Fragrant Soul House was sealed off, and Manyao took Chen Yu away with ease. Meanwhile, news that Prince Li would personally visit Longyue Tea Garden in three days spread like wildfire. Over the next few days, Tianshui Lake grew lively. Manyao was more than happy to save herself the trouble; she did not even need to promote it.
At dusk on the third day, Tianshui Lake in the western district was packed with people. The yet-unopened Longyue Tea Garden was surrounded so tightly that not even water could trickle through. When the capital prefect learned of this, he hurriedly arranged for over a hundred yamen guards to maintain order and ensure His Highness Prince Li’s safety.
The moonlight that night was exceptionally bright, shining upon the lake’s surface like a mirror. Only when Prince Li, Zongzheng Wuyou, and the Ninth Prince arrived at the shore of Tianshui Lake did Longyue Tea Garden finally open its doors, announcing that from then on it would receive only twenty guests each day. The crowd began to clamor; some attempted to stir up trouble, but were suppressed by the authorities. Amid the kneeling salutations of the masses, Zongzheng Wuyou stepped through the gates of Longyue Tea Garden.
Within the long, narrow passage hung only a single dim lamp. The light was gloomy, and the ceiling overhead was low; walking through it brought an intense sense of oppression, as though there were no light to be seen at all.
“I heard that building this tea garden used up every construction and decoration team near the capital. I thought it would be something extraordinary, but it turns out it can’t even compare to an ordinary teahouse on the street. At least those teahouses don’t make things so dark the moment you enter…” The Ninth Prince criticized it disdainfully, clearly unimpressed with this teahouse, already thinking that once they got inside, he would have to mock that person properly. Zongzheng Wuyou also frowned slightly, but said nothing. The two walked one after the other through the passage, turned a corner, and came upon a door. Before the Ninth Prince could even reach out, someone had already opened it for them.
When that door opened, the words the Ninth Prince had not yet finished saying instantly lodged in his throat, and he could not utter another syllable. He stood before the opened door, staring blankly at the scene within, his eyes wide, too astonished to speak.
Zongzheng Wuyou was also stunned for a moment, the surprise in his eyes unmistakable.
It was a spacious garden enclosed beneath a roof. Within the garden, willow trees were veiled in mist, cherry blossoms bloomed in full splendor, and all around was the flourishing beauty of spring. A clear, flowing channel of jade-green water wound beneath the willows, weaving and circling through the garden. On the water floated exquisitely crafted, translucent lotus lanterns, drifting with the current and sending out rippling layers of water. Under the illumination of glazed lamps suspended in midair, the ripples shimmered with flowing colors, reflected upward onto the tower-shaped roof of silver-mirrored surfaces. From there they refracted throughout the garden at different angles. For a time, the entire garden was filled with silver waves of light, as though the Milky Way itself had flowed backward. Its beauty was beyond description, like an immortal realm.
“Marvelous! Truly marvelous!” The Ninth Prince could not help striking his folding fan against his palm as he exclaimed, “Who would have thought that after such a dim passage, there would be a sight like this? It’s too beautiful!”
Zongzheng Wuyou said, “That is precisely the ingenious thought of the designer.”
Using a narrow, dark space to settle one’s perception of the outside world, then contrasting it with this silver-water garden, could bring about an even stronger visual impact. Zongzheng Wuyou closed his eyes, lifted his head, and drew in a deep breath. He only felt a faint fragrance flow into his lungs with the air, refreshing both mind and spirit.
The two ascended the steps, treading along a path of fine gravel, and could not help feeling relaxed in both body and mind.
As soon as Manyao saw that the two of them had arrived, she hurriedly came forward to greet them in person and gave a slight bow. “Welcome, Your Highnesses. Please, this way!”
She led the two to the centralmost seat, beside a glazed table beneath a cherry tree in full bloom.
Before they had even sat down, the Ninth Prince could not wait to ask, “Did you really design this garden?”
Manyao smiled and nodded. “It is indeed my humble work. I fear I have made Your Highnesses laugh.”
The Ninth Prince quickly waved his hand and said, “Not at all, not at all. It’s designed very well, very beautifully—no, it’s too beautiful! As beautiful as you are.” The Ninth Prince’s eyes shone brightly, his praise unreserved; he had long since forgotten every bit of his earlier displeasure.
Manyao sincerely thanked him. Lifting her eyes, she saw Zongzheng Wuyou’s thoughtful gaze resting on her. She smiled faintly and did not think much of it. To her, being able to own such a tea garden had once been her dream. Now that it had come true, she was very happy. Her only regret was that she would never have the chance, in such a garden, to meet a confidant who could understand and cherish her, and accompany her in drinking tea and playing chess. Since childhood, she had liked xiangqi, but in this world there was only weiqi, and no one knew what xiangqi was.
After inviting the two of them to sit, Manyao bent slightly and reached under the glazed table to press a button. A faint clicking sound came from above their heads, and a piece of silver mirror on the garden roof shifted aside, revealing a round, deep opening. Moonlight, like water, instantly poured down, enveloping the glazed table and the three people beside it, giving one an extraordinarily wondrous feeling. It was as though tonight’s moon shone for them alone.
The name Longyue Tea Garden came from this.
Bathed in moonlight, Zongzheng Wuyou’s expression paused slightly. He looked at Manyao across from him, similarly bathed in moonlight. The corners of her lips were gently raised, her smile faint, and her clear eyes shimmered with dazzling radiance, making one feel in a daze that this waterlike moonlight and the silver waves filling the garden all paled before this person.
The Ninth Prince clapped and laughed. “Excellent, excellent! No wonder it’s called Longyue Tea Garden, and no wonder it only opens at night. Truly not bad! You really are a marvelous person. Right, what’s your name?”
Manyao was just wondering whether she should make up a false name when she heard the Ninth Prince call out excitedly, “Don’t say it yet. Let me think. This whole garden of glazed glass, water, and moonlight… Ah, I’ll call you Liyue. Liyue, Liyue… Seventh Brother, tell me, does this name suit her?”
Zongzheng Wuyou gave a rare smile. Looking at her, specks of brilliance flickered in his gaze. His voice was lazy yet elegant as he said, “Eyes of glazed glass, a person of moonlight. A woman should be thus!”
Manyao’s heart jolted. Eyes of glazed glass, a person of moonlight—was Zongzheng Wuyou talking about her? But… a woman should be thus… Manyao subconsciously raised her hand and touched her fake Adam’s apple. It was made so realistically; surely she would not be recognized, right? Or perhaps this was a test? She steadied herself and smiled faintly. “Your Highness Prince Li must be joking.”
Zongzheng Wuyou curved his lips, seeming to smile yet not, and no longer looked at her. A thin mist drifted through the air, ethereal as smoke. The sound of a qin rose at just the right moment, its beautiful, winding melody slowly spreading above the quiet garden, creating a dreamlike scene that seemed both real and unreal.
The Ninth Prince said in surprise, “Chen Yu! You got her here?!”
Manyao smiled, but Zongzheng Wuyou’s face abruptly turned cold. His gaze was as cold as an icy blade as it shot straight toward Manyao. In a low voice, he said, “You used this prince?”
Manyao was secretly startled and thought, This is bad! Zongzheng Wuyou’s reaction was even faster than she had imagined. She hurriedly smiled and said, “What does Your Highness Prince Li mean by that?”
Zongzheng Wuyou gave a cold snort and said, “Your courage is even greater than this prince imagined! Pretending ignorance before this prince—this garden, I see you no longer wish to keep it?”
Manyao’s weak spot was seized by him at once, and her heart shook. Knowing she could no longer hide it from him, she simply stiffened her neck and admitted, “That’s right. I was the one who had Chen Yu go present her dance. But it is not as serious as Your Highness makes it sound. I asked Your Highness to help with this matter because I wished to provide Your Highness with an even more perfect environment for tasting tea. I believe Your Highness is not a narrow-minded person and will not haggle over this with me. Moreover, did what I did not also fulfill Your Highness’s wishes? Several million taels of silver have enriched the national treasury. These past few days, the Crown Prince is probably too upset to eat.”
As the last sentence fell, Zongzheng Wuyou’s gaze grew even sharper, making Manyao’s heart sink steadily. But she did not avoid it. Instead, she met his eyes calmly, her body as straight as ever. Zongzheng Wuyou’s heart stirred faintly as he fixed his gaze on her, the expression in his eyes unpredictable. He had originally thought that once exposed, she would panic, become flustered, kneel, and beg for mercy. He had not expected her to react like this.
“You seem to know quite a lot.” Zongzheng Wuyou narrowed his phoenix eyes, sending her a dangerous message, then said, “According to what you say, should this prince thank you as well?”
Manyao hurriedly said humbly, “I would not dare. Your Highness and I merely benefited each other. As long as Your Highness does not blame me for acting on my own, I am already very grateful.” As long as Zongzheng Wuyou was willing to spare her, using him would become cooperation.
Zongzheng Wuyou looked at her without speaking. On the surface, Manyao remained calm and composed, but in truth, her palms were already slick with cold sweat.
Only then did the Ninth Prince understand what they were talking about. He froze for a moment, then, quite inappropriately, gave Manyao a thumbs-up, genuinely admiring her courage from the bottom of his heart.
“You are the most unafraid-of-death person I have ever met!” the Ninth Prince said sincerely. To dare scheme against his Seventh Brother was like digging earth atop Tai Sui’s head.
Manyao smiled bitterly, thinking, Who would truly not fear death? It was just that once she had been forced to that point, rather than be afraid, it was better to find a way to resolve it. She did not know whether Zongzheng Wuyou would let her off or not. Looking at his eyes, she could not guess his thoughts at all, and could only stand there quietly, listening to the ethereal qin music drifting through the air. A breeze brushed across her porcelain-fine forehead, drawing out a thin sheen of sweat.
For a long while, Zongzheng Wuyou did not speak, and the silence in the air was suffocating. Only when the Ninth Prince could no longer hold back did he step in to smooth things over. Observing Zongzheng Wuyou’s reaction as he spoke, he said, “Seventh Brother, didn’t we come here to drink tea? Look, the scenery in this garden is so fine, and there’s a bright moon overhead. It’s really meaningless for us to just sit here like this. That Liyue, hurry and have someone bring tea. Bring the best. Go on, hurry.”
Manyao understood and quickly had someone bring over the tea implements prepared in advance. She personally brewed for them a pot of the finest West Lake Longjing. The process of brewing Longjing tea was not complicated. One only needed to scald the special tea set once with boiling water, place in the tea leaves, then pour in rootless water that had been boiled and allowed to cool briefly. The fragrance of tea spread everywhere, clear and pleasing.
The Ninth Prince praised it as “good tea,” then lifted his cup and drank.
Zongzheng Wuyou took a small sip in a careless manner and said nothing. He lifted his head slightly and closed his eyes, sealing all wickedness and indifference behind those cold eyelids, leaving only an immortal-like face amid the thin mist rising before him, as though transformed into an illusory, ethereal, perfect portrait. He looked somewhat unreal.
Manyao sat opposite him, gazing quietly at his indistinct face through the veil of vapor.
A while passed, then a while more, before Zongzheng Wuyou finally opened his eyes.
“New pre-Qingming Longjing from the fourth month, paired with rootless water from the third month.” He looked into Manyao’s eyes, his expression unreadable, and said slowly, “Your hands and your neck have both been preserved.”
Manyao smiled quietly—not because she had preserved her life, but because she was glad Zongzheng Wuyou was someone who understood tea, and had not wasted the rootless water she had gone to such difficulty to preserve.
By the time they finished tasting a pot of tea, nearly half an hour had passed. Manyao took an exquisite tea menu and handed it over. Zongzheng Wuyou swept it with a faint glance and asked, “Only these?”
Manyao said in surprise, “Nearly all the teas under heaven are here.”
Zongzheng Wuyou said, “This prince wants what does not exist under heaven.”
What did not exist under heaven. Manyao froze. What exactly did Zongzheng Wuyou want? After thinking for a moment, she turned and went to the counter, retrieving another tea menu.
This time, Zongzheng Wuyou glanced over it a little longer.
It was a list of flower teas and milk teas. The customs of this world were fairly open; it was common for the madams and young ladies of many great households to rest and drink tea while out, so Manyao had prepared this, thinking she might try promoting it in the future. She had not expected it to come in handy on the very first day of opening. But Zongzheng Wuyou—would he like these?
Zongzheng Wuyou flipped through the tea menu, much more carefully than before. After reading it once, he raised his head and asked again, “Only these?”
Before Manyao could answer, Zongzheng Wuyou pointed at the list and said, “One of each.” His expression was very serious, but Manyao froze, frowning in confusion, not knowing what exactly Zongzheng Wuyou intended to do. There were at least dozens of varieties on that list. The way he ordered them, it did not seem as though he wanted to drink them, but rather as though he were searching for something.
Dozens of cups of flower tea and milk tea in different colors were set out on the table. Zongzheng Wuyou specifically picked the darker-colored ones to taste. For each one, he only took a small sip before setting it down, and with each additional one he tried, his brows tightened another degree. Manyao watched his strange movements, her heart full of doubt.
“Take them all away.” In the end, he waved his hand. Manyao saw that in his lowered gaze there was an unmistakable trace of disappointment.
The Ninth Prince cried, “Don’t, don’t, Seventh Brother, I haven’t tried them yet! They’re so colorful, they look really nice… and they smell fragrant too.” As he spoke, he picked up a jade-green fruit milk tea that Zongzheng Wuyou had not tasted and took a sip. The sour-sweet, smooth flavor made him lick the corner of his mouth. He nodded and said, “Not bad. If Zhaoyun were here, she would definitely like it.”
As soon as those words fell, a delicate cry came from the entrance. “Brother Wuyou, Brother Wuyou—” A very exquisite-looking girl of sixteen or seventeen lifted her skirt and ran quickly toward them.
The Ninth Prince laughed loudly. “Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives. Seventh Brother, do you want to hide?”
Manyao smiled and said, “Under heaven, there is actually someone who could make Your Highness Prince Li want to hide?”
The corner of Zongzheng Wuyou’s mouth twitched, though it was impossible to tell what expression he wore. The Ninth Prince leaned toward Manyao and said with feigned mystery, “You’ll know in a moment.”
As soon as Zhaoyun arrived, she excitedly tried to squeeze in beside Zongzheng Wuyou. Before she could get close, an arm stretched across in front of her. She looked up—it was that wooden man Leng Yan again! She could not help saying aggrievedly, “Brother Wuyou, you came to such a beautiful place, so why didn’t you bring me?”
Zongzheng Wuyou did not even look at her and said coldly, “Do you think you are still a three-year-old child?”
Zhaoyun pouted. “I’ve grown up, but I’m still me! Brother Wuyou, you weren’t like this before… Hm? What’s in these cups? I’ve never seen them before!”
The Ninth Prince’s brows moved, and he smiled with ill intent. “These are teas Seventh Brother ordered. They’re very tasty. Seventh Brother tasted them all.”
“Really? I want to try too.” Zhaoyun picked up a cup of purple milk tea, which happened to be one Zongzheng Wuyou had just tasted. Zongzheng Wuyou frowned. Before the cup in Zhaoyun’s hand could reach her lips, he had already swept his sleeve out and knocked it to the ground. With a clang, Zhaoyun froze.
Manyao was startled and thought, the Ninth Prince truly feared the world was not chaotic enough! How could a person like Zongzheng Wuyou possibly let a woman touch something he had drunk from? Moreover, anyone could tell this woman’s feelings for him. Manyao furrowed her brows and quickly ordered someone to clean up the ground, then had all the cups on the table cleared away.
Zhaoyun clenched the corners of her clothes tightly with both hands, tears brimming in her eyes, and looked at the expressionless Zongzheng Wuyou in great grievance, unable to say a word.
Zongzheng Wuyou said coldly, “Do you want to return to the Duke’s estate right now?”
When Zhaoyun heard this, her tears immediately withdrew. She hurriedly waved her hands and said, “No, no, I don’t. I only just came out… Brother Wuyou, I won’t disturb you, all right? I’ll just stay here for a while. This place is so beautiful…” She turned her head and looked around, then saw Manyao. Her eyes instantly lit up, and she cried in surprise, “Ah! Who are you? How are you so good-looking, just like Brother Wuyou?”
Zongzheng Wuyou frowned. The Ninth Prince smiled and said, “She is Liyue, the owner of this tea garden. This garden was personally designed by her!”
Zhaoyun’s eyes brightened, and she stared straight at her, saying crisply, “Really? Young Master Liyue, you’re so amazing! Oh right, what tea was Brother Wuyou drinking just now? I want to drink it too.”
Manyao looked at her with a smile and discovered that although this girl was speaking to her, her gaze kept darting toward Zongzheng Wuyou. It seemed this girl was quite clever as well. In order to remain within Zongzheng Wuyou’s sight, she knew to shift her target. Unfortunately, from beginning to end, Zongzheng Wuyou had not looked at her even once. Manyao had someone prepare several kinds of fruit milk tea. After Zhaoyun tasted them, she repeatedly cried, “Delicious, delicious! Have someone prepare more. I want to take them back for the others to try too.”