The night gradually deepened.

On Qinghe Street in the southern part of the city, precious horses and fragrant carriages competed for space, while flutes and stringed music played ceaselessly through the night in the red-light districts. On this fifteenth night, every household held evening banquets. Above and below Luo Yueqiao Bridge were two round moons – one in the sky, one reflected in the water – illuminating the entire capital with brilliant moonlight and competing radiance.

Amidst the city-wide revelry and wine-induced merriment, a particular courtyard in Prince Wen’s manor was exceptionally quiet and desolate.

Silver lamps cast dim light in the room. The bed had been changed with clean bedding, and the cloud silk curtains torn by blade edges had been replaced with clean blue silk drapes that gently enveloped both the person on the bed and the atmosphere within.

Pei Yunshu was extremely weak after giving birth and had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. The newborn girl had been fed a little milk by the wet nurse. Her small face was wrinkled like a weak newborn monkey, curled up in swaddling clothes, nestled closely against her mother.

The “child’s sorrow” poison in her had not been completely resolved, but by inducing labor before the toxicity fully spread, they had managed to snatch back a thread of life for this little girl. Yunniang had said that child’s sorrow was incurable, but that referred to children deeply poisoned by it. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late yet.

However, she was still too small to be treated with strong medicines. She could only be carefully nursed while slowly removing the remaining poison from her body.

Pei Yunshu and her daughter were temporarily out of danger. The manor’s servants hurriedly cleaned up the chaos in the room while Lu Tong sat at a corner table, taking paper and brush to contemplate an antidote prescription.

The room was quiet except for occasional low-voiced questions from maids about medicine preparation taboos. Yin Zheng had already returned to the medical clinic, escorted back by Pei Yunying’s men. Today’s events had happened so suddenly that no one had informed Du Changqing what had occurred. If he couldn’t figure it out and was reluctant to abandon the expensive banquet reserved at Renhe Restaurant, waiting there with A’Cheng until deep into the night might lead to trouble.

Under the dim lamplight, Lu Tong raised her brush and wrote a few characters on paper, then frowned slightly and crossed out what she had just written. The already messy handwriting became blurred with ink smears, like the chaotic stars in the night sky outside the window.

Tonight was Mid-Autumn Night, she suddenly remembered.

The ink characters before her eyes became even more blurred, as if they had suddenly come to life, emitting sounds of laughter and chatter. Those voices swirled and whispered in her ears, slowly outlining the dark paths of Changwu County.

The scattered stones at the path’s entrance had been cleared and paved smooth with stone slabs, their cracks covered with velvety green moss. A dim yellow light leaked through the wooden window at the path’s end, falling on her and casting a long, old shadow on the bluestone ground.

She stood before the door, faintly hearing the joyful laughter of a reunited family from within. Lu Tong hesitated, then pushed the door and walked in.

Mother was preparing incense for moon worship at the entrance. Voices of Lu Rou and Lu Qian came from the courtyard. She walked along the corridor and saw a coarse cloth spread on the stone table in the courtyard, covered with preserved fruits and silk threads bought from the night market. Lu Rou was placing fresh melons and fruits on the stone table, while Lu Qian arranged large porcelain plates filled with various moon cakes.

“Cream and pine nut filling, cream and date filling, sesame oil and fruit filling, cream and orange sand filling…” Lu Qian looked up and sighed. “They’re all so sweet. Mother didn’t need to make all the moon cakes according to little sister’s taste.”

Lu Rou smiled with pursed lips: “You can just eat the skin and leave the filling for Tongtong.”

“Still feeding her filling,” the young man rolled his eyes. “If she eats any more sugar, she won’t fit into her new dress.”

Father emerged from the house, fluttering his sleeves and stroking his beard: “Tonight is the fifteenth. I obtained a painting called ‘Moonlight and Autumn Sounds’ from the academy. It’s perfect for testing you three. Each of you must compose a poem. Write them down after the moon worship ceremony. Those who cannot will be punished.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a dissatisfied voice came from nearby: “Father, why do we have to compose poetry on the fifteenth? I won’t do it. I want to go to the temple entrance to see the river lanterns!”

This voice was clear and willful, still carrying a trace of childishness, but it made Lu Tong freeze.

A little girl of five or six ran out from the house, wearing a half-new pale yellow thin jacket with a plain skirt below. Butterfly ornaments cut from black-gold paper adorned each side of her double buns. She was like a bright butterfly herself, flitting into the courtyard in the blink of an eye. Her round face, like a yuanxiao dumpling, flushed red with anger, making the two yellow butterflies at her temples tremble and flutter.

“Lu San!” Father’s face reddened with anger. “What kind of behavior is this for a young lady, running around wildly all day!”

“Today is the fifteenth, I don’t care,” the little girl twisted around and quickly hid behind mother. “I want to go to the temple entrance to see the river lanterns.”

“No!”

The little girl stamped her foot: “I insist!”

Lu Tong stared for a long time at the little girl hiding behind mother with complete confidence. The smile on that tender little face was so vivid and lively that she felt somewhat dazed.

That was her former self, yet so strange that she felt like looking at another person entirely.

Five or six-year-old Lu Tong ran past her like an uncatchable breeze. She instinctively followed the girl’s running shadow, only to see the little girl standing behind her, looking at her with surprise and suspicion: “Who are you?”

“Who am… I?” she murmured in repetition.

The moonlight was gradually obscured by clouds, no longer bright. Her former family members stood together, looking at her with complex, interwoven suspicious gazes, as if seeing a dangerous stranger who had suddenly intruded.

Lu Rou held little Lu Tong tightly in her arms. Lu Qian looked at her and shouted in alarm: “Blood!”

So Lu Tong looked down.

Her hands were somehow soaked in fresh blood. That sticky, fishy-thick blood dripped down from her fingertips endlessly, forming a small pool of blood on the ground.

She looked ahead in bewilderment.

Right, she had killed people. Her hands were stained with blood.

She was no longer the protected, carefree Third Miss of the Lu family, no longer the beloved jewel in her family’s hearts. From the moment she killed someone, she could never return.

Someone called her name with a gentle and loving tone.

“Little Seventeen.”

She turned around abruptly. Yunniang stood behind her, wearing a peach-red jacket with persimmon calyx pattern cut silk, holding a bowl of brown medicinal soup in her hands, smiling and beckoning to her.

“Come here.”

Cold wind blew through the window crack, making the candle flame on the table flicker several times.

Lu Tong shivered and suddenly woke from her dream.

There was no Lu family courtyard in Changwu County, no Mid-Autumn moon worship in the fifteenth courtyard, no parents or siblings, and no Yunniang.

In the distance were hanging blue curtains. The room was lively and warm. This wasn’t Changwu County, but the bedchamber of Princess Wen, Pei Yunshu.

It was just a dream…

The dim candle light was like a layer of pale gauze, softly draped over her. She sat in a daze, hearing someone nearby call her: “Doctor Lu.”

Lu Tong looked up blankly.

At the table, Pei Yunying saw her expression and was slightly startled.

The night was already very deep. Pei Yunshu and her daughter had temporarily escaped danger, and the servants in the courtyard were bustling about. Pei Yunying had intended to find Lu Tong to ask about Pei Yunshu’s condition. Upon entering the room, he saw Lu Tong sitting at a table in the corner, dozing with her head down.

She had come to Prince Wen’s manor early in the morning. He heard she had originally only come to deliver medicinal tea to Meng Xiyan but had inadvertently stayed behind, working busily all day. She must have been extremely exhausted to fall asleep sitting up.

He walked around the small table, planning to get a thin blanket to drape over Lu Tong, but at a glance he noticed her brow was tightly furrowed. Before he could react, as if sensing someone approaching, Lu Tong opened her eyes.

Perhaps because she had just awakened from a dream and wasn’t quite alert, her gaze lacked its usual calmness and wariness, appearing scattered and dazed, like a porcelain vase covered in cracks that might suddenly shatter at any moment.

Pei Yunying’s eyes flickered slightly.

After a pause, he spoke: “Are you alright?”

Hearing this, the dazed look in Lu Tong’s eyes quickly faded, her expression becoming clear again as she looked at him and shook her head.

“Sister is sleeping,” Pei Yunying glanced toward the bed and spoke to Lu Tong in a lowered voice: “Shall we go outside to eat something?”

Only when he reminded her did Lu Tong realize her stomach was empty – she hadn’t eaten all day. She therefore tidied up the paper and brush on the table and followed Pei Yunying out of the room.

It was already late in the hai hour. Moonlight flowed through the courtyard. Under the osmanthus tree in the small courtyard, some melons and fruits were arranged on a stone table. The prince’s manor had always been abundant with flowers – golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus, red osmanthus… A gust of wind came, and flower petals rustled down, filling the entire courtyard with overwhelming floral fragrance.

In this osmanthus-scented atmosphere, Lu Tong sat down.

Pei Yunying sat across from her. On the table was a carved red lacquer begonia flower tea tray containing six delicate moon cakes, a jar of osmanthus sugar, a dish of osmanthus-steamed fresh chestnut flour cakes, and several bowls of yuanxiao served in small blue and white porcelain bowls with lotus patterns.

He lifted the porcelain pot to pour tea, saying: “It’s too late, so the refreshments are simple. Please make do, Doctor Lu.”

Lu Tong said “thank you” and reached for a small bowl of yuanxiao, using a silver spoon to eat.

The yuanxiao were cooked soft and glutinous, filled with osmanthus and walnuts, fragrant and sweet. The warm food warmed her body as well.

Seeing Lu Tong eat with such pleasure, he smiled and pushed a blue and white tea cup toward her.

Lu Tong glanced at the contents of the cup.

Pei Yunying said: “It’s not wine, just osmanthus tea dew.”

Lu Tong had never tried it before. Hearing this, she took a small sip and tasted light sweetness and tea fragrance.

The moon was bright and the wind clear, candlelight was dim, and there was no one else in the courtyard. Only distant zither music drifted from beyond the walls, floating over brightly lit pleasure quarters, over fragrant silk-adorned streets and gardens, over quiet alleys and lanes, over deep mansions with red walls, gradually drifting into this osmanthus shade under the moon.

Lu Tong listened intently for a while, feeling the zither music was mournful and desolate. In this joyous reunion festival, it evoked the feeling that the bright moon was hard to complete, and life’s greatest suffering was parting and reunion.

She frowned slightly, and when she looked up, she met Pei Yunying’s thoughtful gaze.

Seeing her look over, he smiled: “This is the ‘Plucking Osmanthus’ section from ‘Wandering in the Moon Palace.'”

Lu Tong remained silent.

There were many books at home, but no zither – a good zither was very expensive. Lu Rou liked playing the zither, so their parents saved some money to buy her an old one.

Lu Rou played beautifully and was also beautiful, so there were always some young men secretly in love with the beauty who would squat on the street outside the Lu family door late at night to listen to her play. The neighboring melon seed vendor was often frightened by the crowd of young men when closing his stall at night. Later, the zither was sold – the neighbors’ resentment ran too deep.

“I heard Doctor Lu is from Jiangnan?” The voice interrupted her memories. Pei Yunying looked at her with a smile: “How did Doctor Lu used to spend Mid-Autumn Festival?”

She collected her thoughts and answered coldly: “I didn’t celebrate Mid-Autumn in the past.”

This wasn’t entirely a lie. At least during those years at Luomei Peak, the moon on the fifteenth of the eighth month was no different from the moon on any other day.

Hearing her such perfunctory answer, Pei Yunying sighed and looked at her with a gaze half sincere, half teasing: “Doctor Lu need not be so guarded against me. At least tonight, we shouldn’t be enemies.”

She had just saved his sister and niece. In the short term, he indeed wouldn’t turn against her.

Lu Tong calmly raised her eyes and gazed at the person before her.

The night wind was still, and the moonlight throughout the courtyard gave the young man’s crimson official robes a layer of silver frost, making his heroically handsome face even more striking and captivating.

His voice was clear, his smile bright. One could tell at a glance that he was well-educated, extremely measured, and courteous and kind to others. Even when he had suspected her of murder and pressed her aggressively before, he had maintained his smile, seeming heartless and carefree.

But Lu Tong remembered not long ago, through the gap in the cloud silk curtains by Pei Yunshu’s bed, the silver long sword he had unsheathed. That was the first time she had seen such a cold side of Pei Yunying.

All along, he had been high above, confident and composed, like a flawless difficult problem lying before people, making it impossible to know where to start. However, in that moment, she had glimpsed the flaw hidden deep within this difficult problem, or rather, his weakness.

Pei Yunshu was his weakness.

His weakness was family.

Seeing her continue to remain silent, Pei Yunying looked her over: “Why aren’t you speaking?”

Lu Tong said indifferently: “What does Lord Pei want to say?”

Pei Yunying thought for a moment, put down the cup in his hands, and looked at her.

Under the osmanthus shade, with dim lamplight on the stone table, he gazed at her dark pupils that reflected the bright moonlight, showing none of his usual probing and arrogance, displaying a few points of uncommon openness.

He said: “Thank you.”

His tone was earnest.

Lu Tong was slightly startled.

Although she hadn’t dealt with Pei Yunying much, she felt she understood him somewhat. For noble young masters from such prestigious families, kindness was merely a mask to display their upbringing. Their so-called politeness was distance, and their courtesy was arrogance.

But at this moment, his thanks showed some sincerity, perhaps because Pei Yunshu and her daughter were indeed very important to him.

People with weaknesses could always be dealt with.

Thinking this, she heard Pei Yunying say: “Thank you for intervening to save them today. To be honest,” he looked down at the cup before him and smiled, “I thought you wouldn’t save them.”

Lu Tong sneered inwardly.

In Pei Yunying’s eyes, she killed people, framed others, and shifted blame – scheming and vicious. To expect him to believe she was a living Buddha who healed and saved lives was indeed asking too much.

She stirred the yuanxiao in the small bowl before her with a silver spoon and replied: “Originally, I wasn’t planning to save them.”

Pei Yunying raised an eyebrow: “Then why did you change your mind?”

Lu Tong smiled slightly and looked directly into his eyes.

“Because if I didn’t save them, I wouldn’t have the chance to make Lord Pei owe me a favor.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Yunying was stunned.

A gust of wind blew, making the osmanthus leaves rustle on the tree. The night wind carried golden flower rain that fell down, covering people with fragrance.

It seemed that on some afternoon on Qinghe Street, in front of the pawn shop, the young commander had paid for a hair ornament for the cash-strapped female doctor, standing before her with an ambiguous smile.

“Because if I had said so, I wouldn’t have the chance to make Doctor Lu owe me a favor.”

In just a few months, she had returned these exact words to him. Whether this should be called coincidence or holding a grudge was unclear.

The young man made a “tsk” sound and reminded her: “You can’t say that. Counting the incident at Baoxiang Restaurant, I’ve saved you twice.”

“Oh?” Lu Tong showed no gratitude: “But I fell into danger today because I was saving the princess. Moreover, I’m just a commoner. My life isn’t as valuable as the princess and her daughter. By that calculation, Lord Pei owes me more favors.”

When she spoke of the value of life, though her tone was calm, her eyes couldn’t hide a trace of disgust.

Pei Yunying’s eyes moved, and he teased with a smile: “Who said that? Doctor Lu is a doctor. How can you distinguish between high and low, noble and base when it comes to human lives?”

“Those with fortune are served by others; those without fortune serve others. The princess is served by others, I serve others. This is the difference between noble and base.”

His smile faded somewhat: “So vulgar?”

“Poor people are always vulgar.”

He nodded, leaned forward slightly, and stared intently at Lu Tong with dark eyes, curving his lips.

“It’s always bad people pretending to be good people. How does Doctor Lu do the opposite?”

Lu Tong’s heart jumped.

His bright dark eyes seemed able to see through everything in her heart. The dimples at the corners of his mouth were faintly visible in the moonlight, extremely charming as the moonlight flowed.

Lu Tong lowered her eyelids.

He was truly handsome, but it was useless. Beautiful medicinal materials could be used to make poison, and beautiful men… were merely beautiful.

Pei Yunying was also looking at Lu Tong.

In the deep night with sleeping flowers, the bright moon was lovely. The woman sat in the melting lamplight. She was beautiful, but compared to the radiance of capital women, she had more of the delicate grace of Jiangnan beauties – slender and light, as weak as if she could be scattered by a gust of wind.

Her half-old blue dress with algae pattern embroidery was stained with some blood from the delivery earlier. The sleeves showed signs of wear. Her raven-black hair was braided to one side – probably for convenience in making medicine – and was now somewhat disheveled. The blue bird velvet flower at her temple was still the same one she had worn when they first met at Baoxiang Restaurant. The velvet flower had once been soaked in blood and wasn’t washed very clean. But in this moonlight it was blurred and unclear, making her sitting alone appear particularly lonely.

Pei Yunying’s eyes flickered slightly.

She looked very frugal. Although he had previously told Duan Xiaoyan that Lu Tong’s clothing expenses had increased considerably, he had to admit that most of the time, she wore old clothes. She never used any jewelry, plain unlike a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.

Yet Renxin Medical Clinic had clearly earned a lot in the past six months.

Moonlight fell through scattered tree shadows onto the stone table. The night was long, and dawn was still far away.

He took a sip of tea and smiled: “Alright, how much medical fee does Doctor Lu want?”

Lu Tong didn’t speak.

Pei Yunying looked at her leisurely.

After a long while, Lu Tong spoke.

She said: “Lord Pei, how about we make a deal.”

“What deal?”

“I saved the princess and her daughter – two lives. One repays your life-saving grace at Baoxiang Restaurant, the other, you pretend the incident at Wangchun Mountain never happened, and we’ll call our previous misunderstanding even.” Lu Tong’s expression was calm.

In the short term, she didn’t want too much entanglement with the Palace Command. This person was really troublesome. Eliminating him would inevitably arouse suspicion, but seeing how much he cared about Pei Yunshu, at least in this matter involving Pei Yunshu, he owed her a favor.

As if not expecting Lu Tong’s condition to be this, Pei Yunying was startled for a moment, then chuckled softly, staring at her with a somewhat subtle gaze: “Why not mention Master Ke? Doctor Lu, are you trying to muddle through?”

Lu Tong’s heart stirred – he had indeed guessed.

She smiled faintly: “Do you have evidence?”

The young man sighed: “No.”

He shook his head and smiled: “Deal. I don’t care what private grievance you have with him. I won’t interfere in this matter anymore, but next time, I won’t cover for you.”

Lu Tong was somewhat surprised. She had thought he would probe further, but he agreed so readily, making her feel somewhat petty-minded.

She then picked up a moon cake from the dish to eat. The moon cake had her formerly favorite cream and pine nut filling, sweet to the point of being cloying. She ate slowly while Pei Yunying watched her eat, suddenly asking: “Doctor Lu, who was your teacher?”

Lu Tong paused.

Pei Yunying looked down at the remaining moon cakes in the carved red lacquer begonia flower tea tray on the table: “You said my niece’s poison is currently difficult to resolve. If your respected teacher were to intervene…”

Pei Yunshu had also asked her this question. Lu Tong said: “My teacher has passed away.”

Pei Yunying swallowed the rest of his words.

Lu Tong thought for a moment: “I will do my best to detoxify the little miss. Lord Pei can rest assured for now.”

These words seemed like a serious promise, different from her usual casual lies.

Pei Yunying smiled.

Actually, he was being overly cautious. So many medical officials had come and gone from the Imperial Medical Academy, yet only Lu Tong had discovered the truth about Pei Yunshu’s poisoning. At least in the capital, her medical skills were not to be underestimated.

Before they knew it, it was late at night. Music continued beyond the walls. In the mournful flute music, autumn dew was like pearls, the autumn moon like jade. In the swaying shadows of the osmanthus tree, the flowing light made the woman appear like Chang’e in the moon palace, who didn’t partake of mortal food.

Chang’e didn’t eat mortal food, yet had a particular craving for sweets.

Seeing Lu Tong pick up another osmanthus-steamed chestnut flour cake, Pei Yunying couldn’t help but smile. A breeze came, stirring Lu Tong’s hair at her temples. His gaze paused and suddenly became fixed.

On the woman’s fair face, there was an extremely shallow blood mark below her ear, apparently wounded by a blade’s wind during the earlier fight in the room. It was like a sudden crack in white porcelain, quite jarring. It had been hidden by loose hair at her ear earlier but was now exposed.

He hesitated: “Your wound…”

Lu Tong casually touched it: “It’s fine. I’ll apply medicine when I get back.”

When she said this, Pei Yunying remembered their first meeting at Baoxiang Restaurant when she had been held hostage and wounded on the neck with blood flowing. He had been unusually kind to give her a scar-removal ointment, which she had immediately left at the rouge shop without even glancing at it.

Very cold.

Thinking this, his gaze fell on the blue bird velvet flower at Lu Tong’s temple.

Behind that blue bird velvet flower were three sharp silver needles, more effective than ordinary hidden weapons. He also recalled the guard’s corpse he had seen when rushing to Pei Yunshu’s bedchamber in the afternoon, with flower vases shattered all around. Later, Fang Zi had described the situation to him with disbelief in her voice, clearly shaken by this gentle female doctor’s ruthless methods.

Pei Yunying thought casually that even if he hadn’t arrived in time, Lu Tong might not have suffered any loss. Her velvet flower needles were indeed sharp, and she had never been one to sit and wait for death.

The zither music had stopped at some point. Moonlight and osmanthus fragrance filled the courtyard. Lu Tong raised her eyes and met Pei Yunying’s thoughtful gaze. His eyes were bright black under the lamplight, and the crimson official robes on him had less solemnity and more romantic elegance, making him extraordinarily handsome.

The long sky was like water. On such a beautiful night with fine scenery – cold osmanthus, light tea, zither music, lamplight, and two people drinking together in the moonlit courtyard – the noble young man with distinguished bearing and the young female doctor with delicate beauty appeared like a pair of old friends who had known each other for a long time.

Lu Tong said: “The poison the princess suffered was accumulated over a long period. This poison is concealed, so the person who administered it must be hidden in the manor. Is Lord Pei just going to let this go?”

His gaze moved slightly, then he raised an eyebrow and smiled: “What instruction does Doctor Lu have?”

Lu Tong picked up the porcelain pot on the table, poured herself a cup of tea dew, and raised the cup to eye level before Pei Yunying.

She spoke indifferently: “Marshal, let me give you a gift.”

Let me wish everyone an early Happy Mid-Autumn Festival – eight months in advance!