That day, the sky was clear and the breeze mild. The noble households of the capital all turned out in force, a long procession of ornate carriages and canopies winding from the east side of the city all the way to Luohua Street, fine horses prancing, servants like clouds.
Huayue followed behind the carriage as custom dictated, alongside maids and young attendants from other households, all of them, like her, walking ahead with hands folded and heads bowed.
The onlookers along the road chattered noisily, the atmosphere lively and bustling all around; no one paid any attention to what the servants behind the carriages were saying.
“That one’s in the lead carriage.” The maid in the green skirt beside her said in a low voice. “They’ll rest at the teahouse halfway up the mountain — that’s when you find an excuse to slip out.”
Huayue listened quietly, showing no reaction.
The girl in green glanced at her uneasily and frowned. “We agreed on this, don’t go causing any trouble.”
Her amber eyes shifted slightly, and Huayue turned her head, suddenly asking, “The eldest prince who died up there back then — was his body just left there?”
At those words, the girl in green went pale, no longer minding her manners, and rushed over to clamp a hand over Huayue’s mouth, eyes wide. “Are you out of your mind?”
She glanced around uneasily and lowered her voice. “How can you still say that out loud these days?”
Huayue removed her hand, paused, then gave her a faint smile. “Just asking out of curiosity.”
“…” The girl in green grew even more anxious. She was just following orders — today she’d only been told someone would come to help, no one had said it would be someone this strange. Looking at her, she didn’t seem reliable at all — could she really pull this off?
Feeling uneasy, the girl in green slowed her pace, and after a couple more people came up from behind, she pulled them aside and murmured a few more words.
“Steward Yin.” A voice suddenly called out from the carriage moving ahead.
Huayue snapped back to attention and hurried forward. “This servant is here.”
Li Jingyun lifted the small window curtain, his eyes sweeping over. “I want the candied fruit from Jing’an Hall.”
An oil-paper packet was promptly handed out through the window.
“Please enjoy, young master.”
Li Jingyun took it, popped one in his mouth, and said indistinctly, “This stuff makes you awfully thirsty if you eat too much.”
Huayue caught his meaning and quickened her pace forward, her figure disappearing among the crisscrossing carriages and horses.
The curtain fell. Xu Changyi shook his head. “Third Young Master, that’s really too much to ask of the poor girl.”
Li Jingyun glanced at him sideways. “She’s the girl in my courtyard, I’ll order her about however I please.”
“Exactly.” Wen Guzhi covered his mouth with his sleeve. “Besides, if she gets worn out, it’s Third Young Master’s own heart that’ll ache over it.”
“Hm?” Xu Changyi perked up. “What’s going on?”
Wen Guzhi just smiled without answering, his eyes darting about.
Li Jingyun kicked him impatiently. “Some esteemed physician you are, gossiping like an old woman.”
“Third Young Master, this isn’t me gossiping.” Wen Guzhi leaned against the carriage wall, smiling. “Anyone with eyes can see it. You treat this little girl quite unusually — even Han Shuang, five years ago, was never doted on like this.”
“Han Shuang?” A hint of mockery rose in his eyes, and Li Jingyun’s mouth twisted. “When did I ever have her in my eyes?”
The others in the carriage exchanged glances, realizing they’d misspoken, and hastily changed the subject. “Anyway, we should keep a good eye on this little girl. If she’s an honest, obedient sort, all the better. If not, better to guard against it early, so our Third Young Master doesn’t get taken advantage of.”
Popping another candied fruit into his mouth, Li Jingyun pressed his lips together. “There’s nothing wrong with her.”
“Hm?” Xu Changyi was quite surprised. “It’s been this short a time and you’re already so certain?”
“She’s my person, of course I know her well.” Li Jingyun lifted the carriage curtain and caught sight of that familiar figure hurrying back with a pot of tea, dark color faintly rising in his eyes. “Besides, she’s just a maid, nothing more.”
Wen Guzhi clicked his tongue. “You call this nothing more?”
“You’re the one making a fuss over nothing.” He raised his eyes with a straight face. “Master and servant spend their days together, naturally growing closer than most. And I can’t stand having sand in my eye, so I’ve given you the opening to stir things up.”
Wen Guzhi’s brow arched high; he mulled it over for a good while, feeling something was off, but couldn’t quite find the words to argue back.
The carriage arrived halfway up the mountain, where the well-known Wild Delicacies Inn stood ahead. The carriages further back continued on up the mountain, while these few in front stopped to rest.
When Li Jingyun got out of the carriage, Yin Huayue was staring off into the distance at the crowd, lost in thought. He stood beside her, watching the same direction for a moment, then asked, unpleasantly, “Someone you know?”
Her shoulders trembled, and Huayue quickly pulled her gaze back, answering with lowered head, “No.”
“Then aren’t you coming in with me?”
“Yes.”
Huayue followed him a couple of steps, then stopped and said quietly, “Young master, might this servant step away for a moment?”
On a long journey, even servants had their needs. Li Jingyun didn’t ask further, waving a hand. “Don’t wander off to the wrong place.”
She lowered her head, bent her knee, then turned and hurried off into the forest.
It was mealtime, and the forest was mostly empty. The girl in green spotted her from a distance and walked over, her face dark. “What took you so long?”
Huayue pressed her lips together, about to explain, but the girl cut her off. “Never mind, on second thought, you speak too carelessly, and that’s an easy way to offend people. Today’s target is no ordinary person — one wrong step and none of us survive. Better I go myself than count on you.”
Huayue raised a brow slightly. “They should have told you I’m an old acquaintance of his.”
The girl in green looked her up and down, curling her lip. “Among us who handle these things, who isn’t ‘an old acquaintance’ with someone? Today was supposed to be my job. You showed up out of nowhere — if you mess this up, I’m the one who’ll have to answer for it.”
Huayue shook her head, about to say more, but then noticed the two new flower ornaments in the girl’s hair. She blinked, looked closer, and realized this person’s makeup was also more elaborate than before.
After a moment’s thought, Huayue smiled knowingly. “He has no interest in women.”
Her hidden little secret suddenly exposed, the girl in green flushed red and stamped her foot. “What nonsense are you talking, I never had any such thoughts.”
With that, she shoved Huayue away. “Just go, quickly, don’t stay here.”
Staggering back a couple of steps from the push, Huayue steadied herself, thinking with some feeling that after all these years, there were still people who pined after Shen Zhiluo. Clearly a man of ruined reputation, cursed by countless people — yet mentioned by a young girl, and still her cheeks flushed red.
Bewitching to the point of scandal, indeed…
Sighing, she turned, and the man’s figure rose in her mind.
Shen Zhiluo most often wore a purple-black robe embroidered all over with stars, half-draped over his arm, revealing the inner garment beneath with talismans as its collar. His black hairband was embroidered with patterns she couldn’t read, occasionally blown by the wind to cover his bewitching eyes.
What sort of eyes were they, Huayue wondered, unconsciously tracing a curve in the air with her finger.
As her finger traced through the air, someone walked toward her.
Huayue startled, looked up, and her pupils contracted sharply.
That person was staring at her too, his eyes just as full of shock. He paused, then walked quickly closer, and the curve of his eyes matched exactly the shape her finger had traced.
“You…” His lashes trembled, as if he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He closed them and opened them again, his faintly violet eyes fixed unmoving on her face. “You’re really alive?”
Even as the words left his mouth, he didn’t quite believe them himself, and reached out to gently touch the side of her face.
There was warmth. Not his imagination.
His fingertips trembled, and Shen Zhiluo drew in a deep breath.
The person before him seemed lost for a moment, as if finally coming back to herself. He held his breath, watching her, wanting to know what she would say — would she reflect on all these years without word from her, or would she be curious about what had happened to him.
But instead, she remained silent for a long while, then knelt and bowed to him. “Lord Shen, it’s been a long time.”
“…” The breath caught in his throat, and Shen Zhiluo felt a rush of sweetness and iron at the back of his throat, nearly retching blood.
The girl in green rushed up from behind, and seeing his awful expression, assumed Huayue had truly caused some disaster. She hurried to separate the two. “My lord, this servant is the one meant to receive you — you needn’t concern yourself with this maid.”
Shen Zhiluo closed his eyes and took a breath.
“My lord, are you all right?” The girl in green pulled Huayue back, then stepped up to support him. “Shall this servant help you go rest over there?”
“No need.” Shen Zhiluo brushed his sleeve aside. “You may step back first.”
The girl in green startled, hesitating. “But this servant was ordered by Lord Chang…”
“Step back.”
The girl in green looked at him blankly, then glanced at the still-silent Huayue behind him, bit her lip, and reluctantly withdrew.
Wind picked up in the forest, leaves rustling. It stirred the black hairband on his head, the silver-threaded pattern on it seeming to come alive, dancing across his brow.
Huayue watched quietly for a moment, then suddenly asked him, “Do you not have nightmares, dressed like that all the time?”
His body stiffened, and Shen Zhiluo lifted his sleeve, then slowly clenched the cuff tight. He was silent for a long moment before speaking again, his voice a little hoarse. “You might at least accuse me of my crimes before passing judgment.”
Huayue laughed lightly, stepping closer, her clear eyes gazing straight into his violet ones. “Then I will ask. Lord Shen, back then you wore this very robe here at the Wild Delicacies Inn when you betrayed your country and killed your own master with your own hands. Now, in wealth and favor under your new master, you still dress the same way — looking at yourself in the mirror, do you not have nightmares?”
Shen Zhiluo stared at her without blinking, his throat bobbing.
“No,” he answered.
The smile faded slowly from her face, Huayue’s gaze turning gradually cold. She reached out to smooth the talisman on his collar, then suddenly tightened her fingers and seized him by the throat.
His breath caught, and Shen Zhiluo paused — but instead of struggling, he laughed. His overly handsome face broke suddenly into a smile, striking as shattering jade and scattering pearls, dazzling and alive.
“I thought you’d changed, you seemed so meek and docile just now.” He laughed as he wiped the corner of his eye, saying with relief, “So you’re still like this after all.”
Huayue couldn’t bring herself to laugh; a fire smoldered in her chest, and she wished she had a blade to hold to this man’s throat. Unfortunately she had no blade, and could only choke him by hand — and he was so tall that even with both her hands around his neck, she hardly looked imposing.
Especially seen from behind, it looked rather like a lovers’ tryst, throwing herself into his arms.
When Li Jingyun, growing impatient waiting, came out to look for her, this was the scene he found.
In the secluded, hidden woods, a gentle breeze stirred and the scent of flowers drifted — his dog was thrown into another man’s arms, her water-blue skirt like a newly bloomed flower, intimately draped over the man’s black-and-purple robe.