The eastern suburbs of Jianye were home to many noble and royal residences. Though Wang Xiang spent little time in Jianye, the Empress Dowager doted on him, so he had a mansion there.
On the night of the break-in, under a bright moon and sparse stars, Wang Xiang’s mansion was quiet with few lights burning as everyone had gone to rest. Liu Mu had just fallen asleep when he heard the warning sound of arrows flying outside. He shot up in bed, his grim face lit by firelight through the window.
“Young master, someone is breaking into the prison to rescue someone!” came urgent knocking at the door.
Liu Mu hurriedly put on clothes and grabbed a buffalo horn bow from the wall before going out. Surrounded by guards heading to the center of the fighting, his face was filled with rage.
“I knew Jianye wasn’t peaceful. Many people oppose me. Breaking into the prison for a rescue – didn’t you post any guards? What am I feeding you for?!”
The guards hung their heads silently, not daring to speak but cursing their luck.
Even before entering Jianye, Wang Xiang had been attacked on the way. He should have waited to heal before entering the city, but Liu Mu was young and proud. He insisted on entering to report to the Emperor and Empress Dowager.
His advisors had convinced him not to reveal everything. They kept one of the assassins to find out who wanted to kill Wang Xiang. To the Emperor, Wang Xiang only said someone wanted him dead.
When the advisors learned Lu Yun had left Jianye for months, they couldn’t help but wonder.
They had expected someone might come investigating and made many preparations. They even had experts set up special formations in the forest outside the prison… yet they still couldn’t stop the intruder?
Everyone was shocked – were Jianye’s assassins really this skilled?
Wang Xiang Liu Mu rushed over angrily with his guards. Seeing the scene, his face darkened further. The guards had been awakened and surrounded the nighttime intruder in layers. Liu Mu had expected many attackers given the commotion. But looking now, there was only one black-clad figure with a wide-brimmed hat in the center.
This person held a barely conscious hostage.
The hat’s veil covered their face. With one hand holding a sword and the other the hostage, their movements were fierce and quick. Despite so many guards, they couldn’t block their path of retreat.
“My lord, my lord…” The eldest advisor, a small old man in his fifties, had rushed out hastily tying his clothes. He called out anxiously and urgently. Suddenly seeing the surrounded black-clad figure, even through the hat he felt their piercing gaze. The old man froze, hoping they’d think he was just a meaningless servant.
But this assassin was incredibly sharp. Listening carefully, they suddenly leaped into the air. Even while holding an unconscious person, their fighting ability wasn’t affected. Mid-air, they launched a killing strike at the trembling old man by the trellis.
Liu Mu: “Master Kong—!”
Before finishing, he drew and fired his bow at the airborne assassin. The assassin paused mid-air and flipped backward. But the arrow was swift and powerful – as they dodged sideways, it grazed their arm. The assassin landed and was surrounded again, forced to keep fighting.
Liu Mu coldly ordered: “Arrow formation!”
“Yes!” The guards responded in unison, voices shaking the heavens.
Liu Mu put down his bow and hurried to his advisor “Master Kong’s” side. Though Wang Xiang had many advisors, Master Kong had been by his side since childhood. The Empress Dowager had found him not just to advise Liu Mu but to care for him growing up. Liu Mu naturally felt closer to Master Kong than others.
Grabbing the old man’s arm, Liu Mu pushed him toward the inner courtyard: “What are you doing here? Go back and hide!”
“My lord, my lord!” Though shaken from his near-death experience, Master Kong gripped Liu Mu’s hand and urgently pointed at the black-clad assassin now surrounded by arrows again.
“My lord, for an assassin in night clothes, a wide hat is less convenient than a face covering for fighting. Why would this assassin wear such a hat?”
Liu Mu paused thoughtfully: “Continue, master.”
Master Kong’s eyes shone brightly: “His hat’s veil is longer than usual, blocking both his vision and others from seeing him clearly. Having already broken into Wang Xiang’s mansion at night, why take this extra troublesome step? The difference between a hat and face covering is that the hat can completely hide his face, while a normal face covering only hides the mouth and nose below the eyes…”
Liu Mu blurted out: “This person must have very distinctive facial features that would be recognized instantly. Even just seeing his eyes!”
Liu Mu continued thinking: “This can’t be an ordinary trained assassin… right, they could break through even the special formations – how could a normal assassin have time to learn such skills? This person doesn’t dare show their face… maybe they’re extremely good-looking, or maybe I know them!”
“Master Kong, thank you!”
The youth bowed formally in thanks, then shouted “knock off his hat!” as he personally led the attack. Seeing Liu Mu understand, Master Kong stroked his beard with satisfaction. Clutching his still-pounding heart, he finally let servants help him back to the inner courtyard. But he wouldn’t go sleep, instead peering through the courtyard gate watching the fight, wondering which famous figure in Jianye had come to assassinate Wang Xiang.
How many people in Jianye hated his lord?
Master Kong was deeply worried.
But at the battle’s center, the tide had turned again!
The surrounded assassin was skilled in both combat and strategy. Even with Wang Xiang personally leading troops to surround them, they remained calm and kept the same fighting rhythm. The assassin retreated toward the mansion’s study, and their pursuers thought they’d figured out their plan, guessing they wanted to steal something from there.
The path to the study was filled with soldiers, with more and more people. Seeing the formation, the assassin’s fighting grew frantic, their rhythm suddenly quickening. The hostage they carried was thrown against walls several times, covered in blood. Just as everyone thought victory was certain, the assassin suddenly shifted.
Wang Xiang Liu Mu’s heart jumped: “Not good!”
That was their blind spot—
Sure enough, the assassin flipped backward through the air. The fighters were scattered by several strikes, with all forces concentrated in front. Retreating backward where there were few guards, the assassin caught them off guard with a surprise attack. At that moment, carrying their hostage, they jumped over the wall and escaped Wang Xiang’s mansion.
Everyone in Wang Xiang’s mansion: “…”
They hardly dared look at Wang Xiang’s expression.
While they were still ashamed, Wang Xiang had already drawn his bow again and unhesitatingly jumped over the wall in pursuit: “How dare you, thief!”
Everyone was shocked: “Young master!”
Such bravery from their young master, going alone to chase the enemy – what use were they? If anything happened to the precious young master, the whole mansion would have to pay. How could a mere assassin’s life be worth the young master’s? Everyone was scared pale and followed in pursuit. The personal guards protecting Wang Xiang were even more anxious, leaping through the night searching for Wang Xiang.
The eastern suburbs were all noble territory, with sprawling grounds and countless courtyards. Wang Xiang was strong and brave, chasing the assassin for a li. He shot his bow several times with great power and timing. After the fight, the assassin was already wounded, and being chased like this, Liu Mu hit them several more times.
But Liu Mu was angry: he hadn’t hit any vital spots!
The assassin carried their hostage through the night, seeming very familiar with the terrain. While Wang Xiang and his pursuers wove through garden after garden, Liu Mu started feeling dizzy. Just as Liu Mu’s attention wavered, furious at himself, his guards caught up.
Guard A: “Young master, you absolutely cannot act alone! If you’re injured again, His Majesty will surely kill us.”
Guard B: “Young master, leave such ordinary matters to us servants. Please remember to take care of yourself.”
Guard C: “Young master, this area is noble and royal residences. You cannot act rashly and disturb the nobility.”
One after another, Liu Mu was advised until he was filled with anger. But these were all his old servants, arranged by the former emperor and empress dowager. Though he was annoyed hearing it, he could only endure and push them aside. But pursuing further, the assassin’s trail was hard to find.
Liu Mu: “It’s all your fault! Holding me back!”
“Can’t you stop following me all the time— following from Xiang to Jianye, can’t I act alone for even a moment?!”
Everyone knelt together, crying pitifully: “Young master, we are useless—”
Liu Mu was furious and angrily threw his bow to the ground. The guards insisted he stay back while they went ahead to pursue. Liu Mu could only endure. After another quarter hour, the servants said the footsteps had grown lighter, which was unusual. Liu Mu raised an eyebrow, coldly watching to see what they could analyze. They explained: “The assassin’s trail grows lighter here – either they’ve reached safety, or they and their rescue have split up here.”
Liu Mu paused: “Split up here? Where could they split to?”
The guard said: “North is Mount Zhong, southwest is the palace gate, this area is noble residences. Master Kong said this person is unusual – the palace gate direction is most likely. But from the earlier battle at the study, we can see this person is clever and thinks in reverse. So the palace gate might be a diversion, and Mount Zhong might be more likely.”
Liu Mu: “…”
Though his subordinates always overprotected him and didn’t want him taking any risks, there were many capable people among them. At least this analysis was something he, unfamiliar with Jianye, couldn’t have figured out. Having reached a conclusion, Wang Xiang’s people immediately split into teams to search. Wang Xiang led most people toward Mount Zhong, which according to their analysis was more likely…
Mount Zhong was beautiful, with purple mists rising.
The day before, having lost Lu Yun who had come with them, Luo Ling Yu and Lu Xian couldn’t find him anywhere. Comforted by Lu Xian that “this is normal, Third Brother appears and disappears mysteriously, you’ll get used to it,” Luo Ling Yu could only go with Lu Xian to meet up with their female cousins.
The cousins came in twos and threes, bringing their close friends, and that Han girl who had left the Lu family earliest even brought Princess Ning Ping Liu Tang to play with them.
Meeting a princess for the first time, Luo Ling Yu smiled outwardly while nervous inside.
Where the noble ladies couldn’t see, she secretly wiped her palmy hands.
Seeing the ladies chatting and laughing casually, not particularly deferential to the princess, Luo Ling Yu understood these noble family girls better: with their excellent family backgrounds, a royal princess in their eyes was just someone who had better luck at birth, nothing too special.
This was the confidence of noble families.
Luo Ling Yu admired this in her heart, strengthening her determination to marry into a noble family.
Princess Ning Ping Liu Tang was around Luo Ling Yu’s age, with a quiet, almost shy personality. From Luo Ling Yu’s observation, invited by the Han girl to play, Liu Tang seemed even more nervous than her, this country bumpkin from Nanyang.
Behind the princess’s back, Luo Ling Yu joked with the Han girl: “I thought all princesses would be arrogant and overbearing, but this princess is so elegant and gentle.”
The Han girl snorted dismissively, thinking “how many princesses have you even seen?”
The gentler Wang girl smiled and introduced to Luo Ling Yu: “This princess is Prince Chen Liu Shu’s younger sister. Prince Chen doesn’t talk much, so naturally his sister doesn’t either. Haven’t you met them? Prince Chen and Lu Yun are close friends, when he lived at the Lu house before, I often saw Prince Chen visiting Third Cousin. Sometimes Princess Ning Ping would go too… you really haven’t met them?”
Luo Ling Yu was startled for a moment, then smiled and said she hadn’t met them.
Hearing them talk, the other cousin ladies said Luo Ling Yu would surely meet them if she stayed at the Lu house a few more days.
Talking about Prince Chen led the topic to Lu Yun, and the ladies’ tones became more resentful — they stayed at the Lu house just to have more “chance encounters” with Lu Yun.
But for several months straight, Lu Yun wasn’t at the Lu house; when he finally returned, he used injury as an excuse not to go out.
The cousin ladies had thick-skinnedly stayed at the Lu house for months, and in the end were even mocked by Madam Lu, yet still barely saw Lu Yun once… The women sourly said: “Luo miss is lucky, just arriving at the Lu house and Third Cousin took you around the garden, you must be much closer now.”
“Luo miss is so elegant and beautiful, Third Cousin must like talking with you more?”
Luo Ling Yu said shamefully: “No. He finds me very annoying.”
Though the truth of her words was uncertain, the women all felt comforted.
Changing topics, they went on to discuss other things. Princess Ning Ping Liu Tang listened to them talk in confusion, taking a while to realize that this cousin Luo Ling Yu now lived at the Lu house. She thought about her brother’s relationship with Lu Yun, and quietly began observing Luo Ling Yu.
When their eyes met, the beauty’s gaze was like lips, with peach cheeks and vermillion lips — just a light glance made Liu Tang blush and look away.
Liu Tang secretly thought: This lady is so stunning. Has brother seen her? Why haven’t I heard brother mention her?
Meanwhile Luo Ling Yu was thinking: This princess is so shy, she looks somewhat familiar… Ah, I remember now, that night when Madam Lu confronted me, I ran into Third Cousin with another gentleman – thinking about it now, that must have been Prince Chen Liu Shu.
Luo Ling Yu’s thoughts grew active: From their conversation, Prince Chen Liu Shu is also unmarried… Heavens, the gentlemen around my Third Cousin are either Wang Xiang or Prince Chen, either noble lords or royal family members, each one outstanding, it’s dazzling to look at.
I don’t believe all gentlemen are as hard to please as Third Cousin!
Luo Ling Yu blushed and smiled at Liu Tang, who again shyly turned away.
They didn’t play much with the cousin ladies that first afternoon, as everyone was tired and went to bed early.
The second day Luo Ling Yu went with the ladies to play on Mount Zhong’s three peaks.
Lu Xian worried about his cousin, and the temple master’s interpretation couldn’t resolve his confusion about his dream. Still half-believing his dream, Lu Xian wanted to clear his mind, so he quietly followed along with the ladies.
Though Lu Xian was steady and didn’t talk much, some ladies actively chatted with him, making the outing not boring, and Lu Xian smiled more.
By evening, the women stayed overnight at Peach Blossom Bay on the mountain. This Peach Blossom Bay on Mount Zhong was a peninsula, lush with flowers and trees, birds and cranes celebrating spring. The east side had a very large Purple Mist Lake, with clear waters gathering Mount Zhong’s spring water. At night, with rooms on one side and the quiet lake on the other, spring water trickling, peach blossoms floating on Purple Mist Lake, how peaceful and beautiful this place was.
After playing all day, when night fell, maids lit flower branch lanterns, and the ladies gathered sitting around small tables, not rushing to sleep but playing games instead.
From Go to riddles to embroidery to lantern riddles, all the way to pitch-pot, Luo Ling Yu finally lost completely. The women were surprised, then burst out laughing: “We thought nothing could stump Sister Luo, but it turns out you’re not good at pitch-pot.”
Pitch-pot required finding a target and steadily throwing arrows to hit it.
Luo Ling Yu really wasn’t good at it.
She sat properly at the table, saying shamefully: “I’m not good at sports, I’m bad at anything requiring movement… but Her Highness plays extremely well.”
Princess Ning Ping Liu Tang was startled, realizing Luo Ling Yu was praising her. Her cheeks reddened as she waved her hands, saying softly: “No no no… this just takes practice. I envy Sister Luo – if I could write poetry and paint like Sister Luo, the other princess sisters wouldn’t refuse to play with me.”
The Wang girl mediated: “Everyone has their strengths. Her Highness is great at pitch-pot, Sister Luo is great at games.”
The Han girl said from the side: “Hmph, what use is being good at these games? No matter how skilled, in a few days the Flower Goddess title won’t fall to any of us.”
Luo Ling Yu turned to look at her curiously and asked: “What ‘Flower Goddess’? Do you mean the ‘Flower Festival Day’?”
The Han girl explained: “Yes. On Jianye’s Flower Festival Day, they choose the most talented and beautiful lady to be ‘Flower Goddess’ each year. It’s a competition – not only do the young lords and ladies vote, but Jianye invites five famous scholars to judge too. Being chosen as ‘Flower Goddess’ means you get to scatter flowers and give blessings to the whole city on Flower Festival Day. You also get talented men writing poems and painting pictures praising you, with your portrait recorded in the ‘Flower Goddess Book’. It’s a huge honor…”
The more she spoke, the more bitter and resentful her tone became. The other ladies had various expressions, but most looked envious.
The Wang girl stared at Luo Ling Yu for a while, then smiled: “Sister Luo is so beautiful, and we all admire your talents. Why don’t you try this year? If you do, I’ll give my vote to you.”
The ladies were startled, then all began studying Luo Ling Yu. After much thought, they all smiled and offered to give their votes to her. Luo Ling Yu kept waving her hands saying no.
The Han girl sneered: “It’s useless no matter how much you praise Sister Luo. That Lady Chen studied under the great scholar Zhou Tan and has been ‘Flower Goddess’ two years in a row. It doesn’t matter who we choose – in the end, those scholars will pick Zhou’s beloved student Lady Chen.”
Everyone paused, and someone said: “Lady Chen really is more talented than us.”
Luo Ling Yu pondered thoughtfully, her interest growing.
From what they said, this “Lady Chen” she hadn’t met seemed to be the recognized “talented lady” among Jianye’s women.
Luo Ling Yu didn’t care who the talented lady was, but the “Flower Goddess” honor only came once a year and would be recorded in the “Flower Goddess Book” for people to read and praise. Even ignoring marriage prospects, this honor was worth fighting for.
Given how highly people of this era regarded the “Flower Goddess”, she could imagine how it would help with marriage.
But this Lady Chen had such deep roots – how could a newcomer like her defeat her…
Luo Ling Yu quietly listened to the ladies argue while turning over her small schemes in her mind. Suddenly, Princess Liu Tang turned to her and said softly: “I think you can definitely become ‘Flower Goddess’.”
Luo Ling Yu’s phoenix eyes lifted slightly as she gazed back brightly. A thought occurred to her as she stared at Liu Tang, thinking: Oh, princess… it seems no princess has ever competed for “Flower Goddess” before. If a princess competed, could she match that Lady Chen?
Luo Ling Yu found herself a stepping stone and smiled back: “I think you could too. Have your brothers help you. You have so many brothers after all.”
All princes, high-ranking and powerful – who would dare compete?
Liu Tang was startled, clearly never having considered this. Her eyes blinked as the thought took hold: Oh, she really could play this game too.
After successfully misleading Liu Tang and joking with the ladies for less than another hour, night grew deep and the women grew tired, each leaving to sleep. Letting Ling Yu and other maids stay to help clean up the banquet remains, Luo Ling Yu walked alone by the lake.
The peninsula’s sea of flowers stretched endlessly. Her clothes brushed the water like a passing swan as Luo Ling Yu strolled slowly along Purple Mist Lake, crimson flower petals floating down from above to drift on the water. Her heart surged as she walked, pondering how to compete for Flower Goddess.
If a princess really joined in, splitting the attention with Lady Chen would be good. With two tigers fighting, she as an outsider would have a chance to rise unexpectedly.
But that wasn’t enough – she’d need to be exceptionally outstanding, catching everyone’s eye at first glance, to pave the best path to becoming “Flower Goddess”. Luo Ling Yu paced by the lake, wondering what talents would dazzle people…
As she hesitated walking by the lake, the water suddenly rippled, bubbling up. A hand reached out from the water and grabbed Luo Ling Yu’s foot.
Luo Ling Yu was scared out of her wits. Just as she was about to scream, a pale-faced, dripping wet young lord emerged from the lake: “Don’t shout… help me.”
The handsome young lord who suddenly emerged from Purple Mist Lake at midnight, chest and arms covered in blood like a water ghost, was Lu Yun who had disappeared two days ago.
Lu Yun looked up to see Luo Ling Yu’s hesitant expression and gave a bitter laugh: why did it have to be her again? Why couldn’t other ladies be like Luo Ling Yu, liking to wander by Purple Mist Lake in the middle of the night?
This heartless woman… would she push him back into the water and pretend not to see, turning away to claim “it was too dark to see clearly” another day?
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