Chapter 74

The six short words made no sense and sounded like nonsense.

Because of this, Xiao Mi was certain that no one would ever repeat these words.

He had even witnessed firsthand how his fiancée came up with such a statement.

Eight years ago, Xiao Mi was still the young heir of the prominent Dingyuan Duke family, and his actions were always reckless.

He was still too young for an engagement, yet he constantly shouted that he wanted to marry the daughter of the Minister of Revenue, Yiling, who lived next door.
His father scolded him for being negligent, and his mother said he was too young and obsessed with women but refused to go propose.
He didn’t care, as he had already decided that she would be his wife. Without even an official engagement, he privately referred to her as his “fiancee,” making the young girl blush with embarrassment.
Later, relying on his father’s increasing fame in the capital, Xiao Mi grew bolder in his actions.
One spring, he secretly climbed into Yi’s residence’s backyard, casually plucking a few peonies in full bloom. He stood under the young girl’s bedroom window, calling her by her nickname.

“Ning Ning!”

“You, what are you doing here?”

Yiling covered her mouth, not daring to speak too loudly, rushing to shoo him away.

But he refused to leave and instead climbed in, acting as if he were at his own home. He casually took a branch of wax plums from her vase and replaced it with the peonies he had picked. “Do they look good?”

Before she could answer, the footsteps of Mrs. Yi could be heard outside the door.

Yiling panicked, not knowing what to do, and unexpectedly pushed him toward the bed, urging him to hide under it.

When Mrs. Yi entered, she didn’t notice his presence.

However, one of Yiling’s maids noticed the man hidden in the room and panicked, spilling the tea while serving Mrs. Yi.

Mrs. Yi was about to scold her, but Yiling immediately said, “Spilling the tea is good luck; it doesn’t matter!”

Spilling teacups wasn’t a big deal, but Mrs. Yi couldn’t stand the clumsiness of the servants.

Since her daughter had said so and her mood was good that day, she didn’t fuss. She simply tapped her daughter’s forehead and remarked that she couldn’t remember much poetry and was always concerned with trivial matters.

Before long, Mrs. Yi left.

Xiao Mi crawled out from under the bed and asked knowingly, “Spilling the tea is good luck? I’ve never heard of this. Where did you learn it?”

Yiling shot him a glare and said, “Of course you’ve never heard of it. I just made it up! Otherwise, mother would have scolded Xiao Chu severely.”

Xiao Mi thought his future wife was truly kind and adorable. He was so amused that he lay down on the bed casually.

Yiling was unable to pull him off and grew anxious.

“Get out quickly! If my mother sees you, it’ll be a disaster!”

“I think your mother would rather have me visit you more often.”

“Nonsense! If this gets out, I’ll lose my reputation!”

“Isn’t that perfect?” Xiao Mi acted like a rascal. “If it spreads, I’ll immediately have my parents come to propose.”

After that, Xiao Mi never heard anyone else mention the phrase “Spilling the tea is good luck.”

So, why did Xie Hengzhi’s wife casually say those words?

Xiao Mi held his breath and closed his eyes, listening intently to the sounds coming from the next room.

But the two women didn’t make any suspicious noises, and after an hour or so, they prepared to leave.

Xiao Mi opened his eyes and silently leaped down from the window.

When Yiling and Mallow were coming downstairs, they coincidentally met Xiao Mi coming up from the first floor.

They faced each other, and Mallow was startled by the half-mask on his face and the scar on his neck; her whole body stiffened.

Yiling naturally saw this too.

Not only that, but it seemed like she also exchanged a moment of eye contact with him.

His eerie gaze was even more terrifying than the scar on his neck.

Thus, Yiling unconsciously quickened her pace.

Xiao Mi turned around and only saw her hurried figure leaving.

But in that brief moment of eye contact, despite the face being completely unfamiliar, he felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

After getting into the carriage, Mallow softly whispered in Yiling’s ear, “Madam, that person just now was so scary.”

She turned around to glance back. “His face was truly frightening!”

Yiling quickly turned her head back.

“Why do you care about how he looks? Don’t look back; what does his appearance have to do with you?”

Despite saying this, Yiling still shuddered when she remembered his eyes.

It wasn’t until she returned to the Xie residence and saw the familiar servants greeting her that the feeling finally dissipated.

She walked under the umbrella into the moon gate of Linfeng Yuan, and everything felt the same as before.

The rainy night came particularly early, and the study had already lit up. Dao Yu was quietly standing guard outside.

As she reached the eaves, Yiling glanced toward the study.

Had he been inside the whole day without coming out?

At this moment, Mallow was putting away the umbrella and also eyeing the study, and they seemed to think the same thing.

“The master’s been acting strange these past two days,” she said. “He’s been resting, yet still staying in the study all day, not showing himself.”

She glanced at Yiling and lowered her voice to murmur, “And he hasn’t talked much with you, Madam.”

If even Mallow had noticed, Yiling naturally couldn’t be unaware.

She had also found it a bit strange and uncomfortable these past few days.

But she understood; wasn’t this what she had asked for, “to return to the past”?

So, it was just a matter of her not adjusting yet.

Yiling withdrew her gaze, and as she stepped toward her quarters, she said, “I’d rather he didn’t come bother me.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she looked up and saw the person walking out from her quarters.

Yiling: “…”

Xie Hengzhi lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on her face.

He had clearly overheard her conversation with Mallow, but he didn’t seem to react, and his expression remained calm as usual.

Yet, he said nothing and walked right past Yiling, leaving only a gust of cool wind behind.

This interruption made Yiling almost forget about the man from the teahouse entirely.

It wasn’t until the next day that she saw him again.

At that time, she had gone out on a spring outing by the Lijiang river at the invitation of Shen Shufang.

As the Crown Princess traveled, there were naturally guards surrounding her.

Yiling hadn’t paid much attention, but Mallow, with nothing to do, was scanning the area and noticed a man wearing a mask among the many guards.

She immediately took a closer look and whispered in Yiling’s ear, “Madam! Look, it’s that man from yesterday!”

Yiling followed her gaze and saw him. Sure enough.

“Your Highness,” Yiling asked Shen Shufang, “Who is that masked man?”

“You mean him?”

Shen Shufang glanced at him briefly, knowing what Yiling was curious about. “He’s originally from the border, but something happened, and his face got burned. He’s related to the queen mother, so recently they brought him to the Eastern Palace as a guard. No one dares say anything against it.”

So, he was just an Eastern Palace guard. There was no cause for concern.

Yiling sighed with relief and returned her gaze, continuing to walk along the riverbank with Shen Shufang.

Though it was called a walk, it was more of a distraction.

Yiling could clearly sense that Shen Shufang had something on her mind. When she asked, she only said it was because of the first prince’s curse incident, which still left her shaken.

Yiling wasn’t sure if Shen Shufang knew the truth behind the first prince’s death, so she didn’t press further.

Although the Lijiang river was remote, it wasn’t all that interesting. After walking a few rounds, there was no other entertainment.

Seeing that it was getting late, Shen Shufang didn’t want to return to the Eastern Palace and had someone bring out a tossing pot game.

As long as it wasn’t poetry or writing, Yiling was quite good at other games.

Especially this tossing pot; she had played it since childhood and considered herself quite skilled.

Since Shen Shufang was in a bad mood, Yiling was happy to play and pass the time with her.

As the guards set up the double-ear pot and handed her the arrows, Yiling couldn’t hide her excitement.

Shen Shufang saw her expression and said, “Shall we have a competition?”

Yiling confidently replied, “Your Highness, you go first.”

As they were playing privately, there was no need for the formalities of polite refusals.

Shen Shufang stepped forward, took an arrow, and tossed it. It landed steadily in the pot.

She turned back and raised an eyebrow at Yiling. “First one’s in.”

Another throw, and it landed again.

Four arrows in total, and all of them hit, getting a full pot.

Yiling immediately lost all desire to compete.

How could there be someone so skilled at everything? The Crown Princess deserved to be the one.

Taking a deep breath, Yiling took the arrows from Shen Shufang.

She held them in her hand, walked to a spot half a zhang away from the pot, and raised her hand.

But she didn’t rush to throw. She squinted at the pot for a moment, then lifted her other hand and tapped the arrowhead three times, muttering something under her breath, before drawing the arrow across her lips and gently blowing on it. She then tossed it straight into the pot.

Shen Shufang was already fascinated by Yiling’s strange movements, and when she snapped out of it, she saw the arrow securely lodged in the pot.

“Did you… just cast a spell?” Shen Shufang asked.

Yiling smiled, unsure of how to explain.

It was just a habit, perhaps more of a ritual.

But Shen Shufang only found it amusing. Without waiting for an explanation, she grabbed an arrow and tried mimicking Yiling’s actions. After tapping it three times, she turned and asked, “What did you say just now?”

Yiling: “…Every shot hits the mark; a hundred shots, a hundred hits.”

Shen Shufang followed suit and recited the phrase, lightly blowing on it before turning back to ask, “Is it like this?”

Yiling smiled and nodded.

Then, Shen Shufang threw it out, and sure enough, she landed a “perfect shot.”

She gasped in admiration and turned to share a smile with Yiling.

The two of them continued to compete, exchanging arrows—sometimes hitting, sometimes missing—without caring much about whether the movements actually made a difference.

They were having so much fun that they didn’t notice someone behind them whose expression had drastically changed.

This habit of playing the throwing pot game…

Xiao Mi, dressed in full guard attire, stared at Yiling, his pupils trembling violently.

Xiao Mi, who could shoot a bullseye from a hundred steps at the age of seven, had never bothered to compete in the throwing pot game. He only played along with that woman.

The light three taps and the blowing of the arrowhead were just tricks he used to tease her. She believed that doing so would increase her accuracy, so every time, she followed the whole routine seriously.

This woman…

Just as Yiling was about to shoot the fourth arrow and gently blow on the arrowhead, Xiao Mi had already lost his composure. He couldn’t help but step forward, intending to approach her.

But as soon as he took a step,

Shen Shufang turned around in surprise and exclaimed, “Lord Xie?!”

In an instant, Xiao Mi snapped back to reality.

He quickly turned around to see that Xie Hengzhi was indeed standing not far away, gazing at the woman.

Xiao Mi looked back at Yiling, only to see her suddenly move the hand holding the arrow behind her back.

It was as if she were surprised by Xie Hengzhi’s appearance, or perhaps she had become reserved upon seeing him.

Afterward, Yiling remained silent and still, while Shen Shufang exchanged a few words with Xie Hengzhi.

Soon, Xie Hengzhi bowed to the Princess Consort, and they both turned to leave.

Xiao Mi’s gaze followed them the whole way.

Until the wind picked up, and Xie Hengzhi removed his cloak, draping it over Yiling.

Xiao Mi watched as they walked side by side in the spring twilight, his eyes vacant, lost in thought.