Eunuch Gao stood outside Tianlu Pavilion, listening to the palace maid’s report about the relocation matter. He nodded and said, “I understand. You may withdraw.”

After the palace maid left, Eunuch Gao turned and entered Tianlu Pavilion, passed through the front hall, and reached the imperial bedchamber.

The chamber was dimly lit by a single bronze heron candelabra. He lightened his footsteps and lowered his head to see that the white jade sleeping rabbit had shattered into several pieces near the couch.

Eunuch Gao sighed inwardly as he pulled out a silk ribbon from his waist and wrapped up the broken jade pieces.

“Gao…”

Eunuch Gao glanced sideways, seeing a slight movement from the figure behind the gauze curtains of the wooden couch. He bowed his head and said softly, “Your Majesty, forgive this slave for disturbing your rest…”

Xiaoyan turned over and sat up, asking, “What time is it now?”

“Just past the Hour of the Tiger (3-5 AM). Your Majesty should rest a while longer.”

Xiaoyan reached out to lift the gauze curtain. “Bring me the memorials.”

Eunuch Gao boldly advised again: “Your Majesty has been sleeping little lately. Perhaps this slave should bring you a bowl of calming tea instead… A healthy dragon body is the foundation of the dynasty…”

Xiaoyan couldn’t sleep on normal days, and tonight was even worse.

He made an acknowledging sound, and Eunuch Gao immediately turned to leave.

His temples throbbed with pain. Though not agonizing, it was uncomfortable enough to prevent him from sleeping.

This headache had been occurring more frequently lately. He had suspected someone might be secretly harming him.

But his secret guards could find nothing suspicious, the imperial physicians couldn’t determine the cause, and even the skilled doctors he’d found outside the palace couldn’t explain it.

Xiaoyan’s expression grew colder. He put on a blue robe and got off the bed, lighting the candles in the chamber.

The bedchamber became as bright as day.

Eunuch Gao returned carrying a pearwood tray with several memorial scrolls and a bowl of calming tea.

Xiaoyan took the blue-and-white porcelain tea bowl and drank it all at once. His headache seemed to improve slightly, though perhaps it was just his imagination.

Eunuch Gao put down the tray and conscientiously retreated to stand guard outside the chamber.

Through the long night, the palace remained dark and quiet.

Only Tianlu Pavilion kept its lights burning.

When Concubine Wang of Xiuyi Palace awoke, she discovered that the beauty residing in the west side hall had been replaced.

She sat in the main hall, sizing up Beauty Wan, who sat across from her.

It wasn’t yet the Hour of the Dragon (7-9 AM), but she had heard that Beauty Wan had already come to pay her respects in the main hall.

She was certainly diligent.

Concubine Wang observed that Beauty Wan wore an ivory-colored outer robe with a moss-green skirt, her hair adorned with four ornaments, looking around with grace—truly a rare beauty.

Concubine Wang felt irritable. After sending away Gu Yi, now came this Zhao Wan.

Although only ranked as a Beauty, the Emperor had extraordinarily given her the title of “Wan.”

Concubine Wang blew on her tea, her tone cold, “Beauty Wan, you’re quite skilled. I heard that just yesterday you were still a maid at the Imperial Laundry, yet somehow you caught His Majesty’s eye. How impressive.”

Zhao Wan curtsied, “His Majesty’s grace is overwhelming. I am equally astonished to be sheltered in Xiuyi Palace. I hope Concubine Wang will guide me in the future.”

Concubine Wang sneered, “Tell me, how should I guide you… Last night Beauty Gu became Talent Gu. If you say you had nothing to do with it, I wouldn’t believe you. With such formidable skills… You should keep your distance from now on… However, since you now reside in Xiuyi Palace, you must follow Xiuyi Palace’s rules.” Concubine Wang put down her teacup. Copy ten volumes of palace regulations. Beauty Wan, you may refresh your memory.”

Zhao Wan’s face flushed as she lowered her head, “I will follow Concubine’s teachings.”

Concubine Wang waved her hand, “You may go.”

After Zhao Wan left Xiuyi Palace, Concubine Wang summoned Huang Li and anxiously asked, “Did you find out? What exactly happened last night?”

Huang Li answered in detail: “This servant went around making inquiries but couldn’t learn the specifics. I only heard that last night, Talent Gu led Beauty Wan to the lakeside where they encountered His Majesty. Somehow, they offended the imperial presence. But all who serve His Majesty directly are tight-lipped. It must be that Talent Gu violated some imperial taboo…”

Concubine Wang frowned, thinking that Gu Yi was neither ill-tempered nor foolish. How could she suddenly appear before the Emperor and offend his imperial presence?

The Emperor was already cold-hearted by nature. Was Gu Yi tired of living?

She pondered for a moment, but unable to figure it out, she let the matter drop.

She only instructed Huang Li, “From now on, you must keep a close eye on the west side hall.”

“This servant understands.”

Concubine Wang changed the subject, asking, “Has the newly acquired tea ceremony scroll been delivered to Consort Su at Caiwei Palace?”

Huang Li nodded, “This servant sent Huaihua to deliver it yesterday.”

Concubine Wang made an acknowledging sound, putting her mind at ease.

In Pingcui Palace, Gu Yi woke naturally, slowly sat up, and stretched lazily.

A long-awaited feeling of comfort.

For the first time in a long while, she felt she had triumphed over the plot.

No longer did she need to be constantly anxious, fearing that her life hung by a thread at every moment.

After she finished washing up, Tao Jia brought back today’s breakfast.

According to the standards for a Talent, the kitchen had reduced her meal by two small dishes and one pastry.

Tao Jia looked ready to cry. “This morning, when this servant went to collect the meal, the kitchen master refused to give this servant the shortbread that Talent loves. When I go to collect ice this afternoon, I expect we won’t receive as much as before. But it’s the height of summer—how will Talent endure with less ice?”

“These are trivial matters,” Gu Yi said magnanimously. “I see that the loquat tree in front of Pingcui Palace is lush and verdant. If well-tended, standing by the window, it could provide shade. There’s also a well at the back of the courtyard. If it gets extremely hot, we can cool some fruits with well water to relieve the heat…”

Tao Jia stared in disbelief, “Talent… you’re not going to fight back? Though Talent hasn’t said it explicitly, this servant can guess that it must be Beauty Wan who secretly harmed you… Now that Talent has come to the Western Garden, when the time comes next month for His Majesty to select companions, this servant can plead with Eunuch Lu, and there might still be room for change… As long as you can see His Majesty, Talent will surely…”

Gu Yi shook her head, sighed, and interrupted, “No need.”

Tao Jia froze momentarily, “Talent…”

Gu Yi wiped her hands with the tablecloth, “Later, if you go to the Office of Accounts, also stop by the Craftsmen’s Bureau and request a set of chuiwan equipment—a small set will do, even if it’s used.”

Tao Jia nodded in agreement.

After breakfast, Gu Yi began to focus on writing her story. In the middle of her work, Tuanyuan, a palace maid serving Beauty Qi, visited Pingcui Palace once, bringing her a gold leaf, saying it was from Beauty Qi.

Touched, Gu Yi devoted herself even more to her creative work.

After writing for several hours, she felt dizzy.

The sun reached its zenith, and the heat rose in waves.

Gu Yi simply removed the short-sleeved jacket she wore over her moon-white plain dress and fanned herself with a small blue-green silk fan to cool off.

She strolled into the courtyard, looked at the loquat tree, and saw a few small yellowish fruits hidden under the broad leaves, not yet fully grown.

Pingcui Palace was small, and so was its courtyard, with only this one loquat tree to admire—vastly different from her former courtyard at Heluo Hall.

She had seen all there was to see among the branches and leaves after just a brief look.

Gu Yi, holding her small fan, stepped out of the faded red-lacquered palace gate.

Walking a few steps east, she saw another pair of peeling vermilion doors with a fist-sized iron lock hanging on them, covered in rust—clearly locked for many years.

She looked up at the doors, which had neither inscriptions nor a plaque, not knowing which palace or courtyard it was.

Following the palace wall a few more steps, shade suddenly fell upon her head.

Gu Yi looked up to see brilliant green and red, ruby-like fruits hanging among the emerald leaves.

It was a tall cherry tree that had silently extended over the palace wall.

Xiaoyan, leaving Tanyuan Hall, was walking along the corridor toward the front hall. Turning past a moon gate, he spotted a figure standing beneath the palace wall ahead.

Dressed in plain white, her hair in a simple bun without pearl or flower ornaments, just two hairbands of autumn fragrance and indigo blue hanging down her back, swaying gently in the breeze from her fan.

She was looking up, intently focused on the cherry tree above the high wall.

Eunuch Gao, seeing the Emperor suddenly stop, also halted.

He stretched his neck for a look—had he seen this person before?

Gu Yi instinctively sensed someone staring at her from behind.

She turned around and saw Xiaoyan standing several steps away.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Yesterday in the rainy night, kneeling low, she hadn’t truly seen Xiaoyan’s face.

Seeing him now, Xiaoyan wore a dark gold-threaded dragon robe, a jade crown on his head, eyebrows like raven feathers, and a shallow scar at his temple—exactly as before.

Only his dark brown eyes, clear as glass, gazed at her without ripples or waves.

Was Xiao Gouzi not doing well…?

Though his appearance hadn’t changed at all, his overall aura seemed different from before.

Xiaoyan had always been cold and clear, but when he occasionally smiled, it was like ice melting in the first rays of warm sunshine. Yet the person before her now seemed shrouded in ten thousand years of frost, keeping people at a thousand miles’ distance.

Though it had only been two or three days since they’d last met, it felt like a lifetime had passed…

No matter how Gu Yi tried to comfort herself, she understood all too well that the plot had cruelly left the Xiao Gouzi of her memories in the previous cycle.

Just thinking about how she had left Xiao Gouzi all alone at the Lishan Tea Garden made her heart ache.

If it hurt to see him, better not to see him at all.

Eunuch Gao was rarely shocked.

Having seen countless people in his life, forgetting no face, making his living by remembering people, he recognized Talent Gu as soon as she turned around—the Talent Gu who had been demoted by the lake last night.

But what was she doing? What was her angle?

Seeing the Emperor, she neither curtsied nor greeted him, but instead stood frozen in place, her eyes reddening, with a pitiful look of someone about to cry, tears welling but not falling.

Could there be such a bold character in the entire palace?

He couldn’t help glancing sideways at the Emperor standing half a step away.

Xiaoyan’s long eyebrows furrowed slightly, his face showing rare hesitation.

He gazed at the newcomer with confusion. In the sunlight, her complexion was snow-white, her lips bright red. Her breathing quickened as she stared at him, her apricot eyes with pupils black as lacquer, looking directly into the imperial gaze.

This person… he seemed to have seen her before, yet also seemed never to have met her.

But why did she look so heartbroken?

It seemed that just looking at her made him affected by her sorrow…

Xiaoyan suppressed the strange, dense feeling of heaviness in his chest and asked, “Who are you, and why are you here?”

Hearing his voice, Gu Yi’s mind instantly cleared. She immediately lowered her head, curtsied, and replied, “This concubine is Talent Gu. I was taking a walk here today and unintentionally disturbed Your Majesty’s presence.”

Talent Gu.

The Talent Gu who threw the jade last night.

Xiaoyan’s expression turned cold, “Since you have already been punished, you should reflect earnestly and conduct yourself properly in your position from now on.”

Gu Yi kept her head lowered and answered, “Yes, this concubine will obey the imperial decree.”