The two walked forward muttering disdain for each other, their mouths never stopping the whole way. With great difficulty they stumbled back to Changqiu Palace. Granny Zhai was startled to see the Fifth Prince soaking wet and quickly arranged for hot water and dry clothes. Under the Fifth Prince’s rolling eyes, Shaoshang fabricated on the spot a story of “the Fifth Prince slipped and fell into the water and the young lady heroically came to his rescue.” Granny Zhai believed it without question.

When the banquet bells rang for the third time, the eunuch sent to Beauty Xu’s quarters to fetch clothes still hadn’t returned. Granny Zhai had no choice but to give the Fifth Prince Ling Buyi’s clothes from his youth to change into. The Fifth Prince nearly shed tears: “I prepared an extremely exquisite outfit for today’s birthday banquet, never imagining I couldn’t use it.” If he didn’t dress conspicuously, Father Emperor would pay even less attention to him~~~

Shaoshang smoothed her own beautiful new clothes, revealing a smile as loving as a kindergarten teacher’s: “Think on the bright side—perhaps His Majesty will think Your Highness is especially frugal.”

“Think on the dark side—Father Emperor might think I’m being negligent toward Mother Empress’s birthday!” If that really happened, he’d definitely sell out Cheng Shaoshang!

At the third quarter of the hour of You, Shaoshang and the Fifth Prince, surrounded by a group of palace maids and eunuchs, headed to Xuanming Hall. All along the way, the garden’s various colored lanterns shone like neon, illuminating people’s shadows as variegated as flowers.

Approaching the brightly lit great hall ahead, they saw on the high stone steps a tall, slender figure standing. Even though people flowed like shuttles up and down the steps, he remained conspicuously impossible to conceal, like the brilliant lighthouse built by deities in ancient myths to guide ships lost at sea—standing motionless on the dark shore battered by stormy waves.

Ling Buyi stepped forward half a pace. He had already seen Shaoshang and the Fifth Prince.

Shaoshang and the Fifth Prince simultaneously slowed their steps, like small beasts seeing a common natural enemy. Shaoshang said in a low voice: “Don’t worry, I’ll only say you accidentally fell in the water and I saved you. I won’t mention anything else.”

But the Fifth Prince sighed: “For the sake of half our friendship, I’ll tell you one thing—speaking the truth is better.”

Shaoshang still didn’t understand when the Fifth Prince had already nimbly and quickly moved away from her side, rushing toward the Crown Prince and his wife standing far away at the palace entrance. She could only walk forward alone. When she was still two steps from mounting the stone steps, Ling Buyi extended his long, broad palm toward her. Shaoshang hesitated for an instant, then placed her small hand upon it.

Ling Buyi held her hand and looked her over from left to right. Under the neon lantern colors, the girl’s fair, tender face was reflected in a riot of colors, and even the light crimson dress she wore made the embroidered patterns unclear. She looked at Ling Buyi, head lowered, pinching her sleeves, as if not knowing what to say. This made her look even more like a little girl who had spilled paint on herself and was at a loss.

Ling Buyi also didn’t speak, just pulled her hand and walked into the hall. Who knew the eldest princess passing by would see this and tease: “After all, newlyweds are ardent—walking even this short distance hand in hand.” The eldest prince consort came over and also smiled: “Ah, the young are passionate. After marriage, with all the trivial matters of children entangling them daily, they won’t be like this anymore.” The eldest princess said: “Who says otherwise…”

Before she finished speaking, they saw the second princess and second prince consort come up the steps from the other side with intimate gestures. Both wore crane-feathered robes with long sleeves hanging down, covering their arms. Looking closely, one could see their fingers intertwined, tightly clasped.

—The eldest prince consort was somewhat embarrassed. The eldest princess huffed with a sour expression, turned and strode into the hall. The eldest prince consort cleared his throat and followed.

The second princess and her husband looked at each other, bewildered and uncomprehending.

Shaoshang couldn’t help giggling, turning her head to look at Ling Buyi only to find he was also looking at her. Their four eyes met, each feeling the other’s eyes sparkled like stars, beautiful beyond compare. Shaoshang looked into Ling Buyi’s deep brown glazed eyes, seeming to understand their meaning, and nodded vigorously.

Ling Buyi asked: “What are you nodding at?”

“I think what you’re thinking is right.”

“What was I thinking?”

“You know.”—You hope that in the future, we’ll also be like the second princess and her consort.

Ling Buyi’s eyes held a smile. He lightly squeezed the girl’s small hand, then suddenly pulled her aside to an unoccupied spot, saying in a low voice: “Then, why did you come here together with the Fifth Prince?”

Shaoshang stumbled along for two steps and quickly answered: “…Just now the Fifth Prince carelessly fell into the water. I pulled him up, and because Little Mirror Lake is closer to Changqiu Palace, I invited him to Changqiu Palace to change clothes and drink ginger soup.”

The smile on Ling Buyi’s face slowly faded: “The Fifth Prince can’t swim and has always refused to go near water. Why would he go to the lakeside for no reason? Also, why did you leave Changqiu Palace to go to Little Mirror Lake?”

Shaoshang was somewhat frozen, stammering: “Uh, this, this is because, because…”

Ling Buyi looked over the girl’s entire body once, then said slowly: “I don’t know why you left Changqiu Palace, but you should have encountered the Fifth Prince and his group on the road. He spoke rudely to you, so you used a trick to lure him away from the crowd all the way to the lakeside, then trapped him into falling in the water—don’t be surprised. If it were only the Fifth Prince alone, you wouldn’t need to lure him to the lakeside to deal with him. Am I right or not?”

Shaoshang’s mouth hung slightly open, a very familiar feeling of surprise rising in her heart—deductions as if he’d witnessed it himself, calculations flowing like clouds and water. She felt she’d better adapt quickly, because she might experience this often in the future.

“Why do you always love to prevaricate and lie? Can’t you just tell the truth properly?” Ling Buyi frowned.

Shaoshang heavily shook off his hand, saying in a muffled voice: “I’ll avenge my own grievances myself. The Fifth Prince has a foul mouth—I’ve already taught him a lesson. I don’t need you to teach me a lesson!” With that, she strode quickly toward the hall.

After entering the hall, palace maids guided Shaoshang to her designated seat. She still sat there sulking—as for what she was angry about, she herself didn’t know. Was it because her scheme had been exposed, or because she’d been accused of loving to lie—which made her angrier? She still didn’t know.

After a moment, Ling Buyi, attended by eunuchs who helped him remove his shoes, entered the hall and slowly walked to sit beside her.

“I’m not trying to reproach you for not speaking truthfully, nor am I blaming you for acting on your own.”

“I just want you to know that you’re not alone in this world—you still have me.”

“I will always protect you.”

“You don’t need to think of dealing with things alone whenever something happens.”

“You have me. You must remember this.”

He didn’t turn his head but looked down at the lacquered wood grain on the low table, his profile clean and noble. Shaoshang suddenly felt a heat in her chest, a flustered, restless irritation. The two sat in silence like this until the banquet began.

The birthday banquet wasn’t large in scale. Aside from abundant food and wine with songs and dances for entertainment, it only had a dozen more noble ministers and their families than the usual imperial family feast—Shaoshang only recognized Marquis Yu, Marquis Cui, and a big-bearded General Wu.

Tonight Consort Yue appeared especially virtuous and low-key, keeping her eyes lowered from beginning to end, looking exactly like a newly-wed young wife, too shy to even raise her head. The Emperor and Empress seemed very familiar with this performance, both helpless and amused. If the Empress was a radiant deep-sea pearl—elegant, noble, coldly beautiful and dignified—then Consort Yue was a riverside beauty where white dew turns to frost, her beauty penetrating the heart, causing one to toss and turn restlessly.

When Shaoshang bent down to pick up a fallen hairpin, she just happened to see Consort Yue lean forward to offer wine to the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor secretly pulled at her skirt hem under the food table, then was heavily slapped away by Consort Yue.

Shaoshang sighed inwardly. She didn’t blame the Emperor. In his position as supreme ruler, even if the Emperor changed to a dozen young girls blooming like flowers each year to dote upon, no one would say anything. Yet the Emperor only kept to two wives and concubines in their forties, living more abstemiously than ordinary nobles and wealthy merchants, precisely because he was fundamentally a man of deep feeling.

Those at the pinnacle of family and state, people in the depths of the palace—each had their own helplessness. What was most needed was compromise and goodwill. No one had the right to take things seriously.

After a round of toasts, a round of congratulations, plus a round of commercial flattery, came the presentation of birthday gifts. The various ministers, princes and princesses each showed their ingenuity—some precious, some novel, some exquisitely beautiful, some unheard of—

The Crown Prince and his wife had people carry up a jade qilin over a foot tall, lustrous white throughout, crystalline and translucent. The second prince’s face turned green right then, because his congratulatory gift was also a qilin statue of similar size, but made of pure gold. The two brothers together created a perfect combination of the refined and the vulgar. Very good, very good.

The Crown Princess saw this and smiled with shallow mockery.

The second prince’s consort, not long after giving birth with facial swelling not yet subsided, used her expression to indicate that this lump of gold absolutely did not reflect her aesthetic sense.

The eldest princess and her husband’s congratulatory gift was also extremely valuable, though it didn’t look like something for the Empress.

A white jade openwork high-stemmed wine cup—unfortunately the Empress didn’t drink alcohol daily. A single-layer plain gauze garment as thin as cicada wings—unfortunately the Empress feared cold but not heat, and could wear a full set of curved-hem deep robes even in deep summer. The Emperor, on the other hand, feared heat greatly.

Consort Yue kept her head lowered playing innocent, her expression invisible. The Emperor didn’t notice the details and thus smiled broadly praising his eldest daughter and son-in-law for their thoughtfulness. The Empress smiled faintly—only Shaoshang could detect the self-mockery within.

What Ling Buyi presented was a roll of old bamboo slips. When the Empress opened it to look, tears immediately welled up—this turned out to be Grand Preceptor Xuan’s manuscript from years ago. Grand Preceptor Xuan loved poetry and literature, often gifting his writings to friends rather than treasuring them selfishly. Therefore the Xuan family hadn’t preserved many manuscripts. Then came years of war and chaos—Grand Preceptor Xuan’s scrolls had long been lost. Now somehow Ling Buyi had found them.

Seeing the Empress’s surprised and delighted appearance, the Emperor felt his adopted son had brought him great honor, handling everything properly and perfectly, exactly to his liking. He immediately praised repeatedly, and if there truly hadn’t been no occasion recently, he almost wanted to bestow more rewards.

The birthday gifts presented by Consort Yue’s line from the third prince downward were mostly conventional. Only the second princess and her husband showed considerable originality, presenting a life-sized portrait—the Empress’s graceful dancing pose, lifelike and vivid, done entirely in meticulous brushwork. Even the embroidered flowers on the skirt hem were clearly visible. The couple had spent several months on it.

The eldest princess to the side pursed her lips, her face showing disdain. But the eldest prince consort, seeing the Emperor and Empress’s faces full of genuine delight—much more sincere than when receiving previous gifts—suddenly felt the second couple was calculating.

Most eye-catching was the congratulatory group dance led by the fifth princess. Unfortunately, though it looked grand at first glance, it was actually quite sparse. The dance steps had no originality and the footwork had many mistakes. How much effort had been put in could be seen at a glance. Consort Yue wanted to speak several times but held back. The Empress’s expression was bland, the Emperor’s gaze heavy. All three—Emperor, Empress and Consort—said not a word.

Seeing this situation, Shaoshang thought inwardly: Fifth Princess, just you wait—when you get home there’ll be a “surprise”!

After all gifts were presented, the Emperor saw the Empress was still unhappy, so he laughingly asked if the second princess could dance impromptu. The second princess smiled and accepted the command. The second prince consort held a flute to the side, saying: “Your Majesty, a flute alone is somewhat thin. We still need a qin for accompaniment. Your son-in-law humbly requests Zicheng’s assistance.”

The Emperor’s eyes swept over, smiling: “Speaking of which, Zicheng hasn’t played the qin in quite a while.”

In such an occasion, Ling Buyi naturally wouldn’t lose face for them and came forward with a smile.

The Emperor said to the outside ministers to the side: “Among these children of mine, when it comes to the musical arts, Zicheng is still the best.” The outside ministers and their families naturally echoed in unison, praise flowing like waves.

The Emperor laughed with satisfaction, and his eyes touched upon Shaoshang sitting quietly to the side. He leaned toward the Empress’s ear: “Later you should also teach Shaoshang some talents. This young lady already has meager literary skills, and she doesn’t know much about music, calligraphy or painting either. It’s rather unfair to Zicheng.”

The Empress smiled ruefully, then sighed: “Actually Shaoshang can play the short flute. I’ve heard her several times. Though her technique isn’t very skilled, her spiritual energy is compelling. Given time, I think she could achieve great things.”

The Emperor was noncommittal: “Shen is too tolerant.”

At this time, the three people in the hall had already finished consulting. As the sounds of qin and flute rose in harmony, the second princess danced while singing. Everyone listened and recognized the timeless masterpiece “Picking Ferns,” and someone immediately began applauding.

The second princess lowered her sleeves and bent her waist, her lotus steps shifting lightly. As she moved, her waist swayed gracefully. When gliding, it was as if stepping on clouds. Her dancing form was like a swallow returning to the forest in the rain. The flute sound was gentle and restrained, the qin sound clear and bright, matched with the woman’s clear singing voice “…When I left, the willows swayed. Now I return, snow and rain fall thick”—everyone at the banquet immediately applauded and cheered again.

Only halfway through the song, the imperial relatives and important ministers at the banquet had already set aside their airs. Taking advantage of the wine’s warmth and high spirits, they gradually joined in singing along. The Emperor was extremely pleased and personally came down to strike the zhu and sing loudly, so everyone became even more enthusiastic.

The second princess truly deserved to be a master dancer of her generation. Her dance was light and graceful yet maintained dignity, her charming smile radiant yet grandly innocent. Shaoshang watched dumbfounded—she never knew classical dance could be this beautiful.

After watching for a while, her gaze gradually shifted to the man sitting to the side playing the qin.

In such an intense and lively scene, everyone was smiling with the smell of wine, singing, with some gesturing wildly and singing praises. Only he, though situated at the liveliest center of the hall, seemed detached, remaining refined and quiet.

Today he wore a light-colored curved robe with a pale golden plain gauze overlay. Embroidered on his right shoulder was a fierce golden-brown suanni with bared teeth and claws. Its fangs were at his right chest, one front paw resting at the collar, perfectly setting off his long neck and distinct Adam’s apple. The other front paw followed the crossed collar disappearing into the waist sash, the long tail hanging down along his strong waist and abdomen to the hem—mighty and fierce, yet also quiet and solemn.

Shaoshang couldn’t help but wonder: Why, roughly speaking, do we feel happy because of someone else’s liking?

In her brief life, she’d had one secret crush and been secretly crushed on once, but neither experience had made her particularly happy—she’d even felt somewhat disdainful. From her utilitarian way of thinking, so-called secret crushes were fundamentally about incompetence. If she’d been capable, she would have won over the older brother next door long ago, and the salted fish club president would have won her over long ago. Why would they need to love secretly?

So, was it merely because of vanity?

Shaoshang scoffed—only the weak and losers would use false prosperity to deceive others and themselves.

If there were such a person who originally shouldn’t exist in your life plan, would you still be happy because of his liking?

Returning to the original question: Why, roughly speaking, do we feel happy because of someone else’s liking?

Not vanity, unrelated to exploitation, even hindering your plans, restraining your habits, constraining your freedom—then why would you still feel happy?

Not knowing if it was the wine rising to her head, Shaoshang felt her cheeks burning. Lowering her head to loosen her collar, she saw Ling Buyi’s wine cup placed nearby with a shallow circle of wine still inside.

She looked at it for a long while, then picked up that wine cup and, placing her lips where he had drunk, drained the remaining wine in one gulp.

Ling Buyi had been glancing over from time to time. Just at this moment he happened to see this scene and in his trance almost missed plucking a string.

After the song ended, everyone including the Emperor was still singing and laughing loudly, but he hurriedly pushed away the qin table and returned to his seat. After sitting down, he stared at the girl and asked: “Why did you drink my wine?”

Shaoshang kept her head lowered, saying in a muffled voice: “Your wine tastes better than mine.”

Ling Buyi’s eyes were full of smiles. “And just now, why were you staring at me when everyone else was watching His Majesty and the second princess?”

Shaoshang raised her head, looking at this man beside her as beautiful as carved jade. Just looking at him like this, a secret joy arose in her heart—not only unknown to others, but unclear even to herself. In her bleak and barren young life, she had rarely purely appreciated beauty, rarely genuinely felt joy from the heart without any utilitarian purpose.

Then, propping one hand on the low table to raise her upper body, she quickly kissed the man—she had originally wanted to kiss his lips, but unfortunately her movements were clumsy from slight intoxication, and she ended up kissing hard on his Adam’s apple.

A flash of disbelief crossed Ling Buyi’s face. His large palm gripped the girl tightly, seeing her face flushed and burning hot, her gaze evasive. Ling Buyi’s eyes were deep as ink, looking at the girl tenderly for half a moment. Shaoshang felt that gaze was lingering as silk, endlessly entwining, joyful and profound.

He lowered his head and gently kissed the girl’s rosy little mouth.

Shaoshang immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, feeling the linked lanterns hanging from the palace ceiling seemed to rotate, light and shadow wandering, golden radiance filling her vision.