Gao Yuexing squatted by the pool.
Li Fuxiang couldn’t understand. “Why insist on throwing me into the water?”
Gao Yuexing said, “You’re too dirty.” She was so disdainful that she didn’t even want to touch the water in the pool.
Li Fuxiang said, “Can’t I clean up in the sleeping quarters?”
Gao Yuexing replied, “No.”
Through the rising steam, Gao Yuexing looked at his gradually blurred features and patiently taught him, saying, “If you want to win a girl’s favor, you must present yourself clean and tidy.”
Li Fuxiang looked down at his own body.
Gao Yuexing pointed to the area behind her own ear and said, “Because you’ve made yourself filthy, what I promised you tonight will have to wait for another day. Do you understand?”
Her expression turned stern, and her tone left no room for refusal.
With Li Fuxiang’s current sharpness, he immediately realized that Gao Yuexing was using another tactic to fool him. Instantly dissatisfied, he leaned over the edge of the pool, splashing water everywhere. Fortunately, Gao Yuexing reacted quickly, stepping back just in time to avoid soaking her clothes.
A faint anger appeared on Gao Yuexing’s face. “Stop messing around.”
Li Fuxiang said, “You’re fooling me.”
Gao Yuexing flatly denied it. “I am not.”
Li Fuxiang’s jade-like, slender fingers clung to the white bricks at the pool’s edge. He tilted his head up to look at her. “Don’t leave. I’m coming out.”
At least he still knew not to expose himself in public, but using such a statement to threaten Gao Yuexing was both laughable and absurd.
Gao Yuexing, seeing that he had finally calmed down, leaned closer to the pool again. At such a close distance, she pointed at his nose and said, “Then come out. After all, the embarrassment is yours. If the whole city finds out tomorrow, you’ll be delighted. Who else would the emperor punish but you? You’re truly infuriating.”
As she spoke, Gao Yuexing’s gaze lowered. She noticed a scar beneath his right clavicle, winding grotesquely into the water, obscured by thick petals and steam.
Such a deep scar could never be erased. The injury he had suffered back then must have been horrifying.
When he sustained this wound, Gao Yuexing had not been by his side.
It must have happened on the battlefield in the Western Frontier or during a long pursuit across the Hucha Sea.
Seeing that scar, Gao Yuexing suddenly forgot what she was about to say.
Li Fuxiang, noticing her silence, grew restless and began to play with the water again, seemingly eager to splash her.
Gao Yuexing cautiously raised her sleeve and glanced at him again.
Li Fuxiang, meeting her gaze, instinctively shrank back.
Because they understood each other too well, Li Fuxiang immediately sensed the danger hidden in Gao Yuexing’s eyes.
Perhaps he had tested her limits too much tonight, provoking Gao Yuexing’s retaliation.
Gao Yuexing swiftly grabbed his wrist, preventing him from escaping, then pulled him closer, leaned in, and gently blew by his ear.
This move stirred up a hornet’s nest.
Li Fuxiang curled his body, leaning backward to escape. Luckily, Gao Yuexing didn’t let go after blowing by his ear. However, she was nearly dragged into the water by Li Fuxiang’s strength.
Tonight, if she were to end up in the pool with Li Fuxiang, both of them looking like drowned cats, the joke would truly be monumental.
Gao Yuexing broke free and stepped back.
But just as she let go, Li Fuxiang fell straight back into the water.
She vaguely remembered that Li Fuxiang wasn’t a poor swimmer, so she waited, yet the water remained utterly silent.
There was no sign of struggling, nor any ripples of movement.
Feeling suspicious, Gao Yuexing’s embroidered shoes were already stepping onto the wet surface as she cautiously leaned forward, focusing on the still pool.
Where had Li Fuxiang gone?
Gao Yuexing called out, “Your Highness?!”
Li Fuxiang was born with a weak heart and lungs, so he couldn’t hold his breath for too long underwater. Gao Yuexing waited in silence, and finally—
Far away on the other side of the pool, a faint gurgling sound emerged. The flower petals on the surface parted, and this time, only Li Fuxiang’s head appeared above the water. Even his chin was submerged, with his neck entirely hidden, as if he were deliberately avoiding her.
Gao Yuexing looked at him and laughed. “What’s wrong? Did you choke on water?”
Li Fuxiang shook his head. His damp hair was tied back, and the red embroidery on his golden hair ribbon floated in the water, tangled with the petals. He said, “—Don’t ever blow on me again.”
Gao Yuexing froze, then covered her face and burst into laughter.
Li Fuxiang said, “I don’t feel well.”
Gao Yuexing didn’t dare take it lightly and quickly asked, “What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Li Fuxiang replied, “I can’t explain. I’m hot, like I’m burning.”
He was ignited.
The palace maids standing on either side, all trusted confidants of the emperor, didn’t dare lift their heads. They stood there like wooden stakes, unmoving.
Gao Yuexing tilted her head, touched her own warm but unembarrassed face, said nothing, and turned to leave. At the door, she ran into Xu Xiude. Gao Yuexing assumed the emperor hadn’t left yet, but upon glancing around, she didn’t see him. Xu Xiude’s brows were tightly knit, but he forced a smile and said, “This servant is waiting for His Highness to finish bathing.”
Gao Yuexing didn’t notice his unusual demeanor. She greeted him casually and returned alone to Chunhe Palace.
The lights in Noble Consort Xian’s chambers were still lit, suggesting a sleepless night ahead.
Wen Zhaorong’s dragon fetus had undoubtedly left many in the palace restless.
Gao Yuexing’s petite figure pushed open the palace doors. Lifting her skirt, she tiptoed back to her own quarters. Without lighting the lamps, she made her way to the bed in the dark. Just as she lay down, she heard Fu Yun, who was keeping watch outside, speak up: “The princess came looking for you three times tonight, but each time she missed you. She just left about half an hour ago.”
Gao Yuexing pulled the blanket over herself. Since she had been discovered, there was no point in hiding it. She said, “Sister Fu Yun, you’re still awake too?”
A lamp lit outside the curtain. Fu Yun entered, holding a candlestick. Her attire and accessories were still neat, indicating she hadn’t rested yet.
Fu Yun sat worriedly by Gao Yuexing’s bedside and said, “Miss, with your reckless temperament, staying out past midnight once or twice might be excused, but if you keep doing this, people will inevitably gossip behind your back. The women in the palace live for this kind of drama… Where have you been this time?”
Gao Yuexing, unguarded in front of Fu Yun, answered truthfully, “I was with His Highness, Prince Xiang, playing at His Majesty’s place for a while.”
Fu Yun sighed. “Fine, fine.” She urged Gao Yuexing to get up. “I’ve prepared hot water for you. Don’t go straight to bed—take off your clothes, wash up a bit, and then sleep.”
Gao Yuexing had returned late and didn’t want to cause a disturbance, so under Fu Yun’s care, she washed herself briefly, changed into clean and comfortable nightwear, and crawled back under the covers.
Fu Yun, becoming increasingly adept at serving her, began tidying up Gao Yuexing’s discarded garments. As she touched the sleeve, she lifted the curtain and asked, “Why is the sleeve of your outer robe so wet?”
Gao Yuexing replied, “I was playing with water.”
Fu Yun shook her head helplessly. “You—” She carried the clothes out and, after a short while, blew out the lights outside.
In the darkness, Gao Yuexing lay with her eyes open, her pupils as dark as grape seeds. Tonight, she didn’t want to think about anything else—except Li Fuxiang. Even though she was well aware that the palace was riddled with traps and schemes, even though the inconsistencies in the Imperial Medical Court and the Empress Dowager’s medical records loomed large, Gao Yuexing suddenly felt a wave of weariness.
Human energy is limited, and exhaustion is inevitable.
Especially when the mind has been tense for too long, walking too far without pause, one eventually stops, feeling drained and irritable.
Gao Yuexing felt as if she was facing an unsolvable tangle of threads, and she had just begun to unravel it.
Patience is a trait that betrays you the moment it decides to.
Turning onto her side, Gao Yuexing closed her eyes, only for the Empress Dowager’s medical records to surface in her mind.
The Empress Dowager’s records, apart from a few missing pages, were practically flawless.
What were those missing pages?
Gao Yuexing didn’t possess a photographic memory. Having crammed too much into her mind tonight, she found recalling it exhausting.
Her weariness was a subconscious desire to slack off.
She had been too tired recently.
Forcing herself to close her eyes, Gao Yuexing still couldn’t sleep peacefully. The image of Li Fuxiang submerged underwater lingered, and whenever she relaxed enough to drift into light sleep, she couldn’t help but imagine the scene beneath the water.
It was entirely vivid.
Gao Yuexing felt as though she were half-dreaming, half-awake, immersed in water, floating and sinking. In her dream, Li Fuxiang’s presence was like gentle seaweed, softly entangling her at her side.
In this entanglement, Gao Yuexing had a restful sleep, even a pleasant dream. When she woke, the interplay of sunlight and morning mist painted the sky in a soft, radiant splendor.
Fu Yun, who had personally seen her to bed the previous night, was already awake and impeccably dressed, waiting by her bedside to assist her in getting up.
As Gao Yuexing sat up, she stretched out her arms, and a fluffy wind collar immediately wrapped snugly around her.
Touching it, she instantly recognized it as fox fur.
Suddenly, she remembered how, as a child, Fu Yun had stayed up all night to sew her a short fox-fur jacket, which she had secretly taken and gifted to Li Fuxiang.
Fu Yun’s needlework was as excellent as Gao Yuexing’s mother’s—tight, delicate stitches all cleverly hidden.
Lowering her head, Gao Yuexing buried her chin in the wind collar and said, “Isn’t it a bit early to wear a wind collar during the White Dew season?”
While helping her dress, Fu Yun replied, “The weather isn’t warm today. You’ll understand as soon as you step outside. Besides, young ladies are delicate and not as robust as boys. Naturally, you need to be cared for properly.”
Fu Yun was truly attentive.
There was a warmth in her demeanor that made it impossible not to trust her.
Gao Yuexing washed up, dressed, and went to the main hall to pay respects to Noble Consort Xian. As she lifted the curtain to step outside, the chilly morning wind brushed past her, the furry wind collar tickling her neck. A shiver ran through her body—it had indeed turned cold. How freezing it was!
A layer of white frost covered the grass leaves under the corridor.
The air carried a faint sense of desolation.
All things were withering—it was, however, Gao Yuexing’s favorite season.
Because it was during this time of year that she first met Li Fuxiang in the palace.
Noble Consort Xian had risen even later than Gao Yuexing, so there was no rush for her to enter and disturb her. Nor did she wait obediently outside. Instead, she stood in the best position to take in the distant view of the horizon, where the morning glow was rising. She watched until the thin mist dispersed, revealing the outline of a grand palace to the east.
The Eastern Palace.
Gao Yuexing didn’t linger in the cold wind for too long.
When the main hall of Noble Consort Xian became lively, a palace maid immediately came out to invite her inside.
Rubbing her icy hands together, Gao Yuexing stepped through the doors, just in time to hear Madam Wei reporting a strange incident from the previous night to Noble Consort Xian:
“It seems there’s been some unclean matter at the Imperial Medical Bureau. Physician Zhou, who was on duty, seems to have encountered something and has become a bit deranged.”
Noble Consort Xian, unsettled, asked, “What unclean matter? Did he see a ghost?”
Aunt Wei chuckled gently, “What is there to fear, Your Ladyship? With His Majesty, the True Dragon Emperor, presiding over the palace, even ghosts exist only in people’s hearts.”
What could haunt those with a clear conscience?