Xin Yidao leaned forward and offered a gentle hand, "Please stand, my Lady." Suddenly, a copper coin slipped from her sleeve and landed squarely in Jiang Songyi's palm. To others, it looked like a reward, but she recognized it as a token of the Taoist sect.
"Your Highness, this gift?" Jiang Songyi clutched the coin tightly and looked up, her gaze meeting his smiling eyes. That gaze was exactly the same as the one he'd given her in her previous life when he'd taught her to observe the stars, as if it could penetrate the cycle of reincarnation.
Jiang Shu, sitting in the main seat, suddenly chuckled, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Song'er seem to be destined to be together." Her fingertips stroked the brocade bag that Chen Ruyi had just given her. "Why don't you ask Your Highness to give Song'er a hairpin?"
The whole court was in uproar. According to etiquette, the person who accompanies the coming-of-age ceremony must be a person of good fortune. But the prince was over twenty, still unmarried, and even more frail and sickly?
Xinyi Daoyi had already stood up: "I learned the prayer ceremony from the imperial teacher when I was young." He took the jade comb from the maid and paused slightly when his fingertips brushed across Jiang Songyi's hair - the touch was exactly the same as the one he had practiced thousands of times in his dreams.
The ritual music began again, and Jiang Songyi knelt on the futon. As the jade hairpin was about to enter her hair, she heard a very soft whisper behind her: "Kan position Shengmen, 3:15 of the Yin hour."
Her pupils suddenly constricted. This was exactly the first mantra her master in her previous life had taught her!
…
The shadows of the bamboo shattered into specks of light on the blue brick floor. Xin Yidao's wide sleeves swept across the table, and wisps of green smoke rose from the gilded incense burner. Jiang Songyi knelt on the mat and could clearly see the tassels of the jade pendant hanging from his waist—the same peace knot she had personally woven that day in the mountains.
"Your Highness, may you be well." She knelt in greeting, her skirt spreading like a lotus under the moon. The oriental pearl dangling from the end of Princess Linchuan's hairpin was dazzling, but not as dazzling as the cinnabar on the crown prince's pale fingertips.
Xinyi Dao's hand faltered in mid-air. The scent of jasmine ointment in the girl's hair overlapped with memories of that day when she was decocting medicine at the Taibai Mountain villa, her temples also stained with this delicate fragrance. Sparks from the exploding medicine furnace splashed on the back of her hand, leaving a red mark, and she smiled foolishly and said it didn't hurt.
"There's no need to be so polite, Lady Jiaqing." He withdrew his hand and tucked it into his sleeve, the warmth of her wrist still lingering on his palm.
Jiang Dinglian coughed loudly, shaking the wine cup on the table. "Song Yi, who is this?"
"I know!" Jiang Songyi raised her head, her eyes reflecting the golden osmanthus in the garden. "Master, this outfit looks much better than the Taoist robe!" She suddenly leaned in and sniffed. "It's just that the medicinal smell is too strong. I'll make you a new sachet later."
The whole room erupted in an uproar. The Minister of War's ivory chopsticks clattered into the sea bass sashimi, splashing sauce that stained Xinyi Zigu's python-patterned cuffs. The Fourth Prince stared at the dangling peace knot at the Crown Prince's waist, suddenly remembering the secret guard's report from last month—someone had seen the Crown Prince with a woman on Mount Taibai.
"Nonsense!" Mrs. Xu anxiously pulled her daughter's sleeve, "How can you, His Royal Highness, be so capable?"
"That's all right," Xin Yidao paused, pulling out a mahogany hairpin from his sleeve. The hairpin was carved with a crooked lotus flower, the very gift Jiang Songyi had received the year she came of age. His fingertips traced the incisions on the lotus petals, "The county lady has come of age, and I should prepare gifts for her."
Jiang Dinglian stared at the shabby wooden hairpin and suddenly remembered the piles of pearls and jade in his daughter's boudoir dressing box. In the brocade box at the bottom, there was a similar wooden hairpin, wrapped in a faded apricot-red handkerchief.
"I want Master to be my sponsor!" Jiang Songyi suddenly grabbed the prince's sleeve, the brocade material too slippery to hold. "Like at Mount Taibai?"
Xinyi Dao's wrists clattered with the gentle click of Buddhist beads. That day, as a storm loomed, he leaned against a bamboo couch, coughing up blood. A young girl, holding up a bronze mirror, insisted on asking him to teach her how to braid her hair. Her long, soft black hair twirled around her fingers, and the heart-shaped bun he braided was crooked, yet she praised it as "better than the maids in the palace."
Princess Linchuan suddenly chuckled. "I think it's very good." She took out the Nine-Phoenix Pearl Hairpin and inserted it into Jiang Songyi's hair. "Double praise is also an ancient custom. Shall we invite the Crown Prince?"
"I'm willing," Xinyi said, interrupting her aunt, her pale face flushed with excitement. He took the jade comb from the ceremonial officer, and his fingertips trembled slightly when they touched Jiang Songyi's hair—just like the day she carried him, nearly dead, out of the flames, the scorching beams falling down, and she trembled but refused to let go.
Xinyi Zigu suddenly dropped her wine cup. Broken porcelain splattered against the hem of Jiang Yuyao's skirt. She watched the Crown Prince pin Jiang Songyi's hair, and suddenly remembered the filigree golden phoenix hairpin the Fourth Prince had casually gifted to his concubine. Blood oozed from the teeth marks beneath her veil, and a salty, fishy taste washed over her tongue.
"Once you put on your hairpin, you will be a perfect match—"
Amidst the chanting, Xinyi Daoyi slowly inserted a mahogany hairpin into her fallen horse bun. The pearl tassel at the end brushed Jiang Songyi's earlobe. She suddenly tilted her head back and chuckled, "Master's hands are still so cold." Hidden beneath her wide sleeves, she quietly placed the hand warmer in his palm.
Jiang Dinglian stared at his folded sleeves, his throat suddenly tingling. His daughter's coming-of-age ceremony was such an important occasion, and yet, as a father, he couldn't even get involved. Even more aggravating was the sight of the sickly prince's fingertips stained with the perfume from his daughter's hair, his jade-like earlobes tinged suspiciously with a red hue.
At the end of the ceremony, Xinyi Daoyi suddenly broke out in a violent coughing fit. Scarlet plum blossoms bloomed on her handkerchief, startling Princess Linchuan so much that she stood up and called for the imperial physician. Jiang Songyi, however, as if by magic, produced a celadon bottle and said, "Just take two loquat paste pills. I've added Sichuan Fritillaria."
Xinyi Zigu stared at the familiar winding branch pattern on the porcelain vase, suddenly remembering the secret guard's report that Jiang Songyi delivered medicine to the outskirts of the city on the seventh day of every month. He crushed the walnut in his hand, not even noticing the shell piercing his palm—so all that medicine had gone into the prince's mouth!
Green smoke curled up from the bronze sparrow holding a pearl in the incense burner. Jiang Songyi lowered her eyes and stared at the cracks in the blue bricks. Xinyi's voice, as clear as a spring, came to her ears: "Yes." She looked up suddenly, her hairpin making a crisp sound, and her eyes were shining like stars.
[Done!] [After the ceremony, I'll go to the East Palace to block them!] [This time, I must ask Master to teach me the Qi Men Dun Jia!]
In the main seat, Madam Jiang paused, her Buddhist beads in her hands as her aged eyes swept over the prince's pale face. Marquis Yongding and Madam Xu exchanged glances, both filled with surprise and disbelief—this reclusive ruler of the Eastern Palace had actually agreed to such an unconventional request.
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