Liu Luowei quietly walked into the garden behind her sleeping quarters. In a cave within an artificial mountain, she turned several corners and pressed down on a sunken Taihu stone in various directions—up, down, left, right—several times before pushing. The stone block began to rotate, revealing a narrow tunnel behind it. Liu Luowei lit the candle she carried, entered the tunnel, closed the entrance, and proceeded forward by candlelight.

This tunnel led to the other side of Phoenix Mountain’s foothills, with an exit outside the palace walls, concealed by rocks and vines, extremely well hidden. Liu Luowei explored her way to near the exit, where she could already see the light from outside. However, worried about the safety of her children and Madam Yu, and not knowing where to go, she stopped and remained there, sitting in a daze waiting.

She waited silently for a long time, but Madam Yu never came to find her. Liu Luowei grew increasingly anxious. She peered outside and discovered the sun setting in the west, dusk gradually deepening. She couldn’t help but panic, feeling an increasingly ominous premonition. So she parted the vines and walked outside the tunnel, wanting to descend the mountain to hide.

Just as she brushed the dust off her skirt and lifted her head, she saw a man standing at the edge of the cliff ahead, his back to her. He was looking down at the mountain valley’s mist with lowered head, his robes fluttering in the evening wind. Liu Luowei was startled and immediately turned to hide back in the tunnel. In her haste to retreat, she stepped on a rock, staggered twice, and bumped into the vines, creating a rustling sound. The man heard the noise and turned around. Their eyes met, and he seemed unsurprised, calling out indifferently: “Sister.”

Liu Luowei was delighted and smiled brightly: “Hong Ning!”

Lin Hong smiled slightly, but it looked very forced.

Liu Luowei gradually sensed something amiss and walked up to him, asking: “Why are you here?”

“I was waiting for you,” Lin Hong said. “Today the Crown Prince took a consort, and I was among the guests. I heard some things about the Eastern Palace. I heard you had someone deliver medicine to the Eastern Palace, so I guessed that perhaps you might appear here.”

Liu Luowei was alarmed and alert: “Why do you say this?”

Lin Hong’s gaze fell on the secret passage behind her: “I had people dig this secret passage when I renovated the garden for you. You said Hibiscus Pavilion had many flowers and trees, fearing fire disasters, so building this secret passage would provide another escape route. The reason was far-fetched, but I still built it for you. I didn’t expect you would actually use it… Sister, you really did bring about a fire disaster.”

Liu Luowei asked fearfully: “What do you know?”

Lin Hong said: “Before Crown Prince Zhuang Wen was poisoned by mushrooms, Madam Yu came to me asking for blueprints of the Eastern Palace’s spring water pipeline. Later when the Crown Prince was poisoned, I had some doubts, but I convinced myself it was perhaps just a coincidence and I shouldn’t think too much. However, after the Crown Prince’s death, while I was building the garden for you, I discovered some poisonous mushrooms growing in a certain spot after rain. When I dug up that area, I found several snake bones… Do you remember when we were children reading together? There was a book that recorded the method of using plant ash to cover poisonous snakes to cultivate poisonous mushrooms. Why would your garden have this? Were you really researching this method? Are these snake bones remnants left behind after you cultivated poisonous mushrooms without cleaning them up properly?”

“What snake bones? I don’t know…” Liu Luowei denied vehemently, but turned her head aside, avoiding Lin Hong’s gaze.

Lin Hong clearly had his own certain answer in mind. He continued to look directly at her, asking sadly: “Why did you impersonate my cousin? Was it because this identity would make His Majesty lower his guard? Miss Qi?”

Seeing his certainty, Liu Luowei realized he must have learned the truth. Further disguise would be useless, so she remained silent, not saying a word.

Lin Hong smiled sadly: “All these years must have been very grievous, right? Hiding in your enemy’s home, having to conceal your deep hatred while caring for his children.”

“No, Hong Ning!” Liu Luowei looked up at him with tearful eyes. “I’ve always considered you my real brother… no, perhaps even closer than a brother… Mother indeed only wanted to use your family’s connections to help me smoothly enter the palace, but in my heart, you are my family. I never transferred my ancestors’ hatred onto you.”

Seeing Lin Hong make no response, she said mournfully: “Those few years I spent with you were the happiest time of my entire life. Although I often faced Mother’s beatings and scolding, as long as I saw you protecting and comforting me, I was filled with joy, knowing that at least one person in this world truly cared for me… I didn’t want to enter the palace, but Mother tearfully persuaded me, telling me over and over about Grandfather’s and Father’s tragic deaths and their dying wishes. As their descendant, I truly had no way to escape the fate of avenging them… After learning I was selected, I cried every night. I wanted to stay at Wuyi Mountain and be with you forever, but who told me I had Qi family blood flowing in my veins? Using one’s own life to repay parents’ nurturing grace is the natural responsibility of being a child…”

Seeing a faint glimmer in Lin Hong’s eyes, she wiped away her falling tears and continued: “The day I departed for Lin’an, when I saw you running to chase after me, my heart felt as if cut by knives. Although I cruelly broke away from you, I returned to the boat crying until I could barely breathe, feeling all hope was lost. If Mother hadn’t desperately stopped me, I almost jumped into the river to end my life…”

“Stop talking,” Lin Hong interrupted her, turning his back to her and looking toward the distant mountain range’s slate-colored outline. “Go. A’Che is waiting for you halfway up the mountain. He’ll give you some money and arrange to send you out of the city. After today’s farewell, I suppose we won’t have another chance to meet. Take care.”

“Come with me, won’t you?” Liu Luowei suddenly seemed to glimpse a ray of hope. She quickly stepped in front of Lin Hong, staring at him with bright eyes. “Let’s go together, leave Lin’an, return to Wuyi Mountain, or find somewhere else where no one can find us, and stay together like before…”

Lin Hong remained silent, lowering his eyes to meet hers. His gaze was cold and clear, showing neither joy nor sorrow.

“Please? Hong Ning, come with me…” Liu Luowei pleaded softly, tugging at Lin Hong’s hand and shaking it like she used to do when acting coquettishly with His Majesty. Seeing no reaction from Lin Hong, she extended both hands to embrace his waist, nestling against his chest with lowered eyelashes, whispering: “Now only you are someone I can safely depend on…”

Lin Hong didn’t embrace her back. She quickly felt the stiffness of his body, and looking down at Lin Hong’s hanging hands, she suddenly discovered that goosebumps had appeared on his wrists and above.

Liu Luowei looked in disbelief, then suddenly pulled up Lin Hong’s sleeves, immediately discovering obvious goosebumps covering his entire arm.

She naturally knew well of Lin Hong’s cleanliness obsession. If strangers touched him, he would feel disgusted, and his body would accordingly break out in goosebumps. But that was with strangers! She and Lin Hong had grown up together, always intimate, often walking hand in hand at Wuyi Mountain, and hugging frequently occurred. He had never had such a reaction.

But the goosebumps on his arms at this moment were clear and shocking.

“Hong Ning, do you… despise me?” Liu Luowei looked up at Lin Hong in confusion, hoping with all her heart that he would give a negative answer.

However, he made no statement, only calmly withdrew his hands, breaking free from her grasp.

The light in her eyes instantly dimmed. She stared blankly and stepped back several paces. After a moment of silence, she took out a jade bracelet from the silk pouch hanging at her waist.

“Do you still remember this bracelet?” she asked Lin Hong with a smile.

Lin Hong looked at the bracelet she held up and nodded.

Of course he remembered. This was the bracelet he had spent countless days and nights slowly crafting to compensate her. Later she publicly said in Gathering Scene Garden that she wanted to give it to Zhenzhen, inadvertently delivering a heart-piercing blow to Zhenzhen.

“You said this was jade you carefully selected, carved and polished for a long time to make this bracelet, just to return it to me…” Liu Luowei’s lips curved up mockingly, her tone suddenly becoming exceptionally cold. “But you had long forgotten how big my hands were, hadn’t you?”

Lin Hong tensed and deliberately looked at her hands.

Liu Luowei laughed coldly: “This bracelet, I can’t put it on at all. But that Wu Zhenzhen could wear it perfectly, not too big, not too small… You must have touched her hands many times, right? You memorized the measurements so well that you made the bracelet meant for me according to her hand size!”

Lin Hong was also secretly shocked, completely not having thought that the bracelet’s size would be as Liu Luowei described. Thinking back, when he held the jade pondering day and night, it was exactly when Zhenzhen was at Wuyi Mountain. Zhenzhen followed him learning culinary arts, and he inevitably watched her hands countless times, intentionally or unintentionally. He was indeed very familiar with the size of her palms and the thickness of her wrists. Perhaps because of this subtle influence, he unknowingly made the bracelet according to her hand size?

“Why don’t you explain or deny it? Don’t you know I’m expecting you to give me an explanation? Even if it’s just to humor me…” Liu Luowei’s tears fell like broken pearls, unstoppable. “Knowing this wasn’t a bracelet made for me, yet since you gave it to me, I still carried it with me daily. Only now do I discover that this bracelet is just evidence of your self-deception, and my feelings for you are nothing but a joke!”

“Take it with you when you go,” Lin Hong finally spoke. “If you don’t want it, exchange it for some money. You’ll need expenses for life outside in the future…”

Liu Luowei held the bracelet straight out in front of him, saying through gritted teeth: “I don’t want it.”

Lin Hong didn’t take it. Liu Luowei was furious and threw the bracelet at Lin Hong. Lin Hong neither caught it nor avoided it. The bracelet hit his body and fell to the ground, striking a rock. With a crisp sound, it instantly shattered into pieces.

Liu Luowei breathed a sigh of relief, smiled challengingly at Lin Hong, then walked proudly toward the secret passage she had emerged from.

“Luowei,” Lin Hong called from behind her, “don’t go back. Going back brings uncertain fortune and disaster.”

“Whether it’s disaster or fortune, I’m willing to bear it. Even if I die, I want to die beside my children,” Liu Luowei resolutely walked toward the path she came from. “They are my real family.”

Liu Luowei, who returned to Hibiscus Pavilion, was quickly surrounded by numerous attendants and sent to her sleeping quarters under house arrest. The subsequent punishment awaited His Majesty’s decision. But for her, this wasn’t the most terrible thing. When news came that her son had died from poison, the intense pain Liu Luowei felt nearly drove her mad.

“Why? I had someone send an antidote to Fourth Brother. Why didn’t you save him?” She angrily grabbed every person she saw and asked, but no one answered her question.

She cursed, tore at things, smashed objects, and ran around crying heart-rendingly in the limited space. No one dared approach to comfort her. It wasn’t until the hour of hai (9-11 PM) that Liu Luowei had cried herself to exhaustion. As she leaned against the wall half-asleep and half-awake, the tightly closed door suddenly opened. An old woman with silver hair appeared at the doorway, carrying a stewing pot, followed by Zhang Zhibei who had escorted her there.

“Tao Sheng,” the old woman called through tearful eyes, looking at her with a smile.

When Zhenzhen returned to the palace, she encountered Old Lady Song still crying on the street outside Hening Gate, so she brought her back to the palace. She reported to the Emperor about the Shi’an Garden incident and told the story of Old Lady Song and her granddaughter. The Emperor was very sad about the Fourth Prince’s death. Although he deeply detested what Madam Yu had done, he inevitably felt some pity for Liu Luowei. When he heard that the granddaughter Old Lady Song had been searching for many years was actually Liu Luowei, he sighed even more and agreed to let Old Lady Song go to Hibiscus Pavilion to visit Liu Luowei. Old Lady Song requested to make a bowl of fish soup for her granddaughter. The Emperor permitted it, having Zhenzhen take her to the Royal Kitchen to prepare the fish soup and bring it to Hibiscus Pavilion.

Liu Luowei was in a dazed state and didn’t react.

Old Lady Song took a bowl and ladled out the fish soup, tested the temperature, then fed it to Liu Luowei’s mouth with a spoon.

Liu Luowei was drowsy and originally almost unconscious, but as spoonful after spoonful of fish soup entered her mouth, her dull eyes suddenly began to move. She confusedly savored the fish soup carefully, then looked up at Old Lady Song, frowning warily and asking: “Who are you?”

“I’m your grandmother, Tao Sheng,” Old Lady Song said with a gentle smile and soft voice.

“Grandmother… nonsense, get out quickly!” Liu Luowei was first somewhat confused, then shouted angrily at Old Lady Song.

“Don’t you find this fish soup’s taste very familiar?” Old Lady Song still gazed at her lovingly, slowly saying: “When you were small, I often made fish soup for you. For others, I would cut the fish meat into slices or shreds, but for you I made it especially fine—the fish meat was ground into paste, carefully picked through so there wouldn’t be a single bone… The bamboo shoots were also cut as fine as dragon whiskers, the soup simmered until fragrant and fresh, not too salty, not too sour… Look, it’s exactly the taste of what you’re drinking now. Do you remember?”

Yes, this was the taste that remained in Liu Luowei’s distant childhood memories. Although many years had passed, when the soup entered her mouth, that familiar feeling rose strand by strand from deep in her memory, like a key slowly opening a door sealed for many years. Some fragmented scenes floated from far to near, gradually surfacing in her heart: a kind old woman blowing on the fish soup in the spoon before bringing it to her mouth… the old woman smiling while watching her drink soup, occasionally using her sleeve to wipe away the remaining soup from the corners of her lips… she giggled while drinking soup, accidentally choking, and the old woman quickly set down the soup bowl and reached out to pat her back to help her breathe…

“Who are you?” Liu Luowei asked again, her tone much gentler, sounding like a sincere inquiry.

“I am Song Wuniang. You are my granddaughter Tao Sheng,” Old Lady Song gently guided her to remember the past. “You loved peach blossoms very much. Anyone who gave you one would make you smile happily. Later, your mother personally sewed a small quilt for you with many peach blossoms embroidered on it. You insisted on sleeping under that quilt every day, especially loving to smell its scent. Every time you slept, you would grab a corner of the peach blossom quilt with your left hand and pull it to your nose to smell, then put your right index and middle fingers in your mouth to suck before you could fall asleep…”

As she spoke, Old Lady Song took Liu Luowei’s right hand and looked at it, saying: “Look, these two fingers on your right hand are slightly thinner than those on your left. You must have kept this finger-sucking habit until quite old before changing it, right?”

Liu Luowei’s eyes filled with tears as she murmured: “Five years old. I only changed it when I was five.”

Old Lady Song asked with a smile: “What about the peach blossom quilt? The day Chun Rong took you away, that little quilt disappeared too. It must still be with you, right?”

Liu Luowei still unconsciously replied: “It was always with me, used for over ten years until it was too worn to be used anymore.”

Old Lady Song wiped her eyes with her sleeve: “If your mother were still alive, she could make you another peach blossom quilt, but…”

Liu Luowei stared blankly at Old Lady Song for a long time, then turned to look at Zhang Zhibei behind her and asked: “What exactly is going on?”

Zhang Zhibei stepped forward and relayed what Madam Yu had mentioned about the past before her death, combined with Zhenzhen’s previous explanation, telling Liu Luowei the truth about her origins.

Liu Luowei stared in shock and remained silent for a long time, then suddenly held her head and let out a piercing scream.

Old Lady Song embraced her tearfully, patting her gently like soothing a baby: “It’s alright now, it’s all over. Grandmother and Tao Sheng have met again…”

Liu Luowei nestled against her and began to sob. Old Lady Song, tears streaming, still tried to smile encouragingly at her: “Tao Sheng, don’t be afraid. From now on, grandmother will come see you every day. Tell grandmother whatever you want to eat, and grandmother will make it for you. Stir-fried noodles, crispy seals, five-spice cake, boiled sand balls—these were all your favorites. Do you still remember?”

Liu Luowei didn’t answer, crying heartbrokenly in her arms.

The grandmother and granddaughter embraced and wept together. After an hour, they separated at Zhang Zhibei’s urging. Zhang Zhibei was about to take Old Lady Song away when Liu Luowei got up to follow. Zhang Zhibei told her to stay, but Liu Luowei pleaded tearfully: “Director Zhang, I want to see my grandmother off.”

Zhang Zhibei, seeing her pitiful state, agreed to let her see her grandmother off to the terrace outside her sleeping quarters.

As Old Lady Song was about to descend the steps to leave, Liu Luowei took a few more steps forward to call her back, smiling at her: “Grandmother, I still have a daughter named Ruying…”

Zhang Zhibei said upon hearing this: “The Princess is resting in the Empress’s sleeping quarters tonight. Please be assured, my lady.”

Liu Luowei nodded and continued to Old Lady Song: “Grandmother, please visit Ruying often in the future. She also loves those pastries.”

Old Lady Song repeatedly agreed and said the night wind was strong, telling Liu Luowei to return to her room early to avoid catching cold.

Liu Luowei agreed but didn’t turn back. Instead, she watched Old Lady Song until her figure completely disappeared from view. Only then did she look up sadly at the crescent moon in the sky, cold as a scimitar, staring at it for a moment. Then she suddenly turned around, ran quickly to the edge of the terrace, climbed over the railing, and leaped down.

In the cold moonlight, dressed in white, she was like a gray moth, spreading her wings and spiraling down, falling beside the hot spring pool where she used to dress her hair and soak her feet. The blood that splashed was dark colored in the night, spreading like ink in the hot spring water, swirling into black silk.