Chapter 174: Night Visit to Shufangzhai, Secret Plan Begins to Reveal
Dusk, like a piece of velvet soaked in ink, silently spread across the Forbidden City. Warm yellow candlelight shone through the window lattices of Shufangzhai, casting the shadow of the crabapple tree on the blue brick floor, swaying gently in the breeze.
"Little table, take this plate of osmanthus cake to the inner room. Sister Ziwei said she wants to read by the moonlight." Little Swallow sat cross-legged on a bamboo chair in the porch, tying a new tassel to a long sword. As the turquoise tassel twirled around her fingertips, she suddenly cried out, and the ball of thread rolled to the ground, bumping into Yongqi's boots.
Yongqi bent down to pick up the ball of thread, his fingertips accidentally brushing against the back of her hand. They both drew back their hands as if burned. He handed it to her, his ears slightly red. "You're so clumsy, let me do it." He sat down beside her, carefully tying the tassel with his sword. The candlelight fell on his serious profile, his eyelashes casting a faint shadow.
Xiaoyanzi held her chin and looked at him, suddenly laughing: "Fifth Prince, you look more serious when tying the sword tassel than when writing an imperial edict." Yongqi raised his eyes and glared at her, but his eyes were full of smiles: "This is the ice silk thread that your brother Xiao Jian specially found. If I don't tie it well, he will definitely come after me."
Ziwei's gentle laughter rang out from the inner room. "Little Swallow is teasing Yongqi again?" She emerged, teacup in hand. Her moon-white skirt swept across the threshold, and the pearl-like hairpins in her hair swayed gently. "I just received some new tea from Concubine Ling. She said it's Rain-Predawn Longjing. Would you like to try it?"
Erkang followed her, a collection of poems in his hand, his eyes following Ziwei's figure. Seeing that she was about to pass the tea to Xiaoyanzi, he immediately stepped forward and took the teacup: "Let me do it, be careful not to burn yourself." His fingertips touched Ziwei's hand, and they smiled at each other, gentle as the moonlight outside the window.
"Tsk tsk tsk," Xiaoyanzi deliberately covered her eyes, "My Shufangzhai is almost becoming the 'En'ai Pavilion', but the beggar's chicken in the guest house is still more interesting!" She patted her belly as she spoke, making everyone laugh.
Xiaodengzi ran in from outside holding a food box, his cloak still stained with night dew: "Princess! Miss Liu Hong asked me to bring you some braised beef. She said it's freshly braised and is still hot!" Just as he was about to lift the lid, he was grabbed by Xiaowenzi.
"Damn! You reckless idiot! First, check if there's a 'super-ear' around!" Little Mosquito tiptoed around, his round face full of vigilance. "This afternoon I saw Madam Li peeking around the corner. She might be up to something bad!"
The smile on Xiaoyanzi's face faded a little. She took the food box and put it on the table, but did not open it immediately: "Xiaoyanzi is right. There has been unrest in the palace recently. Everyone should be careful." She remembered that when she returned to the palace in the afternoon, a wild cat on the palace wall suddenly jumped out and almost knocked over the snacks in her hand - now that she thought about it, the wild cat's eyes looked as if it was frightened.
Ziwei gently held her hand, her fingertips feeling slightly cold. "This afternoon, I checked the longevity screen I embroidered for the Empress Dowager and found a few extra stitches of black thread in the lower right corner. It looks like a bat, but one of its wings is missing." She lowered her voice, "The elders in the palace said that embroidery like this is unlucky."
Erkang frowned and said, "Someone must have done something secretly. I'll go check it out right away!" As he was about to get up, he was held down by Xiaoyanzi.
"Don't be impatient," Xiaoyanzi's eyes rolled, and she suddenly revealed a sly smile. "Let's keep quiet for now and see who's behind this. Little Stool, where did you get to last time about Sun Wukong's three fights against the White Bone Demon?"
Xiao Dengzi perked up immediately and slapped his thigh. "The story goes that the White Bone Demon transformed into a village girl delivering vegetarian food, only to be chased away by the Monkey King with a club!" He cleared his throat and imitated the storyteller's tone. "The Monkey King glared with his fiery eyes and shouted, 'Monster! How dare you cause trouble here!'"
"Well said!" Xiaoyanzi clapped her hands and suddenly lowered her voice. "Let's pretend to be Sun Wukong and see which 'monster' dares to cause trouble." She winked at Yongqi, who immediately understood and pulled out a small copper whistle from his bosom. "This is the whistle my mother left behind. If you need anything, blow it three times and I'll come."
As he was speaking, Little Bug came running in, clutching a lantern with a grinning monkey painted on it. "Princess! Look at my drawing of Sun Wukong!" He spun around holding the lantern, the candlelight filtering through the thin paper, casting the monkey's shadow on the wall, making it look vivid and lifelike.
Little Mosquito came over to watch the fun and suddenly pointed at the shadow in the corner of the wall: "Wow, boom! What's moving?" Everyone immediately quieted down. They saw a black shadow flash past from behind the crabapple tree and quickly disappeared into the night.
Yongqi immediately stood up and drew his sword, the blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight. "I'll go take a look!" Xiaoyanzi grabbed him and said, "Don't chase us. Let's pretend we didn't see anything." She turned to the small table and said, "Go and close the gate and tell them that the princesses are going to rest."
The small table was gone, and the sound of the door closing was particularly clear in the silent night. Xiaoyanzi walked to Ziwei and whispered, "Sister, put away your birthday screen first. Tomorrow I will ask Mingyue to change a new piece of satin, and we will embroider it again." Ziwei nodded, "I'll do as you say."
Erkang clenched his fists and said, "If we find out who did it, we will not let him off!" Yongqi also said in a deep voice, "No matter who it is, if they dare to make a move on you, they are my enemy."
Xiaoyanzi suddenly smiled, picked up the braised beef on the table and stuffed it into her mouth. "Don't worry, we have Sun Wukong to protect us. We are not afraid of any monsters or demons!" She winked at the little stool and said, "Little stool, continue telling the story of Sun Wukong. I want to hear how he dealt with the White Bone Demon!"
Xiaodengzi cleared his throat and resumed his recitation of "Journey to the West," his voice drifting far into the night. Moonlight filtered through the branches of the crabapple tree, casting a veil of silver on the blue brick floor of Shufangzhai. No one noticed, but in the shadows of a corner, a pair of eyes stared intently at the candlelight within the room. Only at the sound of the patrolling guards' footsteps in the distance did they quietly retreat.
In the inner room, under the candlelight, Ziwei bent over embroidering a handkerchief. Erkang sat beside her, grinding ink, occasionally saying something that made her smile. In the corridor, Xiaoyanzi leaned back on a bamboo chair, watching the tassels on the sword Yongqi had tied for her. The turquoise tassels swayed gently in the night breeze. Suddenly, she felt that the night in the Forbidden City wasn't so terrifying after all.
"It's getting late. I should go back to Jingyang Palace." Yongqi stood up and his gaze lingered on Xiaoyanzi's face for a moment. "Remember, blow the whistle if anything happens." Xiaoyanzi waved her hand. "I know, you nagging ghost!" She watched his back disappear in the moonlight before she withdrew her gaze, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
Ziwei walked up to her and whispered, "Xiaoyanzi, you are so mean to Yongqi..." Before she could finish her words, Xiaoyanzi covered her mouth: "Shh! Don't say it!" Her face flushed, and she turned and ran into the inner room, leaving behind a string of crisp laughter.
As the night deepened, the candlelight in Shufangzhai gradually dimmed. Only the crabapple tree beneath the porch stood quietly in the moonlight, like a silent guardian, witnessing the warmth and undercurrents within the palace. In a corner of Jingren Palace, Nanny Li whispered a report to Concubine Gao. The candlelight reflected their gloomy faces, like two dancing will-o'-the-wisp flames.
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