Qiqiao (a traditional Chinese festival) reveals a united heart

One day in late summer, Chun Tao was tidying up the cups and saucers when she noticed Yan Shu staring blankly in the direction of the main courtyard.

Chun Tao glanced at the maids hanging colorful ribbons under the corridor and suddenly remembered: "Your Highness, the Qixi Festival is in a few days. I heard that the streets are especially lively this year. Colorful pavilions have been erected on Zhuque Avenue, and the shops selling Qixi Festival pastries and lanterns are all stocked up. There will also be lantern festivals and fireworks at night."

The Qixi Festival? The Double Seventh Festival?

Yan Shu's unfocused gaze sharpened slightly. In this era, this was a festival for women to pray for skill and wisdom, and also a rare day when they could go out. The key point was—Valentine's Day.

Words like "lively" and "lantern festival" were like sparks falling into her cold heart.

She was trapped in this world, surrounded by intrigue and tragedy, constantly navigating the complexities of power struggles and suspicions, almost suffocating her. Yet, she also longed for a sweet date.

A bold idea quietly took root—to create an opportunity to lower people's guard in the bustling streets of the Qixi Festival.

The thought made her heart race, filled with a desperate, yet slightly shy, resolve. She had never invited him out before, let alone made such a tender, romantic request.

Will he agree? Probably, after all, he took the initiative to ask her to go horseback riding last time. Although there are obvious changes in their relationship, I'm still worried that he'll look at me with cold eyes and think I'm not suitable for him.

Recalling his usually cold and hard profile, Yan Shu almost backed away. But the warmth of his fingertips when he personally put the jade pendant on her that day, the warm jade he gave her, the maintenance of Fengyi Palace, the horseback riding trips in the mountains and forests together, and his increasing presence at Lingxiao Pavilion—these things gave her courage.

We should at least give it a try.

She took a deep breath and said to Chun Tao, "I understand."

After dismissing Chun Tao, Yan Shu paced back and forth in the room for a long time, pondering her words. It wasn't until nightfall that Ling Yuan finished his official duties and returned to Lingxiao Pavilion for dinner.

The dining table remained quiet. Yan Shu ate silently, and Ling Yuan also ate in silence. As dinner was nearing its end, a maid cleared away the leftovers and served tea. Yan Shu gripped the teacup tightly with her fingers, then looked up at the man at the head of the table.

"Your Highness," her voice was softer than usual, "in two days... it will be the Qixi Festival."

Ling Yuan paused in his cup-holding hand, looked up at her, his eyes devoid of emotion.

Yan Shu's heart tightened, and she continued, "I've heard... that the city streets are exceptionally lively this year. Since entering the palace, I haven't yet had the chance to experience the capital's charm with Your Highness." She paused, her cheeks slightly flushed, "I wonder... if Your Highness is free on the evening of the Qixi Festival? Could you... accompany me to the streets... to see the lanterns? To celebrate the Qixi Festival with me?"

After she finished speaking, she barely dared to look him in the eye, afraid that the next second would be met with his cold rejection.

Time seemed to slow down. She could hear her own heart pounding like a drum.

Ling Yuan was indeed surprised. He put down his teacup and looked at Yan Shu's lowered head and reddened ear tips.

After a brief silence, just as Yan Shuxin was slowly calming down, she heard his deep, steady voice:

"Can."

In short, concise and to the point.

Yan Shu suddenly looked up, her eyes flashing with unbelievable surprise, which met his eyes, which had lost some of their coldness.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" she replied immediately, her voice filled with barely suppressed joy, and a genuine smile blooming on her face.

Seeing her eyes light up instantly and her undisguised joy, Ling Yuan felt a stirring in his heart once again, but he tried his best to keep his expression calm: "At that time, have Ling Ying bring more people with her."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I understand." Yan Shu quickly replied, a huge weight lifted from her heart, replaced by lightness and anticipation.

She succeeded! He agreed!

Ling Yuan, after agreeing with "yes," picked up his teacup, took a sip, and concealed a slight smile from the corner of his lips.

As night fell on the Qixi Festival, a carriage drove out of the side gate of the Prince Duan's mansion.

Yan Shu sat in the car, listening to the growing commotion outside, feeling both expectant and nervous. She quietly lifted a corner of the car curtain, and saw that Zhuque Street was brightly lit, with crowds thronging the streets. The lanterns illuminated the night sky as if it were daytime, and the shouts of vendors, the laughter of children, and the sounds of string and wind instruments intertwined to create a vibrant night scene.

Ling Yuan sat opposite him, upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead, his hands resting on his knees slightly curled, revealing a hint of tension.

The carriage stopped a short distance away. Ling Ying, accompanied by her plainclothes bodyguards, silently disappeared into the crowd.

Yan Shu stepped out of the carriage with Chun Tao's help, instantly enveloped in a lively atmosphere. She took a deep breath of the air, filled with the aroma of food and the scent of cooking, and a smile appeared in her eyes. Turning back to the out-of-place Ling Yuan, she mustered her courage and reached out her hand: "Your Highness, shall we... go?"

Ling Yuan looked at her outstretched hand, so fair and slender in the lamplight, and then at her bright, expectant eyes. He couldn't help but reach out and hold her wrist. The touch was soft and delicate, a stark contrast to the roughness of his own palm.

Once inside the crowd, Yan Shu was like a bird released from its cage, finding everything new and exciting.

"Your Highness, look how lifelike this clay figure is!"

"Is that a Qiaoguo (巧果)? It smells so good!"

"The paintings on these lanterns are so exquisite!"

She stopped at almost every stall, picking up clay figurines, dough figurines, paper cuttings, and sachets to examine them closely, exclaiming in quiet amazement. Lingyuan initially followed half a step behind her, occasionally giving comments like "acceptable" or "average."

Yan Shu was enthusiastic, yet seemingly infectious. She kept sharing interesting things: "Your Highness, look at that clay figure of a monkey stealing peaches, isn't it hilarious?" Or she would hold a sachet of mugwort to his nose, "Take a sniff, doesn't it refresh you?"

Gradually, Ling Yuan's tightly pressed lips began to curve into a smile. Her gaze, no longer solely focused on her surroundings, began to follow her lead and fall upon the ingeniously designed little objects. She saw Ling Yuan's pure admiration for the revolving galloping horse pattern on the lantern; she saw Ling Yuan secretly swallowing her saliva in front of the candied hawthorn stall.

When she picked up the powerful Nuo opera mask and held it up to her face, peeking at him through the eye holes, Ling Yuan finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Seeing the obvious smile, Yan Shu grew bolder. She put down the Nuo opera mask, picked up the simple, cold-looking silver fox half-mask, and handed it to him: "Your Highness, this... seems to suit you very well."

Ling Yuan looked at the mask and felt that this action was beneath his dignity.

Yan Shu said softly, "There are many people wearing masks on the street. When in Rome, do as the Romans do... Besides, wearing one will attract less attention and make things more convenient, right?"

Ling Yuan glanced at the masked men and women around him, then at her expectant, pleading eyes, and his resistance inexplicably dissipated. He silently took the mask and put it on somewhat stiffly.

The silver fox mask covered the upper half of his face, revealing only his chin and thin lips. The imposing aura was somewhat concealed, adding to his mystery and charm.

Yan Shu's eyes lit up, and she also picked out an exquisite half-face ornament embroidered with butterflies and flowers to wear, revealing only her smiling eyes and cherry lips. "Now we're the same." Her voice couldn't hide her joy.

Wearing the mask seemed to remove the shackles of her identity. Ling Yuan felt much more at ease. Although she was still quiet, she no longer hesitated to follow her footsteps. Occasionally, when she showed great interest in something, he would silently pay for it and hand it to her.

The two walked with the crowd. At a riddle-solving stall, Yan Shu was pondering a difficult problem when Ling Yuan glanced at her and whispered the answer in her ear. Yan Shu suddenly understood, her eyes filled with admiration, which made Ling Yuan feel inexplicably pleased.

They stopped at an old craftsman's stall, which was filled with handmade lotus lanterns, rabbit lanterns, and carp lanterns. Yan Shu picked out a finely crafted glass lantern painted with twin lotus blossoms, and she couldn't put it down. Seeing her delighted expression, Ling Yuan's gaze flickered, and he surprisingly chose a Qilin lantern with a simple and grand design, symbolizing martial fortune and protection.

As the two walked side by side down the long street adorned with lanterns, each carrying a lantern, the light shone on their faces, reflecting the masks on their faces and the warm glow in their hands. Their shadows intertwined on the ground, creating an atmosphere of harmony and perfect match.

At that moment, a loud bang came from the night sky, and a huge, dazzling golden chrysanthemum burst open against the dark blue sky! Then, a second, a third... red, green, blue, purple... thousands of colorful chrysanthemums, like a cascading galaxy, adorned the night sky like a dream.

"Fireworks!" The crowd erupted in even louder cheers.

Yan Shu looked up, mesmerized. It was the first time she had ever seen such magnificent and pure fireworks in ancient times, a fleeting yet exquisite beauty.

She subconsciously glanced at Ling Yuan beside her. He was also looking up at the night sky, the lines of his profile beneath the silver fox mask softened considerably in the flickering light, and his eyes reflected the dazzling colors of the night sky.

As if sensing her gaze, Ling Yuan lowered his head and met her eyes through the mask.

Amidst the deafening roar of fireworks and the surrounding cheers and clamor, the two stood quietly, their lanterns emitting a warm, hazy light, as if in that moment the world consisted only of them. The layer of ice that had stood between them seemed to melt away slightly under the warmth of the fireworks and the dazzling light of the fireworks.

A warm feeling welled up in Yan Shu's heart. Quietly and very gently, she hooked her little finger around Ling Yuan's hand, which was hanging by his side. His hand stiffened slightly, but he didn't pull away. After a moment, he turned his hand over and gently grasped hers. Warm and strong.

Fireworks still bloom in the night sky, illuminating the ancient city and seemingly lighting up the road ahead of them, a road that is still shrouded in mist but is no longer cold and lonely.

Inside the carriage on their way back to the manor, both of them removed their masks. Yan Shu held the twin lotus glass lamp, a lingering smile on her lips, occasionally stealing glances at Ling Yuan, who was resting with his eyes closed opposite her, her heart filled with an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and peace.

Ling Yuan, though his eyes were closed, couldn't help but recall her bright eyes as she wore the butterfly-and-flower mask and looked up at the fireworks, and the cool, dependent touch of her fingers as she gently hooked them around his. His fingers, resting on his knees, unconsciously twitched, as if still retaining that soft sensation.

That night, some people decided to confront their own inner selves.