The day the Crown Prince returned to the capital, the autumn air was crisp and the sky cloudless. The people of Capital City crowded Chang'an Street of their own accord, all wanting to see how tanned His Highness had become after spending two months in the mud and water of Jiangnan. When Qi Ling rode into the city, the young women lining the street drew a collective breath-he had indeed grown darker, but it suited him handsomely. His moon-white everyday robes lent his sharply defined face an added air of steadiness, and he sat on his horse as straight as a pine. Some young women even tossed handkerchiefs down from a roadside teahouse. One drifted in front of Qi Ling's horse, but he did not so much as lift his eyelids.
When word reached the palace, De'an reported to Qi Xiao with a beaming smile that the Crown Prince had punished corrupt officials and repaired embankments on his trip to Jiangnan. The people along his route had called him the "Upright Crown Prince," and several senior ministers of the Grand Secretariat had hardly stopped praising him these past few days. Qi Xiao's hand never paused over the memorials he was reviewing, but a faint curve rose at the corner of his mouth.
Qi Yu had risen very early that morning, rummaging through his chests and cupboards to spread all his new clothes across the bed. Chun He stood before it, watching him hold one outfit after another against himself, discarding each in turn. After rejecting seven or eight, he finally chose a crimson cloud-brocade robe woven with gold, fastened a white jade belt around his waist, and secured his hair neatly with the Qilin White Jade Hairpin. He also sprayed a little newly made osmanthus perfume at his collar, making