Tao Chuyi loved wearing pretty skirts and yearned to dress up as a girl. She kept Nangong Yunshang’s promise close to her heart, counting down the days on her fingers until the Lantern Festival finally arrived.
That noon, with the Third Princess and the prince consort away from the mansion, they had headed early to an inn where a deluxe room had been reserved ahead of time for Tao Chuyi to get ready.
Dresses, makeup, and accessories—all laid out and waiting. Behind the screen, Xichan held Tao Chuyi in place while applying her makeup. Outside, Nangong Yunshang sipped tea and waited patiently. For this outing, she hadn’t brought any familiar servants, instead summoning a few unfamiliar guards—not even Yinghong—just to safeguard Tao Chuyi’s identity.
Xichan bustled about, finishing the makeup before moving on to her hair. She styled half of it into a dangling bun while letting the rest cascade down her back.
They were in the middle of selecting hairpins when Tao Chuyi’s stomach growled. She rubbed her belly.
“Xichan, I’m hungry.”
Xichan had just picked up a hairpin. “Little ancestor, didn’t you eat at noon?”
Tao Chuyi kept rubbing her belly. “Ate too little.”
Two drumsticks, a plate of braised ribs, and a big bowl of rice—too little?
No helping it; she couldn’t let her young master go hungry. Xichan fetched some chestnut pastries—the kind that wouldn’t leave crumbs—and handed them over. Lip makeup could wait.
Tao Chuyi munched away as Xichan continued the primping. After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the makeup was done and the hair finished. A white jade jasmine hairpin secured her tresses, silver tassel earrings dangled from her earlobes, and a pair of Blue Sky White Jade Rabbit Carved Bracelets adorned her wrists.
Tao Chuyi stood and spun around. The Purple Kite Feather Skirt bloomed like a field of flowers with her movement, and her Orchid Face Golden Thread Cotton Boots bounced lightly against the floor. Xichan nodded in satisfaction before draping a Snow White Rabbit Fur Cloak over her shoulders.
“Sister!”
She dashed over to Nangong Yunshang, calling out sweetly with her hands clasped behind her back, head tilted as she leaned in close.
Nangong Yunshang looked up abruptly, her gaze locking onto a face that, with just a touch of makeup, radiated an ethereal, otherworldly beauty. She froze. The purple hue not only lent Tao Chuyi an air of nobility but also an elegance that inspired a sense of reverence, as if she were untouchable.
This was a side of Tao Chuyi she had never seen before.
“Sister? Do I look good?”
Tao Chuyi spun again, hopping about in front of her, her face breaking into a brilliant smile.
When that cold beauty’s features lit up with such a wide grin, Nangong Yunshang snapped out of her daze.
“Uh, well.” She coughed lightly and looked away. “You look good.”
Delighted by the praise, Tao Chuyi dashed around the room in glee, her cloak whipping up gusts of cool air. She was like a purple butterfly, refusing to alight.
Nangong Yunshang stood. “We’ll head out to the streets soon. Save some energy.”
“Let’s go now!”
Like a gust of wind, the purple butterfly was gone. Nangong Yunshang had no choice but to chase after her, coaxing and persuading until she finally calmed Tao Chuyi down with promises of treats. Only as night fell did they set out.
During the Lantern Festival, the streets of Jingyun Capital City blazed as bright as day. Crowds thronged both sides of the avenues, people everywhere. In the distance, rows of flower lanterns glowed in every shape and color imaginable.
“Sister, Sister, look! That lantern has six sides!”
Nangong Yunshang let Tao Chuyi tug her sleeve and followed her pointing finger to a row of hexagonal lanterns.
“Get a hexagonal fringed fan lantern.”
Tao Chuyi nodded, half understanding. “What about the ones with eight sides?”
Nangong Yunshang smiled. “Those are octagonal glazed lanterns.”
There were so many lanterns that Tao Chuyi could hardly take them all in. Without someone to guide her, she surely would have gotten lost.
Tao Chuyi pulled Nangong Yunshang onward. “Sister, there are lanterns in the sky too!”
“Those are Kongming lanterns.”
Nangong Yunshang tilted her head to the night sky dotted with floating lights. “People release them to send their wishes to the heavens, so the gods can hear them clearly.”
Tao Chuyi was thrilled, finding everything new and wanting it all.
“Sister, Sister, candied hawthorns!”
Nangong Yunshang: “We’ll buy some.”
“Sister, sugar figures!” Tao Chuyi pointed back at a stall.
Nangong Yunshang chuckled. “We’ll buy those too.”
A stall ahead drew an even bigger crowd, but Tao Chuyi had no fear of getting separated. She squeezed her way in and vanished.
“Chuyi? Chuyi!”
Nangong Yunshang and her attendants called out around the stall for ages with no sign of her. Anxiety mounting, she jolted when a pig head mask suddenly thrust forward.
She pulled it off to reveal Tao Chuyi’s innocent face, impossible to scold.
“I scared Sister! So fun!”
Nangong Yunshang let out a long breath— at least she was safe—then grabbed Tao Chuyi’s ear and dragged her away from the mask stall.
It took half a lifetime of apologies for Tao Chuyi to free her ear. Moments later, she spotted something else.
“Hey? Chuyi, slow down.”
Nangong Yunshang couldn’t keep up, so she stopped and sent Xichan after her.
Before long, the runaway returned, clutching a phoenix sugar figure.
“Sister, look! So pretty, so tasty. Here, all for you.”
Tao Chuyi held it up like a prized treasure, offering it to Nangong Yunshang with a smile so sweet it could melt hearts.
She had spotted it first and known her sister would love it.
Waiting for praise, Tao Chuyi tilted her head. “Sister? Don’t you like it?”
Nangong Yunshang came back to herself, her lips curving up. “I like it. Thank you, Chuyi.”
Tao Chuyi’s world was simple: good food and praise for being clever could make her happy all day. Especially praise from Nangong Yunshang, for Tao Chuyi’s eyes held only her Fairy Sister.
What she didn’t know was that Nangong Yunshang’s mind had flashed to someone else through that smile.
Years ago, they had traveled with Father Emperor to Jiangnan and stayed overnight at a local household. The family was surnamed Xia; the master was a Squire, wealthy by any measure.
The Xia family had a sole daughter about her age named Xia Qianhua. Unaware of their identities, the girl often called her “sister.” Once, just like this, Xia Qianhua had given her a phoenix sugar figure.
They stayed at the Xia mansion for a month before departing. Later, after acquiring her own estate, Nangong Yunshang sent people back to Jiangnan to find her childhood friend—only to learn the Xia family had been wiped out by enemies, not a soul surviving.
If Xia Qianhua had lived, she would be about the same age as this little one.
Lost in thought, Nangong Yunshang reached out and stroked Tao Chuyi’s head. “I won’t let anything happen to you again.”
Tao Chuyi blinked in confusion but beamed anyway. Sister was petting her head—what could be better?
As the hour grew late, they swung by a ring-toss stall on their way back. It offered flower lanterns and trinkets as prizes. Three hits won a lantern; ten hits earned another prize. No one had managed ten yet.
“Miss, care to play ring toss? Fifteen coppers for ten arrows.”
Tao Chuyi was eager. “I wanna play! I wanna play!”
Nangong Yunshang nodded to her attendants to pay as ten arrows were handed to Tao Chuyi.
Onlookers crowded around, eager to see if she could hit the mark.
Tao Chuyi nocked an arrow, aimed at the copper pot several times, but hesitated without loosing a single one. Whispers rippled through the crowd.
Thinking her nervous, Nangong Yunshang reassured her. “It’s fine if you miss. No pressure.”
At that moment, Tao Chuyi’s arrow flew in a perfect arc—clang!—straight into the pot. Cheers erupted from the crowd.
“Miss is amazing!” Xichan whooped from the sidelines as if she were the one tossing.
Nangong Yunshang was mildly surprised; she hadn’t expected Tao Chuyi to be so skilled at ring toss.
Buoyed by the praise, Tao Chuyi puffed up proudly and unleashed the rest—ten for ten.
The crowd went wild. The stall owner conceded defeat, thumbs up to Tao Chuyi.
“Miss has real skill! Pick a lantern, and a prize too.”
Tao Chuyi bounced over to the lanterns, scanning them twice before pointing to an octagonal glazed lantern. Its soft purple glow framed a snowy little dog.
“That one.”
It looked just like Fifteen; she could play with it back home.
The owner handed it over, then asked softly, “Miss, and for the prize?”
The prizes were jade pieces—genuine, if not priceless.
Tao Chuyi paused at the stall, then turned to Nangong Yunshang. “I want this.”
She pointed to an Orchid Emerald Jade Hairpin.
With both prizes in hand, they slipped away through the growing throng, drawn by Tao Chuyi’s feat.
Xichan carried the lantern behind them while Tao Chuyi clutched the hairpin, plotting when to put it in her sister’s hair.
“It’s getting late. Let’s head back,” Nangong Yunshang said, taking her hand and weaving against the flow of the crowd.
Tao Chuyi grinned slyly. “Okay!”
Their carriage waited at the West Market Entrance. Passing through the quieter West Market, they spotted a stall selling hairpins. A man was there picking one out.
“I’ll take this one.”
The stall owner beamed. “Young Master Wu has such good taste.”
After he paid and left, Tao Chuyi overheard the stall owner’s wife chatting with him.
“Madam Wu is so lucky, married to a husband who dotes on her.”
“Indeed. Even bedridden and ill, and Jurén Wu doesn’t mind. No concubines, no carousing—just loves his liquor.”
Tao Chuyi blinked twice. That person earlier seemed to have been carrying a jug of wine.
After returning to the estate, Tao Chuyi was wrapped in a cloak and stealthily escorted inside. To avoid drawing anyone else’s attention, only Xichan came along to attend her.
While Xichan went off to fetch water, Tao Chuyi sat obediently on the couch, waiting as she swung her feet back and forth.
Footsteps approached from outside, followed by the sound of the door opening.
Tao Chuyi was ready for bed and wanted Xichan to hurry up and help her wash and change.
“Xichan!”
She turned around, her smile vanishing in an instant as she stared in stunned silence.
“Fendie?”
Fendie’s eyes brimmed with tears, her emotions surging. She rushed forward at once and threw her arms around Tao Chuyi.
“I knew it was you! I’ve finally found you!”
