Xiao Penglai paused again and asked, "Every... in this pavilion..."
Their eyes met, and Luo Zhaoxing was taken aback. Then he turned his back and coughed softly.
At this moment, a young nun, about eight or nine years old, walked step by step around the wall, her feet treading through the mud.
Luo Zhaoxing immediately stood up to greet him, and Feng Hua hurriedly opened an oil-paper umbrella and followed closely behind.
The young nun touched her bald head and said shyly, "Master Mingjing said that she is free from worldly attachments and strictly abides by the precepts of the nunnery. It's getting late, so you should all go home."
The palace servants behind them were about to shout a warning when they saw this. Jiang Yuanjun glanced back and immediately stopped them.
At this moment, Tao Qingyun walked over, her brows furrowed, and she snorted. Gritting her teeth, she said, "What kind of adherence to the precepts is this? Haven't we seen her either? Little Master, have you informed her that an old friend has come from Jiangnan?"
The young nun was not afraid of the sharp-tongued young man in blue, and she forgot the old nun's words that warned her that they were all "the most noble of the noble."
Recalling the manner with which Master Mingjing spoke those words, the young nun said lightly, "Master Mingjing said it's just about passing the rest of my life."
Tao Qingyun took a deep breath and stared at the young nun, "What? What did she say?"
Luo Zhaoxing pondered for a moment, then smiled apologetically, "She has been a nun for ten years, so it should be this way. Then I'll trouble you." As she spoke, she took out a few of the last Tongling crisp candies from a turquoise pouch tied to her waist. "Little Master, thank you so much. Have some candy, have some candy!"
The young nun glanced furtively at the design of the embroidered pouch—a pair of plump, orange-yellow tangerines—and felt a surge of curiosity. Her eyes darted around, but she calmly raised one hand and said, "This humble nun, like Master Mingjing, is free from worldly desires."
Luo Zhaoxing then turned around and instructed Feng Hua to have the little nun give the ointment she had brought with her before leaving to Zhu Ruo.
The young nun frowned slightly, but ultimately accepted the offer after looking at the girl before her, whose eyes were as clear as autumn water.
Tao Qingyun lifted his robe and plopped down on the small stones piled up by the pond: "Alright! Then I'll stay in Penglai tonight!" He glanced at Jiang Yuanjun standing beside him and snorted: "I'm not going back to the city today, you old blockhead, are you three going or staying?"
Chu Yening, who was sitting in the octagonal pavilion drinking tea, glanced up when he saw Luo Zhaoxing's action, but his pupils contracted when he saw the object in Luo Zhaoxing's hand.
“Qingyun, this is a Buddhist area, and you must not be disrespectful,” Luo Ling said.
Tao Qingyun turned her face away and said coldly, "Ever since she cut her hair and became a nun, how many times have we climbed Penglai Mountain in the past ten years? We've practically worn out the threshold of Chengxin Nunnery. Has she ever seen us even once? We just wanted to see how she's been all these years, whether she's doing well or not. Has she been bullied today?"
Jiang Yuanjun pressed her thin lips into a straight line, her eyes deep and unfathomable.
After a moment, he glanced at the setting sun and said to the young nun, "Thank you for your trouble, young nun. It is late to return home now, and there are others in this nunnery who need lamps for us. We are staying in Penglai, and we will need your help again tomorrow to offer lamps and pray for us at the nunnery. After that, we will leave on our own and will not disturb Master Mingjing." He wore a moon-white long robe, was slender, and had a handsome face. The composure he exuded in every gesture revealed his noble birth.
The young nun clasped her hands together, chanted "Amitabha," and said, "Benefactor, you are compassionate. As long as the lamp of your heart is extinguished, it will never go out. May you overcome all obstacles and have your prayers fulfilled."
Jiang Yuanjun smiled and nodded.
A thin mist hangs over the Penglai Peak at night, the night air is cool and still, and after the rain, the boundless sea of clouds on the horizon is covered with countless twinkling stars.
Luo Zhaoxing and Feng Hua each carried a lantern, walked around the front courtyard buildings, and headed towards the back garden.
The six-story-high Star Gazing Pavilion has several glazed lanterns with colorful tassels hanging from its eaves, their light flowing and dazzlingly golden.
Luo Zhaoxing walked forward without making a sound.
Hearing footsteps, a palace servant on night watch stepped forward to investigate. Upon recognizing the person, he respectfully asked, "Does the young lady wish to enter the chamber?"
Luo Zhaoxing nodded: "Thank you for your trouble." She paused again and asked, "Are the lamps lit in this pavilion every day?"
The palace servant was taken aback, then hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes! Many years ago, only the young masters would light the stars when they came here to stay overnight and observe the stars. In recent years, the Crown Prince has ordered that the stars be lit every night." He added, "Even when it's windy and snowing."
Luo Zhaoxing nodded, then pushed open the vermilion gate that had witnessed decades of history and climbed the steps.
In the spring of the twenty-sixth year of the Wantai era, the late emperor, on his deathbed, abandoned all political affairs and retired to Penglai Xiaoding. In that spring, he seemed to see an old friend under a magnolia tree.
A stone table, four square stools, and four men, all of similar age and with delicate features, chatting and laughing, playing chess and sipping tea under the flowering trees.
During his subsequent 26-year reign, he saw one old friend after another pass away. Meanwhile, Penglai Xiaoding welcomed generation after generation of flower enthusiasts.
In the winter of the third year of the Kang Le era, snow fell heavily on Penglai Xiaoding. On a bitterly cold night in the capital, a few specks of scarlet blood splattered on the bare branches of a magnolia tree.
Drip, drip, it freezes as soon as it hits the ground.
From then on, Penglai Xiaoding became deserted, and its houses remained tightly shut. It was like a little-known corner of the Forbidden City—the Cold Palace—mysterious and desolate.
It wasn't until the spring of the fifth year of the Kangxi reign that the current emperor, traveling incognito among the common people, sat alone on the top of Penglai Mountain for a whole night. Only then did the clouds part and the sun shine again, and "there is Penglai Mountain, just like a fairyland."
The two climbed to the top of the pavilion, and Luo Zhaoxing looked down into the distance. The air was slightly chilly after the rain, and the continuous mountain peaks resembled a slowly unfolding ink painting. Ancient trees surrounded the mountains, concealing several pavilions and towers, while the garden was brightly lit, with several glass lamps hanging under the eaves illuminating every corner of the place.
A cold wind swept by, scattering the black hair at her temples.
She gave a faint smile.
"Why aren't you asleep yet? And you're dressed so lightly. You haven't fully recovered from your cold, and the capital is different from the south; the climate is different. Don't get chilled." A warm voice echoed from the attic.
Luo Zhaoxing turned around, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face. He said with a gentle smile, "Brother, why are you still the same as when you were a child?"
Feng Hua smiled and said, "An elder brother is like a father!"
Luo Ling held up a piece of clothing and said gently, "Qingyun brought a basket of cherries from somewhere and got herself covered in mud. When she saw that you weren't in the house, she went looking for me. I thought about it and figured that you must be here at this late hour."
“Ah Jun has already gone to sleep. Ye Ning, after much persuasion, was left in the mountains by Qing Jun. However, when I came out, I saw that although the lights were on in the house, it was quiet, so he must not be in the house.”
My elder brother, Luo Ling, was once a spirited young man, achieving the highest honors in the imperial examinations, becoming renowned throughout the capital. Back then, his eyes always shone brightly, and his smile was as gentle as a spring breeze. When the Luo family resolutely left the capital, he was serving as a tutor to the Crown Prince. He stood firm in his principles, remaining alone in the capital for ten years. Now, he exudes a detached, almost aloof air, like a recluse hidden in plain sight.
She smiled and said, "I'm not sleepy yet." She turned around and looked up at the sky, and couldn't help but sigh, "The stars are indeed clearer after the rain. When I was little, I thought this attic was really high! If we fell down, wouldn't we just disappear into the dust without a sound? It must have been hard for Grandpa Bao to worry so much about us falling down."
Luo Ling's brow twitched slightly, a clear smile playing on her lips as she draped her clothes over her back, then reached out to pat her head. "When you were very young, you still had to stand on tiptoe."
"Little sister, the person you want to see will one day come into your life."
She turned back, her eyes softening, pondering the profound meaning of those words, and asked, "Is that really so?"
In the stillness of the night, bathed in moonlight, he appeared as elegant and refined as an orchid, his smile as bright as the moon.
He looked up at the moon and said, "After Grain Rain comes summer, and when summer ends and autumn comes, it's winter. Little sister, what I want to say is that now that we're back in the capital, I'll take care of everything."
"It's getting late, go back and rest. Qingyun worked so hard to get these cherries, he won't be able to close his eyes until you eat them."
She and Feng Hua laughed heartily.
The small Penglai Peak that had witnessed her childhood, the six-story Star Gazing Pavilion, and the fatigue from the long journey all brought her sleepiness instantly, and she gradually drifted into a deep dream.
The moonlight is hazy, and I murmur about my hometown.
When she was young, she loved the winter snow in her hometown the most.
When it snows, my father would take my older brother to practice swordsmanship in the courtyard.
The mother would sit by the window mending her and her brother's clothes, and then occasionally glance out the window at the father and son wielding swords.
She would often snuggle on the small couch beside her mother, while outside the window, goose-feather-like snowflakes transformed the sky and earth into a crystalline expanse. Inside, the lights were always on, and the room was warm and cozy.
The small table was piled high with snacks: pineapple cakes, jujube paste pastries, Gannan navel oranges (a tribute to the imperial court), and juicy pomegranates...
Her favorite fruit was the sweet and slightly sour tangerine, which she ate while watching her mother weave clothes.
She often asked her mother, "These items can be bought in the market, why do you have to work so hard and exhaust yourself?"
The mother smiled and said that it was different.
In a hazy dream, she seemed to return to the year her grandfather passed away. One night, she dreamt that her grandfather just looked at her from afar without saying a word, only looking at her with a loving expression. After waking up from the dream, she felt uneasy.
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, the leaves rustled in the wind. She picked up a beaded lantern and decided to go find her father and mother.
The two spoke softly inside the house, chatting about their large family, their elder brother, and then about her.
The lamps under the eaves burned brightly and continuously.
She overheard her father and mother saying, "When our daughter was first born, I was overjoyed and thought she should be pampered. Later, my father said that it's better for a girl to be more mature, but we can't let her suffer losses. Then I thought it would be better to be both firm and gentle. But in this world, if you give in a little, someone will take advantage of you twice as much. After much thought, I decided that our child should be prickly rather than weak and easily bullied."
Inside the house, the father sighed softly, "When she comes of age and gets married, I will be proud if she meets a good man. But if she doesn't protect her husband in times of trouble, I will disturb his family's peace!"
She stood outside the door, separated from the people inside by a door, yet it felt as if her father was standing right in front of her. She looked at her father, his neck stiff and his face flushed.
His mother was gently persuading him, while his father's voice grew softer and softer.
“My dear daughter, she is my precious pearl. Born into a noble family, her brother will probably not be able to act recklessly in this life. I only wish that this daughter can still live a carefree and happy life.”
“Even if the sky falls, I, as her father, will hold it up; if things get really bad, her brother will hold it up too.”
She hadn't dreamed of her father and mother for a long time.
Tears silently streamed down her cheeks as she stared blankly at the ceiling. In the outer room, Feng Hua slept soundly. Then, she gently turned over, curling herself into a ball and covering herself with the brocade quilt. Only faint, almost imperceptible sobs could be heard in the small room.
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