Chapter 38: A Nighttime Stroll by the Lake

  More and more doubts are rising in my heart. Why don't they want to go boating? Do they know what happened at the Fengyue Pavilion that year?

  I remembered that Xuan Yuan Qi once said that he found the body of Princess Ruo Lan under the Wind, Snow and Water Pavilion in the imperial palace. Could it be that they had seen the Crown Prince sink the body into the water, so they were afraid?

  Back to the East Palace, Xuan Yuan Mu decided to take a night boat ride on the lake. Even if the three princesses didn't come, he would still go, bringing a group of palace maids, Xue Qiufeng, and us - Mei Linghua and I. We boarded the boat.

  The hull is not very large, with a solemn and luxurious yellow color. Xuan Yuan sat on the recliner, looking at the water surface, with a cup of cool tea in his hand, which was quite elegant.

  "Let's have some fun in the snow, shall we?"

  "I'm not a young lady from a wealthy family, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, I won't be able to do it!" I shook my head nervously, staring at the water's surface, probably because of my previous bad impression of water, my heart was always on guard.

  "I will!" Xue Qiufeng volunteered.

  "This king won't listen to you playing, Ling Xue, you play!" Xuan Yuan Mu said with a dismissive expression.

  "I really can't!" If I hadn't met Yang Chen when I was a kid, I probably wouldn't even know how to write.

  "It doesn't matter, just play it, a few random notes will do!"

  Helpless, I had no choice but to sit in front of the guqin, what a pity that such beautiful sound was paired with someone like me who didn't understand music.

  From the beginning to the end, like ripples on water, but what's next? Looking at Xuan Yuan Mu's eyes full of surprise, I can only smile foolishly. Because I couldn't always move from head to toe, one note, two notes, three notes, okay, even I couldn't bear it myself.

  I stood up straight, glared at Xuan Yuan Mu for a moment, then sat down on the ship's railing.

  "Why isn't it ringing? Tonight is for appreciating the moon and listening to music." Xuan Yuan Mu smiled uncontrollably.

  "I'd rather die than humiliate myself!" I turned around and refused to look at him, a chill ran down my spine, making me shiver involuntarily.

  "Let me play a tune for the Crown Prince!" The speaker was none other than Mei Linghua, the eldest young lady of the Left Prime Minister's estate. She was also on the boat?

  Xuanyuan looked at me and nodded: "Play on, otherwise this deep night will make some people afraid!" He was talking about me.

  Mei Ling sat down, plucked the strings of the guqin, and a gentle melody flowed out, soft and pleasant to listen to. I sat at the ship's railing, looking at her, she was so beautiful, with the elegance of a noble lady, her oval face had a pair of eyes that sparkled like autumn waves, her fingers were agile, white and slender, the guqin in her hands seemed to have come alive, resonating with emotion, with spirit, and sounding especially good.

  "Great! Well done!" Xuan Yuan Mu was also very excited, and even Xue Qiu Feng on the side clapped his hands and gave a thumbs up. And I was indeed filled with envy.

  Sometimes I think that I and Mei Linghua are fundamentally incomparable, although we are both ladies of the Zuo Xiangfu, one of us is in heaven and the other on earth.

  I stood up and walked towards the stern of the boat, the guqin was still playing on, Xuan Yuan's words were right, tonight is indeed a night for drinking tea and playing music, I should relax.

  The ripples are beautiful, and the moonlight is just right. The scenery on both sides sets off the beauty of the lake, making people feel happy and relaxed.

  "What a beautiful place in front of us, where is it?" A little palace maid asked her companion in a low voice.

  "That is Fengyue Water Pavilion, the scenery is very good!"

  My hairs suddenly stood up, "Fengyue Shui Ge?"

  Where is Princess Yulan's body buried? I suddenly turned my head to look over there, with infinite fear in my heart. I suddenly understood why Xuan Yuan Mu wanted to take a boat ride on the lake, and chose to do it at night - it was because he wanted to see if Princess Yulan was still underwater.

  This idea shocked me greatly. If she was really there, then... the one who killed Princess Yulan was Guoshi. Why did Guoshi put her body here?

  The music continued, I stood at the stern of the boat, feeling inexplicably tense, gazing out at the pavilion on the water, where although the lights were dim and hazy, they seemed to flicker like ghostly faces.

  I walked towards the bow of the boat, but saw Xue Qiufeng wearing Xuanyuan's clothes sitting there, also holding a teacup in his hand just like him.

  "How's this, Sister Xue? Do I look like a prince?"

  Mei Ling continued playing the piano, and the palace maids on site were also silent.

  "What about him?"

  "Guess?" Xue Qiufeng still had a carefree expression.

  I sat on the railing at the bow of the boat, gazing out at the water's surface, which was a vast expanse of blackness. Yet I felt as though there were a pair of eyes beneath the water staring back at me. I took a deep breath and calmly turned my head to continue listening to Mei Linghua's zither music.

  Until the boat had passed the dock, Xue Qiufeng stood up and left, but then turned back and returned to his seat, his hair still wet.

  I wanted to ask him if he had gone down, but seeing him silent, sipping tea and appreciating the piano sound, and also seeing Xue Qiufeng with a face of indifference, I shut my mouth.

  The entire building area of the palace is very large, and behind it, in addition to some courtyards and palaces, there are many gardens and waterside pavilions. However, the Fengyue Waterside Pavilion is the northernmost building in the entire palace, built on the water's edge, above the water surface. After passing here, boats will have to turn west and then south again. Although the route of the waterway is different, our goal has been achieved.

  Until returning to the Central Imperial Garden, the boats docked, and Xuan Yuan Wu yawned as he walked towards the East Palace, while Mei Ling Hua's fingers were numb from playing the pipa, secretly rubbing her fingers.

  "Tomorrow, you teach Lingxue to play the piano, I think she likes it very much!" Xuan Yuan Mu suddenly said to Mei Linghua who was walking behind him.

  "Yes, Crown Prince!" Mei Linghua's face lit up with excitement, but after seeing my gaze, it turned cold.

  Returning to the Donggong Huazheng Hall, Xue Qiufeng sent all the palace maids away.

  "How?"

  Xuanyuan nodded: "Indeed, it's there, locked with iron chains on a large stone, and sank under the Wind Moon Water Pavilion."

  This midnight boat ride on the lake appears to be a pleasant and peaceful outing, with its beautiful scenery and music, but in reality, Xuan Yuan's true intention is to investigate the whereabouts of Princess Ruolan's body.

  "This is strange, Fengyue Shui Ge is not a place with heavy geomancy, the entire imperial palace has some gloomy atmosphere, but the geomantic architecture is very good, how can they use a female corpse to sink there? Won't this add to the imperial palace's resentful energy? Guoshi is a great master of Taoist magic, he should understand this principle." Xue Qiufeng also had a puzzled face.

  "Isn't Princess Yulan's body going to decompose? Will there be any problems if it's pressed down like that?" I'm worried about this.

  "As time went on, the problem became bigger, and a simple chain couldn't hold her back. But these principles are all understood by the national masters, why do they have to do this?" Xue Qiufeng was so depressed that he almost went mad, scratching his ears and cheeks uncontrollably.

  Xuanyuan was silent and didn't make a sound, his face also filled with helplessness.

  The next morning, Xuan Yuan Mu had just left with Xue Qiufeng when Mei Linghua arrived with her guqin. She looked at the room's setup and couldn't help but exclaim: "I've never been in the crown prince's room before."