It was the height of summer, with emerald lotus flowers in full bloom. A cool breeze carried the fragrance of the green lotuses into the waterside pavilion.
Two maids knelt on the ground, one on each side, fanning. In the four corners of the pavilion were boxes containing freshly made ice, emanating a cooling chill. A translucent pearl curtain hung in front of a couch, where a woman in a goose-yellow soft gauze palace dress lay softly. Her black hair was spread out, her eyelashes long, her brows slightly furrowed, and her complexion somewhat pale, yet this did not detract from her beauty. A silken blanket as thin as gauze covered her chest, embroidered with large roses. The embroidery was done in a pale white thread interwoven with silver, which gleamed like flowing water under the setting sun.
Her brows furrowed slightly, and her slender, fair hands began to move slowly. Her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and finally, she opened her autumn-water-like eyes. Chu Qiao felt momentarily disoriented, looking around in confusion, not knowing where she was.
“Oh! You’re awake!”
This maid, only thirteen or fourteen years old, was very happy to see her awake. She immediately got up and ran out, shouting to someone outside, “She’s awake! She’s awake!”
“Madam, please lie down and wait for the imperial physician to take your pulse.” As she spoke, the other maid went to untie the cord on the bed, seemingly wanting to lower the thick curtain.
The bed was covered with cool blue silk mats that felt cold to the touch. Her clothes were already damp with sweat, and a few wet strands of hair clung to her temples. Chu Qiao frowned at the maid and said in a deep voice, “Who is ‘Madam’?”
“You are,” the little maid replied, puzzled.
Chu Qiao’s expression darkened as she carefully examined her surroundings. “Where is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?”
The little maid seemed frightened and mumbled for a while before finally saying, “This is the imperial palace. I… I am Qiusui. His Highness brought you back, Madam.”
“The imperial palace?”
Chu Qiao raised an eyebrow, suddenly remembering a dream she had where that face was smiling in an infuriating way.
Could it be?
She pushed the little maid aside, jumped off the couch, swept aside the jingling curtain, and ran outside.
“Madam! Madam, you haven’t put on your shoes yet!”
The little maid was so anxious she was almost in tears as she hurried after her.
Under the fiery sunset, by the blue waters, Chu Qiao ran barefoot along the ancient corridor, holding up her skirt. In the distance, lotus leaves covered the blue lake like a canopy, a lush green expanse. An exquisite yet ancient-looking building stood in the center of the water, constructed entirely of unpainted square timbers. It was plain and unadorned, with the natural grain of the wood still visible, showing the concentric annual rings. The water pavilion was open on all eight sides, without railings. The wind from the lake blew through the crisp lotus leaves, passing through the pavilion, stirring the layers of blue gauze curtains that seemed ready to fly away.
As the endless blue gauze fluttered, in the center of the water pavilion, a young man was leaning against a square wooden pillar, sitting with his legs bent. Beside his hand was an exquisite silver wine pot, but no cup, only a few freshly peeled lotus pods, their tender white seeds scattered on the ground like pearls. In his hand was a completely cyan flute. He wasn’t playing it, just rotating it back and forth between his fingers, skillfully flipping it and spinning it like a dance. A thin mist rose over the lake, hiding the man’s eyes, and one could only see his bright red robe hems moving lightly in the breeze, like butterflies about to take flight.
“Madam! Madam…”
About a dozen young women in pink palace dresses followed behind Chu Qiao, holding shoes, vermilion hairpins, cloaks, and other items, their voices soft as cotton.
As she drew near, the man suddenly grinned and laughed. His smile was very handsome, like a finely colored painting. His eyebrows arched slightly, his eyes like willow threads. He suddenly put down the flute, opened his arms, and said with a beaming smile, “Come, Qiao Qiao, give me a passionate embrace of reunion!”
With a “thud,” a fist struck the man’s chest hard. Instantly, a pig-slaughtering scream echoed in the beautiful evening. Chu Qiao grabbed the man’s collar and angrily said, “Li Ce! What are you up to?”
“Ah! Protect His Highness!”
“There’s an assassin! Protect His Highness!”
…
Chaotic screams immediately rang out. Li Ce coughed while waving his hands at those around him: “It’s fine, it’s fine, no need to panic, everyone withdraw!”
After the suspicious onlookers gradually dispersed, Li Ce looked at the young woman before him with a bitter face and said pitifully, “Qiao Qiao, can you please not express your feelings for me in this way every time? It hurts.”
“What are you plotting? Why did you bring me here?”
Li Ce sighed helplessly, blinking his misty eyes: “Qiao Qiao, is this how you treat the person who saved your life?”
Chu Qiao was not moved at all and demanded sternly, “Tell the truth!”
“I am telling the truth,” Li Ce sighed helplessly. “I found you unconscious from poison while I was escaping my marriage. If it weren’t for saving you, I wouldn’t have been caught and brought back by my father all tied up. Qiao Qiao, I’ve sacrificed so much for you, yet you treat me like this. I’m very hurt.”
Chu Qiao stared at him suspiciously, her expression softening slightly. “Really?”
Li Ce immediately raised his hand in a pledge: “Absolutely true!”
After frowning and thinking for a moment, Chu Qiao slowly released her grip and said in a deep voice, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Li Ce smiled freely and said with a grin, “I’m used to beautiful women getting physical with me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ce suddenly jumped up like a monkey, pushed Chu Qiao behind a pillar of the water pavilion, and then resumed his previous posture, his expression instantly becoming melancholic. Yet he whispered, “Don’t come out, just a moment.”
In the gentle breeze, by the blue lake, Li Ce in his wide-sleeved robe raised the flute to his lips and then parted them slightly.
Just as Chu Qiao thought he was about to play, she only heard a few unpleasant exhaling sounds. Behind her, a melodious flute sound immediately began to play wonderfully, the notes flowing and soothing to the heart.
Chu Qiao immediately turned around and saw an old man with white hair crouching on the ground, playing loudly in an extremely uncoordinated posture.
While Chu Qiao was still confused, a chorus of girlish giggles suddenly came from afar. Chu Qiao looked up and saw a group of elaborately dressed young women passing by under the distant willow trees. Hearing the flute, they all looked over, pointing at Li Ce with expressions of amazement, clearly captivated by his charm.
Li Ce remained unmoved, steadily maintaining his flute-playing posture, his gaze distant, looking at nothing in particular. The gauze curtains rose with the wind, making his figure appear even more ethereal, like an immortal banished to the mortal world.
After about half a cup of tea’s time, the young women finally ambled away. A man in the distance waved a red flag twice, and only then did Li Ce heave a sigh of relief and say to the old man hiding behind the pillar, “Alright, alright, you can stop playing.”
The old man had been crouching and hiding for so long that his legs were numb. He stood up tremblingly, sweating profusely, and said, “Your Highness, the Crown Prince…”
“Fine, Master Yu, you may go now. I promise your son won’t have to serve at the southern border. Instead… instead… yes, instead your old rival Master Lu’s son will go. Who told him he can’t play the flute or zither, and his daughter is ugly too.”
“Yes, yes, thank you, Your Highness, for your kindness.”
The old man quickly expressed his gratitude and then withdrew with the help of servants.
Chu Qiao looked at Li Ce strangely, frowning slightly, and asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”
“Did you see her?” Li Ce’s eyes immediately lit up, and he said excitedly, “Among that group of women who just passed by, there was one in a green dress. Did you see her?”
Chu Qiao frowned and said, “I was too busy watching you make a fool of yourself. How could I notice any woman in green?”
“Ah, what a pity, what a pity,” Li Ce shook his head and said, “She’s the daughter of Minister He from the Ministry of Revenue, who was recently transferred back to the capital. She plays the flute beautifully, and she’s very pretty too. The key is that I’ve seen her twice, and both times she didn’t even look at me properly.”
“Is not looking at you properly such a rare thing?”
“Of course it is!” Li Ce said naturally. “Enough about that. Regardless of why you came to Bian Tang, it’s not easy to get here. Today I’ll be your host. Come, I’ll take you out to have some fun.”
Chu Qiao was stunned and asked foolishly, “Fun?”
Li Ce extended his hand, put his arm around Chu Qiao’s shoulders, and smiled freely: “Qiao Qiao, don’t be so rigid. Besides revenge, besides grand unity, besides fighting and killing, there are many pleasures in life.”
The gentle wind blew, the blue waves rippled, and a man and a woman struggled with each other on the ebony bridge. From a distance, only a noise of quarreling could be heard.
“No, I have matters to attend to. I must leave immediately!”
The man impatiently explained, “You’re suffering from a severe poison. You can’t go anywhere for at least ten to fifteen days!”
Chu Qiao frowned and said in a deep voice, “My affairs are none of your concern.”
“Qiao Qiao, how can you be so heartless? I gave up my escape plan to save you and fell into this terrible political marriage. Don’t you think you should accompany me through this last period of freedom in my life as compensation?”
…
“Li Ce, I need to find someone. Will you help me or not?”
Li Ce snorted lightly: “A man or a woman?”
“…A man…”
“No help.”
“Do you have to be so blunt!”
“Anything else is fine, but on this matter, there’s no negotiation! I cannot allow a woman beside me to still have the capacity to think of another man.”
“What kind of joke are you making? What relationship do I have with you?”
“Whatever the relationship, this is an insult to my masculine charm.”
A helpless groan: “Li Ce, apart from women and your masculine charm, can’t you think about anything else every day?”
Li Ce immediately defended himself righteously: “Of course I can. I also care about some national affairs and academic questions, such as the female population and average quality of women in my Tang Dynasty, as well as female body structure and composition. I’ve also pledged to use my efforts to improve the social status of women in our country.”
Chu Qiao, who was restraining the urge to beat him up after hearing the last sentence, asked through gritted teeth, “Oh? How do you plan to improve the social status of women in the Tang Dynasty?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking,” Li Ce looked around furtively and then said in a low voice, “If all women in the world became relatives of the royal family, then the status of women would naturally improve significantly.”
“Relatives of the royal family?”
“Yes, such as serving the royal family in bed themselves, or having their daughters serve the royal family in bed, or having their sisters serve the royal family in bed, or acting as matchmakers to introduce beautiful women to serve the royal family in bed, or… Ah! Qiao Qiao! This is my territory. How can you just start hitting me!”
…
As the lanterns were just being lit and night fell, the prosperous Tang City was filled with noise and excitement.