About half an hour after the banquet began, a handsome servant of over ten years old came out from Donghua Gate.

With his lowered eyes slowly sweeping over all the people at the door, he asked in a thin voice,

"Who is the close guard of Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot?"

Hearing this, Gu Yunxi was overjoyed, while a sense of nervousness rose simultaneously. She clenched the food box with her hands for fear that she might break something and lose decency.

According to the rules, Gu Yunxi straightened her back and strode forward. She stopped three feet away from the servant, bent down to give a salute, and answered with a loud voice,

"Lord, I am."

"I see."

The servant looked at her up and down and said with his lips curling slightly and his head nodding languidly,

"Master Leng is a little drunk. He asked people to send him the sober-up soup. Take your belongings and come with me!"

This was exactly what Cheng Wanli said to her previously.

This eunuch was the one who invented an excuse to take her into the Palace to meet Gu Yunyao.

Gu Yunxi turned to Chiliarch Cheng Wanli.

He put his big hand on her shoulder and patted her, insinuating,

"Go ahead. Remember to serve him carefully."

"Please be assured, Chiliarch."

He and Gu Yunxi looked at each other and nodded tacitly. With the food box in hand, she followed the servant quietly, entered Donghua Gate, and disappeared in the vast purple haze in the early evening.

Outside Donghua Gate, after Cheng Wanli watched Gu Yunxi come into the Palace successfully, he turned back inadvertently and saw An Hong from the Western Depot hiding in a corner, staring sharply at the direction where Gu Yunxi's figure disappeared. His lips curled and showed a gloomy smile.

On Donghua Gate, the high-hanging colorful lanterns cast bright scarlet shadows on his thin, pointed cheeks. His facial features made people feel a trace of ferocity indescribably at this moment.

An uneasy foreboding suddenly rose from Cheng Wanli's heart.

Gu Yunxi followed the servant all the way and made several turns, shuttling in countless carved beams and painted columns.

The night reigned. Dense mist enveloped the lofty sumptuous palaces, which were like a mirage of fairyland, with their blurry edges partly hidden and partly visible.

Gorgeous lights decorated the towering turrets everywhere. From a distance, they were like a brilliant flowing river, sparkling and magnificent.

As they walked, they encountered a maid carrying a lantern.

The servant stopped. He and the maid greeted each other.

The maid said,

"I am Zhaoyi Yu's maid from Xiaoye Chamber. Lady, I am here to pick you up according to Her Ladyship's order."

The servant leaned over and raised his hand to introduce Gu Yunxi to her,

"Here he is. Please lead the way."

Only taking a look at Gu Yunxi, the maid bowed to her in a hurry,

"I am maid Song Qin. Greetings to you, Lady."

Much confused, Gu Yunxi came forward with an uneasy look. Before she could speak, the maid stood up and said to her quickly,

"Her Ladyship has arrived at the Kanfang Pavilion. Lady, please come with me quickly."

The servant beside saluted to Gu Yunxi,

"I will just stop here. Please go with her and see Zhaoyi Yu."

Gu Yunxi was really appreciated that. She kept showing her gratitude to the servant, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you..."

The maid urged,

"Lady, please be quick. Beware you may be noticed."

Gu Yunxi continued walking guided by the maid Song Qin.

The night was quiet. The warm, red, limited light of the lanterns shone on the smooth and clean stone road, casting two slender black shadows, one behind the other. Soon afterward they entered a separate garden.

Compared with the grand Palace, the garden was not very big, just like a piece of iceberg. But all the landscapes, including the pavilions, terraces, towers, and stone art hills, were made very exquisite.

In the early spring, the trees here were not all withered. Neither were them completely green and bright.

Gu Yunxi watched while walking, imagining that it would be a wonderful place to go in summer.

Not far away, there was a pavilion. Inside, the lights were dim, and the figures were moving.

Beside the stone table in the pavilion sat a richly dressed woman.

She wore a blue brocade garment with pink peony patterns, a full-length rosy dress, and a golden silk brocade cloak.

She combed her dark hair into a neat bun, and in the middle was a golden silk pearl crown. She wore plum-shaped hair ornaments and emerald hairpins, the heads of which were decorated with thin silver beads fringed with tassels. On her neck, there was a golden dragon-ring necklace. Her whole body was glistening dazzlingly.

On her face, the originally charming facial features were now painted with the most delicate makeup, showing the unique, elegant temperament with a touch of the mature charm of a newly-married woman. Her whole posture looked gorgeous and resplendent.

At the sight of the little guard with food box in hand, the gorgeous woman in the pavilion rose slowly and kept her eyes wide open in disbelief.

"Yunxi."

She was too excited and sorrowful to approach her before shouting out.

Gu Yunxi bore what Chiliarch Cheng taught her in mind. As she walked towards the pavilion, she didn't dare raise her head, gasp, or look around.

From the front came a deep and sincere call, which was loud, clear, and familiar. She suddenly stopped.

As she looked up slowly, she felt sour in her nose, and her eyes began to water.

In blurry sight, she finally looked at the woman's eyes in the pavilion.

Yunyao! It was Sister Yunyao.

Sister!

Gu Yunxi's lips shivered. When she wanted to utter, she immediately thought of those trivial, strict royal etiquette.

She bent in panic, put down the food box, and saluted,

"Greetings to Zhaoyi. Wish Your Ladyship..."

"Yunxi, it's me!"

Gu Yunyao didn't wait for Gu Yunxi to finish her words but raised her voice to interrupt her. With a gust of fragrant wind rushing to Gu Yunxi in front, Gu Yunyao stretched her arms and pulled Gu Yunxi up from the ground.

"I am your sister! Your sister, Yunyao."

Gu Yunyao gazed at Gu Yunxi, opened her red lips smeared with rouge, and complained in an anxious and grieving voice. In the eyes of yearning feelings, some water rippled.

"Sister... I miss you so much."

Gu Yunxi couldn't pretend anymore. She called her in a trembling voice, tears welling up her eyes.

"Yunxi!"

Gu Yunyao replied excitedly. The two sisters held hands together, turned twice on the spot, and looked at each other with watering eyes, laughing and crying.

Time flew. It was less than a year since they were separated in the Garden, and the two intimate sisters had embarked on two different roads, with distinctive fate...

After their emotions turned stable, Gu Yunyao wiped away her tears, eyes casting on Yunxi, and looked at her carefully from head to foot. Surprise and relief emerged on her face.

"Yunxi, I haven't seen you for over half a year. You are now taller, and your temperament is much stronger!"

Gu Yunxi felt energetic at this moment, smiling,

"Sister, be assured. I'm all right now. Now I see you and know that you are better than I am. I am relieved."

Gu Yunyao tittered, looking composed. She took Yunxi's hand with her smooth and slightly cold fingers, looked up into the sky, and said,

"Am I well? I am like a bird with broken wings, incapable of flying higher. What you see is just a little decency in front of others."

Gu Yunxi felt astonished in the heart.

A man came from behind Gu Yunyao and said to her in a feminine voice,

"Your Ladyship, you have been missing Lady day and night. You should be happy now as you meet each other. Please don't be sad and mind your body."

Gu Yunyao listened to him, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and smiled radiantly.

"Yunxi, do you know him?"

By the flickering light of some palace lanterns, Gu Yunxi looked at the man.

There was nothing special about his servant garment with dark red flower patterns. Looking at his face carefully, she began to look surprised.

"You are... Zhao An!"

This handsome man was no other than Zhao An, the gardener from the Garden, who once eloped with Gu Yunyao. Gu Yunxi didn't find him in the Royal Prison of the Eastern Depot!

"You? Aren't you..."

Gu Yunxi was shocked. She looked at him without saying anything.

Gu Yunyao smiled bitterly, her eyes watering again unwittingly,

"Couldn't it be him?! He's such a fool! I jumped into the pit of fire, and he jumped in with me! He asked Lord Leng to castrate him and come into this besieged place, accompanying me to wait for death together!"

Zhao An lowered his eyes, smiling and saying gently,

"The place where I can keep you company is paradise. How will it be the pit of fire?"

Gu Yunyao replied to him, pouting, with a sense of dismay,

"You fool! When I set myself in the Palace, you can go. How good it would have been to find a quiet place, do business, get married, and have children. Is it worth following me and taking this adventure?!"

Hearing this, Zhao An frowned. He seemed dissatisfied and said in fury and bitterness,

"I am willing to!"

Gu Yunxi looked at the two of them. The way they exchanged their words seemed to be bickering, but the look in their eyes and the tone of their voice expressed a more intimate and tacit feeling than that of ordinary lovers.

Happiness might bring about misfortune.

Misfortune was a blessing in disguise.

Gu Yunyao and Zhao An loved each other, but they were destined not to be a couple.

But like this, they stayed together in a different way. For them, perhaps it was a kind of real happiness...

Suddenly, Gu Yunxi thought whether the Master had the same idea with her so that he agreed to Zhao An's request and permitted him to enter the Palace to accompany Yunyao.

This could be seen as another kind of compensation for Yunyao.

Zhao An took a look at the stone table and turned back, saying to Gu Yunyao,

"Your Ladyship, the dinner has been prepared. Please have a seat with Lady. It was a little cool in the evening of early spring. Any further delay will leave the meal cold."

"OK! Yunxi, come with me."

Gu Yunyao happily held Gu Yunxi's hand and took her to the table.

Careful maids had put a warm cushion on Gu Yunxi's seat.

Seeing this, Gu Yunxi looked at the servants by her side, hesitating,

"Sister, I..."

Gu Yunyao smiled gently, making her sit in the chair.

"You and I are sisters. Don't bother. Take it easy. These people are selected by Lord Leng in person. They will not cause trouble."

Finishing her words, she also went to the table and sat down on the opposite.

Face to face, she felt a burst of emotion in the heart.

Looking at Yunxi, dressed in a purple official suit with a beautiful face under her black hat showing the masculine spirit, Gu Yunyao's charming face gradually turned gloomy. She showed a complex expression and tried to ask her,

"Yunxi, I find you look better than before. Are you feeling well now? Did you suffer from blood phobia again that had afflicted you for a long time?"

"Be assured, sister. I have recovered from that disease."

Gu Yunxi answered in vitality.

"Really? How did you recover? Tell me quickly!"

"I went to the Eastern Depot. The Master treated me very well. He always asked Imperial Doctor Jiang to treat my disease with a lot of good medicine. At last, he and the imperial doctor acupunctured on my body..."

Realizing what she was saying suddenly, Gu Yunxi stopped. She covered her mouth with her hand in panic and gazed at Gu Yunyao, who was also shocked.