As per custom, the banquet was held in the Linde Hall.
When Yao Ying entered the palace, it was already dusk.
Cold stars had begun to appear in the sky, while the vast western horizon was filled with evening clouds, casting down waves of fiercely burning, radiant glow. The magnificent pavilions and towers overlooking the pool bathed in brilliant golden light, casting majestic shadows, surrounded by tiered corridors and flying galleries arranged in orderly rows.
A gentle breeze brought whispers of coolness.
Standing at the foot of the long steps, one could faintly see the lively banquet within the hall. The great hall was filled with moving shadows and sounds of joy and laughter, while behind the half-rolled pearl curtains of the towering cooling pavilions, noble ladies gathered in their perfumed finery.
Below, a group of musicians sitting on felt carpets to the west of the pavilion played their pipa, bili, konghou, huqin, jiegu drums, ivory clappers, and golden bells, creating waves of ethereal music.
Above, dancers in colorful clothes swayed gracefully to the melody.
Yao Ying stepped down from her carriage and stood before the steps, looking up at the pavilions rising high above the terrace. Her clothes fluttered in the wind as her face glowed with a pure radiance.
The young man who had been waiting long on the moon terrace stared at her in a daze, taking a while to come to his senses before rushing down the long steps. He stood before her, panting, face pale, looking nervous.
Yao Ying smiled and said: “Third Young Master.”
Zheng Jing silently looked at her, then suddenly reached out to grasp her wrist: “Princess… come with me.”
Yao Ying was startled.
Zheng Jing blushed to his neck, stammering: “There’s something I’ve never told the Princess… The reason the Zheng family proposed marriage to the Prince of Qin wasn’t because my father valued status, but because… because I admire the Princess.”
Having spoken these words, his face grew even redder, his head hanging low, his whole body burning hot, almost smoking from the top of his head.
“Before the Zheng family proposed… I… I had seen… seen the Princess.”
The Seventh Princess might have long forgotten, but Zheng Jing had carved it in his heart.
The first time he saw the Seventh Princess was in spring when peach and plum blossoms competed in beauty. The young men and ladies of Wei Prefecture had arranged to go out of the city to enjoy spring, and Zheng Jing, arguing with his elder half-brother, fell from his horse, covered in mud.
His cousins and siblings sat on horseback, looking down at him, mocking him for being useless.
Zheng Jing was covered in mud, his leg tangled in the reins, unable to get up. His elder brother stood watching from afar, waiting for him to cry for help, but he felt too humiliated to speak.
Several spoiled young nobles circled him on horseback, deliberately lifting their robes and loosening their belts, pretending they would humiliate him.
Suddenly, a whip cracked through the air, and the Seventh Princess, her hair in two buns, wearing a silver-red jacket and pomegranate-colored skirt, rode down the hillside, driving back the leading young noble with one crack of her whip.
The young men were furious and were about to tease the Seventh Princess when they saw Li Zhongqian sitting casually on his horse at the edge of the apricot grove, glancing their way. They trembled in fear and scattered immediately.
The Seventh Princess raised her whip, gently freeing Zheng Jing’s trapped right leg, left a servant to look after him, then turned her horse and galloped toward Li Zhongqian.
Zheng Jing, fallen in a muddy puddle, lifted his face to watch the young lady ride away.
Her smile made the flourishing ten-li apricot grove pale in comparison.
Later, Zheng Jing saw the renowned Li family princess again at a private Li family banquet and discovered she was very different from the young lady he had first met. She was gentle and refined, carrying herself with dignity, nothing like that girl who had wielded her whip so freely in the spring breeze.
Zheng Jing saw the Seventh Princess for the third time in autumn when the ginkgo trees were turning golden.
That night Li Zhongqian held a feast at his mansion, and Zheng Jing attended. During the feast, he was teased by his elder brother’s friend, drank too much, and wandered into the mansion’s back garden.
He walked to a pavilion and in his drunken state vaguely heard women’s delicate laughter. Realizing his mistake, he hurriedly hid in the peony bushes below the steps.
In the pavilion, the gauze curtains were raised high, colored candles blazed brilliantly, and the dining tables were laden with precious dishes and delicacies. More than ten heavily made-up concubines of the prince’s mansion, adorned with pearls and jade, were sitting, lying, or standing, smiling as they watched a woman dance in the courtyard.
After a moment, the music stopped, and the woman smiled and bowed to the main seat. The concubines laughed: “Ah Liu’s dance isn’t as good as Seven’s!”
Liu protested, and the concubines urged Seven to compete with her.
A beautiful young lady with double hair buns stepped forward gracefully, removed her shoes, stood on the round carpet, raised the golden bells in her hand, smiled as she looked around, and slowly began to move her waist. Her gauze clothes flew up, revealing glimpses of snow-white skin in the lamplight.
Zheng Jing’s face flushed and his heart raced. He dared not look too much, yet couldn’t bear to move his gaze away.
Never in his life had he seen such beautiful dancing, charming and graceful, with strength hidden in its softness.
Her waist swayed like a willow in the wind, her glancing eyes like spring water.
Halfway through the young lady’s dance, Zheng Jing was pulled from the peony bushes by a tall guard and received several punches to the face.
The noble ladies in the pavilion scolded him as a peeping tom while he stammered explanations.
The young lady walked to the edge of the corridor, covered in fragrant sweat, her skin like snow beneath the gauze clothes. She glanced at Zheng Jing and smiled, saying to the guard: “Ah Qing, he is my brother’s guest, probably wandered in here drunk. Send him out.”
The guard acknowledged, escorted Zheng Jing back to the feast, confirmed he was the Zheng family’s third son, and only then let him leave.
After sobering up, Zheng Jing quietly inquired and learned that Li Yao Ying had been performing the Tuozhi Dance that night.
The fourth time he saw the Seventh Princess was while watching foreign courtesans perform the Tuozhi Dance in Pingkang Ward.
Each encounter had been utterly embarrassing.
Yet it was these embarrassing encounters that let Zheng Jing know the Seventh Princess wasn’t the aloof, otherworldly noble that Chang’an’s young nobles described.
She was so beautiful, so radiant, and so vibrantly real.
She would righteously rescue a young man being mocked and humiliated, playfully coax her brother, proudly compete in dance with the mansion’s concubines, coldly drive away spoiled young nobles, and sweetly respond to noble ladies.
She could also feel fear and helplessness.
The evening clouds burned fiercely, and the long steps bathed in brilliant sunset light.
Zheng Jing gripped Yao Ying’s hand and raised his head, his face still red, saying solemnly: “I admire the Princess, my heart as clear as the sun and moon. The Prince of Qin is gone, but I will care for and respect the Princess as he did. The Princess can go riding if she wants to ride, dance if she wants to dance…”
He paused for a long time. “I really cannot bear to watch the Princess step onto that high platform.”
The Seventh Princess’s departure would be like a lamb entering a tiger’s den!
Yao Ying looked at Zheng Jing, a faint smile slowly appearing on her face: “Third Young Master, thank you.”
The young man’s admiration was sincere and earnest, shy and reserved. Even if it might only be a momentary impulse, it deserves to be treated with kindness and respect.
“My brother usually dislikes scholars, I was puzzled earlier about why he would choose you…” Yao Ying smiled. “He didn’t misjudge you. Third Young Master, you are someone worthy of entrusting one’s life to.”
Zheng Jing’s throat moved several times before he said shamefully: “I am truly useless, unable to protect the Princess or save the Prince of Qin… I…”
Yao Ying interrupted him: “You have already helped me greatly, and I remember it all in my heart.”
“Princess, come away with me…” Zheng Jing murmured.
Yao Ying shook her head. “Third Young Master, when I was five years old, I was abandoned on the battlefield. Everyone said I was already dead, but my brother ignored his loyal servants’ protests and went alone through the battlefield to save me. We were still at war then, and my brother dug through piles of corpses for days before finding me. The rebel troops hadn’t gone far, and we couldn’t reveal our identity as Li family children. Brother took me north to escape. When I couldn’t walk, he carried me, he put me on his back…”
Li Zhongqian was only eleven then, carrying Yao Ying as they hid from place to place.
When there was no food, Li Zhongqian would dig up roots, catch snakes and rats from their burrows, swallow his pride to beg and fight with other refugees for anything edible.
When she had no shoes, Li Zhongqian tore off his clothes to wrap her feet, while he crossed mountains and valleys barefoot until his soles were raw.
When they encountered rebel troops pillaging and killing, Li Zhongqian carried Yao Ying on his back as they fled. He hadn’t practiced martial arts for several years and was still just a child, not as strong as he would later become, so he couldn’t run fast. Several times they were nearly caught.
Once Yao Ying fell from his back.
The sound of hoofbeats was right in their ears. Yao Ying lay in the grass, not making a sound.
Li Zhongqian, fleeing, quickly noticed she was gone. Looking back to see her surrounded by rebel troops, his eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
Other fleeing refugees shouted at Li Zhongqian: “Foolish boy! Run quickly! Run quickly!”
Yao Ying lay on the ground, her heart also crying out: Run quickly, Brother, run quickly!
Li Zhongqian didn’t run.
He didn’t even hesitate for a moment, resolutely turning back to run to her, ignoring the cold glinting spears as he threw himself on top of her, firmly protecting her beneath his body.
They luckily escaped disaster, with Li Zhongqian only slightly wounded.
The refugees cursed Li Zhongqian as stupid: “You were lucky this time, but carrying this sickly child, you’ll die sooner or later!”
Li Zhongqian remained silent with a dark face, holding Yao Ying and feeding her the only piece of bread he had.
Yao Ying refused to eat, knowing she was her brother’s burden and that he hadn’t eaten for several days.
Li Zhongqian’s face darkened as he forced open Yao Ying’s mouth, breaking the bread into small pieces to feed her: “Little Seven, be good, Brother won’t abandon you.”
Yao Ying shook her head, crying.
Li Zhongqian gripped her chin, his narrow phoenix eyes staring at her unblinkingly, his gaze fierce: “Little Seven, listen well. You are not Brother’s burden. Brother will take you home. If you live, Brother will take you back; if you die, Brother will still carry you back. So you must live well, understand?”
The five-year-old Yao Ying felt both moved and a little scared. She wiped her tears and ate a few bites of bread, then pushed the remaining small half to Li Zhongqian: “Brother should eat too.”
Li Zhongqian took the bread but didn’t eat it, hiding it in his sleeve.
That small piece of bread was still saved for Yao Ying to eat in the end.
After many years, recalling those days of fleeing for their lives, Yao Ying’s eyes still reddened.
“Third Young Master, if you had a brother who treated you this way when he faced danger, wouldn’t you sacrifice yourself to save him?”
Zheng Jing’s eyes reddened slightly as he nodded.
Yao Ying smiled: “Back then, my brother thought about taking me and Mother away… but he was only eleven, Mother needed careful attention, and I was often sick. During our days wandering, I ran out of medicine and couldn’t walk. Every time we passed through a town, my brother would beg doctors to examine me. We had no money for consultations or medicine, so naturally, they wouldn’t treat me. Brother felt very guilty…”
The eleven-year-old Li Zhongqian understood that by himself, he couldn’t give Yao Ying a stable life.
Just when they returned to Wei Prefecture, Li De’s advisor said: “Second Young Master, only by staying in Wei Prefecture can the lady and young miss live safely through these chaotic times, only here can they have access to endless expensive medicines to maintain their health.”
Yao Ying lowered her head, gently pulling her hand from Zheng Jing’s: “Brother was afraid he couldn’t protect Mother and me. He dared not hide his light and bide his time, donning armor to lead troops in battle. But his identity was a concern for His Majesty, and he couldn’t freely show his talents like other princes. He could neither advance nor retreat, so he simply lived dissolutely, going with the flow. Even so, he still ensured Mother and I lived freely all these years.”
She wasn’t Li De’s favorite princess, but who in the capital dared to bully her?
Yao Ying raised her head, her gaze determined: “Now Brother is in trouble, and I must save him, whatever the cost.”
“I won’t go with you.”
Zheng Jing was speechless, letting his hands fall dejectedly.
After a while, he raised his trembling hand: “Let me escort the Princess to the cooling pavilion.”
Yao Ying smiled at him, shaking her head: “No, this path, I must walk alone.”
Zheng Jing’s mouth opened and closed, but he said nothing. He stood in place, watching the woman he admired climb the long steps, her graceful figure gradually disappearing into the boundless dusk.
On the high-cooling pavilion, wine cups clinked and laughter rang out.
As dusk deepened, hundreds of candles had already been lit in the pavilion. The lamp-trees were arranged in beautiful disorder, their flames brilliant, like countless stars fallen to the earth, the Milky Way blazing.
However, when Yao Ying, her hair in a high bun and dressed in magnificent clothes, walked into the curtained hall, all the blazing candlelight suddenly seemed to dim.
Everyone at the feast simultaneously stopped talking, staring at her in amazement.
The tribal chiefs of various Hu peoples, seated at the side of the main seats, even spilled their wine bowls, dumbfounded.
Yao Ying met the countless gazes flowing toward her like a tide, her eyes calm as she walked step by step toward the main seat.