Chapter 114

On this day the sunlight was just right, with warm, dappled shafts of light scattering over the parasol trees. The tall parasol trees stood in neat rows, their tender, dense green leaves dancing in the breeze mid-air, as if cheerfully waving to anyone looking up at them. The delicate woman sat by the window, gazing at the tall parasol trees outside. While she was lost in thought, a white homing pigeon flew in and landed steadily on her windowsill. Its clever eyes darted around as it paced back and forth, watching the woman before it as if confirming whether she was the person it was looking for. Written in black ink on its right leg were several large characters: "The third quarter of the Zi hour, the west wall of the side hall." Seeing this, Yuling hurriedly fetched a dampened handkerchief. Holding the pigeon's body down with her left hand, she used her right hand to wipe away the ink on its leg, and then, taking advantage of the fact that there was no one around, she let the pigeon go.