After a long time, she stood up. The warm mist had dissipated, causing the kitchen to seem even emptier and colder. She slowly packed up the now cold cakes, carefully wrapping them up, preparing to take them with her on the road tomorrow. 

The cake in the paper package gave off a faint scent of wisteria. That fragrance caused her to remember that all those years ago when she ate wisteria cakes, it was actually all on a fixed day. 

Her birthday.

The real one. 

Only on that day, would Mother take the trouble to pick through the wisteria vines. Out of a big bag, only the tender shoots can be used. She would wash them bit by bit, knead the dough, and roll it out. She would still have to go to the main kitchen to ask for lard. They have always been conscious and self-respecting people. It was only once a year that she agreed to let her mother go and flatter those snobbish women in the kitchen because she knew if she didn’t let her mother do this, then her mother would feel like her daughter had been shortchanged. She doesn’t want her mother to spend the days with her with that sort of emotion. 

In those years, she didn’t know why her birthdate was different from what her mother told everyone else. She didn’t know why she always had to celebrate her birthday in secret. She asked, but Mother didn’t answer. She only stroked her head with a slight sadness and said softly, “Zhi Wei, one day, you will understand.”

Now she did understand, but it was too late. 

After the heavy snowstorm that year, she thought she would never have Wisteria cake on her birthday again, neither did she plan on making it for herself. Some things, once it has passed then it’s passed. If it had been buried deep, then just leave it be. Digging them out would just be ripping open old wounds. 

Who could’ve thought, on this night, because of some unintentional words, she would once again encounter the wisteria fragrance. 

Feng Zhi Wei pressed her hand on the chopping board, feeling the bone-chilling coldness, lights flickering in her eyes, rippling with a hint of doubt.

Is this meal of wisteria cake tonight, a coincidence, or… 

After a while, she closed her eyes and sighed. 

Turning to a different direction, her frosty gaze fell on the imperial temple. There, two women with ulterior motives, under the green lamps and Buddha statues, are planning and plotting a chilling plan. 

There, a new son of the empire was being nurtured, waiting to be brought out at the most suitable time, to shake up the turbulent battle for the imperial throne. 

She pondered, carried the paper bag, closed the kitchen door, slowly walked to the backyard, and sat down by the well with the hidden tunnel straight to Prince Chu’s manor. 

The water in the well is clear and bright, reflecting tonight’s hazy moon. The swaying shadows of the trees on all sides are like countless fingers stretching out in vain.    

She sat by the well, looking up at the moon for a long time, until the moonlight broke, shattering into dawn, painting the morning sun in the sky. 

At daybreak, she slowly got up and left the well with her clothes damped with dew. 

The well was silent as if it would remain silent forever, silently recording the tranquility and turbulence of this night. 

The morning sunlight shot in like shattered gold, landing on the well platform. 

There, in a corner that was non too conspicuous, there were two thin characters that looked like they had been carved by fingernails with internal force on the bluestone along the well.

“Imperial Temple.” 

  ——————————————–

At dawn, the carriage and horses were already in the front yard along with two figures, one big and one small, waiting for her at the the door in high spirits. 

With some difficulty, Feng Zhi Wei managed to get herself ready, convincing herself she had covered up the fatigue from not sleeping all night. However, the moment Gu Nan Yi saw her he said immediately “Didn’t sleep.”

Feng Zhi Wei gave him a fake smile and tried to change the subject, “Have you brought everything? The big pillow Gu Zhi Xiao must have every night when she goes to bed…”

Something hit her leg. She turned around to see little Miss Gu with her left arm wrapped around a big pillow and her right arm with a cage around her elbow. The cage was too heavy to carry so it was dragging on the ground. There were also two monkeys on her shoulder, making her look like a rampaging cart, bumping all around, causing all the maids to scatter to avoid her. 

Feng Zhi Wei squatted down. The cage was exquisite but there was nothing inside. This girl, why did she carry this cage all the way here?

She sincerely inquired of little Miss Gu. Miss Gu rolled her eyes at her and said slowly, “I heard there are a lot of fun things over there.” 

It dawned on Feng Zhi Wei that little Miss Gu must have heard of the many exotic beasts in the Minnan area so she is planning to catch another pair of golden pen monkeys to add to her team of pets. 

“But to take this cage with you…” Feng Zhi Wei taught earnestly, feeling that if something like this appeared in the imperial envoy, people would mistakenly think she was out walking dogs or pets. 

Without saying a word, little Miss Gu flipped a bulge on the base of the cage. 

*Bang*

With a muffled sound, the top of the cage woven with golden bamboo strips abruptly spread out. Several of the originally bent strips suddenly popped up. The tips of the strips were as sharp as arrows and aimed straight at Feng Zhi Wei’s eyes. 

Feng Zhi Wei had bent over to ask her question, her head quite close to the cage. She never imagined that a cage belonging to a three-year-old child could actually be a deadly weapon. Before she could react, the strip had already arrived in front of her!

*snap*

A hand suddenly reached over, grabbed Feng Zhi Wei out of the way, and with a flick of his fingers, turned the bamboo strip into green powder in mid-air before it landed on the ground. 

Gu Nan Yi did not stop after these two actions. With a wave of his sleeve, the cage in Gu Zhi Xiao’s hand immediately flew out and cracked open as it hit the wall.

Seeing the cage smashed, Gu Zhi Xiao who had been standing there rigid out of fright, belatedly let out a shrill cry, ran over, picked up the cage and by the time she turned around there was already a sob in her voice, “I had pestered Lao Si to make this for seven days! Pay back!”

She leaped over, not at the Gu Nan Yi who had broken her cage but at Feng Zhi Wei, “Pay back, pay back, pay back!”

Feng Zhi Wei picked her up and let out a helpless smile at the heavens. Truly, even kids know to pick the soft persimmons to pinch. (A Chinese saying meaning people will often pick on the weak but avoid the strong.)

Looking at Gu Zhi Xiao’s face full of tears and snot from crying, it seemed that the cage indeed had taken a lot of her time and effort. Feng Zhi Wei’s eyes swept past the broken bamboo strips on the ground. She didn’t think that a child of Gu Zhi Xiao’s age would be so vicious to the point of using this thing to attack her. Just now when the bamboo strips had shot out, Gu Zhi Xiao also stood there in shock. She probably did not expect the force from the bamboo strips to be so strong. Taking all that into consideration, the child didn’t commit any great wrong. She turned her head to talk to Gu Nan Yi. He seemed very unhappy, even his aura had become much colder. 

Before she could say anything, Gu Nan Yi had already walked over, and with a lift of his hand, yanked Gu Zhi Xiao out of her hands and threw her by the wall. 

His gesture was definitely not gentle, so much so that when Gu Zhi Xiao landed, a cloud of dust rose from the ground and Feng Zhi Wei suspected that the little girl’s feet were probably numb from the impact. 

Gu Zhi Xiao was so shocked that she flinched and her tears were instantly forced back. Tilting her head back to stare up at Gu Nan Yi blankly, gu Zhi Xiao didn’t dare to throw a tantrum anymore. 

“You stay.” Master Gu’s words were short and concise as he immediately turned to walk away.  

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