Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Huazhao Festival is the birthday of all flowers.

On this day, countless men and women among the common folk gather in pairs to enjoy the blossoms and go on spring outings.

In the palace, Mother Empress opens Shanchun Garden, allowing all noble youths to enter and wander. No one would miss this rare opportunity to admire the royal gardens.

In my dream, I didn’t go that day. At that time, I was already betrothed to Cheng Su and needed to avoid any appearance of impropriety; naturally, he didn’t go either.

I hadn’t expected that this time, he would actually invite me to the Huazhao Festival.

I felt listless about it.

If I went, Cheng Su would surely be smug. The thought of my actions being controlled by him made me feel uneasy.

Yet, if I didn’t go, I wouldn’t be able to rest easy. I was dying to know how he knew I was going to the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and why he knew I intended to deal with Chen Xiang.

Mother Empress smiled and said, “Is it a difficult choice? Although Liu Xu’s status is somewhat lower, his family background is clean, his character is upright, and he possesses a true scholar’s integrity. Cheng Su is as handsome as a jade lord and talented in both civil and military arts, but it’s a pity he’s a military officer. He’s inevitably a bit too blunt, which I fear might displease you.”

“Cheng Su is fine!” I blurted out.

Mother Empress looked at me with a deep gaze, a smile playing on her lips, but she said nothing.

A wave of guilt washed over me, and I hurriedly tried to cover it up. “No matter how good Cheng Su is, I cannot marry him.”

“Why?” Mother Empress asked.

I felt a bit melancholy.

Why…

Naturally, it was because he was short-lived, and naturally, because I could not walk the old path from my dream again.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell Mother Empress these things.

I shook my head. “He has bad luck. I don’t want to be dragged down by him.”

My words made Mother Empress turn serious instead. “You’re right. We should have their birth charts calculated first.”

Mother Empress truly did send a palace maid to summon the Celestial Master.

After thinking it over back and forth, I eventually went to Shanchun Garden.

Many people had already arrived in the garden. Everyone stood up to pay their respects and welcomed me to the seat of honor.

At a glance, I spotted the dazzling Cheng Su among the crowd.

He was dressed in white, styled like a scholar. Lacking the sharp edge of a military officer, he appeared as upright as jade with extraordinary grace, drawing the covert gazes of many noble young ladies.

But from the moment I appeared, his eyes remained fixed on me, as if he wanted to bore a hole through me with his gaze.

My face flushed slightly.

In my dream, Cheng Su and I lived in perfect harmony. He also loved to look at me like this, even saying, ‘Adjusting the lamp to look at a sword while drunk is nowhere near as satisfying as looking at a beauty under the lamp.’

Could it be that he lost his fighting spirit and died on the battlefield because he was too busy being infatuated with my beauty?

Thinking of this possibility, I raised my eyes and gave him a sharp glare.

Cheng Su: “…”

County Princess Anning said with a beaming smile, “Princess, why are you glaring at Cheng Su? What did he do wrong for you to treat him like this?”

County Princess Anning, Sun Jinzhu, is the daughter of my uncle, the Duke of Ningguo.

She was born only three days apart from me and was sent into the palace at a young age to grow up with me. It wasn’t until our grandmother passed away when she was ten that she returned to the Duke’s Manor.

Before the age of ten, we were truly like sisters.

But after ten, she targeted me at every turn, loving to compete with me. Whatever I had, she insisted on having as well; if she couldn’t get it, she would have my aunt come to the palace to beg for it.

I always felt that having seen the wealth of the imperial family, she looked down on her own father and mother.

But in my dream, she and I were captured together. To protect me, she bit the enemy general’s hand to let me escape, only to be stabbed to death by him.

After waking from the dream, I gradually came to understand.

Character is something you can’t distinguish when people are at their peak; you can only see it clearly when they are at their lowest.

Therefore, even though her tone was provocative now, I wasn’t annoyed.

I waved her over with a smile.

Jinzhu was stunned, clearly not expecting me to treat her this way.

She hesitated for a moment before walking over haughtily, challenging me, “Li Fuyun, what do you want?”

I pulled her down to sit beside me and pushed all the flower cakes and snacks she liked on the table toward her.

“Take whatever you like to eat.”

The expression on Jinzhu’s face shifted several times. Finally, she hissed in a low, angry voice, “Why aren’t you eating? Do you want to watch me eat ungracefully so I’ll make a fool of myself in front of Cheng Su? Or do you want me to get fat so I look like a simpleton? Li Fuyun, I knew you were up to no good. I won’t fall for your tricks.”

I: “…”

Has she staged an entire palace drama in her head?

Wait, does she like Cheng Su?

I looked around at the surroundings.

Good heavens.

Among the eligible young ladies present, not a single one’s gaze wasn’t on Cheng Su. Occasionally, a few eyes would land on Liu Xu, but they quickly moved away.

Although Liu Xu was also handsome, his family background was truly ordinary compared to Cheng Su’s.

I picked up two pieces of cake, giving one to her and taking one for myself.

“I’m eating too. Do you fancy Cheng Su?”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Jinzhu’s face turned beet red.

I shook my head. “You’d better move on. Although Cheng Su is good, unfortunately, he has one flaw.”

Jinzhu got a bit nervous. “What flaw?”

“He’s short-lived.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Otherwise, why would I refuse the marriage?” I said very seriously.

Jinzhu was stunned. Her upright posture collapsed, and she unconsciously nibbled on the cake without saying a word.

Seeing her so well-behaved made me feel a bit sorry for her. I gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.

Right at that moment, I looked up and saw Cheng Su, completely oblivious, picking up a piece of fish cake to put in his mouth.

My heart jolted. “Cheng Su, that’s a fish cake! You’ll get a rash if you eat it!”

Cheng Su froze, taking the fish cake out of his mouth to examine it closely.

He then looked up, his eyes and brows full of smiles, like a gentle spring breeze.

“Thank you for the reminder, Princess. Su almost made a grave mistake.”

He calmly switched it for a peach blossom cake, his previous gloominess swept away.

Meanwhile, Jinzhu snapped her head up and said huffily, “You even know he gets a rash from eating fish cakes, yet you lied to me saying he’s short-lived. Li Fuyun, you’ve gone too far!”

The crowd looked at me and then at Cheng Su with shocked expressions.

Then, they all lowered their heads and began to whisper among themselves.

I: “…”

I should have let Cheng Su eat that fish cake and get covered in rashes.