Chapter 2: An Old Acquaintance from the East (I)

In the fourth year of Jinghe, during the year of the rabbit, spring was in full bloom.

The emperor’s personal eunuch, Liu Xi, approached the Qionghua Palace where the empress resided. Before entering, he noticed numerous women’s dresses hanging out to dry in the garden.

—These were not ceremonial robes for the consorts.

The empress hailed from a renowned family of prime ministers and was an exceedingly virtuous person, both in public and private. Since her coronation, she had been diligent in assisting with state affairs and strictly adhered to propriety. Even the stern scholars of the Censorate praised her highly.

Logically speaking, the empress was well-versed in palace etiquette and knew precisely what rituals to observe and what attire to wear on different occasions. The palace staff had never seen these young maidens’ dresses on the empress.

Thus, the current scene became even more perplexing. Liu Xi felt astonished as he followed the attendants through the garden, unable to resist peeking up.

It was springtime now, and the garden was filled with weeping willows and crabapple trees, their buds half-open and half-closed. The sky was blue like clear glass, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the trees, casting shadows on the ground that swayed gently with the breeze, creating a soft rustling sound.

Each dress seemed to be the spirit of the flowering trees, fluttering gently in the breeze, ethereal and dreamlike.

Indigo thin muslin skirts, red moonlight dance skirts, and pale purple gauze skirts... all were the favorite styles of Kyoto girls back then.

These dresses were meticulously preserved, looking as new as ever.

Liu Xi ultimately couldn’t hold back and whispered to Yanluo, the empress’s close attendant: “Her Majesty is...”

Yanluo glanced back and softly replied: “Yesterday morning, Her Majesty had several large chests brought out, which contained these dresses from before she entered the palace. She washed them, perfumed them, and hung them out to dry... Perhaps Her Majesty has some spare time and is reminiscing about her youth.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than Liu Xi caught sight of the empress dressed in her golden-scaled purple brocade court robe inside the main hall. He thought to himself that surely he had overthought things; such a disciplined person as the empress would not wear these dresses to formal banquets even if she found them.

He patted his sleeves and, before entering, performed a grand bow: “Your servant pays respects to Your Majesty.”

Luo Wei was extending her arms, allowing the attendants to perfume her sleeves. As the incense smoke rose, she closed her eyes lazily and said without opening them: “Lord Liu, no need for formalities.”

Liu Xi stood up, bowed slightly, and smiled: “Your Majesty, His Majesty has returned from his spring inspection, and the banquet will soon begin. Worried that Your Majesty might be concerned, His Majesty specially sent me to escort you.”

Last year, there were several victorious battles in the north. After the New Year celebrations, the young Emperor Zhao embarked on a spring tour in the north. This was his first imperial tour since ascending the throne, aimed at encouraging the triumphant soldiers and courting the northern nobility to pave the way for his personal reign.

With the emperor gone for over three months, this spring having an intercalary second month, shortly after his return, it happened to be the second Dragon Raises Head Festival. Luo Wei moved the spring banquet, originally scheduled for later, to this day. It was a banquet for everyone to wash away the dust of travel.

The spring banquet was traditionally held on the Dianhong Terrace in the southwest corner of the Forbidden City. Liu Xi, being one of the emperor’s closest attendants, was sent to fetch her, symbolizing the deep affection between the emperor and empress.

Luo Wei rode in a palanquin towards the Dianhong Terrace, the golden crown pressing painfully on her neck.

However, she had grown indifferent to such pain. Sitting upright on the palanquin, she listened to the clinking of jewels around her.

All was silent until they passed through a wooded path when Luo Wei suddenly heard Liu Xi’s low reprimand ahead: “...My lord is being presumptuous. Please apologize to Her Majesty.”

Luo Wei frowned slightly and, before she could look up, heard a lazy male voice. There was little respect in his tone, even some nonchalance.

“Your humble servant pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress. Please forgive my disrespect.”

It was common for unfamiliar officials to accidentally encounter her palanquin within the complex palace grounds.

However, upon hearing this sentence, Luo Wei inexplicably felt a strange sense of absurdity.

Completely unfamiliar, his tone and voice were. Clear, relaxed, why did this absurd feeling arise?

She was momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend, so she looked up to see.

The carriers moved steadily forward, not yet passing by the official who had just apologized. By the roadside, there was also a group of serving maids kneeling respectfully, not daring to lift their heads.

Seeing her look, Liu Xi quickly approached to explain: “Your Majesty, it’s an official unfamiliar with the palace paths who has mistakenly arrived.”

Luo Wei asked: “Who is it?”

Liu Xi shook his head and simply replied: “This servant does not know either.”

But his meaningful expression suggested otherwise.

He refused to speak, and Luo Wei, too lazy to blame him, simply gestured for him to step back.

Liu Xi respectfully lowered his hands and moved to the front, clearing her view for observation.

Luo Wei turned her gaze to the young official kneeling straight by the roadside. Before she could get a good look, he seemed to sense her attention and slowly raised his eyes, then fearlessly looked directly at her.

A “How dare you” stuck in her throat, unspoken.

—A face as unfamiliar as his voice.

The emperor’s close ministers, trusted subjects, various high-ranking officials, even the scholars newly promoted last spring, she knew them all. Yet this man was entirely unknown.

But his face was strikingly handsome: eyebrows like distant mountains, misty with emotion, pupils like lacquer dots, depth unknown, captivating attention.

The young official wore a dark green official robe commonly seen on lower-ranking ministers, without a hat but adorned with a jade lotus flower pin. His hair was slightly disheveled, fluttering in the spring breeze.

Dusty and weary, fresh from a journey.

Luo Wei locked eyes with him, involuntarily shaken, while he showed no knowledge of respect or etiquette, standing tall amidst the kneeling servants, his gaze amused and entirely fearless.

After a moment of eye contact, he nodded slightly, intentionally or unintentionally blinking.

On either side of the road grew two rows of crabapple trees different from those in her palace. Due to adjacent palace buildings blocking the view, these roadside crabapples were half bathed in sunlight, half hidden in shadow.

On Luo Wei’s side, the flowers were in full bloom, the sunlight intense. A gust of wind blew, stirring willow catkins and falling petals before her.

The young official knelt on the shaded side opposite her. The crabapple trees behind him, rarely exposed to light, mostly remained in buds — even their colors were much deeper than on her side.

This scene seemed familiar somehow. Luo Wei’s lips trembled as she struggled to understand why it felt so familiar. Before she could scold him, her palanquin passed by.

He remained kneeling in place, not turning back.

Seated on the palanquin, Luo Wei forced herself to calm down. Unconsciously clutching her handkerchief, she pressed it against her chest, feeling a dull ache rise within her.

After a long while, she couldn’t help but mock herself.

—Probably just a transference illusion caused by excessive longing.

Just don’t know who he is, to be so bold.

But since he was someone attending the feast, she should soon learn his identity during the banquet introductions.

Luo Wei slowly released her handkerchief, coughed lightly. Yanluo, following beside her, turned around and asked softly: “Does Your Majesty have any instructions?”

Luo Wei gave her a meaningful look and said: “The weather seems to be turning bad. Go back and instruct the servants to collect the dresses in the garden.”

Liu Xi glanced up. Though the sky was clear, clouds were faintly gathering on the horizon, so he suspected nothing.

Yanluo respectfully acknowledged and exchanged a glance with the empress before hurrying away.

•

After the empress’s palanquin passed, the young official kneeling on the ground suddenly lost his smile.

The group of kneeling servants stood up. Seeing him supporting himself with one hand on the ground, he coughed heavily twice, his slender fingers gripping his robe tightly, veins protruding.

Petals drifted down from the opposite side, landing on his lapel. The young man stared at the petals for a long time before reaching out to brush them away and slowly rising to his feet.

As he staggered, a bold servant stepped forward to support him, but the young man waved them off. He adjusted his wide sleeves and walked back in the opposite direction of the empress’s procession, leaving a polite “Thank you” for everyone.

The servant who approached blushed deeply and used this as gossip material for a long time, saying that there was an extremely handsome and romantic young official in front of Dianhong Terrace. His appearance surpassed even the roadside spring flowers, but alas, no one knew his name or rank. He appeared briefly in the palace gossip, vanishing like a spring night phantom.