Chapter 26

Chapter 26: I’ve Never Seen… Ever since receiving Sister Xue’s invitation, Xiao Yu had been overjoyed, eagerly awaiting the night of the Lantern Festival day and night. When the Lantern Festival finally arrived, Xiao Yu began changing clothes early in the morning. He tried on one outfit after another in front of the mirror in his bedchamber, unable to decide which one to wear, when inspiration suddenly struck him. He remembered something Sister Xue had once said. One year, in the Eastern Palace, Sister Xue had gazed at Imperial Older Brother, who was dressed in a sky-blue robe, and said with a smile that she liked Imperial Older Brother best when he wore clothes of that color. Sister Xue liked men in sky-blue robes best. Xiao Yu understood at once. He immediately ordered his attendants to rummage through every chest and cabinet and bring out all his sky-blue robes. In the end, he chose a sky-blue brocade robe patterned with bamboo leaves. After changing into his new clothes, Xiao Yu had the carriage fumigated with incense and the fine horse fitted with a new saddle. In short, after making every arrangement as perfect as possible, he arrived at the Xue residence on time, just as promised, to escort Sister Xue out to see the lanterns. Of all the Lantern Festival lights in the capital, the long streets lining both banks of the Yongqing River were the most magnificent. Xiao Yu brought Sister Xue there. As night was just beginning to fall, he helped her down from the carriage, and the two of them strolled together through the lantern-lit streets, chatting and laughing at ease as they admired the tens of thousands of flower lanterns suspended along the streets, like a river of stars fallen from the heavens to illuminate this human festival. Just as the atmosphere was perfect, Xiao Yu saw Imperial Older Brother approaching from the front. Although Imperial Older Brother said, “What a coincidence,” how could there possibly be such a coincidence in this world? And why was Imperial Older Brother wearing sky-blue clothes as well? Xiao Yu stood frozen in place. He was so annoyed that he failed to salute immediately, but a sleeve beside him was gently tugged. It was Sister Xue, quietly signaling that he must not lose his composure before the emperor. Sister Xue had already bent her knees slightly in salute to Imperial Older Brother, but Imperial Older Brother raised her with a supporting gesture. He said that since they were outside, there was no need to concern themselves with such distinctions and formalities. Since Imperial Older Brother had put it that way, Xiao Yu did not perform a formal salute. He merely clasped his hands toward Imperial Older Brother and called out in a lukewarm tone, “Older Brother.” And so, the three of them began touring the festival together, whether Xiao Yu wanted to or not. Sister Xue had originally invited only him. It should have been just the two of them enjoying an intimate outing together, yet Imperial Older Brother had inserted himself into their plans out of nowhere. How could Xiao Yu not feel stifled and irritated? Still, he could not openly vent his anger. He could only pretend that Imperial Older Brother did not exist. After all, Imperial Older Brother himself had said that they were not to concern themselves with such distinctions outside. Just as he had when traveling with Sister Xue before, whenever Xiao Yu spotted an exquisitely crafted, dazzling flower lantern along the street, he would point it out and laughingly lead Sister Xue over to see it. Sister Xue, for her part, kept her gaze turned toward him, and her body leaned a little closer to his. She did not look at Imperial Older Brother on her other side at all. It was obvious that she wanted to be closer to him. Xiao Yu was feeling rather pleased with himself when he suddenly heard Imperial Older Brother say, “Be careful.” It turned out that several children carrying flower lanterns had been running about, laughing and playing, and had now come barreling toward them. The lanterns swinging unsteadily in their hands were just about to brush against the hem of Sister Xue’s skirt. Imperial Older Brother seemed to react with lightning speed. He promptly extended an arm and shielded Sister Xue, but in doing so, he also brought her closer to himself. What a schemer! Xiao Yu cursed inwardly. Then he caught sight of a tangyuan stall by the roadside and asked Sister Xue whether she was hungry or thirsty and if she would like to sit down and have a bowl of tangyuan. It was not long after nightfall, and it was also around the time they should have been having dinner. When Xiao Yu asked, Sister Xue nodded and moved closer to him. He thought that Sister Xue clearly did not want to be too close to Imperial Older Brother either. Whenever she found an opportunity, she would put some distance between herself and Imperial Older Brother without making it obvious. Xiao Yu was delighted by this, but once he and Sister Xue reached the tangyuan stall, they still had no choice but to sit at the same square table as Imperial Older Brother. Business was booming on the night of the Lantern Festival. Even this small tangyuan stall by the roadside was nearly filled with visitors. The stall owners, a husband and wife, were busy boiling water and cooking the tangyuan, leaving them no time to attend to the customers. The person weaving between the tables was a small boy of six or seven, apparently the couple’s son. As soon as the three of them sat down, the boy ran over enthusiastically and asked what kind of filling they wanted in their tangyuan. As he spoke, he counted off the options on his fingers, his childish voice clear and crisp. “There’s black sesame, red bean paste, honeyed mixed nuts, osmanthus sugar, rose honey…” After listing more than a dozen varieties, the boy smiled, his eyes curving into crescents. “My favorite is the osmanthus sugar filling.” When he smiled, two clear, round dimples appeared in his cheeks. Because of the child she had once lost, Shaoyin could never help taking a few extra glances whenever she saw children. Now, seeing how innocent and adorable this boy was, she smiled faintly and said to him, “Then I’ll have the osmanthus sugar filling.” She then asked the boy with another smile, “What’s your name?” “My name is Qiming.” The little boy happily told the beautiful lady before him, “An uncle of mine who’s studying to become a Presented Scholar gave me that name. He said Qiming is the star that appears at dawn, when the darkness breaks, and I was born just as the sky was growing light.” He added, “But my parents don’t usually call me by my formal name. They prefer to call me ‘Xingxing.’” Shaoyin was slightly startled. After a brief silence, she took a small gold ingot from her sachet and handed it to the little boy called “Xingxing” with a smile, telling him to buy candy with it later. Xiao Yu did not know why Xue Shaoyin felt so close to this little boy, but Xiao Heng knew the reason very well. That day, Xiao Heng had stood beneath the window outside Chongqing Palace and silently overheard much of the story of Shuobei that Xue Shaoyin had told her Aunt. Xiao Heng knew that Xue Shaoyin had once had a child with Muyan Helan, and that she had wanted to give the child a name connected to the stars. But that child had never been able to enter this world. Before Xue Shaoyin’s pregnancy had even begun to show, she had unfortunately miscarried. Xiao Heng naturally carried no money on him, so he untied a white jade pendant from his waist and, following Xue Shaoyin’s action, handed it to the little boy as well. Although Xiao Yu did not understand what was going on, how could he allow himself to fall behind after seeing Imperial Older Brother do that? He also untied a jade pendant from his waist and handed it to the boy. The little boy had only just accepted the gold ingot from the young lady and had not yet had time to thank her when two more gifts were handed to him, one from either side. At six or seven years old, the child knew only that gold and silver could be used to buy candy. He did not know that the two jade pendants were even more valuable. Thinking they were merely trinkets like sachets, he accepted them all without a thought. “Thank you, Madam! Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!” The little boy happily accepted everything with both hands. Imitating the auspicious words his parents usually offered their customers, he sincerely congratulated the three guests before him. “May Madam and the gentlemen be blessed with happiness and good health, may everything go as you wish, and may husband and wife love each other dearly…” When he imitated his parents and said “may husband and wife love each other dearly,” the little boy suddenly stopped. Usually, he saw either one husband and one wife, like his parents, or one husband, one wife, and several concubines, like some wealthy old masters who had a proper wife at home along with several young and beautiful concubines. But he had never seen… two husbands and one wife before… There was no such thing, so he must have said something wrong, right? There should be only one husband for this lady. The other gentleman must be a relative or something… But which one was this lady’s husband? The little boy’s dark eyes darted back and forth as he studied the two gentlemen dressed in the same color. Which of them looked more like the lady’s husband? While the little boy was puzzling over it, he suddenly noticed that although the lady appeared to be sitting upright, her body was actually tilted slightly, clearly turned more toward the man who looked younger. Moreover, the lady and the younger man exchanged glances, while she did not make eye contact with the older man at all. The little boy understood immediately. With a smile, he said to the younger man and the lady, “May Madam and this gentleman love each other dearly, have a son soon, and grow old together…” As he spoke, the little boy suddenly felt as though the air had grown colder. Yet the younger man before him had a particularly eager look in his eyes, his entire face filled with smiles. He even reached a hand into his sleeve, apparently about to take something out to reward him. Before he could bring anything out, however, the little boy was suddenly pulled behind his mother, who had hurried over. She had noticed that her child had lingered at this table for quite some time. All three guests seated there were dressed in extraordinary clothes and looked as though they came from a wealthy and noble household. Afraid that her child might accidentally offend some important person, the woman had rushed over to check on things. But now that she had arrived, she still had no idea whether her child had said anything wrong. The three distinguished guests at the table all wore entirely different expressions. The man on the left, dressed in blue with a bamboo pattern, had smiles in both his eyes and on his face, as though he were in an exceptionally good mood. The gentle and beautiful young woman seated opposite them wore a faint expression, as calm and still as a pool of water. Nothing could be read from her face. The man on the right, dressed in blue with a cloud pattern, also wore an impassive expression. Yet the moment one looked at him, one inexplicably felt panicked and uneasy, utterly unable to meet his eyes. Even though the woman had run the stall for many years and seen plenty of things, she had no idea what was happening. All she could do was smile apologetically and say, “My child has always been poor with words. If he was thoughtless or said anything inappropriate, I hope the honored guests will forgive him.” “Poor with words?” the man in the bamboo-patterned blue robe said with a smile. “I think he’s very clever.” The woman was afraid of the man on the right. After forcing out a few more ingratiating smiles, she did not dare linger any longer. She respectfully asked the honored guests what fillings they wanted, then hurried away with her child and efficiently began cooking their order. Since both Xiao Yu and Xiao Heng had requested the same filling as Xue Shaoyin, the woman eventually brought three bowls of osmanthus tangyuan to the table and invited the honored guests to enjoy them. Shaoyin no longer cared about the events of the past, but with the Son of Heaven sitting beside her, it was psychologically difficult for her to relax and be at ease. What was more, back in the palace, Xiao Heng had asked her to give him a chance and told her to “think it over carefully.” Could it be that she had been thinking for nearly half a month without giving Xiao Heng an answer, and he had finally been unable to hold back and come out of the palace to find her? The answer in Shaoyin’s heart was naturally a refusal. Yet she hesitated to reject him outright, afraid that Xiao Heng would turn hostile afterward and that she would lose the opportunity to enter the palace whenever she wished to visit her Aunt. But dragging things out forever was not a solution either. Would her delay make the emperor restless and lead to some kind of trouble? Unable to decide what to do, with this matter weighing on her mind, Shaoyin found no flavor in the food. Although the osmanthus tangyuan tasted wonderful, she could not savor their sweetness, nor did she say anything at the table. To Xiao Yu, this was naturally all Imperial Older Brother’s fault. When Sister Xue was alone with him, she never remained this silent. Xiao Yu thought that he had to come up with a way to shake Imperial Older Brother off without making it obvious. Otherwise, what should have been a wonderful Lantern Festival night of admiring the lights would be ruined by Imperial Older Brother. As Xiao Yu ate his tangyuan without tasting them, silently thinking of a plan, Xiao Heng across from him was also eating without tasting anything—and thinking about Xue Shaoyin. Not long before, when the little boy had been speaking nonsense, Xue Shaoyin had not denied anything. Could it be that, in Xue Shaoyin’s heart, she had already chosen Xiao Yu? Could it be that she was even… willing to accept Xiao Yu, marry him, have children with him, and grow old together? With that thought, the sweet tangyuan in Xiao Heng’s mouth seemed to have been mixed with half a pound of bitter coptis. Because each of them had their own thoughts, all three bowls of tangyuan were eaten without pleasure. At every other table in the tangyuan stall, laughter and lively chatter rang out. Only at their table was there an icy silence, as though not a trace of warmth or laughter could seep through. After finishing their tangyuan and leaving the stall together, Xiao Yu wanted to lead Sister Xue toward a crowded area. He planned to take advantage of the surging crowds and shake Imperial Older Brother off. If Imperial Older Brother questioned him afterward, he could simply blame the congestion of the Lantern Festival night. Any fault lay with the flourishing population and prosperous livelihood under Imperial Older Brother’s rule; it had nothing to do with Sister Xue or him. Thinking this, Xiao Yu looked around at the streets, considering where he should take Sister Xue. Because of that, he failed to notice the danger at once. It was only when he heard the surrounding people cry out that he saw a flower lantern whose flame had gone out of control. It was falling from a restaurant above, burning as it descended, and its trajectory was aimed straight toward Sister Xue. “Sister!” Xiao Yu hurriedly reached out to pull Sister Xue away, but he was a step too late. Before his fingers could touch her sleeve, Imperial Older Brother had already pulled her tightly into his arms. The burning flower lantern crashed onto Imperial Older Brother’s back, and its roaring flames caught the cloak he was wearing. Xiao Yu kicked the fallen lantern away and hurried to pull off the burning cloak. Sister Xue was unharmed, apart from her hair being slightly disheveled. Imperial Older Brother, however, had not only had the clothes on his back scorched black and torn by the flames; a patch on the back of his hand had also been burned until it was red and bloody. Seeing Imperial Older Brother in such a state, Xiao Yu was both worried and furious. When Xirong had invaded Daqi five years ago, Imperial Older Brother had personally gone to the battlefield to fight the enemy. He had led his soldiers through numerous hard-fought battles and won victory after victory. Imperial Older Brother could dodge the open spears and hidden arrows of the battlefield, yet he could not dodge a mere flower lantern?! Author’s Note: Xiao Yu: A self-injury ruse!