Outside Ledu City, the Su Wood River was bustling with noise and activity, filled with people releasing river lanterns. Under the starry sky, lights glittered brilliantly, with a full moon reflected in the water, like the Milky Way descending to the mortal realm, adorning the Su Wood River with breathtaking beauty.
Having removed his official robes and changed into a plain blue Hangzhou silk gown, Zhao Ling no longer showed any trace of the morning’s dignity when he had led the Nianbo office in worshiping the gods. With a smile at the corners of his lips, he gazed at Fu Tingyun beside him, who wore a lotus-pink gauze shirt and bright blue gauze skirt. His expression was full of joy as he asked, “What wish did you secretly make to your river lantern just now?”
“Since it was a secret wish, how could I simply tell you?” Fu Tingyun smiled with pursed lips, her expression clever and unrestrained. Her dark hair was coiled into a bun, adorned with two golden osmanthus flower chains. As she moved, a subtle fragrance wafted around her, attracting glances from passersby.
Watching her, Zhao Ling felt a surge of pride in his heart.
Such an intelligent, beautiful, and lively woman was his fiancée.
In the future, they would have children, continue their family line, and grow old together.
“I know,” he couldn’t help teasing, “you must have prayed to the Bodhisattva to help you find a suitable husband…”
“There you go talking nonsense again.” Fu Tingyun interrupted him with sweet reproach, “I was asking the Bodhisattva to bless you with peace and good fortune, that everything would go according to your wishes, and that you could return to Jiangnan earlier to repair your uncle and aunt’s graves…” As she finished speaking, a hint of sadness appeared in her expression.
Zhao Ling immediately felt completely satisfied, as if all the hardships he had endured were now compensated. His heart was filled with tenderness, and he didn’t want Fu Tingyun to feel even a moment of sadness.
“Really?” he teased to cheer her up, “Didn’t you also ask the Bodhisattva to bless us so we could smoothly go to the capital next spring…”
Fu Tingyun’s face instantly turned red.
She had indeed prayed for that.
Not only that, but she had also prayed to the Bodhisattva for their smooth marriage.
Looking at Zhao Ling’s eyes that contained a hint of mockery, she felt both embarrassed and flustered: “I’m not talking to you anymore!” She turned and walked into the crowd.
Zhao Ling was momentarily stunned, then quickly understood, and a feeling of delight rose in his heart at their mutual understanding. Without further thought, he hurriedly chased after her.
Along the riverbank were many small stalls selling snacks, lanterns, paintings, fans, hairpins, bracelets, combs, porcelain items, and tin wares. Fu Tingyun gradually slowed her steps and stopped at a lantern stall. She casually pointed at a rabbit lantern and asked, “Shopkeeper, how many coins for this one?” Her peripheral vision glanced behind her, only to see the coming and going crowds, but no sign of Zhao Ling.
Could it be that he hadn’t followed her?
Fu Tingyun suddenly felt a sourness in her heart, filled with boundless grievance.
This rascal—officials can start fires, but commoners can’t light lamps—he could joke around without consequence, but when she teased him back, he got angry… Suddenly, Zhao Ling’s voice came to her ears: “Shopkeeper, we’ll take this lantern.”
She felt a joyful surprise at recovering what she thought was lost. She quickly turned around, following the voice, only to fall into a pair of eyes brighter than the stars in the night sky.
Fu Tingyun stared at him intently, her heart extremely soft… She watched absent-mindedly as he took out his money bag to pay, as he accepted the lantern from the shopkeeper, as he placed the lantern in her hands, and as he took her hand in his.
“Let’s go!” Zhao Ling said with a smile in his eyes, pulling her out of the bustling crowd.
Fu Tingyun finally came to her senses.
She embarrassedly pulled her hand away from Zhao Ling’s: “I, I want to release a river lantern.”
“Of course!” Zhao Ling smiled as he released her hand, his face full of indulgence and affection.
The rabbit lantern was meant to be hung on trees… Fu Tingyun’s face reddened with embarrassment.
Nearby, someone called out: “Cuo fish, fragrant and delicious Cuo fish!”
Fu Tingyun felt relieved, as if finding a way out of her embarrassment, and immediately walked over: “I, I’m hungry!”
Zhao Ling still followed gently behind her.
“Good!” He sat down beside her and smiled as he ordered two bowls of Cuo fish from the vendor.
Fu Tingyun turned her face away.
Everywhere was filled with the clamor of crowds, and everywhere were dots of river lanterns.
She couldn’t help but look toward Zhao Ling.
Zhao Ling was looking at her.
The slightly curved corners of his mouth were like a faint moonlight, making her heart inexplicably calm.
“Let’s, let’s never argue again, shall we?” Fu Tingyun looked at Zhao Ling seriously.
But Zhao Ling slowly shook his head: “How could that be possible?”
Fu Tingyun’s heart immediately sank to the bottom.
Zhao Ling continued slowly: “But don’t worry, I’ll always give in to you.”
Fu Tingyun’s heart immediately blossomed like a flower.
She was secretly surprised by her change… then she burst out laughing.
“You rascal!” she murmured with pouting lips, secretly pinching Zhao Ling under the table.
Zhao Ling grimaced in pain but pretended that he dared not make a sound.
This made Fu Tingyun cover her mouth to stifle her laughter.
Zhao Ling felt extremely happy, thinking that as long as it made her happy, he would gladly let her pinch him a few more times.
The middle-aged stall owner also smiled.
He was a villager from nearby who set up this stall during the farming off-seasons to supplement his household income. He had not chosen a prosperous, bustling location, so Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling were his only customers. He did not recognize Zhao Ling and, seeing Zhao Ling’s distinguished appearance, assumed he was a rich young man living in town. As he served two large bowls of Cuo fish, he gave Zhao Ling a thumbs up and praised: “Young man, not bad at all. It took my wife and me twenty years to understand that one should never argue with women about right and wrong, but at your young age, you already understand the essence of this, not bad, not bad.”
Zhao Ling simply embraced the teasing fully, cupping his hands towards the old man: “You flatter me, you flatter me.”
Fu Tingyun was so embarrassed by his joking that she wished she could find a hole to crawl into. Her face burning hot, she shot him a reproachful glare before lowering her head to eat, not daring to look up again.
The air was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Fu Tingyun thought about how in the past, during the Zhongyuan Festival, she could only release small, self-made lotus lanterns with her sisters in the shallow stream of the back garden. How could she possibly have come out to enjoy herself like today? Suddenly, she felt full of infinite hope for the future.
Someone hurriedly called out to Zhao Ling: “Sir, Sir!”
Zhao Ling looked up and saw Zhao Ming approaching in a hurry.
He frowned slightly: “What has happened?”
Zhao Ming was travel-worn, still holding a horsewhip in his hand.
He sat down heavily on a stool and ordered the old man: “Give me a bowl!”
The old man recognized Zhao Ming and immediately guessed Zhao Ling’s identity. His expression changed, and he responded nervously with repeated affirmations. The joyful atmosphere of earlier completely disappeared.
Zhao Ling’s brow furrowed even more.
Ledu was a three to four-day journey from Yongjing, but he had made the round trip in less than six days. Zhao Ming thought Zhao Ling suspected he hadn’t escorted Miss Tang to her destination, so he quickly explained: “I parted ways with Miss Tang in Yongjing four days ago. Later, I heard something and hurried back.”
What matter could have made him rush back overnight?
Fu Tingyun raised her head curiously.
The lamplight illuminated her flawless jade countenance, incredibly beautiful, causing Zhao Ming, who was about to speak, to falter and remain speechless for a long time.
Zhao Ling watched with displeasure and lightly coughed.
Zhao Ming immediately lowered his head and mumbled: “I heard from a merchant caravan from the capital that the Prince of Qin has passed away. Xi’an Prefecture is already in mourning, and the imperial edict will reach our command post in the coming days.”
The Emperor had enjoyed longevity, but several of his elder sons had not outlived their father. Even the Crown Prince had passed away four years ago. Now only the Ninth Prince (Prince of Zhuang) and the Eleventh Prince (Prince of Qin) remained. With the Prince of Qin’s passing, the Emperor must be overwhelmed with grief.
Zhao Ling quickly asked: “When did the Prince of Qin pass away? How many days has the Emperor decreed to suspend weddings and marriages?” His voice was somewhat tense.
Zhao Ming thought he was concerned about state affairs and replied: “He passed away on the twenty-second day of the fifth month. The Emperor has decreed a suspension of marriages for sixty days.”
Zhao Ling’s expression relaxed slightly.
Fu Tingyun lowered her head.
This fellow must have been worried that the Emperor would decree a one-year suspension of marriages as he had when the Crown Prince passed away.
Zhao Ming remarked with feeling: “Since the Crown Prince’s death, the Prince of Qin and the Prince of Zhuang have been competing for many years. In the end, the Prince of Qin couldn’t defeat fate and died of illness… The Emperor should issue an edict naming the Prince of Zhuang as Crown Prince, right?” As he spoke, he lowered his voice and asked Zhao Ling, “Lord Zhao, I’ve heard that our Marquis of Yingchuan is the Prince of Zhuang’s brother-in-law. Do you think our Marquis might become the Commissioner of the Central Military Command or the Commander of the Imperial Guards?”
“How would we know about such matters of the court?” Zhao Ling smiled, though his smile seemed somewhat absent. “However, when the Empress Dowager passed away, marriages were only suspended for twenty-seven days, which shows that in the Emperor’s heart, he truly grieved for the Prince of Qin.”
Zhao Ming seemed unconvinced: “What’s the use of grieving? The one alive now is the Prince of Zhuang!”
Zhao Ling made no response.
The old man selling Cuo fish tremblingly placed a large bowl before Zhao Ming, with a portion even more generous than Zhao Ling’s, setting it down with extreme care.
…
The imperial edict reached the Nianbo office two days later. Perhaps due to the remoteness from the capital, the common people merely discussed it briefly before everything returned to normal, with everyone continuing their own lives. Only the government office in Nianbo hung a white cloth to show mourning.
Fu Tingyun packed her things, preparing to return to Zhangye.
The wives of the centurions and ensigns came to bid her farewell, and just from formal ceremonies, she received no less than a thousand taels of silver.
Fu Tingyun muttered softly: “No wonder people say three years as a clean magistrate yields a hundred thousand taels of silver. I’ll never come to Nianbo again.”
“Then I’ll return to Zhangye,” Zhao Ling said quietly, squeezing her hand.
Although Zhao Ling still stayed in the official quarters these days, only Fu Tingyun lived in the rear hall of the government office. The two women were very perceptive, moving the cooling bed into the courtyard and then staying in their rooms without coming out. Every night, Fu Tingyun and Zhao Ling would enjoy the cool air in the courtyard, talking about everything from childhood fears that eating watermelon seeds would grow watermelons in their stomachs to whether Li Cheng’s paintings were better than Xu Daoning’s. The more they talked, the more compatible they found themselves, discovering that neither liked mushrooms, both had practiced Lady Wei’s calligraphy since childhood, both families had once treasured Ma Lin’s fan paintings, and their longevity locks for their hundredth-day celebrations were both gold inlaid with jade… Now with parting imminent, they both felt reluctant to leave.
Zhao Ling accompanied her ten li beyond the town and only stopped his horse after Fu Tingyun’s repeated persuasion. He remained there until Fu Tingyun’s carriage was no longer visible before turning his horse back to Nianbo.
Fu Tingyun traveled for seven or eight days before returning to Zhangye.
She distributed some local specialties brought from Nianbo to the Marquis of Yingchuan, Madam Wang, Mrs. Qi, and others. By then, it was late July, and she began preparing gifts for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It wasn’t until after the tenth day of the eighth month that she truly settled down, making mooncakes and grinding flour at home, preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Madam Wang came to visit her.