When Lu Hexu returned to Qingliang Hall, the unhandled memorials on the imperial desk had piled up like a mountain.
The reed blinds in the hall were tightly closed, not letting in a single ray of light. Blocks of ice were placed in bronze basins, emitting a deep chill.
It was clearly several times more comfortable than that small courtyard, yet he felt it wasn't as cozy.
The young man stepped barefoot on the jade bricks, the freezing temperature invading his body. He closed his eyes slightly and lay down on his back.
A moment later, the doors of Qingliang Hall were pushed open.
When Wei Heng entered, he didn't immediately see Lu Hexu lying on the floor.
The young man was too thin; blocked by the bronze basin filled with ice, he was completely hidden from view. Only after stepping further into the hall did Wei Heng see Lu Hexu lying there.
His complexion was pale, holding a sword in his arms as he lay on the ground, his breathing barely audible.
The hall was incredibly quiet, so quiet that it exuded a terrifying aura.
Wei Heng subconsciously took a step back, and the memorials he was holding fell to the ground.
Hearing the noise, Lu Hexu slightly lifted his eyelids. His body remained motionless, his expression cold.
Wei Heng dropped to his knees, frantically gathering the memorials in his arms. Y-Your Majesty...
Get lost.
Wei Heng hurriedly exited Qingliang Hall.
Stepping out of the hall, Wei Heng finally realized he was covered in a cold sweat from sheer terror.
He placed the memorials on the white jade railing nearby and reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Every year, this absolute terror of an emperor would suffer an episode at the end of July. During that time, the fresh scent of blood could be smelled in Qingliang Hall every single day.
Anyone who dared to approach Qingliang Hall would turn into a corpse.
He had thought it would be a few more days before the emperor returned.
Not only was he back a few days early this time, but his temper seemed... not as bad as expected?
Wei Heng collected himself. Looking at the pitch-black sky, he called out softly, Shadow One?
A gust of wind swept overhead.
Shadow One hung upside down from the beam under the eaves, moving like a phantom bat, coming face-to-face with Wei Heng in an inverted position.
Wei Heng: ...
Seeing Shadow One's perpetually dark face in the middle of the night was something he simply could never get used to.
Where has His Majesty been these past few days?
You never used to ask.
Wei Heng paused, caught off guard by the retort. ...That was before.
Shadow One hung there like a bat, arms crossed over his chest, and shook his head. His Majesty's whereabouts cannot be easily disclosed.
Wei Heng asked again, He didn't encounter any danger, did he?
Shadow One looked at Wei Heng with an increasingly strange expression.
The ones in danger were probably the others.
Wei Heng: ...That's true.
This time... how many died? Wei Heng's voice lowered.
Shadow One swayed slightly where he hung. After a long while, he spat out a single word, None.
None? An expression of sheer disbelief appeared on Wei Heng's face. He was so surprised that he subconsciously raised his voice.
Realizing his voice was too loud, he immediately cast a nervous glance at the hall doors behind him.
The doors remained tightly closed, without a sound.
The sun rose and set. Lu Hexu finally pushed open the hall doors. Wei Heng, who had been guarding the entrance for a whole day, quickly stepped aside when he saw him emerge.
Tea, the young man spoke, his voice hoarse.
Wei Heng immediately ordered someone to prepare tea.
Lu Hexu's spirit had not fully recovered. The sense of detachment following the end of his episode left him feeling numb.
The dual pain of mind and body continued to torment him.
But this time, it seemed slightly better than before.
Lu Hexu frowned, thinking it might just be an illusion.
He shot a glance at Wei Heng. Come in.
A glazed lamp was lit inside the hall, the one Lu Hexu usually used. Its faint, bean-sized flame flickered, casting a pale glow.
Wei Heng hesitated before stepping forward and gently placing the memorials he carried onto the imperial desk.
Lu Hexu raised a hand and tapped the desk. Speak.
Your Majesty, news has arrived from Mongolia. They say their Khan has passed away.
Mhm.
Seeing that his master didn't appear overly impatient, Wei Heng quickly continued, I heard that the one succeeding the position is Dayan, the late Khan's younger brother.
After Wei Heng finished speaking, Lu Hexu remained silent for a long time. Wei Heng waited quietly until he heard the sound of memorials being flipped open again.
What do you think?
He was asking for his opinion.
I have heard that Dayan has a poor character and is fond of war. Although they have sent another peace delegation on the way, it is clearly a delaying tactic to take the opportunity to consolidate power within Mongolia.
Wei Heng was exceedingly displeased about Dayan succeeding to the position of Khan.
Dayan's reputation was not only notorious in Mongolia but equally infamous in the Great Zhou dynasty.
Lu Hexu propped himself up on the imperial desk with one hand, holding a vermilion brush in the other.
Even while speaking with Wei Heng, his movements of flipping through the memorials did not stop.
In the past, tortured by his illness to such an extent, he would never have had this kind of focus.
The current Senior Grand Secretary is named Shen Yanci?
The young emperor suddenly changed the subject.
Wei Heng froze for a moment before replying, Yes, Your Majesty.
Lu Hexu remembered.
This man had given flowers to Su Zhenzhen.
Lu Hexu slowly drew a turtle on the memorial in front of him, then casually tossed it into the bronze basin.
The water in the bronze basin soaked the memorial, blurring the ink. The paper quickly disintegrated and sank to the bottom of the basin.
Wei Heng subconsciously took a glance.
Because he was the one who organized the memorials, he remembered very clearly whose memorial had been placed near the top.
It belonged to the newly appointed Senior Grand Secretary, Shen Yanci.
He also knew what Shen Yanci had written in the memorial.
It was about the newly appointed Mongolian Khan, Dayan.
Shen Yanci shared his thoughts, believing that Dayan's poor character made it impossible to reach a true peace agreement with him.
Usually, Lu Hexu would leave such matters to Wei Heng to handle.
Annoying, dead people.
The pale face of a woman popped into Lu Hexu's mind. She looked at him, her eyes slightly red, as if she were going to cry in the next second.
She was both afraid of dead people and hated dead people.
So delicate.
Lu Hexu rubbed the vermilion brush in his hand. We will wait until the new peace delegation arrives before discussing this further.
Although Wei Heng was puzzled, he remained respectful. Yes, Your Majesty.
With that said, Wei Heng prepared to bow and leave, when suddenly another voice came from behind him.
Do women like flowers?
Although Wei Heng was a eunuch, there were indeed many palace maids who secretly admired him and were willing to form a paired relationship with him, though he had explicitly rejected them all.
He did not want to ruin their lives.
Although Wei Heng had no personal experience, he had many friends who did, and such topics inevitably came up during casual chats.
Therefore, Wei Heng replied, Women generally like flowers.
After Mu Dan woke up, Su Zhenzhen had not seen him for several days.
She didn't know whether he had listened to her words or if he was still entangled in this Mongolian incident.
Su Zhenzhen thought about it for a while and simply decided not to dwell on it. Then she remembered that, because she had been taking care of Mu Dan, she hadn't been to the Medicine King Temple for several days.
The weather was sweltering, and it hadn't rained for almost half a month.
Su Zhenzhen took a heat-relief pill and walked towards the Medicine King Temple, holding an umbrella and hiding in the shade of the trees along the way.
It was still the same young monk from last time who opened the door for her. Su Zhenzhen handed him a newly made mosquito-repellent sachet. The young monk thanked her repeatedly and personally guided her to the stone tablet.
The stone stele pavilion was much cooler. After copying the prescription from the stone stele, Su Zhenzhen went to the main hall to bow to the bronze statue as usual, and then went to the side hall.
On the altar of answers in the side hall, the sachet she had left last time was gone, replaced by three other slips of paper.
Obviously, because she hadn't come for several days and hadn't replied, her pen pal was getting anxious and had visited a few extra times.
The first note read: I took the sachet.
The second note read: I also took the prescription.
The third note read: The weather has been hot lately.
Then there was a long blank space.
And finally, a sentence at the very end: Are you still coming?
Coming, coming, coming, how could she not come.
Su Zhenzhen picked up her brush and wrote that she had some matters to attend to these past few days, which were now resolved, so she would be coming around recently. Then she left a bottle of heat-relief pills, attaching instructions for use, the ingredients, and contraindications.
Shen Yanci was a deeply suspicious man. He had no idea who the person exchanging notes with him was.
If it were in the past, he would never have been so trusting.
But on that particular day, as if possessed, he had written that note.
This note was like opening a Pandora's box in his heart.
He always felt as if he had never truly lived.
He was greedy, wanting to keep that small sanctuary, to leave behind a little bit of his true self.
He hid the sachet in a book, but Liu Jingxing found it.
Liu Jingxing frowned when he saw this feminine sachet, though he didn't ask much.
His master had always been popular, so he merely warned, "Master, you have a precious body. Your marriage cannot be arranged casually; it must be for the sake of our grand cause..."
"I know," Shen Yanci cut Liu Jingxing off directly.
He kept that bottle of heat-relief pills close by.
Shen Yanci never consumed things of unknown origin.
The summer wind rustled. Dressed in a green robe, he sat by the window, playing with the small porcelain bottle in his hand.
It was made of very ordinary material, but the medicinal fragrance of the heat-relief pills seeped through the porcelain, feeling refreshingly invigorating just by smelling it.
Shen Yanci opened the small porcelain bottle, poured out a pill, and placed it in his mouth.
The bitter medicinal taste, carrying a hint of sweet honey fragrance, permeated his nose and mouth.
It was slightly bitter, but the aftertaste was sweet.
Most of the summer heat dissipated. He raised his hand to pick up his teacup to drink, but suddenly felt reluctant to wash away the bitter medicinal taste in his mouth, so he put the teacup back down.
Shen Yanci began to visit the Temple of the Medicine King frequently.
However, this person suddenly disappeared for many days without reason.
Just when he felt that this matter should come to an end and he should stop this farce, the person reappeared.
She wrote many words, explaining that she had disappeared for the past few days to take care of someone else, and then told him that if he felt troubled, he could leave a message on paper, and as a friend, she would listen.
Looking at this page full of words, Shen Yanci couldn't help but read it a few more times.
He picked up a brush, thought for a moment, and wrote that he was afraid of the dark and disliked eating red food, saying it looked scary.
Thus, the two chatted about trivial matters, exchanging messages every few days.
Coincidentally, they never ran into each other even once.
"Master, you have been going out frequently lately. Is there something going on?" Liu Jingxing stopped Shen Yanci, who had just returned to the courtyard.
Shen Yanci rested one hand behind his back. With a calm expression and a gentle tone, he said, "Nothing, just going out for a walk."
Liu Jingxing fell silent for a moment. "Master, the ancestral temple of our fallen nation weeps blood beneath the dust, and the wronged souls of our old subordinates find no peace night after night. Our enemies sit high in the imperial court, greedily enjoying wealth and glory. You have walked this path for twenty years, never daring to slack off for a single moment. Do not forget your mission for the sake of things you shouldn't covet."
Liu Jingxing might have noticed something, but he didn't state it explicitly.
Shen Yanci stood there quietly. Two gauze lanterns hung at the courtyard gate, their silvery-white light falling down, yet only illuminating his dark shadow.
"I know." Shen Yanci stepped into the room.
Liu Jingxing followed behind him and closed the courtyard door tightly.
Inside, Shen Yanci poured tea for Liu Jingxing, showing no signs of abnormality. "Sir, have some tea."
Liu Jingxing lifted his robe and sat down. "I came this time to tell you some news, Master. Our hidden agents report that the Emperor has not sent troops to attack Mongolia, but is instead waiting for a new Mongolian peace delegation."
This move was beyond Shen Yanci's expectations. He asked, "Is it Wei Heng's idea?"
Liu Jingxing shook his head. "Wei Heng advocates for war."
"The one coming for peace talks this time is Qige, the daughter of a prince." Liu Jingxing sat opposite Shen Yanci, his expression revealing habitual calculation. "Everything has been arranged. As long as Qige dies in the Great Zhou, this war will undoubtedly be fought."
Shen Yanci nodded. "Mm, I have always trusted you, sir."
Recently, Qingliang Palace had become busy again.
Following the previous Mongolian delegation, another Mongolian peace delegation arrived.
Compared to the previous delegation led by the Mongolian Crown Prince, this group looked quite shabby and travel-worn. They wore no gold ornaments, at most a few silver ones. Only the leader, Princess Qige, had some agate and gemstones on her.
She was tall, wearing a silver collar around her neck and a pair of silver horn-shaped earrings. She looked as if her health was poor, her face pale as she was supported by a maid beside her.
This maid wore a veil, obscuring her features, but she was even taller than Princess Qige.
The scale of the delegation had also shrunk from a hundred people previously to merely a dozen now, and the gift list went from dozens of pages of furs, cattle, and sheep to just some simple silk and tea.
Because Wei Heng distrusted the new Khan, extra guards had been deployed around Qingliang Palace recently, especially around the courtyard where the peace delegation was staying.
Most likely due to being unaccustomed to the local climate, Princess Qige fell ill as soon as she arrived at Qingliang Palace, making her unable to meet the Emperor.
Wei Heng invited imperial physicians over. They treated her for several days, but there was no improvement; instead, her condition worsened.
Wei Heng stood guard at the door of the main room. Seeing the imperial physician lift the reed curtain to come out, he asked, "How is she?"
The physician shook his head. "It appears to merely be a symptom of bodily weakness. She should recover after a few days of rest and care, but..."
This meant he couldn't find the cause of the illness.
Wei Heng and the physician both left, leaving only Princess Qige lying in bed and the veiled maid guarding her in the room.
"Cough, cough, cough..." Qige held the edge of the bed and coughed. Seeing this, the other surrounding maids showed expressions of disgust and moved away one after another.
In an instant, only Princess Qige and her maid were left in the room.
On this trip to the Great Zhou, aside from Qige and the maid she brought along, the rest were chosen for her by Dayan.
These people were Dayan's subordinates.
"Are you alright?" the maid asked in Mongolian.
Qige gently shook her head. She held the maid's hand. Because of her poor health, it was strenuous for her to even speak, so she tried her best to trace Mongolian words into the maid's palm with her finger. "We only have one chance."
The maid nodded. Through a thin veil, she pressed her face against Qige's forehead.
Night fell, and the courtyard where the Mongolian peace delegation was staying suddenly caught fire.
Han Shuo, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, immediately led his men to put out the fire.
The maids and eunuchs living nearby were also urgently mobilized to help.
Su Zhenzhen had just finished helping extinguish the fire, her arms cramping from exhaustion.
Actually, this courtyard was quite far from the one she lived in. It was just that there were some good herbs here, and she had lost track of time while digging them up. By the time she remembered she needed to head back, she happened to hear that a fire had broken out ahead, so she followed the main crowd to help put it out.
The fire wasn't large and was quickly extinguished.
Su Zhenzhen wiped the ash from her face, suddenly remembering that she had left her medicine basket back where she had been gathering herbs.
It was quite dark all around. She felt her way through the dark, found her basket, and slung it onto her back. She had barely taken two steps when she saw a beauty of exotic charm standing ahead. The woman was dressed in a beautiful dancer's outfit and held a long sword in her hand. Hearing the noise, the beauty instinctively looked over at her.
Su Zhenzhen's gaze moved up from the tip of the sword and landed on the beauty's veiled face.
She knew there were some exotic dancer beauties in the garden, offered as tributes from other countries. However, these dancers had their own separate courtyards. If they caught the Emperor's eye, they could fly up the branches and become phoenixes. Therefore, their status was much higher than hers, and a lowly palace maid like her rarely got the chance to see them.
Of course, so far, Su Zhenzhen had never heard of that tyrant summoning any dancers. Instead, she had heard that a dancer who attempted to climb the ranks had been run through with a sword by the tyrant.
Ah, she couldn't think about it anymore. Su Zhenzhen recalled her work experience of kneeling on the ground to scrub away blood right after she had transmigrated into this book.
The beauty watched her with a vigilant expression, her body tense to the extreme.
Su Zhenzhen said, "Are you here to perform a sword dance?"
The beauty froze for a moment before letting out a very soft sound, "...Yes."
Her beautiful eyes darted left and right. Hearing the footsteps of the Imperial Guards approaching, her grip on the sword tightened.
"It is a dead end ahead. The exit is over there." Su Zhenzhen raised her hand and pointed behind herself.
The beauty glanced at her, her expression filled with doubt and alarm. Then, just as the guards' footsteps closed in, she dashed past Su Zhenzhen's side and sprinted in the direction she had pointed out.
Passing through the festooned gate, there happened to be two small paths.
There were Imperial Guards coming to change shifts on both the left and right sides.
The beauty: ...
"Catch her."
The beauty raised her sword, but unfortunately, she was entirely alone.
This group of guards absolutely did not know how to be tender to a woman. They pinned her tightly to the ground and forcefully wrenched the long sword from her grasp.
The beauty was completely subdued. She looked up, her eyes revealing a fierce and vicious glare.
Su Zhenzhen stood not far away and unexpectedly met the beauty's eyes.
Oh dear, it was getting so late; she needed to head back.
Saren had all the hidden weapons on her person confiscated. Han Shuo stood in front of her and roughly tore the veil from her face.
For some reason, Han Shuo felt that the face of the Mongolian woman before him looked somewhat familiar.
"You are not a dancer from the garden. Who are you?"
Saren lowered her head and did not reply.
Over there, an Imperial Guard came to report, "That Mongolian princess is fine, but she is missing one of her maids."
Han Shuo looked at Saren and sneered, "It is you, isn't it? Why didn't you stay properly in your courtyard? What were you doing running around outside?"
"The courtyard caught fire." Saren spoke in the language of the Great Zhou.
"The courtyard caught fire, and while everyone else was putting it out, you alone ran outside, and with a sword, no less." Han Shuo did not believe this Mongolian woman's nonsense. "Take her back."
Han Shuo's courtyard had become a temporary holding area for prisoners.
A boiling hot charcoal basin burned in the stuffy room, and Imperial Guards stood watch at the courtyard entrance.
Han Shuo sat in an armchair. "I advise you to confess honestly right now. Otherwise, once the torture begins, you will confess whether you want to or not."
The Mongolian woman, her face deathly pale, was tied up in the room. She kept her head down and refused to speak another word.
Han Shuo stirred the red-hot branding iron in the charcoal basin. Sparks scattered in the air, emitting a terrifying heat.
The Mongolian woman glanced at it, bit her lip, and continued to keep her head down.
Han Shuo took out the branding iron and brought it right in front of the Mongolian woman. The rolling heat almost touched her skin.
The woman still bit her lip desperately, refusing to open her mouth.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration hit Han Shuo. He frowned and threw down the branding iron. "Keep her locked up for now. I need to step out for a bit."
The door closed, and Han Shuo went straight to find Wei Heng.
The two courtyards were very close to each other.
Han Shuo directly pushed the door open. Wei Heng was so startled that he frantically stuffed the mushy romance novel his friend had recommended under the desk.
"Why do you never knock?"
Han Shuo looked confused. "Since when do I ever knock?"
Wei Heng: ...
"I am looking for you for serious business." Han Shuo sat directly opposite Wei Heng. "One of Princess Qige's maids ran off, and I caught her. I scared her a bit with a branding iron, but she refused to say anything."
"Do not use torture on her yet." Wei Heng still remembered what Lu Hexu had said. "If it had not been for Princess Qige suddenly falling ill, His Majesty would have summoned her."
"His Majesty advocates for peace?" An expression of sheer disbelief appeared on Han Shuo's face, as if he had just heard a god of death from hell claim to be a pacifist.
Wei Heng fell silent for a moment, clearly agreeing with Han Shuo's viewpoint, before adding, "His Majesty has his own plans."
Han Shuo also fell silent for a while before changing the subject. "Right, where was I? Oh, I didn't actually use it. I was definitely planning to, but I suddenly noticed something was wrong."
"What was wrong?"
"This maid looks somewhat similar to the deceased Mongolian Crown Prince."
Su Zhenzhen carried her medicine basket on her back and headed toward her small courtyard.
According to the original novel, Princess Qige came to the Great Zhou as part of a peace delegation to negotiate with the Emperor. On the night they moved into the Qingliang Palace, a fire broke out in the courtyard. The body of Qige's maid was found to have fallen into a dry well, dead from an accident. However, that was not actually Qige's maid, but the Mongolian Princess who had narrowly escaped death—the only surviving bloodline of the late Khan.
Because she was unfamiliar with the paths, she missed her step, fell into the well, and died.
The trick was old, but it worked.
Su Zhenzhen knew her own limits; she could not outwit those people.
She did not want Mu Dan to get involved in this and lose his life.
What she could do for this Mongolian Princess was limited to just that. As for how far the princess could go, that would depend entirely on her own luck.
Su Zhenzhen walked with her head down. This was a narrow path, very dark, with only a faint glimmer of moonlight.
Suddenly, a speck of light appeared ahead.
She raised her eyes and saw Mu Dan standing there, carrying a glazed lantern.
Several days had passed since the young man had recovered from his illness and left.
Su Zhenzhen ran over happily. "How is your health?"
"Hmm."
Hmm? What did that mean?
"Come here."
The young man took her hand and led her down another path.
"This is not the way back to the courtyard."
[Baby.]
The young man paused for a moment. "Hmm."
Su Zhenzhen tilted her head, completely confused.
The two walked for quite a while, and Su Zhenzhen began to suspect that they might be lost.
Because they had just been walking in circles nearby.
"Are we lost?"
"No."
[Stubborn.]
The two of them circled around again, finally arriving at the riverbank together. Lu Hexu stood in the summer breeze, the wind blowing at his long robes, his gaze drifting off to the side.
Another gust of wind blew by, making the reeds along the bank sway gently, forming a beautiful, ink-black wave.
And amid the reed patch, Su Zhenzhen caught sight of a corner of light.
What was that?
"Come here." Lu Hexu's lips curled up slightly as he held Su Zhenzhen's hand and walked toward the reeds.
As they drew closer, the young man raised his hand to part the reeds, and only then did Su Zhenzhen see the true appearance of what lay hidden inside.
It was a flower boat.
It was a small boat, which was the only way it could remain concealed within the reed patch. The hull was painted entirely in crimson. Along both sides of the gunwales hung two walls of crape myrtle; the pink and white blossoms clustered tightly together, cascading down to form two floral curtains. White jasmine and starlike specks of bright orange trumpet creepers twined across the boat's canopy.
At the bow sat a rustic earthenware pot holding a dozen delicate hibiscus flowers. This handful of vibrant red, illuminated by the wind lantern at the bow, radiated a deeply romantic aura.
Su Zhenzhen stood there, stunned, her mind going completely blank.
Lu Hexu glanced at her and took her hand to lead her into the cabin.
The glazed lantern in the young man's hand illuminated the interior.
The space inside was not as small as it appeared from the outside. A small, low table had been set up, bearing a slender celadon vase. Inside the vase rested a single budding lotus flower and a lotus seedpod.
The entire boat was filled with the fragrance of flowers.
Su Zhenzhen sat inside the cabin, leaning in to lightly sniff the lotus.
It smelled wonderful.
"Do you like it?" the young man asked, sitting across from her.
In the darkness of the night, with the light and shadows swaying, Su Zhenzhen could only make out the faint outline of his silhouette.
She lowered her eyes and said softly, "I like it."
"Would you still like it if someone else gave it to you?"
Su Zhenzhen raised her gaze, looking at him with bright, sparkling eyes. "I wouldn't like it from anyone else. I only like it because it is from you."
Lu Hexu did not know why, but he suddenly felt a surge of gladness.
He looked at the woman before him, reached out, and touched her eye.
"Your eyes are very beautiful."
Su Zhenzhen felt the warmth of the young man's touch lingering on her eyelashes.
[I want to kiss him.]
She reached out, grasped his wrist, and then gently bit his fingertips.
