As the starting point for the lantern festival's festivities, the banks of the Longjin Bridge for a mile in either direction were swarming with people, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, leaving almost no room to stand. Wei Qingming had just pulled me onto the bank when, before we could even exchange a word, a series of thunderous booms erupted. It turned out that the variety troupes entering the city from the Nanxun Gate had reached Longjin Bridge, and the performances of song, dance, and acrobatics had officially begun.
The already shoulder-to-shoulder area became even more restless and crowded. Everyone raised their hands and cheered, their faces glowing with excitement. It was easy to imagine that the road ahead would soon be choked by the procession of actors and musicians, making it impossible to move forward for quite some time.
Amidst the deafening roar of drums, music, and laughter, I had no choice but to lean close to Wei Qingming’s ear and shout, "Well, we’re stuck here!"
She smiled and lowered her head to whisper back into my ear, "Don't want to watch the show?"
Everyone around us was standing on tiptoe and craning their necks, their attention fixed on the performances. I took the opportunity to grab her sleeve and shamelessly burrow into her cloak, muttering, "I saw plenty of that back at the thorny enclosure. Tonight, I just want the two of us to be together..."
"Alright." Her smile deepened. She then gestured with her eyes toward a certain direction. "Would you like to come with me to see the view from up high?"
I nodded eagerly. In truth, as long as I was with her, anything was fine.
Just like at Second Brother Wen’s wedding feast many years ago, she led me through the crowd to a place known only to the two of us. The moonlight that night had been just as clear and full, filling one's heart with overflowing joy.
After walking for a while, I realized she was leading me toward the north side gate of the Great Xiangguo Temple. I felt a bit puzzled. "I heard the Great Xiangguo Temple closes for the entire day during the Lantern Festival. Can we get in?"
"We can," she said calmly. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. Soon, a young novice monk came to answer. Seeing her, he seemed quite familiar with her; he pressed his palms together in greeting and made an inviting gesture for us to enter. The boy remained silent the whole way, keeping his head down as he led us to the Zhenguo Tower, one of the twin towers within the temple grounds. He bowed again and departed on his own.
I looked up at the top of the tower, then toward the distant Mount Ao lantern display, and nodded with a smile. "I see. Watching the lanterns from up here—the Envoy certainly knows how to enjoy herself!"
"Shall we race to see who flies up first?" Wei Tian joked with a straight face.
I rolled my eyes at her, caught between laughter and tears. "What’s the point of racing? Could I ever beat you? Haven't flown between heaven and earth for half a month—is your heart itching for it?"
She narrowed her eyes and chuckled. While I was still speaking, she suddenly caught my wrist and soared upward.
"My heart is indeed itching," she said, as if implying something else.
The night wind was biting, but at this moment, it was merely a gentle lifting force that softly delivered us to the top of the tower, over a hundred feet high. She first set up a temporary array to ward off the cold, then took a plush rug from her spatial bag to spread on the ground. Turning around, she saw me pull out a wine flask and toss two cups back and forth playfully. She couldn't help but smile. "So, Ah Zhi was already prepared."
I grinned and filled a cup, handing it to her before pouring one for myself. We clinked them together with a crisp *ding*.
"Shouldn't we drink three cups?" I laughed. "And sing: 'First, I wish for my lord to live a thousand years; second, I wish for my own lasting health; third, like swallows upon the rafters, may we see each other year after year'..."
She smiled silently for a moment before saying, "Ah Zhi has already done so much for me. I haven't been this happy in perhaps over a decade."
"Wait until I've spent a thousand or eight hundred birthdays with you; you'll be bored to death of me..."
The Envoy certainly knew how to pick a spot. Looking down from the top of the Zhenguo Tower, one could see the very heart of the Imperial Street. Looking north, the full panorama of Mount Ao was visible. Unlike watching through a window at the Fengle or Chunan Pavilions, where the view was always partially cut off, gazing out from this height was truly a magnificent sight.
For a moment, the bustling world and the teeming masses felt both very close and very far away.
We drank wine casually, chatting about this and that. When the third round of fireworks went off, the entire world turned a brilliant gold. In the gaps between the crackling pops, I caught a glimpse of Hong Lu riding a horse, leading two men who looked like guards to knock on the temple gate. After receiving permission from the novice monk, he dismounted and headed straight for the Zhenguo Tower.
"Master!" Hong Lu sent his voice up via transmission. "The Crown Prince requests your presence at the Xuanle Tower."
Wei Qingming frowned, clearly unwilling to agree. I recognized the two guards as the Crown Prince's most trusted attendants; one could not snub the Prince's face in front of his own men. I reached out and squeezed her hand to signal it was fine. Only then did she ask reluctantly, "What is the matter?"
The one who answered was the guard Li Han. He cupped his hands in greeting from horseback, speaking politely with a smile, "The Imperial Willow-Shooting Match. His Highness wishes to invite you to observe it with him."
"Thank you for His Highness's kind intentions. You two go ahead; I shall follow shortly," Wei Qingming said.
Once the third round of fireworks concluded, the royal-sponsored competitions in calligraphy, poetry, and willow-shooting were to begin. Time was short. Hong Lu was thorough in his duties and had even prepared horses. Wei Qingming and I trotted toward the Xuanle Tower, arriving in just a few moments.
The Xuanle Tower was the highest gate tower of the Inner Palace, directly facing the Imperial Street to the south. Historically, during festivals or days of triumph, the royal family would watch the ceremonies on the street from this tower. This year's willow-shooting competition was uniquely designed, said to be held right there on the Imperial Street, though no one knew exactly how it would be conducted. The street was packed with people, and arrows have no eyes—what if someone was accidentally injured?
With nearly half an hour left before the start, many warriors dressed in mounted archery attire were already waiting in the designated area below the Xuanle Tower. There were sons of official families with tall horses and fine weapons, as well as generals of humble origin but extraordinary bearing. There were even quite a few dandy young masters mixed in, purely there to put on a show and win the hearts of ignorant young maidens.
The Crown Prince had actually come down from the Xuanle Tower and was sitting at the entrance talking to those around him. Seeing Wei Qingming arrive, he called out joyfully, "Master Wei! To think it has been over a month since we last met."
Wei Qingming exchanged polite greetings, and the Prince impatiently pulled her toward the field. "Time is short. Please, change your clothes and enter the field."
"I am not skilled in this art and have no intention of competing for His Majesty's rewards," Wei Qingming said. "If Your Highness wishes to win some prizes, I can certainly offer some advice."
"Ah, I haven't learned much mounted archery yet," the Prince said, shaking his head. "Wouldn't it be better if Master won it for me?"
As he spoke, he ordered his attendants to bring over a bow rack, quivers, and archery attire. He personally picked up a heavy, shimmering golden longbow and handed it to Wei Qingming, looking at her with eyes full of expectation. "I've had people calibrate all of these; they are ready for use. This one was bestowed by my grandfather..."
...Who would dare use that bow!
Just as Wei Qingming was about to refuse, I covered my mouth and laughed, speaking first, "We don't yet know the rules of this willow-shooting match; wouldn't it be fun to just play? However, the bow Your Highness holds is powerful, meant for hunting great beasts. Willow-shooting requires precision; a lighter bow would be better."
"Fine." The Prince waved his small hand grandly. "Master, take your pick!"
Wei-daren gave me a rather helpless look, but since I was the one who told her to go, she didn't seem so resistant anymore. She only said, "No need to change clothes. I'll test my hand first."
"Right!" The little master responded excitedly.
I helped her take off her cloak and tied back her cumbersome sleeves. She then picked up a bow at random; though not as heavy as the one the Prince had held, it wasn't light either. Many people were already practicing their shots in the field, though they were all aiming at targets dozens of paces away. Wei Qingming pulled the bowstring slightly, making minor adjustments. Before she could fire a single arrow, the herald eunuch shouted that the competition was about to begin and asked everyone to gather at a certain spot.
After the gong sounded, a wide and long roll of red silk suddenly appeared out of thin air above the Imperial Street, floating about fifty feet in the sky and slowly extending from east to west. The competitors lined up, all standing upon the red silk—there were nearly three hundred of them.
At the same time, the lights of the sixty-foot-tall Mount Ao lantern display near Longjin Bridge dimmed. When they were relit, it had transformed into the likeness of a genuine mountain, and atop this mountain stood five giant weeping willows. Every single leaf was crafted from a glass-like crystal, shimmering with brilliant, multicolored light from afar.
The creativity was quite interesting. Gasps of wonder erupted from the crowd as people praised the Emperor's ingenuity.
The herald eunuch clearly read out the rules of the competition. It turned out that the green, yellow, black, white, and red willow leaves carried different point values. Each person could fire a maximum of twenty arrows within the allotted time, and the one with the highest total score would win. Meanwhile, arrows marked with each person's identity were distributed.
"Twenty arrows?" I said in surprise.
Before the Prince could wrap his head around it, I explained, "I see that the five willow trees together have no more than fifteen hundred leaves. With three hundred people, that's six thousand arrows—one hit for every four shots. The distance must be nearly three thousand paces. Although cultivators have strong eyesight, hitting a basin-sized green willow leaf is no easy task. Moreover, the red ones are barely half the size of a palm. I suspect hitting those will be mostly down to luck..."
As I spoke, I began to feel nervous. I had never seen Wei Tian shoot an arrow before. Seeing her reluctant expression earlier, it seemed she wasn't skilled at it. I hoped she wouldn't miss every shot today and lose face...
While we were talking, the herald eunuch ordered everyone to draw their bows. In an instant, the bustling, jubilant street fell into a deathly silence. When the wind blew, one could even hear the faint, tinkling sound of the crystalline willow leaves clashing.
Both the Prince and I looked up at Wei Qingming without blinking, praying that she would at least place in the rankings...
A gong sounded, and arrows whistled through the air like a torrential downpour. Because each arrow was infused with the archer's spiritual power, they emitted brilliant, multicolored lights, merging into a kaleidoscopic river that drew another round of gasps and cheers from the crowd.
A cultivator's bow and arrow require the addition of spiritual power, and the harmony between the two is extremely important. It is said that even a famous general risks missing the target if they are separated from their most familiar bow. The Prince didn't understand this and had shoved a bunch of "divine bows" at her at the last minute; none of them were necessarily easy to use. Wei-daren's first few arrows were naturally just for testing. Sure enough, the first arrow fell before it even reached the foot of Mount Ao.
The little master clearly hadn't expected this result. He froze for a moment, then tried to make excuses for her, until the first three arrows all missed...
Even I was a bit caught off guard, and the Prince and I could only stare at each other.
Fortunately, the fourth arrow was a marginal hit, barely sticking into a yellow willow leaf. The fifth and sixth arrows steadily struck a black and a white leaf, respectively, even coming very close to their centers. However, the sky was filled with arrows flying at all sorts of angles. If my cultivation weren't enough to support my eyesight, and if I weren't focusing intently on her arrows alone, I would have been completely unable to tell what was happening.
By now, nearly half the people had withdrawn from the competition. The arrows of those untalented young masters could only fly halfway; unable to bear the embarrassment, they had long since slunk away, abandoning their bows and arrows. The density of the arrow rain gradually thinned.
Just when I thought Wei-daren's seventh arrow would target a red leaf, she unexpectedly fired a crooked shot. Not only did it fail to touch a single leaf, but it also interfered with several nearby arrows. In the end, seven or eight arrows that were likely to hit the red leaves were tangled together and fell to the ground...
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 南熏门 | Nanxun Gate | A gate of the capital city. |
| 百戏 | Baixi | Traditional Chinese variety arts, including acrobatics, music, and dance. |
| 大相国寺 | Great Xiangguo Temple | A famous Buddhist temple in Kaifeng (the capital). |
| 镇国塔 | Zhenguo Tower | "State-Protecting Tower," a specific tower within the temple. |
| 宣乐楼 | Xuanle Tower | A high gate tower facing the Imperial Street. |
| 射柳 | Willow-shooting | A traditional archery competition. |
| 鳌山 | Mount Ao | A massive lantern display shaped like a mythical mountain. |
| 乾坤袋 | Spatial bag | A common Xianxia trope; a bag with internal space for storage. |
| 鸿陆 | Hong Lu | Wei Qingming's subordinate. |
| 李翰 | Li Han | An imperial guard. |
| 魏天 | Wei Tian | Wei Qingming's style name or an alternative name. |
| 阿栀 | Ah Zhi | The protagonist's name. |
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