Since the matter had been spoken openly, the Emperor no longer insisted on the Crown Prince taking Zhenzhen as a concubine, which amounted to tacit approval of Lin Hong and Zhenzhen’s future marriage. The Empress even thoughtfully arranged opportunities for Zhenzhen to meet with Lin Hong.

Jujing Garden was expected to be completed in May or June. The Emperor had originally planned to arrange a grand ceremony in the garden to welcome the Empress Dowager, but she said there was no need for such fanfare. A simple banquet would suffice, with no need to invite too many people – just close imperial relatives to taste a few seasonal dishes.

The Empress then summoned Zhenzhen and told her: “From what I can see of the Empress Dowager’s intentions, she doesn’t want those delicacies from previous banquets. The dishes need to be seasonal, but must not be misunderstood as ordinary vegetables. They need to be creative to satisfy the Empress Dowager’s wishes. Scholar Xuanyi can probably think of a solution. Since you’re skilled in cooking and can speak with him, why don’t you go discuss with him how this banquet should be arranged?”

Zhenzhen naturally accepted the command immediately. These past few days, the Emperor often had Lin Hong bring newly bloomed flower branches from Jujing Garden to arrange in vases at Jiaming Hall in the afternoons. The Empress then explained the banquet matter to the Emperor, requesting permission for Zhenzhen to discuss it with Lin Hong at Jiaming Hall. The Emperor understood her intentions perfectly well, but was now too lazy to fuss about it and readily agreed.

On this day, Lin Hong brought some newly opened bright red flowering quince to Jiaming Hall. The Emperor wasn’t in the hall. Shi Huaien said that Consort Liu’s health had been poor since this pregnancy, and His Majesty often went to have lunch with her, as he had today. He had left word asking Lin Hong to make himself comfortable and to tell Shi Huaien if he needed anything.

Lin Hong sat down and began arranging flowers. Soon Zhenzhen entered with tea and told him about the banquet. Lin Hong said: “This isn’t difficult, but let me think about the specifics before discussing it with you. Fortunately, there’s still time before completion, so there’s no rush.”

Zhenzhen sat down behind him, quietly watching him arrange flowers. After he finished one vase and still had five branches unused, she asked Shi Huaien, who was also watching: “May I ask Scholar Xuanyi to teach me how to arrange flowering quince?”

Shi Huaien readily agreed and immediately brought her a bronze square vase as a flower vessel.

Lin Hong told her about the approximate lengths to trim and methods for bending branches, then stood up to give her the table, asking her to arrange the flowers herself.

The flower arrangement Lin Hong taught her required at least five branches, and currently there were exactly five branches remaining, giving her no room for selection. Among these five branches, some were nearly flowerless half-dead branches, some had only buds, and only one had a single lonely bloom near the top.

Zhenzhen focused on that single flower, took a deep breath, and thought she must be careful not to knock it off – the entire vase arrangement depended on it for show. So she was especially cautious during the trimming and bending process, trying not to touch that one flower.

Having this concern made the flower arrangement feel increasingly difficult. The bronze square vase had a wide opening, requiring her to trim a wooden fork to wedge into the mouth, insert the trimmed flower branches into the fork openings in sequence, then cut a section of flowering quince wood to place horizontally behind the branches and above the fork, with both ends fitting against the vase’s inner walls to secure the branches. Zhenzhen worked very hard to manage to secure the branches in the vase without touching the flower.

After finishing the arrangement, Zhenzhen lifted her hand to wipe sweat from her forehead, secretly sighed with relief, and examined the flowering quince herself. She saw withered branches extending diagonally backward in the distance, buds reaching forward nearby, and that flower she had carefully protected blooming at the center branch tip, with branches and leaves of various heights as accompaniment. The curved arc at the waist of the flower branches was very beautiful, similar to Lin Hong’s work. Feeling somewhat proud, she stood up and stepped aside, asking Lin Hong to critique it, secretly expecting his praise.

Lin Hong slowly approached, sat down, looked at the flower blooming angrily at the branch tip, smiled slightly, then picked up the flower scissors from the table and reached toward the branch. The scissors cleanly snapped shut, and the flowering quince that Zhenzhen had carefully protected throughout the entire process fell with a sound.

“Ah…” Zhenzhen cried out softly, staring wide-eyed at the fallen flower, then at Lin Hong, utterly astonished.

“Why?” she asked in confusion. “That was my only blooming flower. With it cut, there are only withered branches and buds left.”

“You were too attached to it,” Lin Hong gazed at Zhenzhen and said gently. “Withered branches are the past we can learn from, buds are the future we can anticipate – both are worth cherishing. The fully bloomed flower is present prosperity, which might wither tomorrow, so we needn’t be too attached to it.”

Zhenzhen once again admiringly savored Teacher Lin’s Zen wisdom, but looking at that cut flower, she vaguely felt an ominous premonition: things had been going too smoothly lately, with every matter seeming to achieve the best results. Could this be considered “present prosperity”?

Seeing they had finished arranging flowers, Shi Huaien called the two young eunuchs serving in the hall to go fetch water and clean the hall, then said to Zhenzhen: “Leave the hall to us. Food Supervisor Wu and Scholar Xuanyi should return early to rest.”

Zhenzhen said: “I still have some flower arrangement questions to ask Scholar Xuanyi.”

Shi Huaien smiled and nodded repeatedly: “I understand, I understand. Please, go ahead.” As he spoke, he withdrew.

Having accompanied Zhenzhen to Suzhou, he had already observed their affection and understood Zhenzhen’s thoughts. He also wanted to help them succeed, so he was willing to give them some private space.

After Shi Huaien left, Lin Hong didn’t ask what Zhenzhen wanted to learn. With a barely perceptible smile, he turned around and silently began cleaning up the broken branches she had left on the table.

At Wen Qiao Inn, whether in the kitchen or study, he wouldn’t help Zhenzhen clean up after cooking or flower arranging. If she forgot to clean up, he would wear a cold expression until she realized and took action herself. But now he was actually taking the initiative to help Zhenzhen clean up, showing that his treatment of her was indeed different from before.

Thinking of this, Zhenzhen felt her heart struck by something, rippling with countless threads of tenderness. She couldn’t help but approach Lin Hong and embrace his waist from behind, resting her right cheek against his back.

His movements paused, then he said calmly: “Let go… someone might come.”

Instead, she held him tighter: “I don’t care. Just answer me one question.”

He asked: “What?”

She buried her head low, hiding her emerging smile: “When will you be improper with me again?”

He trembled, and the broken branches in his hand scattered on the table, but this was no longer important. He swept his arms across, brushing all the branches and leaves on the table to the floor, then turned around and swiftly lifted her up with a spin, seating her on the table.

He braced his hands on the table surface on either side of her slender waist. Though maintaining some distance, he had essentially half-imprisoned her, not allowing her to escape.

His bright eyes contained shadowy smiles as he gradually drew closer to her.

She felt drawn into his gaze like drowning, almost unable to breathe. Now facing outward, she caught sight of the still-open main door from the corner of her eye, suddenly panicked and regretting her earlier flirtation. She lifted her toes to lightly kick his knee: “Hey, hey, someone might come!”

He didn’t stop approaching her.

She became increasingly nervous, pressing her hands on his shoulders to resist: “Palace rules are strict, you shouldn’t knowingly…”

The word “violate” didn’t escape because as he was about to touch her face, he closed his eyes and brushed her left cheek with his eyelashes. She immediately felt a string connecting from head to toe suddenly tighten, her whole body trembling.

She closed her eyes, waiting for this heart-stopping sensation to fade. When she opened them to look at him, she saw he still wore a leisurely expression, smiling as he gazed at her. Both shy and annoyed, she simply steeled her heart, moved her hands from resisting his shoulders to reaching forward, embracing his neck and forcing him to lower his head, recklessly moving to kiss his lips.

He was equally unyielding, decisively kissing back when her lips were about to leave.

She was the spring breeze blowing into his withered heart, she was the floral fragrance that came to break his silent meditation. Floating up and down in the waves he had stirred, he hazily thought he would gladly accept this unpremeditated knowing transgression.

At the end of March, Consort Liu’s daughter Princess Yijia turned one year old. The Emperor had wanted to hold a grand banquet in the palace inviting many guests to celebrate, but Liu Luo Wei dissuaded him. Liu Luo Wei said: “She’s just a little girl, barely one year old. There’s no need to spend money on a grand celebration, or it might diminish her fortune and damage her lifespan. Better to just set up a small banquet at Furong Pavilion, with just our family sitting together to say a few auspicious words.”

The Emperor thought this made sense and agreed. Liu Luo Wei then requested: “Could we invite Scholar Xuanyi that day? The princess’s informal name was chosen by him, and since that last gathering at Furong Pavilion, we haven’t met again. I haven’t had a chance to thank him.”

The princess’s formal name “Yijia” was chosen by the Emperor, while the informal name “Ruying” was chosen by Lin Hong. Originally, when the Emperor wanted to name the princess, he thought hard but couldn’t come up with anything satisfactory. Just as Lin Hong had business to attend to, the Emperor asked him to think of something. Lin Hong considered briefly and said: “How about ‘Ruying’? Laozi said: ‘Focus your vital breath until it becomes supple, can you be like an infant?’ Infants are pure and innocent, full of vital energy. It’s said that poisonous insects, fierce beasts, and evil birds won’t harm newborn infants. I hope the little princess can always maintain an infant’s pure state of mind wherever she goes, with serene spirit and calm energy, unharmed by external things, undisturbed by worldly dust, living peacefully and smoothly all her life.”

The Emperor praised this repeatedly and adopted it as the princess’s informal name. Now hearing Liu Luo Wei mention Lin Hong’s contribution in choosing the name again, the Emperor readily agreed to invite him to the family banquet.

Liu Luo Wei continued: “It’s just a family banquet at Furong Pavilion. If Your Majesty trusts this subject, don’t bring the food supervisor. The meals are all arranged by this subject anyway. Is Your Majesty afraid I might put something in them and insist on bringing someone to taste first?”

The Emperor laughed: “Having someone taste imperial food first is an ancestral rule, but since you don’t like it, I won’t bring a food supervisor to your pavilion. After all, you’ve tasted everything I eat and drink here – what do I have to worry about?”

Liu Luo Wei pouted: “You’re still bringing this up! Originally, this subject accompanied Your Majesty daily, tasting all the imperial food at Jiaming Hall first. As soon as Wu Zhenzhen came, you no longer wanted me involved.”

The Emperor embraced her and gently consoled: “Wasn’t this because I feared you’d be exhausted from bearing children and it would be inconvenient to manage food matters? Your own diet requires extra caution with someone tasting first – how could I burden you with tasting mine too?”

Liu Luo Wei said angrily: “You’re just deceiving me. You simply fancy Wu Zhenzhen, which is why you have her attend you constantly!”

The Emperor laughed heartily: “To me, she’s just a little girl of my son’s generation. Besides, she’s about to marry.”

Liu Luo Wei was stunned: “Marry? Who is she marrying?”

The Emperor’s smile deepened: “Let Scholar Xuanyi tell you.”

On Princess Yijia’s birthday, Lin Hong came to the lunch banquet at Furong Pavilion as promised. During the meal, people in the pavilion frequently toasted the princess, with the Emperor drinking on her behalf. After the banquet, the Emperor was quite drunk. Liu Luo Wei had someone help him to the sleeping quarters to rest, then ordered maids to set up a tea table in the garden and invited Lin Hong to drink tea.

Liu Luo Wei was concerned about Wu Zhenzhen’s matter. After chatting briefly with Lin Hong, she said: “Recently I’ve heard some gossip about you and Food Supervisor Wu…”

“I was just about to discuss this matter with you, Consort,” Lin Hong paused slightly and looked at the maid serving tea beside them. Liu Luo Wei understood and immediately ordered the maids to withdraw to a distance, leaving only Granny Yu, who was inseparable from her, behind.

Lin Hong took out a small black lacquered box and presented it to Liu Luo Wei. When she opened it, she saw a lustrous jade bracelet standing in the brocade, entirely emerald green and semi-transparent with excellent water quality.

Lin Hong began explaining the reason: “When Sister left home for the capital that year, I chased to the riverside at the foot of the mountain to grab Sister’s wrist. Sister struggled, her hand slipped out of the jade bracelet I was holding, and in my panic, I threw aside the bracelet to pull Sister again, but she had already had the boatman take her away… That bracelet fell to the ground and shattered. Later, after careful selection, I found a piece of jade with quality close to your bracelet, carved and polished it myself for a long time, and finally made it into a bracelet.”

Liu Luo Wei smiled: “Just a bracelet – what’s the big deal? It’s touching that you’ve always remembered it and put so much thought into carving another one.”

She took out the jade bracelet and carefully admired it.

“I’ve always carried this bracelet with me. Now it’s time to return it to Sister,” Lin Hong paused, then continued, “I’m going to marry. She’s the person I want to spend my life with. The past is over, and I don’t want her to have any misunderstandings because of this object.”

Liu Luo Wei’s smile froze. Putting the bracelet back in the box, she looked at Lin Hong again and asked: “Who are you marrying?”

“Wu Zhenzhen.”

“Ha.” Hearing him personally speak this expected answer, Liu Luo Wei still couldn’t help feeling shocked, then let out a cold laugh.

The two faced each other in silence for a moment, then Liu Luo Wei asked Lin Hong: “Do you like her very much?”

Lin Hong raised his eyes and said firmly: “It’s love.”

Liu Luo Wei took a deep breath, turned to look at the distant flowing clouds, then turned back after a moment, showing a smile again, and asked softly: “Hongning, do you still carry that silver needle with you?”

Lin Hong was startled and stared at her with furrowed brows.

“Before your aunt died, she gave you the silver needle and told you not to forget your uncle’s matter. For many years after, you followed your mother’s dying wishes and carried it everywhere.” Liu Luo Wei continued smiling faintly, leading him to recall those cruel past events. “But you won’t need to carry it with you anymore. For your uncle’s matter, you just need to look at your bedside companion to remember.”

Lin Hong was confused and uneasy, asking in a deep voice: “What are you trying to say?”

Liu Luo Wei fixed her gaze on him and said word by word: “Wu Zhenzhen is Zhang Yunqiao’s daughter.”

Lin Hong was immediately speechless, but stared at her with tightly knitted brows, his searching gaze as if trying to pierce into the depths of her eyes.

“Don’t believe it?” Liu Luo Wei chuckled, then lowered her gaze dejectedly: “When has Sister ever lied to you? I’m saying this now only because I can’t bear to see the wife you’ll face day and night become another needle piercing your heart.”

Liu Luo Wei began recounting the entanglements between Zhang Yunqiao, Liu Sishan, and Wu Qiuniang, as well as Wu Zhenzhen’s background. Granny Yu had been silently observing behind Liu Luo Wei. Seeing Lin Hong listening in a daze, she stopped Liu Luo Wei from continuing, summoned two eunuchs, and had them escort Lin Hong back.

After Lin Hong left, Granny Yu gracefully approached, took Liu Luo Wei’s hand, and gently advised: “The wind is picking up. My lady should go inside, careful not to catch cold.”

She led Liu Luo Wei into her room, closed the door, then her expression suddenly changed as she slapped Liu Luo Wei across the face.

“What did you tell Lin Hong all that for?” she said angrily. “Wu Zhenzhen is so troublesome – leaving her in the palace will ruin our plans sooner or later. With Lin Hong’s temperament, he won’t stay in the capital long. What’s wrong with letting Wu Zhenzhen follow him back to Wuyi Mountain to be a country couple?”

“She can marry anyone, just not Hongning!” Liu Luo Wei covered her struck face and wept bitterly. “Hongning is the only person in this world who truly loves me!”

Granny Yu was stunned, looking at Liu Luo Wei sobbing before her. Her anger gradually faded, then she said coldly: “You’ve ruined their good fortune – just wait and see. Wu Zhenzhen will either be taken by His Majesty or given to the Crown Prince in the future. When she becomes consort or empress, she’ll have you begging for scraps by watching her expression.”

“It won’t happen.” Liu Luo Wei wiped her tear-stained face and stubbornly raised her head. “I won’t let that happen.”