Late spring's drizzle mingled with the fragrance of peach blossoms, dampening the pearl hair-pins at Shen Qingwan's temples. Standing on the bluestone bridge, she gazed at the shattered moonlight on the river's surface, and in a daze, she seemed to see that summer night years ago once more: the young man holding a sword, stepping through the moonlight, the wind stirred by his robes dispersing the thin mist over the water.
It was her fourteenth birthday when she had slipped out of the Duke's Manor and met Ye Chengxiao by the small lake in the suburbs. The youth was dressed in dark, close-fitting martial attire, his waist-scabbarded sword gleaming with a cold light; yet upon seeing her, he put away all his fierce hostility and asked with a smile, "Is the young lady lost?"
At that time, Ye Chengxiao was a notoriously famous shadow guard commander in the pugilistic world, while she was the Crown Princess designate appointed by the imperial decree. The vast gulf between their statuses, however, could not rival their mutual devotion under the moonlight. He taught her sword-dancing, and she brewed tea for him; those stolen moments were sweeter than honey.
Chapter 203