Chapter 2
At daybreak, the sound of craftsmen chiseling stone rang out beyond Weiyang Palace.
Blow after blow, loud enough to carry everywhere.
The young maids went to find out what was happening and returned whispering among themselves.
“His Majesty has ordered a new palace built. Apparently it’s to be called Qihuang—the Phoenix’s Roost.”
The empress lived in Fengyi Palace, the Palace of Phoenix Grace.
The new girl had not even entered the palace, yet Xiao Heng was already building her a phoenix’s roost.
Such favor was enough to turn heads throughout the imperial harem.
The maids looked at me with a little pity.
I ignored them and went on packing.
Before long, footsteps sounded outside.
Eunuch Qi entered with a dozen or so junior eunuchs.
Each carried a tray, a box, clothing, or jewelry.
It took a glance for me to recognize the things I had left in Xiao Heng’s bedchamber.
A white jade hairpin, a light robe I had worn one autumn day, several medical books I had only half read…
And a faded sachet of medicinal herbs.
When we first met, Xiao Heng had complained of a headache, so I had mixed its contents for him without much thought.
He had carried it with him all these years.
Now even that had been returned.
It seemed he was serious this time.
Eunuch Qi stood to one side, stealing glances at my face.
“Lady Miao, these are all your belongings. I’ve checked them one by one. Would you see whether anything is missing?”
I smiled and pointed to a wooden box beside the table.
“Would you be so kind as to give him these as well?”
His eyes lit up.
He took the box with an expression of relief tinged with exasperation.
“Really, you! If only you’d come to your senses sooner, we could have spared ourselves all this trouble. Is there a letter for His Majesty inside? Or a token of your feelings…?”
A moment later, his smile froze.
The box held an assortment of little things Xiao Heng had left with me over the years.
On top lay a lock of hair tied with red cord.
Once, while I slept, Xiao Heng had cut off a lock of my hair, then cut his own and tied the two together.
He said that binding our hair made us husband and wife.
Furious, I had tried to burn it. He snatched it back and insisted on putting it in my dressing box.
Now the red cord had been untied.
My own lock had long since gone into the fire.
Only his hair remained in the box.
Eunuch Qi rummaged through it, the creases of his face sagging one by one.
“Why… why are these all His Majesty’s things?”
I smiled. “I’m leaving the palace. Keeping them would be improper. Besides, now that his one true love is coming, I wouldn’t want him to find his personal belongings here and use it as an excuse to detain me.”
Eunuch Qi clutched the box, his face puckered with misery.
“What’s all this talk of misunderstandings…? Perhaps you could deliver it yourself?”
I bent over the medical books I had lost and now recovered.
“There’s no need.”
“How can there be no need? If you simply leave like this, you’ll regret it one day.”
Regret?
There was only one thing I regretted above all else in my life.
Saving Xiao Heng.