Later that day, Jingrui couldn't sleep. She groaned in frustration, flipping and turning in her bed, before sitting up. In this life, she didn't have the courage to meet Prince Zhanying again. But how could she continue to avoid him forever when she was living right under his roof? Besides, she just broke Yuansong's rule and trespassed into the archive. The prince should be here to drag her to the dungeon and have her killed any time soon.
She glanced out the window, and the eerie darkness crept over her heart. No speckles of stars danced across the sky that night. The only light was from the waning moon. It seemed the Night Immortal was in a bad mood that day so was Jingrui.
On such a lonely night, she missed her sister's company. She missed having her sister lull her to sleep with a lullaby. The sweet fragrance of peach blossoms from outside entered her nose, and she closed her eyes, hugging her knees to her chest. Her hand reached for the jade knot, the only possession that held the warmth of her loved ones.
Her eyes snapped wide open when she couldn't feel the knot on her strap. She stood up and flipped over her blankets and drawers.
Nothing.
"Where is it?" She clutched her head. "Where could it be. . .?"
Jingrui stiffened when a memory hit her. "Oh god, I left it!" she breathed and let out a string of curse.
She had sworn a heavenly oath that she would not step foot in the archive again, and she couldn't go back on such a divine oath. But the jade knot mattered to her more than her life.
Jingrui began to pace, pondering over a solution. It soon hit her that the God of War must have put the fallen scroll back onto the shelf, which meant he must have seen the knot. Considering him, he would have kept it. So, the knot was definitely not within the archive, but with Prince Zhanying.
She gulped. That thought didn't console her. Getting the knot back from Prince Zhanying would be a thousand times trickier than breaking into the archive. Her brain burned as she tried to think of a solution. In the end, she shot up from the bed, her eyes flashing with determination and the recklessness of her nature. She knew she must retrieve the knot no matter what. It was her only lead to finding the culprit.
Jingrui slid the door of her room open and stepped out into the dark and silent night. She took a deep breath, inhaling the peach blossoms scent to fuel her courage.
At least, she had put a tracker on the jade knot before she left the Red Valley. Closing her eyes, she focused her inner energy to her finger. A soft glow flew from her fingertip and into the wintry air.
"Lead me to the jade lucky charm knot," she muttered as she waved her hand, sending the soft glow forward.
The light began to move, guiding her and glinting softly so she could see through the darkness. Jingrui crept across Madam Fu and Yuansong's room, following the glow across the long veranda until at last, it extinguished. She was left in front of the largest quarters at the end of the courtyard.
Jingrui gulped. So, Prince Zhanying really did take her jade knot.
Her fists clenched as she stood rigid in front of the door. Although she was afraid, she knew she must fetch back her knot. It didn't matter what the consequences were and what method she must gamble on.
Besides, the Prince was blind. She could sneak up on him, and he wouldn't—couldn't—see her.
With that thought, she pried against the gap between the door of Prince Zhanying's quarters and slipped inside. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and forced out her cultivation to conceal her presence—a cheap trick for an immortal, but the only one she could pull off well enough.
A strong smell of medication diffused across the neat quarters. Jingrui held in her sneeze as she scanned across the spacious room. A floor table with a tea set laid in the midst of flowing dragon-embroidered tapestries that hung from the ceiling. Black and white Wei Qi¹⁴ pawns aligned against a checkerboard, and several antiques lined the walls, giving the luxury of the royalties. At the far end of the quarters, a large curtain stood, blocking her from, what she assumed was, the sleeping chamber.
Jingrui walked about as she began her search for the jade knot. Looking through every shelf and table, and inside every vase and casket, the jade knot was still nowhere in sight. She exhaled heavily, her brows drawing together as she glanced towards his sleeping chamber. Since she was already here and determined to retrieve her jade knot, she thought there was nothing to lose.
Giving herself a reassuring nod, she stealthily made way towards the curtain and slipped behind it.
And sometimes, she wondered if she was asking for death.
The eerie stillness felt sinister. Prince Zhanying lay on the bed, his long hair tangling like the waves of the four seas. His robe was thin and hung loosely on his body, revealing his chest, which was covered with the scars she was accustomed to seeing. His eyes were shut, but just like when she had spent nights with him, his face held no comfort.
She crouched a little farther away from his bed and began flipping through the drawers as quietly as she could. After going through all the drawers, her body was numbed from tensing, yet she had found nothing.
Worries amplified in her, making her forehead damp with cold sweat. There was no way the light had misled her; it was a tracker she put on the knot, so she would never lose it. The knot was definitely with Prince Zhanying.
She stood up and glanced towards the figure on the bed, but to her surprise, the bedsheets were empty.
Her blood ran cold. The darkness of the night seemed to suddenly consume all her strength, and her knees wobbled. The hair by her neck stood up when she felt warmth fanning against her skin. Slowly, she turned around, and her face came an inch away from that of the God of War's.
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14) Wei Qi (圍棋) : a game of go/Chinese chess
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