Qin Yao heard these words and immediately pricked up her ears, straining to hear how Xia Di would answer.

After a long silence, Xia Di finally spoke in a faint voice: “Seventh Brother, marriage is not some trifling matter. If I were to enter a private arrangement with someone without my parents’ consent, how would I be any different from Lady Wenjun or Lady Hongfu, who took matters entirely into their own hands? In Seventh Brother’s eyes, am I truly a woman with so little self-respect?”

Prince Wu was taken aback. He instantly regretted having pressed too hard and driving Xia Di to draw back. He hastened to say, “A’Yan, please don’t be angry — I was far too impatient. I should never have pushed you like that. But you should know: within no more than a year, the Emperor will arrange a marriage for me, and from all indications he intends to select the principal consort from among the female students currently enrolled at Yunyin Academy. At the latest, my marriage will be settled by next year.”

Xia Di seemed startled. After a moment’s hesitation she said, despite herself, “Then will Sixth Brother and… Eleventh Brother also be given arranged marriages?”

“Naturally,” said Prince Wu. “The Emperor reopened Yunyin Academy with the intention of choosing suitable wives for the sons of the imperial house. Not only Sixth Brother and Eleventh — all those princes of the second rank and sons of the nobility who have yet to take a principal consort will be included in the arrangements.”

Qin Yao nearly stumbled where she stood. The female students of Yunyin Academy were going to be matched by imperial decree? Would she be among those the Emperor arbitrarily paired off?

Lin Xiao, hearing Qin Yao’s breath sharpen for an instant, dared not turn to look at her. He had used his own methods to add Qin Yao’s name to the Academy’s roster, and he had indeed harbored the intention of requesting his imperial uncle to grant them a marriage decree. To have this inadvertently let slip by Prince Wu was the last thing he wanted — he was desperately afraid Qin Yao might now begin to suspect him.

Then they heard Xia Di say, “Seventh Brother, let future matters wait for the future. As for right now — I am truly exhausted and cannot stay awake a moment longer. If I don’t return to my chamber to sleep, I fear I won’t be able to rise tomorrow.”

Prince Wu’s voice carried a note of dejection. “Very well. Seventh Brother will walk you back.”

Their footsteps started again; the two appeared to be preparing to leave. But they had only taken two steps when a sharp shout rang out from not far away: “Who goes there?”

Qin Yao startled, quickly peered out from behind the tree, and saw a company of Imperial Guards emerge from among the trees. The officer leading them caught sight of Prince Wu, and his expression shifted at once. He bowed his head. “Your Highness, Prince Wu.”

Prince Wu drew Xia Di behind him. “This place is no concern of yours,” he said coolly. “All of you, fall back.”

The officer hesitated briefly, but ultimately did not dare raise his head to look at the woman standing behind Prince Wu. He bowed, then led his men back the way they had come.

Once Prince Wu and the others had gone, Qin Yao and Lin Xiao stepped out from behind the tree.

Qin Yao quickly sorted through everything she had just overheard between Prince Wu and Xia Di and arrived at the following conclusions:

First: the hairpin Xia Di had was made from the East Sea Cold Jade that Prince Wu had given her. As for where it had been made, it was almost certainly Runyu Studio.

Second: although Xia Di had come out to meet Prince Wu in secret, she was plainly not in love with him. Never mind the fact that she had deliberately hidden the jade’s origins from everyone — even in the exchange they had just witnessed, Xia Di had remained calm and composed from beginning to end, entirely unlike Pei Min’s bashful, trembling manner whenever she spoke of Xu Shenming. Clearly Xia Di had no real feelings for him, yet she was deliberately keeping him in a state of longing from which he could neither advance nor retreat. Her true nature was plain to see.

By comparison, Pei Min’s guileless sincerity seemed all the more precious.

Thinking along these lines, Qin Yao felt her dislike of Xu Shenming deepen even further, with a burning wish to vent Pei Min’s grievances on her behalf then and there. The matter of the Academy marriage decrees, which had been weighing on her just moments ago, was temporarily pushed aside.

Lin Xiao’s thoughts, however, had taken a different turn. On the day he had been in Runyu Studio purchasing a hairpin for Qin Yao, he had happened to run into Xia Di upon leaving. He recalled that the two of them had exchanged a few pleasantries before he left in a hurry to return to the palace on business. He had been searching for an opportunity to give the hairpin to Qin Yao ever since, and had never breathed a word of it to anyone. So why, so soon afterward, had Xia Di also fashioned a piece of East Sea Cold Jade into a hairpin?

Yet Prince Wu had said it was an apricot blossom hairpin — different from Qin Yao’s snow-and-plum hairpin. Perhaps it truly was a coincidence.

Even so, Lin Xiao had grown up amid the intrigues of the great houses and had seen more than enough of the machinations that women in those circles were capable of. Turning the matter over carefully from every angle, he found that a thread of suspicion toward Xia Di had taken hold in his mind.

Qin Yao turned and found Lin Xiao staring expressionlessly at the direction in which Xia Di had disappeared. She looked at him curiously. “What is it?”

In her impression, although Lin Xiao was not given to smiling or laughing, it was rare to see him wear such a cold, hard gaze.

Lin Xiao came back to himself, looked at Qin Yao, and his expression gradually softened. “Nothing.”

Qin Yao nodded, but then Lin Xiao spoke again: “A’Yao, when you interact with people at the Academy, it would be best to be a little more cautious.”

Qin Yao heard this seemingly disconnected remark and was just about to ask what he meant when the sound of hurried footsteps came from beyond the grove, and Chang Rong called out in a low voice, “Young Lord, the Emperor has sent people to look for you everywhere.”

At this hour, the Emperor should long since have been asleep. To be summoned so suddenly meant something important must have occurred.

Lin Xiao hesitated for a moment, then thought of the Flower Goddess Festival a few days hence. Yunyin Academy would likely have a holiday — why not use that opportunity to invite Qin Yao out, and then find the right moment to speak his heart? There was no need to rush.

With that settled in his mind, his expression eased considerably. He said quietly to Qin Yao, “You have been exhausted for most of the night. Let me have Chang Rong escort you back to your chamber first.”

Qin Yao, not wanting to delay Lin Xiao from his duties, quickly nodded and followed Chang Rong away.

Lin Xiao arrived at Yong’an Hall to find every lamp blazing brightly even from a distance, palace servants hurrying in and out with anxious expressions, and the faint sound of a young woman crying and carrying on somewhere within.

Inside, Chief Eunuch Mi was frantically organizing people to go down the mountain to the capital to fetch a high-ranking eminent monk. “Have them come down the mountain tonight — tonight, do you hear? What? Afraid of falling in the dark? You wretched fools — how dare you bargain at a time like this? Don’t you see that Princess Kangping has been struck by a nightmare demon?—”

He caught sight of Lin Xiao and his expression eased. He stepped forward. “Young Lord, His Majesty has been looking for you. Please, come in quickly.”

Kangping had been struck by a nightmare demon? Lin Xiao was momentarily stunned, then strode quickly inside. Sure enough, the room was filled with people — not only the Emperor and Consort Yi, but even the Crown Prince — all crowded around the bed, completely obscuring the vast, gilded and jeweled bed-canopy behind them.

Kangping’s piercing wails came clearly through the crowd: “Such a huge ghost — just standing at the foot of the steps outside the hall staring at me, bouncing along as it walked, with great tusks in its mouth — so terrifying — wuwuwu—”

Lin Xiao froze at these words and forgot to move.

Someone at the bedside turned and saw Lin Xiao, and rose. “Eleventh Brother.” The manner was composed and graceful, the voice soft and gentle — it was Xia Di.

She and Prince Wu were each standing at the head and foot of the bed, their expressions entirely natural, as though the two of them had not been meeting in secret just moments before. Had Lin Xiao not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.

Kangping heard Xia Di’s words, shoved aside the people blocking her view, and looked out. When she saw Lin Xiao, her mouth turned sharply downward and she burst into tears: “Eleventh Brother! Come here quickly! I just saw a ghost!”

Although Lin Xiao found Kangping’s chatter tiresome more often than not, they had grown up together since childhood and the bond between them was a deep one. Seeing her frightened nearly out of her wits, he could not help but feel a pang.

He walked to the bedside. Before he could say a word, Kangping grabbed his sleeve with both hands. “Eleventh Brother, you don’t know how terrifying it was. I fell asleep three times, and all three times I had exactly the same dream. A huge, hulking ghost was standing at the foot of the steps outside the hall, bouncing and lurching as it tried to come up. But the moment it set foot on the steps, a golden light suddenly flared and held it back, kept it from getting in — and yet it wouldn’t leave.”

Lin Xiao listened and felt a deepening shock. Could it be such a coincidence? It seemed Qin Yao’s guess had been right after all — the creature had truly come up from the water and attempted to invade the sleeping chambers to harm people. And that golden light — could it be none other than the Six-Union Formation that Qin Yao had set up?

Consort Yi embraced Kangping with tender concern and soothed her: “Sweet child, there are no such things as ghosts in this world. You simply spent too long in the water this evening and exhausted your vital energy, and that’s why you slept so fitfully. Look — there are so many people here with you now. What is there to be afraid of?”

“No — Mother, don’t try to comfort me. How could someone have the exact same nightmare three times in a row? And it was so terrifyingly vivid. That ghost was soaking wet — it was as though it stood right before my eyes. I could even see the long fingernails on its hands, perfectly clearly.”

“Weijin.” The Emperor, who had been pondering in silence, finally made up his mind. “Select a company of soldiers from the Imperial Guards at once and send them down the mountain immediately to bring Abbot Yuan Jue here. Tell him there is something amiss at the Jade Spring Mountain and that he is to come up at once.”

“Yes.” Lin Xiao complied. He had been debating whether to report what had happened that night to his imperial uncle, and hearing that the Emperor had already decided to summon Yuan Jue, he felt a measure of relief. With Yuan Jue’s level of power, there was no need to involve Qin Yao.

He was about to go and make the arrangements when the Emperor seemed to remember something and said, “Yuan Jue will take some time to arrive. Eleventh — I recall that the Chixiao Sword your grandfather gave you has the power to ward off evil. Why don’t you spend tonight here in Yong’an Hall with Kangping? If there truly is a wicked creature about, with your Chixiao here as a guardian, it should not dare to come and disturb her again.”

“Quite so,” the Crown Prince said. He had a vivid memory of the late Emperor’s gift of the Chixiao Sword to Lin Xiao. He immediately spoke in support of the proposal.

Hearing this, Xia Di looked over at Princess Derong with a timid expression. “Listening to what Kangping has said frightens me terribly. I don’t dare go back to my own chamber to sleep.”

Kangping grabbed her arm. “A’Di, don’t leave — stay here with me! Eleventh Brother, you are forbidden to leave either!”

Lin Xiao quickly said, “It is the Chixiao Sword that has the power to ward off evil, not Eleventh Brother himself. I’ll leave Chixiao here, and that wicked thing should certainly not dare come for you again.”

“But as I recall, the Chixiao Sword is bound to its master,” the Crown Prince spoke again. “Once separated from its master, it loses all its supernatural power — which is precisely why the Chixiao, though renowned throughout the realm, has never caused unending strife among men seeking to possess it. Eleventh, if you leave only the sword here, I’m afraid it may have no effect whatsoever.”

Consort Yi, seeing Kangping beginning to fuss again, quickly said, “Eleventh, since Kangping is afraid, stay and keep her company tonight. The inner chamber would be inappropriate, so you may rest in the outer hall. It is only one night’s inconvenience — once we return to the capital tomorrow, other arrangements can be made.”

The Emperor said with a look of guilt, “Weijin, do as Consort Yi says — bear with it for one night. When we are back in the palace, your imperial uncle will find a proper way to make it up to you.”

Lin Xiao had no choice but to lower his eyes and comply.

After all the commotion, everyone else returned to their respective chambers. Only Xia Di, forcibly detained by Kangping, stayed on and spent the night in Yong’an Hall as well.

Perhaps because the Six-Union Formation Qin Yao had set earlier remained undisturbed, the remainder of the night passed without incident, and Kangping did not fall into any more nightmare visions.

By the next morning, as the first light of dawn appeared, all baleful spirits retreated with the darkness. Xia Di lay quietly in bed for a while, and seeing that Kangping had not yet stirred, rose, dressed herself, and slipped out to the outer hall.

There she found Lin Xiao, arms folded around his sword, leaning back against the hall’s doorway, dozing. A ray of morning light slanted in through the window lattice and fell on the side of his face, making his fair complexion, straight nose, and the fine lines of his lips and jaw look even more striking.

Xia Di found it difficult to look away. She had just moved to step closer when Kangping’s voice came from the inner chamber: “A’Di? A’Di, where have you gone?”

Xia Di gave a start, and not daring to look at Lin Xiao again, hurriedly lifted her skirt and ran back into the inner chamber.

Once Qin Yao woke up, Pei Min and Wang Yingning told her that palace servants had come earlier with word that the Emperor would not be continuing his summer retreat at the Jade Spring Mountain and that they would be setting out down the mountain that very day.

Qin Yao was not at all surprised. Seeing that the palace servants were pressing them to hurry, she followed Wang Yingning and the others in packing their things.

After eating breakfast, all the young women boarded the carriages they had arrived in and headed back to the capital.

The carriage had just begun to move when a company of Imperial Guards came clearing the road ahead, leading a group of monks up the mountain.

Qin Yao recognized Yuan Jue leading them at first glance. Though his robes were clean and neat, the weariness on his face could not be concealed, and she felt a small flutter of surprise. Had something else happened after Lin Xiao returned last night, serious enough that Yuan Jue had been summoned up to the Jade Spring Mountain in the middle of the night?

On the way down the mountain, Liu Bingyu and the others marveled at Abbot Yuan Jue’s distinguished bearing and gossiped about what a handsome young man he must have been in his youth. Pei Min, meanwhile, pulled Qin Yao along and started calculating how many days remained until the holiday.

“In just five days, I’ll be able to go home and see my brother,” Pei Min said, beaming with delight.