12
At dusk, the crowd gradually dispersed.
I had just left the secluded courtyard and gone to report to Triệu Thư Diệu.
But the guards on duty wouldn't let me in.
He tactfully reminded me:
“Commandery Princess Nhạc An is inside.”
It wasn't quiet inside.
I heard porcelain shattering.
I understood, nodded, and turned to leave, but the door opened.
The commandery princess's eyes were red, as if she'd just been crying.
Triệu Thư Diệu walked beside her, his expression gentle as he spoke softly to console her.
There was a long but shallow scratch on the back of his hand, as if he'd been accidentally clawed.
Even so, he wasn't angry with her.
I didn't dare look too long and hurriedly knelt to pay my respects.
The commandery princess's voice rang out above me:
“You know perfectly well I don't like her and don't want to see her.”
“Now she's showing up in front of me again. What is this? Is she provoking me?”
I'd come to report to Triệu Thư Diệu.
I'd finished training the white crane; all that remained was teaching it the way to the marquis's residence.
I had no intention of provoking her.
I silently lowered my head even further.
She detested me.
The more I said, the more mistakes I'd make.
Triệu Thư Diệu sighed softly. “She's lowborn. She's not worth getting upset over.”
Then his voice turned cold. “If you like this place so much, then kneel here for two shichen.”
He was speaking to me.
Triệu Thư Diệu escorted Commandery Princess Nhạc An away.
All I could do was remain kneeling where I was.
A chilly gust swept by, carrying a fine drizzle that fell on my face, leaving a bitter, icy wetness.
It felt as if a hand had clenched around my heart, bringing unbearable pain.
I didn't know what I'd done wrong to deserve their cold stares.
Autumn nights were rainy.
The hem of my skirt was soaked through with icy rainwater.
The guard took pity on me and spoke in a low voice:
“Miss Vệ, why don't you kneel a little farther under the eaves?”
My lashes trembled. A raindrop gathered into a bead and rolled down my cheek.
“Thank you.”
Under the eaves, the wind and rain were half as strong.
But the cold still seeped through my clothes and into my flesh. It felt as if countless needles were stabbing my knees; the pain was almost too much to bear.
I couldn't keep track of time. All I could do was kneel and endure it until Triệu Thư Diệu returned.
He walked right past me.
Behind him, a guard held an umbrella and another carried a lantern.
He bent down, took hold of my arm, and pulled me to my feet.
“Don't you know you can kneel for a while and then stand up?”
My forehead was burning, and the fever had left me dizzy all over.
I struggled to look up at him.
Two images of Triệu Thư Diệu overlapped before my eyes.
“I wouldn't dare…”
I was finding it harder and harder to guess what he was thinking.
I said softly, “I was afraid Your Highness would punish me even more severely.”
He was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Take Miss Vệ back.”
13
I spent several more days in bed.
The courtyard Triệu Thư Diệu had arranged for me was very quiet. Only the birds beneath the eaves chirped now and then.
【I'm tired of eating bugs.】
【I suppose I'll eat whatever I can get, then.】
【Wheat is delicious, but it's so hard to find.】
Hearing that, I opened the window and scattered a handful of barley outside.
They chirped happily: 【Thanks be to heaven for this food.】
I couldn't help laughing.
My knees still hurt, but my spirits felt much lighter now.
On the day Triệu Thư Diệu and Commandery Princess Lạc An were betrothed, I received a map Cố Duy Ngôn had prepared for me.
Quýt clamped the travel permit in its mouth, hopped through the window into my room, then leaped up beside me.
【You have a letter.】
Delighted, I took it and stroked its head.
“Would you like something to eat?”
It licked its lips. 【I want shrimp. It was such a hassle bringing this to you! My owner thought I was going to eat the paper and nearly snatched it back to throw in the stove.】
I laughed. “All right, I'll buy you shrimp tomorrow.”
Then it asked: 【Human, can I catch the birds in your courtyard?】
I jolted upright. “No! I'll go buy shrimp for you right now!”
14
Triệu Thư Diệu's wedding was set for the nearest auspicious date.
The Eastern Palace was draped in red silk, and vivid red decorations were put up in the Crown Prince's palace.
Golden lanterns blazed all night.
Their brilliant light illuminated the people coming and going.
Everyone was busy making preparations.
I was the only one with nothing to do.
The prince's household cook had become the Eastern Palace's head steward, and the gardener had become its head gardener.
I alone, though kept in the Eastern Palace, hadn't been granted any rank.
Everyone guessed that Triệu Thư Diệu would make me a secondary consort.
That was why Commandery Princess Lạc An hated me.
I didn't know whether the rumor was true.
It was true that Triệu Thư Diệu had once promised me the position of secondary consort.
But it was also true that he'd punished me by making me kneel and had me beaten with the rod.
I couldn't make sense of it.
I only thought that the Crown Prince's wedding would involve complicated ceremonies, keeping Triệu Thư Diệu busy for several days and unable to keep an eye on me.
The birds in the courtyard had brought me news: 【The guards will change shifts at the hour of the Dragon.】
【This is their patrol route.】
I made sure to memorize it.
I unfolded the map and studied it carefully.
My heart pounded.
Just as it had the first time I locked eyes with Triệu Thư Diệu.
15
I wasn't good at leaving without saying goodbye.
Before leaving, I told the birds beneath the eaves, “I'm leaving for Gusu. If you fly south to escape the cold, perhaps we'll meet again someday.”
Then I stopped by the stable and said to the old horse, “I'm leaving. Thank you for warning me before.”
I took some of my savings and gave it to the kitchen steward, asking him to look after Quýt for me.
I knew so many kinds of animals that saying goodbye took me almost all the way around the Eastern Palace.
Only when it came to Triệu Thư Diệu did I think it over and still decide not to leave a single word.
And yet he took the initiative to send someone to ask how I was doing.
He asked whether I'd recovered.
He asked whether there was anything I wanted as a reward.
I replied politely, “Everything is well. I haven't earned a reward. Thank you, Your Highness.”
I was about to leave.
I had money and the ability to talk to animals.
Things would only get better from here.
On Triệu Thư Diệu's wedding day, I rose early, chose an outfit in a color similar to the palace maids' uniforms, and quietly put it on.
It was barely dawn.
Before long, Triệu Thư Diệu would leave the palace to escort Commandery Princess Lạc An from the marquis's residence.
I quietly followed the palace maids. When no one was watching, I slipped through a side gate and out of the Eastern Palace.
With a gauze veil covering my face, I blended into the crowd in the street.
Then I went to the carriage yard, hired a horse-drawn carriage, and left the city.
Not until we were outside the city gates...
I lifted the carriage curtain, and the cool breeze from the outskirts swept in.
I looked out at the fields.
It was autumn. Withered grass stretched into the distance, yet everything was free.
16
Triệu Thư Diệu's Perspective
That day, Commandery Princess Lạc An angrily smashed the white jade paperweight in his study.
She had struck it with such force that the shards flew out and cut the back of his hand.
He paid no attention to the wound, only suppressing the emotion in his eyes as he said softly, “Why go that far?”
“It’s only a whistle.”
Commandery Princess Lạc An had found a whistle in his study.
An ordinary wooden whistle.
But she recognized at once that it was the one Vệ Triêu often used.
She smashed it, then shattered the paperweight too, her voice hoarse with anger:
“How could you let her into your study?”
Triệu Thư Diệu frowned slightly.
“There are times when I need to discuss things with her.”
Commandery Princess Lạc An naturally didn’t believe him.
Her eyes reddened.
“And after you finish discussing things? You kept what she left behind?”
Triệu Thư Diệu was stunned for a moment.
He didn’t know why, either.
He’d simply wanted to keep it, instinctively.
Commandery Princess Lạc An pushed open the study door and strode outside.
To her surprise, she came face-to-face with the person she least wanted to see.
Triệu Thư Diệu was somewhat weary, but he still had to do his best to reassure her.
Commandery Princess Lạc An was the ideal Crown Princess for him.
She came from a noble family, had known him since childhood, and was devoted to him.
She was only a little spoiled.
After weighing the benefits, he would rather say to Vệ Triêu, “If you like it here so much, then kneel here for two hours.”
He hadn’t truly meant to punish her.
Yet she stubbornly knelt for the full two hours.
Seeing Vệ Triêu in such a forlorn state, Triệu Thư Diệu suddenly felt panic-stricken.
It was a feeling he’d never experienced before.
17
Triệu Thư Diệu couldn’t make sense of his own feelings.
He knew he liked Vệ Triêu.
She was nothing like noblewomen such as Commandery Princess Lạc An.
She often murmured to birds and beasts and was always gentle with everyone.
All he knew was that whenever he could escape the struggle for power and be with her, his heart felt most at peace.
He didn’t have to think about anything.
Just watching her tilt her head and hearing her laugh and chat with the birds made him happy.
She had a gift: she could summon all the beasts to bow before him.
But the auspicious omen of the beasts bowing before him was only an added bonus.
What Triệu Thư Diệu wanted most was still power.
And that was something Commandery Princess Lạc An could give him.
As for Vệ Triêu, making her a secondary consort would be enough—even more than enough.
She was easily satisfied; a little pocket money each month made her happy.
A secondary consort received a generous stipend and gold hairpins and jade combs.
She would surely be content.
There was only one thing Triệu Thư Diệu had miscalculated.
She knew all about his petty thoughts and how little he thought of her.
The birds and horses had told her.
—
18
Triệu Thư Diệu had many things to do.
First, he would marry the Crown Princess; a few months later, he would ask the emperor to appoint a secondary consort.
But he only managed the first.
After the wedding, someone gifted him a pair of mandarin ducks and released them into the lotus pond in the Eastern Palace.
On the third day after the wedding, he stood by the pond, unsure whether he was watching the ducks or simply gazing at the still water.
Watching the pair nestled close together made his eyes ache all at once.
He suddenly thought of Vệ Triêu.
He said to the guard beside him, “Go fetch Vệ Triêu. It’s time to tame this pair of mandarin ducks, too.”
The guard left and returned with a troubled expression. He bowed his head and stammered:
“Miss Vệ... is nowhere to be found.”
His mind went blank for a moment. Then his face turned pale.
“Search for her. Where could she have gone?”
His heart suddenly fell into turmoil.
Cold sweat drenched his temples.
Vệ Triêu had a gift.
She had savings.
She could leave him and never come back.
Fear surged over him like a tide, nearly sweeping him off his feet.
He drew a deep breath.
He personally led a search of the entire Eastern Palace.
The Crown Princess naturally couldn’t accept his actions.
She made a scene, demanding to enter the palace and see the emperor.
For Triệu Thư Diệu, already tangled in a mess, this was like adding disaster to disaster.
—