In front of Kaiyuan Gate, Li Ying hesitated, holding a bamboo basket containing red spider lilies.

She had been returning from Jixian Ward in the west to Yongxing Ward in the east, a route that normally wouldn’t pass by Kaiyuan Gate. Yet she had unconsciously walked in the opposite direction, slowly arriving at Kaiyuan Gate. If she continued south, she would reach Yining Ward, where the Investigation Office was located.

She stood before Kaiyuan Gate, the northernmost gate of Chang’an city. Outside the gate was an official road leading directly to the Western Regions, which explained the constant camel bells and the high-nosed, blue-eyed Hu merchants with their paper travel permits, presenting them to the guards for inspection. Beautiful Hu concubines with golden bells on their wrists and fresh flowers in their hair, their faces half-hidden behind veils, gazed admiringly at the prosperous scene within Kaiyuan Gate. Amid this bustling crowd, Li Ying had no leisure to stand and watch. Her mind was filled with only four words Yu Fuwei had mentioned:

“She particularly enjoys eagle taming.”

She recalled Cui Xun’s body covered in horrific scars and couldn’t help but frown, her feet unconsciously moving toward the Investigation Office. But after a few steps, she stopped.

A carriage drawn by three horses approached leisurely. The young man inside slightly lifted the curtain and looked at her steadily.

It was Cui Xun.

He must have been returning from Daming Palace to the Investigation Office, passing by Kaiyuan Gate and coincidentally meeting Li Ying.

Li Ying’s delicate hands unconsciously tightened around the bamboo basket handle. She stared at Cui Xun’s snow-white face, her mouth opening as if about to say something, when suddenly a group of officials rode in through Kaiyuan Gate. Leading them was a man in crimson robes—Lu Huai, the Deputy Chief of the Dali Temple.

The Dali Temple had been tracking Jin Ni’s whereabouts for some time, as had the Investigation Office. The two groups frequently crossed paths, neither yielding to the other. Lu Huai reined in his horse, his thin lips pressed together, looking disdainfully at Cui Xun in the carriage.

The dozens of Hu concubines entering through Kaiyuan Gate didn’t know Lu Huai’s and Cui Xun’s identities. When they saw Cui Xun’s face behind the curtain—eyebrows like ink brushstrokes, eyes slightly upturned with charming peach blossom pupils, straight nose, beautiful lip line, and jade-like pale skin, his slender, clean fingers lifting the curtain—this man seemed to have no unattractive feature. The Hu concubines exchanged glances, their faces showing shy expressions. One by one, they took the fresh flowers from their hair and tossed them toward Cui Xun’s carriage. Some even removed the golden bells from their wrists and threw them to him.

Seeing this, Lu Huai sneered: “Deputy Chief Cui truly lives up to his name as the Lotus Gentleman. Whether Turkic princesses or common Hu concubines, all fall at Deputy Chief Cui’s beautiful appearance.”

The words “beautiful appearance” were typically used to describe women. Lu Huai was deliberately humiliating Cui Xun by treating him like a woman. Li Ying bit her lip, a flash of indignation in her eyes. Cui Xun gazed steadily at her, noticing the indignation in her eyes. He usually disliked arguing with people, but today, he wanted to respond.

He shifted his gaze to Lu Huai and said coolly, “Deputy Chief Lu has time to gossip here, yet he’d be better off searching for Jin Ni’s whereabouts. Otherwise, after being transferred to the Dali Temple for several months, you would still have nothing to show for it.”

Lu Huai was furious: “Nothing to show for it? That’s because I can’t learn Deputy Chief Cui’s methods of distorting facts and extracting confessions through torture!”

Cui Xun laughed coldly: “Deputy Chief Lu certainly has a Buddha’s compassion, but he should also consider his uncle.”

With these words, Cui Xun was mocking Lu Huai for being transferred to the Dali Temple through his uncle Lu Yumin’s connections. Lu Huai’s face changed with anger. He looked around, seeing commoners stretching their necks, ready to enjoy the spectacle. Lu Huai gritted his teeth, unwilling to continue arguing with Cui Xun here and become a laughingstock. He shot Cui Xun a glare, then reluctantly led his Dali Temple officials away.

After Lu Huai left, Li Ying glanced at Cui Xun. She bit her lip, then lowered her head and turned toward Yongxing Ward. Cui Xun’s carriage slowly followed Li Ying until she reached a crabapple blossom stream and sat down to rest. Only then did Cui Xun let the carriage driver leave while he slowly walked to Li Ying’s side and sat down on the ground.

Spring was in full bloom. Crabapple trees planted beside the murmuring stream were reflected in the clear water. Pink petals fell with the wind, landing on the water and creating a flower stream. Cui Xun asked: “Why are you unhappy again?”

Li Ying bit her lip and, after a long while, said: “It’s not that I’m unhappy, it’s…”

It’s that I’m sad.

But she didn’t speak the last two words, just lowered her head, picked up a pebble, and glumly threw it into the stream. Cui Xun didn’t speak either, just watched as she threw one pebble after another. When the pebbles around her were almost gone, he finally said: “Lu Huai didn’t come out ahead either.”

Li Ying felt a lump in her throat: “I don’t care whether he came out ahead or not. What I care about is…”

She bit her lip again, not finishing her sentence. She picked up another pebble, threw it into the water, and then said: “Cui Xun, why is it like this?”

Cui Xun didn’t answer. He quietly watched the falling flowers drift away with the gurgling water, journeying toward an unknown destination. After a while, he lowered his eyes and said, “Living outside is inconvenient for investigating cases. You should move back.”

Li Ying stared blankly at the falling crabapple blossoms. She didn’t immediately agree to Cui Xun’s suggestion. Cui Xun asked: “Are you still angry with me?”

Li Ying looked at the bamboo basket in her hands. Its lid prevented Cui Xun from seeing the red spider lilies inside. Li Ying said, “Actually, I was never angry with you.”

Cui Xun was slightly stunned. Li Ying smiled bitterly: “I just felt a bit… sad.”

Cui Xun pressed his lips together. He knew that when Li Ying had offered to help him and he had refused once more, she must have felt very hurt. But Li Ying didn’t originally belong to this world. Once she found the truth, she could be reborn. She had never done a bad deed in her life, so in her next life, she would surely be cherished by her parents like a precious jewel, just as in this life. How could he be worthy of keeping the bright moon in this dirty, turbid world?

He said softly, “I’m sorry for making you sad.”

The delicate fragrance of crabapple blossoms drifted with the spring breeze. The distant mountains were deep green. By the crabapple blossom stream, Cui Xun heard Li Ying say softly: “No, I’m not sad because of you, but… I’m sad for you.”

Sad for things he never did, for how the world slandered and humiliated him, sad that she couldn’t change any of it. Or rather, not just sad, but also somewhat heartbroken.

She was heartbroken for Cui Xun.

Cui Xun was stunned. After a moment, his long, crow-black eyelashes lowered, covering his eyelids, his eyes misted as if surrounded by clouds and fog. He remained silent for a long time. Li Ying didn’t speak either, just watching the flowing water and falling flowers. After a while, she picked up the bamboo basket full of red spider lilies and said, “Cui Xun, I’ll go now.”

Cui Xun nodded silently. Li Ying stood up and walked a few steps, but couldn’t help looking back at him. In the sunset glow, he sat upright by the crabapple blossom stream, wrapped in silver-white fox fur, his back as pure as frost and snow. But in reality, he was covered in mud, eternally disgraced.

Li Ying suddenly couldn’t bear to look anymore. She turned her head away, gripped the basket tightly, bit her lip, and quickly left.

After returning to her new residence in Yongxing Ward, Li Ying took out the red spider lilies from the basket. The petals were blood-red, gorgeous, and bewitching. Li Ying placed the red spider lilies in a five-footed silver incense burner. A wisp of smoke slowly rose from the openwork cloud pattern of the burner. The golden-scabbarded curved sword placed on the sandalwood desk emitted a faint green light, and Ashina Jia’s figure slowly appeared.

Ashina Jia seemed to smell something. She happily stepped toward Li Ying but quickly shrank back several steps. She stammered: “Did you… See Cui Xun earlier?”

Li Ying nodded. Ashina Jia asked again: “Are you Cui Xun’s friend?”

Li Ying nodded again and said, “Princess Ashina Jia, do you… Like Cui Xun very much?”

Ashina Jia was stunned. Two patches of red appeared on her fair face. She hesitated for a long time, daring neither to confirm nor deny. Li Ying sighed slightly, then said earnestly, “Princess Ashina Jia, I want to save Cui Xun. Can you help me?”

Ashina Jia’s expression immediately became extremely anxious: “Why do you say you want to save him? What happened to him?”

Li Ying sighed: “He’s not doing well. Can you help me?”

Ashina Jia looked at her, and this time, she solemnly nodded.

In the study, the red spider lilies burning in the five-footed silver incense burner emitted a strange, clear fragrance. Li Ying briefly explained her identity to Ashina Jia, as well as her relationship with Cui Xun, his current official position in Great Zhou, and the bad reputation that clung to him. She finally learned that Ashina Jia had died four years ago, the same year Cui Xun left the Turkic lands. She said, “Princess Ashina Jia, I have many questions for you, but what I most want to ask is, did Cui Xun ever surrender to the Turks?”

Ashina Jia became agitated: “Why does everyone say that? He never surrendered to the Turks!”

Although Li Ying had already been certain in her heart, hearing Ashina Jia’s confirmation still made her breathe a sigh of relief. She then asked: “Then what exactly did he experience in Turkic lands?”

Ashina Jia hesitated and said: “I… I don’t want to remember.”

“Why don’t you want to remember?”

Ashina Jia’s eyes showed even deeper sorrow: “When I think about it, I feel afraid. After feeling afraid, I feel that I’ve let him down.”

Hearing this, Li Ying realized that Cui Xun’s experiences were probably far more painful than she had imagined. She steadied herself and said, “Princess Ashina Jia, although you don’t want to remember, I must know what he went through if I am to save him.”

The words “save him” helped Ashina Jia make up her mind. She extended her hand: “I don’t want to recount those events. If you truly want to know, then enter my memories and see for yourself.”

The red spider lilies connected the paths of life and death, carrying the secrets of reincarnation. In the rising smoke, Li Ying’s hands grasped Ashina Jia’s. A strong white light enveloped her entire body. The light was so intense that she had to close her eyes. When the white light dispersed and she opened her eyes again, she found herself on a vast grassland.

The sky was crystal clear, the grass lush and green. Around her were rows of tents and felt houses. In the distance, sheep grazed leisurely. Turkic soldiers in armor rode galloping horses across the grassland. Li Ying couldn’t help but ask: “Where is this?”

“This is the Turkic royal court.”

Ashina Jia led Li Ying forward. Li Ying saw men and women all flocking toward a magnificent tent. The tent had a conical top, using a domed structure for the frame and felt for the walls. The tent was embroidered with dark blue wolf patterns. Ashina Jia said: “That is my uncle, Nidu Khan’s royal tent.”

The Turkic subjects rushing toward the khan’s tent all wore excited expressions on their faces, as if eagerly anticipating something. Li Ying also saw Ashina Jia—the Ashina Jia from four years ago. Compared to the strand of obsession standing beside her now, the Ashina Jia from four years ago didn’t have today’s melancholy and sorrow, but instead had more innocence and curiosity. She held the hand of a maid beside her, looking ahead nervously yet expectantly. Li Ying couldn’t help but ask: “What are they waiting for?”

Ashina Jia said quietly: “They are waiting for… the prisoner presentation ceremony.”