She suddenly stopped.

  The Princes all stopped as well, eyes wide open as they looked upwards, colorful expressions on their faces.

  Before them lay the low hill paved with white stone, and on top of the hill stood a pavilion, its eaves spread like a flying bird’s wings. From the eaves hung, high and low, small jade bells that rang out and chimed in a clear, beautiful melody with the passing breeze.

  A man was already inside the pavilion.

  The man held a jade wine cup and drank clear wine as he leaned against the pavilion’s railing. His moon-white sleeves were embroidered with golden dragons, and his brilliant pearl and gold crown bound down his flowing dark hair. A breath of air swept over the high pavilion, tossing loose a stray hair, and they all watched as he gently pinned it back an ear.

  All the pavilion servant girls seemed for a moment to forget to breath.

  The unsurpassed beauty of the generation.

  He stood casually and elegantly as if all that lay before him was his. After finishing off one cup, he tilted up his cup, and a servant girl immediately moved forward, very happily pouring another cup for him.

  Down below, everyone was still astonished.

  “Everyone is here?” He called forth from the top of the hill, a guest playing host as he raised his cup. “Come, come, the little Wei Family’s liquor “Ping Jiang Chun[1]” is quite decent. Rich and mellow, and leaves a wonderful flavor in your mouth. Don’t be polite, come have a cup.”


  The first one to recover was the Seventh Prince, Ning Yii.

  “So Sixth Elder Brother has already shot ahead.” He laughed as he gazed up the hill. “And here we were anxiously waiting at the Front Hall when you had already passed into the inner chambers.”


  Second Prince Ning Sheng turned his eyes and glanced at Feng Zhiwei.

  Feng Zhiwei did not know whether to laugh or cry. This strategy truly stole the fuel to smother the flame — Ning Yi, this brother, with him so comfortably and unrestrainedly sitting there in her pavilion, it would be odd if the princes did not assume that the two exchanged private messages.

  When she thought about exchanging private messages, Feng Zhiwei could not help but think back to that incident in the dark room, with the faint fragrance of flowers and the warm breath…… her face flushed, and she was glad for the mask over her face.

  “So the Sixth Prince has also come.” Feng Zhiwei smiled as she silently impugned her butler. “This ‘Ping Jiang Chun’ is our Front Hall wine for our normal guests. The Sixth Prince has taken it by mistake, should we not replace it with something more suitable?”


  The Princes around her all showed some relief — Old Six and Wei Zhi were not as close as they had feared.

  “Sixth Brother, you should not have done this.” Second Prince Ning Sheng laughed, hand affectionately on Feng Zhiwei’s shoulder again. “If you want to drink Brother Wei’s wine, you need to figure out where the best wine is hidden first, how can you be so impatient.”


  Feng Zhiwei’s shoulder was already numb with all the pats that it had been given, but she could only slap on a stiff smile and secretly curse — Brother Wei your face!

  “Since I’ve offended Little Wei last time,” Ning Yi said, his eyes falling on the hand on Feng Zhiwei’s shoulder before flicking away. “He has hidden all the good things away.”


  Little Wei? Little Wei your face!

  Too lazy to play word games much longer, Feng Zhiwei hurriedly invited the Princes to climb up to the pavilion while she called for her servants to replace the liquor. This “Ping Jiang Chun” was in fact the best liquor in her mansion, and now she needed to find something better in a rush. Luckily, the clever and bright Yan Huaishi was here for her, and his servants were already rushing about behind the scenes. After some time, “Qian Gu Chun[2]”, one of the best liquors in Dijing, was brought up to the pavilion, and all the other Princes turned meaningful smiles towards Ning Yi.

  Ning Yi himself did not respond, only gesturing slightly with his cup in Feng Zhiwei’s direction as he spoke: “Truly, the “Yi Hu Zhu[3]” wine is also decent, Brother Wei should try some next time.”


  “Your Highness has good eyes, and with your attentiveness, your recommendation could never be wrong.” Feng Zhiwei smilingly replied.

  The two exchanged a glance and both chuckled.

  As she had expected, Prince Chu truly did have spies in the Qiu Mansion, and one was even of quite the decent position. Feng Zhiwei thought about these matters as she entertained her guests. Madam Qiu’s private courtyard was not somewhere an ordinary servant could enter. Ning Yi was clearly warning her, revealing the existence of his spy in order to tell her that all her actions were under his control, and that she should not make any waves.

  Feng Zhiwei had never expected to conceal her movements from Ning Yi. The two could be said to each have a hold on the other, and so both would move circumspectly, though she was of course the comparatively weaker party, so clearly she would not do anything stupid.

  She was a forthright person, really.

  “Old Ten also came with me.” Ning Yi smiled as he spoke. “But “One Drink Andy” couldn’t hold his liquor so I found a place to let him rest, hopefully I haven’t found you trouble?”


  “Not at all, not at all.” Feng Zhiwei smiled charmingly, putting on the face of a great host.

  “We have wine, and everyone is here, how about we play a Winding Stream Party game?” Seventh Prince Ning Yii proposed.

  “Let the theme be hot and cold, four lines in a round. The first three lines must include at least one hot and one cold thing, and the final line must end in three characters. If your line is bad, you’ll have to drink three cups as punishment.” Fifth Prince Ning Yan smiled and suggested.

  “Old Five really is in a good mood.” The Second Prince cast a sideways glance at his brother. “Is the Canal construction finished?”


  “I came back to the capital for my mother’s birthday.” Fifth Prince said calmly, his words straightforward and simple.

  The Empress had died early, and Fifth Prince’s mother Imperial Noble Consort Chang was the empress’s cousin, and was the reigning power in the Imperial Harem. The Chang Family is extremely powerful, and their background was what got Fifth Prince off the hook despite his involvement in the framing founding ministers debacle.

  The Tian Sheng Emperor often maintained political balance by setting power against power. The powerful Chang Family lived in Tian Nan Province, and Tian Sheng Dynasty’s only non-lineage Prince, Prince Yong Ning, lived right next door in Xi Ping Province. Grand Secretariat Yao Ying and Hu Sheng Shan both worked for Ning Yi, and so the Tian Sheng Emperor found new ministers to balance Ning Yi’s reach, creating new titles for several young ministers in each of the six ministries, half of whom worked for the Seventh Prince.

  Different powers balanced and restrained each other, keeping any one faction from overpowering the others. This was the Tian Sheng Emperor’s fundamental political strategy.

  And because of this as well, the Princes had never lost their fighting spirit, and were always cultivating their own power and fighting each other.

  Allow this Minor Minister to offend and begin first, throwing out a brick to attract the jade.” Feng Zhiwei said, not wanting the Prince’s to quarrel in her mansion, so she filled the cups with liquor and floated them down the river by the hill. “In the clear jade cup lies freshly warmed liquor[4].”


  The cup floated by the Second Prince.

  “Beneath the Yin Ma Bridge hangs a red river lantern[5].” The second prince said, hurriedly taking up the cup.

  Cups floated by the Fifth Prince and he cocked his brows as he took a sip. “Snow flies in the hall as we huddle around the brazier[6].” He said, smiling. “I’ve made it too easy for the next person.”


  The final jade cup floated down the river and stopped before Ning Yi.

  Ning Yi smiled, his long eyebrows dancing as he threw back the wine. “I am freezing[7]!”


  Everyone laughed, and Feng Zhiwei almost spat out her liquor, looking up in disbelief at Ning Yi — this bad guy also had this kind of humor?

  “Old Six, what kind of line was that!” Second Prince laughed uproariously and pushed Ning Yi. “That won’t do, that won’t do, take your three cups!”


  [1] 平江春 Tranquil Spring River

  [2] 千谷醇 Thousand Valleys Mellow wine

  [3] 一斛珠, A Casket of Pearls

  [4] 碧(Bi) 玉(Yu) 杯(Bei) 中(Zhong) 新(Xin) 温(Wen) 酒(Jiu)

  [5] 饮(Yin) 马(Ma) 桥(Qiao) 下(Xia) 河(He) 灯(Deng) 红(Hong)

  [6] 飞(Fei) 雪(Xue) 庭(Ting) 前(Qian) 拥(Yong) 炉(Lu) 坐(Zuo)

  [7] 冻(Dong)的(De)我(Wo)