By the time Lu Changfeng stepped out of the Moon-Gathering Tower, dusk was approaching in Chang'an City.
Twilight draped the closely packed rooftops of its wards and markets in a thin veil of gold.
Without slowing, he headed north along the long street, passing through bustling crowds and lamps flickering to life, toward the Princess of Zhen Guo's Residence.
His feelings were complicated along the way.
Luo Qingge's understanding and acceptance had moved him, but also deepened his guilt.
And Li Lingyue... that iron-fisted Princess Taiping, who wielded power as firmly as any man, was now carrying his child and had endured the past six months alone.
He wondered... how she was doing now.
The grand gates of the Princess's Residence came into view from afar.
The stone lions flanking the vermilion gates remained imposing, and the gilded words "Princess of Zhen Guo's Residence" above them gleamed in the twilight.
But before those gates caught his eye, he noticed two figures waiting eagerly outside.
The maids Jinghong and Qing Dai were already standing on the steps outside, one on either side.
He had no idea how long they had stood there. The evening breeze had tousled the wisps of hair over Qing Dai's forehead, but she paid them no mind, craning her neck to peer toward the end of the street.
When she made out that familiar figure, absent for half a year, truly appearing in her sight,
Qing Dai shuddered.
"Sir..."
Her eyes instantly reddened, and she moved to rush down the steps.
A snowy-white ball on her shoulder suddenly spread its wings!
It was a pure white parrot, its feathers like frost. With its wings unfurled, it resembled a flowing pool of moonlight. Faster than Qing Dai, it streaked through the dusk first, its sharp, clear, childlike voice