When Xia Xiuyan returned to the palace, it was already New Year’s Eve. Two days ago, there had been a flurry of heavy snow that only stopped in the afternoon, leaving a thick layer accumulated on the ground.

Every year on New Year’s Eve, the palace held a banquet. The Empress Dowager probably felt that with him living alone in the capital, it would be too desolate if he spent the new year alone at home as well, so year after year, no matter what, she would summon him to come. But he found these banquets extremely dull and would rather stay home alone.

On this day, he arrived early and sat for a while in Fukang Palace. Before long, Tenth Princess Li Hanyuan came bouncing in, holding her wet nurse’s hand. She still had a few snowflakes on her body, her small face flushed red from the north wind outside, and she was holding a snow rabbit in her hands.

The Empress Dowager was taking a brief rest in the hall. After the wet nurse entered and discovered only Xia Xiuyan was sitting there, she hastily greeted him and explained: “Young Master Xia, the princess got her clothes wet playing in the snow outside. Beiming Palace is too far away. This servant was afraid she’d catch cold, so I brought her here first to change clothes.” As she spoke, she directed the palace servants in the hall to find a brazier and clothes for the little princess to change into.

Xia Xiuyan’s gaze fell on Li Hanyuan. He saw her quickly walk up and, as if presenting a treasure, show him the snow rabbit in her hands: “Brother Xia, isn’t this rabbit adorable?”

“Adorable,” he said, putting down the book in his hand and complimenting her perfunctorily. “Did you make it yourself, Princess?”

“Xinran made it,” Li Hanyuan answered happily. “Xinran made several and gave me one!”

Xia Xiuyan looked at her clothes that had been soaked by the snow and frowned slightly: “Did she take you to play in the snow?”

Li Hanyuan sneezed: “No, Seventh Sister took me. They were having a snowball fight in the Imperial Garden, and I lost.” Her tone in that last sentence was aggrieved and quite pitiful. However, the little princess quickly added: “On the way back, we ran into Xinran sweeping snow at the observatory. When she heard I lost, she gave me this.” Her tone was delighted, as if she’d obtained something remarkable.

Xia Xiuyan smiled and lightly touched the ugly rabbit with its blurred features with his finger.

Since Li Hanyuan needed to change clothes in Fukang Palace, it was inconvenient for Xia Xiuyan to remain there. So he left the young eunuch at his side to wait for the Empress Dowager to wake and ask, while he walked alone toward the banquet hall. Upon leaving Fukang Palace, the cold wind drilled into his collar like needles, making him shiver involuntarily. He reached up to draw his cloak closer and held up his umbrella to block the wind.

As he neared the Imperial Garden, he heard sounds of revelry from within. Sure enough, there was a group of young men having a snowball fight inside, mixed with cheers. Xia Xiuyan stopped to listen for a moment. Unwilling to run into the people inside and be dragged into the crowd, he turned and took a detour down another small path.

The observatory wasn’t far from the Imperial Garden, hidden behind palace walls screened by bamboo groves. When passing by, he indeed saw a little Daoist wearing a crane cloak and hood sweeping snow outside the door. On the steps to the side, ten snow rabbits were neatly arranged in a row.

Xia Xiuyan snorted lightly to himself. The child sweeping snow had already turned around. Seeing him, she was startled at first, then smiled and greeted him: “Happy New Year, young master.”

The young man stood a few steps away holding his umbrella: “What are you doing here?”

“Today is my shift at the observatory.”

“Do you have to sweep snow too?”

“Well, it’s New Year’s Eve today, and there’s a palace banquet tonight. This place isn’t big, so I just swept it while I was at it.”

Xia Xiuyan seemed somewhat disapproving of this. Today he wore a white fur cloak that made him look even paler against the snow, with only his phoenix eyes like lacquer, black as ebony. Qiu Xinran glanced at him and suddenly said: “Wait for me a moment.”

Xia Xiuyan watched her throw down the broom and run into the observatory with a “thud thud thud,” wondering what she was up to. He actually waited in place for a while. Before long, he saw her run back out like a gust of wind, carrying a bamboo basket: “I brought spiced wine. Would you like to try some?”

The cups in the food basket were ordinary cups, but the wine inside was good wine. The wine was jade-colored, and even before tasting it, there was a pure wine fragrance. The two sat on stone stools outside the observatory, listening to the wine’s owner boast: “During New Year on the mountain, everyone drinks this. I asked Eunuch Li from the Imperial Kitchen for a small pot and didn’t even dare let Yuan Zhou find out.”

“What else do you do on the mountain for New Year’s Eve?” Xia Xiuyan asked casually.

Qiu Xinran recalled: “Nothing different from down the mountain—just posting blessings and staying up on New Year’s Eve. However, the first day of the new year is the Celestial Wax Day in Daoism. After disciples stay up all night chanting scriptures, the next day they might have to help with preparations. Sometimes you can’t close your eyes for a whole day and night. It’s really exhausting…”

Speaking of this, she showed an expression of lingering fear that was quite amusing, making Xia Xiuyan suspect whether this was also a reason she hadn’t completely renounced the mundane world to join the mountain.

Qiu Xinran turned to the person beside her enthusiastically and asked: “Are the customs in Qizhou different from here?”

The young man beside her lowered his eyes: “I never spent New Year’s Eve in Qizhou.”

He remembered the first year when His Majesty had summoned him to the palace to celebrate New Year’s Eve. The banquet ended too late, and the Empress Dowager, pitying that he had no relatives in his manor to look after him, kept him overnight in the palace. That night he slept in a side hall of Fukang Palace. Around midnight, snow began falling lightly outside. Braziers were burning in the hall, so he didn’t feel the slightest chill. Yet he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what. Alone, he secretly got up and sat in the courtyard for half the night.

Xia Hongying was rarely home on New Year’s Eve. When the city was celebrating, the military camp had to be extra vigilant. When Xia Xiuyan grew a bit older, he insisted on going along. The nights in the northwest were never as quiet as in the palace. The mountain wind sweeping across the plains sounded like wailing ghosts, and occasionally you could hear wolves howling in the mountains. Outside, campfires crackled and blazed, their light on the military tents dazzlingly bright.

Back then, he would sleep alone in a tent, listening to his father conversing in low voices with his subordinate soldiers outside. Around midnight, the voices would gradually cease. Someone would quietly approach the tent, letting in a wisp of night wind before quickly shutting out the cold again. Xia Xiuyan would lie on the camp bed in a daze, not actually asleep. He could feel the person who entered sit by his bed for a while, reach out to tuck in his blanket, then leave after a moment.

Those were among the few times in his life when he could feel safe. Even if all the demons and monsters in the world gathered outside the tent, he wasn’t afraid.

Seeing his mood grow somewhat melancholy, Qiu Xinran cursed herself inwardly. Just as she saw him lower his head to taste the wine in his cup, she hastily raised her own cup and drained it in one gulp. She drank too hastily—the wine’s flavor rushed up her nose, not only making her choke and cough but also bringing tears to her eyes.

Xia Xiuyan looked at her in bewilderment: “What are you doing?”

Qiu Xinran wrinkled her face and reached out to wipe away the tears at the corners of her eyes before explaining: “The young master probably doesn’t know, but this spiced wine is generally drunk starting with the youngest.”

Having attended palace banquets these past two years, Xia Xiuyan naturally knew this custom. But he hadn’t expected that even when drinking privately, she would strictly observe this rule of seniority. He couldn’t help but find it amusing: “How old are you?”

“Thirteen now.”

Thirteen years old. Xia Xiuyan couldn’t help but feel momentarily disoriented—when he came to the capital alone, he was also exactly thirteen.

“The young drink first to celebrate growing another year older; the old drink last to hold onto the passing years.” Qiu Xinran raised her hand to gesture to him. “Please, young master.”

Hearing this, Xia Xiuyan laughed lightly with a hint of self-mockery: “I rather wish the years would pass even faster.” Having said this, he indeed drained the wine in his cup. The liquid went down his throat and turned into warmth in his stomach, even relaxing his limbs and blood vessels considerably.

He seemed particularly agreeable tonight. Even his usual aloof and cold expression had softened considerably. Looking at his profile, Qiu Xinran seemed to realize for the first time that if he removed that layer of gloomy facade, this young master was actually extremely handsome. If he didn’t take medicine daily and put on that sickly appearance, with his background, he would probably be even more favored by the capital’s noble ladies than Young Master Zheng.

As if detecting the regret in her gaze, Xia Xiuyan raised an eyebrow slightly: “What are you looking at?”

From the Imperial Garden not far away came a flurry of footsteps. The young men who had been playing in the snow must have dispersed, and the surroundings returned to tranquility.

Qiu Xinran collected herself and casually deflected: “I was thinking that with your excellent archery skills, you must also be able to hit people with snowballs with perfect accuracy.”

Xia Xiuyan looked at her with a strange expression: “What goes through your head all day?”

Qiu Xinran also felt her words were ridiculous and hastily made amends: “With your archery skills, naturally you should wait to lead troops and fight enemies in the future.”

Xia Xiuyan said indifferently: “With excellent archery skills, one can also engage in elegant pastimes like pitch-pot. Who says one must lead troops and fight enemies?” Qiu Xinran hadn’t expected him to say this. She said blankly: “You learned riding and archery to engage in elegant pitch-pot games with others?”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her: “What did you learn divination for?”

Qiu Xinran was stumped by his question and couldn’t answer for a moment. The young man smiled mockingly: “Everyone at the academy learns riding and archery. How many are doing it to fight enemies on the battlefield? At most they throw snowballs in the palace.”

“So do you plan to just be an idle young master in this prosperous Chang’an forever?”

“What’s wrong with being an idle young master?”

Qiu Xinran fell silent. After a while, she said softly: “If you like it, then it’s very good. If you don’t like it, then there’s nothing good about it.”

Xia Xiuyan hadn’t expected her to say this. He seemed stunned for a moment and couldn’t immediately respond. The surroundings were completely quiet. The Imperial Garden must have truly emptied out. He stood up, preparing to leave.

Qiu Xinran saw him open his umbrella again. However, compared to earlier, because he had just finished drinking the wine, this time his face finally had some color, and his lips had become lustrous too—like a person in a painting had finally come to life.

Xia Xiuyan caught her relaxed expression: “What are you smiling about?”

“Are you cold, young master?”

“Not cold.”

Qiu Xinran kindly reminded: “You have a weak constitution, young master. You should wear more next time.”

Xia Xiuyan turned to look at her smiling face, suspecting she was mocking him. After a moment, he glanced at the broom in her hand and answered slowly: “Since I don’t do menial labor, I should indeed wear more.”

Qiu Xinran: “…”