The night was as dark as ink, the moonlight as bright as silk.
On the western side of the floating islands in Grand View Garden, the island where Xiaoxiang Lodge stood rested quietly beneath the cool moonlight. Several smaller islands nearby were connected by exquisite white marble bridges.
At that moment, the little courtyard, designed in the style of a southern garden and centered around emerald bamboo, was dusted with a thin layer of frostlike moonlight. The slender Xiangfei bamboos rustled softly in the night breeze, as though someone were weeping under their breath.
"..."
Daiyu still sat alone beneath the eaves of Xiaoxiang Lodge, curled up slightly with one hand propping up her cheek. Her thin, white gauze dress was nearly clinging to her skin in the damp night air.
But she didn't mind in the least.
She seemed to have melted into the stillness of the night, like a forgotten statue. Only her eyes, still clear in the dark, flickered from time to time.
Most of the time, though, she simply stared blankly at the eaves, the bright full moon in the sky, or the bamboo tabletop, motionless for a long while. No one knew what she was thinking.
Then again, she didn't know how long she had been sitting there.
Midnight had long since passed!
It was already the hour of the ox. All things were silent, and not a single person was in the courtyard. Even the small outer room where the women and maids on night duty at Xiaoxiang Lodge stayed had long since gone quiet. The only sound in the entire lodge was the rustling of bamboo leaves in the wind.
Daiyu knew she ought to go to bed.
On any other night, she would have been asleep by now.
But tonight, she didn't