At night, Gao Yuexing lay on the bed, tossing and turning, completely unable to fall asleep.
Li Fuxiang, a light sleeper, was keeping watch by Gao Yuexing’s side. Even the slightest movement reached his ears. He turned over and asked, “Can’t sleep?”
Facing him, Gao Yuexing replied, “You’ve had a long day. Don’t worry about me.”
She was unwilling to speak the truth.
Li Fuxiang, wrapped in his blanket, suddenly sat up and lunged at her, pinning her firmly underneath him.
Gao Yuexing almost coughed up blood on the spot. Furious, she raised her hand and slapped Li Fuxiang’s arm hard. “Get off! You’re going to crush me to death.”
Outside, the mute maid, who was an even lighter sleeper, heard the commotion from the couple inside. She turned over helplessly and sighed.
As for the couple inside, they were truly one of a kind—unlike anyone before them. Even after being married for so long, spending every day together and sharing a bed every night, they still maintained propriety.
Li Fuxiang shifted his position slightly so Gao Yuexing wouldn’t feel as strained, but he still held her down, refusing to let her move.
Meanwhile, Gao Yuexing struggled to adjust her posture and said with difficulty, “Do you think you’re still light?”
That awful habit of his—she shouldn’t have indulged him.
Li Fuxiang cupped her face affectionately and said, “Tell me what you’re thinking, or I’ll hold you down until morning.”
In the darkness, Gao Yuexing stared at his outline.
She couldn’t see Li Fuxiang clearly.
But Li Fuxiang could see her perfectly.
Gao Yuexing’s dark pupils, with their inky depth, seemed almost to merge with the shadows. She said calmly, “I’m thinking… about having a little ghost for you in the future.”
Li Fuxiang’s attention was successfully diverted. “No little ghost. No babies.”
Gao Yuexing asked, “You don’t like boys or girls?”
Li Fuxiang replied decisively, “Don’t like either.”
Gao Yuexing thought she might as well let it go and revisit the topic in a few years.
Li Fuxiang added, “Don’t even think about secretly having one. I’ll keep an eye on you!”
Gao Yuexing kicked him. “What nonsense are you thinking? Keep talking rubbish, and you can sleep in the study!”
Finally, Li Fuxiang quieted down.
Turning her back to him, Gao Yuexing ignored him, but her mind was still preoccupied with the flood that would happen next year.
Doing nothing and watching tens of thousands of citizens suffer—it wasn’t something she could accept.
Although Li Fuxiang had taken on the task of repairing the Eastern Palace, he was busy training soldiers and improving his own skills, leaving him no time to handle it.
Since Gao Yuexing had taken on this responsibility on his behalf, she ended up supervising the work in the palace.
At the palace.
Gao Yuexing returned once again to the dilapidated Xiaonan Pavilion. The place still bore the half-demolished state it had been left in years ago. Skilled craftsmen specially summoned by the palace were measuring the pavilion’s dimensions.
Eunuch An approached with a group of palace servants.
Gao Yuexing noticed him and greeted him first.
Eunuch An bent so low it seemed his waist might touch the ground. “Your Highness, this servant doesn’t dare accept such courtesy!”
Gao Yuexing asked, “Eunuch An, is there a directive from His Majesty?”
Eunuch An replied, “This servant has brought some helpers for Your Highness. For the repair and cleaning of the old hall, there are always some intricate tasks that rough hands cannot handle. This servant has brought a few experienced and nimble maids for Your Highness to command.”
Gao Yuexing glanced past Eunuch An.
Six neatly arranged maids stood behind him.
Eunuch An gestured to Gao Yuexing, saying, “Everything is covered in dust and disarray. Your Highness, there’s no need for you to oversee this personally. In the lakeside pavilion, this servant has already prepared tea and snacks for you. Please take a seat and rest for a while. For this kind of labor, it’s enough to have someone trustworthy to supervise.”
The lakeside pavilion faced the Xiaonan Pavilion. Gao Yuexing followed Eunuch An’s gesture and looked in that direction. The pavilion was quiet and offered an excellent view.
Gao Yuexing said, “Then I’ll go and rest for a while?”
Eunuch An quickly prepared to assist her, saying, “This servant will escort Your Highness. Be careful underfoot.”
The location of the lakeside pavilion was truly well chosen.
A solitary pavilion stood in the center of the water, with a considerable distance from the shore on all sides. There was no need to lower one’s voice to avoid being overheard, as if sneaking around.
Feeling the place was secure, Eunuch An finally spoke. “Among the six maids this servant brought today, one surnamed Pan is an old servant who attended to His Majesty during his time in the prince’s residence. She was specifically stationed in the rear courtyard to keep an eye on Lady Meng Zhaoyi and Prince Xin’s mother and son. His Majesty went to considerable effort to locate her. If Your Highness has any questions, feel free to ask her.”
Only a day and a night had passed.
When the Emperor gave an order, it truly carried weight.
Gao Yuexing offered a word of thanks.
Eunuch An, mindful of not arousing suspicion, kept the conversation brief and promptly took his leave.
Gao Yuexing sat in the lakeside pavilion, gazing from afar at the Xiaonan Pavilion. Walls were being torn down, trees were being cut, but she no longer cared about how the Xiaonan Pavilion would eventually look. There were more pressing matters at hand.
As Eunuch An passed by the Xiaonan Pavilion on his way back, he instructed the maids, “Don’t just stand there. Didn’t you notice that Her Highness didn’t bring anyone with her today? Hurry and attend to her.”
The maids exchanged glances. The one closest to the lakeside answered, “Yes,” and quickly shuffled toward the lakeside pavilion.
Gao Yuexing watched as the figure gradually approached. When the maid reached her, Gao Yuexing asked, “What is your family name?”
The maid curtsied. “This servant’s maiden name is Pan.”
Gao Yuexing let out a long sigh of relief. Everything she had anticipated was now before her.
Seeing no instructions from above, Aunt Pan kept her head lowered and spoke a few more words. “Your Highness, rest assured. This servant knows my purpose here. Eunuch Xu explained everything clearly a long time ago. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. This servant guarantees that my lips are sealed. I will never repeat anything inappropriate.”
Gao Yuexing pointed to an embroidered stool and instructed her to sit below her. “Then tell me about what goes on in Lady Meng Zhaoyi’s chambers.”
By the third day of the Xiaonan Pavilion’s repairs, Gao Yuexing was nowhere to be seen.
Together with Madam Pan, Gao Yuexing also disappeared.
Gao Yuexing investigated like she was digging up ancestors’ graves, delving into the details of Lady Meng Zhaoyi’s hometown, her parents, and her siblings. Naturally, the information she gathered would also be passed on to the Emperor through someone else.
The restoration of the Xiaonan Pavilion was merely a pretense. Once Gao Yuexing found nothing more to uncover, she left without looking back.
In the Qianqing Palace, the Emperor sneered, “Using and discarding when convenient—those two little brats are truly cut from the same cloth.”
Xu Xiude hesitated and said, “What about the repairs to the Xiaonan Pavilion, Your Majesty? It’s been half-demolished, and now that the overseer has left, we can’t just leave it like this.”
What else could the Emperor do?
The Xiaonan Pavilion was connected to the Eastern Palace, a place that couldn’t be neglected. The Emperor had no choice but to personally inspect the site and order the repair plans to be presented for his review and careful selection.
Privately, Gao Yuexing organized and documented everything related to Lady Meng Zhaoyi’s identity and background, storing it securely.
At present, the information was insufficient to prove collusion with the enemy or treason.
Shifting her focus, Gao Yuexing turned her attention to the “rat” within her own household.
Every move of Fu Yun was now under surveillance, though she remained unaware.
Gao Yuexing borrowed Li Fuxiang’s influence, enlisting a few Jinyiwei to investigate Fu Yun’s background.
A few days later, the Jinyiwei returned with their findings.
Fu Yun’s hometown was in Yangzhou. Her family was indeed sparse, as her parents had passed away from illness five years ago. With no sons in the family, the burial of the couple’s remains had been arranged by the local county magistrate.
Fu Yun’s parents had no sons, only two daughters.
Fu Yun had an elder sister.
However, the Jinyiwei reported that Fu Yun’s elder sister had been abducted by human traffickers in her teens and remained missing to this day.
On the surface, nothing seemed unusual.
Gao Yuexing meticulously studied Fu Yun’s family history and life experiences, compiling her findings into a separate record for safekeeping.
Beneath the turbulent undercurrents of the capital, time seemed to have resumed its calm.
Li Fuxiang, unusually diligent, went daily to the Xiaoqi Camp to drill the soldiers. In the afternoons, he trained himself at General Zheng’s residence.
In Gao Yuexing’s mind was an hourglass, with limited time contained within. From the summer-autumn transition of next year, the sand would run out. As time dwindled, her heart grew heavier.
The quarrels between Gao Yuexing and Li Fuxiang had almost inexplicably decreased.
Neither had the energy to spare.
During the day, they barely saw each other. At night, they collapsed in exhaustion onto the same bed.
Li Fuxiang held her hand, placing it against his face, and said, “Once I’ve dealt with Xumo’er, everything will be fine.”
Gao Yuexing gently stroked his face and murmured, “Mm.” In her heart, she thought—once I’ve resolved the flooding and epidemic in the six southern cities next year, everything will be fine too.
Gao Yuexing spent her days at home poring over ancient texts, studying both medicine and flood control.
When her household library couldn’t hold her books, she began frequenting the Wen Yuan Library.
The Wen Yuan Library had once been the hiding place of a traitorous rebel. The Emperor had thoroughly purged it inside and out. Even now, the shadowy corners of the library, untouched by light, still carried an eerie unease.
Gao Yuexing requested a waist plaque from the Emperor, allowing her daily access to the Wen Yuan Library, where she spent all her time, even skipping lunch to return to the estate.
This arrangement, however, proved challenging for Fu Yun and Yagu.
With both masters of the Wang Residence rarely at home, the servants tried to persuade them to return, but their efforts were futile. Left with no choice, Fu Yun and the maid began preparing meals at the estate: one delivering food to the military training ground at Qingliang Hill, the other bringing meals to the Wen Yuan Library in the palace.
At the library, Gao Yuexing sat perched on a ladder, engrossed in reading.
The young eunuch of the Wen Yuan Library approached her at the usual hour and softly informed her, “Your Highness, someone from your estate has brought your meal.”
Closing the “River Defense Essays” she had been reading, Gao Yuexing prepared to return the book to the shelf when a young man suddenly approached the ladder and said, “Pardon the interruption, Your Highness. If you don’t need that book for the moment, could I borrow it for a read?”
Looking down, Gao Yuexing handed the book to the eunuch, who then passed it to the young man. Gao Yuexing found him somewhat familiar but, constrained by etiquette, refrained from asking.
The young man, however, seemed to notice her confusion. Smiling, he explained, “My surname is Kong. My father is Kong Shishu, the Minister of Revenue. Your Highness, we’ve met once before.”
Gao Yuexing suddenly remembered.
During the autumn hunt on Xiao Mountain years ago, they had once shared a roasted pheasant.
This young man was the second son of the Kong family.
Gao Yuexing had heard of his name—Kong Rangchen.
Though he appeared as a mere youth now, within a year, his name would resound throughout the Great Xu Dynasty, known in every household.
Not only because he upheld justice by turning his own father over to the authorities, sending him to the execution ground.
But also because he became the greatest contributor to flood control in the six cities of Jiangnan.
Gao Yuexing nodded at him, committing this person to memory.
As she left the Wen Yuan Library, the chill outside seeped through her clothing. Lifting her gaze, she noticed a thin, scattered layer of snowflakes had begun to fall.
It was snowing.
Fu Yun, waiting outside while leaning against a stone lion, exhaled into her hands and paced back and forth. This time, she not only brought a food box but also an extra thick cloak made of bear fur.
The sudden cold didn’t seem to affect her mistress, however, who appeared entirely unfazed by the weather.
Seeing Gao Yuexing still dressed in a thin jacket that offered little protection against the cold, Fu Yun bustled over to drape the cloak around her shoulders.
Gao Yuexing blocked her and said, “No need. Let’s return to the estate.”
Fu Yun was delighted. “Done for the day?”
Gao Yuexing replied, “Yes, we’re done. Let’s go home, light the stove, warm some wine, and invite the prince back to have lamb leg together.”
It was a promise they had made earlier—that when the first snow fell, they would eat meat, drink wine, and admire the snow together.
Gao Yuexing no longer remembered which year this whimsical idea had come about, but she still vividly recalled the promise.
Surely, Li Fuxiang would remember it too.