Chapter One: A Fleeting Beauty

Yanjing City was unusually lively that day, more so than Jing Hu had seen in a long while. People lined both sides of the streets, though she had no idea what had happened this time, and soldiers stood nearby to clear the way.

Ever since she had secretly slipped out of the residence the previous month to find someone at a teahouse for a game of dominoes, only to be hauled home by her elder brother, Jing Shen, she had not been allowed outside for an entire month.

A whole month! Her elder brother was far too ruthless.

During that month, she had missed countless spring banquets held by the families of Yanjing. That meant she had also missed countless chances to help her grandmother play cards and win a little pocket money from the other old ladies.

Her mother would not allow her to visit the gambling halls, and every day did nothing but urge her to dress herself up. She possessed countless jewels and curios, yet did not have a single coin to her name.

Without pocket money, how was she to buy and secretly collect the new white-jade dominoes released by the gambling halls? At the thought of this, Jing Hu’s expression grew troubled once more.

At that moment, she was walking alone along Yanjing’s most prosperous street, Vermilion Bird Avenue. Fearing that she might go wandering off, her father, the Prince of Yongning, had specially commissioned a portrait of her at the age of ten and given it to the Five-City Garrison Command. Wherever she appeared, the men of the command would know at once.

Still, she had not sneaked out today.

Her good friend, Princess Zhenning, had finally realized that the reason she had not seen Jing Hu for a month was not because Jing Hu had lost money at dominoes and was in a bad mood, but because she had been confined at home.

Thus, in order to rescue Jing Hu, Princess Zhenning had specially sent an eunuch with an imperial decree, instructing her to wait at the Zhengyang Gate tower that day.

Usually, whenever Princess Zhenning sought her out, it was for a game of dominoes. Even if that had not been the original purpose, Jing Hu always had a way of coaxing her into finding people to play with.

Dominoes, dominoes—the more she thought about them, the more her fingers itched. Today, she absolutely had to win ten hairpins and eight pairs of earrings from Zhenning.

But what did Zhenning want her to do on the Zhengyang Gate tower today? Could one set up a domino stall on the tower?

The Prince of Yongning’s residence stood very close to the imperial palace. With so many people out today, walking was actually faster than riding. Jing Hu soon reached the base of the tower.

The towers of the imperial city were not places just anyone could ascend at will. Even though she was the beloved youngest daughter of the Prince of Yongning, and the reigning sovereign was fond of her liveliness, she could not simply go up whenever she pleased.

Princess Zhenning, however, was thoughtful. She had already sent Eunuch Feng from her palace to wait below the tower.

The instant Eunuch Feng saw her, he smiled and hurried forward as though he had been presented with a living phoenix.

“Oh, Little County Lady, you have finally arrived! Her Highness has nearly grown anxious waiting for you. Come, let this servant escort you up.”

Eunuch Feng was round and plump, rather like the Laughing Buddha Jing Hu had once seen in a temple. Whenever she saw him, she could not resist tugging his ears or finding some other way to tease him.

Today, she simply removed his hat, put it on her own head, and played with it for a while.

Jing Hu disliked the hairstyles favored by ordinary little girls. She preferred to braid her hair into small plaits, weave them all together atop her head, and finish the look with a tiny floral crown. That was why she could wear Eunuch Feng’s hat as well.

After playing with it for a while, she lost interest and tossed it back to him.

“Eunuch, you needn’t accompany me. I can go up by myself.”

With that, she gathered up her skirts and darted up the tower like a streak of smoke.

Everywhere seemed unusually lively today. Even the tower, usually deserted, was filled with the fragrance of silk and perfume, while noble ladies chatted and laughed together.

Near the edge of the tower, directly above Zhengyang Gate, Jing Hu found Princess Zhenning with two other close friends: Xu Qingrou, the Eighth Young Lady of the Duke of Dingguo’s household, and Li Yi, the Seventh Young Lady of the Marquis of Zhongwu’s household.

The four corners were complete!

If they did not play dominoes today, it would surely offend Heaven itself.

Jing Hu walked over cheerfully. Zhenning spotted her at once and said with a smile, “Why have you come so late? I thought you wouldn’t be able to make it today.”

Jing Hu pretended to be offended. “I did not punish you for being late in coming to my rescue, yet you have the nerve to blame me for arriving late?”

Qingrou merely smiled at the two of them and handed Jing Hu one of the two peony blossoms in her hands.

“This spring has been warm, and the earth at Xihe Garden is full of vitality, so the peonies bloomed early. I brought you a Scholar’s Red blossom especially. It suits today’s splendid scene perfectly.”

No young lady could dislike peonies. Jing Hu accepted it with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Zhenning said, “I am not truly blaming you for coming late. I only feared the newly appointed top scholar might not wait for you. His Majesty has granted him a mounted procession through the streets—a spectacle that may not occur once in many years. If you miss it, you may cry over it whenever you remember it later.”

Jing Hu curled her lips. “What is there to see in a mounted procession? Throughout history, the top scholars have all been old men with white hair and wrinkled faces. They have studied for their entire lives until they have turned themselves into fools, and then they are named the top scholar.”

She tried to persuade the expectant Zhenning.

“Studying is the most tedious thing in the world. What pleasure is there in reciting empty scholarly phrases all day? Scholars are dull to the extreme. Why don’t we go to your palace and play dominoes instead?”

Zhenning suddenly broke into a radiant smile and patted Jing Hu’s hand.

“Look, look! The top scholar is coming!”

The sound of wind instruments drifted from afar. At the end of Vermilion Bird Avenue, a man sat astride a horse and proceeded slowly toward Zhengyang Gate.

Wherever he passed, the crowd cheered and tossed flowers into the air. Though spring was nearing its end, wherever he appeared remained the most brilliant corner of the world.

He was still too far away for his features to be seen clearly.

Jing Hu found it rather dull and was about to continue persuading Zhenning when Qingrou said, “Jingling, you are mistaken this time. This year’s top scholar is my cousin, the Grand Preceptor Ke’s grandson, Ke Mingxu. He is not even twenty-three.”

Jingling was her title.

A twenty-two-year-old top scholar? That did sound somewhat interesting.

The man rode a white horse, drawing nearer and nearer. Even the noble girls around them, born to exalted families and usually so reserved, could not help growing excited.

Jing Hu stared at him without blinking, wanting to see just how many eyes and heads he possessed to be so remarkable.

The tower was too high, and seeing him clearly was difficult.

Before long, the spirited top scholar reached the foot of the tower. Even Jing Hu leaned half her body over the parapet, eager to see exactly what he looked like.

Naturally, the other girls had the same thought, and the tower grew increasingly crowded. Someone jostled Jing Hu’s right hand, the one holding the Scholar’s Red peony. She failed to keep her grip, and the flower fell straight from the tower.

It was about to land before the top scholar’s horse when he moved with remarkable agility. Leaning down, he caught the peony just before the horse could trample it, then carefully tucked it against the lapel of his pale moon-colored robe.

Afterward, he raised his head and smiled at the people on the tower.

“Thank you.”

Then he disappeared into the crowd.

Jing Hu had seen his face.

He possessed only one pair of eyes and one head, just as she did. Yet those eyes were somehow more beautiful than those of every other man she had ever seen.

Like hers, his were phoenix eyes. But in that single glance toward the tower, when his gaze happened to fall upon her, her heart inexplicably missed a beat.

It was already April, and spring was nearly over. Yet Jing Hu suddenly felt that, in all the years of her life, she had never truly experienced spring before.

From that moment on, he was no longer indistinguishable from the crowd in her heart. He needed neither splendid robes nor a spirited steed. A simple lift of his head had become the most beautiful hope of her life.

Of course, she did not understand that at the time.