Dawa sat quietly on the stones near the pool of the secret training area. It was very late at night and she hoped no one had noticed her leaving her palace.

As expected, when Dawa arrived at the secret training area, the array that was protecting it showed Zi Siwei’s spiritual signature. She knew then that he had seen her that night.

But she was confused about why he wanted to see her again. If it was to return her missing earrings, there were more convert ways to do so.

No…she suspected there was something that she needed to know.

Being cut off from the outside world for six months has allowed her worldly senses to dull a bit. If she were outside, she would have investigated the assassination attempt thoroughly but not in the palace where her every move was watched by the Empress and Empress Dowager.

Dawa looked up at the inky sky, there was no moon out. That was good news.

While Dawa was musing on the situation that she was currently in, the bushes rustled which put her on high alert.

Luckily, the person that emerged from the bushes was not one of the palace servants but Zi Siwei. He walked silently to Dawa seated on the stone and stood a distance in front of her.

It had snowed earlier that day so the ground was carpeted in light snow. Zi Siwei was wearing a light violet robe with white trimming on the edge which suited the surroundings. His quiet, unreadable expression also made him look like a great immortal observing the people below.

The two were silent for a very long time. There was a slight breeze which rustled their clothes and hair; their breathing slow and prolonged.

Dawa couldn’t bear the silence no more, “H-hey…say something…”

Zi Siwei glanced at the young woman whose eyes looked slightly troubled, “You’ve dropped formalities.” He simply replied.

Dawa opened her mouth, then closed it. She didn’t know what to say.

Zi Siwei put his right hand into his left sleeve and took out the earrings that she’d left behind the previous day. He presented them to her, his palm open.

Dawa stared at the dewdrop shaped earrings for a few seconds before gingerly removing them from Zi Siwei’s palm.

She held the earrings close to her chest. They were a gift from Aunt Bora when she was granted the Priestess title back in the Taban tribe. Her pride as a nomadic woman from the West was engraved in those earrings.

Dawa looked up at Zi Siwei with sincere eyes, “Thank you Siwei-xiong.”

Zi Siwei’e eyes widened. It was the first time she called him that after their separation.

“How did you hide them?”

Dawa looked up in surprise, “Hide? Oh, the earrings.”

Women in Li didn’t wear earrings. However, in the Western tribes, it was common for women to wear three or more pairs of earrings. When Dawa entered the palace, she was told not to wear her earrings but it seemed she wasn’t following this rule.

“I don’t wear them during the day. Only when I am cultivating then I wear them.” Dawa replied.

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Zi Siwei sat on the opposite stone to Dawa, “Why is that?”

Dawa took one earring and held it in front of him. Zi Siwei watched as the earring began to glow. The light stayed for a moment before fading away.

“In my tribe, a Priestess is granted special earrings that can channel spiritual energy. We do a lot of healing spells and these earrings are like storage containers. If we run out of spiritual energy, we can tap into these earrings to get some more.” Dawa explained.

She started to put her six earrings back on her ears, “However, the stored energy does not stay for long. If we do not regulate the spiritual energy in these earrings, it will dissipate and become empty once more.”

Zi Siwei didn’t move while she was putting her earrings back. He thought the contraption was interesting. Cultivators in Li did not have such a device but that was probably because healers are not trained for the battlefield hence the lack of need for such things.

“Dawa.” Zi Siwei spoke, dropping formality, “What changed?”

Dawa pursed her lips, thinking hard on how to answer the question, “The harem…is not an easy place to be in. People are spiteful and often malicious. What I do and say, I have to always watch out.”

“Indeed. I visited the palace a lot when I was a child. The consorts are foxes disguised as women*.” Zi Siwei agreed.

Dawa, “It is hard to make allies in the palace when everyone is so suspicious of your background. The Empress seems to like me but I am not certain.”

Zi Siwei, “There are a lot of uncertainties in the harem. However, being too careful can also be your downfall.”

Dawa looked at Zi Siwei in surprise.

Zi Siwei, “Don’t be afraid to show who you are.”

Dawa frowned, “You’re not in the harem. You don’t know how horrible people can be.”

“There was a war against the kingdom from the north a few years back.” Zi Siwei countered, “I understand completely.”

“Dawa, “Why do you care so much about my wellbeing in the palace?”

That question made Zi Siwei freeze.

Come to think of it, why do I care?

He knew that she had changed her personality to suit the balance of power in the harem but that happened a lot with women in the harem. He knew that Young Maiden Pei entered the palace shortly after rejected her family’s proposal. They were good friends but he was never that worried about her. She would write to him but that was all the correspondence they had. So, why did he care now? He couldn’t give a clear answer.

When Zi Siwei took too long in answering, Dawa waved it off, “Nevermind. It’s nice that you’re talking to me freely. I have no one in this country so it’s a relief that I have at least one ally.”

Zi Siwei breathed a sigh of relief.

Dawa smiled gently, changing the topic, “Your music playing is beautiful. What is that flute called?”

Zi Siwei slightly embarrassed, “O-oh, um, it’s called the xiao.”

Dawa, “It has a rather earthy quality to it. Most instruments of my people are resonating and loud.”

Zi Siwei, “Is that so?”

Dawa nodded, “It reminded me of a gentle voice telling a story or a prayer of good luck.”

Zi Siwei’s eyes shifted, unsure if he should ask the question he had in his mind but Dawa beat him to it.

“Would you play it for me?”

Zi Siwei looked at Dawa silently before taking out his Anything Bag from his sleeves. He opened the bag and took out the instrument.

He began to play a mellow tune. Dawa closed her eyes and immersed herself in the dulcet tones of the xiao. She could see an abundance of trees, the flowers blooming happily. The flowers colourful and vibrant with the purple flowers being the most beautiful. It was the same shade of purple as Zi Siwei’s robe. She wondered if there were purple flowers in Li…

She unexpectedly fell asleep and Zi Siwei caught her before she fell head-first into the pool. With one hand on her back and the other on the back of her head, he looked at her worriedly.

When he saw that she was just sleeping he let out an exasperated sigh.

“You said you want to listen to my playing but you decided to fall asleep instead.”

Looking at her serene face, he broke out into one of his rare smiles.

Since the day he chased her down in the Restaurant Quarter he had not laughed or smiled. However, this woman was making him want to smile.

Zi Siwei was not a very expressive man usually. In his teens, he was a little brash but now he was more apt to observe.

He wondered how he was going to return Dawa to her palace without being seen. He was not supposed to be there in the first place. Also, consorts and outside men cannot meet. If they were caught, it would be all over.

He gave Dawa a second smile, “What am I going to do with you, you silly girl.”

His voice with hints of longing rang out in the secret training area, only the trees and nature’s creatures were his only witness.