Chapter 23: The Bloom of the Dusk Flower

  When Ling Yuancheng returned to the Western Courtyard, it was already late in the day. Yuan Dai went ahead to the main house to see Madame Zhou. Madame Zhou's complexion had improved significantly compared to previous days, and upon seeing her, she pulled her hand and asked a few questions about Luo Shi.

  Yan Dai smiled and responded, but didn't mention the conversation she had with Ling Yuanqing in the pavilion of the back garden. In her plan, those two pots of jasmine were just a backup route, and she wasn't willing to use them until the last step. She hoped everything would go smoothly as she thought, and she was thinking secretly in her heart. As for Xiao Chengye, she didn't care about him at all.

  After dinner at Aunt Zhou's, Yuandai returned to the west wing. Although she hadn't taken a nap in the afternoon, her spirits were still good, and she lazily flipped through a book while leaning on the kang. Since she wasn't sleeping, Wenshu sent the others off to bed and stayed with Hui'er to keep her company. Guessing that it was almost midnight, Yuandai sat up straight and was just about to call for Wenshu and the others to help her wash and rest when Hui'er, who had just gone out to relieve herself, suddenly rushed in, panting and calling out: "Miss, miss, the osmanthus flower in the courtyard has suddenly bloomed!"

  Yuandai was taken aback at first, but immediately sprang to her feet and rushed out of the house without regard for others. Due to the suddenness of the event, Wenshu also didn't have time to remember that Yuandai was in the inner room with thin clothes, and seeing Yuandai leave the door, she hastily followed suit.

  The west wing was already dark, as Aunt Zhou had gone to bed early. The bright moonlight poured down on the ground, making the entire west wing even more quiet and peaceful. At this moment, the west wing was filled with an indescribable fragrance.

  The fragrance is extremely pure and faint, like orchid and musk, yet it's even more subtle than orchid and musk. The aftertaste lingers for a long time, giving people an inexplicable feeling as if there's a physical presence. When in the western courtyard, it feels as though the entire person has been enveloped by this faint fragrance, being steeped in this extraordinary scent from within.

  Wen Ping unconsciously took a deep breath and then blurted out: "So delicious!"

  Yuandai, however, did not speak, but hastily walked to a corner of the flowerbed in the west courtyard. There, neatly arranged, was that very evening primrose. At this moment, the evening primrose had lifted its originally low-hanging buds, and the tightly closed buds from earlier were now swollen open, with the deep blue to almost purple petals slightly unfolding, faintly revealing their inner blue color, and emitting waves of faint fragrance.

  She didn't even turn her head, but hastily instructed: "Quick! Hui'er, quickly go and open all the doors and windows of the west wing, and extinguish the fire basin and fire bed. This flower likes cold and dislikes heat. Wenping, help me lift this flower to the door of the west wing first!"

  Hui'er hastily nodded and ran off. Wenjing responded promptly, went forward with Yuande, lifted the flower, and sent it to the west wing door. After placing the flower, Wenjing panted slightly: "This flower is really strange, this morning it couldn't be seen that it was about to bloom, even Miss said it would take another day or two to open!"

  Yan Dai and she lifted the flower together, at this moment also slightly panting. Hearing these words, she was silent for a moment, then softly said: "This ice blue orchid was personally planted by my godfather in those years. When my godfather planted it, he took two branches from the same mother plant and put them in pots. At that time, he told me that no matter how far these two pots of flowers were separated, they would bloom on the same day at the same time."

  Her voice was ethereal and distant, her eyes, which were normally as clear as water, became profound and unfathomable at that moment. Wenping couldn't help but glance at her, only to feel that although the ninth young lady was standing right in front of him, her heart seemed to have already wandered a thousand miles away, making it impossible for anyone to reach her. Wenping opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was captivated by the atmosphere and couldn't utter a word for a moment.

  Fortunately, at this moment, Hui'er rushed out: "Alright! Alright! I've extinguished all the braziers in the house!"

  Yan Dai nodded, and then gestured to Hui'er and Wenping to move the flowers into the house. Although it was winter, the night was cold, and the doors and windows were open for a while, but the inside of the house was warmer than outside, yet still felt chilly.

  Yuanyi had the two maids move the evening primrose to the kang by the window, while she herself walked over to the table and blew out the candles. The room suddenly darkened, and when she turned around, she saw the puzzled look on the second maid's face. Yuanyi couldn't help but smile slightly, and finally explained: "The evening primrose is also called 'beauty under the moon', if it's called 'beauty under the moon', then isn't admiring its beauty under the moon the most suitable thing to do?"

  The two maids nodded in agreement after hearing this. Yuande, however, ignored them and turned around to retrieve a crystal box from the small cabinet with intricate carvings. Wenshu watched from the side and subtly pursed her lips. This crystal box seemed somewhat unusual to her. In fact, it was given to Yuande by Shuangzhen when she went to pick flowers at Miaofeng Mountain Villa last time. At that time, Wenshu had received the box herself. She still clearly remembered that when she first took the box from Shuangzhen's hands, she almost dropped it because it felt as cold as ice, making her suspect that it was made of frozen water.

  But this thread of doubt did not linger in Wen's heart for too long, all because of that peony that was about to bloom.

  At this moment, the bud of that flower was shaking more and more violently, and slowly blooming at a speed visible to the naked eye. When the petals were half open and half closed, Wenping couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation: "It's blue..."

  She should be surprised, the most precious flower in the world is none other than the blue, black and green colors. At least Wenping asked herself if she had ever seen such a colorful flower before. The bud trembled constantly, and the gap that opened up was getting bigger and bigger. From that gap, a curled petal slowly stretched out. The color of the petal was a strange icy blue, extremely light, so light that it was almost transparent, yet it had a crystal clear transparency. If not for the fact that the petals were slowly unfolding, Wenping would have suspected that what she saw in front of her was not a flower petal, but a crystal carved out. Staring at the flower, at this moment, Wenping felt that she couldn't look away.

  Those icy blue petals were still slowly unfolding, and the fragrance was getting more and more intense, as if it would penetrate deep into one's soul. The three people in the house didn't say a word, they just silently gazed at the pot of evening primrose in front of them, watching it struggle to bloom bit by bit.

  At this moment, the room was quiet and still, Wenping and others even involuntarily held their breath, just to listen carefully, listening to the sound of the flower blooming. The sound of the flower opening was extremely light, but they really felt that they could hear it.

  How long the evening primrose bloomed, no one would notice, it just felt like it was slow and yet seemed fast. When the last petal of the flower fully bloomed, revealing the hidden yellow stamen inside, Yuandai suddenly raised her hand and made a stroke, the next moment, the branch of the blooming evening primrose suddenly broke off and fell into Yuandai's palm.

  "Miss..." Wen Ping's voice was tinged with regret.

  Yuandai, however, ignored her and put the flower into a jade box that had been placed aside. With both hands moving quickly, in just an instant, she had plucked all the newly bloomed evening flowers from the branch. At this, not only Wenshu but also Hui'er couldn't help but let out a soft cry, and besides being puzzled by Yuandai's actions, they also felt a slight dissatisfaction.

  Yan Dai let out a soft sigh and explained, "This ice blue flower is extremely precious, and when used to make medicine or perfume, it's irreplaceable. However, the blooming time of this flower is too short, it can be said that once it's fully bloomed, the next moment it will wither away. Therefore, it's necessary to pick it at the moment it's fully bloomed, in order to completely preserve the essence inside the flower!"

  After hearing this explanation, Erniang's face slightly eased, but the look of regret on her face could not be hidden no matter what.

  Yan Dai saw it, and couldn't help but smile slightly. She didn't have any blaming intention, she just said: "Take this flower back to the courtyard, and light up the fire in the house! Just now I didn't feel it, but after a while, I felt that my whole body was icy cold!"

  Wen was shocked, and it seemed like she suddenly thought of something. She didn't care about anything else, and quickly walked over to light the candle, open the trunk, and take out a cloak to cover Yuandai's body. Then, with Hui'er, they moved the corpse out of the house, and first went back inside to start a fire.

  For a while, everything was settled, but when I looked at the sky again, it had already passed midnight. The two maidservants hurriedly fetched water to help Yu Dai wash up and go to bed.

  Lying on the bed without fatigue, Yan Dai took a last glance at the small cabinet with inlaid screws. The ice-blue, frosty, and ancient jade box was quietly lying inside the cabinet.

  "Has that ice-blue flower of yours bloomed too?" She lightly moved her lips, silently uttering these few words: "These past years... have you been living happily?" The cold moonlight filtered through the thin window screen, falling onto her face.

  Yan Dai slowly closed her eyes, a crystal tear fell, seeped into the embroidered pillow, and disappeared in an instant.