Chapter Five: The Sound of the Flute Enters the Dream

Update Time: 2013-05-09

Outside the Ruixiang Pavilion, Qingfeng leaned against a black nanmu carriage, polishing her sword. Her gaze repeatedly drifted to the entrance until she saw three people cross the threshold and head her way. She swiftly sheathed her sword, nimbly hopped down, and set the carriage step in place.

Yue Lianyue, lost in thought, did not banter with Qingfeng as usual, but stepped past her, ascended the carriage step, and entered the carriage with a lowered head. Lan Shui and Ziling exchanged a glance before following inside. Qingfeng, slightly dazed, quickly retrieved the step, took her seat on the box, and crisply called, "To the residence." At her words, the driver flicked the reins, urging the horses into a brisk trot toward the Yue estate.

Since leaving the restaurant, Yue Lianyue had been drifting in a daze, a faint, elusive sound of the xiao haunting her ears—almost audible, yet never clear. When the melody finally faded, she found herself sitting on a sandalwood chair in her room, barely recalling the carriage ride home, and with no memory at all of how she returned to Lanxiang Garden.

At that moment, her throat felt parched, and irritation gnawed at her heart. She raised the teacup from the low table to her lips, but in her haste, she choked on the tea, coughing violently.

Xiangling, attending at her side, hurried forward, taking the cup with one hand and rhythmically patting her mistress’s back with the other. Seeing Yue Lianyue in such discomfort, she asked worriedly, "Miss, is it bad?"

"I'm… I'm fine… just drank too fast, that's all… it's nothing…" Yue Lianyue's cheeks were flushed, clearly suffering from the coughing fit. As she gradually caught her breath, she spoke weakly, "I don't know why, but since leaving Ruixiang Pavilion, I've felt so restless… Help me to the couch in the inner room so I may lie down for a while…"

She rose from her chair as she finished speaking, only to find her legs numb from sitting too long. She hadn't noticed it while seated, but as she stood, it caught her off guard. If not for Xiangling's quick support, she would have collapsed back into the chair.

Carefully, Xiangling helped her mistress move in place, then guided her past the carved zitan and glass screen adorned with orchid motifs, into the inner chamber. There, she assisted Yue Lianyue in removing her shoes and stockings, fetched an azure brocade quilt from the cupboard, and tucked her in. The room was already warm from the underfloor heating, and with the quilt, it was quite cozy.

Yue Lianyue was truly exhausted; within moments, she had drifted into a deep sleep. Ziling, seeing her mistress slumbering peacefully, quietly closed the window and tiptoed out.

She had only just entered the outer room when she saw Lan Shui, dusted with snow, coming in. Ziling, about to speak, quickly signaled for silence, fetched a duster from the long-necked vase by the door, and brushed the snowflakes from Lan Shui's shoulders, murmuring, "Miss just fell asleep. She seemed utterly worn out. I don't know what happened—she barely spoke on the way back, then sat in the chair for a whole hour before moving."

Lan Shui frowned, casting a worried glance toward the inner chamber. "Could she have caught a chill?"

"Her complexion doesn't suggest it, and I didn't dare check her pulse for fear of angering her. You know my medical skills are modest, but not so poor as to miss something obvious," Ziling replied.

Lan Shui nodded. "Then she must simply be tired. Keep a close eye on her. I need to check on the Eldest Miss in the Firefly Garden—it's a special instruction from the Young Master. With the Eldest Miss arriving soon, nothing can go wrong at this critical moment."

Ziling, seeing the gravity in Lan Shui's expression, promised earnestly, "Don't worry, Sister Lan. I’ll stay here. Once I fetch my embroidery basket, I’ll keep watch in the outer room and make a few more brocade handkerchiefs for Miss to use during the new year."

As the two conversed quietly, they failed to notice Yue Lianyue, in the inner room, beginning to frown in her sleep, her rest growing increasingly uneasy.

In her dream, Yue Lianyue wandered barefoot in a pale yellow gauze dress, walking across a boundless snowy plain. There was nothing but snow in every direction; all else was lost to the white expanse. From somewhere ahead, the faint, familiar strains of a xiao drifted to her. Though she could not recall where she had heard it before, she was compelled to follow the sound. The melody seemed close, yet no matter how far she walked, she could not find its source. After an indeterminate time, she finally glimpsed a hazy figure ahead, playing a blood-red jade flute. Amidst the endless white, the xiao’s crimson hue was piercingly strange. For a moment, nothing else existed in Yue Lianyue’s eyes but that flash of red. Suddenly, a wrenching pain tore through her abdomen, radiating through her entire body. She collapsed, fainting onto the snow.

On the couch, Yue Lianyue’s eyes flew open, her forehead beaded with cold sweat. She patted her chest, still shaken—it had only been a dream, but why was the xiao everywhere? Something felt amiss.

She turned to look out the window and found the sky outside already pitch-black, with scattered snowflakes still drifting down. She had only meant to rest for a moment, yet had slept far past her intention. As she tried to rise, she felt a rush of heat in her abdomen and a dampness beneath her.

She assumed it was simply the floor heating making her too warm under the quilt, causing her to sweat. Yet the more she thought about it, the stickier and more uncomfortable she felt.