Chapter Eleven: Aspirations in Golden Autumn
Time flies, and Mid-Autumn Festival is here in the blink of an eye. Huairou likes the meaning of this festival very much, and she started preparing well in advance.
"Does Your Highness know how people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival?" she asked Yunji mysteriously that day. Yunji shook his head: "In the palace, we always just hold banquets to admire the moon." "That's too boring," Huairou blinked, "Tonight I'll take Your Highness to experience something different."
As night fell, Huairou avoided the palace servants and led Yunji to the small hill behind the courtyard. From this elevated position, they could see the full moon. She magically produced two food boxes filled with various snacks and a pot of fruit tea.
“This is…” Yunji looked at her in surprise.
"Roasted chestnuts, spicy chicken gizzards, steamed crab with chrysanthemum, roasted sweet potatoes..." Huairou smiled and handed him a small chicken gizzard with her chopsticks. "I specially ordered this from a shop outside the palace. It comes in three flavors: five-spice, spicy, and sour-spicy." The two sat side by side on the artificial hill, enjoying their meal by moonlight. A night breeze carried the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms. Yunji peeled a piece of roasted chestnut, its sweet aroma melting in his mouth. He then ate the novel and delicious chicken gizzards, watching Huairou's greedy expression as she peeled the crab. A feeling of joy and warmth welled up in his heart.
“When I was little, the palace maids would secretly take me to the Imperial Garden to admire the moon,” Yunji suddenly spoke, his voice soft. “Back then, she would always tell me stories about the moon fairies.” Huairou turned to look at him, smiled, and said, “You know what? The moon is quite complex. It’s not just about a celestial dog eating the moon.” “What kind of complex?” Yunji asked curiously, intrigued. “The full moon you see is just one phase of the moon. The moon actually has one full moon every month, and its shape changes at the rest of the time. Let me teach you a nursery rhyme: the pattern of the moon’s phases is: ‘On the first day, you can’t see it; on the second, a sliver of light; on the third and fourth, it looks like a fingertip; on the seventh and eighth, half of it is cut off; on the fifteenth and sixteenth, it’s full…’”
"There are such folk rhymes?" Thinking about it carefully, it seems so... Yunji was amazed by Huairou's little poem. He had never learned this when he was a child. "So, the full moon on earth is not only during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it happens every year, every month... How wonderful, it seems that there is even more completeness in the human world."
"That's not all," Huairou continued, "Let me tell you a secret: the moon has always been round, regardless of the angle from which it is viewed. Insignificant people have always labeled it with all sorts of descriptions because they cannot see its whole picture. Just like how others evaluate us, they have never truly understood us, yet they are keen to impose all sorts of criticisms on us. Your Highness is just like the moon; you must believe in your own completeness."
Under the moonlight, Yunji's profile appeared exceptionally gentle, bathed in its glow, his eyes filled with a tranquility she had never seen before. Huairou said softly, "If Your Highness likes it, we can celebrate like this every full moon from now on." Yunji turned to look at her, his eyes reflecting the moonlight as he gently replied, "Okay."
However, peaceful days are always short-lived. Seeing that Yunji spent his days with a female page and often chatted with low-ranking nobles in the palace, his three elder brothers looked down on him even more. That year, the emperor avoided discussing the matter of choosing an heir, and undercurrents surged within the court.
When news arrived that Lu Binghui had passed the palace examination and was to take up a position in the Secretariat, Huairou was helping Yunji organize his manuscripts.
"Young Master Lu has indeed lived up to expectations." Yunji put down the letter in his hand, his tone calm.
Huairou nodded, but her heart was filled with mixed feelings. The protectiveness that stemmed from maternal love was a secret that Huairou could not speak of, and Yunji was somewhat concerned about her relationship with Lu Binghui.
That night, the two leaned against the jade railing of Qingtian Pavilion, gazing at the stars. The night breeze was slightly cool, and Huairou wrapped her cloak tighter around herself.
"Yunji, have you ever seen the grasslands and the sea?" she suddenly asked. Yunji whispered, "Thanks to the Emperor's protection, all I see when I look up is this small patch of starry sky. Accompanying my father on a hunt is the farthest place I've ever been..."
His voice carried a hint of melancholy, and Huairou couldn't help but glance at him. In the moonlight, his features were handsome and refined, yet they carried a sense of vicissitude that belied his age.
"The sea is in the south, a land of barbarians according to legend. The grasslands are in the north, a land of the Xiongnu according to legend." He continued, gazing into the distance. "Yunji's heart is not confined to these green tiles and red walls. However, royal children are like ospreys in a gilded cage. Wherever Father says to fly, we fly there."
Huairou never imagined that this luxurious and refined life was achieved at the cost of the freedom that ordinary people took for granted. She asked softly, "Yunji, if His Majesty were to grant you a fiefdom, where would you like to go?"
“I want to go to the North,” Yunji said without hesitation. “The border of a country is where one can break free from its confines. I am skilled in riding and archery, and I always dream of one day galloping freely across the land, soaring like an eagle.”
"Going to the Northern Border, like an eagle?" Huairou couldn't help but laugh. Moli, born and raised in the north, knew the ruggedness of its environment. "Your Highness's physique is like a white egret; the Northern Border isn't a place for egrets."
She described in detail the harsh conditions of the northern border, and then jokingly added, "Of course, there's a good solution—have your young prince marry the bride of a tribal chief. The Xiongnu princess, out of respect for her husband, won't allow her father to harass the Central Plains anymore." Yunji was amused, but his smile quickly faded. "A bride…can a bride replace the 'old bride'?" he silently asked himself, gazing at Huairou, his eyes swirling with emotion. Since losing his mother, no one had been able to enter his heart. Huairou was like the light he encountered while walking alone in the dark, drawing him unconsciously closer.
But... she is also the daughter of a high-ranking official, with an extraordinary status and military power behind her, making her a figure of fear for the court. What role could he possibly play in her life to stay with her for a long time?
Huairou felt uneasy under his gaze and lowered her head. Over this period, she had naturally noticed Yunji's dejection and understood his worries. But she hadn't forgotten that she was Moli, and she remembered her brother's entrustment. During this time, she carefully maintained her distance from Yunji.
This child is bright and gentle, kind and intelligent, skilled in both literature and martial arts, yet he is always alone. It's time to find a good girl for Yunji, Huairou thought. But if this girl isn't herself, then who could it be?
She quickly turned around, her back to Yunji, and said, "Let's go, I'll teach you to identify the stars next time... Actually, I also know what it looks like on the other side of the sea." The night breeze ruffled her hair, carrying a faint scent of osmanthus. Yunji stared at her retreating figure, his gaze lingering for a long time.
At this moment, the moonlight is like water, and the heart's thoughts surge like a tide. Two young people meet in the torrent of fate, yet they know not where the road ahead leads. Only the crabapple blossoms in the courtyard bloom quietly in the night.
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