The spring scenery was fresh, and willow branches revealed a touch of tender green from behind the tall red walls. The palace path was paved with smooth bluestone slabs, stretching endlessly into the distance. All around was quiet—only the sound of footsteps on the stone slabs could be heard, one steady and one light, like playing a little tune.

“Why didn’t you return to the princess’s manor after school today, young master?”

“I sat for a while at Fukang Palace.”

“What a coincidence. I just sat at the Seventh Princess’s place for a bit and happened to run into the Empress Dowager summoning the Seventh Princess over.”

Xia Xiuyan curved the corners of his mouth: “The Noble Consort was also there. Perhaps she was called over to look at portraits of young masters from prominent families in the capital.” After saying this, seeing her nod thoughtfully, he asked: “What did the Seventh Princess want with you?”

Qiu Xinran couldn’t very well say Li Hanru had asked her to divine, so she could only say vaguely: “She just asked me a few questions. It wasn’t anything important.”

Though she didn’t say, the other person seemed to have already guessed. He gave a mocking laugh without pursuing it further, but asked something completely unrelated: “What do you think of Zheng Yuanwu?”

Qiu Xinran couldn’t discern his intention in asking this. After considering, she said: “Young Master Zheng has a pure and kind nature. He’s a good person.”

Xia Xiuyan nodded: “Zheng Yuanwu is the legitimate son of the Zheng family, personally raised and taught by General Zheng. Though his temperament seems somewhat soft, he’s not the type to be manipulated by others.” His words seemed to be deliberately hinting at something, but unfortunately Qiu Xinran’s attention wasn’t on this. Instead, she looked at him somewhat curiously and asked: “Hearing this, your assessment of Young Master Zheng is quite good?”

Xia Xiuyan looked at her inexplicably: “Is it strange that I assess him favorably?”

“Not really,” Qiu Xinran stammered. “It’s because people outside often compare you with him, so I thought…” Though she didn’t finish her words, the person beside her immediately understood and laughed mockingly: “Zheng Yuanwu has good character. Comparing him to me doesn’t disgrace me. What’s there to be unhappy about?” His tone made it sound as if people comparing the two of them was meant to elevate him.

Qiu Xinran hadn’t expected such a perspective. Then she heard him say: “Besides, he and I actually have nothing similar. Comparing water and fire—saying water is inferior to fire—who would take it to heart?” His tone was casual yet carried a hint of unconscious pride. Hearing this, she lowered her head and laughed softly.

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her. The little Daoist quickly straightened her expression and said: “Thinking this way, it’s actually because in your heart you know you’re not inferior to him, so you can be completely indifferent, right?”

The young man was stunned and stared at her fixedly. After a while, he curved the corner of his mouth: “Not bad. You’re quite good at talking.”

The two turned around a palace wall when they suddenly saw a sedan chair stopped in the distance. A young woman descended from it, dressed in brocade finery with a head full of vermillion hairpins, a charming face and graceful figure—clearly one of the palace consorts. Xia Xiuyan always avoided private encounters with palace consorts when possible, so he stopped in his tracks and didn’t advance further. Qiu Xinran followed suit and stood in place.

She saw the woman descend from the sedan but didn’t immediately enter. Instead, she turned to look at the person beside her and scolded: “You said those words yourself at the palace banquet that day. Now you want to go back on them—do you think this is child’s play? The way you are now, forget about your Imperial Father being displeased—even I find it offensive to look at! Go back and reflect on your mistakes. This matter has already been decided and cannot be changed. Next time your Imperial Father summons you, if you’re still like this today, you need never come to my palace again!”

“Mother Consort—”

Before the person could finish, she had already swept her sleeves forcefully. Without waiting for the palace maids beside her to assist her, she stormed angrily into the palace, followed quickly by a group of palace maids and eunuchs. Only after everyone had left did Qiu Xinran see clearly that the person remaining outside was actually the eldest prince, Li Hantai.

Qiu Xinran’s impression of this eldest prince wasn’t deep, only because when she arrived at the palace, he was no longer at the academy and rarely moved about the inner palace. Based only on memories from a few palace banquets, she vaguely felt he was probably someone with a steady temperament. She didn’t know what had happened to make Consort Shu publicly scold this son in front of the servants.

Having received a scolding from his mother consort, Li Hantai let the hand he had extended fall back to his side. He clenched his fist tightly, showing a dejected expression. Even after all of Consort Shu’s palace attendants had gone inside, Qiu Xinran saw his melancholy expression as he stood outside for a while longer. Not knowing what he was thinking, only after a long time did he finally turn and leave alone.

When the palace path was once again empty, the two emerged from around the corner. They had stopped here intentionally to avoid suspicion, but now it was as if they had unintentionally eavesdropped. Fortunately, they hadn’t run into Li Hantai and his people face-to-face, thus avoiding an awkward situation.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Consort Shu like that,” Qiu Xinran muttered quietly. “I wonder what happened.”

Among the four consorts in the inner palace now, Consort Shu was most favored by His Majesty. It was said she had a gentle temperament. Even before Emperor Xuande ascended the throne, she had already entered his manor to accompany him. Thus she was the first to bear the eldest prince, and later gave birth to the Fifth Princess. Over all these years, she had enjoyed continuous favor, and even her natal family had benefited greatly from her position. The current Vice Minister of the Secretariat was none other than her brother, Wu Guangda.

Xia Xiuyan suddenly said indifferently: “The Empress has been selecting a consort for the eldest prince these past few days.”

“I see,” Qiu Xinran said with sudden understanding, thoughtfully adding: “I wonder which young lady the eldest prince favors.”

Xia Xiuyan glanced at her: “You’re very interested in this?”

“Not really,” the blue-robed official paused, then looked left and right before sneakily taking a step closer to him and saying in a low voice: “A while ago, the Empress asked me to examine someone’s birth chart. Though she didn’t tell me whose it was, I guess she must already have a candidate in mind.”

Xia Xiuyan watched as the distance between them, originally about a fist’s width, was forcibly compressed by her to a line, their clothing fabrics nearly touching. The person beside him remained completely unaware as she looked ahead while shaking her head and telling him: “But after looking at it a few times, the result wasn’t very good.”

“How so?”

“I secretly calculated a divination using the birth chart. It was a differing hexagram with Li below and Dui above. If seeking marriage, I’m afraid it won’t go smoothly.”

“You told the Empress this?”

“Of course not,” Qiu Xinran detected the chill in his words and said sheepishly: “I only said that fortune and misfortune were difficult to distinguish, and this matter wasn’t urgent.”

Xia Xiuyan looked at her coolly, probably meaning “at least you have some sense.”

“Imperial princes’ marriages involve many interests. Don’t wade into such muddy waters.” In the end, he still added this sentence. Qiu Xinran nodded, knowing his words came entirely from good intentions, and naturally appreciated them.

While talking, the two had already reached outside the palace gate. The princess’s manor carriage was stopped outside, and not far away stood a familiar figure.

“Xianyi?” Qiu Xinran said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Seeing her emerge from the palace completely unharmed, Zhou Xianyi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward: “I saw the Seventh Princess summon you alone and worried something might happen to you.”

He must have been standing here for quite a while—a thin layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, yet seeing her, his face was still cheerful. Qiu Xinran was deeply moved: “Xianyi…”

Before she finished speaking, the person who had walked alongside her had already boarded the princess’s manor carriage. Sitting inside, he lifted the curtain and said indifferently to the person outside: “She’s here. I’ll be going first.” Zhou Xianyi quickly cupped his hands in farewell: “Thank you, young master.”

Xia Xiuyan said nothing. As he lowered the curtain, the carriage headed away from the palace. Qiu Xinran caught a bit of the story and turned to ask: “You asked Young Master Xia for help?”

Zhou Xianyi said embarrassedly: “After you left, I was somewhat worried. I happened to run into the young master at the palace gate. He was just about to go to Fukang Palace and agreed that if convenient, he’d go check on you along the way. But I didn’t expect he would see you out.” Zhou Xianyi felt that his previous impression of Xia Xiuyan as overly cold and aloof had truly wronged him, and he felt somewhat guilty.

Qiu Xinran recalled that just after leaving Lengxiang Palace, she had encountered him on the road. Could it be that at that time, he was actually waiting for her there?

She was lost in thought when Zhou Xianyi beside her patted her shoulder, and the two continued walking outward.

On the way, Zhou Xianyi asked: “In a couple of days, it will be the Shangsi Festival. Will you have the day off?”

Qiu Xinran counted the days and nodded. The young man beside her said happily: “Then you must leave the palace to see it. Chang’an is very lively on Shangsi Festival.”

“Oh?” Qiu Xinran had arrived in Chang’an last spring but hadn’t been able to catch Shangsi. Now hearing him say this, she was indeed somewhat interested. “Where is the liveliest?”

Zhou Xianyi thought for a moment: “The Qujiang Pavilion area will definitely be lively.”

After the two parted ways outside the palace gate, Qiu Xinran returned to the Bureau of Astronomy and ran into Yuan Zhou. He had been on night duty and had only just gotten up after sleeping until now. He sat at the desk organizing documents while yawning.

Qiu Xinran mentioned the Shangsi Festival to him. The young man thought for a moment and nodded: “Sounds good. I’ll accompany you then.” As he spoke, he remembered something and turned to tell her: “Oh right, some time ago you asked me to keep an eye out for suitable shop spaces in the city. A few days ago, I found one with a reasonable price and decent location.”

Hearing this, Qiu Xinran perked up: “Where is it?”

“In Anren Ward. If you have time these next couple days, I’ll take you to see it.”

“Great! I’ll treat you to a meal another day!”

Yuan Zhou smiled helplessly: “But why do you suddenly want to buy property in Chang’an?”

Qiu Xinran counted on her fingers to explain: “I’ve saved up some silver now. If I just deposit it at the money house, it won’t be very useful. Better to buy a suitable shop and rent it out—I can even earn some silver each month.”

“What do you need so much silver for?”

“Who would dislike having too much money?” Qiu Xinran looked at him as if it were obvious. “Everything is expensive in Chang’an. How can one survive without some silver?”

Yuan Zhou choked, then said puzzled: “But surely you don’t plan to stay in Chang’an forever?”

Qiu Xinran raised an eyebrow: “Are you hoping I’ll leave?”

“Please, I beg you to hurry back.” Hearing this, the young man said irritably, then lowered his head to organize the documents on the desk. “Master Uncle sent you down the mountain to experience the world and find your Dao heart. I think you’ve found your way into money’s eye instead.”

Qiu Xinran said with a grin: “The mortal world extends for thousands of zhang. If I can cultivate my Dao heart amid gold and silver treasures, that would also be quite distinctive.”