A bright moon gradually rose into the night sky.

Li Ying said to Cui Xun, “Seventeenth Young Master, close your eyes. I have something to show you.”

Cui Xun obeyed and closed his eyes. He felt Li Ying take his hand and place something in his palm. When he opened his eyes, he saw a round cake with auspicious flower patterns resting quietly in his palm.

Cui Xun was slightly surprised. Li Ying asked, “Have you forgotten what day it is?”

Cui Xun was momentarily at a loss. Li Ying smiled and said, “It’s the fifteenth of the eighth month, the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Cui Xun suddenly realized that today was indeed the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Cui Xun had never paid much attention to festivals symbolizing family reunion like New Year’s Eve, the Lantern Festival, or the Mid-Autumn Festival. Before leaving home, his relationship with his stepmother and siblings had been poor. On such days, they didn’t want to see him, and he didn’t want to see them either. He would simply stay alone in the courtyard, sparing himself from being unwelcome.

After leaving home at fourteen, except for the three years with the Tianwei Army, he had been completely alone. During festival times, the contrast between the joyous sounds outside the Cui residence and the desolation inside had always been stark. Cui Xun had long grown accustomed to this.

But this year, there was someone who had accompanied him through the Lantern Festival, the Cold Food Festival, and now the Mid-Autumn Festival.

He was finally no longer alone.

Li Ying also held a round cake with auspicious patterns. She took a bite and said, “Mmm, it’s filled with date paste.”

Li Ying had a sweet tooth, so the date-filled cake satisfied her greatly. Though Cui Xun didn’t particularly enjoy sweets, seeing Li Ying’s satisfied expression made his lips curve upward, and he took a bite himself. Li Ying asked, “Is it good?”

Cui Xun nodded: “It’s good.”

The two ate their cakes while gazing at the rising moon. In the Great Zhou, the Mid-Autumn Festival tradition involved moon worship ceremonies in the imperial palace and moon viewing among common people. Li Ying sat cross-legged under the sweet osmanthus tree, admiring the bright, clear moon in the night sky. She took a bite of the sweet, soft date paste as the lingering fragrance of osmanthus flowers surrounded her. Tonight, there was the moon, flowers, scenery, and her beloved.

She turned her head to secretly look at the jade-like young man beside her. Her first glance caught his long, ink-black eyelashes. His eyelashes were not only long and dark but also dense, like small fans covering his eyelids. Suddenly, she had a playful thought—to count how many eyelashes he had.

As she was counting, her companion, who had been admiring the moon, sensed something unusual and turned his head slightly, startling Li Ying, who had counted halfway. She quickly turned her head away.

A puzzled expression appeared on Cui Xun’s face. Feeling guilty, Li Ying didn’t explain but instead took big bites of her remaining cake. When she finished, Cui Xun took out a clean white handkerchief and wiped away the crumbs at the corner of her mouth, then meticulously cleaned her hands. After everything was done, he asked, “What were you doing just now?”

How could Li Ying admit that instead of admiring the moon, she had been admiring him, diligently counting his eyelashes? Just as she was wondering how to respond, she saw small green lights flying past. Li Ying exclaimed: “Fireflies!”

Fireflies were common in the suburbs during late summer and early autumn, but they had never been seen in the palace before. This was the first time Li Ying had seen fireflies. Both surprised and delighted, she stood up. Countless fireflies flickered, like tiny stars dancing in the night sky, sometimes gathering into a sea of green, sometimes dispersing into a sky full of jade-colored light dots. Li Ying murmured, “How beautiful.”

She reached out and caught a firefly, then carefully opened her palm to show Cui Xun, as if displaying a treasure. The green light slowly rose from her palm. Li Ying said, “So this is what a firefly looks like.”

Cui Xun had never seen fireflies either. He nodded and said, “They are indeed beautiful.”

He said, “I’ll catch a few for you to take back.”

But Li Ying shook her head: “No, they belong here, not to the confines of a grand residence.”

She stepped forward quickly, walking into the swarm of dancing fireflies. She stretched out her hand, allowing fireflies to land on her palm. Some even settled on her hair bun, making her look from a distance like a glowing jade night-luminous pearl. As a breeze passed by, bringing the fragrance of sweet osmanthus, it lifted the hem of Li Ying’s skirt and her flowing scarf, giving her an ethereal appearance. Thousands of green fireflies danced around her, creating a scene as poetic as a painting, as dreamy as a fantasy.

Cui Xun was completely entranced. He stood silently, forgetting to move, until Li Ying called him with a flower-like smile. Only then did he come to his senses. He walked to Li Ying’s side, suppressing his pounding heart, and picked a fallen osmanthus flower from her shoulder, then secretly concealed it in his palm.

The twentieth year of Longxing, the fifteenth night of the eighth month, a moonlit night with the companionship of the bright moon—unforgettable for a lifetime.

Li Ying didn’t notice his thoughts. Looking at the firefly in her palm, she suddenly smiled radiantly and said, “Seventeenth Young Master, there are still many things worth looking forward to in this world, aren’t there?”

Cui Xun was taken aback. Li Ying continued, “Although the past is deeply engraved in our hearts and difficult to forget, the path ahead isn’t so dull and lifeless. Perhaps we can gradually let go of the past and appreciate such a beautiful moon, such beautiful sweet osmanthus, such beautiful fireflies.”

Cui Xun guessed her thoughts: “You still want me to abandon my obsession?”

Li Ying nodded: “The chief culprits have been executed, and the Tianwei Army souls should be able to leave the city of wronged ghosts. This matter has reached the most perfect conclusion. Seventeenth Young Master, you shouldn’t remain trapped in the past. You should look toward the future.”

A firefly landed on her brow, like a green mark, making her complexion appear even more jade-like. Looking at her beautiful face, Cui Xun finally nodded and said, “Mm.”

To completely reassure Cui Xun, Li Ying took him to secretly check on the Tianwei Army families still in Chang’an. Ah’man was diligently searching for a shop, He Shisan was working hard to learn martial arts, and all the families were striving to live their lives. They were gradually letting go of past sorrows, their eyes filled with hope for the future.

This was indeed the most perfect ending.

Cui Xun thought that perhaps he should abandon his obsession.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon worship ceremony in the imperial palace had also concluded. Emperor Longxing, wearing the imperial robe and crown, personally ascended the Earth Altar. After court attendants read the “Ode to the Moon Deity,” he performed the evening moon ritual, respectfully worshiping the moon deity and praying for blessings upon the world and its people.

However, during such a solemn occasion, the Empress Dowager had not appeared, probably to avoid triggering painful memories of her early-departed daughter, Mingyu Zhu.

After worshiping the moon deity, Emperor Longxing specially went to Penglai Hall to console the Empress Dowager. Although he had now lost his faction and power and could no longer contend with the Empress Dowager, this lack of contention eliminated all conflicts between them. Their relationship began to harmonize as never before, truly achieving mutual filial devotion between mother and son.

The Empress Dowager was naturally delighted with this. With only two children in her lifetime and being someone who deeply valued family bonds, how could she not cherish Emperor Longxing? Previously, when he was influenced by Lu Yumin’s instigation and grew increasingly distant from her, it had broken her heart. Now that Lu Yumin had been eliminated, Emperor Longxing had finally returned to being her obedient Bodhisattva.

Emperor Longxing stayed in Penglai Hall for a long time, only leaving after the Empress Dowager’s mood had improved. He then went to the Empress’s chambers. The Empress, personally selected by the Empress Dowager, was gentle and virtuous, and greatly favored by the Empress Dowager. But since marrying her, he had entered her chambers fewer than ten times. After Consort Hui gained favor, he ceased visiting his other wives altogether. Even though, due to the lack of an imperial son, the censors periodically submitted memorials advising him to “spread his rain and dew evenly,” he had completely ignored them.

Now that Consort Hui had been banished, Emperor Longxing had begun to visit the chambers of the Empress, Consort De, and others again. The Empress Dowager was very pleased with this, while the long-neglected Empress felt as if she were floating in the clouds, as if in a dream. She desperately wanted this dream to last longer, wanted her husband to cherish her more. After their intimate moment, the Empress, in an attempt to please Emperor Longxing, carefully said: “Your Majesty, Consort Hui committed no great error. Life at Changchun Temple is too austere. Why not bring her back?”

Emperor Longxing’s expression changed slightly, but only for a moment before he returned to his gentle demeanor and said, “We’ll discuss this matter later.”

The Empress dared not speak further. Emperor Longxing turned his back, eyes open, staring at the imperial yellow curtains. In his mind, however, he recalled the scene when Consort Hui was expelled from the palace.

No one knew that Consort Hui wasn’t expelled from the palace but had requested to leave.

On that day, when Pei Guanyue and others were escorted to the execution ground and Lu’s faction completely collapsed, he had been utterly defeated. Consort Hui knelt at his feet. Her Chinese was not fluent, and she didn’t know how to speak in roundabout ways. Her words were direct and hurtful. She said, “Your Majesty need not have become a puppet emperor again. Now that you have, it is all thanks to one person. Since entering the palace, I have received Your Majesty’s great favor with no way to repay it. I wish to avenge this for Your Majesty.”

She continued, “In Daming Palace, I am under the Empress Dowager’s surveillance, making it too inconvenient to act. Please expel me from the palace, and I will surely avenge Your Majesty.”

Emperor Longxing looked at her beautiful face and softly called: “Wuduo.”

Consort Hui was startled. Though she knew that Emperor Longxing had long known she wasn’t Ashina Jia but Ashina Wuduo, the one rumored to have an ambiguous relationship with Cui Xun, Emperor Longxing had never asked, and she had never told. The two had lived together with this tacit understanding.

Emperor Longxing asked her: “Wuduo, have you ever loved me?”

Consort Hui was stunned again. Her brows furrowed, not knowing how to answer. Seeing this, Emperor Longxing understood most of it in his heart. He gave a bitter smile: “What’s so good about him?”

Consort Hui gritted her teeth and, after a long moment, said: “I am not so good either.”

Emperor Longxing was silent. After a moment, he nodded, having changed his form of address: “Consort Hui, you’re right. Then go to Changchun Temple.”

Consort Hui was overjoyed. She thanked Emperor Longxing and then rose to leave the hall. However, Emperor Longxing suddenly called her back and said, “After you’ve finished your task, come back. In my heart, you will always be my Consort Hui.”

Consort Hui was visibly stunned. She neither nodded nor shook her head but simply turned and continued to walk out of the hall without looking back.

In the sweet osmanthus grove, a pair of feet in lambskin boots stepped over fallen green leaves, bent down, and picked up an osmanthus flower.

Before his death, Pei Guanyue had sent a message saying that ghosts were helping Cui Xun.

A living person could see ghosts after drinking black dog blood for seven consecutive days.

This osmanthus flower was the one Cui Xun had picked from Li Ying’s shoulder and hidden in his palm, only to accidentally drop it while watching the fireflies.

Ashina Wuduo examined the osmanthus flower carefully, then exerted force with her ten fingers, slowly, one by one, tearing the flower into pieces.