That night, the stars were sparse, the clouds pale. In the Manor of the General Who Guards the State, even the servants walked with their heads lowered, not daring to make the slightest sound.
Outside the bedchamber of Qingmi Garden, the two guards closest to the manor’s two masters knelt in perfect order: Xiang Ying and Xiao Sha. Their backs were ramrod straight, their heads bowed and eyes lowered, each harboring different thoughts.
When Manyao woke, it was already the third watch of the night. The moment she opened her eyes, she met the complicated gaze of the man seated by the bed—one he had not yet had time to put away. In that gaze there seemed to be guilt, worry, struggle… and a rare, genuine softness. The only thing absent was his usual mask-like gentleness.
Manyao froze for a moment and frowned faintly. Then she saw all the complicated emotions in his eyes turn into joy in an instant.
“Rongle, you’re awake? Lie still, don’t move. Someone—Madam is awake. Hurry and bring the bird’s nest porridge.”
The maid at the door accepted the order and hurried away. Fu Chou turned back and asked, “Rongle, how do you feel? Is there anywhere uncomfortable?”
Manyao did not speak. She stared blankly at him. He was so gentle, so considerate, and seemed so nervous. Anyone who saw him would think this man was a good husband rarely found in a hundred years. Yet she could not feel moved. She only found it laughable. Quietly withdrawing her hand, she lowered her eyes and looked at her own slightly pale fingers, as though she saw them once more covered in scarlet.
A single lamp burned in the room, its dim yellow glow tinged with a faint orange-red. A gust of wind blew in through the open window, and with the swaying of light and shadow, the entire room seemed to be shifting. Manyao kept feeling that everything before her eyes was stained with fresh red blood. With the slightest movement, a sharp pain tore through her shoulder.
In the end, she was still alive. She closed her eyes and drew a breath. Gradually, a white figure walking over the waves surfaced in her mind.
“How did I come back?” she asked weakly. Without waiting for Fu Chou to answer, she quickly added, “Was it the General who saved me? The General truly calculates like a god. You knew I would definitely encounter danger, so you arranged for Xiang Ying to bring men and lie in ambush there in advance.”
She spoke with a smile, her gaze moving back and forth over his handsome face.
Fu Chou unnaturally turned his eyes aside. His gaze grew complicated once more, and just as he did not know where to look, the maid entered with the porridge. Fu Chou immediately smiled and said, “You’ve just woken. You shouldn’t tire yourself. Come, have some porridge.” With that, he helped her sit up and lean against the stacked soft cushions, then took the bowl, scooped a spoonful of bird’s nest porridge, and brought it to her lips.
Manyao did not open her mouth. She fixed her eyes on his, emotions surging in her heart, and asked coldly, “That young master in purple is the prince of Chenfeng, isn’t he? You knew long ago that he would go there to tour the lake?”
The hand Fu Chou held the spoon with trembled faintly. He looked up at her in surprise, only to see her smile, her tone filled with incomparable mockery. “It seems your cooperation with Imperial Brother amounts to no more than this. Imperial Brother wanted to kill him, but you used me to save him. If I had died this time, I wonder whose wish that would have fulfilled?”
Fu Chou’s body shook. He immediately tossed the spoon back into the bowl and seized her hand, like someone long sunk in darkness trying to grasp the last ray of light in his life.
“You won’t die!”
“I won’t let you die.”
His heroic brows were knitted tightly, and his tone was resolute, carrying a tremor of lingering fear.
Hearing those words, Manyao only found them deeply ironic. He would not let her die—was it not simply because she still had value to be used? But if she had not seen wrongly, if she had not hallucinated in that instant, then she could almost be certain that the person who saved her was not Fu Chou. On what grounds, then, did Fu Chou say he would not let her die?
She wrenched her hand free, but accidentally pulled at her wound. The searing pain made her dizzy, and she nearly could not remain seated.
Fu Chou’s gaze darkened. He hurriedly supported her swaying body and said nervously, “Don’t move. Be careful of your wound.”
Manyao turned her head away and refused to look at him.
Fu Chou lowered his brows and sighed softly. “Seeing everything so clearly… Rongle, aren’t you tired?”
The lamplight swayed again, flickering over her pale face. She lifted her chin and said expressionlessly, “Whether I’m tired or not, what difference does it make? I’d rather not see things clearly, but everything concerns me directly!” This time, it had nearly taken her life. How could she not see clearly? Before leaving that morning, this man had so earnestly told her to leave her heart to him! Leave her heart to someone who never forgot to use her? Was she truly that foolish?
A thin, cold, mocking smile spread over her lips. Looking at her expression, Fu Chou felt an indescribable feeling well up in his heart. He opened his mouth, but in the end only sighed helplessly. “Rongle, I don’t want to hurt you. I let you go because I knew they wouldn’t hurt you. But why did you risk your life to save a stranger you had only just met?”
“A stranger?” Manyao smiled bitterly. “That stranger was willing to lay down his weapon for me and hand his own life over to the enemy!”
She turned back to look at him, her gaze clear and sharp, as though asking: Can you? My lord husband, who keeps saying you want to stay with me for a lifetime?
Under her gaze, Fu Chou felt his heart sink straight down. For a moment, he actually did not dare meet her eyes. He hurriedly rose and said, “Rest.” Then he quickly strode away, fleeing toward the door.
“General.” Manyao called him from behind and said calmly, “Whether Xiang Ying or Xiao Sha, let them both get up. They were merely acting under orders. What need is there for them to kneel here and beg forgiveness?”
Fu Chou, who had reached the doorway, stiffened. His steps paused, but he did not look back.
The bowl of bird’s nest porridge on the bedside table was still steaming, its bland fragrance filling the room. Manyao glanced at it. Having no appetite, she had someone remove it. After that, all sleepiness left her. She lay quietly on the bed with her eyes open, looking at Xiao Sha, who had already risen but still stood outside the window without leaving. A desolate feeling welled up in her heart. In her memory, ever since she had come to this world, Xiao Sha and Ling’er had always stayed by her side. They taught her swordplay, accompanied her while she played the qin, watched her play chess, and never asked why she suddenly seemed to know nothing at all, while the things she did know were things they had never seen before.
Counting it, four years had passed. Four years of sincere treatment, of day-and-night companionship, of weathering wind and rain together. If even this could not earn wholehearted trust, then what else in this world was worthy of her belief?
She closed her eyes, and that white figure appeared in her mind again, stepping over the water, flying toward her…
A suffocating pain seized her heart, and she hurriedly opened her eyes once more.
She saw Ling’er the next morning. The sun was blazing, and the air was oppressively hot.
Ling’er rushed into the bedchamber like a whirlwind and threw herself before Manyao’s bed, crying out joyfully, “Master, you’re finally awake! Yesterday scared me to death.”
Manyao smiled faintly. “I’m fine now.”
Ling’er nodded, but tears brimmed in her eyes as she choked out, “Fortunately Prince Li appeared in time. Otherwise, this servant truly doesn’t dare imagine…”
Those two words, Prince Li, made Manyao’s heart tremble. The question and answer that had been circling in her heart since last night were so easily laid bare by Ling’er.
“You said… it was Prince Li? He saved me?” she asked softly, her voice actually trembling a little.
“Yes, Master. Prince Li’s qinggong is incredible. Across such a wide lake, he actually moved as if walking on level ground and rescued you safe and sound. You didn’t see it—Prince Li’s expression at the time was terrifying. That look was as if someone had slaughtered his entire family…”
“Don’t speak nonsense!” Manyao frowned and rebuked her softly, her heart instantly thrown into disorder.
Ling’er said, “I’m not speaking nonsense. It really was frightening! None of us dared look at him. He was still holding you when he coldly ordered Leng Yan, ‘Level it.’ Then many masked men in black appeared and practically flattened that entire mountain…”
Certain things that had been deliberately sunk into the depths of her heart quietly surged up with Ling’er’s words, instantly tangling Manyao’s thoughts into chaos. And the reaction of the man Ling’er spoke of was just like when she had been held in his arms on the line between life and death yesterday—she had felt his tension, fury, fear, panic… All these emotions could make one mistakenly think she was an indispensable existence to him. Yet for someone as cold and heartless as Prince Li, Zongzheng Wuyou, could there be anyone indispensable in his life? She could not help thinking: first he had sent lychees by fast horse, then he had saved her at Qingliang Lake. He had never been someone accustomed to spending thought on others, nor did he enjoy boating on lakes. Then why had he appeared there, and just happened to save her life? Was it coincidence? Or was there some other reason?
Her heart suddenly ached. She raised a hand to press against her chest, feeling somewhat suffocated.
Seeing that her expression was wrong, Ling’er hurriedly stopped and cried, “Master, what’s wrong? Does your wound hurt? I’ll go call the physician.”
“No need.” Manyao held Ling’er back, panted for two breaths, then said, “I’m fine. Maybe the weather is too hot, and my chest feels a little stifled. Right, how is that young master in purple?”
Ling’er said, “He’s fine. He only suffered some light injuries. He also said something strange.”
Manyao asked, “What did he say?”
Ling’er recalled, “He said, ‘So this person is Prince Li? Liwu, what you said before was wrong. His arrogance and conceit don’t rely on the emperor’s favor—he truly has the capital for it. As long as he is willing, this realm will sooner or later be his.’”
Manyao froze. Ning Qianyi had said that? It seemed his visit to Lintian Kingdom this time was not merely to choose a wife.
“What happened afterward?” Manyao asked again.
Ling’er said, “Afterward, all the black-clad assassins died. Even the archers Xiang Ying brought—none of them walked out of that mountain alive! They captured Xiang Ying and the leader of the black-clad men… Master, do you know? The leader of those black-clad men was actually Xiao Sha! I never dreamed… that the person who nearly caused your death would be him! I asked him why, but he was like a mute and refused to say a single word…”
The more Ling’er spoke, the more indignant she became, but Manyao only said calmly, “The people of Wuyin Tower truly are formidable!”
Ling’er froze for a moment and asked strangely, “Master, why aren’t you angry? When I saw yesterday that it was Xiao Sha, I wanted to kill him with my own hands!”
Manyao said, “What use would there be in killing him? He was merely acting under orders.”
“Acting under orders? Whose orders?” Ling’er asked. After asking, she suddenly thought of something, widened her eyes, and drew in a breath. “Master means… His Majesty? Impossible, impossible. His Majesty would never harm Master. He wouldn’t!”
Ling’er shook her head in panic, as if unable to believe it. Manyao, however, smiled faintly. “The person he wanted to kill wasn’t me. Why are you so nervous?” After saying that, she reached out and took Ling’er’s hand. Looking into Ling’er’s eyes, Manyao said with a serious expression, “Ling’er, I don’t care whose orders you and Xiao Sha still listen to, or for whom you work. In this world, the only two people I can believe in are you. No matter what happens, I don’t want to doubt you.”
“Master…” Ling’er was so moved she was about to cry. Manyao patted her hand and smiled. “All right. I believe Xiao Sha had his own reasons this time, and my injury was also an accident. Go tell him that I don’t blame him, and tell him to go back and rest. We’ll speak of this matter in a few days. I want to rest. If there’s nothing important, don’t let anyone come in to disturb me.”
After saying that, she closed her eyes. Only after Ling’er left did she open them again. She still had not the slightest sleepiness and did not know how to make her heart settle, how not to think of Imperial Brother’s calculations, not to think of Fu Chou’s exploitation, and even less to think of Zongzheng Wuyou’s reason for saving her.
This summer was so stifling that it made one’s heart uneasy. Manyao sensed that her peaceful days were nearly at an end.
After the assassination at Qingliang Lake, because the prince of Chenfeng had been injured, the flower-viewing banquet was postponed by seven days and set at the summer palace on Yunlian Mountain in the northern outskirts of the capital.
Yunlian Mountain was blessed with natural beauty, secluded and elegant. The summer palace’s pavilions, terraces, towers, rockeries, and strange stones were constructed with exquisite craftsmanship. In Shenglian Garden, a vast jade-green pond connected three waterside pavilions standing in a triangular formation. Around the pavilions, emerald lotus leaves covered the entire pond, leaving no glimpse of the murky water beneath.
When Manyao arrived with Fu Chou, there was still more than an hour before the evening banquet began, but the Lotus Viewing Hall was already extremely lively. Civil and military officials and their female relatives had gathered in separate groups, chatting with great enthusiasm. The atmosphere inside the hall was exceedingly harmonious. And the most eye-catching of all were the official young ladies dressed with careful elegance—plump or slender, each charming in her own way, all incomparably delicate and beautiful.
A flower-viewing banquet—so the flowers to be viewed were not the blossoms in the pond, but beauties like flowers. Looking at the hope and longing filling those young ladies’ eyes, Manyao found it rather strange. Since this flower-viewing banquet had been prepared for a marriage alliance with Chenfeng, by rights, ordinary women should not like leaving their homeland to marry far away into another country. Yet why did these young ladies all seem to be hoping to be chosen?
Seeing Fu Chou and Manyao arrive, all the officials rose to welcome them.
The wife of some unknown official caught sight of Manyao and immediately came over warmly, linking arms with her, her face full of smiles. “This must be Grand Princess Rongle, yes? You are indeed a national beauty, lovely enough to topple cities and kingdoms. Paired with this outfit, you look just like a celestial immortal! No wonder the two most outstanding men of our dynasty have both been captivated by you. With you here tonight, these commandery princesses and young ladies can only serve to join in the excitement.”
Before the last sentence had even fallen, hostile gazes from all around swept over toward them. Manyao frowned and, without leaving a trace, avoided the lady’s deliberately intimate gesture. Hearing words that seemed praise on the surface but concealed disparagement beneath, she smiled very properly. “Madam truly knows how to jest. Rongle is already a married woman. How could I be mentioned in the same breath as these young ladies as beautiful as flowers and jade?”
The lady said, “Princess is too modest! Oh? Princess, this outfit of yours is truly beautiful. Is it new stock from Jinyi Workshop? General Fu must have specially prepared it for you. Look, Great General Fu treats the Princess so well. If my lord treated me even half as well as General Fu treats the Princess, I would wake from my dreams laughing. Don’t you all agree?”
The other madams all laughed and gathered around. Someone pushed Manyao, and it happened to land on her injured shoulder, which had not yet healed. A tearing pain shot through her, making irritation rise in her heart. Having no mood to deal with these people, she smiled politely and soon found an excuse to slip away. Behind her, those madams curled their lips, then gathered together again to chat and laugh.
Manyao found a quieter place to sit. She watched Fu Chou surrounded at the center by officials, responding appropriately and with effortless ease. Meanwhile, she sat alone in silence, her calm, aloof bearing somewhat incompatible with the bustling crowd.
The sky gradually darkened. Around the semi-open Lotus Viewing Hall, palace lanterns of every color had already been hung. Their light poured down, illuminating the pond full of lotus flowers, as if unmarried maidens had been adorned with their most beautiful makeup, making them look even more delicate and lovely. Yet sitting here, Manyao had no mood whatsoever to admire the scenery.
“Master, there’s still some time before the evening banquet. If you feel stifled, why not go out for a walk?” Ling’er suggested.
Manyao thought for a moment, nodded, and quietly left the Lotus Viewing Hall with Ling’er.
Once they left Shenglian Garden, the air seemed much better. Manyao found a quiet path and slowly walked along it. On both sides of the path, trees grew lush and dense, and rockeries stood in clusters. Only then did she let out a breath of stale air. But just as she turned past a rockery, she heard the sounds of beating and cursing from behind it. Manyao frowned. Why was there nowhere peaceful?
She did not wish to meddle in other people’s affairs and was just about to turn and leave when she heard a man curse, “Slut, why did you run out here alone? Were you thinking of going to find that Brother Wuyou of yours? Hmph! If Prince Li had taken a fancy to a cheap thing like you, you wouldn’t have ended up marrying me. Let me tell you, since your father married you to me, you’d better behave yourself. If you dare keep thinking about another man, watch whether I don’t flay your skin off!”