The East Market was bustling with carriages and pedestrians moving like flowing water.
A three-horse carriage traveled slowly along the bluestone road, hooves lightly prancing as it proceeded steadily forward. The carriage curtains swayed gently with the “creaking” sound of wheels rolling over the bluestone, revealing a face as beautiful as a lotus yet as pale as snow inside.
Young women stopped in their tracks to look curiously. A three-horse carriage—this must be an official of the fourth rank. The face inside with its radiant beauty, complexion like spring dawn flowers, must surely be Cui Xun, the Vice Minister of the Investigation Bureau. The carriage had driven out from Daming Palace, so Cui Xun must have gone to see the Empress Dowager. Who knew which officials in Chang’an would be in trouble now? What a pity that such a beautiful face concealed such a vicious heart.
People whispered among themselves, yet none dared to block Cui Xun’s carriage. Cui Xun sat formally inside, and through the curtains, some unpleasant remarks drifted into his ears. His expression remained unchanged as the delicate fragrance from the gilded silver incense ball hanging at his waist surrounded him. Cui Xun lowered his head, watching the slightly swaying gilded silver incense ball, his mind occupied only with how he would tell Li Ying about Shen Rong’s situation.
From Li Ying’s casual remarks, he could sense her deep respect for her cousin. When Shen Rong admired the linked pearl-patterned brocade from Yangzhou, Li Ying had generously given it to her without hesitation. But how could she have known that Shen Rong wanted this brocade to make a cursed voodoo doll to harm her? She treated Shen Rong as a sister, but Shen Rong saw her merely as a ladder for advancement. She respected and loved Shen Rong, yet Shen Rong was so vicious that she wanted her life.
She gave her sincere heart to everyone around her, whether it was her fiancé Zheng Yun, or Lady Shen and Shen Rong—she treated them all with honesty. Yet these people each wanted her life. How truly tragic.
Outside the carriage, the streets were bustling with activity. An enticing sweet fragrance wafted toward him—the carriage must be passing by a food establishment. Cui Xun gently lifted the curtain with his finger and indeed saw the renowned pastry shop, Fumantang.
Something stirred in Cui Xun’s heart. He instructed the driver to stop and alighted from the carriage, walking slowly into Fumantang. The interior was decorated with exquisite elegance, displaying various desserts—delicate and transparent cherry pastries, crispy and delicious hemp cakes, and beautifully shaped flower rice cakes. The shopkeeper recognized Cui Xun and asked with a fawning tone, “Vice Minister Cui, are you here to buy icing sugar again?”
Cui Xun nodded, and the shopkeeper bowed repeatedly: “This time we’ve added peach blossoms to the icing sugar, making it even sweeter. Would Vice Minister Cui like to try some?”
The shopkeeper took out a piece of icing sugar and eagerly offered it to Cui Xun, who shook his head: “Thank you, I don’t like eating icing sugar.”
The shopkeeper was puzzled—if he didn’t like icing sugar, why buy it? Was it for someone else? But this living Yama King Cui Xun was known to be a loner; no one had heard of him having close friends or any romantic interests. Though confused, the shopkeeper dared not ask further and could only package some amber-colored icing sugar and hand it to Cui Xun. After paying, Cui Xun took the icing sugar and boarded his carriage, which rolled slowly toward Xuanyang District.
In the beautiful spring scenery with peach blossoms and willows competing in splendor, the carriage stopped not far from the Cui residence. Cui Xun dismissed the carriage driver back to the Investigation Bureau and carried the oil paper package of icing sugar, walking slowly forward. In the warm, beautiful light, he saw the delicate young woman with her double-loop bun sitting on the bluestone steps, her chin resting on her hands, waiting for his return.
His footsteps involuntarily slowed. The spring breeze blowing over him alleviated some of the bone-chilling cold that clung to his body like a stubborn disease. The young woman seemed to notice him; her eyes brightened, and a radiant smile bloomed on her face as she stood up happily, waving her hand: “Cui Xun, you’re back!”
The corners of Cui Xun’s lips lifted slightly. He walked quickly to the young woman’s side and handed her the oil paper package containing the icing sugar: “I brought this for you—icing sugar from Fumantang.”
Outside the study, Li Ying sat on the ground with her feet dangling over the corridor, her mouth savoring the peach blossom-infused icing sugar from Fumantang as she listened to Cui Xun explain about Shen Rong. After hearing everything, she lowered her eyes: “So, cousin wanted to enter the palace as a consort and tried to use sorcery to kill me, and aunt didn’t stop her, is that right?”
Cui Xun nodded slightly. He glanced sideways at Li Ying, who indeed showed a look of sadness on her face. Of course, she would be sad—those she had treated with such sincerity wanted to kill her for their benefit. How could she not feel heartbroken?
Li Ying felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on her chest, making it difficult to breathe. Fortunately, the fine and sweet icing sugar in her mouth diluted the pain in her heart. She murmured, “Cui Xun, I have never done anything bad in my life, never wronged anyone. Why do they all want me dead?”
“The innocent suffer for possessing valuable things,” Cui Xun said quietly. “Things in this world often happen without reason.”
Li Ying turned her head and asked him: “Like the Tianwei Army?”
Her sudden mention of the Tianwei Army startled Cui Xun slightly. He remained silent, and Li Ying sighed inwardly—he still didn’t want to talk about it.
Since he didn’t want to discuss it, she didn’t press further. She lowered her head and looked at her toes: “I used to believe that good deeds bring good fortune, and evil deeds bring retribution. But sometimes I wonder, are these eight words real? If I hadn’t left the Lotus Pond, Wang Ranxi would still be comfortably living as the Lady of Jincheng County. So, is the saying that good and evil will eventually be repaid true or false?”
Her words carried a hint of bewilderment. Cui Xun looked at her, seeming somewhat tense: “Their desire to harm you is their fault, not yours. There’s no need for you to break the principles you’ve always upheld because of these people.”
Li Ying turned to look at him. His brow was slightly furrowed, and ripples stirred in his usually calm eyes. Li Ying smiled: “Why are you more eager than I am for me to uphold my principles?”
Cui Xun was taken aback. He averted his gaze and said slowly: “Because the Princess is the moon in the sky, and the moon should not be stained with worldly dust.”
Li Ying looked at him—his profile was as pale as cold jade. She suddenly asked: “If I am the moon in the sky, then what are you?”
Cui Xun hadn’t expected her to ask him this question. He was stunned for a moment, his mind echoing with the whispers he had heard in the carriage earlier that day, and the Empress Dowager’s words about “vicious dog” and “dog leash.” He curved his lips in self-mockery: “Perhaps I am the mud on the ground.”
Li Ying pursed her lips, looking at him. His long eyelashes hung low, hiding his misty eyes, making it impossible to see the emotions within. Li Ying shifted her gaze, then suddenly sighed and said seriously: “No, you are the Wangshu Envoy.”
Cui Xun was startled again upon hearing this, then he came to his senses and laughed lightly. Li Ying also smiled. The two sat on the corridor as a breeze rose, and countless begonia petals danced in the air—pink ones and white ones—twirling lightly like snowflakes, falling all around and creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene of begonia snow.
Li Ying stretched out her hand to catch a slowly falling white begonia petal and said: “Actually, I haven’t broken my principles just because my cousin wanted to harm me.”
Cui Xun was about to brush off a begonia flower that had fallen on the back of his hand, but upon hearing her words, his movement paused. He said: “Is that so?”
Li Ying nodded: “People need to believe in something, don’t they? Even though I sometimes have doubts, I wouldn’t change my principles because of my cousin. She’s not worth it.”
Hearing this, Cui Xun felt inexplicably relieved. He said, “Yes, she’s not worth it.”
The icing sugar in Li Ying’s mouth was gone. She took another piece from the oil paper and put it in her mouth, letting the sweet taste melt once more in her mouth. She said, “However, there is one thing that makes me very happy.”
“What is it?”
“You said my mother personally admitted she wasn’t the one who tried to kill me. I’m truly happy about that.” Li Ying’s expression showed relief. “Although I’ve always said I didn’t believe my mother tried to kill me, deep down I was very afraid. I was afraid I was wrong, afraid that my mother had abandoned me for power. But thankfully, I wasn’t wrong.”
Cui Xun nodded gently: “The Empress Dowager said that even if it cost her life, she would never harm the Princess in the slightest. She has always been concerned about you.”
Li Ying smiled slightly: “So, I won this bet again.”
Cui Xun also smiled faintly. When he smiled, the frost-like coldness in his eyes seemed to melt into spring water, his countenance more radiant than the morning glow, outshining all the begonia flowers in the courtyard. Li Ying looked at the begonia flower that had fallen on the back of his hand—his fingers were slender, and his hand was as white as cold jade. Matched with the bright red begonia petals, the red seemed even more vivid like fire, and the white appeared more solitary like snow. Li Ying suddenly said: “Cui Xun, you don’t like flowers, and you don’t like icing sugar, do you?”
Cui Xun was startled, then nodded. Li Ying took out a piece of icing sugar and offered it to him: “Actually, icing sugar tastes very good. You should try it.”
Cui Xun looked at the amber-colored icing sugar but didn’t take it. Li Ying said, “When I was little and felt sad, my mother would give me a piece of icing sugar. She said eating it would make me feel better. I tried it, and it worked. Later, I came to love eating icing sugar.”
She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully, and said: “Cui Xun, you carry too many burdens in your heart. It must be very difficult. Why don’t you try a piece of icing sugar? After eating it, you won’t feel as bitter.”
Cui Xun still didn’t take it. He truly didn’t like icing sugar. He had lost his mother at the age of three; his father was unkind, his stepmother unloving, and his siblings hostile. No one had ever told him that when his heart felt bitter, he could eat a piece of icing sugar. As he grew older, he disliked such childish comforts even more. But Li Ying persisted, her smooth palm steadily holding the amber-colored icing sugar, with an attitude suggesting she wouldn’t withdraw her hand until he took it. Cui Xun hesitated, then finally took the icing sugar from her palm and put it in his mouth.
The moment the icing sugar entered his mouth, a wave of sweetness spread through it. The sweetness, infused with the fragrance of peach blossoms, penetrated from his taste buds straight to his heart, like a spring breeze gradually dispersing the fog in his heart. Li Ying looked at him and asked: “Does it taste good?”
Cui Xun, with the icing sugar in his mouth, nodded indistinctly. Li Ying smiled gently: “Then in the future, when your heart feels bitter, don’t endure it alone. Eat a piece of icing sugar, alright?”
Cui Xun didn’t look at her but watched the begonia petals drifting with the wind. The petals fell to the ground, forming a thin layer of pure white flower carpet. With the faint fragrance of begonia flowers, one’s heart couldn’t help but become peaceful and calm. With the sweet icing sugar in his mouth, he nodded again indistinctly.