The evening breeze swept across the lotus leaves, bringing with it wafts of lotus fragrance. Xinyi Daoyi tossed the jade pendant into the pond, watching the ripples engulf the dragon pattern. A sneer curled the corners of his lips. He removed his soaked outer robe and draped it over the railing, revealing his plain white undershirt, which only accentuated his gloom.
The faint sound of stringed instruments drifted faintly from the front hall, and the prince leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance. The hem of Jiang Songyi's crimson skirt flashed past the moonlit gate, the golden hairpins in her hair reflecting the setting sun, making him squint. His knuckles unconsciously tapped against the bluestone, gradually synchronizing with the distant drumbeats.
"Master," he murmured, repeating the girl's address. Suddenly, he let out a low laugh. His laughter startled the fish in the pond, and a red carp leaped out of the water, splashing water that landed right in his eyelashes.
Xin Yidao wiped away the water stain and caught a glimpse of a pearl earring wedged in a crack in the corner of the pavilion. Though stained by mud, its radiance remained undimmed. He picked up the earring, then remembered the cinnabar mole on Jiang Songyi's left earlobe and, for some reason, slipped it into his sleeve.
As dusk deepened, the cicadas' chirping grew louder. The prince picked up his half-dried robe and left, stepping on the ground covered with shredded gold. As he passed Xinyi Zigu, he kicked him into the shade of a pavilion pillar, lest the sun melt the precious Fourth Prince.
The Nine-Curve Bridge meandered into the dusk, the last rays of sunset tinting the twin lotuses in the pond red. Xinyi Dao and his group reached the rockery when they heard approaching footsteps. He slipped into a cave and saw Jiang Songyi hurriedly returning, her skirt lifted, her hair disheveled and untidy.
The young girl crouched in the pavilion, groping, her fingertips brushing against every inch of the blue brick. The setting sun gilded her, and beads of sweat dripped from the tip of her nose, glittering like crystals. Xinyi Daoyi stroked the earrings beneath her sleeves. Seeing her stamp her foot in frustration after searching in vain, a smile deepened at the corners of his lips.
"So that's what you were looking for." He watched the crimson figure walk away, his earrings leaving circular marks on his palms. A breeze from the pond, carrying the fragrance of withered lotus leaves, struck the prince, and he suddenly coughed violently. Blood seeped between his fingers, falling on his dark robe like a plum blossom.
Xin Yidao's dark python robe clung to his body, and water droplets from his hair spread ink stains on the bluestone slabs. He leaned against the Taihu stone rockery, catching his breath, and looked up to see Yu Chuwei emerging from the moon-shaped cave door, carrying a glass lantern.
"Greetings, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." The girl knelt hurriedly, her gilded hairpin brushing across her face. She surveyed the Crown Prince's pale complexion in the light of the lamplight, then retreated a half-step imperceptibly. Three years ago, the Imperial Tutor's daughter had witnessed the Crown Prince coughing up blood, and the next day, she was betrothed to the Crippled Prince of Lingnan.
Xinyi Daoyi suddenly coughed violently, blood seeping from between his fingers: "Fourth brother...Lotus Pond."
The glass lamp in Yu Chuwei's hand shattered to the ground with a "crack." She stared at the duckweed stuck to the crown prince's clothes, remembering the sinister look the Fourth Prince had given him when he left the table half a quarter of an hour ago. Her throat tightened, "Could it be that the Fourth Prince..."
"Save...save him." The prince staggered, leaning against the wall, his wet hair clinging to his neck like a serpentine black snake. Yu Chuwei, holding up her Xiang skirt, stepped back, unaware that her embroidered shoes had stepped on broken glass. "I'll go get them!"
"It's too late." The prince pointed to the lotus pond with a weak breath, "When we were arguing just now." Before he could finish his words, he slid down the stone wall and sat on the ground.
Yu Chuwei clenched her palms to suppress a scream. She gazed at the brightly lit banquet hall in the distance and suddenly took off her cloak to cover the prince. "Your Highness, wait a moment!" As she turned and ran toward the lotus pond, the jade bracelet on her wrist struck the rockery, cracking.
After the yellow hue disappeared at the end of the curved corridor, Xinyi wiped the chicken blood from his lips and tapped the stone wall three times. A dark figure swooped down from the eaves like a kite, carrying him on its back and leaping onto the roof. "Your Highness, the Princess is admiring paintings in the West Warm Pavilion."
During the banquet, Jiang Songyi accepted the hand warmer from Madam Xu. The gilded body reflected the wet stains from her fingertips. "My daughter just... went to feed the koi."
[Xinyi Zigu's thrashing looked like an upturned fish.]
"Puff!" Jiang Dinglian spit out half a mouthful of pear blossom wine, which dripped down his beard onto his front. Jiang Baichuan stared at the frost crystals on the ends of his sister's hair, and suddenly remembered her feat of digging a hole in the ice to catch turtles last month.
"You bastard!" Marquis Yongding slammed the table and stood up, shaking the gilded dragon candlestick. "Is this worthy of being called imperial wine?" He kicked over the jar, and the amber nectar soaked into the Persian carpet. "Go and unseal the third jar in the cellar!"
Jiang Songyi ducked her head to avoid the flying porcelain shards, and a half-drenched silver chain slipped from her sleeve—it was the prince's order ripped from Xinyi Zigu's waist. Mrs. Xu clutched her daughter's cold hand, a vision of the delicate little girl from thirteen years ago, now a demon capable of drowning the prince.
"My Lord!" The steward stumbled into the banquet hall. "The Fourth Prince... The Fourth Prince fell into the water!"
The string music suddenly stopped. Jiang Dinglian glared at his daughter, who was fiddling with her hand warmer with her head bowed, and growled like a trapped animal: "Prepare your armor! Bring me my Liquan spear!"
"Father, think again!" Jiang Baichuan knelt down to block the way, "We should first call the imperial physician."
"Invite a bullshit!" Yongding Hou kicked his eldest son away, his black iron boots crushing the moonlight on the ground. "I'm going to rescue that short-lived prince right now. I want him dead or alive!" As he passed by Jiang Songyi, his palm-leaf fan-shaped hand pressed heavily on her shoulder. "Stay at the table. You are not allowed to go anywhere."
Chaos reigned by the lotus pond. Yu Chuwei, clutching her golden hairpin, lunged for the floating brocade garment, only to be dragged back into the water. Xin Yizi, like a savage water ghost, clung to her waist, his jeweled armor scratching her cheek. "Bitch... you want to be the prince's spy."
“Plop!”
The dark iron armor shattered the surface of the water. Jiang Dinglian's beard was furious, and the Liquan Spear ripped the Fourth Prince's brocade robes apart. The tip of the spear grazed his earlobe and pierced the bottom of the pool. "This is my territory. It's not the King of Hell's turn to take me in!"
Inside the western warm pavilion, the princess' fingertips traced the painting "Fishing Alone on a Cold River" when she heard the soft creaking of eaves tiles. She pushed open the carved window and saw the secret guard carrying the dripping prince from the roof. "Is Dao'er being naughty again?"
"Aunt, you are wise." Xin Yidao shook off the water droplets on his crane cloak, "I am just teaching my fourth brother how to swim." He picked up the white jade paperweight on the table and reflected the flames rising into the sky outside the window - Marquis Yongding was holding the fourth prince by the collar and dragging him ashore like a dead dog.
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