weak without an ounce of strength. Able only to loosely catch hold instead.
“Apologies,” he murmured.
“Fine, I’ll just feed you then,” she sighed again. “Not your fault anyway.”
Shutting his eyes to her cradling his head, slowly ingesting the warm liquid sip by sip. The hot tea and his swallowing heated his ear tips simultaneously.
“You’re blushing,” she pointed out.
“I’m not,” he immediately denied.
“Why argue?” Some exasperation colored her voice. “It made me wonder if this meant your illness was recovering. Your complexion has honestly remained awful.”
“Perhaps so,” he responded with eyes still closed.
After waiting a bit for his bout of low coughs to pass and strength to return enough that he could slowly sit up himself, she finally broached proper business: “Xie Wuyan, I found the assassin from that autumn hunt.”
“Who is it?” he inquired.
“Palace Steward Yu Zhao’en of the Inner Attendants’ Bureau. I was…” She leaned on hand recalling. “Well, won’t bore you with the details of my gang fight yesterday. Let’s just say I stirred up and decimated Crown Prince Qi’s entire faction at Pingkang Ward.”
“Mm,” he nodded once.
“That black-robed man and I fought again. The winds unveiled his masked kerchief for an instant…” She recollected. “I recognized him. The one who’d announced my marriage decree entering the general’s estate that day was precisely him.”
“That day you nearly drowned…” He echoed her memory.
“Yes, that exact day. When you’d saved me.” She paused briefly before clarifying: “Actually you shouldn’t have rescued me back then. I was only pretending, originally planning to surface from the pond to chase them down instead until you hauled me out and unintentionally thwarted it.”
Tilting her head his way: “Even made me suspect you for a time.”
“Apologies.” He coughed lightly. “Unintentional.”
“Never mind, just well-intentioned saving people, so I guess somewhat forgivable.”
Deciding to comfort him a bit, she patted his head and continued speaking: “Afterwards the trail went cold, until one day when I saw Crown Prince Qi with that black-robed man beneath Tonghua Gate.”
“At first I suspected that man was just a wandering cultivator hired by the Crown Prince. Speaking of, do you know of the profession called ‘intermediary’ in the martial world?”
He was silent a moment. Not waiting for his reply, she went on: “No need to understand. To summarize – I initially believed that man was merely a freelance intermediary from the fraternity, self-styled as ‘Elder Whitehead’.”
“But now it appears he’s the same as me – not just of the martial forces, but also the imperial court… His attempts on my life, your life, and Prince Wen’s life must all stem from political maneuvering instead of personal grudges between cultivators.”
“It must have been him who switched out the carriage entering the palace that day in order to drown me. Thereby preventing my marriage to you which would in turn prevent the inclusion of my father’s forces into your faction.”
She analyzed slowly: “The fertility tonic my young aunt drinks daily was also delivered by him…he likely has means to tamper with the medicine.”
“Moreover, he and Crown Prince Qi cooperate with one other.”
Earnestly facing him: “Xie Wuyan, as leader of the northern eunuchs he originally tried killing me to seize military control; later he targeted you in order to shatter your southern administration faction. Each seeking their own benefit.”
After hearing everything, he pondered briefly before responding steadily: “That man and I have always bitterly opposed one other in court…only realizing now he is also of the martial world.”
“What do you think,” a pause. “Could this ‘Elder Whitehead’ intermediary be Steward Yu?”
She nodded. “I believe so. Elder Whitehead recently emerged out of nowhere yet acts decisively in court affairs from the start. I deduce this ties to cooperation between Steward Yu and Crown Prince Qi – the former seeking military power while…”
Another hesitation, voice lowering: “The latter seeks your Crown Prince position.”
Without Xie Wuyan, the heir would undoubtedly go to Crown Prince Qi Xie Yin instead. Crown Prince Qi allying with Steward Yu also signals cooperation between Qi’s camp and the northern eunuchs. One coveting the heir status, the other coveting military control. Mutually beneficial ambitions.
“As of late…I’ve been far too weary,” Xie Wuyan uttered softly. “Unable to properly oversee politics.”
After contemplating briefly, he stated gravely: “I fear something happening to the general’s clan… I should make an immediate trip to court.”
Nearly rising from his couch, he was abruptly pressed back down. A little warmer shoved into his arms too. Holding it in bewilderment, he blankly glanced up.
The girl before him bit her lip. Gazing at his wan complexion, she admonished sternly: “Xie Wuyan, stay put. Looking like this, I’m afraid I may have to fetch you from the imperial infirmary in the dead of night if you insist on going.”
Before he could respond, a steaming cup of tea was added into his hands. The maiden’s voice followed: “Since you can get up on your own, drink your tea then.”
“I—” He started.
“Oh hush.” She cut him off. “We can discuss later. Focus on resting for today. I have documents to review so sit there quietly.”
He could only acquiesce, settling beside her cradling that teacup. Turning to watch her write beneath the lamp. She looked quite charming concentrating hard on calligraphy, long curved lashes lowered over bright lamplight, prettily casting faint shadows beneath her lids.
He gazed at her brush-wielding hand, listening to the whispers of shuffling paper. As if granted limitless warmth and tranquility.
After some time, overcome by weariness, he sagged sideways dozing off against a bedpost, teetering near sleep in his half-conscious state.
Afraid he may drop and shatter the cup if he actually fell asleep, she reached to take it from him. Only to catch him slumbering propped on that post…she’d just seen someone else sleeping the exact same way in a carriage yesterday!
That man had also tilted his head resting against carriage wall at the same sloping angle…
…Far too similar.
“Xie Wuyan,” she uttered softly.
“Here,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.
“Look at me,” she commanded solemnly.
Forced to pry his eyes open, still brimming with drowsiness as he gazed her way.
“Call me Senior sister,” she ordered.
Abruptly, papers on the desk stirred in a gust of wind.
Table of Contents | Next Chapter
Leave a Reply