Near the second watch, the calls of solitary crows echoed through the mountains.

The square before Qinglong Temple’s front mountain was brightly lit. The sound of wooden fish being struck and monks chanting sutras reverberated before the hall. Inside the hall, all was silent. The Empress held her prayer beads and knelt before the Buddha, her lips moving in constant prayer. After a full day, almost everyone was beginning to feel exhausted. Many people withdrew from the hall, and as the night deepened, fewer and fewer remained in the front hall. Qiu Xinran glanced at the water clock, then gathered her robes and withdrew from the great hall, heading toward the back mountain.

The moonlight was excellent tonight, and the mountains were extremely quiet. As she walked along the corridor toward Guanyin Hall, she suddenly heard the faint sound of footsteps behind her. But when she turned to look, the corridor behind her was completely empty—its dark end like the gaping mouth of a giant python.

There were no guards on the Guanyin Hall side. Though she wouldn’t encounter bandits in this temple, the deep night was somewhat frightening. Qiu Xinran turned back and quickened her pace, yet still felt someone trailing behind. She glanced left and right, then suddenly ducked behind a pine tree beside the corridor. She pressed herself against the old pine and waited for a while. Sure enough, the footsteps behind her became clearer—someone was climbing the steps. As the footsteps drew nearer, she instinctively held her breath—but when they reached her position, they suddenly stopped.

“What are you doing here?” In the extremely quiet night, a familiar male voice rang out in the cool autumn wind.

The person hiding behind the tree shifted and poked her head out from behind, only to see the black-robed young man who had sat beside her at dinner standing under the corridor eaves, looking strangely at her as she stood behind the tree.

“What is the Young Master doing here?” Qiu Xinran was startled.

“I’m staying up there.” Xia Xiuyan looked over. “But what are you doing here?”

Qiu Xinran followed his gaze upward. Behind Guanyin Hall was pitch black, with what seemed to be a few rooms vaguely hidden among the trees. She remembered that at dinner he had indeed said his lodging was quite far from the front. Apparently he was truly preparing to return to his room to rest and happened to be going the same way as her.

She showed a somewhat embarrassed expression: “I… I just happened to be passing by.” As soon as she said it, she regretted how poorly told this lie was. Xia Xiuyan looked at her expression as if he had already guessed something, and asked thoughtfully: “Were you perhaps thinking someone was following you just now?”

Qiu Xinran was momentarily speechless. Xia Xiuyan smiled rather annoyingly: “For Sichen to have this sense of caution when walking at night is a good thing—” Qiu Xinran licked her lips, expecting there would be a reversal coming, and sure enough, the other person glanced at her feet and said leisurely, “However, next time, it would be best to first look at the direction the moonlight is coming from.”

Qiu Xinran looked down and only then discovered that in her nervousness earlier, she hadn’t noticed that the moonlight had stretched her shadow quite long, casting it on the white wall on the other side of the corridor. She showed a trace of chagrin, which made Xia Xiuyan’s lips quirk up: “Let’s go. Aren’t you going to Guanyin Hall?”

Qiu Xinran had just lost face, so she stubbornly said: “When did I say I was going to Guanyin Hall?”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her: “You’re also staying up there?”

Qiu Xinran was left speechless. The other person snorted with laughter and took the lead walking up the mountain along the corridor. The young Daoist hesitated in place for a moment, but in the end still followed after him.

“Why don’t I see Guard Gao today?”

“Today, apart from the monks in the temple, for safety all the personnel were drawn from the palace.”

Qiu Xinran followed behind, stepping on his shadow in lockstep, making idle conversation: “This is the first time I’ve seen the Young Master wear black. It’s quite different from usual—you look very imposing.”

Xia Xiuyan’s footsteps paused. He suddenly remembered Li Hanru’s remarks about “marrying an imposing man” at the palace banquet on New Year’s Eve last year. He couldn’t help but turn to look at the woman behind him. Seeing her concentrating on stepping on his shadow and nearly bumping into him, she looked up at him with complete puzzlement—clearly that remark had just been casual flattery. Somehow, he suddenly felt a sense of grievance, as if his sentimentality had been met with indifference.

“This is also the first time I’ve seen Sichen wear white.”

Qiu Xinran indeed never wore white. She had only changed into plain clothes for today’s memorial service. She saw Xia Xiuyan standing on the steps looking down at her with unpredictable emotions, thinking he was also reciprocating the mutual flattery, but unexpectedly when he opened his mouth he said: “You don’t look good in white.”

Qiu Xinran choked. She reflected on how at dinner she had thought Xia Xiuyan was someone who couldn’t speak flattering words. He clearly couldn’t even speak like a human being! After a long while, she could only squeeze out: “The Young Master is truly… straightforward…”

The two traveled together and soon arrived at Guanyin Hall. From a distance they could see a palace maid standing below the hall. Qiu Xinran looked carefully and discovered it was Xiao Song. She didn’t know how long she had been waiting there, pacing back and forth outside the door somewhat anxiously. When she looked up and saw her arrive, she breathed a sigh of relief and jogged forward a few steps. Only when she drew near did she notice with surprise that someone was following behind Qiu Xinran.

“Xia… I pay my respects to Young Master Xia.” Xiao Song hastily curtsied to him in a fluster. Xia Xiuyan glanced at her and discovered she was precisely the palace maid who had deliberately dropped her handkerchief in the dining hall that evening. He couldn’t help but glance at Qiu Xinran again.

Qiu Xinran quickly said: “The Young Master is returning to his guest room to rest and happened to be going the same way as me.”

Xia Xiuyan naturally heard the implication in her words dismissing him. He snorted with laughter, not caring to get involved in their business, and turned to leave. At that moment, another series of footsteps came from the other direction. Xiao Song had snuck out tonight to see Qiu Xinran and had been on edge all along, afraid of being discovered. Yet in just this short time there had already been one mishap after another. Her expression immediately became panicked. Not knowing where she found the courage, she stepped forward and grabbed Qiu Xinran’s sleeve, pushing her toward the inside of Guanyin Hall: “You go hide inside first, I’ll go have a look.”

This turn of events came quite suddenly. Before Qiu Xinran could say a word, she was already being pulled and pushed into hiding inside Guanyin Hall, and the Xia Xiuyan beside her surprisingly also followed along inside.

As soon as they entered the room, they heard a soft, gentle female voice outside: “Xiao Song, what are you doing here?”

Qiu Xinran felt she had heard this voice somewhere before, but couldn’t quite recall the person’s identity. She instinctively looked at the person beside her. Xia Xiuyan had inexplicably followed into this place but seemed perfectly at ease. Noticing her gaze, he was even able to silently mouth to her: “Consort Xu.”

Sure enough, immediately after they heard Xiao Song answer: “This servant came to the well to fetch water to facilitate Your Ladyship’s washing.” Her voice carried a tremor from nervousness. If one listened carefully, one could hear something was wrong, but Consort Xu also seemed distracted. Hearing her answer this way, she only nodded and said: “It’s been a long time since I left the palace. I want to sit here alone for a while. You may go back.”

Consort Xu liked quiet. Even in the palace she often went to the imperial garden alone to walk. This request wasn’t strange. But thinking of the two people still inside Guanyin Hall, Xiao Song grew anxious and quickly said: “But outside the palace is different from inside. The night is deep and the dew is heavy. Your Ladyship should return to your room to rest early.”

Normally Consort Xu would have relented, but today for some reason she grew somewhat impatient: “The temple is full of guards. What’s unsafe about it? If I sit briefly under the moon, how can that be a problem?”

Xia Xiuyan was impatient listening to the master and servant talking outside. He lowered his head to ask the person beside him: “What exactly is going on tonight?”

Qiu Xinran heard Xiao Song still outside trying to persuade Consort Xu to return. After thinking for a moment, she pushed the black-robed man beside her to circle behind the Guanyin statue and very quietly told him the basic situation. However, she concealed the matter of Xiao Song stealing Consort Xu’s jewelry, only saying she had taken pity on her and agreed to lend her some silver today to send home for an emergency.

“How kind of you.” Qiu Xinran heard him give a light snort. His lips moved slightly, and she thought he was probably going to say something like “don’t meddle in others’ business” or “it’s strictly forbidden to exchange things privately with palace servants.” But the young man pressed his lips together and in the end said nothing at all.

Outside, things had somehow quieted down—who knew what the situation was. Qiu Xinran cocked her ear to listen but heard no movement. Just as she was about to quietly return to the front to check on the situation, she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by the person beside her: “Wait—” Xia Xiuyan’s expression became more serious: “Someone else is coming.”

After he spoke, sure enough, another female voice came from outside: “Why is Consort Xu here?” This time Qiu Xinran recognized it—the one who had arrived outside should be Noble Consort Shu.

Tonight was certainly lively—everyone was coming in droves to this secluded Guanyin Hall on the back mountain.

Qiu Xinran heard Consort Xu’s voice faintly drift in from outside: “Why would Noble Consort Shu come here so late at night?”

“That question should be mine to ask Consort Xu. Why are you here alone tonight?”

“This consort… this consort’s lodging is nearby. It’s rare to leave the palace and I’m not quite accustomed to it, so I came here to walk around.”

“I think not,” Noble Consort Shu laughed coldly. “Consort Xu is probably waiting here for someone tonight, aren’t you?”

Consort Xu was greatly shocked: “What does Your Ladyship mean by this?”

“This consort came specifically to inform you that the person you’re waiting for won’t be coming tonight.”

Consort Xu immediately understood. In an instant, her face turned white as paper: “You left that note?”

Noble Consort Shu laughed coldly. Too lazy to waste more words with her, she said to the guard beside her: “Seize this little wretch for me!”

A cry of alarm from outside was cut off before it could fully emerge as someone covered her mouth and nose. Immediately after came Xiao Song’s panicked voice: “You… what are you doing! Your Ladyship…”

Qiu Xinran’s brow jumped. Before she could react, Xia Xiuyan had already pulled her up. The two of them crouched and jumped onto the platform behind the Buddha statue.

Guanyin Hall enshrined a person-height Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue. Behind the seated statue was a wall with only enough space for one adult. Qiu Xinran was tall, and Xia Xiuyan was even taller. Fortunately, they were both still young, so standing side by side behind the statue, the Guanyin’s thousand hands and thousand eyes could conceal them completely.

There was a sound of struggle outside. Xiao Song was also quickly gagged. The doors of Guanyin Hall were kicked open with one foot, followed by the sound of fabric scraping the ground. The two people outside were thrown to the floor like sacks. Then the wooden door of Guanyin Hall was closed again from inside.

Noble Consort Shu’s voice rang out again, this time clear and close as if right beside them, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear: “Do it!”