At that moment, Nan Xueyin was standing outside the door. Outside, the wind and snow raged with a biting chill; inside, the room was as warm as spring, the red silk curtains billowing. Though the door was tightly shut, she could still faintly hear the heavy breathing and sweet moans coming from within.
In the dead of night, as Hua Lianying's weeping subsided, the commotion inside finally stopped altogether.
Xiao Mingyu called for water.
Wuzhui passed by Nan Xueyin, carrying a basin of water into the room. Perhaps unable to bear the sight, he pressed his lips together and, finding the courage, said, "Your Highness, Lady Nan is still waiting outside, and the snow is getting heavier..."
Xiao Mingyu was silent for a moment, then ordered in a deep voice, "Let her in."
Wuzhui came back out and cast a sympathetic look at Nan Xueyin. "My lady, go on in."
Nan Xueyin had maintained the same posture for too long in the wind and snow. Her legs and limbs felt as though they had frozen through—icy and rigid, almost devoid of sensation. Even the bowl of medicine she held in her hands had a thin layer of ice floating on top.
It took a great deal of effort for her to regain control over her body. She set the medicine bowl down outside the door, slowly shifted her numb feet, and walked into the room.
The charcoal fire was burning inside, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere. The doors and windows were sealed so tightly that not a breath of cold wind could enter—a world of difference from outside.
Nan Xueyin walked all the way to the bedside.
Garments were scattered all over the floor. Xiao Mingyu, wearing a moon-white sleeping robe, was sitting on the edge of the bed.
Behind him, Hua Lianying lay fast asleep on the bed, completely naked. From her neck, shoulders, and back all the way down to her lower waist, her skin was covered with deep and shallow love bites and fingernail scratches.
As Nan Xueyin drew closer, perhaps disturbed by the chill radiating from her, Hua Lianying knitted her brows ever so slightly.
Xiao Mingyu immediately pulled the brocade quilt over to cover her body.
Nan Xueyin acted as though she saw nothing and dropped to her knees. "Your subordinate Nan Xueyin pays her respects to Your Highness."
With a cold expression, Xiao Mingyu asked, "The person I told you to kill—is he thoroughly dead?"
Nan Xueyin replied in a flat, matter-of-fact tone, "Just as Your Highness commanded, no living witnesses were left. He tried to escape in the chaos, but I pursued him and severed his head. Ah... I brought the head back. If Your Highness wishes to see it, you may at any time."
Clearly, the task had been accomplished brilliantly, yet Xiao Mingyu did not look particularly pleased. After a pause, he said, "There is another task here that I must assign to you."
"Please speak, Your Highness."
Xiao Mingyu's gaze fell upon her. "You are to go to Fengdu, enter the East Palace, and act as my spy by the Crown Prince's side. Your identity has already been arranged. Next year, the Emperor will send five beauties to the Crown Prince, and you will be one of them. Use your face, use your body, do whatever it takes to find a way to stay by his side and become his bedchamber attendant."
Nan Xueyin raised her eyes in astonishment.
Become the Crown Prince's... bedchamber attendant?
Xiao Mingyu had once kept bedchamber attendants of his own; he knew better than anyone what such a position entailed.
Her shock and incomprehension were plain for Xiao Mingyu to see, stirring an inexplicable irritability in his heart. "What? Unwilling? Do not forget, your life and everything you have were given to you by this Prince! You said yourself that no matter what this Prince wants, you would fulfill it."
Nan Xueyin looked at him, and a hint of a smile suddenly bloomed on her face. Her black-and-white peach blossom eyes curved into crescents, stunningly beautiful.
Xiao Mingyu found himself unable to look away.
Yet Nan Xueyin quickly lowered her head and bowed respectfully. "Your subordinate shall certainly not fail this mission."
***
In the tenth year of Yongzheng, April, Fengdu was bathed in bright spring sunshine and gentle breezes.
The Emperor dispatched Mother Cui from his side, leading five meticulously chosen palace maids into the East Palace.
Nan Xueyin was mixed in among them, now going by the name Doukou. The original Doukou's mother had died early, and her father had sold her into the palace. She was blessed with good looks and good fortune; shortly after entering the palace, she happened to catch the time when the Emperor was selecting women.
Nan Xueyin matched her in height and build. They had selected Nan Xueyin, crafted a human-skin mask modeled after the real Doukou's features, and coached her on Doukou's tone of voice and speech patterns until they were ninety-nine percent identical.
Even if Doukou's biological father were to come here, he would find it hard to spot any flaws.
Inside the East Palace, pavilions and terraces gleamed with vermilion paint and splendid colors, towering and magnificent. Mother Cui walked ahead, her voice measured and carrying an unangered authority: "This is the East Palace. Countless people outside break their heads trying to get in. You girls have struck supreme good fortune by being chosen by His Majesty to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Otherwise, I doubt you'd even get to catch a glimpse of an inch of these palace walls!"
Crown Prince Xiao Youlan was three years younger than Xiao Mingyu. He was the only son of the reigning Emperor and Empress Rouyi—of precious jade and golden branches, possessing orthodox imperial blood—and had been established as Crown Prince from a very young age.
He was clever in his youth, upright and proper. Everyone who spoke of him had nothing but praise, save for one single aspect: his absolute asceticism.
Xiao Youlan paid no heed to matters of men and women. Now over twenty years old, he had not taken a Crown Princess, had neither consorts nor favored ladies by his side, and even female sparrows were rarely seen in his courtyard.
Deeming this truly unacceptable, the Emperor had ordered a batch of women with clean family backgrounds, outstanding looks, and graceful figures to be chosen from within the palace, instructed in the arts of the bedchamber, and put through rigorous layers of selection until the five best were finally chosen to be led into the East Palace by Mother Cui.
Speaking all the while, they arrived before the main hall. Mother Cui halted and swept her gaze over them. "However, though you have entered the East Palace today, it does not necessarily mean you will stay. His Majesty has said that the final decision rests entirely upon His Highness's own will. Whether you can stay depends entirely on your own abilities."
The palace maids rolled up their sleeves and flexed their muscles, eager to try.
Yet no one appeared for a long time.
As the sun gradually climbed higher, the weaker palace maids were barely able to remain standing.
At last, footsteps sounded from outside the courtyard.
Everyone looked over in unison. In Nan Xueyin's line of sight, Xiao Youlan walked steadily forward, surrounded like the moon by a host of stars. His wide-sleeved black robe was spotless, his stature tall and slender, as pure and noble as gold and jade.
The Crown Prince of the current dynasty truly possessed an exceptionally handsome and striking face—thin lips, a straight nose, and deep, profound eyes.
He was good-looking to such a degree that even if he were to commit a heinous crime and be executed, people would inevitably feel a pang of regret for such a face.
"Your Highness."
Mother Cui went up to greet him with a smiling face. "His Majesty has been thinking of you. Knowing that Your Highness has many guards and male attendants but very few maidservants, he picked a few out and had this old servant bring them over. Have a look; are there any who catch your eye?"
Xiao Youlan gave an indifferent hum and looked toward the corridor.
"Your Royal Highness, this servant is Linglang, sixteen years old this year. This servant can do anything, and this servant is not afraid of hardship." The beauty on the left curtsied and spoke first, her oriole-like voice carrying a shy coo.
Xiao Youlan glanced at her, his expression completely undisturbed.
Another light laugh rang out from the right. "Indeed, Sister Linglang has thick skin and flesh, not afraid of hardship at all. Unlike me, with my tender skin and flesh, I simply cannot compare."
Linglang said in annoyance, "You..."
Paying her no mind, the woman spread her hands out toward Xiao Youlan. "This servant is Hantao. Your Highness, look at this servant's hands; everyone who has seen them says they are white and tender. But what they don't know is that my skin is even whiter than this."
Xiao Youlan glanced at her hands. His gaze was supremely detached, no different from how he would look at a tree or a flower. After just a moment, he withdrew his gaze.
Nan Xueyin was puzzled. He didn't fancy them?
Was he not interested in women?
The customs of the Ye Dynasty were open-minded; both among the common folk and at court, those with a penchant for male-male romance were by no means rare. Perhaps the Crown Prince...
"What is your name?"
Xiao Youlan spoke abruptly, his voice as clear and cold as jade.
He was asking Nan Xueyin.
Nan Xueyin raised her head and collided with a pair of dark eyes, deep and bottomless like an abyss.
Under that gaze, it felt as though her entire person had been seen through—from the inside out, with nowhere to hide.
Nan Xueyin lowered her eyes. "Doukou."
Xiao Youlan said, "Very well, you stay."
Nan Xueyin acknowledged the order.
She knew the Crown Prince would definitely keep someone, because they had been picked by the Emperor; the Prince could not possibly refuse to give the Emperor face.
Yet why had he chosen her?
Mother Cui was overjoyed and rushed to say, "To be able to stay and serve by His Royal Highness's side is truly Doukou's great fortune!"
Xiao Youlan swept a glance past her. "Linglang and Hantao will serve Doukou from now on."
Linglang and Hantao were both startled. Though smiles remained on their faces, their hearts bred a dozen layers of reluctance and jealousy—they were all palace maids, so why should they have to serve her?
Only Mother Cui was wild with joy. Originally thinking that keeping even one would be a miraculous blessing, she never expected three to be kept in one breath! Truly, the Buddha in heaven had eyes, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had finally figured things out!
Mother Cui wept tears of joy, nodding with tears in her eyes. "Good! Good! All good! This is naturally better than anything else!"
Having given his instructions, Xiao Youlan turned and left.
Happily, Mother Cui greeted the three chosen ones and told them to go rest, her tone unusually affectionate. "My goodness, look at you girls. Standing out there so long, you must be exhausted! Look at all that sweat on your faces."
Linglang and Hantao walked arm in arm, deliberately keeping a distance of two arms' length away from Nan Xueyin.
Suddenly, Nan Xueyin realized something was amiss.
Earlier, they had stood out in the glaring sun for quite a while, and all of them had more or less flushed and sweated from the heat. Both Linglang and Hantao were like that.
Only Nan Xueyin was completely as usual.
She suddenly understood why Xiao Youlan had chosen her alone—he had likely sensed something unusual and grown suspicious of her.