When Yuwen Junan returned to the palace, the doors to Yuhe Palace were standing open. Shuangxi was guarding the entrance and hurried over the moment he saw the heir apparent. "Your Majesty seems quite exhausted today. He didn't eat much for lunch and just leaned back on the daybed and fell asleep. He only just drifted off, so it’s unlikely he’ll wake for a while."
While they spoke, Yuwen Junan had already reached the doorway. He waved for Shuangxi to withdraw and entered the palace himself. Sure enough, he found Pei Hengyu leaning against the light of the sun on the low window-side daybed.
The warm weather had persisted for days, heating the eastern breeze. The sun-warmed wind drifted through the half-open window, carrying fine, scattered apricot petals inside, which settled upon Pei Hengyu’s frost-white hair like a misty, ethereal dream.
Chapter 251