The gentleman looked Qin Yao up and down with a thoroughly amused expression.

Just as Qin Yao was sure he was about to expose her little trick, the man abruptly changed course, and turned to the person beside him: “Ah, Chen the Fourth — Chen the Fourth! To think your skills have reached such a formidable level. You’ve truly left us all in admiration.”

The words had barely left his lips before a heavyset man stepped out from behind him, roared with laughter, and said: “Young Master Xia the Second flatters me.”

The realization rippled through everyone in the pavilion — ah, so the remark that Young Master Xia the Second had made was directed at young Master Chen.

Xia Yuan rose with a smile to greet them: “Second Elder Brother, Master Chen, Master Kong.”

Three young men had arrived. One of them was Xia Di — the Wei Guo Ducal Household’s second young master, Xia Yuan’s second elder brother.

Hearing Xia Yuan call his name, Xia Di replied with a laugh and strode up toward the pavilion.

The other two remained standing where they were. One was the fourth son of the Marquis of Ningyuan’s household — the very Chen the Fourth that Xia Di had spoken of.

The other was the youngest son of the Minister of the Central Secretariat’s family, by the name of Kong Weide.

The young woman in purple stamped her foot and rounded on Chen the Fourth: “Elder Brother! Just look at my clothes — they’ve been ruined like this for nothing, and it’s clearly her fault!” And with that, she turned and pointed angrily back at Qin Yao.

Kangping gave a vigorous nod: “That’s right, that’s right — it was her. I saw it clearly.”

Chen the Fourth quietly frowned. He had been standing behind Xia Di at the time and had not seen the scene inside the pavilion clearly — but he reflected that this was, at any rate, a minor squabble among young women, and moreover Second Young Master Xia was clearly inclined to let the matter pass. If he and his sister pressed the point stubbornly, it would only make them look petty and small. He therefore gave his sister a warning look, preparing to cut her off.

But the chubby-faced Kong Weide standing beside him had heard the young woman in purple, and without a moment’s deliberation, rolled up his sleeves and bellowed with the air of one spoiling for a fight: “Qi, don’t be distressed — I’d very much like to see who has the nerve to put you through this!”

Saying this, he fixed his gaze squarely on Qin Yao, with a cold and vicious glare as though he could bore a hole straight through her.

Qin Yao raised her eyebrows slightly. Well then — reinforcements had arrived, and quite the “substantial” sort of reinforcements at that. She was merely curious what method this Master Kong had in mind to stand up for Miss Chen.

Miss Chen threw a contemptuous sidelong glance at Master Kong and instinctively wanted to say “what business is it of yours?” — but reconsidering, she thought, why not let this fat fellow make things a little awkward for Miss Qu? So she dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief, aggrieved: “Just now, as I was walking past Miss Qu, quite suddenly a splash of hot tea came from somewhere — no one knows where — and soaked half my garments through. The only person seated close to me at the time was Miss Qu, and Kangping also witnessed with her own eyes that it was Miss Qu who did it. Yet Miss Qu now refuses to admit that it was she who spilled it.”

It was a rare occasion when the dainty Miss Chen deigned to say so many words to him at once. Master Kong was exhilarated, more fired up than ever, and stomped toward the pavilion: “What could be simpler? We just check whose cup is empty and whose is full, don’t we?” In his eagerness to solidify Miss Chen’s impression of him, Master Kong entirely failed to notice that Second Young Master Xia in the pavilion had visibly furrowed his brow, let alone the look that Chen the Fourth had cast in his direction.

“If tea has been spilled, the cup can’t still be full — let’s all look and see whose cup it was that spilled on Miss Qi!” He pushed up right in front of Qin Yao, and in front of everyone there snatched up the cup on the table before Qin Yao in one forceful motion. Having grabbed too hard, he was caught off guard by the cup being full of steaming hot tea, which promptly scalded his hand. “Ow—!” The flesh on his face trembled with the pain.

“It burns! It burns!” He shoved the cup back hastily onto the table and kept blowing on the hand that had been scalded bright red.

Qin Yao watched with sympathy at the sight: “Master, are you all right?”

Master Kong was in pain and mortification in equal measure. Miss Qu’s cup was manifestly full — he had wrongfully accused her, and on top of it had made such a fool of himself in front of Miss Chen. He wished he could sink into the floor and disappear.

Desperately casting about for some way to recover his dignity, he happened to notice an empty cup on the table. Without checking whose cup it was, he gave it no further thought and thrust a finger forward: “This cup is empty!”

Everyone followed the direction of his finger and looked — and all of them raised their eyebrows in surprise. For sitting before that empty cup was a young woman wearing an expression of deep indignation — and it was, as luck would have it, none other than Kangping.

Second Young Master Xia suppressed a laugh, and the glance he cast toward Qin Yao became all the more meaningful.

Master Kong thought, this is bad — this was a Princess, not a person he could afford to have any trouble with. If she took offense and decided to make an example of him, the Kong family residence might well end up smashed to pieces. He abandoned all thought of standing up for his heart’s ideal and immediately struck himself on both cheeks, backtracking: “This — this approach won’t do. We’ve most likely been thinking about this the wrong way. Every young lady here in this pavilion is from a family of virtue and education — none of them would be capable of such behavior. Most likely one of the servants accidentally spilled the tea on Qi, and not daring to be blamed for it, didn’t admit it — we need only question the servants present in the pavilion and it will all become clear.”

In one sentence he had neatly redirected suspicion onto the Wei Guo Ducal Household’s own servants. Chen the Fourth heaved a quiet sigh and, not having the heart to watch his future brother-in-law continue to embarrass himself further, raised his head and addressed his sister, who was still planted in the middle of the pavilion: “The evening breeze is cool — you’ll catch a chill if you don’t change your clothes soon.”

Xia Yuan was quick to step in and smooth things over as well, instructing her maidservant: “Quickly take Miss Chen to my room and help her change. Younger Cousin Yuqi, you and I are much the same size — there are a few new dresses in my room, please choose whichever one you like and put it on.”

Chen Yuqi gave Master Kong a withering look of disgust, then after a moment’s pause, reluctantly thanked Xia Yuan and let the attendant lead her away to change.

With her ally gone, Kangping suddenly found the sport had gone out of it all. She sat down in a huff, silently mouthing a warning in Qin Yao’s direction: just you wait!

Qin Yao couldn’t even spare her a sideways glance. She rose and dropped a curtsy before Xia Yuan: “Your Highness, I’ll be back in a moment.”

Xia Yuan understood, and promptly instructed another maidservant: “The banquet is about to begin — when Miss Qu is ready, lead her directly to the banquet hall.”

She also took Qin Yao’s hand and said in a low voice: “I’m sorry you were put through that just now, Miss Qu. Princess Kangping and Miss Chen are fond of teasing people — it’s not in any serious spirit. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Qin Yao smiled: “Your Highness is over-concerned — I didn’t take it to heart at all.” She made her farewell and let the maidservant lead her out of the pavilion.

When she came out of the washroom, the little maidservant who should have been waiting in the corridor was nowhere to be found. Qin Yao walked the length of the steps and searched all around, but could not find the girl anywhere.

She was puzzled for a moment. Fortunately, she had an excellent sense of direction and could not easily get lost, so she simply retraced the path she had come by.

Coming around a covered walkway, she suddenly heard the sound of a woman’s soft, coquettish laughter drifting from not far away, threaded through with a man’s voice.

Qin Yao quickly checked her step, stilled her breathing, and peered around the corner of the walkway. She could make out a man and a woman standing on the covered walkway in the darkness — the light was too dim to see their faces clearly, but she could vaguely make out a teardrop-shaped earring glittering on the woman’s ear, swaying gently with her every movement.

Seeing how close together the two were standing, Qin Yao surmised they were most likely a couple in a private tryst. She was just hesitating over whether to wait until they had left before she continued on, when from behind her came a completely silent surge of palm wind. Qin Yao was caught off guard; she ducked down sharply, avoiding the strike, and immediately drew her right elbow up and drove it back hard into whoever was behind her.

But the other person’s lightness skills were remarkable — they stepped aside with an easy, nimble move and evaded the blow, chuckling softly: “Miss Qu, you truly do conceal your depths.”

Qin Yao recognized the voice. She turned to look, and saw the newcomer wearing a pale blue round-collar robe, his expression one of easy, laughing confidence even before he had said a word — sure enough, it was Xia Di.

Qin Yao’s expression remained guarded. “Second Young Master Xia?” The corner of her eye swept to the covered walkway — and she noticed with a start that the couple who had been meeting in secret there had already left, she had no idea when.

Xia Di laughed: “Just now in the garden, Miss Qu’s move of ‘substituting the plum for the peach’ was truly a revelation. Might I ask under whose tutelage Miss Qu has learned such impressive skills at so young an age?”

Qin Yao played dumb: “Second Young Master Xia, you say the strangest things — what ‘substituting the plum for the peach’? What ‘impressive skills’? I couldn’t follow a word of it. The hour is not early — the banquet has surely begun by now. Second Young Master Xia had best go to the banquet hall and see to your guests.” She gave a slight bow and turned to leave.

Barely two steps later, Xia Di moved and stepped in front of her, chuckling: “Miss Qu, why try to put me off with words? Those two moves you used against me just now are already far beyond what an ordinary young lady of the inner chambers would be capable of. I mean no ill — it is merely curiosity.”

For a moment the two of them were standing quite close together, and when Qin Yao looked up, she found Xia Di’s gaze on her plainly teasing. She was furious enough to laugh: “I have learned a few self-defense moves — only in order to deal with vulgar, shameless individuals of just such a type. Second Young Master Xia had the benefit of experiencing two of them just now. Shall we see if you want to try for more?”

Xia Di, seeing the usual clear and calm eyes blazing with fury, and a faint flush rising over that pale face, could only laugh inwardly: so this was her true nature — the quiet, well-behaved manner she had shown in the garden had been entirely an act.

This made him all the more eager to tease her. He moved in another step closer and bent down to murmur near her ear: “Oh? Whatever other moves Miss Qu may have, there’s no need to hold back—”

Before he could finish, Qin Yao exploded a fist straight at his face with every bit of strength she had. The blow came fast and fierce; Xia Di’s expression shifted and he gathered his energy, leaping backward in a flash to clear the strike by a hair’s breadth.

He steadied himself and continued to smile at Qin Yao, unperturbed: “Miss Qu should have done that from the start — if you have skills, why keep hiding them?”

Qin Yao, growing increasingly furious, was about to advance again when someone suddenly snapped out in a low voice: “Stop—”

Both Qin Yao and Xia Di halted and turned to look.

The person had been standing in the courtyard, and only became visible when he stepped up onto the covered walkway and into the light of the lanterns. When Xia Di saw the face clearly, he was startled: “Third Brother Jiang?”

Qin Yao stared blankly for a moment, then looked the newcomer up and down with wide eyes, trying and utterly failing to reconcile the gaunt, shadowed figure before her with the handsome and distinguished Jiang Sanlang she remembered.

How was it that in such a short span of a month, Master Jiang had grown so thin?

She thought of A’Miao, who had died in his arms that day, and everything became clear to her. Since ancient times, the loveless have always known only suffering of one kind; and those who love have always known only suffering of another. Looking at the state Jiang Sanlang was in now — he had clearly not been able to let go of A’Miao. When a wound of the heart remained unhealed, it was no wonder a person could wither to such a state in so short a time.

It was not until Jiang Sanlang spoke her name that Qin Yao came back to herself: “Daoist Yuan Zhen, I trust you’ve been well?” She exhaled a quiet sigh, nodded, and replied: “Master Jiang the Third.”

Xia Di spoke up in surprise from the side: “A Daoist priestess? She’s a Daoist?” He directed the question at Jiang Sanlang, but his eyes were roaming up and down Qin Yao in frank disbelief.

Jiang Sanlang turned a serious look on Xia Di: “Miss Qu is a secular disciple of the Qingyun Temple. She once helped drive out a malevolent spirit from our family’s household, and there is no one more righteous than she. How did you end up coming to blows with her?”

Xia Di was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: “A misunderstanding, entirely a misunderstanding. Miss Qu, I didn’t know you were Third Brother’s friend — please accept my apology for any offense just now.” He said the words, but his face showed not a trace of remorse.

Qin Yao responded with cool indifference, then turned to Jiang Sanlang: “Third Young Master Jiang, the banquet must have started by now — might I ask you to take me to the banquet hall?”

Only then did Jiang Sanlang notice that there was no attendant beside Qin Yao. “Why does Daoist Yuan Zhen have no attendant with her?” A glance at Xia Di, and the whole situation became immediately clear to him. With a look of quiet reproach toward Xia Di, he turned and led Qin Yao along the covered walkway: “Miss Qu, please follow me.”

Xia Di gave an awkward cough. He had deliberately sent away the little maidservant who had been with Qin Yao earlier so that he could approach her, but now where was he supposed to conjure up a replacement attendant from? Seeing Jiang Sanlang and Qin Yao walking on ahead, he hurried to fall in beside them and said with an air of casual ease: “Indeed — the hour is not early, and Mother and the others will be wondering where I’ve gotten to by now.”

The three of them arrived at the banquet hall, to find that the feast had not been set inside the hall but rather al fresco in the small garden outside — a long row of tables pushed end to end to form one immensely long table, enough to seat over a hundred, with gentlemen guests on the left side and ladies on the right, facing one another across the table.

The banquet was already in full swing, with cups raised and drained back and forth, a shimmer of fine clothing and jewels, and much merriment all around.

Qin Yao scanned the guests with her eyes for a while and could not spot her brother. She had no choice but to let Jiang Sanlang escort her to Xia Yuan’s side.

Jiang Sanlang told Xia Yuan only that Qin Yao had gotten turned around in the garden, and that he and Xia Di had happened to pass by and brought her along.

Xia Yuan’s expression visibly relaxed: “I was just about to send someone to look for you.”

She led Qin Yao to a seat, and introduced the people on either side in a low voice: “This is the second young lady of the Marquis of Jinghai’s household — her given name is Qin Yuan.” Qin Yao looked, and saw a fair, delicate-featured girl of about thirteen or fourteen — one who met a person’s eyes with a somewhat timid air, far more fragile and guileless-looking than most young ladies raised in gentry households.

Qin Yao gave her a nod and said with a smile: “Miss Qin.” Qin Yuan quickly rose and returned the courtesy, stumbling slightly over the words: “Miss — Miss Qu.”

Xia Yuan then introduced the young woman seated to Qin Yao’s right: “This is the daughter of Minister Wang of the Finance Ministry — her given name is Wang Yingning.”

Miss Wang’s features were gentle and refined, her bearing as still and clear as still water. Qin Yao felt drawn to her from the first moment, and said with a warm smile: “Miss Wang.”

Having introduced all three of them, Xia Yuan turned away to attend to her other guests.

Qin Yao sat down between the two of them, took one look at the table spread with fine dishes, heard her stomach give an embarrassingly audible growl, and abandoned all pretense at decorum, burying her head in the food with gusto.

Qin Yuan stared with round eyes, looking as though she had never in her life encountered such a refreshingly uninhibited approach to dining. Wang Yingning gave a quiet smile and placed two slices of roasted venison on Qin Yao’s plate: “You must be hungry. The venison is roasted beautifully here — try some.” Entirely natural and gracious in her manner, as flowing and effortless as drifting clouds.

Qin Yao paused, then blinked at Wang Yingning with a smile.

When the banquet eventually drew to a close, the attendants came again to lead Qin Yao and the others back into the inner courtyard — the Princess had arranged a poetry gathering for the evening, they were told, and invited all the young ladies and gentlemen to display their talents.

As Qin Yao and the others made their way toward the pavilion where they had drunk tea earlier, they could see from a distance that Xia Yuan was standing there looking up, talking with a young gentleman. The young man was wearing a robe of sky-after-rain blue, standing tall and straight, and in the cast of the garden lanterns, he drew the eye irresistibly.

Xia Yuan’s gaze was focused and intent, the corners of her eyes and brows full of smiles — her expression seemingly even softer and more tender than it had been before.

The young man, however, appeared to be only half-attentive, his eyes drifting from time to time toward the garden gate. When Qin Yao made out the man’s face, a subtle flicker of surprise passed through her — it was Lin Xiao.

The moment Lin Xiao saw Qin Yao, a small smile surfaced on his face unbidden. He said something to Xia Yuan, then began walking toward Qin Yao.