The following day brought unpleasant weather. Rain came down in a soft, steady patter.
On days like this in the past, Princess Baohua would amuse herself indoors, and Zhaoxia Palace was never without the sound of laughter. But since the Princess had suffered her nightmare a few days ago, the palace had changed entirely — each day was very quiet. Even the most lively of the little palace maids would soften her footsteps as she walked.
Xie Yuzhang woke from her midday nap. All she could hear around her was the gentle rustling of rain falling on banana leaves outside the hall. She sat up, momentarily dazed, and called out for Lin Fei. “A’Fei. A’Fei.”
Lin Fei came at her call, lifted the bed curtain aside, and knelt beside the sleeping platform with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
Xie Yuzhang looked bewildered and asked, “Is this Zhaoxia Palace?”
Lin Fei’s face changed color slightly, and she answered with careful caution: “It is.” She was afraid of another nightmare.
Xie Yuzhang listened for a moment and asked, “Why is it so quiet?”
Quiet like the Xiaoyao Marquis manor of later years. No one speaking, no one laughing. The people who lived in that manor had each been like the walking dead.
Lin Fei breathed a quiet sigh of relief and said, “So as not to disturb your nap. Did you sleep peacefully today?”
Xie Yuzhang was quiet for a moment, then said, “Tell everyone there is no need to be this way — they should go on as before.”
That was better. Those easy, cheerful sounds made one feel good just hearing them. Otherwise, why would even the Emperor enjoy coming to Zhaoxia Palace to sit for a while?
Xie Yuzhang had lately seemed to have some air of low spirits weighing on her, and it was all the more reason for the people around her to come before her and cheer her up.
Lin Fei then clapped her hands, and the palace maids filed in one after another to help Xie Yuzhang rise and dress.
Lin Fei said, “This weather really is dull. Hurry and get the Princess dressed, and we’ll go to the covered corridor to play pitch-pot.”
With Lin Fei’s signal, the palace maids were released from their self-imposed restraint all at once and immediately began chattering among themselves.
Zhaoxia Palace was instantly filled with the kind of life Zhaoxia Palace should have.
Xie Yuzhang knelt-sat before the dressing mirror while the palace maids arranged her hair, and through the bronze mirror she watched each of those young and pretty faces. They smiled with bright expressions, filled with vitality.
Xie Yuzhang felt that something of that vivid life was being poured into her own aged and weary soul.
She saw her own reflection in the bronze mirror and broke into a smile — a smile she had not worn for a long time.
Watching the palace attendants playing pitch-pot cheerfully under the covered corridor, she quietly asked Lin Fei, “Has Second Cousin sent someone to reply to me today?”
Lin Fei let out a surprised sound. “I never told Second Young Master it was so urgent. Shall I make another trip?”
Xie Yuzhang thought it over, decided that would be too conspicuous — she could not explain herself to her cousin — and said, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”
Lin Fei said, “Yesterday Second Young Master agreed right away. He told me that last evening Marquis Weiyuan’s heir was hosting a banquet and he would certainly be able to meet that — whoever it is. He said he would take good care of him, and that Your Highness need not worry.”
“That ‘whoever it is’ — who are you referring to?” For a moment Xie Yuzhang could not figure it out, but when she saw the teasing look in Lin Fei’s eyes, she suddenly understood. Yesterday, in order to give herself an excuse for her behavior, hadn’t she praised Li Gu for being handsome?
“What did you say to Cousin?” She was equal parts annoyed and amused.
Lin Fei took it to mean she was bashful, and pressed her lips into a smile. “I didn’t say anything, really. I just said those two men were very impressive-looking and quite unlike the men of Yunjing, especially that Li Gu — very handsome. Ah, and here I haven’t even seen what Li Gu actually looks like, and I’m already calling him handsome.”
Xie Yuzhang pressed her hand to her forehead.
With what Lin Fei had said, Yang Huaishen had in all likelihood also misunderstood, thinking she was playing matchmaker between herself and Li Gu. She only wondered whether he might do something to make Li Gu misunderstand as well.
But this kind of misunderstanding…
Xie Yuzhang’s gaze drifted past the slender figures of the palace maids and settled on the central courtyard.
Let it be misunderstood then. For her, this kind of misunderstanding… was not without its uses.
“If you want to see him that badly, wait until the Emperor summons Li Ming into the palace, and go over and take a look then,” Lin Fei said with a grin.
When the young women of Yunjing took a liking to some young man, this was the most common way of finding an opportunity to catch a glimpse. The bolder ones would even move close enough to toss a flower, a piece of fruit, or a handkerchief in his direction.
Such youthful infatuation between young men and women was a common sight in the prosperous capital. Adults did not find it objectionable, and if the match was suitable in terms of standing, it might even lead to a good marriage.
Xie Yuzhang gave a noncommittal response.
Rationally, she knew she should be cultivating more contact with Li Gu and showing him goodwill early. That was why she had entrusted her maternal cousin to do this.
But emotionally, something in her heart resisted the idea of being too close to Li Gu. That was why she had not gone herself, but had sent her cousin in her stead.
This self-contradictory heart of hers left even herself confused.
The rain did not stop. Zhaoxia Palace seemed to have recovered its energy. Pitch-pot, double-six board games, and then musicians and dance performers were summoned to entertain Princess Baohua.
Those performers had been practicing dance with Princess Baohua every day and were greatly favored by her. When they finished dancing one piece, they called out to Xie Yuzhang one after another: “Won’t the Princess dance a piece herself?”
“My body isn’t quite well yet.” Xie Yuzhang declined, casually slipping the gold bracelet inlaid with treasure from her wrist, and said with a smile, “You all keep dancing. Whoever dances best gets to keep this.”
The performers let out a cheer. The musicians also smiled — performing here for Princess Baohua was nothing like performing for other people of rank, who were strict and demanding. If they occasionally made an error, the princess would only correct them with a gentle voice, and had never punished them for it. She always rewarded them generously as well. Everyone took heart and tuned their instruments again, giving their full energy to accompanying the performers.
Having been reborn into her younger years for several days now — moving from confusion and disorientation to gradually forming some plan — Xie Yuzhang had, on this one day, remarkably managed to relive a perfectly ordinary day of her life as a young girl.
By evening, just as Zhaoxia Palace was about to be locked for the night, someone from the Eastern Palace came quietly and knocked at the door.
The person who came was an eunuch whom the Crown Prince trusted greatly. Xie Yuzhang sent the palace attendants away; Lin Fei went to stand watch outside the room. The eunuch stayed for only a brief moment, said what needed to be said, and then slipped away quietly in the cover of darkness.
Lin Fei saw the man off and returned to the inner chamber. She found Xie Yuzhang’s gaze fixed on the floor, the candlelight flickering and falling across her face, alternating between light and shadow.
Lin Fei sat down beside her and asked softly, “What did the Crown Prince say?”
Xie Yuzhang raised her eyes and looked at her.
“Yesterday the envoys formally raised the matter of the marriage alliance with the Emperor. Their stance was firm — they explicitly stated they would not accept a girl from the imperial clan posing as a princess. Only a true princess would be worthy of their Ashina Khan.”
It was all exactly as Xie Yuzhang had foreknown. Lin Fei’s heart clenched tight.