The mechanism creaked as the pulley drew the hemp rope, slowly raising the wooden siege tower basket with a gentle sway. Li Yuanxu instinctively reached out to steady Wei Shubin.

The basket was protected on its lower half by thick wooden panels against arrows, while the upper portion had crenellations that allowed occupants to peer out to observe enemy movements and easily relay shouted commands down to their forces below. However, the interior was extremely cramped, normally only able to accommodate one large-bellied man standing. Li Yuanxu and Wei Shubin, being both slim, managed to squeeze in together, though they couldn’t avoid occasional physical contact.

For this reason, when Yang Xinzhi smilingly suggested “Miss Wei might go up with Young Master to take a look,” Wei Shubin’s first reaction was to shake her head in refusal, her face reddening as she glanced around at their surroundings.

After following Li Yuanxu out of the pavilion platform, the Emperor returned to the palace, and the soldiers and craftsmen demonstrating the weapons had all packed up their equipment and left, no one wanting to stay out in the scorching heat. But Li Yuanxu had pulled Wei Shubin and Yang Xinzhi down to the field, only managing to stop the siege tower from being wheeled away, saying he wanted to go up for a look. The operating craftsmen and soldiers didn’t dare refuse and agreed to wait, though those not immediately needed had quietly slipped away, leaving only three or four people by the tower.

But three or four people were still people… and all adult men at that. Looking at Li Yuanxu and Wei Shubin’s situation, they exchanged knowing glances, their expressions quickly matching Yang Xinzhi’s — and the Emperor’s earlier in the pavilion — wearing foolish grins like they were watching a street performance.

So what of it?

Slightly defiant, Li Yuanxu stepped into the wooden basket first, then extended his hand to Wei Shubin: “Come, I have something to tell you.”

From his understanding of Chief Minister Wei’s eldest daughter, this young lady had been raised with the education of an Eastern scholarly family, cultivating proper manners, but her nature was stubborn and independent, not overly concerned with worldly criticism. After their long separation, they both had much to say and important matters to discuss. Once the siege tower basket was raised, they would have both the view and privacy for quiet conversation. Their romance had already reached imperial ears and hadn’t been hidden in the royal presence – what did a few soldiers and craftsmen matter?

Wei Shubin hesitated for a moment, then steeled herself and stepped into the basket, though she didn’t take his hand and stood with her back to him, maintaining the last vestiges of a minister’s daughter’s dignity. Li Yuanxu smiled slightly, not wanting to pressure her, and nodded to Yang Xinzhi.

The tall guard suppressed a smile as he closed the basket’s guardrail and personally operated the mechanism and ropes, raising the observation platform with the help of the craftsmen. Before Li Yuanxu’s eyes first appeared a vast expanse of lush forest, followed by the hillside’s shrubs, wild grass, streams, and abandoned courtyards. In the distance, the imposing gray silhouettes of palace buildings gradually became clearer.

Yong’an Palace sat on Dragon Head Plain in the northeastern Imperial Gardens, naturally elevated ground not far from the palace city’s northern wall gates like the Western Inner Garden and Xuanwu Gate. As the basket rose higher, he saw the gleaming waves of the palace lake, and above the eaves of the Ganlu Hall, Lingyan Pavilion, and other palace buildings to its south, flocks of birds circled and descended. Beyond was the grandest Taiji Hall further south, where white mourning banners still hung under its flying eaves, with ant-like human figures moving about below…

Beyond the Taiji Hall, south of the palace walls, the even more magnificent Imperial City and the vast expanse of Chang’an’s outer city walls spread before his eyes like an endless sand table.

The young woman beside him let out a soft sigh. Li Yuanxu turned to look at her and saw Wei Shubin’s eyes filled with dreamlike enchantment, her earlier shyness completely gone.

“I… can’t see my home,” Wei Shubin stretched her neck to look south, and finding the sunlight too harsh, made a shade with her hand above her brow. “Which one is Yongxing District?”

“Look over there, first find the city wall. Counting inward from the wall, the first block is Guangzhai District, the second is Yongchang District, and the third is your Yongxing District… It’s too far to see clearly, I can’t make out your family compound either…”

Li Yuanxu stood behind Wei Shubin, gazing into the distance with her. He was half a head taller than the young woman, his view unobstructed, but they were standing so close that her double hair buns occasionally brushed against his cheek, creating a peculiar tickling sensation.

His heart began to tickle as well.

Earlier in the royal pavilion, Wei Shubin had struggled with the guards, causing her hair to become disheveled, with many loose strands floating free. Li Yuanxu, raised in the palace and accustomed to neat appearances, acted without thinking, raising his hand to gently remove several hairpins from her buns, causing her black hair to cascade down like a waterfall.

Wei Shubin let out a soft “Ah!” and half-turned to touch her hair, reproaching him: “What are you doing!”

The young prince realized his impropriety – the gesture was quite forward and disrespectful. His face grew hot as he quickly apologized with a smile: “Your hair was messy, I… I wanted to help fix it. I meant nothing else by it, please don’t misunderstand…”

The wind was strong at that height, and suddenly a gust swept through, lifting Wei Shubin’s long hair and whipping it against Li Yuanxu. The wooden basket began to sway violently, and the young woman lost her balance, crying out in alarm. Li Yuanxu quickly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his embrace while gripping the guardrail with his other hand, lowering his head to murmur comfortingly: “Don’t be afraid, it’s alright.”

Their standing place continued to rock unsteadily, the world spinning around them. Li Yuanxu felt two soft arms wrap tightly around his waist, and where he had buried his face, her dark fragrant hair billowed like waves. Surrounded by her subtle perfume, his soul seemed to drift away, losing all sense of time and place.

As the wind weakened, the basket’s swaying gradually steadied. Li Yuanxu’s heartbeat also slowed, and he became aware of the young woman’s slight trembling against his neck, her breath like orchids.

The fragrance Wei Shubin wore was familiar to him, and he realized it was the same palace incense that had filled the royal pavilion earlier. She must have spent quite some time in that imperial tent…

“Shubin, how did you end up here?”

Wei Shubin’s mind seemed to be wandering as well, and his soft question startled her back to awareness. She hurriedly released her hold and tried to break free from his embrace. Li Yuanxu was reluctant to let go, still holding her slender waist longingly until she bit her lip and stomped on his boot, making him release her in pain.

They stood apart, but the basket was so narrow that they couldn’t move far from each other, their clothes still brushing, their breaths mingling. As Wei Shubin arranged her hair and reformed her buns, she told Li Yuanxu about what had happened in their time apart, while he shared his own experiences in return. They had both already learned some of each other’s circumstances from others, so they briefly acknowledged what was known and focused on recent developments.

“Shubin, I’ve wronged you,” Li Yuanxu sighed. Wei Shubin lowered her head and replied in a flat tone:

“If you mean about going to Gaochang, I don’t blame you. That was something I had tried to help bring about… though I was useless and couldn’t help much…”

“That… is certainly one reason I’ve wronged you,” Li Yuanxu’s mouth filled with bitterness. “There are others… I fear I’ve also ruined General Cheng’s original goodwill and affection for you. And I don’t know how to explain things to your father…”

He had borrowed fifty thousand bolts of silk from Kong Sumi, which he hadn’t even looked at himself, instead having Kong’s servants deliver it directly to General Cheng’s mansion in Huaide District. He heard it had drawn quite a crowd of Chang’an’s gentry and ladies along the way. True to his word, Cheng Yaojin had personally brought Wei Shubin’s marriage contract and horoscope documents to Minister Wei’s residence the next day to discuss canceling the engagement.