The warm pavilion

When the palace attendants filed in carrying copper basins, Qi Xiao had already sat up in the imperial bed. He did not let anyone wake Qi Yu, lifting the quilt and getting out of bed himself. De'an waited beside the bed with his court robes. Standing barefoot on the footstool, Qi Xiao first glanced back. Qi Yu was curled beneath the quilt, his face buried in the brocade pillow his imperial father had slept on. One leg stuck out from under the quilt, his ankle resting on the edge of the bed. He was sleeping soundly, his breathing soft and long, his eyelashes utterly still.

Qi Xiao gently tucked that foot back under the quilt and gestured to De'an. Understanding, De'an had the attendants quiet their movements. Two young eunuchs knelt to put Qi Xiao's boots on, keeping even the sound of the soles touching the floor to a minimum. Qi Xiao washed his face, took the cloth De'an offered, and wiped his hands, then stood before the bronze mirror while De'an secured his crown. The fine-toothed comb made a faint sound as it passed through his hair. When the gold crown clicked into place, De'an immediately glanced back at the bed. Qi Yu rolled over, gathered the quilt into his arms, and lay still again.

Qi Xiao saw this in the bronze mirror. He straightened the pin in his crown and turned to leave. At the doorway, he paused and said quietly to De'an, "Let him sleep. Have breakfast ready, and keep the almond cream and osmanthus cakes warm." De'an quietly acknowledged the order. Qi Xiao stepped over the threshold, the hem of his court robes brushing it, and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

The bedchamber fell quiet again. The window paper changed from grayish white to pale gold, and the persimmon tree's shadow slowly moved from the window paper to the corner of the wall. Qi Yu did not wake until a quarter to nine. He opened his eyes to a bright yellow canopy. Five-clawed dragons were embroidered on it; it was not the canopy from his Yuning Hall. He turned his head. The pillow beside him was empty, still bearing the impression of someone having slept on it. He reached out and touched the impression. It was cold. He pulled the pillow into his arms and lay there a little longer before slowly dragging himself upright.

A Ping had already been waiting by the door for over an hour. Hearing movement inside, he hurriedly pushed the door open and entered. Qi Yu sat on the edge of the bed, his hair sticking out from sleep, reaching for his boots on the footstool with his right foot. He tried twice without reaching them. A Ping bent down and put the boots on him, then helped him change. Today he wore that old sky-blue everyday robe, the rabbit fur at its collar still fluffy.

After washing up, Qi Yu sat in the West Warm Pavilion to eat breakfast. Almond cream and osmanthus cakes were set on the table. The almond cream still had half the usual sugar, and the osmanthus cakes were cut into neat pieces. As he ate, he leafed through the illustrated storybook he had not finished yesterday. When he reached the page where the fox spirit transformed into a beautiful woman, he looked at it briefly, the tips of his ears reddening slightly, then turned the page. Later in the book, the scholar drove the fox spirit away. As she left, she said, "You have betrayed me, but I will not betray you." Qi Yu looked at those words, his chewing slowing. He closed the storybook, picked up the almond cream and drank the last mouthful, then licked the corner of his mouth.

He did not leave immediately after eating. He walked around the West Warm Pavilion, leafed through some books on the shelves, then went to the imperial desk to look at the memorials his imperial father had left half-reviewed. Every character written on them with the Vermilion Brush was neat, the horizontal strokes level and the vertical strokes straight. He looked for a while without touching anything, then stepped back. He remembered leaving a greasy handprint on this desk when he was little. His imperial father had not scolded him, but De'an had stood beside them wiping sweat away for ages.

"A Ping, back to Yuning Hall."

A Ping followed behind, somewhat surprised. Usually, his prince could dawdle in Xuanzheng Hall until lunch, but today he was leaving without hesitation. Qi Yu reached the door, then doubled back and took the remaining half plate of osmanthus cakes from the table. He said he was taking them for the rabbits, but A Ping did not think rabbits liked osmanthus cakes.

Back at Yuning Hall, the two rabbits were sleeping huddled in a corner of the cage in the side hall. The gray rabbit's head rested on the light gray rabbit's back, its ears drooping. Qi Yu crouched down, broke the osmanthus cakes into crumbs, and placed them beside the cage. The gray rabbit's ears twitched. It opened its eyes and came over to sniff. It did not eat. Qi Yu poked its rump with a finger. "Picky eater. Even my imperial father eats these." The poke made the gray rabbit shift half a step forward. It scratched its ear with a hind leg and went back to sleep.

"A Ping, bring the cage. Bring that gray one too." Qi Yu stood and brushed the crumbs from his hands, then added, "And the other one, the light gray one. Bring both. They can't be separated."

A Ping and Chun He each carried a cage and followed Qi Yu back to Xuanzheng Hall. De'an was in the corridor instructing young eunuchs to wipe down the pillars. When he saw the Fourth Prince returning in grand procession with two rabbits, his fly whisk nearly slipped off his arm.

"Your Highness, this is..."

"I'm moving the rabbits here. My imperial father agreed. Last time he already agreed to one, and this time it's two." Qi Yu spoke with complete assurance. De'an opened his mouth, remembering that His Majesty indeed had not said "No" last time, only, "The warm pavilion is not a rabbit hutch." Now that the prince had entered the warm pavilion and slept in the imperial bed, there hardly seemed much point in stopping the rabbits anymore. He stepped aside to let them through.

Qi Yu settled the rabbits in a corner of the warm pavilion and opened the cage doors to let them out for some exercise. The gray rabbit hopped out, bounded around the warm pavilion twice, then lay curled up beneath the imperial desk. The light gray rabbit hopped out after it and lay down beside it. The two rabbits huddled beneath the imperial desk, two fluffy gray bundles that stood out sharply against the bright yellow carpet.

When Qi Xiao returned from morning court, the moment he entered the West Warm Pavilion, he saw two additional bundles of gray fur beneath the imperial desk. His steps paused, and he turned to look at De'an. De'an bowed, his expression seeming to say, "Your Majesty, you did agree." Qi Xiao looked at the two rabbits again. The gray rabbit rested its chin on the light gray rabbit's ear, sleeping soundly. The two rabbits had pressed a small hollow into the carpet beneath the imperial desk. Qi Xiao said nothing. He walked around the rabbits and sat behind the imperial desk, picked up the Vermilion Brush, and continued reviewing memorials.

At lunchtime, Qi Yu left the rabbits in the warm pavilion and returned to Yuning Hall himself. Before leaving, he crouched beneath the imperial desk and talked to the rabbits for a long time, instructing them not to gnaw the desk legs or pee on the carpet. The gray rabbit twitched its ears to indicate it had heard. Qi Yu patted the rabbits' heads, stood, and told his imperial father, "Imperial Father, I'll come back this afternoon," then left. Qi Xiao watched his retreating figure disappear through the doorway, then lowered his head and continued reviewing memorials. Crunching sounds came from beneath the imperial desk: the gray rabbit was chewing the half carrot A Ping had left in its cage.

The wind picked up that afternoon, and a few more leaves fell from the persimmon tree. Standing in the corridor with his hands tucked into his sleeves, De'an spotted the Fourth Prince running over from the direction of Yuning Hall, carrying a bundle. He ran very fast, the bundle swinging behind him. When he reached De'an, he thrust it into his hands.

"A cotton pillow. I'll need it tonight." With that, he entered the West Warm Pavilion and sat on the carpet beneath the imperial desk. Seeing him, the gray rabbit poked its head out from behind a desk leg. Qi Yu sat cross-legged on the floor, spread the travelogue over his knees, and leaned against a leg of the imperial desk, turning to the page he had marked with a handkerchief yesterday. The light gray rabbit hopped onto his lap and lay down, its ears brushing his wrist. Qi Yu looked down at the rabbit and rubbed the back of its neck with his fingers. Its ears quivered, and it rested its chin against his knee, narrowing its eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the window and fell on the carpet, bathing the two bundles of gray fur in warmth. Behind the imperial desk, Qi Xiao's brush did not stop reviewing memorials, but his strokes grew a little lighter.