Double Seventh

It was not yet dark, but lanterns were already being hung in the imperial garden. Eunuchs from the Directorate of Gardens carried ladders up and down, tying five-colored lanterns to the branches. A needle-threading tower had been erected beside Taiye Lake. Though called a tower, it was really a wooden frame thirty feet high, hung with colored threads, specifically for the consorts and princesses to pray for skill on Double Seventh.

Xiao Huaijin had been unable to sit still since the afternoon. He squirmed while his nursemaid changed his clothes, and even after three tries, she still had not managed to fasten his sash. He had heard there would be a lantern festival in the imperial garden tonight, that his imperial father would be there, and that there would be lots of delicious food. Counting on his fingers, he asked his nursemaid what there would be to eat. She listed festival pastries, carved melons, candied fruit, and osmanthus cakes. He counted through them, then pressed her on whether there would be loquats. Only when she told him loquat season was long past did he let the matter drop.

At dusk, Liu An led Xiao Huaijin into the imperial garden. This year's Double Seventh palace banquet was being held in the waterside pavilion beside Taiye Lake. It was a small affair, attended only by the leading consorts of the various palaces and the princes and princesses, with no court officials present. Gauze lanterns hung on all four sides of the pavilion, and lotus lanterns floated on the lake. When the wind blew, their reflections shattered into fragments, staining the entire surface orange-red.

Quite a few people were already seated in the pavilion when Xiao Huaijin arrived. He spotted Xiao Lan at once-she wore a new goose-yellow tunic, her hair tied into two little buns, and sat beside Consort Jing shelling lotus seeds. Xiao Lan saw him too and waved him over. Xiao Huaijin ran to her, and they sat side by side. Xiao Lan pushed a small dish of freshly shelled lotus seeds in front of him.

"Lotus seeds. They're sweet."

Xiao Huaijin popped one into his mouth. It was indeed sweet. He nodded in satisfaction, then picked up another and offered it to Xiao Lan so she could have some too. The two little ones huddled together and whispered for a while. Suddenly, Xiao Lan pointed at the lotus lanterns on the lake and said she had folded them with her mother, spending the entire afternoon on them. Xiao Huaijin promptly said how amazing Sister Lan was and that she had to teach him how to fold them later.

Consort Xian arrived with Xiao Yue as well. Today, Xiao Yue wore a little purple bellyband embroidered with the five venomous creatures. His little arms and legs were round and plump, and he was still unsteady on his feet, wobbling into the pavilion while clutching Consort Xian's finger. The moment he saw Xiao Huaijin, he called out a slurred "Big brother," let go of his mother's hand, and lunged toward him. Halfway there, he tripped over his own feet and landed on his bottom. Bamboo mats covered the pavilion floor, so the fall did not hurt, but he froze for a moment, then puckered his mouth, ready to bawl. Xiao Huaijin had already run over and crouched in front of him.

"Don't cry. Here, have a lotus seed."

Xiao Yue took the lotus seed and stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing twice, instead of shedding tears, he broke into a broad grin.

Consort Xian caught up from behind and scooped her son off the floor. Turning to Xiao Huaijin, she said, "Your Highness truly is a good big brother. This boy fussed at me the whole way here, but he quieted down as soon as he saw you."

Xiao Huaijin tilted his head, looked at Xiao Yue, and said, "He called me big brother."

Consort Xian smiled and said, of course, you are his big brother. Xiao Huaijin lowered his head and thought for a moment, then looked up and said that he would watch his back from now on. He had learned that phrase from Zhou Rucheng. While teaching history, the Grand Tutor had once said, "A ruler should shelter all under heaven." Five-year-old Xiao Huaijin had forgotten the latter part and remembered only the word "shelter."

Consort Xian paused, then laughed aloud-a genuine laugh. Afterward, she rubbed Xiao Huaijin's head.

Shen Mingzhu arrived last with Xiao Yu. Today, she wore a pale lotus-purple court dress, with a silk twin lotus pinned beside her temple, and her makeup was a little more refined than usual. As she entered the pavilion, the light from the gauze lanterns fell across her face, making that dignified smile seem almost perfect. She first paid her respects to Xiao Lin, then took her seat and settled Xiao Yu beside her. Xiao Yu also wore a little sapphire-blue robe today, his hair tied in a tuft, two dimples flickering on his cheeks. Once seated, he stole several glances toward Xiao Huaijin, but did not move.

Xiao Lin sat on the imperial seat in the center of the pavilion and took it all in. He raised his wine cup, took a sip, and said nothing.

The prayers for skill began. Palace maids brought out more than a dozen dishes of festival pastries-little morsels of dough shaped into flowers, fruit, birds, and beasts, fried golden and crisp. Xiao Lan pulled Xiao Huaijin over to look at them. Their heads bent together as they identified the shapes: this was a rabbit, this was a peach, and they had no idea what this one was. Xiao Yue wanted to look too, but Consort Xian held him in place and fed him a pastry, making his cheeks bulge like a hamster's. Xiao Yu sat beside his mother, with a dish of pastries before him as well, but he did not reach for any. Shen Mingzhu lowered her head and asked why he was not eating. He said quietly that he wanted to look at them with Crown Prince Brother. Shen Mingzhu's fingers tightened on his shoulder, but she said nothing.

When the needle-threading contest began, Xiao Lan was the first to raise her hand. Before all the consorts, the six-year-old princess walked beneath the needle-threading frame, picked up a colored thread, and held it to the lamplight as she threaded a seven-eyed needle. She caught at the fifth hole, but a slight turn of her wrist took it through, and she finished all seven in one go. The palace maids beside her softly clapped and praised her, and a rare trace of a smile appeared on Consort Jing's face. Xiao Huaijin watched without blinking. By the time he realized it, he was already loudly declaring, "Sister Lan is amazing." Xiao Lan turned and smiled at him, then handed him the colored thread to let him try too. Xiao Huaijin took the needle and thread, but got stuck at the third hole. The eye was too small, and his hands were not as steady as Xiao Lan's. Frowning, he tried several times without success, then glanced back at Xiao Lin, who was watching him from the imperial seat. He put down the needle and thread.

"I'd better go back and practice writing."

Consort Xian teased him from beside them.

"Is Your Highness afraid of a little difficulty too?"

Xiao Huaijin pressed his lips together, and Xiao Lan spoke up for him.

"Little Crown Prince Brother writes really well!"

At that, Xiao Huaijin straightened his back again and nodded to Consort Xian, looking for all the world as though to say, "She's right." Consort Xian was so amused by his little grown-up manner that she could hardly contain herself, but she did not dare laugh too loudly and hid half her face behind her round fan.

Xiao Yu sat beside his mother watching them the whole time. He watched Xiao Huaijin hold a pastry above his head for Xiao Lan to guess its shape, watched Consort Xian wipe Xiao Yue's crumb-covered face with a handkerchief, and watched everyone applaud Xiao Lan as she threaded the needle. He turned to ask Shen Mingzhu.

"Mother, can I go over?"

"There are too many people today. Another day."

Xiao Yu lowered his head, rested his two little hands on his knees, and did not ask again.

At the other end of the pavilion, Consort Jing and Consort Xian sat drinking tea together. Consort Xian asked quietly.

"Why is Her Highness the Noble Consort so quiet today?"

Consort Jing watched the lotus lanterns on the water, her tone even.

"She's always quiet. Quiet people are the frightening ones."

Consort Xian fell silent for a moment, then glanced again at Xiao Huaijin, who was shelling lotus seeds with Xiao Lan, and lowered her voice further.

"His Highness the Crown Prince really does take after Empress Xiaoyi in temperament."

Consort Jing did not answer, merely shaking her head lightly to signal that she should not speak of this. Consort Xian understood at once and changed the subject, but Consort Jing's gaze remained on that little apricot-yellow figure. She saw Xiao Huaijin give half his shelled lotus seeds to Xiao Lan and wrap the other half in a lotus leaf, setting it aside-probably saving them for His Majesty.

Halfway through the banquet, Liu An suddenly brought over a sky lantern, saying His Majesty had ordered it released. The lantern was very large, its plain white silk surface bearing no writing. Xiao Lin rose from the imperial seat, walked to the pavilion railing, lifted the lantern, and beckoned to Xiao Huaijin. Xiao Huaijin ran over. Xiao Lin picked him up so he could hold the other side of the frame, and together they raised the lantern over the railing. Liu An handed over a fire striker. Xiao Lin lit the wick, and the flame shone through the paper walls, illuminating the silk in warm yellow. Xiao Huaijin tilted his head up and watched the glow grow brighter. He lightly tapped the frame with a finger. The lantern swayed, and he hastily drew his hand back.

"Make a wish."

Xiao Huaijin turned to look at his imperial father.

"What's making a wish?"

"Think of something in your heart. If you say it aloud, it won't come true."

Xiao Huaijin nodded with only a hazy understanding, closed his eyes, and furrowed his brow as he thought hard. What did he think of? He thought that his imperial father had not yet eaten the lotus seeds he had shelled today, that he hoped his imperial father would praise his calligraphy practice tomorrow, that Sister Lan would teach him to draw butterflies next time she came, that Xiao Yue had called him big brother, and that the grapes the Noble Consort had sent were so sweet he would not dare eat them next time. He opened his eyes.

Xiao Lin held Xiao Huaijin a little closer and let go. The sky lantern rose from their hands, drifting slowly over Taiye Lake, over the rockeries, and toward the ink-blue night sky. Everyone in the pavilion looked up at it. Xiao Yu watched with his face tilted upward for a long time. Only when the lantern had become a tiny point of light and melted into the river of stars did he look away and lower his head to gaze at his palms.

"I want to play too."

Shen Mingzhu was speaking to a palace maid beside her and did not hear him.

After they released the sky lantern, Xiao Huaijin fetched the lotus-leaf parcel from the low table and opened it. The lotus seeds inside had already dried out a little, their skins faintly wrinkled. Cupping the seeds in his hands, he ran to his imperial father and told him to have some lotus seeds, saying Sister Lan had helped shell them. Xiao Lin glanced down, put the dried lotus seeds into his mouth, and chewed.

"Mm. Very sweet."

Satisfied, Xiao Huaijin turned and gave Xiao Lan a thumbs-up, his thumb sticking high into the air. Seeing him from afar, Xiao Lan returned the gesture with a very sweet smile.

Late that night, Xiao Lin returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where Liu An was tidying the memorials on the imperial desk. Xiao Lin took that day's calligraphy practice sheet from his sleeve-Xiao Huaijin had only written half a page today, having spent the afternoon excitedly waiting for Double Seventh. He folded the paper, then asked Liu An what Shen Boyong had said in his memorial that day.

Liu An paused before answering.

"It concerned the autumn taxes in Hejian Prefecture, as well as a proposal to replace the Northern Camp's commanding general. Your Majesty instructed that all memorials from the Shen Clan receive the same response: refer them to the Grand Secretariat."

Xiao Lin asked no further questions. He sat down, opened the secret memorial Sun Jingtang had submitted a few days earlier, and read it again, lightly circling the words "Hengtai Firm" with his vermilion brush. Then he raised his head and looked out the window toward the Eastern Palace.

"The Noble Consort wore pale lotus purple today."

Liu An froze, unable to follow the meaning behind the remark. Xiao Lin continued-pale lotus purple had been Empress Xiaoyi's favorite color. On the night Xiao Huaijin was born, Empress Xiaoyi had been wearing a pale lotus-purple nightdress.

Liu An did not dare respond. After serving this man for so many years, he knew his tone was different from usual when he spoke the name "Empress Xiaoyi." Xiao Lin said no more, lowering his head to continue reviewing memorials.

In the Eastern Palace, Xiao Huaijin lay in bed, still awake. He took the little charcoal flower Xiao Lan had drawn last time out of his copybook, looked at it over and over, then put it back. Then he rolled over, hugged his quilt, and murmured, "Imperial Father."

Outside the window, the lotus lanterns on Taiye Lake had not yet gone out. Flecks of light drifted over from afar and fell upon the Eastern Palace's paper windows.