Qing Gu lowered the hand that was about to push the door open.
[The Crown Prince loves a lotus emerging from the water. A friendly tip: go wash your face, your odds will be much better.]
"Ten! Thousand! Thanks!" Qing Gu said through gritted teeth, then obediently went to wash her face.
All these years, Qing Gu had always treated the Divine Lord as a multi-purpose surveillance system. Although this was her eighth year of trying to woo the Crown Prince, the two of them had actually barely met a few times, and Qing Gu definitely had a lot of experience when it came to slacking off on the job.
Shen Xuanzhi was in no rush at all with this mission and had never urged her on.
Eight years ago, in Kangshun, the Crown Prince had caught sight of Qing Gu playing in the water on a small wooden boat and had been completely captivated, longing for her to the point of madness.
It wasn't until half a month ago that he finally tracked down the beauty's whereabouts.
Every three months, this beauty would go to Guangshou Temple for ten days to burn incense and pray for blessings. She was extremely low-key and mysterious, and people only heard that she was praying for a relative serving in the military; nothing else was known.
Such mystery only heightened the Crown Prince's interest.
It was just that the beauty stayed in the courtyard reserved for female guests, and the Crown Prince couldn't simply walk right in. Having been here for five days, he had only caught a fleeting glimpse of her outside the main hall.
As a grown man of twenty-seven, he found life in this temple terribly dull. Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, he had strolled over to the back mountain to clear his mind.
From afar, he heard someone playing a Xun in the mountains—haunting and sorrowful, instantly arousing his curiosity.
After winding around a stretch of mountain path, he arrived at a precipice halfway up the mountain.
Here, the clouds were vast and the sky was high, with the moon hanging over the peak of the opposite mountain, half-concealed in a sea of clouds and casting a cool, pale radiance.
The back of a woman in white looked slender and moving, her loose long hair dancing in the wind. She sat on the edge of a giant boulder by the cliff, her bare feet alluring, revealing a section of fair calves.
In the moonlight, for a moment one couldn't tell whether the beauty was whiter, or the white clothes were whiter. Though her features could not be clearly seen, she was undoubtedly a beauty.
He hadn't expected to find two absolute paragons in such a tiny temple.
As the Crown Prince, he still needed to maintain his vigilance; until he was certain it was safe, he would not simply walk over.
The Crown Prince leaned against the mountain wall and quietly admired the beauty.
Chilled to the bone by the wind, Qing Gu shouted inwardly: [Why isn't this Crown Prince coming over?]
[Even though this Crown Prince fell in love with you at first sight, if you sit here in the middle of the night like this, it's sheer mercy that he doesn't mistake you for a demon and impale you with a sword.]
Freezing and desperate, Qing Gu pretended to turn around carelessly, only to be startled by the Crown Prince standing in the corner. Her Xun slipped straight out of her hand and rolled forward with a clatter.
[If it doesn't roll right to his feet, I'm going bungee jumping.] Qing Gu threatened Shen Xuanzhi in her mind.
[You're threatening the divine?
The spot where he's standing is much higher than yours. You expect an object that slipped from your hands to roll through the grass and go zig-zagging up a slope?
This Divine Lord could easily make it roll all the way to the summit, but whether it would scare the Crown Prince on the other side is another matter entirely.] Shen Xuanzhi's tone carried a hint of banter.
[Heh, thanks, but no thanks. I'm not in the mood to star in a Chinese Ghost Story.]
Since the Divine Lord was unreliable, Qing Gu could only look toward the Crown Prince and ask with guarded vigilance: "Who are you? No—are you human or a ghost?"
The Crown Prince was half-hidden in the darkness where the moonlight couldn't reach, his expression unreadable: "I should be asking you whether you are human or a spirit."
Bright as the moonlight was, the cliffside wind blew Qing Gu's long hair into disarray as she turned around. Not only was her face invisible, but her hair whipped about wildly like claws and teeth, looking indescribably eerie.
Just as the Crown Prince finished speaking, the woman in white by the cliff stiffly climbed to her feet, her long hair veiling her face as she slowly stood straight in the moonlight.
The Crown Prince tightened his grip on the precious sword at his waist and retreated half a step.
It was this very half-step that left Qing Gu stranded in awkwardness, while Shen Xuanzhi's soft laughter echoed in her mind.
[Forget it, I'll help you out so you don't actually jump off in shame and anger.]
[Since when do I have any shame left... Oh damn! Oh Gods~]
A strange gust of wind swept past, causing Qing Gu to involuntarily fall backward. The wind blew her hair behind her, scattering it in all directions and revealing an exquisite face bearing a look of panic.
A fairy under the moon must look just like this.
Seeing that the beauty was about to tumble off the cliff, the Crown Prince forgot all about his astonishment that the "ghost" before him was the very woman he dreamed of day and night. He lunged forward, grabbed her by the arm, and hauled her back to safety.
From grabbing her arm and spinning her around, to having Qing Gu's waist pulled in and being pinned against the mountain wall five meters away, their eyes met and their breathing was audible.
Two frantically pounding hearts... each harboring their own secret agendas.
[This weightlessness, what a thrill! Thank you, Divine Lord, oh Divine Lord.] The tone in Qing Gu's mind was breezy, contrasting sharply with the panic-stricken expression on her face.
[Heh... all you know how to do is play the flatterer with your mouth.]
[The Divine Lord sure knows me well.]
While chatting away with the deity in her head, Qing Gu snuggled into the Crown Prince's embrace with a feigned look of terror, her hands tightly grasping the small of his back.
The Crown Prince blushed, though fortunately it was invisible in the moonlight.
Shen Xuanzhi gave no reply and directly cut off the connection.
Having yearned for her day and night for eight years, the Crown Prince finally held the beauty of his dreams in his arms. His Adam's apple bobbed: "My... lady, the night is cold, may I escort you back?"
"I'm afraid that wouldn't be very convenient." Qing Gu shivered uncontrollably from the cold.
"You'll freeze to death like this." The Crown Prince forcefully pulled Qing Gu down the mountain.
The Crown Prince's quarters.
Wrapped in a cloak, Qing Gu's body finally began to warm up.
Watching the beauty curled into a ball, holding a teacup and staring blankly, the Crown Prince became all the more infatuated the longer he looked.
"Why on earth did you go to the back mountain in the middle of the night, Young Master? You scared me nearly to death tumbling off the cliff."
The Crown Prince thought: She's lovely alright, but she certainly has a sharp temper.
"Does the lady not recognize me? Just the other day we crossed paths in the temple."
Qing Gu raised her head and gave the Crown Prince a dazed look: "The incense smoke is too dense there, and too many people try to strike up a conversation. I can't remember them all."
The Crown Prince was momentarily speechless, never expecting that the unforgettable encounter in his own mind was just ordinary to her: "You jest, Milady. Is there anyone else out here in the wilds comparable to me?"
Qing Gu set down her teacup and rested her chin on her hand: "May I ask, Young Master, why was it that you tried to strike up a conversation with me that day?"
"Eight years ago, when I passed through Kangshun, I caught sight of Milady. I fell for you at first sight and have never been able to forget you. When we crossed paths again the other day, I couldn't help but feel stirred." The Crown Prince spoke with sincerity.
"Eight years? That's ages ago. It's all thanks to this youth-preserving face of mine that obsession is only natural." Qing Gu smiled offhandedly and lowered her head again to sip her hot tea.
The Crown Prince was taken aback. Right, it had been eight years; surely she must have married long ago? The thought filled him with inevitable dejection.
"Judging by your accent, Young Master, you sound like a man from Lin'an."
"Indeed. Has Milady been to Lin'an?"
Qing Gu sighed softly, gazing out the window with reddened corners of her eyes, which added an extra layer of fragile vulnerability to her beauty: "I once lived in Lin'an for a spell with my late husband. My son is in Lin'an right now, and I came here precisely to pray for blessings for him."
"Your... late husband? A son?" Her husband was dead...
The Crown Prince, who had just been regretting meeting her too late, now felt a trace of covert delight upon hearing that she was a widow.
Widows were wonderful—if kept away from home, it was carefree and safe.
"Don't you have any?"
"What?" The Crown Prince snapped out of his daze, not quite following.
Qing Gu looked him up and down with an obscure, pitiful gaze: "Did you marry late in life, Young Master, or do you suffer from some hidden ailment... There is a miraculous doctor in Chen Family Town at the foot of this mountain; you could go and have it checked."
The Crown Prince immediately stood up: "I... no... I don't..."
"Oh, so the Young Master has a household of your own. That's right, with your distinguished air, Young Master, you surely married early. Since you're already married, why do you still harbor thoughts about another man's wife?" Qing Gu stood up, her gaze carrying the knowing and disdainful clarity of someone who saw right through everything: "Farewell."
"Stop right there." As soon as the Crown Prince's voice fell, his guards closed the door.