Rising Phoenix

Feng Zhiwei’s smile grew gentle and wistful as that beautiful image filled her heart like a dream.

She turned back to the box and shocked out another enveloped. Seven.

Zhiwei, we sailed across Anlan Valley today. We went under the cover of darkness and the turning of waves accompanied me through the peaceful night. The rocking of the ship seemed to fill me with a sleepy drunkenness, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking of the day in front of the Ancestral Temple. The call of the commoners was like these waves, coming and going again and again, blurring together until I can’t tell where one begins and the other ends. Then you fell into my arms, and it was like the sea suddenly flooded… and I grew even more restless, unable to sleep.

I gave up and headed on deck for a midnight tea, and when that fool followed me out I pushed him into the water. I told him he could not return until he brought back the most perfect pearl, and in the morning he returned with a small coral that he had chanced upon, half a finger long. It grew naturally in the water, and even though it’s not the highest quality coral, the natural design shaped by the hands of the heavens make it even more precious than a hundred pearls… you don’t need to pay any mind to that fool’s glibness. I attached the coral to this letter, and it’ll be good if you like it. If you don’t, I will kick him back into the water.”

A small piece of coral was attached to the corner of the letter, a lustrous vermillion, smooth and clean. It had layered petals in a startling close resemblance to a blooming peony, truly remarkable.

Indeed more precious than a hundred pearls.

Feng Zhiwei wet the corner of the letter with some warm water and carefully removed the coral before storing it away.

She turned back to the box.

Two.

Zhiwei, I bet you did not know where to hide the first letter, and your suspicious nature will be afraid of others stealing it or Gu Nanyi taking it to brush away walnut shells, so you’re probably going to stuff the letter back into the box and upset the letters I’d ordered so carefully. But that’s fine, some things are more beautiful when they are uncertain. Now when you take out the letters, you will wonder which number you’ll get this time?

He was right, the uncertainty did make it more special. Every time a letter fell out, she could not know which day she would be reading about. The guessing certainly added to the happiness.

But really, this man was like a bug in her stomach, even able to guess what she was thinking as she hid the letter away.

“Zhiwei, your method turned out correct. Our first battle with the Chang Family resulted in a great victory, lifting morale. I might be able to return quite soon; you said you would wait for me to return to Dijing together, so you cannot leave without me. Whoever leaves first will be punished and unable to see the other for the rest of their life…”

Feng Zhiwei’s eyes glittered with amusement as she read how Ning Yi gave her credit for the tactic he had clearly came up with himself, obstinate in making her carry the responsibility.

Zhiwei, the autumn wind is growing colder and colder and the nights are already freezing in the camp. I have to wear an overcoat while patrolling, so you must remember to wear a warm coat at night as well. When I last checked your pulse, you had an illness from the cold. Please be careful to keep warm, or else that illness might come back.

He was still patrolling, even with his blindness? Feng Zhiwei gently cradled the letter, her eyes bright in the light of the lamp. She wondered whether Ning Yi had used the medicine Yan Huaishi had delivered. Yan Huaishi had immediately returned after delivering the provisions, so the effects of the medicine would not be mentioned in the box’s letters. She’d need to send her own missive when the time came.

As she read through the letters, every word filled with concern and sincerity, she noticed that he never asked her to write back.

She cocked her brows, grinning. Of course she would not write replies, but as the procurer of the medicine, was it not normal to ask after her patient’s condition?

With a good excuse in hand, Feng Zhiwei returned the letter to the box. She saved the other letters for another day; this beautiful, warm feeling would be wasted if she binged all the letters at once.

In the deep, calm night or on the road during a long, tedious journey; perhaps when she was melancholy or troubled by so many things around her… in this moments, she could bring out the box and shake it a little, sliding out a letter filled with so much happy anticipation.

Leaving it for later was just saving sweet treasure for the long, long days ahead.

She spread out a blank piece of paper, wetting her brush and grinding her ink as she prepared to write.

“Ning Yi, you might not be able to read this letter, so I will wait till your eyes have recovered to give it to you. En, I want to ask whether the medicine has helped your eyes? — I know this is a silly question. If I waited until you could read this letter, then of course you’re eyes are healed, so you can just pretend you didn’t read this question.

“I saw the coral. It’s beautiful, like a little peony blossom. Should I make it into a ring or a hairpin? Even though I won’t have many chances to wear it, just looking at it will be pleasant. The feather is very white, and the reed is quite pretty. When we return to Dijing, we can pass by the reed marsh; I’d like to hear the waves when the wind blows through the reeds, and maybe a feather will fall on my sleeve as well. En… do you want to go listen to it with me?”

As the oil lamp’s light dimmed, its warm yellow halo shrank until it only illuminated a small circle around the table. Feng Zhiwei’s quiet, glittering eyes grew brighter and brighter, the natural luster of her misty stare glowing like black agate beads bound in clear crystal.

Her fingers lingered on the letter, her smile quiet and warm, so different from that regular cold curve to her lips. Her face was gentle and soft like that pure white bird’s feather and the velvety reed leaf.

A door slid open behind her.

Feng Zhiwei shot upright, quickly folding her letter and stuffing it into the box. She darted across the room and stuffed the box under a blanket.

With her secret hidden, she turned expectantly. Only Gu Nanyi would enter her room without knocking.

Feng Zhiwei stared in astonishment as Young Master Gu approached her. Today was really filled with surprises.

Two majesty golden monkeys sat on Young Master Gu’s shoulders, idly scratching themselves. They looked her and there, obediently perched as if Gu Nanyi were some kind of Jiang Hu animal tamer.

But that was not all.

Young Master Gu held his arms out stiffly, rigidly straight as he held a little baby in his hands.

Feng Zhiwei stared in dumb amazement at the sight. When she recovered and remembered how to speak, she asked: “You… what are you doing?”

“Baby, monkey.” Young Master Gu replied. “I want to try.”

Only Feng Zhiwei long familiarity with Gu Nanyi and talent in communication could decipher these strange words. She thought for a moment and then asked: “You mean, you want to learn how to interact with people, so you thought you should start with babies and monkeys?”