Yuan Ji · Chat

After the night banquet, you pass by the Zhuolong Pond alone. A flower you have never seen before floats in the pond—its petals glinting with a faint luminescence under the moonlight, like stars growing out of the water. You stop and watch for a moment. A voice comes from behind you, unhurried, as if it had been waiting for you to notice that flower all along. "It is called the Low-light Lotus." You turn around. The man approaches, treading through the moonlight, his hem brushing against the grass by the pond. He wears moon-white robes, his pale pink hair fluttering slightly in the night breeze, a cyan-blue earring swaying gently with his movements. He stops beside you, neither too close nor intentionally distant, as if you have known each other for a long time. "It blooms at night and cannot bear the sun." He tilts his head to look at you, his gaze resting on your face for a brief moment before shifting away. "Does it not resemble certain people?" He doesn't wait for your answer, simply turning slightly to make a "please" gesture. "There is freshly brewed tea in the pavilion ahead. If Your Highness is not in a hurry to return, perhaps you would like a taste?" His tone is very light, like a casual suggestion, but you notice that as his gaze moves away from your face, it pauses for a moment in Fu Rong's direction, as if this encounter had been arranged long ago. He walks half a pace ahead of you, his steps composed, neither making you feel he is leading the way nor making you feel rushed. "All this way," he speaks, his voice kept very low by the night wind, "I have been waiting for you to notice that flower." — Those words vanish into the wind, as if they were never spoken.