The night was cool as water. In Prince Li’s Manor, within Wuyou Pavilion, no lamps had been lit; all was pitch-black.
On the spacious bed, Zongzheng Wuyou slept uneasily, as though plagued by dreams, his brows tightly furrowed.
“Imperial Father, what wine is this? It smells so fragrant!” The seven-year-old boy had a face more beautiful than a girl’s, like a celestial child. The man beside him, with cold, stern features, was suffused with the tenderness that belonged only to a loving father. Smiling, he said, “This wine is called ‘Fragrance for Ten Li.’ If my imperial son likes it, at tomorrow’s banquet, Father will have them send more over.”
“Good, but… Mother doesn’t like me drinking wine. I can only have a tiny bit. Imperial Father, you should drink less too, or Mother will ignore you even more.” The boy spoke with utmost seriousness.
Such a young child could never have imagined then that it was precisely that wonderful scent which would ultimately send him and all those dearest to him into hell.
The cold, stern man’s gaze gradually dimmed. Only after a long while did he let out a sigh.
The black night was like a dark, icy abyss of hell, as though it meant to draw people into it. Immersed in his dream, Zongzheng Wuyou’s brows drew even tighter, as though tied into a dead knot.
The scene shifted, and that soul-shattering moment began to unfold…
A room thick with the heavy smell of medicine. Torn garments lay scattered in disarray. A man who had lost all reason took frenziedly; every drop of sweat on his body was filled with a nauseating stench of desire. The person beneath him had long since gone bloodless, her slender ten fingers digging into the bed board, declaring with bloodied flesh the pain and despair that could not be relieved. Death spread in silence…
His face was ashen-pale, like dead ashes. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down from the temples of the man submerged in the nightmare, spattering and dampening the snow-white sheets.
Zongzheng Wuyou gave a startled gasp and abruptly opened his eyes. His dark pupils, like deep pools, were filled with grief and agony. He closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and when he opened them again, there was only clear, cold indifference. Throwing back the quilt, he rose and walked to the window. With a creak, the window was opened; cold wind seeped in, billowing his inner robe soaked through with cold sweat, bringing a chill that pierced to the heart.
“Leng Yan.” In the darkness, he called out.
A black shadow immediately appeared behind him.
He asked, “‘Fragrance for Ten Li’ was not all destroyed? Why would the General’s Manor still have such a thing?”
Leng Yan replied, “Back then, when the Qin family was executed and their property confiscated, the wine in the cellar was indeed not left with a single drop. The ‘Fragrance for Ten Li’ in the great hall today smelled the same as the ‘Fragrance for Ten Li’ from the wine cellar back then, but its fragrance did not spread beyond the General’s Manor. It did not seem like a vintage aged for many years.”
“Did not seem like a vintage aged for many years?” Zongzheng Wuyou froze, then turned around, narrowing his eyes, a cold light flashing within them. “You mean… those two Qin children who fell into the river didn’t die? Go investigate at once!”
“Yes.”
“Wait.” Zongzheng Wuyou stopped him. After a pause, he said, “There’s still no movement from the General’s Manor?”
Leng Yan nodded. “We cannot find her, nor have we seen her leave.”
Zongzheng Wuyou’s expression had already returned to normal, but inside, because of that dream, his emotions were still churning uncontrollably. His mind was in chaos, unable to calm down and think. He paced a few steps before the window, brows knitted, and said in a low voice, “Keep watching. Tomorrow, seal the city gates and search house by house. We must find her.”
He was incomparably resolute. At that time, he did not know why he was so resolute about finding her. Was it because he could not tolerate her fleeing from his side without his permission, or was it for some other reason? He did not think about it carefully.
For two whole days, the capital was filled everywhere with officers and soldiers. From the eastern city to the western city, almost every inch of land had been turned over. Even the imperial palace and the Crown Prince’s residence had people arranged to investigate, yet that person was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she had vanished from this world into thin air, without a trace.
Outside, a fine, continuous rain fell in fragmented strands. Inside the room was utter silence.
The guard who had entered to report knelt on the ground in fear and trepidation, his heart hanging high in his chest, his forehead pressed to the floor, not daring even to breathe.
Zongzheng Wuyou clenched his hand, waves of irritation rising in his heart. He no longer had the calm, composed state of mind he had possessed on the day she left.
The Ninth Prince strode in and, without greeting him, sat down on the chair opposite him. He poured himself a cup of tea and gulped it down in one breath, then exhaled heavily. “I’m exhausted! Seventh Brother, where on earth do you think this Liyue has hidden herself? We’ve searched every street and alley in the capital, thatched huts and houses, even the latrines, and yet a living person has just disappeared into thin air?”
Zongzheng Wuyou pressed his fist to his lips. Outside the window, misty rain and fog covered the heavens and earth, as though quietly recounting someone’s innermost thoughts.
Seeing that he had no reaction, the Ninth Prince curled his lip. As though thinking of something amusing, he leaned closer, his expression mysterious. “Hey, Seventh Brother, do you think… since Liyue is so beautiful, could she be a fairy descended to the mortal realm? After you broke her heart, she turned into a wisp of blue smoke and drifted away from this world, returning to where she came from…”
“What nonsense are you spouting!” Before he could finish, Zongzheng Wuyou cut him off sharply.
The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart. That woman had originally been a lone soul lodged within another person’s body. Now that she had suddenly disappeared, as though evaporated from the mortal world, with no trace remaining, Zongzheng Wuyou suddenly recalled the day she left, when she had looked at him with proud, cold laughter and said, “I know Your Highness Prince Li’s power is vast enough to cover the sky, but the affairs of this world will not forever remain in your grasp alone. There will always be one person you seek but cannot obtain, and there will one day be one matter that, no matter how you, Zongzheng Wuyou, overturn the clouds with one hand and make rain with the other, you still cannot reverse.”
She had spoken those words so decisively, so certainly. Could it be…
Thinking of one possibility, Zongzheng Wuyou’s heart abruptly tightened, and an inexplicable panic rose within him. He did not think carefully about where that panic came from; he only lowered his eyes, the fingertips gripping the armrest of the chair gradually turning white. But then, on second thought, he felt it was not right. She had said she did not know how to return to that world. She had said there was no one in that world worth her longing for. Even if she truly had gone back, her body should still remain. Yet now, even the body had not been found, which meant this possibility was not great.
Where exactly had she gone? The capital was only so large. How could there be someone he, Zongzheng Wuyou, could not find? The frustration in his heart grew stronger, and without realizing it, his hand exerted force. At last, with a crack, the chair’s armrest could not withstand the strength of his grip and was violently broken off, wood splinters scattering all over the floor.
The muffled sound came without warning, making the guard kneeling on the ground tremble, cold sweat pouring like a waterfall.
The Ninth Prince froze, eyes widening in great astonishment. The Seventh Brother he knew was cold and unfathomable; no matter what happened, he would remain very calm, and he would never take ordinary people to heart. But now, for the sake of a woman, he had searched the city on a massive scale and had even become truly furious. In his eyes, this was truly extraordinary.
Zongzheng Wuyou was stunned. Looking at the splintered wood scattered across the floor, he felt a moment of bewilderment.
The rain on the eaves was still falling drip by drip. The Ninth Prince tilted forward, craned his neck, his eyes shifting, and suddenly said, “Seventh Brother, why are you so anxious to find Liyue? I’ve never seen you care so much about any person or any matter! You… couldn’t have truly fallen for Liyue, could you?”
Zongzheng Wuyou’s body shook. Instinctively, he lifted his eyes, his lips habitually carrying a trace of mockery, as if the Ninth Prince had told some enormous joke. But when his gaze met the man’s opposite him, the Ninth Prince’s normally frivolous eyes were, at this moment, incomparably serious and even carried sharpness. The ridicule at the corner of Zongzheng Wuyou’s mouth stiffened inch by inch. He abruptly stood and turned his back, doing his utmost to suppress the sudden panic in his heart.
What was true feeling? How could he possibly have such a thing?
“Do you have nothing better to do? Then continue looking for her. If you can’t find her, don’t return to your residence.” Zongzheng Wuyou spoke in a deep, cold voice.
The Ninth Prince was stunned. He had only said it casually, thinking his Seventh Brother would mock him for speaking nonsense, but he had not expected this kind of reaction. He could not help rising to his feet. After looking at his rigid back for a while, he shook his head helplessly. As he was about to leave, he said, “Seventh Brother, have you ever thought about why someone as clever and cautious as Liyue would so easily fall into your tender trap? If you truly hadn’t put even the slightest bit of sincerity into it, would she really have failed to sense it at all?”
This was absolutely the most serious sentence the Ninth Prince had ever spoken in his life!
The Ninth Prince left, and all the servants also withdrew. When the door closed, the wind that slipped in snuffed out the candle flame.
The last thread of light was shut out as well, and the room was plunged into darkness. Zongzheng Wuyou leaned sideways against the couch, unmoving, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. The cup’s icy temperature seeped straight through the skin of his fingertips into his heart, turning into boundless loneliness and solitude that spread without end.
Old Ninth’s words were like a dull hammer, striking heavily against his heart. The questions he had never once faced squarely were now all laid out before his eyes.
Why must it be her? When he touched other women, he felt such resistance, yet she alone always made him unconsciously want to draw near.
In this life, he had never intended to take a wife, yet when he had once, by chance, thought of having her accompany him in the years to come, he had felt that life was not entirely without pleasure. She was merely a tool he had finished using. Why was he so anxious to find her, even to the point of not hesitating to mobilize the people of Wuyin Tower? It had only been two days, yet her disappearance had already thrown him into disorder, leaving him at a loss.
This… exactly why was this?
He closed his eyes. His mind was filled with the woman’s pale face, and the thin, mocking, cold smile that had appeared at the corner of her mouth after she learned the truth, as well as the way she had forced herself to hide her heartache and pretend to be strong. It was not that he had not seen all this; he had only deliberately ignored it. In the end, it had buried itself in the softest place at the bottom of his heart.
The rain fell all night, its pattering sound traveling in through the tightly shut window. By dawn, he had fallen asleep leaning against that soft couch, exhaustion filling the space between his brows. The cup of cold tea was still in his hand, not a single drop touched.
Seeing no movement inside, the steward of Wuyou Pavilion instructed people to wait outside the door and not let anyone enter to disturb him, but they could not withstand the Ninth Prince’s loud voice.
“Seventh Brother…” He began shouting the moment he entered the gates of Wuyou Pavilion.
Zongzheng Wuyou frowned and opened his eyes. They were covered in bloodshot lines, crisscrossing.
The people outside made a “shh” sound at the Ninth Prince and lowered their voices to plead, “Your Highness Ninth Prince, please stop shouting. His Highness has not yet risen.”
How could the Ninth Prince listen to them? He simply pushed the door open and shouted loudly, “Seventh Brother, what time is it already? Why are you still sleeping?” He entered the room and saw Zongzheng Wuyou’s face filled with fatigue, as if he had not slept the entire night. He teased with a laugh, “Seventh Brother, you couldn’t have stayed awake all night thinking about Liyue, could you? That doesn’t seem like my Seventh Brother at all!”
Zongzheng Wuyou’s expression stiffened. He shot the Ninth Prince a sidelong glance. The Ninth Prince hurriedly changed his words. “My Seventh Brother has the bearing of a celestial, regards money as… oh, no, regards women as dirt. How could he possibly be worried sick and unable to sleep or eat over a little woman? Right… Seventh Brother? If you’re going to think of someone, you should be thinking of me, hehe…”
Zongzheng Wuyou looked at his face, full of a smile that begged to be punched, along with his exaggerated movements, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
Someone brought in water and attended him as he washed and dressed.
The Ninth Prince moved closer to him and said again, “The General’s Manor is truly lively. Even though it’s raining, not a single minister is absent; they’ve all arrived neatly and properly. The line of people delivering gifts stretches from the northern city almost to the southern city.”
Zongzheng Wuyou did not speak. After washing up, the steward had people bring in breakfast. Zongzheng Wuyou waved it away; he had no appetite. Only then did he glance at the Ninth Prince and say lightly, “I told you to go find someone, not to watch the excitement.”
The Ninth Prince sat down and pursed his lips. “Finding someone can include watching the excitement along the way. Fu Chou really got lucky this time. Even the Crown Prince’s wedding didn’t have such a grand display. Leaving everything else aside, just look at Imperial Father’s rewards, Princess Rongle’s dowry, and the congratulatory gifts from the princes, dukes, and ministers. Tsk, tsk…”
“What, do you regret it?” Zongzheng Wuyou lifted the newly served tea and took a sip. Hearing the sourness in Old Ninth’s tone, the corner of his mouth curved faintly in a slight smile.
The Ninth Prince raised his brows. “Regret, not really, but… if Princess Rongle looked like Liyue, marrying her back would truly be quite good. That would be getting both beauty and wealth!”
Zongzheng Wuyou cast him a sidelong glance. In this world, there was only one A’Man! He said casually, “Their figures are similar. If their faces were the same as well, wouldn’t that be…”
Wouldn’t that mean they were the same person!
He did not say those words aloud. His expression suddenly changed, as something flashed rapidly through his mind.
“Seventh Brother, you…”
Zongzheng Wuyou raised a hand, stopping the Ninth Prince from speaking. Slowly, he stood and walked step by step to the window. Large drops of water from the eaves splashed ripples into the puddles below, layer after layer not yet spreading outward before the arrival of the next droplet concealed the traces of the previous one.
The bath chamber!
His mind suddenly became clear. In the bath chamber of the General’s Manor, the only brief instant Princess Rongle had disappeared from his sight was when, after he followed her in, Fu Chou swiftly lifted the curtain. The entire bath chamber was visible at a glance, giving people the false impression that there was nowhere to hide. He had seen Princess Rongle stirring the water in the pool with her hand. Why would she put her hand into water that someone else had bathed in, before it had even had time to be cleaned out? Whether that water was warm or cool could be seen with a single glance. Why would the princess of a nation need to test it personally with her own hand? Unless… someone had just dived into that pool, creating ripples, and she needed this to cover them.
She was indeed meticulous. She had actually played a trick of substituting one thing for another right beneath his eyes! But why would Princess Rongle spare no effort to help her?
Zongzheng Wuyou closed his eyes. It was rare for him to put thought into any particular matter.
In Yiqing Hall, she had once said, “If I were Princess Rongle, would you…” She had not finished that probing question, and he had only taken it as her, like any ordinary woman, wanting to test his feelings. At that evening banquet, her thoughts had drifted, and she had been preoccupied.
By the hot spring pool, she had said, “If I were to marry, would you be happy for me?” At that time, Princess Rongle and Fu Chou’s wedding date had been set for three days later.
Something was gradually surfacing, shaking his body and sending waves of pain through his chest. He suddenly opened his eyes, unable to continue thinking. Turning around, his tone carried an urgency difficult to conceal. “Old Ninth, when you came over, had the princess of Qiyun’s bridal sedan reached the General’s Manor?”
The Ninth Prince froze, not understanding why he was asking this, but still answered, “At this hour, they should be about to perform the wedding bows.”
Before his words had even faded, Zongzheng Wuyou had already gone out the door. The Ninth Prince hurriedly shouted loudly, “Seventh Brother, where are you going?”
The answer he received was Zongzheng Wuyou’s swiftly vanishing back, and the whooshing sound left by the sweep of his white robes.