That afternoon, news spread from the palace. Empress Wang had fallen ill with grief over her cousin’s death and was moved to Taiji Palace for recuperation. Palace affairs were now being handled by Consort Zhao and Consort Guo.
“Ever since Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu moved to Daming Palace, Taiji Palace has been largely vacant, home only to a few elderly imperial consorts. Now that Empress Wang has been sent to live alone in Taiji Palace, they say it’s because Wang Ruo’s death was inauspicious. The Emperor sending her away is essentially like banishing her to the Cold Palace,” said Lu Yunzhong, the little eunuch from Prince Kui’s mansion, who remained deeply interested in palace secrets. During the evening meal with other palace eunuchs, he eagerly commented on the affairs of the world.
“When has there ever been an empress confined to a separate palace?”
“Well, actually, Emperor Wu of Han and Chen Ajiao set the precedent, didn’t they?”
“In my opinion, the Wang family is truly in trouble this time!”
Huang Zixia listlessly collected the bowls and chopsticks, standing to take them to the kitchen.
“Hey, hey, Chonggu, didn’t you accompany the Prince to pay respects to Miss Wang Ruo that day? Quick, tell us, is it true that the Empress cried until her hair was disheveled and her face was ashen?”
Huang Zixia responded with an “Ah” and slowly said, “Yes, Empress Wang was very distressed.”
“I heard you even put a bracelet on the deceased woman’s body at the memorial hall. My goodness… you truly have our admiration!”
“Mm.” She ignored their reverent gazes, nodding indifferently, but suddenly remembered something. “Did the Wang family servants say anything else? What are the rumors in the capital?”
“Nothing much, isn’t this the case you exposed? Those two maids serving the Wang family’s daughter colluded with Pang Jun’s remaining followers and caused Miss Wang’s death—hey, wasn’t it said that you solved this case? Quick, tell us the details!”
“…That’s about it, nothing more to say.” She hurriedly turned to leave with the dishes. How ridiculous—she wasn’t a deity, how could she fabricate a complete story about Xian Yun and Ran Yun killing Wang Ruo in such a short time?
She delivered the bowls and chopsticks to the kitchen, and just as she came out, the doorkeeper called for her.
Chang Qing, the head eunuch who had just moved to Taiji Palace with Empress Wang, had arrived.
Though now relegated to Taiji Palace, Chang Qing still maintained the bearing of one of the palace’s top eunuchs despite the worry between his brows, looking down his nose at people with his chin slightly raised: “Master Yang, the Empress summons you, saying someone wishes to speak with you.”
“Oh, very well, please wait a moment, Master.” Huang Zixia dared not delay, quickly running back to her room to change clothes. Halfway there, she paused to think, and finally made a detour to inform Li Shubai first.
As summer approached, Li Shubai often spent time in the Lakeside Pavilion.
When Huang Zixia arrived, he was alone, gazing at the small lake before him. On the early summer lake surface, lotus leaves stretched high and low above the rippling water. Under the newly lit palace lanterns, the lotus leaves seemed covered in a crystalline silver light, as if dusted with a thin layer of snow or light mist, creating an ethereal, distant atmosphere.
She stood on the opposite side, gazing at him from afar, still wondering whether to go over specifically to inform him, when she noticed he had already turned his head to look at her.
So she bowed to him across the small lake, preparing to leave, but saw him slightly raise his right hand, gesturing for her to come over.
Huang Zixia hesitated for a moment, but considering she still relied on him for her salary, she hurried over.
“It’s getting late, where are you going?”
“The Empress sent Chang Qing to summon me, saying someone wants to meet me.”
“Oh.” He responded flatly, waving his hand to indicate she could leave. But just as she turned to go, she suddenly felt a kick to the back of her knees. Her right foot went numb and twisted, immediately losing control of her balance, and with a splash, she fell headfirst into the lotus pond.
Fortunately, the pond wasn’t deep, and Huang Zixia was a good swimmer. She struggled to her feet, standing among the lotus leaves and looking up at Li Shubai above, asking glumly, “Why?”
He didn’t answer, just stood on the shore with his hands behind his back, watching her silently.
Huang Zixia sullenly wiped her mud-covered face, climbed up the rockery by the pond’s edge, and while wringing out her dripping sleeves, said, “What do you mean by this, Your Highness? Now I’ll have to bathe and change before entering the palace, how much more time will that take…”
Before she could finish speaking, she caught sight of Li Shubai’s robe hem moving again from the corner of her eye. She immediately jumped to the side, preparing to avoid his kick, but Li Shubai’s foot came in a horizontal sweep. Her jump couldn’t possibly avoid it, and she was immediately kicked back into the lotus pond.
The entire lake stirred as the water splash caused by her falling body cascaded onto the surrounding lotus leaves. The leaves swayed with their water droplets around her, and under the palace lanterns’ light, the whole lake was filled with scattered light, creating a dazzling display before Huang Zixia’s eyes.
In this shifting light, she saw Li Shubai standing on the shore with a faint smile on his lips, the evening breeze gently lifting his sky-blue silk robes. His elegant and noble bearing was truly captivating.
But Huang Zixia only felt he was extremely treacherous. Standing among the broken lotus leaves and murky water, she forgot to remove the waterweeds clinging to her head and face, wading directly to the shore. Without climbing up, she just looked up at him and asked, “Why?”
Li Shubai bent down to look at her as if her current bedraggled state gave him great pleasure. His eyes even showed a rare trace of amusement: “What do you mean, why?”
“Repeatedly kicking me into the water—is it fun?”
“Yes, it is.” Li Shubai actually nodded without any shame, “It’s rare that after many days, today’s mystery has finally been solved, so naturally I want to find something to be happy about.”
Huang Zixia felt she was about to explode with anger: “Your Highness’s happiness comes from watching me fall into the water and make a fool of myself twice?”
Li Shubai’s smile faded as he said, “Of course not.”
He beckoned with his finger, indicating for her to climb up. Huang Zixia angrily climbed the rockery, getting back onto the shore once again. Before she could speak, before she had even steadied herself, she heard the wind whistle past her ear. She only felt the scenery before her eyes spin and flip in an instant, her whole body suddenly feeling cold, followed by the splash of entering the water, the spray of water droplets, and her instinctive cry—she knew she had fallen in again.
“Three times makes it complete.”
Huang Zixia was furious. She managed to grab onto a lotus leaf and stand up, roughly wiping the mud from her face with her dripping sleeve. She only glanced at him once, but said nothing, wading toward the other side of the lotus pond.
She stumbled through the mud, one foot deep and one shallow, laboriously making her way to the shore, then climbing up the steps.
The early summer weather was still slightly cool, and she shivered, thinking she should quickly take a hot bath or she would certainly catch a cold.
From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Li Shubai walking toward her along the pond, but she was so full of anger and resentment that she pretended not to see him, turning to leave quickly.
She heard Li Shubai’s voice, unhurried, coming from behind: “Xian Yun and Ran Yun are already dead.”
Her steps immediately stopped, and she froze for a moment before suddenly turning to look at him.
Li Shubai stood behind her, as calm as ever.
“So, a little eunuch like you, even if you disappear in Taiji Palace tonight, would be nothing more than a speck of dust, gone with a single breath.”
Huang Zixia stood rigid by the lotus pond, as the water-born breeze came gently. She felt the cold pervading her body. But she didn’t turn to look at him, only lowering her head to watch the high and low emerald canopy in the lotus pond, motionless.
“Jing Yu.” Li Shubai raised his voice, calling out.
Jing Yu entered through the moon gate, saw Huang Zixia dripping with mud and water, and couldn’t help but glance in surprise: “Your Highness.”
“Go tell Chang Qing that Yang Chonggu slipped and fell into the water. It’s already late today, and by the time he’s properly presentable it will be too late to disturb the Empress.”
Jing Yu acknowledged and quickly walked away.
Huang Zixia bit her lower lip and asked, “Then tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow? You fell into the water—won’t you catch a cold? How could you go to the palace and risk infecting the Empress?” Li Shubai said quietly, “By the time you recover, it will probably be a month or two later, and by then the Emperor and Empress will know you’re someone who can keep secrets, and their interest will likely have faded.”
Huang Zixia stammered for a while before sheepishly saying, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
After saying this, she felt another wave of desolation—what kind of world was this, where she had to properly thank the bastard who had kicked her into the water three times?
Li Shubai turned to look at her, saw her bedraggled state dripping with water, and couldn’t help but call out: “You…”
She looked up at him, waiting for his instructions.
But he paused for a moment, then just turned to look at the lotus leaves in the pond, raising his hand to indicate she could leave.
Huang Zixia felt relieved and quickly bowed, retreating.
Covered in mud and water, she went to the kitchen to fetch two large buckets of hot water, thoroughly washed herself clean, roughly dried her freshly washed hair, and collapsed onto her bed.
During this time, she had been running around worried about this case and was truly extremely exhausted. So as soon as she lay down and her head touched the pillow, she began to fall into a deep sleep.
She didn’t know how long she had slept when she heard the door creak slightly, with a soft knocking sound.
The vigilance developed over months of hardship made her quickly open her eyes, half-sitting up to scan the room, finding it dark—it was deep into the night.
She put on her clothes and got up to open the door, only to see Li Shubai standing at the doorway, holding a small lamp in his left hand and a small food box in his right. The small lamp gave off a slightly warm orange glow, shining on his usually jade-carved-like, perfectly contoured but chillingly cold face, inexplicably adding a layer of gentle meaning.
Seeing her staring blankly, he paid no attention, just placed the food box on the table and said, “Good, I don’t need to wake you up.”
Though startled, that was just a subconscious physical reaction. Huang Zixia’s mind was still not clear, looking at him in a daze, running her hand through her messy, tangled hair from sleep, looking at the dark sky outside, and asking, “What time is it now?”
“The second watch of the zi hour.” He opened the food box and took out a dark brown cup, holding it out to her, “Ginger soup, drink it.”
She looked at him with barely awake eyes for a long time, finally grasping what felt wrong in her consciousness: “Prince Kui, in the middle of the night, you came to find me… just to bring me ginger soup?”
“Of course not.” As he spoke, he turned to walk out, closing the door behind him, “Get dressed properly, there’s a visitor.”
The person who could make Prince Kui personally fetch Huang Zixia in the dead of night was certainly no ordinary person.
A beauty under the lamplight, as lovely as peach and plum blossoms.
A young woman wearing ordinary palace maid clothes stood before them. Unfortunately, the peach and plum blossoms had been invaded by sorrow and grief, already showing signs of withering and decay. She raised her head to look at them, the leaf-veined dewdrop hairpin in her hair gleaming dimly in the lamplight.
Wang Ruo—or rather, Xiao Shi.