Two days later, it was said that the Empress summoned Qiu Xinran into the palace, presumably because there was a result regarding the Qixi incident.

Sandalwood incense burned in Ciyi Palace, and the furnishings were also very plain. Before Emperor Xuande ascended the throne, the Empress had married into the household. It had now been over twenty years. With two sons and one daughter under her care, she was a virtuous empress praised by all inside and outside the court. After Princess Qinghe passed away, the Empress fell ill and hadn’t appeared for a long time. This year’s Qixi banquet was a rare occasion where she rallied her spirits to prepare it, yet unexpectedly this kind of incident occurred again—

Arriving at the palace, the Empress sat in the hall with a gentle expression: “Supervisor, there’s no need to be nervous. This palace summoned you today to ask about the Qixi banquet incident in detail once more. What exactly happened that night?”

Qiu Xinran steadied herself and repeated the same explanation from a few days ago. When she finished, the hall fell silent for a moment. Then the Empress said: “Actually, this palace has mostly investigated that night’s events, and it seems somewhat different from what the Supervisor said.” As she spoke, she glanced at the blue-robed minor official standing in the hall. “That day in Sujiao Palace, did you truly only see Xiuyan alone?”

Qiu Xinran paused but still nodded yes.

The teacup on the table made a soft “crack.” The Empress suddenly changed to an icy expression: “Do you know what crime it is to deceive His Majesty?”

Qiu Xinran shook out her robe hem and knelt on the ground: “Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This subject spoke only the truth.”

“You still dare to be stubborn! Hanru already cried her way through confessing everything. Do you really think this palace is blind and foolish?”

Qiu Xinran was shocked and dismayed: “The Seventh Princess told Your Majesty everything?”

The Empress only kept a cold face without speaking. Qiu Xinran had no choice but to kowtow: “This subject deserves ten thousand deaths.”

“What crime do you have?”

“That night when this subject came down from the Observatory Platform, it’s true I first encountered the Seventh Princess on the road. But this matter was very suspicious. That night in Ciyi Palace, this subject worried that if it spread, it would damage the reputations of both the Seventh Princess and Young Lord Xia. That’s why I concealed this part of the truth. I beg Your Majesty to forgive this subject’s crime of deception.”

The hall fell silent for a moment before the Empress said faintly: “This palace heard that previously at the academy, Hanru’s attitude toward you was not kind. Why would you risk the crime of deceiving the sovereign to conceal things for her?”

Qiu Xinran continued: “The Princess has a simple nature and is not a bad person. That night’s events seemed like someone deliberately schemed to frame them. If this subject had spoken honestly, I feared falling into the other party’s trap.”

“You’re quite clever.” The Empress’s voice revealed neither pleasure nor anger. The hall had no sound for a long while. After a moment, footsteps could be heard coming from behind the screen in the hall.

“Stand up.” The Empress spoke.

Qiu Xinran stood. The person on the seat had already resumed her previous gentle appearance, with an additional woman of cold and proud expression beside her—it was precisely Li Hanru’s birth mother, Imperial Consort Chen.

The Empress turned her head with a smile to ask: “What does younger sister say?”

Imperial Consort Chen remained silent, only looking at the minor official in blue robes and straight jacket in the hall, nodding her head with a proud expression.

Imperial Consort Chen came from a military family. Li Hanyi and Li Hanru’s pampered and domineering temperaments became as obedient as a pair of quails before this imperial mother. She sat on the couch and said coldly: “Hanru acts impulsively. This palace has already properly disciplined her at home and made her learn a lesson. Regarding the Qixi banquet incident, this palace owes you a favor.”

Qiu Xinran hurriedly returned the courtesy: “This official dares not.”

“What do you mean ‘dares not’?” Imperial Consort Chen impatiently frowned. “At such a young age, how did you learn all these pedantic scholar’s mannerisms?”

Hearing this rebuke, Qiu Xinran felt ashamed and dared not refuse again, only cupping her hands to admit her error.

The Empress said gently: “Enough, don’t frighten her.” She turned to Qiu Xinran again: “This palace will send people to continue investigating the Qixi banquet incident, but since it involves the Seventh Princess’s reputation, it’s not good to pursue it openly. I’m afraid you’ll have to be wronged again.”

Qiu Xinran immediately understood her meaning: “This subject understands.”

The Empress looked at her and continued: “If the people discovered had been Hanru and Xiuyan, who knows what rumors would spread outside. But you and Xiuyan have some past grievances. With such an incident occurring, we can just say the two had some conflict after drinking, which won’t make people think too much. This way, it’s good for both your and his reputations.”

“Your Majesty is thoughtful.”

Her status was vastly different from Xia Xiuyan’s. Even if rumors about the melting pear fragrance spread, it wouldn’t cause much of a stir. At most, people outside would think Xia Xiuyan deliberately humiliated her, and her striking back in resistance would be considered reasonable. However, this way, although Xia Xiuyan was at fault first, she had struck him—

Sure enough, the next second, she heard the Empress say: “But this way, there should be a resolution to this matter. Xiuyan was drunk and behaved improperly, which was wrong first, but you struck and injured someone afterward. Although it can barely offset each other…”

Qiu Xinran was very compliant: “This subject is willing to apologize to Young Lord Xia at his door.”

The Empress looked at her approvingly and nodded: “This matter has dragged on for quite long, which isn’t good. At this hour, Xiuyan should be at Fukang Palace. Why not take this opportunity—you can follow this palace there and settle this matter before the Empress Dowager.”

Qiu Xinran followed the Empress to Fukang Palace. Just entering the hall, she heard laughter from inside.

The two turned past the colorful screen in the hall to see the Empress Dowager sitting in the room. Besides Xia Xiuyan, several princes were also present. Someone had just told a joke, causing everyone in the room to laugh. The Empress Dowager looked up to see the Empress arrive, the smile not yet fading from her face: “Why has the Empress come?”

“Mother’s place is lively—I came to see Mother.” The Empress smiled and sat beside the Empress Dowager. “I also heard Xiuyan was here, so I brought someone along to see him.” As she spoke, she gave a look to the person behind her. Hearing this, Qiu Xinran quickly stepped forward and bowed: “This subject Qiu Xinran greets the Empress Dowager.”

Only then did the Empress Dowager notice the person following behind the Empress. Seeing her hair bound with a wooden hairpin, wearing blue robes and a straight jacket, though dressed as a male minor official, she was clearly a woman. The Empress Dowager quickly recalled her identity, and the smile on her face cooled considerably: “Why did the Empress bring her here?”

“Previously at Qixi, Supervisor Qiu struck and injured Xiuyan. His Majesty punished her with confinement to contemplate her errors. Now the period has ended and she’s returning to resume her post, so this subject brought her to apologize to Xiuyan.”

The Empress Dowager looked toward Xia Xiuyan on the side. He had apparently just returned from the academy, sitting in a chair with an indifferent expression. The weather had turned cold again, so he wore more layers than the others in the hall, looking frail and delicate. From the moment Qiu Xinran entered, he hadn’t raised his eyelids even once from beginning to end.

Qiu Xinran turned toward Xia Xiuyan, bowing and raising her hands: “Previously this subject was in the wrong. I’ve come specially to apologize to the Young Lord.”

Xia Xiuyan made no sound, only lowering his head to drink some tea from his cup, as if he hadn’t heard.

The atmosphere in the hall became somewhat frozen. Li Hanfeng wanted to speak and smooth things over: “I heard Supervisor Qiu was confined at the Bureau of Astronomy for some time recently, which already counts as punishment. Xiuyan, why not forgive her this once?”

Xia Xiuyan still made no sound. The only one who dared to put on airs and lecture people in this Fukang Palace while relying on the Empress Dowager’s support was probably this one.

Qiu Xinran could only kneel down and say again: “That Qixi night, this subject was rash and struck and injured the Young Lord. I beg the Young Lord to forgive this crime.”

Seeing he still didn’t speak, Li Hanling deliberately said with a smile: “It seems Xiuyan is truly angry this time and is actually holding a grudge against her?” Li Hanxing also deliberately chimed in: “Xiuyan is weak. For others to be struck once would be one thing, but how dare a mere Supervisor official strike the Young Lord? She really shouldn’t be let off lightly.” His pair of fox-like eyes blinked repeatedly—one couldn’t tell if he was helping her speak or adding fuel to the fire.

Qiu Xinran made a face hidden under her sleeve, gritted her teeth, and kowtowed to Xia Xiuyan again, saying loudly: “If the Young Lord has anger in his heart, this subject is willing to be beaten or scolded without a word of complaint. I beg the Young Lord to forgive this subject’s disrespectful crime.”

After she finished speaking this time, the Empress finally spoke: “The Qixi banquet was originally hosted by this palace, yet such an oversight occurred. You can’t entirely blame Supervisor Qiu.”

Xia Xiuyan finally moved, his expression softening somewhat: “Your Majesty the Empress goes too far. It was originally Xiuyan’s improper behavior while drunk.” As he spoke, he cast a cold glance at the minor official kneeling on the steps below, reluctantly relenting: “Supervisor Qiu was also frightened that night. From now on, let this matter be put aside and never mentioned again.”

As he relented, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Qiu Xinran quickly expressed thanks: “Thank you for the Young Lord’s forgiveness.”

“Stand up.” Xia Xiuyan glanced at her and said faintly.

Qiu Xinran had followed the Empress here precisely to apologize for the Qixi banquet incident. Now that Xia Xiuyan had already expressed his position, she didn’t need to linger. She soon withdrew from Fukang Palace.

“His Majesty is also unreasonable,” after Qiu Xinran left, the Empress Dowager said with a displeased expression. “Arranging for a female Daoist to enter the palace as an official, and then causing such an incident.” As she spoke, she turned to look at Xia Xiuyan: “This mourning one has also heard about the jade pendant incident before. If you’re unhappy in your heart, speak up. This mourning one will talk to His Majesty. Keeping such a person in the palace will be a disaster sooner or later.”

Xia Xiuyan lowered his eyes: “This son hasn’t taken her to heart. Grandmother needn’t worry for this son.”

“Ah—” Seeing him like this, the Empress Dowager showed a trace of tender concern. “This mourning one just fears that you living alone in the capital, if you suffer any grievances on ordinary days, you’ll just keep them bottled up inside and won’t speak of them.”

Li Hanxing blinked: “Grandmother can’t be partial. When we suffer grievances, we also want to come complain to Grandmother.”

The Empress Dowager looked at him reproachfully: “Who in this palace dares make you suffer grievances? If others don’t come here to report on you, you should be thanking heaven and earth.”

Everyone in the room laughed again. That matter from earlier was considered past, with no one mentioning it again.

Xia Xiuyan sat in the room a while longer, then soon claimed to feel unwell and withdrew.

It had rained that morning, so the ground was somewhat damp. After leaving Fukang Palace and walking along the palace path for a stretch, when nearly at the corner, Xia Xiuyan suddenly stopped. The attending palace servant stopped as well. A moment later, they heard him instruct: “Looking at this gloomy sky, go back and fetch an umbrella.”

The palace servant acknowledged and quickly turned back.

After his figure walked far away, Xia Xiuyan resumed his steps forward. Drawing near the corner ahead, he glimpsed a bit of blue robe hem showing from behind the red wall. He stopped and cleared his throat lightly. The robe hem behind the wall paused. A moment later, a head poked out from behind—it was precisely the young Daoist seen earlier in Fukang Palace.

Seeing him, the young Daoist squinted and smiled, slowly emerging from behind the wall corner, clearing her throat somewhat uncomfortably: “Greetings to Young Lord Xia.”

Xia Xiuyan looked at the minor official in blue robes and straight jacket before him. The other party cupped her hands with head lowered, her collar revealing a stretch of fair, smooth neck. At a glance, he could see the still slightly greenish bruise marks on it—ones he himself had made that night.

He still remembered pressing her nape under the dim bed canopy, the smooth sensation that remained on his fingertips. Somehow, a sense of awkwardness arose in his heart. He hastily looked away and said coldly: “Why are you still here?”

“To thank the Young Lord.” It was also at this moment she discovered she seemed to have already said this to him several times. Xia Xiuyan heard her thanks with an unmoved expression. So Qiu Xinran scratched her head and continued: “That day at Zuichun Tower, that broken piece of jade pendant…” She thought about it, hesitating for a long while before asking with difficulty: “Was it truly Princess Mingyang’s relic?”

Xia Xiuyan paused. That matter had passed long ago—he hadn’t expected she would still remember the words he’d said that day: “Naturally it was something my mother left behind.” As he spoke, he glanced at her face full of pained regret, then said with amusement: “She left behind countless things. Wasn’t that set of leaf cards you played with last time also considered a relic she left?”

Qiu Xinran felt ashamed for barely half a moment, then was caught off guard and choked by these words, stammering: “That… that kind of thing also counts?”

“Why wouldn’t it count? Wasn’t that thing also left by my mother?” Xia Xiuyan glanced at her and continued: “When you used her relic to cheat against me, didn’t you have nightmares when you went back?”

“…” Qiu Xinran’s eyes widened, probably wanting to refute, but thinking of something, her expression deflated again. She said sullenly: “Even if it’s not the Princess’s relic, breaking a fine piece of jade is still regrettable.”

“Gold, silver, and jade, however fine, are just dead objects,” Xia Xiuyan said faintly. “How can they compare to human life?”

Qiu Xinran was slightly surprised for a moment, clearly not expecting he could say such words. Xia Xiuyan noticed her gaze and raised his eyebrows to ask: “What?” Qiu Xinran quickly shifted her gaze away, scratching her face with her fingers, deflecting: “The Seventh Princess probably wouldn’t do something like drugging someone.”

This time Li Hanru had deliberately diverted trouble toward her. Xia Xiuyan hadn’t expected she would speak up for the Seventh Princess. After a moment of silence, he said: “That day you didn’t expose Li Hanru—Imperial Consort Chen will owe you a favor. Gaining her promise isn’t easy. At a critical moment in the future, it might save your life.”

Qiu Xinran laughed self-deprecatingly: “Is the Young Lord certain I’ll inevitably cause more trouble in the future?”

Xia Xiuyan silently looked at her, as if to say “you’re asking the obvious.” Thinking that the young eunuch who went back for the umbrella should return soon, he didn’t continue conversing with her and turned toward the palace gate.

Qiu Xinran stood in place, watching his back recede into the distance. Then she raised her head to look at the gloomy sky. Dark clouds pressed upon the endless palace walls—a sign of an approaching storm. The novelty and excitement she’d felt upon first arriving in Chang’an had finally been gradually worn away during these two years of confinement within the imperial city. She gradually developed a weary desire to leave.

“The Heavenly Way is difficult to measure. What’s difficult to measure is not the Heavenly Way but the human heart. The human heart changes in an instant, and the Heavenly Way changes in an instant. If you think you’ve achieved great mastery, it’s actually because you haven’t met enough people.” Baoyu Daoren’s words still rang in her ears. The female Daoist stood outside the window holding a whisk, mist and haze shrouding the green mountains outside, yet her gaze seemed to fall on mountains even farther beyond.

Qiu Xinran didn’t understand—if human hearts were the same, why did Xiao Song have to die? But if human hearts were different, why did Li Hanru have to die?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but sigh. Master was right—she truly couldn’t divine the human heart.