Night fell.
The sky twinkled with countless stars, a vast starry expanse that made one’s heart feel expansive as well.
Yun Chu sat in the courtyard, moonlight spilling onto her shoulders.
In this moment, her mood was very peaceful. She didn’t need to think about anything—no calculations, no scheming, no darkness. She could simply appreciate the moon and stars quietly.
Outside the small courtyard, Chu Hongyu and Chu Changsheng were whispering to each other. The two little ones ventured into the flower bushes by moonlight.
The old nanny was at her wit’s end. “Little ancestors, don’t run so deep! There are snakes at night, be careful…”
Chu Hongyu paid no attention to any of this. He pulled his sister along to pick many, many flowers of various colors, then had the old nanny tie them together with string.
He held the bundled bouquet and slipped over to the courtyard where Chu Yi was staying.
This courtyard was adjacent to Yun Chu’s courtyard, with a high wall in between separating the two spaces.
“Father!”
Chu Yi, who was reviewing official documents, raised his head to see a son and daughter running in.
He set down his writing brush and picked up the little girl to place her on his lap. “Changsheng, call me Daddy.”
Chu Changsheng didn’t call him that. Instead, she forcibly stuffed the large bouquet of flowers into his arms, saying in a soft, sweet voice, “Give… give… to Mommy…”
Chu Yi didn’t understand. He didn’t know what she meant.
“Father, Auntie Yun really loves flowers.” Chu Hongyu said with a grin. “You take these flowers and give them to Auntie Yun, okay?”
Chu Yi’s brows furrowed. “Nonsense.”
“Father, just give them to her, please!” Chu Hongyu shook his arm. “It was Auntie Yun who taught little sister to call you Daddy. Shouldn’t you thank Auntie Yun?”
Chu Yi: “…”
He should thank her, but what kind of thanks was giving flowers?
In the adult world, benefits came first. A bouquet of flowers was far too light, too trivial.
Seeing that Chu Yi didn’t respond, the little fellow immediately turned hostile. “Father, you’re too much! You won’t even agree to this small little request. Hmph, from now on, Changsheng will never call you Daddy again! Changsheng, we’re leaving!”
“Wait.” Chu Yi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Leave the flowers.”
Chu Hongyu huffed through his nose. “I don’t want you to give them anymore. I’ll go find Uncle Chengxu!”
Chengxu was the son of Estate Master Cheng, and also Chu Yi’s most capable guard. He was just twenty years old, in the prime of his youth and vigor.
Chu Yi stood up directly, took the bouquet from Chu Hongyu’s hands, and strode out with large steps. He quickly arrived at the entrance to Yun Chu’s courtyard.
Reaching this point, his footsteps came to a halt.
It was because of her that Changsheng had begun to learn to speak. He had originally planned to give estates, shops, gold and silver, jade and gems… he had never once thought of giving flowers.
Under the illumination of moonlight and starlight, this bouquet of flowers whose names he couldn’t identify was brilliant and beautiful, yet it couldn’t compare to her countenance.
He didn’t know how to present this bouquet.
“Father, if you don’t want to give them, then don’t!” Chu Hongyu said with his hands on his small waist. “Having Uncle Chengxu give them is just the same!”
Chengxu, standing in the night: “…”
What did this have to do with him? Couldn’t he just quietly be an invisible person?
Yun Chu, sitting in the courtyard, heard Chu Hongyu’s voice and called out, “Yu, what are you doing at the entrance? Come in with Changsheng.”
She found it a bit strange that the two little ones hadn’t come to pester her.
“Auntie Yun, I have something to do. I’ll come by later!”
Chu Hongyu forcefully pushed his old father, pulled his sister along, and turned to run.
Chu Yi finally crossed the courtyard entrance. He walked around a wall and entered. Tingshuang and Jiu’er were guarding there and bowed in greeting. “Greetings, Your Highness.”
Yun Chu had been casually reclining on a rattan chair. Hearing the two maids’ greetings, she immediately stood up from the chair and curtsied slightly. “Your Highness.”
She raised her eyes to see the man before her holding a large armful of flowers.
These flowers looked somewhat familiar—they seemed to be from the flower bushes at the courtyard entrance. In the middle of the night, had Prince Pingxi gone to pick flowers?
“Yu said you like flowers.” Chu Yi steeled himself to speak.
Once he had opened his mouth, the words that followed didn’t seem so difficult to say.
“Thank you for being willing to stay at the estate for the sake of the two children, and also for being willing to patiently teach them. Meeting you is the greatest blessing of these two children’s lives. This bouquet of flowers is for Madam Xie. I hope Madam Xie will have success in all things.”
Yun Chu raised her hand and received the flowers. The refreshing floral fragrance entered her nose, and the night seemed even more beautiful.
Her brows and eyes took on a smile. “I also wish Your Highness all goes smoothly.”
Chu Yi looked at her crescent moon-like eyes. In those clear depths were scattered fragments of moonlight and starlight, making his heartbeat inexplicably skip a beat.
The seed that had sprouted in his heart, the small sprout that had just grown two tender leaves, under such a gaze from her, in just these brief moments, seemed to grow into a towering tree, lush with branches and leaves, nearly bursting through his chest.
Just then, countless fireflies took flight in the sky.
Among the trees, in the grass and vegetation, on the shoulders of the two people—fireflies dragged their shining little lanterns, flying here and there.
“Truly beautiful.” Yun Chu couldn’t help but sigh. “The last time I saw fireflies was when I was small. I followed my father to go fishing in the countryside. My father couldn’t catch a single fish, and before we knew it, the sky had darkened. When we wanted to go back, we got lost, and I was so frightened I started crying… To coax me, my father caught many fireflies.”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but laugh.
That night, accompanied by fireflies, she and her father crossed half a mountain ridge but still couldn’t find the path down the mountain. In the end, it was her eldest brother who came to bring them home.
The fatigue and panic of that night had long been forgotten. The fireflies in her memory grew brighter and brighter in the river of time, becoming increasingly precious.
That was a unique night.
She saw in the distance that Yu and Changsheng were chasing fireflies… This, too, was a unique night.
Chu Yi turned his head to look at her and involuntarily spoke. “The last time I saw fireflies was probably five years ago. I was returning to the capital with your father after a campaign. When we were close to the capital, we saw some. Your father said he wanted to catch them and bring them back for you, as an addition to your dowry. However, it was early spring, and there were too few fireflies, so it came to nothing… The day your father and I arrived in the capital was the day of your wedding. Your father didn’t first enter the palace to report on his duties, but instead brought me back to your Yun Family home. I was also fortunate enough to drink a cup of your wedding wine.”
Mentioning matters from her wedding day, the smile on Yun Chu’s face suddenly disappeared.
Her life—it was from that very night that it had been utterly ruined…
Chu Yi keenly detected the change in her emotions and immediately changed the subject. “Madam Xie gave Yu and Changsheng longevity locks. I’ve also had someone prepare a modest gift to present to Madam Xie in return. I hope Madam Xie won’t decline.”
Yun Chu was just considering reasons to refuse when she saw Chengxu, the attendant at Chu Yi’s side, bring over a tray with a piece of jade the size of an adult’s palm placed inside.
This was uncarved raw jade, a red stone that gave off a translucent glow under the moonlight.
“This isn’t anything presentable.” Chu Yi spoke. “It’s just like a stubborn stone by the roadside, a flower in the forest—it merely represents my gratitude to Madam Xie. Please accept it, Madam Xie.”
“Auntie Yun, just accept it!”
Chu Hongyu and Chu Changsheng appeared from who knows where. The two of them together picked up that red stone and stuffed it into Yun Chu’s arms.
With the conversation having reached this point, Yun Chu knew that if she continued to decline, it would truly be somewhat affected. She smiled and said, “This jade stone—I’ll take it to make a pendant each for Yu and Changsheng, all right?”
Chu Hongyu pouted. “That won’t do. This is something Father gave to you. How can we give it to me and little sister?”
Chu Yi felt gratified. This boy had finally shown some sense for once.
“We should make three pendants—one for me, one for little sister, and one for Auntie Yun!” Chu Hongyu revealed his white teeth in a smile. “If there’s any left over, then we can make one for Father.”
Chu Yi: “…”
He really had to thank this boy. He only deserved the leftovers.