The third watch sounded, past midnight.
At the Zhu residence.
Outside, the cold wind bit fiercely, while inside, the room was warm as spring, illuminated by several dragon-and-phoenix palace lanterns.
Li Shu, dressed in loose nightclothes, sat at the table, resting her cheek on her hand. Her pretty face flushed pink, her eyes soft as water. On the table lay a letter, each character on the page seeming to transform into little hearts.
“Thinking of You”
I remember when we were young,
I loved to chatter, you loved to laugh.
Once, side by side under the peach tree,
Wind rustled the treetops, birds sang.
Somehow we fell asleep,
How many flowers fell in our dreams?
— Don’t worry, I’m safe. When the war ends, I’ll hold your hand to watch the snow, and we’ll grow old together.
“Miss, Miss, it’s already the third watch. You’ve read the letter Young Master sent over and over so many times. Aren’t you tired? Even if you’re not, the little masters are. Let’s go to bed,” Qin’er urged helplessly.
“No rush, no rush, let me read it one more time,” Li Shu replied softly, resting her cheek on her hand, showing no intention of sleeping.
“Oh, my dear Miss, you’ve said that at least six times, if not ten. Right, Hua’er?” Qin’er drawled helplessly, nudging Hua’er beside her to join in the persuading.
“Hua’er?”
Seeing no response, Qin’er turned to find Hua’er craning her neck, engrossed in the letter too. She couldn’t help but cover her forehead in exasperation.
With a slightly harder nudge, Hua’er snapped out of it. “Ah, ah, what’s wrong, Qin’er?”
“What’s wrong? It’s past midnight, the third watch! Miss won’t sleep, how can her body take it?” Qin’er said, exasperated.
“Ah? It’s that late? Past the third watch already? Time to rest, Miss, Miss, let’s go to bed, we can read it tomorrow,” Hua’er exclaimed, realizing the hour, and quickly joined in urging Li Shu.
“One last time, I’ll sleep after this,” Li Shu promised in her sweet voice.
“Miss, you’ve said that at least three times already…” Qin’er pointed out her tactic with a helpless look.
“Good Qin’er, good Hua’er, just this once,” Li Shu said, blinking at them with a pleading, coquettish tone.
“Fine, but you have to keep your word,” Qin’er relented under Li Shu’s irresistible gaze.
“Of course,” Li Shu assured repeatedly.
“Miss, this poem Young Master wrote, I still remember that moment. Back then, he was just a cowherd boy. In the peach grove by the village river, he tended cows, you tended horses. You sent me back to the house for your little whip, and when I returned, I saw you and Young Master sitting side by side under the peach tree, asleep… I thought then that you two looked like the fairy children from New Year paintings. I can’t believe he still remembers it,” Hua’er said softly, then suddenly lit up as if she’d discovered a new world. “Oh, I get it! Young Master must’ve liked you even back then!”
Li Shu shot Hua’er a playful glare, chiding, “What nonsense! We were so young, what did we know about love?”
“Miss, Young Master isn’t ordinary. He’s the top scholar, a star of literature descended to earth. He passed the exams before coming of age, younger than me by years, yet he always had me spinning as a kid. Telling us ghost stories on purpose, scaring us until you and I clung together crying. Giving me a pouch that said ‘It’ll snow today’ to open on a snowy day, I thought he could predict the future…” Hua’er shook her head, her bun-like face glowing with pride as she recounted their childhood.
Qin’er was speechless. Getting outwitted by Young Master as a kid, and you’re proud of it?
“And, Miss, Miss, do you remember that story he told us as kids, something about The Bird-Shooting Heroes?” Hua’er piped up excitedly, recalling another memory.
“Dummy, it’s not The Bird-Shooting Heroes, it’s The Legend of the Condor Heroes,” Li Shu said with an adorable eye roll.
“Hehe, it’s been years, I forgot the name,” Hua’er giggled, scratching her head.
“Alright, bringing up this story, what’s your point?” Li Shu teased, seeing Hua’er’s expression.
“Oh, right! It’s about that honest, goofy Guo Jing and clever Huang Rong falling in love and roaming the martial world. If Young Master could tell stories like that back then, he must’ve understood love too, or how could he tell it?” Hua’er argued confidently, growing more convinced she’d uncovered the truth.
Li Shu burst out laughing. “He also told us about sword-flying immortals in Zhu Xian. Does that mean he can fly on a sword? He told us The Quest for Qin, does that mean he’s from centuries in the future?”
Hua’er deflated at that. Fair point.
But a second later, she perked up again. “Miss, Miss, remember that time Upper River Village and Lower River Village fought over water? Young Master won a bet and teased us, saying he’d take us?”
“He wanted us to sing and dance for him…” Li Shu said, her face flushing as memories surfaced. She silently scolded in her heart, That rogue…
What kind of song was that?
I want a home, with her in it, kissing all day, and at night, at night… What a scoundrel.
If it weren’t for… who knows how long he’d have tricked her? Such a rogue, plotting against her since they were kids.
No wonder he remembered sitting side by side under the peach blossoms. She’d thought only she did…
Such a rogue, liking her since they were little but never saying it, making her go through all those schemes…
A rogue, a rogue, a rogue.
“Miss, Miss, are we done? Can we sleep now? It’s really late, if we don’t, the little masters will start a riot,” Qin’er couldn’t help urging again.
“Alright, alright, help me offer incense to the gods to pray for Brother Zhu’s safety, then we’ll sleep,” Li Shu finally said reluctantly, carefully folding the letter and tucking it into her vanity box like a treasure, alongside a few others.
“Huh?! Miss, didn’t you offer incense before dinner?” Qin’er said, pained for her mistress.
“More courtesy never offends people, more incense never offends gods,” Li Shu insisted.
Qin’er and Hua’er had no choice but to help Li Shu to the room of deities. It housed statues of Buddha, Guanyin, Maitreya, the Taoist Three Pure Ones, the Six Sovereign Emperors, the Thunder God, Martial Saint Guan Yu, even Mazu…
To an outsider, it might look like a divine exhibition hall.
Despite her condition, Li Shu knelt devoutly before each deity, praying and lighting incense, leaving none out…
By the time she finished, nearly half an hour had passed, no wonder Qin’er had looked so distressed earlier.
