Chapter 5

She looked at me quietly. “I know you and Hui’er have shared an unusual bond over these years, but times have changed. You must be careful in your words and actions.”

“If you behave and obey, there will naturally be a place for you at Hui’er’s side in the future.”

Those eyes had seen through everything long ago.

I obediently kowtowed.

I had already devoted myself to teaching Zhou Hui everything I could.

From now on, Noble Consort Shu—with the Duke of An’s residence as her support and her elder brother as the new Minister of Revenue—would be Zhou Hui’s strongest backing.

13

Jingren Palace had enough palace servants, so Zhou Hui no longer needed me to look after his daily life. Seeing that I could read and write, Consort Shu kept me nearby to handle miscellaneous tasks.

I could only see Zhou Hui when he came to pay his respects to Consort Shu.

Now he wore fine brocade robes. The Duke of An had even invited eminent scholars to the palace to teach him, and the Emperor often summoned him to ask about his studies.

In just half a year, Zhou Hui had gone from being neglected in the Cold Palace to gradually forming a three-way balance of power with the First and Second Princes.

Once, we happened to meet beneath a covered walkway. He asked quietly, “Elder Sister, have you been well lately?”

I wanted to say, No.

My status was awkward. The other palace maids knew I held a special position. They treated me with respect on the surface, but none was truly close to me.

Jingren Palace was so vast that I could only exchange a few words with Jiuqu now and then.

I was lonely.

Even lonelier than I had been in the Cold Palace.

Naturally, I couldn’t say any of that. I looked at Zhou Hui’s increasingly mature face and smiled softly. “Your Highness, please don’t worry. Mingyue is doing very well.”

The fifteenth day of the eighth month was my twenty-first birthday.

The bright moon hung high in the sky—the source of my name. But I wondered how far that small light could reach now.

I went to the little kitchen and made myself a bowl of longevity noodles, eating each bite slowly.

The door suddenly creaked open.

To my surprise, it was Zhou Hui!

“Elder Sister, I searched the whole palace before I found you.”

Seeing Zhou Hui’s cheerful face, I immediately grew flustered. “Why did Your Highness come here? If Noble Consort Shu asks…”

“Elder Sister!”

Zhou Hui cut me off and held out a small box. “Happy birthday.”

Inside lay a white-jade hairpin.

Unlike ordinary hairpins, it had no carved design on its tip—just a small, smooth, rounded shape.

It took me a long time to realize it was not a sphere, but a moon.

Zhou Hui looked like a child waiting for praise. “Elder Sister, I polished it for ages. My hands even hurt.”

I wanted to say something, but before I could open my mouth, my throat tightened.

Zhou Hui slowly leaned closer, his forehead almost touching mine, and whispered, “Elder Sister, I often dream about you…”

My mind went blank.

Suddenly, a young eunuch called anxiously from outside, “Your Highness, are you finished?”

Zhou Hui irritably stepped outside. At the doorway, he glanced back, his expression serious. “Elder Sister, you have to wait for me.”

I clasped the hairpin tightly and stood beneath the moonlight for a long time.

It had nothing to do with the prophecy or fate. In that moment, I knew for certain that my heart had begun to stir.

14

Three years passed, peach blossoms bloomed and withered. Zhou Hui had become a graceful young man, tall and elegant as jade.

After summer began, the Emperor fell gravely ill. The contest over the Crown Prince’s position, whose outcome had long been unclear, was suddenly brought into the open.

That night, the palace held a grand banquet. I was tending a kettle of sobering tea by the stove when Sanhu, a senior palace maid, came in and grabbed my hand.

She looked anxious. “Something’s happened. Hurry.”

She pulled me quickly to the consort’s bedchamber. The moment I entered, I saw Imperial Physician Wu, Noble Consort Shu standing beside the bed with a grim expression, and Zhou Hui lying there with his eyes closed.

Almost instinctively, I rushed over, checked his breathing, and took his pulse.

Thank goodness—it was a drug, not poison.

At the banquet, someone had slipped an aphrodisiac into Zhou Hui’s wine, then lured him toward the rear palace.

If Noble Consort Shu hadn’t been vigilant, Zhou Hui might already have been found in some concubine’s side hall with his clothes disheveled.

Imperial Physician Wu lowered his voice. “Your Highness, this official used acupuncture to suppress the drug’s effects. It is very potent. If His Highness waits for it to wear off on its own, it may harm his health. The best course is to relieve the effects promptly.”

Noble Consort Shu spoke at once. “Everyone except Mingyue, leave.”

The bedchamber emptied in an instant.

Noble Consort Shu looked at me. “Do you understand what Imperial Physician Wu said?”

“I called you here because this is Hui’er’s first experience of intimacy between a man and a woman. I don’t want him to wake up disappointed.”

“Sooner or later, you will belong to Hui’er. But do not let that give you delusions. Do you understand?”

Noble Consort Shu’s tone grew stern.

My mind returned to Zhongcui Palace all those years ago, to the moment when Jiuqu had been dragged away by the drugged Emperor.

I looked at Zhou Hui on the bed. As the acupuncture began to wear off, he frowned in discomfort, murmuring unintelligible words.

In this imperial palace, most women were little more than tools.

But if it was Zhou Hui, I was willing.

15

That night was a blur, like a dream.

Under the drug’s influence, the young man kept drawing me into his arms, again and again.

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