The moment Xia Yan entered, the conversation inside came to an abrupt halt.

Both Xia Lan and Xia Di felt somewhat uneasy in their hearts, thinking that what they had just been discussing was hardly fit for polite company — they had no idea how much Xia Yan had managed to hear.

“Elder Brother, Second Brother — the Miss Qu you were just speaking of, is she Qu Qin Yao?” Xia Yan gently fanned herself with her folding fan and settled onto the daybed by the window with a smile.

Xia Di gave an embarrassed cough. Though he wanted to deny it, he knew his younger sister was exceedingly sharp — an ordinary lie would never fool her. He could only say sheepishly, “It was nothing but a bit of idle banter — how did you end up overhearing it?”

Xia Yan raised her fan to conceal her smile and said teasingly, “Miss Qu is a truly fine person. Your eye is not bad, Second Brother. I do wonder, though, how you intend to get her to come out today, and how you plan to tease her. You ought to know — Miss Qu is very quick-witted; ordinary schemes won’t easily catch her off guard.”

Hearing this, Xia Lan, who was in the middle of sipping his tea, paused and shot a surprised glance at Xia Yan. It was one thing for the second son to be causing mischief, but how was it that even his ordinarily well-behaved younger sister was joining in to stoke the fire?

Xia Di also found it vaguely odd, and after looking his younger sister up and down for a moment, wondered privately whether she was trying to stand up for her classmate and was deliberately testing him with her words. He quickly gave an evasive reply: “I have no real intention of making trouble for her — it is simply that today is the Flower Festival, and if I happen to cross her path, I had in mind to invite her for a meal and perhaps to watch a performance of transformation texts.”

A slight shift passed through Xia Yan’s eyes. She smiled and nodded. “That is more like it. I was thinking that Miss Qu is a good person and I am quite fond of her, so if Second Brother had any intention of tormenting her, I would not stand for it.”

These words drifted through like a gentle breeze, dispersing the unease that had lingered in both Xia Di and Xia Lan’s hearts. Xia Di relaxed visibly and laughed. “Since even my younger sister has spoken up, your second brother naturally would not dare behave outrageously.”

“But Second Brother, since you promised to accompany me out for the Flower Festival, if you devote all your attention to intercepting Miss Qu, will you still have any left over for me?” Xia Yan said with a pouty, displeased air.

Xia Di raised an eyebrow and said, “Your second brother will only be away for a little while — I will not go and never return. Besides, the Seventh Prince and Kangping will be coming out of the palace shortly, and you have all those classmates of yours as well — you will have quite the entourage when you go out. Can you not spare one second brother?”

Xia Yan burst into a laugh. “Look how anxious you are, Second Brother. Would your younger sister be that inconsiderate? Go keep Miss Qu company — I would not want to be a nuisance. I will go off and enjoy myself with Kangping and the others.”

Xia Di smiled sheepishly.

Xia Lan thought of something and instructed Xia Di, “Have the household guard Liu and the others accompany Ah-Yan — do not let there be another incident like the one at the Great Hidden Temple.”

Xia Di replied earnestly, “It has all been arranged. Elder Brother, rest easy.”

Xia Yan thought of having seen the monk Yuan Jue at Jade Spring Mountain a couple of days earlier and said curiously, “Elder Brother, Second Brother — regarding the incident at the Great Hidden Temple last time, did the Emperor not suspect that Abbot Yuan Jue had colluded with outside criminals, acting as an inside man? Why was he not detained, but rather released?”

Xia Lan’s expression became one of circumspect discretion, and he said gravely, “The Emperor handed that matter to the Eleventh Prince to manage, and I am not entirely clear on the details. I only know that the Eleventh Prince appears to have cleared Yuan Jue of suspicion. The Emperor, upon learning that Yuan Jue had merely suffered as an innocent party caught in the crossfire, restored him to his position as Abbot of the Great Hidden Temple as a gesture of goodwill. Word has it that he is even planning to bestow upon him the title of National Preceptor Wuda before long.”

Xia Di said dismissively, “Why does the Emperor hold this Yuan Jue in such high esteem? I also encountered him last time — he struck me as all affectation, not at all like someone who has devoted himself to sincere cultivation.”

“That you would not know. The story goes that in the Emperor’s earlier years, he was ambushed while traveling outside the palace, and it was Yuan Jue who happened to save his life. The Emperor, in gratitude for being rescued, has patronized him ever since — which is how the Great Hidden Temple came to be as prosperous and celebrated as it is today.” Xia Lan took a sip of tea and set the cup back down on the side table.

Xia Di found this intriguing and was about to ask more, but Xia Yan had little interest in these old stories and steered the conversation back to Qin Yao, asking idly, “Second Brother, where are you planning to take Miss Qu for the meal, and which entertainment house are you thinking of for the transformation texts performance?”

Xia Di rubbed his nose and said, “I need to get her there first — Miss Qu always has a bit of spirit to her, and she may not necessarily grant me the honor of joining me for a meal.”

Xia Yan was well aware that her second brother had a domineering streak and, once he set his mind on something, would settle for nothing less than exactly what he wanted. She laughed and said, “You won’t confide in your own sister, will you? Very well — the hour is not early, and I expect Kangping and the others must be arriving soon. Since both Elder Brother and Second Brother are not going out with me, I shall certainly not impose on anyone’s time — I will go off and enjoy myself with Kangping and the others.”

With that, Xia Yan took her leave and returned to her own small courtyard.

She had gone only halfway when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her finger idly wound itself around the tassel of her folding fan, and her gaze grew distant and unfocused, lost in thoughts unknown.

After quite some time, she said quietly to the maidservant at her side, “In a little while, have Chen San follow the second young master. Watch where he goes. If the second young master ends up in the company of Miss Qu, send someone immediately to Prince Lan’s estate to find the Eleventh Prince — tell him that Kangping and the Seventh Prince are waiting for him there, and be sure to draw him over.”

The maidservant blinked, then quickly nodded in understanding and went down to make the arrangements.

Lin Xiao came out of the Contemplation Room and went to the main hall to pay his respects to Prince Lan.

Prince Lan was reclining lazily on the daybed, listening to musicians play, his eyes half-lidded in contentment as his fingers tapped the armrest in time with the rhythm. Cui Shi sat at his side, idly leafing through a book of musical scores in her hand. Her appearance was considerably more understated than usual — she had abandoned her habitual pink and purple garments, and her lips carried their natural color, without the deliberate application of rouge to make them look dewy and delicate.

Prince Lan looked up and saw Lin Xiao, and gave an amused laugh. “Every year on the Flower Festival you are either at home reading and practicing your swordsmanship, or in the palace playing cuju with the Crown Prince and the Seventh Prince. It is rare to see you actually willing to go out today. Could it be that there is a young lady who has caught your eye?”

The Princess Consort of Prince Lan also looked Lin Xiao over from the side with a mild, appraising gaze. His features were strikingly handsome, his bearing upright, and he stood in the morning light like snow upon a mountain peak — brilliant to the point of being almost too much to look upon directly.

What particularly piqued her resentment was that while his expression appeared calm, his eyes plainly held a restrained eagerness and anticipation — and for whose sake that anticipation had arisen, there was no need to ask.

At this thought, she suddenly felt how exceedingly wise it had been of her to shatter Xia Yan’s hairpin that day. Even now, the sound of it shattering on the ground still echoed in her ears at times — sharp and crisp, deeply satisfying.

Lin Xiao noticed Cui Shi’s inexplicable gaze and smiled coldly to himself. That woman — who knew what she was scheming now. She still had a pile of unresolved accounts behind her, and yet she dared to cause trouble still. Truly, she did not know she was walking toward the edge of a cliff.

But today his entire heart was bent on the hope of meeting Qin Yao, and everything else could wait for later — he had no time to spare on Cui Shi.

Prince Lan looked at his son’s face, which bore such a strong resemblance to his late wife, and thought of how earnest and well-behaved his son had been all these years, never causing him a moment’s worry. A wave of deep feeling arose in him, and he sighed and said, “Very well. You are grown now, and you are rarely at the estate — you spend most of your time in the palace. Your father cannot always read your heart. But your father knows that you have always been steady and never reckless. If there is a young lady you have taken a liking to, simply ask your imperial uncle to arrange the match. Your father will not stand in the way — whatever brings you contentment.”

Lin Xiao had not expected this, and responded at once, “Father, your son will take these words to heart.”

Prince Lan saw that his son seemed intent on treating his words as a sealed and irrevocable promise, and was momentarily taken aback before bursting into hearty laughter. “Good, good — rest assured, your father will not go back on his word.”

The moment Qin Yao returned home, she immediately called out for Cai Ping and the others to draw a bath. She stepped into the bathing room, hastily shed her Daoist robe, loosened her hair, and gave herself a thorough scrubbing from head to toe.

When she emerged from the bathing room, fragrant and clean, Cai Ping was patting her hair dry with a cloth while saying, “Miss, just a while ago, a servant from the Wei Duke’s estate came to deliver a calling card — it seems the Princess Yishu has invited you out to enjoy the festival.”

“Princess Yishu?” Qin Yao cast a skeptical glance at the calling card on the table, then shook her head. “Tell them I am not at home, and send him off.”

“Yes, miss.” Cai Ping acknowledged her, then continued, “Miss, the hour is not early. Did you not arrange to meet Miss Wang and Miss Liu at South Marsh Garden? Let’s hurry and get you dressed so we can head out.”

For every Flower Festival, the streets filled with gorgeously dressed young women and dashing young men — a canopy of fragrant costumes and jeweled hair, a vision of a flourishing era that gathered all the fantasies of young girls into one radiant spectacle. It was considered by nearly all the young women of Chang’an to be their most beloved holiday of the year, and Cai Ping was certainly no exception.

Seeing Cai Ping’s jubilant excitement, Qin Yao found herself caught up in a share of the festive joy without quite meaning to, and smiled. “First bring me an outfit, then put my hair up beautifully. Once we’re all properly dressed, we’ll head out.”

Cai Ping gave a cheerful reply and brought out all the new garments that Qu Chen Shi had recently arranged for Qin Yao, picking through them left and right. In the end she settled on a gauze skirt of translucent pale celadon — thinking the cool, fresh color would set off Qin Yao’s fair, snow-like complexion beautifully. Once she had helped Qin Yao put it on and studied the effect for a good while, she added a half-sleeve of pale moonlight white over it.

Once dressed and groomed, Qin Yao made her way to the main courtyard to take her leave of the Qu couple. Unfortunately, Qu Ziyu had gone out early that morning and was nowhere to be found, so the plan of having her brother accompany her fell through. She had no choice but to set out on her own with Cai Ping.

Mistress and maidservant had just boarded the carriage when a plainly dressed woman came rushing up to the vehicle, her face filled with urgent distress. She cried out, “I beg your pardon — is this the female Daoist Yuan Zhen? Oh my, I have finally found you! The household I serve is plagued by an evil spirit and desperately awaits your help, revered Daoist!”

Cai Ping was first taken aback, then suppressed a sigh of private regret. It seemed the plan to go out and celebrate the festival today would fall through after all. The young miss loved nothing more than defeating demons and vanquishing evil, and this woman spoke with such a pitiful air — the young miss would certainly not turn a blind eye.

Thinking this, she quietly let out a long sigh and prepared to climb down from the carriage before the young miss could even tell her to go back inside.

But to her surprise, Qin Yao looked the woman over from head to toe and suddenly said with a half-smile, “This is plainly the Qu residence — not any Daoist monastery. Who told you I was the female Daoist Yuan Zhen?”

The woman had not expected this question, and stood there gaping for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, Qin Yao shot out a hand with lightning speed, seized her by the wrist, and said coldly, “Speak. Who sent you?”