On the third day after their wedding, Gao Yuexing returned to visit her family, and Li Fuxiang couldn’t wait to pack up their belongings and prepare to leave the capital with her. Just as he had once promised, the two of them moved into a mountain palace, surrounded by spring begonias blanketing the hills like waves, wrapping the palace in a picturesque scene.
When the begonias withered, they set off on their journey southward.
“Above, there is heaven; below, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.”
Li Fuxiang had traveled far, reaching the western frontier and even venturing into the exotic Hucha Sea. He once occupied the royal city of the Fox Hu people, savoring its foreign charms.
But he had also traveled little, for aside from the western frontier and the capital, he had never seen the scenery of other places.
Gao Yuexing rode in a carriage. As soon as they left the capital, she instantly felt the sky become higher and the road stretch farther. It was as though she was revisiting the sights of her first journey into the Medicine Valley—like a caged bird seeing the vast world for the first time. However, there was one difference.
When she went to the Medicine Valley back then, her heart was burdened with nothing but hatred and longing.
Now, with her beloved by her side, she truly felt unburdened. Even though the road ahead would not be smooth, her heart was suddenly filled with an unprecedented sense of openness. It was a feeling akin to having no regrets in this lifetime. She might face defeat, break her spear midway, or exhaust all her strength and still be unable to fight against fate.
But none of that was enough to make her anxious anymore.
They spent the entire spring in Suzhou and Hangzhou. As the weather grew hotter and summer approached, Li Fuxiang listened as Gao Yuexing spoke about her years in the Medicine Valley. Hidden in the mountain valleys, the Medicine Valley was the coolest place in the southwest during summer. Various exotic flowers and herbs competed in bloom, and the small grass hut they lived in was adorned with sachets hanging beneath the windows. Inside the sachets were crushed herbal powders—calamus, perilla leaves, mint… Even with the doors and windows wide open, no mosquitoes disturbed their peace.
One day, they lay side by side on a grass mat in the backyard.
Li Fuxiang took out a small box he carried with him.
Gao Yuexing recognized it at a glance—it was the small calamus-themed sand tray she had made herself.
Back then, in the Medicine Valley, she couldn’t find any precious materials, so she had hastily used huanghuali wood to make a box of suitable size. Later, she gave the box to Li Fuxiang. He had stroked it for years, and when he noticed the box becoming worn and feared it wouldn’t last, he specifically had someone coat it with a layer of tung oil.
The box had been in his care for nearly ten years, and now, it looked as good as new.
Gao Yuexing took the small sand tray from his hands, smiling as she said, “You still kept it.”
Li Fuxiang’s fingers tightened, and he pulled back slightly, seemingly reluctant to let it go. But when Gao Yuexing raised her eyes in suspicion, he immediately relented.
Gao Yuexing gently stroked the box, cherishing it as she carefully opened it.
Li Fuxiang rubbed his nose and turned his head away uneasily.
At first, Gao Yuexing thought his reaction was a bit strange. Filled with suspicion, she opened the box, lowered her head, and was instantly dumbfounded.
The sand tray she had painstakingly crafted back then was intricate and lifelike.
Gao Yuexing had fully expected to see an object brimming with memories and effort.
But inside the box lay a pitifully messy pile of loose sand.
A sight too tragic to behold.
Gao Yuexing stared at it for a long moment before finally reacting.
As soon as Gao Yuexing saw Li Fuxiang’s expression, she knew this wasn’t something that had just broken recently.
Gao Yuexing stared at him intently.
Li Fuxiang said, “Well… perhaps… back when I was in the western frontier, the constant jolting on horseback was too much.”
Gao Yuexing replied, “You don’t need to explain.”
The box had been cherished, with clear signs of frequent handling. Gao Yuexing said, “I know my sand tray wasn’t well-made. It was patched together from bits and pieces, so it breaking apart was only to be expected.”
Had it been properly preserved, placed safely on a desk, it might have retained its original form.
But Li Fuxiang had carried it with him everywhere, tossing it around as he traveled.
In the end, it had disintegrated, leaving only the shell, which he still carried, deceiving himself.
Gao Yuexing said, “It’s fine. You have me now.”
She decided that when they visited Medicine Valley, she would take him to see the calamus cottage in person.
That very night, Gao Yuexing sent a letter to Sister Yaonu, informing her that His Highness Prince Xiang wished to visit.
The next day, Yaonu’s reply arrived, containing only four words: “Swept clean, awaiting.”
Receiving Yaonu’s response, Gao Yuexing wasted no time. Two days later, she canceled their stay at the small courtyard in Suzhou and Hangzhou and set off with Li Fuxiang, heading west along the river.
They traveled leisurely, stopping along the way. When they reached a town called Jiangluo, Gao Yuexing paused by the riverside, staring out for a long time.
Jiangluo was an ordinary riverside town—neither wealthy nor impoverished. At the very least, its residents lived peacefully, managing their small lives. Whether life was good or not could be seen on their faces. Here, everyone wore smiles, a testament to a decent quality of life.
Seeing her standing atop the high embankment, Li Fuxiang walked up beside her and said, “You haven’t smiled in days.”
Gao Yuexing hadn’t even realized it. “Really?”
Li Fuxiang tilted his head, looking at her. “What’s on your mind?”
Gao Yuexing couldn’t bring herself to tell him that a year from now, this beautiful little town would be destroyed by a devastating flood.
Of course, Jiangluo wasn’t the only place to suffer; countless villages up and down the river would be affected. What left an indelible impression on her about Jiangluo was that the entire town would be wiped out, turning dry land into a watery expanse.
Looking down at her feet, Gao Yuexing said to Li Fuxiang, “Doesn’t this embankment look like it needs repairs?”
Li Fuxiang glanced down and replied, “It seems fine!”
The embankment showed no signs of imminent damage.
Gao Yuexing said, “But I had a dream—a dream full of water. Water flooded the town, corpses floated everywhere… fertile fields were ruined, people had no food to eat, and plague followed closely behind. Along the roadside, there were corpses of those who had starved or died of illness…”
She spoke slowly, her brows furrowing.
Gao Yuexing had not personally witnessed the horror of that flood. Everything she described was based on reports she had read much later, disasters depicted vividly in ink and paper.
Li Fuxiang asked, “It was just a dream, wasn’t it?”
Gao Yuexing looked into his eyes and said, “It’s not just a dream.”
To die and be reborn, to foresee the future—such a thing was utterly absurd. Gao Yuexing could only elaborate on this dream, saying, “When I was six years old, I dreamt of you as a young general, gloriously marrying me as your princess. Otherwise, why do you think I would have done everything in my power to come to your side?”
Hearing this, Li Fuxiang’s expression changed.
When they were children, outside the Xiaonan pavilion, the first time Gao Yuexing saw him, she told him she was his wife.
Li Fuxiang was easy to fool as a child, but as he grew up, he gradually realized something was unusual, though he had never questioned it.
Could this be the reason?
Gao Yuexing said, “I trust the voice in my heart.”
Li Fuxiang lowered his head, thought carefully, and said, “I believe you. I’ll write to the palace and request the Emperor to reinforce the river embankments.”
Gao Yuexing’s heart remained uneasy.
In the face of natural disasters, human efforts might not be enough.
Even the strongest embankments would be helpless against a once-in-a-century flood.
From a distance, they saw a farmer carrying a load across the embankment, followed by two playful children. As the man approached, he noticed Gao Yuexing and Li Fuxiang’s attire and immediately recognized them as nobles. He stopped and said, “Sir, madam, would you like to try some brown sugar pancakes?”
In Jiangluo Town, no one didn’t know how to make brown sugar pancakes.
Many families even relied on them as a livelihood. Their pancakes were the best within an 800-li radius, renowned far and wide. Many wealthy households went to great lengths to buy Jiangluo’s brown sugar pancakes.
Gao Yuexing looked at his load, nodded, and said, “Let’s try some.”
The man happily set down his load. “You’re in luck—they’re still warm! My wife just finished frying them, and I was taking them to sell next door. If you’d come later, there might not have been a single one left.”
He lifted the cloth covering the bamboo basket, and a sweet, rich aroma wafted out.
Li Fuxiang took two steps forward to take a look.
The freshly made pastries were too hot to wrap directly in oiled paper, so the man used two layers of cattail leaves as a base. Li Fuxiang took the pastries into his hands, glanced at Gao Yuexing, and, with her indulgent nod, couldn’t wait to take a bite.
Meanwhile, Gao Yuexing took the opportunity to chat with the man. “The weather this year seems better than last. How’s the rainfall here?”
The man’s expression turned sour upon hearing this. “Oh dear, since the New Year, we haven’t seen a drop of rain in Jiangluo. Who knows how the crops will turn out this year? But look at you, dressed like a noble lady—you know about farming?”
Gao Yuexing smiled. “Who hasn’t grown up eating grains from the fields? You mustn’t forget your roots.” She subtly steered the conversation toward the climate. “I heard this area often experiences floods, so I couldn’t help but worry as I passed through.”
The man said, “You’re right to worry. Jiangluo’s terrain is unique—it sits in a lowland by the river embankment. Upstream, the riverbed is significantly higher, and downstream, the waterway narrows. If there’s a flood, we’re always the unluckiest ones. Our ancestors have dealt with this many times.”
Gao Yuexing immediately followed up, “Since it’s so dangerous, have you ever considered relocating?”
The man laughed and shook his head. “Our home is here, our roots are here. We can’t leave—we have to guard our town.”
Such was the way it had always been.
No matter how many floods the town endured, its people couldn’t bear to leave their homeland.
Gao Yuexing’s mind began to formulate a plan.
Since she knew the future disaster might be unavoidable, Gao Yuexing didn’t expect to change anything single-handedly, but she was determined to prepare an early retreat plan.
That evening, Li Fuxiang was munching on brown sugar pancakes while drafting a memorial to the emperor.
Under the lamplight, Gao Yuexing ground ink for him while keeping an eye on him to prevent him from smudging the sugar stains on the memorial.
Li Fuxiang’s letter was sent to the capital at top speed, reporting that during his travels along the river, he noticed the embankments appeared unstable, which could pose a threat to the people. He requested the emperor to issue an edict to reinforce the embankments.
After reading the memorial, the emperor immediately sent orders to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.
One was to prepare manpower, the other to allocate funds.
When the Minister of Works and the Minister of Revenue met, both were utterly perplexed.
On matters of livelihood, neither dared to take chances. The Ministry of Works had a dedicated Water Division, which had just recently reported that the river defenses had been inspected and were in good condition. Moreover, the Ministry of Revenue had already allocated the necessary funds long ago.
For Prince Xiang to suddenly request the embankments to be reinforced… could it be an overreaction?
But such concerns were kept to themselves. No one dared voice their doubts.
Natural disasters could strike at any moment, and peace could never be guaranteed year after year. If the higher-ups demanded reinforcements, reinforcements had to be made. If, due to their objections or delays, something truly happened this year, not even their heads would suffice to atone for it.
The emperor’s decree was relayed layer by layer. By the time it reached Jiangluo, Li Fuxiang and Gao Yuexing had already set off, continuing their journey toward Medicine Valley.
Meanwhile, in the palace, the emperor held Li Fuxiang’s memorial, flipping through it repeatedly.
Since leaving the palace, Li Fuxiang hadn’t sent him a single family letter. The emperor was nearly infuriated, especially upon learning that Gao Jing received letters from Gao Yuexing regularly. Her letters were detailed and filled with lively stories, describing amusing incidents along the way and vividly portraying the seasonal blooms in full splendor. She sent them home in thick stacks.
The emperor had to swallow his pride and borrow family letters from Gao Jing to read. From the delicate brushstrokes of her plum-blossom script, he gathered that his son was out there living wildly, which both exasperated him and gradually put him at ease.
Xu Xiude, who was accompanying the emperor in the palace, said, “Your Majesty, the paper and ink have been prepared according to your instructions. If you’d like to write something, please go ahead.”
The emperor glared at him. “What is there for me to write? What should I say?”
Hearing this, Xu Xiude immediately understood. The emperor had laid out the paper, missing his son, but his pride wouldn’t let him admit it. Smiling, Xu Xiude offered a suggestion. “Your Majesty, Prince Xiang has always been carefree and unconcerned about minor matters—such is his nature. A man’s aspirations are vast, after all… But the princess consort is meticulous and attentive. If there’s anything you wish to convey, perhaps addressing the princess consort might be more reliable?”
The emperor pondered for a moment, finally breaking into a smile. Picking up the brush at last, he said, “You always know what to say, Xu Xiude.”