Riding their horses to the palace gates, the soldiers dismounted, removed their weapons, and entered the palace for an imperial audience. The common people who had followed them all the way were blocked outside the palace gates and gradually dispersed.
Xia Xiuyan passed through the heavy palace gates and crossed the Golden Water Bridge, gazing at the majestic hall rising imposingly in the distance. The emerald tiles and vermilion walls glittered brilliantly in the sunlight. When he first entered the palace as a child and stood before Yong’an Hall looking at the white marble steps, he felt the distant hall was impossibly high and the surrounding palace walls unreachably far. From the moment he stepped through the palace gates, he was trapped within these four walls with nowhere else to go.
Now he had returned here. The halls and palace walls remained the same, but that suffocating sense of oppression had completely vanished. Following the palace attendant up the steps, he idly counted the number of stone steps—thirty-nine. He felt a sense of absurdity. So there were only thirty-nine steps after all. Yet in his youth, he had felt these stone steps were like a heavenly ladder reaching straight to the clouds.
“Do you think anyone has ever rolled down from here?” In his memory, a young Daoist in a round-collared robe bent down and hid among the civil and military officials, muttering softly. Without waiting for his response, she continued on her own with certainty, “Definitely yes.”
The young master in brocade also bent down and glanced at her, drawling slowly, “If no one has, you could be the first today.”
…
From within the hall, the decree summoning Marquis Dingbei was relayed outward layer by layer. Beside him, Gao Yang turned his head to observe the general who seemed to be lost in thought, quietly stepping forward to remind him, “My lord, His Majesty summons you.”
Xia Xiuyan suddenly snapped back to reality, the corner of his mouth twitching as he suddenly said softly, “Do you think anyone has ever rolled down from here?”
Gao Yang froze, suspecting he had misheard. Before he could ask again, the person ahead had already shaken his sleeves and strode into the hall.
Ever since Marquis Dingbei returned to the capital, Qiu Xinran’s eyelid had been twitching for three days. She roughly performed a divination for herself—there should be a tribulation ahead. After calculating this result, Qiu Xinran suddenly became calm. After all, fortune cannot be avoided, and misfortune cannot be escaped.
Several days passed like this when a message arrived from the palace. When Qiu Xinran was thirteen and sojourning in the capital, her master Baoyu Daoren had entrusted her to his junior apprentice brother Bai Jingming. At that time, Bai Jingming held the position of Director at the Bureau of Astronomy in the palace, so Qiu Xinran spent three years at the Bureau of Astronomy. This time, it was precisely Bai Jingming who, having heard news of her descent from the mountain, wanted her to enter the palace together with him, taking advantage of the grand palace banquet for officials celebrating the Empress Dowager’s birthday.
That morning, Qiu Xinran changed her clothes and asked someone to hire a carriage from the ward market, then had a meal at the eatery. By the time she came downstairs, it was already late. The main hall was mostly filled with customers who had already eaten their meals but gathered together chatting animatedly. He Baojin brought her a bowl of cooked noodles, and Qiu Xinran casually asked, “What are they talking about?”
“What else could it be? Now that Marquis Dingbei has returned, the capital has finally become lively.” Business wasn’t busy at the eatery, so He Baojin sat down across from her to listen to the idle chatter from the nearby tables. “Has the Daoist heard about Marquis Dingbei being ordered to go on campaign seven years ago?”
Qiu Xinran’s hand holding the chopsticks paused. He Baojin didn’t hear her respond, so he assumed that since she had previously been cultivating in the mountains, she didn’t know about affairs in the capital. He began to tell her in detail: “Seven years ago, the northwestern frontier was in crisis. The general defending the city at that time was General Xia Hongying. Just when the city was about to fall, the court was still in an uproar over whom to send. At that time, General Zheng Lu was suppressing a rebellion in the southwest—a distant solution couldn’t solve an immediate problem. The court planned to first send someone with a troop to provide support until General Zheng’s reinforcements arrived. But we were outnumbered—everyone knew this first batch sent out would be going to their deaths, so no one wanted to go.”
“Our current Emperor loves seeking divinations from spirits and gods. At this time, he came up with a method. He favored a certain Daoist at the time and summoned him to the court hall to perform a divination in front of all the officials. When that divination result came out, this Daoist said the most suitable person for this matter was the Xia heir at the time, who is now Marquis Dingbei. When this divination came out, oh my, the entire court was shocked—” His tone was too much like a storytelling master’s, lacking only a gavel block, making Qiu Xinran suspect this might be a featured program at some teahouse in the capital.
“The Xia heir had been brought back to the palace as a child because he was weak and often ill. Yet at this time, this Daoist said he should lead troops on campaign. Tell me, isn’t this pushing someone into a fiery pit?”
Qiu Xinran weakly said, “In a time of national crisis…”
He Baojin slapped the table, his eyes blazing with anger, “But the Xia heir was the only son of General Xia and Princess Mingyang. This was clearly trying to make the Xia family line extinct!”
Qiu Xinran closed her mouth. He Baojin continued, “At that time, the court erupted in argument. So His Majesty summoned the Xia heir and asked him. The heir kowtowed repeatedly and volunteered to lead troops to relieve the besieged city. Not a single court minister wasn’t moved, and even His Majesty was deeply touched, granting him permission to lead troops to the frontier. When he left, everyone thought he would never return. But guess what happened?”
“Naturally he achieved a great victory over the enemy army and became the current Marquis Dingbei.” Qiu Xinran said dryly. He Baojin also realized his question was foolish, and couldn’t help but scratch his head with an embarrassed smile, summarizing, “In any case, these past two years the frontier has enjoyed such peaceful days entirely thanks to the Marquis. Now that he’s returned to the capital, naturally the common people line the streets to welcome him. I heard that in the southern district, gambling houses have even opened betting pools on whether Marquis Dingbei will seek trouble with that Daoist from back then.”
“…” The noodles Qiu Xinran had only eaten a few bites of instantly lost their appeal. She said tactfully, “Since the Xia heir resolved the siege crisis, by rights that Daoist could be considered brilliantly prescient.”
He Baojin’s expression was indignant, “This was clearly because the heir had heaven’s protection for good people—how can one say that Daoist’s divination was accurate? Any clear-eyed person can see that Daoist’s divination was clearly instigated by someone with ill intentions!”
“…”
Fortunately, at this moment, the hired carriage arrived outside the eatery, finally liberating Qiu Xinran from this topic.
She rode the carriage all the way to outside the palace gates. From afar, she could see that today the Imperial Forest Army had dispatched an additional team to block the entrance. She removed the silver fish pouch from her waist and presented the fish tally. The patrolling guard took it and looked, “Today is the Empress Dowager’s birthday—why are you not wearing official robes?”
“This humble Daoist holds no official position and has no official robes.”
“If you’re not an important court minister, how do you have a silver fish pouch?”
“The fish pouch was bestowed by His Majesty years ago, granting this humble Daoist passage within the palace.” Seeing the guard was still half-believing, Qiu Xinran said good-naturedly, “I wonder if Commander Qian Fu is still in the army. He should recognize me—if you summon him to look, you’ll know.”
The other party frowned and asked, “You mean General Qian?”
Qiu Xinran had a momentary illusion that one day in the mountains was a hundred years in the mortal world. Calculating the progression, Qian Fu should indeed have been promoted to Left or Right General by now. Just as she was thinking this, a carriage arrived outside the palace gates. The person in the carriage lifted the curtain to reveal their identity to the guards and allowed people to inspect the carriage. They caught sight of the female Daoist standing to the side and paused slightly, “Qiu Xinran?”
Hearing the voice, Qiu Xinran turned her head and couldn’t help but smile, performing a Daoist salute, “Greetings to the Second Imperial Prince.”
“When did you return to the capital? Why haven’t I seen you in the palace?” Seeing it was truly her, the person in the carriage couldn’t help but become animated, waving his hand. “Forget it, we’ll talk on the road. Get in—this prince will give you a ride.”
The distance from here to the Imperial Garden was quite far. Qiu Xinran could ask for nothing better. Seeing the Second Imperial Prince’s attitude, the guard naturally didn’t dare obstruct. Once she got in the carriage, before she could even settle down, the person opposite couldn’t wait to ask, “Do you know Xia Xiuyan has returned to the capital?”
How could I not know—I probably saw him even earlier than you did.
Qiu Xinran silently sighed in her heart, while maintaining an unruffled exterior, “I’ve heard rumors. Not having seen the Xia heir in several years, I wonder how he is now.”
“Very well indeed. He was already enfeoffed as Marquis Dingbei early on, and now that he’s just returned to the capital, His Majesty has bestowed many more things on him. His honor and favor can truly be said to be unparalleled at this time.” Li Hanyi made a clicking sound. “Who could have imagined that given his sickly appearance back then, he would have such a day?”
Qiu Xinran nodded in agreement, “This shows that life’s fortunes are unpredictable and variable—truly not something we mortals can easily fathom.”
Li Hanyi seemed momentarily speechless, then pressed on, “So do you have any plans?”
“What plans?”
“If you don’t want to say, I won’t force you.” Li Hanyi sighed and looked at her with considerable sympathy. “I think your timing in returning to the capital is really quite unfortunate. Why don’t you return to the mountains to avoid the spotlight for a while? I don’t think he’ll stay long in the capital either. Once he leaves, you can certainly return to the palace.”
Qiu Xinran cupped her hands with a smile, “Many thanks to the Second Imperial Prince.”
Seeing her like this, the other party was too lazy to persuade further. By this time, the carriage had already arrived outside the Imperial Garden. It wasn’t convenient for Qiu Xinran to go in together with him, so she jumped down from the carriage first. Only after the other party drove away did she follow inside.
Today was the Empress Dowager’s sixtieth birthday. His Majesty, known for his filial piety, had arranged a grand banquet in the palace to entertain civil and military officials in celebration of the Empress Dowager’s birthday. The Imperial Garden today overflowed with brilliant colors, with pipes, flutes, drums, zithers, songs, and dances all resounding together.
When Qiu Xinran arrived, she was already somewhat late, but fortunately the banquet had not yet begun. She followed behind a palace attendant and slipped into the Imperial Garden. From afar, she could see at the far end of the garden His Majesty seated with the Empress Dowager at the main position. To his left sat the Empress and Noble Consorts, while to the Empress Dowager’s right sat the various Imperial Princes. Among them, seated closest to the Empress Dowager was Marquis Dingbei who had just returned to court recently—clearly what the Second Imperial Prince had said earlier wasn’t false. This Marquis’s current favor in the capital truly had no equal.
Unlike the day he entered the capital, today Marquis Dingbei wore light robes with a relaxed sash, a white jade crown in his hair, his ornamental pendants tinkling. His posture among the seated guests was leisurely—completely different from his armored appearance riding past on horseback that day. However, those long narrow phoenix eyes, perhaps because he had been drinking, had lost some of their imposing aura.
His gaze swept around the seated guests in a full circle, and his eyes scanned toward this area. Qiu Xinran’s heart tightened and she quickly retreated half a step. When she looked up again, he was already looking elsewhere, and only then did she quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
Below the Imperial Princes sat important court ministers. At a glance, she saw Bai Jingming was also among them. It wasn’t convenient to go forward and greet him at this moment. As she looked around, she suddenly heard someone call her name in a low voice. Following the sound, she saw at the end seats a round-faced young man in crimson official robes secretly waving at her.
Qiu Xinran recognized him at a glance. Her heart filled with the joy of reuniting with an old friend, and she quickly bent down and sidled over to sit beside him. Once she was seated, the other party seemed both surprised and delighted. His first words were, “Did you see the Xia heir?”
Qiu Xinran’s expression finally couldn’t help but stiffen. She sighed, “Xianyi is still the same as always.”
Zhou Xianyi realized his question had been too hasty and smiled embarrassedly. He had a round face, fair and clean, with an honest and sincere appearance and a gentle temperament. He was the son of Princess Zhaoran, so he was properly and legitimately descended from the imperial clan. But Princess Zhaoran was the daughter of the late Emperor Xuanping’s eldest son. After the Crown Prince died, Emperor Xuanping abdicated the throne to his younger brother, who became the current Emperor Xuande. Therefore, among those in the palace of similar age to him, everyone’s generational rank was higher than his. Taking Xia Xiuyan as an example, if one were to properly calculate it, when Zhou Xianyi met him, he would have to call him uncle.
Zhou Xianyi had studied together with those Imperial Princes and grandsons at the academy as a child. He used to stutter when speaking and was often bullied. When Qiu Xinran first heard about this, she was quite shocked and increasingly felt this honest-faced chubby boy was truly pitiable and lovable. At that time, she was just a Clerk at the Bureau of Astronomy, but she was naturally lively in temperament, able to bend and stretch, and didn’t need to interact with those Imperial Princes every day, so her days were relatively comfortable. When she encountered him being bullied, she would secretly help him out. Over time, the two had formed something of a bond as comrades in adversity.
“Where is Xianyi serving now?”
“I serve as Junior Minister at the Court of Judicial Review.”
Qiu Xinran smiled, “Xianyi is upright and unyielding in character—this position couldn’t be more suitable.”
Zhou Xianyi was embarrassed by her words, “You previously performed divination for me, saying I might in the future hold the position of Minister of Justice. I didn’t believe it at the time, but unexpectedly it was exactly right.”
Before the banquet began, the two conversed quietly below. Qiu Xinran kept feeling as if someone’s gaze was falling on this area, but when she looked up, she made no such discovery. At this moment, a palace attendant beside His Majesty stepped forward. The surroundings immediately quieted down, waiting for His Majesty to announce the opening of the banquet.