Drifting clouds veiled the silver moon, darkening the courtyard with its white walls and blue tiles.
The women in the rear residence had all gone to bed. Only from the western courtyard could faint voices still be heard:
"One Bamboo, come here."
"Chirp?"
"What are you chirping for? Should I call you One Circle instead?"
"Chirp chirp chirp...!"
In the main courtyard, the curtains hung down inside an elegant bedchamber, where Pei Xiangjun slept on her side against her pillow.
It was midsummer, so the thin quilt barely covered her waist. On her upper body she wore a triangular dudou of water-cloud brocade, while below her gourd-curved waist, she was very lightly clad.
After returning from the fight near the East Market, Pei Xiangjun had taken her medicine and gone to bed early. By her usual habits, she should have slept until the small hours.
But after sleeping for who knew how many watches, she vaguely sensed something was wrong and opened her eyes.
Rustle~
Pei Xiangjun turned over, lifted the bed curtains, and looked toward the chaise longue in the outer room-the vixen who had been lying there reading was gone.
Pei Xiangjun blinked, sensing something amiss. She quietly sat up, draped a thin dress over herself, drew the front together a little, and went to the window to listen.
Luo Ning was staying temporarily with the Pei Family. Given her special identity, Pei Xiangjun could hardly put her in a guest room in the outer residence, but neither could she share her bed with that vixen. She had arranged for her to stay in a side room beside the main quarters, only a few dozen paces away.
Listening carefully, she heard no voices from the quiet room, though there were some faint sounds. They sounded like... she