Chapter 147: Morning Frost Startles the Leaves, Secret Whispers and Plots
It was still dark, the morning mist still lingering in Shufangzhai, when Little Swallow stood on tiptoe beneath the crabapple tree. She wore a moon-white nightgown, a dark-black cape draped over it. Her fingertips brushed against the withered, yellow leaves on the branches, her brow furrowed in a knot. The tips of the leaves were strangely charred, their yellow tips tinged with a strange black, and they felt dry, hard, and brittle to the touch, a stark contrast to the vibrant image of the day before.
"What's wrong? Why are you up so early?" Yongqi walked into the yard carrying a lunch box. Seeing her staring at the crabapple tree, he quickly stepped forward and tightened his cloak around her shoulders. "There's a lot of dew here. Be careful not to catch a cold." He followed her gaze and was also stunned. "What's wrong with this tree? It was fine yesterday."
Xiaoyanzi plucked a dead leaf and pinched it in her hand. With a gentle twist, it crumbled into powder. She lowered her voice, "Something's wrong. Look at this leaf. The edges are oddly burnt, like... something burned it." She squatted down and dug up the dirt at the roots of the tree. Mixed in the dirt was some fine gray-black powder. "What is this?"
Ziwei came out wearing a lilac cape, holding a cup of hot tea. Seeing this, she squatted down to take a closer look. "This powder smells a bit pungent, like something like sulfur." She touched a little powder to her fingertips and twisted it. "I saw Xiaozhuzi watering the flowers last evening, but I didn't notice anything unusual then."
"Xiao Zhuzi?" Xiaoyanzi raised an eyebrow. "Is that the little eunuch who always likes to hang around outside the warm room?" She stuffed the dead leaves into Yongqi's hand. "Smell it, is there a strange smell? I always feel like something is wrong lately. There's a chip on the hairpin, and the leaves are like this. It seems like someone is deliberately playing tricks on me."
Yongqi held a dry leaf close to his nose and, as expected, smelled a faint pungent odor. His face darkened, "I'll have someone investigate Xiao Zhuzi's background. Don't make a sound, just pretend you didn't find anything, lest you alert the enemy." He looked at Xiao Yanzi's tightly pursed lips and added, "The enthronement ceremony and ancestor worship will be the day after tomorrow. I'll be staying with you for the next few days."
Ziwei gently held Xiaoyanzi's hand, her fingertips feeling slightly cold. "Let's just be careful. The Emperor said he would protect us, and everything will be fine." She looked up at the warm room in the morning light. The busy figures of Mingyue and Caixia were reflected on the window paper. She said softly, "Let's go back to the house first, so that others don't notice anything unusual."
The charcoal fire in the warm room was burning brightly. A small stool was standing in the corner of the room, telling a story with gestures. A little mosquito joined in: "Wow! Yesterday I saw the chef from the imperial kitchen making osmanthus cake. The icing sugar was so sweet that it made your teeth fall out!" The little bug squatted on the ground and imitated the chirping of crickets, which made Jinsuo, who had just come in, burst out laughing.
"It's so lively so early in the morning." Little Swallow came in, deliberately throwing her cloak over her shoulders and pretending to be calm. "Little Stool, where were we yesterday? Isn't it time for Sun Wukong's third fight against the White Bone Demon?"
Xiaodeng's eyes lit up, and he immediately assumed a storytelling stance, waving his hand. "Exactly! The White Bone Demon transformed into an old woman, trembling as she walked towards us with a cane. Sun Wukong took a look with his fiery eyes—" he suddenly lowered his voice, "and saw a sharp knife hidden under the cane, gleaming with a cold light!"
Ziwei paused holding the tea bowl and looked up at Xiaoyanzi. Their eyes met, and they both saw understanding in each other's eyes. Xiaoyanzi picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and stuffed it into her mouth, mumbling, "This goblin is so cunning, always hiding things!"
Erkang walked in, holding a copy of the Book of Rites. Seeing Ziwei staring at the stool, he whispered, "I've revised the prayer for the ancestor worship. Take a look and see if it's appropriate." He placed the scroll on the table, his eyes flickering between Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi. "Why do you both look so pale?"
"It's okay," Ziwei quickly opened the book and ran her fingertips over the four words "慎终追远", "Maybe it's a little cold when I woke up in the morning." She looked up and smiled at Erkang, but she could not hide the worry in the corner of her eyes.
Erkang was so attentive that he had already noticed the dry leaves in Xiaoyanzi's hand. He calmly pushed the heater towards Ziwei's hand and said in a soft voice, "If you catch a cold, ask the kitchen to make some ginger soup. The wind will be strong on the day of the ancestor worship, so be careful not to get sick."
Inside the side hall of Jingren Palace, the chill was heavier than the morning frost outside. Noble Concubine Gao, dressed in a stone-blue palace dress, was examining the ceremony schedule laid out by Nanny Li. She placed a fingertip on the words "Noble Concubine Pins Flowers" and said, "Have you memorized the exact time? While I'm pinning flowers on Princess Mingzhu, you'll be on hand to serve and act accordingly."
Nanny Li bowed in response, holding a gilded tray on which sat a filigree, jewel-inlaid phoenix hairpin. The ruby on the head was larger than a pigeon egg, gleaming coldly in the dim light. "Don't worry, Madam. I've adjusted the mechanism. If you apply even a little pressure, the needle will pierce her scalp, guaranteeing blood." She lowered her voice, "Then you can say that the princess is unlucky and can't bear the blessing of this phoenix hairpin."
"Not only will she see blood," Noble Concubine Gao sneered. She held up the hairpin and examined it closely against the morning light. The tip, hidden within the jeweled base, was so fine it was almost invisible. "And we'll make her lose her composure in front of all the civil and military officials. How can a princess who can't even hold a flower in her hair deserve the title 'Pearl'?" She put the hairpin down. "What about Princess Huanzhu's Shu brocade dress? Have you tried it on?"
"I've tried it," Li Ma's eyes wrinkled with laughter. "Yesterday, I had the maid who delivered the clothes watch me. Princess Huanzhu put it on and turned around twice before the silver threads on the cuffs caught on her bracelets. It didn't cut her skin right away, but if she wears it a few more times, it's guaranteed to leave red marks. She'll have to kneel and bow during the ceremony, and the silver threads rubbing against her skin will probably hurt her so much that she won't be able to stand steadily."
Concubine Gao walked to the window, looking at the morning light filtering through the palace walls. Her voice was as cold as ice. "It would be better if one of them bleeds and the other loses their composure. That way there's more fun." She turned to Nanny Li and said, "Go tell Xiao Zhuzi to do the crabapple tree thing cleanly and leave no evidence."
At the corner gate of the Imperial Garden, Xiao Jian was handing a palm-sized brocade pouch to Qing'er. It was made of dark brocade, embroidered with intricate protective spells and stitched with silver thread at the corners. He wore a navy blue suit today, and the tassel of the dagger at his waist, embroidered with an orchid pattern by Qing'er, swayed gently in the morning light.
"This is a protective amulet my mother left behind," Xiao Jian's voice was lighter than the morning mist, his gaze fixed on the tip of Qing'er's nose, reddened by the cold. "It contains calming spices and talismans to ward off evil. Keep it with you." He paused, then added, "The palace has been unsettled lately, so be extra vigilant."
Qing'er took the brocade bag and clutched it in her palm. The warmth of the brocade reached her fingertips. She lowered her head and whispered softly, "You have to be careful too. The Empress Dowager told me yesterday that people from Jingren Palace have been wandering around the Imperial Garden lately, as if they're looking for something." She secretly looked up and saw Xiao Jian looking at her. Her cheeks flushed again. "There will be a lot of people on the day of the ancestor worship. You...you should protect Princess Huanzhu and don't hurt yourself."
"I know." Xiao Jian looked at her wind-blown hair and wanted to raise his hand to smooth it out, but he held back. "I will protect my sister, and I will also..." Before he could finish his words, he heard the eunuch's greeting in the distance. He hurriedly said, "I should go to Shufangzhai. You should go back to Cining Palace."
Qing'er nodded, tucked the brocade pouch tightly into her sleeve, and watched Xiao Jian's back disappear into the depths of the flowers and trees before turning and walking back to the Cining Palace. The brocade pouch in her sleeve pressed against her heart, warm as if holding a small flame, even dispelling some of the chill of the morning frost.
In the warm room of Shufangzhai, the atmosphere had long since returned to its lively state. Xiaoyanzi was pestering Yongqi to teach her horseback riding, saying she wanted to go to the hunting grounds to relax after the ancestral worship. Ziwei and Erkang were checking the list of offerings for the ancestral worship, occasionally looking up and smiling at each other. In the corner, Xiaodengzi and Xiaowenzi were acting out the Monkey King's battle with the demons, making Mingyue Caixia laugh.
Little Swallow suddenly stopped, looked out the window at the rising sun, and said to everyone, "The grand ceremony is the day after tomorrow, so let's all cheer up! No matter who tries to trip us up, we sisters will definitely be able to handle it together!" She raised the sword tassel in her hand, "I, Little Swallow, am not someone to be bullied!"
Yongqi smiled and held her wrist, his fingertips touching the warm jade on her wrist: "Yes, let's deal with it together."
Ziwei also put down the list, looked at the light in Xiaoyanzi's eyes, and said softly: "Yes, together."
Laughter rose again in the warm room, startling the sparrows under the eaves. No one noticed as the crabapple tree in the corner shed its last withered leaves in the morning light, revealing its bare branches, like a hand reaching toward the sky. And the phoenix hairpin from Jingren Palace had been carefully placed in a brocade box by Matron Li, waiting only for the day of the grand ceremony to pierce the cozy warmth of the warm room.
The wind blew in through the cracks in the palace walls, carrying a winter chill, sweeping across the stone pavement, wielding a few dead leaves, and burying the plotting in the side halls and the laughter in the warm rooms in the seemingly peaceful morning light. The enthronement ceremony drew closer, and a silent contest had quietly begun deep within the red walls.
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