“A pair of crane and deer vases.”
Wei Yingluo has just written the word crane and a hand reached out from beside her and snatches the booklet away.
With a slight frown, Wei Yingluo turned to her and asked: “Mingyu, what are you doing?”
“Registering, keeping the treasures, has always been my job, you don't have to take over!” Mingyu clutched the booklet, it was obvious to all that she was taking over the job.
Wei Yingluo stared at her and said: “The Empress Niangniang ordered me to register.”
Mingyu had already found an excuse on the way, she blurted out: “Didn't you hear the Emperor's orders, you need to choose two or three items that the Empress Dowager likes first, do you know the Empress Dowager Niangniang's preferences?”
Mingyu was relieved when Wei Yingluo didn't say anything, she took advantage of the situation and said: “Since you don't know anything, don't stand here and get in the way! Zhenzhu, go on!”
The young court lady in charge of reading out the names looked at Wei Yingluo at a loss for words.
Knowing Wei Yingluo as they did, they expected her to fight to the end, after all, she was the one who dared to scold even the Emperor but she suddenly smiled and said: “I've only been in the palace for a short time, I don't know the Empress Dowager's preferences, I'll have to ask you, Mingyu to register them carefully and select them one by one., I must ask you, Mingyu to register them carefully and select them one by one.”
“Wait!” Mingyu shouted at her back, she was the one who had taken the job from her, yet she acted as if she was giving it away and said, “You don't have to go, there's still a lot to do, you can stay and help me.”
“No need.” Wei Yingluo this time did not accept her charity, without looking back he walked out, “You have done so bravely, I naturally cannot take the credit, don't worry, I will report to the Empress Niangniang, all the credit is yours!”
“And I.” Wei Yingluo left the door, looking at the starry sky, the deep palace and thought: “I can take this opportunity to do what I have always wanted to do.”
A court lady was not allowed to leave the palace without business, so without the Empress' orders, she was tied to the Changchun Palace from morning to night and had little chance of going to the palaces of other masters, let alone the Qianqing Palace.
“If someone had gone from the Palace to the Royal Garden on the night of my sister's death, how long would it have taken to get there and back and could they have avoided the patrols?” Wei Yingluo stood at the entrance to the main hall, took one foot towards the imperial garden and said silently, “One step, two steps, three steps...”
She left the Qianqing Palace one step at a time, leaving behind the cups of wine and the lights, with a long, lonely shadow and walked alone into the imperial garden.
“Three hundred steps, three hundred and one, three hundred... Aaah!” A hand suddenly tugged at her foot and pulled her down from the junction of the royal path.
This sudden tug almost scared Wei Yingluo out of her wits, especially since the hand had pulled her down and then had come around her from behind, with its strong arms around her waist.
Wei Yingluo didn't even think about it, she stomped her heel hard, on her opponent's foot.
“Someone--” she was about to call out at the top of her voice and a voice as soft as moonlight, pressed against her ear and softly recited: “Deep in the stone beam the night is hidden, the mist and dew are tired to protect the moonlight. Catching the royal clothes and letting go, the famous flowers fly out of her sleeves.”
Wei Yingluo stopped struggling, leaned into the other's arms and whispered: “Young Master, you suddenly grabbed my foot and scared me.”
Her Young Master was only one person.
Fuheng stood with her in his arms in the tiger's cave, rugged rocks beside him, clumps of turquoise creepers clambering over the grey stones, the shadows of the trees swaying, casting dappled shadows on them.
“I am, after all and a guard of the Forbidden City.” Fuheng said with a smile, “When I see an unruly little court lady, walking by night on the royal road, I have to pull her down.”
Wei Yingluo grunted, seemingly dissatisfied with his explanation and said: “So, if another court lady had passed by here, you would have pulled her into your arms as well?”
“There is no other court lady in the Forbidden City who is so bold.” Fuheng sighed.
Wei Yingluo now smiled at him with pursed lips.
“Let me guess, you didn't come here in the middle of the night, not to blow off steam, you must have... I'm sure... you wanted to retrace your steps from the Qianqing Palace to the Imperial Garden.” Fuheng knew her well, he guessed at once what she was up to and said helplessly, “You don't have to, I've already checked for you, no one left the banquet that night.”
“There were four hundred people there, there are always one or two mistakes.” Wei Yingluo wouldn't give up, wouldn't give up the only clue, “Maybe someone left quietly, back and forth, it wouldn't have taken more than half an hour!”
Fuheng disagreed: “I've walked this road many times, it's quick to walk the whole way, impossible to avoid the guards on patrol.”
Wei Yingluo bit her lip and raised another possibility: “What if he is of noble birth and the guards conceal it for him?”
Fuheng shook his head and said: “The guards are loyal to the Emperor, they are under his command alone, how can a mere royal family be trusted?”
Wei Yingluo stared at him for a moment and laughed: “Not necessarily, did not that Prince Yi of First Rank, at the instigation of Concubine Jia, deliberately make things difficult for me?”
And Qingxi... How careful a man is but he cannot resist the temptation of glory and wealth, he sells her so easily.
Fuheng was about to say something, when suddenly there was a boom overhead, like a crash, like a thunderclap, which startled Wei Yingluo into putting her arms around Fuheng's waist and saying: “What is that noise?”
She was always so strong, always doing everything by herself, carrying her own load, her rare little girl attitude, made Fuheng feel new and enchanted, couldn't help but leave many things behind, just looked at her and hugged her, smiled and said: “Look up.”
Wei Yingluo looked up in confusion.
At that moment, the sky was filled with fireworks over the Forbidden City, red and yellow, green and purple and a thousand lights fell like rain, on her eyes and face.
“The east wind blows a thousand trees at night and blows down, stars like rain.” Fuheng was again singing poetry in her ear, she didn't like to listen to this literary stuff but she loved to hear his voice, loved every line of poetry that came out of his mouth, every word, every hint of truth.
“... Yuhu, the light turned and a night of fish and dragons, moths and willows of gold, laughter and dark fragrance.” Fuheng slowly lowered his head, the thousands of fireworks above his head, were no match for his affectionate gaze and he said to her, “I have searched for him for thousands of miles and then I look back... The man is there, where the lights go out.”
Wei Yingluo doesn't know how she got back to the East Room.
Only that her feet were weak, like stepping on clouds and when she closed her eyes, there was his voice and his face with his eyes closed.
He said to himself: “Don't let anyone see anything unusual, just say... It's a headache from the wind, my cheeks are red.”
She was going to use this poor excuse to get by, otherwise it would be difficult to explain why her face was so red.
But she soon realised, the other person probably didn't need an explanation.
“Bastard!” came the slap from the East Room, it was Mingyu's angry, frightened voice saying, “I told you to watch the East Room but you sneaked out to watch the fireworks, now how will you explain that to the Emperor the Empress!”
“I, I didn't know Huai was like this either!” Zhenzhu's cries continued, “Besides, didn't you go out to watch the fireworks too, only the officials were allowed to set fire to the city but not the people?”
Mingyu was furious, she raised her right hand and tried to slap her again but Wei Yingluo caught her from behind.
“It's good that you've come back.” Mingyu saw her and hurriedly said, “Look, what a mess she's made!”
Wei Yingluo followed her gaze and froze. The golden pagoda that Nara Chunxue had offered was empty, the precious relic had disappeared.
“A pair of crane and deer vases.”
Wei Yingluo has just written the word crane and a hand reached out from beside her and snatches the booklet away.
With a slight frown, Wei Yingluo turned to her and asked: “Mingyu, what are you doing?”
“Registering, keeping the treasures, has always been my job, you don't have to take over!” Mingyu clutched the booklet, it was obvious to all that she was taking over the job.
Wei Yingluo stared at her and said: “The Empress Niangniang ordered me to register.”
Mingyu had already found an excuse on the way, she blurted out: “Didn't you hear the Emperor's orders, you need to choose two or three items that the Empress Dowager likes first, do you know the Empress Dowager Niangniang's preferences?”
Mingyu was relieved when Wei Yingluo didn't say anything, she took advantage of the situation and said: “Since you don't know anything, don't stand here and get in the way! Zhenzhu, go on!”
The young court lady in charge of reading out the names looked at Wei Yingluo at a loss for words.
Knowing Wei Yingluo as they did, they expected her to fight to the end, after all, she was the one who dared to scold even the Emperor but she suddenly smiled and said: “I've only been in the palace for a short time, I don't know the Empress Dowager's preferences, I'll have to ask you, Mingyu to register them carefully and select them one by one., I must ask you, Mingyu to register them carefully and select them one by one.”
“Wait!” Mingyu shouted at her back, she was the one who had taken the job from her, yet she acted as if she was giving it away and said, “You don't have to go, there's still a lot to do, you can stay and help me.”
“No need.” Wei Yingluo this time did not accept her charity, without looking back he walked out, “You have done so bravely, I naturally cannot take the credit, don't worry, I will report to the Empress Niangniang, all the credit is yours!”
“And I.” Wei Yingluo left the door, looking at the starry sky, the deep palace and thought: “I can take this opportunity to do what I have always wanted to do.”
A court lady was not allowed to leave the palace without business, so without the Empress' orders, she was tied to the Changchun Palace from morning to night and had little chance of going to the palaces of other masters, let alone the Qianqing Palace.
“If someone had gone from the Palace to the Royal Garden on the night of my sister's death, how long would it have taken to get there and back and could they have avoided the patrols?” Wei Yingluo stood at the entrance to the main hall, took one foot towards the imperial garden and said silently, “One step, two steps, three steps...”
She left the Qianqing Palace one step at a time, leaving behind the cups of wine and the lights, with a long, lonely shadow and walked alone into the imperial garden.
“Three hundred steps, three hundred and one, three hundred... Aaah!” A hand suddenly tugged at her foot and pulled her down from the junction of the royal path.
This sudden tug almost scared Wei Yingluo out of her wits, especially since the hand had pulled her down and then had come around her from behind, with its strong arms around her waist.
Wei Yingluo didn't even think about it, she stomped her heel hard, on her opponent's foot.
“Someone--” she was about to call out at the top of her voice and a voice as soft as moonlight, pressed against her ear and softly recited: “Deep in the stone beam the night is hidden, the mist and dew are tired to protect the moonlight. Catching the royal clothes and letting go, the famous flowers fly out of her sleeves.”
Wei Yingluo stopped struggling, leaned into the other's arms and whispered: “Young Master, you suddenly grabbed my foot and scared me.”
Her Young Master was only one person.
Fuheng stood with her in his arms in the tiger's cave, rugged rocks beside him, clumps of turquoise creepers clambering over the grey stones, the shadows of the trees swaying, casting dappled shadows on them.
“I am, after all and a guard of the Forbidden City.” Fuheng said with a smile, “When I see an unruly little court lady, walking by night on the royal road, I have to pull her down.”
Wei Yingluo grunted, seemingly dissatisfied with his explanation and said: “So, if another court lady had passed by here, you would have pulled her into your arms as well?”
“There is no other court lady in the Forbidden City who is so bold.” Fuheng sighed.
Wei Yingluo now smiled at him with pursed lips.
“Let me guess, you didn't come here in the middle of the night, not to blow off steam, you must have... I'm sure... you wanted to retrace your steps from the Qianqing Palace to the Imperial Garden.” Fuheng knew her well, he guessed at once what she was up to and said helplessly, “You don't have to, I've already checked for you, no one left the banquet that night.”
“There were four hundred people there, there are always one or two mistakes.” Wei Yingluo wouldn't give up, wouldn't give up the only clue, “Maybe someone left quietly, back and forth, it wouldn't have taken more than half an hour!”
Fuheng disagreed: “I've walked this road many times, it's quick to walk the whole way, impossible to avoid the guards on patrol.”
Wei Yingluo bit her lip and raised another possibility: “What if he is of noble birth and the guards conceal it for him?”
Fuheng shook his head and said: “The guards are loyal to the Emperor, they are under his command alone, how can a mere royal family be trusted?”
Wei Yingluo stared at him for a moment and laughed: “Not necessarily, did not that Prince Yi of First Rank, at the instigation of Concubine Jia, deliberately make things difficult for me?”
And Qingxi... How careful a man is but he cannot resist the temptation of glory and wealth, he sells her so easily.
Fuheng was about to say something, when suddenly there was a boom overhead, like a crash, like a thunderclap, which startled Wei Yingluo into putting her arms around Fuheng's waist and saying: “What is that noise?”
She was always so strong, always doing everything by herself, carrying her own load, her rare little girl attitude, made Fuheng feel new and enchanted, couldn't help but leave many things behind, just looked at her and hugged her, smiled and said: “Look up.”
Wei Yingluo looked up in confusion.
At that moment, the sky was filled with fireworks over the Forbidden City, red and yellow, green and purple and a thousand lights fell like rain, on her eyes and face.
“The east wind blows a thousand trees at night and blows down, stars like rain.” Fuheng was again singing poetry in her ear, she didn't like to listen to this literary stuff but she loved to hear his voice, loved every line of poetry that came out of his mouth, every word, every hint of truth.
“... Yuhu, the light turned and a night of fish and dragons, moths and willows of gold, laughter and dark fragrance.” Fuheng slowly lowered his head, the thousands of fireworks above his head, were no match for his affectionate gaze and he said to her, “I have searched for him for thousands of miles and then I look back... The man is there, where the lights go out.”
Wei Yingluo doesn't know how she got back to the East Room.
Only that her feet were weak, like stepping on clouds and when she closed her eyes, there was his voice and his face with his eyes closed.
He said to himself: “Don't let anyone see anything unusual, just say... It's a headache from the wind, my cheeks are red.”
She was going to use this poor excuse to get by, otherwise it would be difficult to explain why her face was so red.
But she soon realised, the other person probably didn't need an explanation.
“Bastard!” came the slap from the East Room, it was Mingyu's angry, frightened voice saying, “I told you to watch the East Room but you sneaked out to watch the fireworks, now how will you explain that to the Emperor the Empress!”
“I, I didn't know Huai was like this either!” Zhenzhu's cries continued, “Besides, didn't you go out to watch the fireworks too, only the officials were allowed to set fire to the city but not the people?”
Mingyu was furious, she raised her right hand and tried to slap her again but Wei Yingluo caught her from behind.
“It's good that you've come back.” Mingyu saw her and hurriedly said, “Look, what a mess she's made!”
Wei Yingluo followed her gaze and froze. The golden pagoda that Nara Chunxue had offered was empty, the precious relic had disappeared.
