As night fell, the streets of the Capital City were brightly lit. The myriad of snacks, acrobatics, and games on the streets dazzled people.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival each year, everyone would make a date with a few good friends, loved ones or family members to go out and stroll the streets, which were packed with crowds, especially the liveliest Chongren Street.
Qin Chuyuan, Gong Xiaohua, Qin Chuqin, Qin Ziyu, and several guards behind them were preparing to go boating on Taiqing Lake.
Every year at this time, Taiqing Lake attracted nobles, rich merchants, and refined scholars who liked to follow popular customs. These people also liked to invite some famous courtesans in the Capital City to join them on boat trips, singing and dancing.
Because the young Qin Ziyu was with them, their group chose to travel by carriage.
It was not known where this little monkey Qin Ziyu heard that his uncle, aunt, and auntie were going out boating. He clung onto them stubbornly wanting to go along, so they had no choice but to bring him with them.
As they arrived at the boat boarding place early, they booked a luxury private room on the second floor of a nearby upscale teahouse to wait for their travel companions. The teahouse was already packed at this time, mostly with groups like them waiting for their parties before embarking on boat trips together.
Across the street from the teahouse there was a lamp riddle guessing stand, currently surrounded by many young men and women. Qin Ziyu, who was plastered to the window, saw it and pestered them to let him go play.
"Brother Chuyuan, Sister Xiaohua, I'll bring this little monkey down to play for a while," said Qin Chuqin. This would also give Brother Chuyuan and Sister Xiaohua some private space.
"Alright, sister be careful with safety," said Qin Chuyuan.
Qin Chuyuan and Gong Xiaohua sat at the table while the waiter brought tea and snacks. Qin Chuyuan picked up the teapot and poured Gong Xiaohua a cup of tea, "This teahouse's floral tea is currently very popular among the young ladies and madams. Have a try."
"Okay. Thank you." Gong Xiaohua picked up the teacup in front of her and took a sip. The refreshing floral fragrance spread in her mouth, with a touch of sweetness, better than modern floral teas in terms of taste.
"How is it?"
"Not bad."
Qin Chuyuan's mouth curled up slightly, he was in a good mood. He picked up a pastry and put it on a small plate, then placed it in front of Gong Xiaohua, "Try this pastry too."
Gong Xiaohua took the plate with her left hand and clamped the pastry with chopsticks, taking a small bite. It was a sweet date pastry.
"You knew I like sweets?"
"Mm, I asked mother-in-law about you. She said you occasionally buy some sweet snacks, so I figured you must like them."
Hearing this, Gong Xiaohua couldn't help smiling involuntarily. Seeing him staring at her, she hurriedly got up and walked to the window, muttering softly, "Calling her mother-in-law sounds quite smooth." This was to conceal her shyness.
Looking out of the window, she just happened to see her younger uncle Qin Ziyu and auntie Qin Chuqin guessing lamp riddles below.
"Auntie," Qin Ziyu looked at Qin Chuqin aggrievedly with his big blinking eyes.
Qin Chuqin felt very embarrassed looking at her nephew's eyes. "Ziyu dear, auntie will keep thinking, I definitely can guess the rabbit for you."
"But auntie you've been guessing for so long." Qin Ziyu said dissatisfiedly.
"It's wind," a voice suddenly came from behind. Qin Chuqin and Qin Ziyu turned around to see the person behind them.
"Falling leaves in late autumn, able to bloom February flowers, crossing thousands of feet of waves across the river, slanting into ten thousand rods of bamboo." These four lines all described the same phenomenon related to wind.
Qin Chuqin saw Li Zichen walking towards her while explaining to her.
Li Zichen came to Qin Chuqin's side and said to the stand owner, "Boss, it's wind."
"Young Master is correct!" The stand owner turned around and took the rabbit lantern down behind him.
"Young Master, the lantern is yours."
Li Zichen took the lantern and handed it to Qin Ziyu.
Qin Ziyu didn't take it directly. Instead, he looked at Qin Chuqin for her opinion, "Auntie?"
"Take it."
Qin Ziyu smiled happily and took the rabbit lantern from Li Zichen's hand, "Thank you, uncle."
"Such a good boy."
"Thank you," said Qin Chuqin.
"You're welcome, I hope you've been well recently? I heard that you..." Li Zichen was about to ask about her divorce with Li Yi, but felt it was inappropriate to ask now, so he left his words trailing.
"I'm good. And you?"
"Mm, still alright."
"Eh-" they spoke at the same time.
"You first," they said in unison again.
They looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.
This scene happened to be seen by Zhou Zixuan, who was following the Sixth Prince. He was furious, his hands hidden in his sleeves tightly clenched, but he had to restrain himself in the presence of the Sixth Prince and the Lin family members.
Upstairs, Gong Xiaohua saw her little uncle had also come and was chatting happily about something with Qin Chuqin after helping her solve the riddle.
Soon after she saw the Sixth Prince coming over with a group, including a man in black she hadn't seen in a long time, Nangong Jue.
"How come he's in the Capital City?"
"Who?" asked Qin Chuyuan, who had walked to Gong Xiaohua's side upon hearing this. He looked downstairs following her line of sight.
"Nangong Jue. Although he's disguised himself, the folding fan at his waist gave him away."
"He's with the Sixth Prince?"
They looked at each other in dismay. Could it really be the Sixth Prince who was involved in the Nanlong Prefecture corruption case and had secret letter correspondence with Wei Country?
"It's getting late, let's go meet our travel companions first," suggested Qin Chuyuan.
"Okay."
The two went downstairs and regrouped with Qin Chuqin. Li Zichen had already left. The four headed to the Taiqing Lake boat boarding location.
By the time they boarded the boat, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were already there, along with Princess Linglong. There were also the Crown Prince's circle of friends he often hung out with, such as Lin Zhiyuan, Lord Li's son Li Shu and his sister Li Jiao, Zhou Kun the oldest son of the Zhenguo Duke Mansion, as well as other heirs and noble ladies of prestigious families.
“Brother Chuyuan, you guys sure came late. You’ll have to drink three penalty cups later," the Crown Prince laughed.
"Ready to oblige anytime."
"This subordinate (wife) pays respect to the Crown Prince (Highness) and Crown Princess (Highness)!"
"Please rise. We're out for fun today. Just take it easy," said the Crown Princess amiably.
With all the guests gathered, the boat sailed towards the center of the lake. The men and women sat separately. The men sat on the open upper deck, while the women sat inside the cabin.
The Crown Prince sat right above the front deck, with four square tables arranged on either side for the heirs of prestigious families he had invited.
At the center of the front deck, a courtesan from Wanhua Building was dancing the long sleeve dance, accompanied by music.
When men got together, they inevitably chatted about court affairs.
"The Princess of Wei Country and envoys are about to arrive in the Capital City to discuss marriages and the release of prisoners of war."
"Which princess are the Wei people sending over this time for the marriage alliance?"
"I heard it's the Tenth Princess."
"Tenth Princess? Never heard of her before. She must be a less favored princess."
Inside the cabin, the Crown Princess sat at the very front, while the other women sat on either side.
The windows were open, sheers hung down. The light breeze blew in, lightly swaying them, letting lights and shadows flow, looking casual and lazy, very cozy.
The women were all chatting about trending rouge and powder cosmetics of the time, dressing styles, fun and interesting places to go.
Gong Xiaohua sat alone at the last table. Qin Chuqin and Qin Ziyu sat next to her. The little monkey was tired out from playing and had started dozing off. She was still thinking about why Nangong Jue had come to the Capital City. Was he here to assassinate someone? Or was it related to the two Wei princes?
“Xiaohua?” Qin Chuqin’s voice next door interrupted her thoughts.
“The Crown Princess is asking what you normally do in the army?”
Gong Xiaohua quickly stood up and saluted the Crown Princess, "Replying to the Crown Princess, this subordinate mainly trains together with the soldiers."
"I heard that General Gong is not only exceptional in martial arts, but also quite skilled in painting. How about joining us in a game? The loser will paint a portrait for each of us, how's that?"
"Replying to the Crown Princess, this subordinate is usually busy with military affairs and has never played such games before. I wouldn't want to spoil everyone's fun, so I'll opt out. But I'm willing to admit defeat, and pledge to paint a portrait for every lady present and deliver them to your mansions."
"That works too. We won't force you against your will. General Gong, please just act as you see fit."
"Thank you, Crown Princess," she bid them goodbye and went to the back of the boat, leaning against the railing looking up at the mid-autumn full moon.
"In this world, the only thing related to my past life is probably just this bright moon."
The boat glided slowly in the water.
"A graceful lady, a gentleman's delight." A group of unmotivated young masters on a luxurious boat some thirty meters away saw a young woman in a light green dress standing alone leaning against the railing at the back of a boat. She looked up slightly at the blurry full moon in the sky, her pretty features glowing in the moonlight. She looked almost ethereal.
The young lady possibly felt the gaze of outsiders upon her. Suddenly lowering her head, she looked ahead, her eyes sharp and bright, frightening the young masters who were sizing her up and sending a chill through their bodies. This feeling made them strangely familiar for some reason.
One of them was still constantly thinking back to the face he had just seen, puzzled in his heart: "Why do I feel like I've seen this young lady somewhere before?"
"Do you?"
"Don't you think she looked a bit like the female demon just now when she looked up?"
Upon hearing this, He Lianyu, who was sitting to the side, spat out a mouthful of tea.
"Where? Where? Let me see."
Unfortunately, the other party had already turned her back, and all he could see was her figure. Judging by her build, she did resemble that female demon.
"I heard that the female demon married the most handsome fifth young master of the Qin family. Take a look at the one walking over there - isn't that the fifth young master Qin?"
"It's him, it's him."
"The fifth young Master Qin put a cloak around her. It must be the female demon, no doubt about it."
"I didn't expect the female demon to still look quite good in such simple attire."
Suddenly, the other party's boat was bumped off course by another boat, sailing farther away.
"Blind bastard." On Gong Xiaohua's boat, a guard cursed at the boat that had bumped into them.
"Sorry, sorry, I was distracted for a moment and bumped into you. Please don't blame me, there are just too many boats on this lake." Someone from the other boat apologized.
"Forget it," said the Crown Prince to the guard.
"Thank you, young master. Good deeds will be rewarded."
The boat sailed farther and farther away. The surrounding boats grew fewer, and they moved farther from the shore. "Something's not right."
"What's the matter?"
"The draft of the boat is getting deeper."
"Can you swim?"
"No."
"Later, you and sister stay close to Ziyu as much as possible."
