A Mirror That Longs To Return - Chapter 17

“Your Highness, the fireworks purchased for this year have arrived at the manor. The merchant has delivered them.”

Lüqi stepped around the screen and quietly reported the news.

The ethereal notes of a guqin drifted through the room, lingering around the rafters as slender fingers danced rapidly across the strings. At Lüqi’s words, the music abruptly stopped with a crisp twang, though its lingering resonance continued to hum through the air.

Yan Changjun stilled her hands, then turned and called after Lüqi, who had been about to leave.

“Come back.”

Her clear voice drifted through the room, stirring the thin curtains and gauzy screens.

Slightly surprised, Lüqi stopped and turned around, looking at Princess Jialang in confusion.

In previous years, when the fireworks were purchased, all they had needed to do was inform Her Highness. The princess had never asked further questions.

Why had she specifically called her back this year?

“Yes.” Lüqi asked uncertainly, “Does Your Highness have any further instructions?”

Yan Changjun looked over, her expression perfectly calm.

“Is the amount spent on fireworks this year the same as in previous years?”

“Yes, it’s the same,” Lüqi answered quickly. “The budget for fireworks has never changed all these years.”

Lüqi had begun serving the princess when the Princess Manor was first established, and the annual purchase of fireworks had already existed when she arrived.

In other words, purchasing fireworks every September had long since become an unwritten rule of Princess Jialang’s residence.

The season was fixed.

The budget was fixed.

On the twelfth day of the ninth month, Princess Jialang’s residence would set off a grand display of fireworks.

Naturally, the tradition would not be omitted this year.

Yan Changjun suddenly laughed softly.

Her red-painted nails tapped against the sandalwood table, one soft knock after another.

“Triple it this year.”

There was no explanation.

Nor did Lüqi need to know the reason.

She acknowledged the order and hurried outside to inform the others.

When she reached the gates of the manor, she saw a tall, slender figure dressed in green.

Who else could it be but Xu Zhiyan, the Prince Consort whom they had barely seen more than twice?

Xu Zhiyan had dressed himself meticulously today. He carried himself with even greater splendor than when he had paraded through the streets after placing in the imperial examination, yet his palms were clenched tightly and slick with sweat.

He had already asked a servant to inform Yan Changjun of his arrival.

Now he stood waiting outside, only to notice numerous people moving in and out of the Princess Manor, carrying bundle after bundle of fireworks.

His throat tightened.

Who in the capital did not know that Princess Jialang’s residence set off fireworks every September?

As for whom those fireworks were meant for…

That was another matter entirely.

However, after what had happened last time, Xu Zhiyan no longer dared voice his own opinions.

He waited nervously, worried that Yan Changjun would refuse to see him again today.

Unexpectedly, a servant soon emerged from inside and nodded to him.

“Her Highness Princess Jialang has granted permission. Please enter.”

Only then did the heart suspended in Xu Zhiyan’s chest finally settle.

He released a long breath and stepped into the vast Princess Manor.

Glazed tile roofs, upturned eaves and interlocking brackets, broad corridors and spacious halls twisted endlessly through the estate.

Princess Jialang, Yan Changjun, was one of the most illustrious figures of the present dynasty. Her residence was magnificent and enormous, with grandeur comparable to the mansion of an imperial prince.

Xu Zhiyan was still hesitating over whether to ask for directions when someone appeared beside him and guided him toward Wenguang Pavilion.

That was where Her Highness received guests.

After passing around a jade screen, Xu Zhiyan knelt and kowtowed nervously.

Only after completing the elaborate set of formal greetings did he finally raise his head, though he still did not dare look directly at Yan Changjun.

When he finally managed to lift his gaze and met Yan Changjun’s quiet, unreadable eyes, his heart trembled.

The wild joy he had felt upon being allowed inside immediately vanished without a trace.

“Prince Consort Xu, what have you come to tell me?”

Yan Changjun reached out, picked up a celadon-patterned teacup from the table, skimmed the foam from its surface, and took a light sip.

She did not spare him even a single unnecessary glance.

Xu Zhiyan hurriedly said, “In two days, there will be a sacrificial celebration at Your Highness’s estate. This subject thought… perhaps Your Highness might attend as well.”

He did not even dare think of using words such as attend together.

Even so, Xu Zhiyan remained uneasy.

Although Yan Changjun spent much of her time in her residence, she had never truly been idle.

When Yan Qiu had first ascended the throne, he had relied upon Yan Changjun to secure his position. As a result, memorials from the various ministries would first pass through the Eldest Princess’s hands, much like the several regent empress dowagers of the past who had issued imperial annotations in violet ink.

As the emperor gradually matured, the Eldest Princess slowly returned authority to him, and she often sent those memorials back without comment.

Even so, she remained busy.

Once Xu Zhiyan finished speaking, silence settled over the room.

His heart pounded violently as he waited, unsure what her answer would be.

That celadon pattern really is elegant, he thought absently.

“Where?”

Yan Changjun put down her teacup.

Xu Zhiyan froze for a moment before quickly raising his head and explaining the matter as he had planned.

Once he finished, he resumed his anxious wait.

After a long silence, Yan Changjun unexpectedly agreed.

“I understand. I will go when the time comes. Sharing the festivities with the people is only natural.”

She smiled.

Xu Zhiyan kowtowed several more times before finally leaving with trembling steps.

Only after completely exiting the Princess Manor did he realize his entire body was drenched in sweat.

But it did not matter.

He had accomplished the most important purpose of his visit.

Next, he needed to report back to Pei Jin.

Pei Jin had made countless enemies. The gates of his residence were usually kept tightly shut precisely because he feared people would come looking for trouble.

Xu Zhiyan knocked for a long time and had to explain himself repeatedly before he was finally admitted into the Pei residence.

Pei Jin greeted him with a smile that did not reach his eyes and ordered tea to be served before immediately getting to the point.

“Lord Xu, how did matters go today?”

“It worked. It worked!”

Xu Zhiyan laughed heartily.

Only after hearing this did the gloom between Pei Jin’s brows suddenly dissipate.

The two raised their cups and drank together.

Pei Jin set down his teacup.

“In that case, everything is ready. All that remains is for our target to walk into the trap—”

Wrinkles gathered at the corners of Xu Zhiyan’s eyes as he smiled, seemingly formed from years of accumulated resentment.

The Xu family had carried on through a single male heir for four generations.

How could the family line possibly end with him?

Every time he remembered what had happened that night, Xu Zhiyan became so furious that his lips trembled.

Revenge.

He absolutely had to take revenge!

He Jingling surely never would have imagined that, besides his cousin, Xu Zhiyan had also sought out Commander Pei.

Xu Zhiyan released a long breath and stood.

“Since everything is settled, I will take my leave.”

Pei Jin curved his lips into a smile and merely instructed a servant to escort him to the gates.

The moment Xu Zhiyan left, however, Pei Jin’s expression abruptly darkened again.

Irritably, he reached out and clenched the white porcelain teacup Xu Zhiyan had used.

He exerted a little force.

The cup shattered into fragments in his hand, cutting his palm until blood seeped out.

“Heh. That useless fool who only knows how to bury his head in books.”

Pei Jin rose, violence surging through his eyes.

“And he thinks he can borrow this commander’s hand to deal with that fellow…”

Pei Jin had long hated Xu Zhiyan to the bone for occupying the position of Prince Consort for an entire three years!

He could not understand what was wrong with those old fossils at court.

Why did they insist on choosing prince consorts from among the third-ranked scholars in the imperial examination?

The laws of Great Yan were equally infuriating.

A prince consort was forbidden from holding office above the seventh rank.

The more Pei Jin thought about what might happen in the future, the more tangled his thoughts became.

Still, for the moment, he and Xu Zhiyan could indeed be considered half-allies.

He sneered.

“Master, should this be cleaned up?”

A servant approached and stared blankly at the shattered teacup on the table.

“Clean it up. Clean up everything. This one needs dealing with, that one needs dealing with too. Deal with all of them.”

The servant answered, “Yes.”