At year’s end, nowhere on the entire Longyuan continent was livelier than Xuanwu Street in the Da Zhou capital—bustling crowds, dazzling arrays of merchandise, carriages and horses flowing without pause.

At this hour, the teahouses and inns were among the quietest places to be found.

The vast second floor of the inn stood mostly empty, save for two women seated by the window.

One dressed in cold, noble purple; the other in a modest yet lively goose-yellow. They sat facing each other, chatting and laughing merrily.

Situ Xin’er had always been the type to warm up to people quickly, and the woman in purple proved easy to get along with besides. The two of them chatted about rouge and powder, about clothes and jewelry, and before they knew it, an entire afternoon had passed!

“Oh, right, right, I still haven’t asked your name!” It was only now that Situ Xin’er remembered she didn’t even know the woman’s name or background.

“And you? What’s your name? I’d guess you must come from some prominent, noble family!” The woman in purple smiled, her shallow dimples and the shimmering, expressive light in her eyes even more captivating up close. Situ Xin’er found herself thinking that if she were a man, she’d gladly devote her entire life just to marry this woman.

Seeing Situ Xin’er staring dumbstruck, the woman in purple smiled even more beautifully, waving a jade-white hand in front of her face. “What are you staring at? Say something!”

Situ Xin’er finally snapped back to herself. “Sister, you’re so beautiful. You must be entering the Flower Queen Pageant, right? You absolutely must claim the title!”

“Let’s not talk about that—it’ll only sour the mood between us.” The woman in purple said hastily.

“How would that sour the mood? If you take first place, sister, I’ll be genuinely impressed. But if a certain someone takes first place, I absolutely will not accept it!” Situ Xin’er declared righteously.

Situ Xin’er knew perfectly well that even giving it her all, she likely couldn’t compete with Han Ziqing. But this woman in purple was different—if she stood beside Han Ziqing, she’d surely make Han Ziqing fade into insignificance by comparison.

Already harboring her own selfish motives, and having spent the whole afternoon learning quite a few makeup secrets from the woman in purple besides, Situ Xin’er found herself growing closer and closer to her, hoping fervently that she would win.

“A certain someone… you’re implying something specific, aren’t you?” The woman in purple asked, feigning suspicion.

Situ Xin’er didn’t mind at all, answering bluntly. “I mean Princess Consort Han Ziqing of Prince Yao. You must have heard of her, right!”

“Of course I know of her. Her skill with the guqin earned the admiration of Xuanyuan Lige, the finest musician under heaven, who gifted her his treasured instrument, the Wuzheng. She defeated Chu Feiyan, the Rose on Horseback of Xichu, in a mounted duel, and at the Three Realms Territory, she helped Prince Yao seize three cities from Xichu, earning the title Queen of the Northern Watchtower. Someone with such a towering reputation… surely she wouldn’t need to enter the Flower Queen Pageant?”

“Exactly! Not even that pretty, and still doesn’t know her place.” Situ Xin’er sneered with disdain. It wasn’t that Han Ziqing had done anything wrong to her, exactly—her only crime was stealing away Beiyue-gege. But that alone was enough that no matter how great her accomplishments, Situ Xin’er would never grant her approval.

“But I heard the Princess Consort inherited her mother’s beauty, and is stunningly gorgeous?” The woman in purple probed carefully.

Situ Xin’er looked the woman in purple up and down and immediately leaned in, saying with absolute conviction, “Not even a tenth as beautiful as you! The judge is Prince Yao himself—if it were anyone else competing, the gap might not seem so large, since Prince Yao could show favoritism. But if you compete, in front of everyone’s eyes, there’s no way he could favor her!”

Thinking of this, Situ Xin’er couldn’t help but secretly gloat. She was already looking forward to watching Han Ziqing humiliated at the pageant—and even more, she wanted to hear Jun Beiyue admit, right in front of Han Ziqing, that another woman was more beautiful.

The woman in purple demurred modestly. “You flatter me too much. She is the Princess Consort, after all—how could someone like me, a mere commoner, possibly compare? I don’t intend to win the crown at all; I’ve simply come to the capital to broaden my horizons.”

Situ Xin’er laughed confidently and didn’t press the matter further, instead saying, “Enough changing the subject—you still haven’t told me your name!”

“You first!” The woman in purple smiled, exquisite beauty tinged with a girlish shyness that would leave any man utterly dazzled.

“I’m Situ Xin’er, heh heh.”

The moment Situ Xin’er gave her name, the woman in purple looked genuinely astonished. “You’re the precious eldest daughter of the Situ Cheng clan!”

“Heh heh, you know quite a lot, don’t you!”

“Others might not know, but how could anyone not know of a family as famous as Situ Cheng? I’ve long since heard the name of Miss Situ!”

Situ Xin’er delighted in the woman’s flattery. “And you? What’s your name? I can tell you must come from quite a background yourself!”

“Compared to Miss Situ, I’m nothing but—”

“Enough with the ‘Miss Situ’ this and ‘Miss Situ’ that—just call me Xin’er, no need to stand on ceremony! From today on, we’re good sisters!”

“Mm, all right! My name is Yanzi. I’m the third daughter of the Yan clan of Jiangdong. Xin’er, you may call me Sister A’Zi.” Yanzi said with a smile.

Situ Xin’er suddenly understood. “Oh… I see. I’ve heard of the Yan clan of Jiangdong—a great family! Famous for producing beauties!”

Situ Xin’er had heard of the Yan clan of Jiangdong, but knew almost nothing about them—in her eyes, aside from the imperial family, only her own Situ clan counted as a truly great family; she’d never bothered paying much attention to anyone else.

Yet Yanzi only smiled. “Xin’er, you’re really quite funny. Most people find my name strange when they hear it, but you don’t seem to find it odd at all.”

“Yanzi—surname Yan, given name Zi. What’s so strange about that?” Situ Xin’er asked, puzzled.

“Yanzi is the name of a type of rouge! And here you are, a girl yourself, not even knowing that!” Yanzi shot her a sidelong glance, then drew a small box of rouge from her sleeve and handed it over. “Here—a gift, to mark our meeting.”

Situ Xin’er opened it and found it was a lip rouge—golden-flower rouge, to be precise.

Rouge came in two forms: lip rouge and cheek rouge, used for the lips and face respectively, and could also be divided into golden-flower rouge and cotton rouge.

Golden-flower rouge was made by processing flower petals into thin, delicate pieces, then drying them in the shade until they became a paste; cotton rouge, meanwhile, was made by soaking silk floss in flower juice and then drying it in the shade.

Golden-flower rouge was far more valuable than cotton rouge—golden-flower rouge could even be eaten directly!

But the value of the golden-flower rouge wasn’t what mattered here—what mattered was that this particular box of rouge was purple!

Rouge, throughout history, had always come only in red. Yet this box was distinctly tinged with a pale lavender-purple. Would it even look good applied as makeup?

“You don’t know about this?” Yanzi asked, puzzled.

Situ Xin’er shook her head firmly. “Never heard of it. Purple—how strange.”

“Not strange at all, just watch.” Yanzi said, taking a bit of the rouge and gently applying it to the back of Situ Xin’er’s hand, spreading it in small circles. Situ Xin’er watched, astonished, as the skin where the rouge had been applied instantly turned soft and rosy, pale with a faint blush beneath, smooth as if it could shatter at a touch—her skin seemed to grow younger in an instant, and yet it looked completely natural!

“Understand now?” Yanzi smiled. “This is the Yan clan’s exclusive secret formula. I’m giving you a box on the sly—don’t tell anyone.”

Situ Xin’er nodded vigorously. This thing was simply too miraculous—this wasn’t cosmetics at all, this was practically a divine elixir!

“Heh heh, I promise I won’t say a word, this’ll be our secret. It’s getting late, I should head back.” Situ Xin’er couldn’t wait to go try it on!

But Yanzi caught her arm. “Wait a moment, there’s one thing…”