The carriage paraded around the city before stopping at the gates of Gan Ye Temple. Seven pairs of golden boys and girls disembarked.
Led by the monks, they proceeded to the plaza for blessings. Forty-nine monks, arranged in seven groups, chanted Buddhist scriptures to pray for the nation.
Xiao Man, with a solemn expression, prayed earnestly. Her gaze inadvertently fell upon Zen Master Wuyou. He appeared unchanged, as if he had always been this way every time she saw him, as if time had forgotten him, leaving him perpetually in his current state.
The prayer ceremony required the monks to chant seventy-seven times, forty-nine recitations in total. After the ceremony, they were to pay their respects to the Seven Goddesses and then visit the Matchmaker Tree to pray for good marriages for all young men and women in the land.
As it was the Qixi Festival prayer day, the Matchmaker Tree was not yet open to the general public. The party of fourteen circled the tree, each making their own wish and hanging a marriage token onto its branches.
Nangong Cheng’s lips curved slightly as he leaned closer to Xiao Man. "What did you write?"
"Naturally, I wrote according to the rules." Xiao Man hung her marriage token, but her height wasn't enough. Nangong Cheng immediately offered to help, but Xiao Man waved him away. The token slipped from her hand, on the verge of falling. For the token to fall before being hung on the Matchmaker Tree was extremely inauspicious.
The onlookers' hearts tightened. At that moment, a hand caught Xiao Man’s falling marriage token and, along with her and her token, hung it on the tree. The crowd instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
Wen Moyu was still holding her marriage token when Nangong Yu caught Xiao Man’s token and hung it. She found herself alone. However, being accustomed to composure, she quickly reacted and hung her own token.
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Qin."
"Mm." Nangong Yu replied with a single, cold word and fell silent. However, his peripheral vision remained fixed on Xiao Man.
After hanging the marriage tokens, the next event was to determine who had won the competition for the most flowers today. As night fell, the two individuals who had emerged victorious would personally offer flowers to the Seven Goddesses. It was said that those who offered flowers each year were blessed with good marriages.
"The counts for today's flowers have been tallied. Your Highness Prince Qin and Miss Wen, and His Highness the Tenth Prince and Miss Xiao have tied for first place."
"Tied for first place?" The crowd was astonished. Such a tie had never occurred in previous years. "Then who will offer the flowers?"
"This..." Everyone was at a loss. Both pairs included a prince and a young lady. One lady was the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister's household, and the other was the legitimate daughter of the General's household. Offending either would be difficult.
"Perhaps we should draw lots to decide who offers the flowers."
"An excellent idea."
Xiao Man stood beneath the Matchmaker Tree, waiting for the monks to prepare the drawing. Suddenly, the Tenth Prince stumbled, seemingly tripping over something. A crack then split open in the ground, and Xiao Man, caught off guard, tumbled in.
"Xiao Man!" The Tenth Prince immediately jumped after her. To her surprise, Prince Qin also jumped in.
Wen Moyu, standing beside Prince Qin, reached out to pull him back but failed. Instead, she was dragged down with him.
When the onlookers realized what had happened and were about to rush to their rescue, the fissure suddenly closed, and the ground returned to its original state. The crowd panicked, calling for guards to save them.
After falling, Xiao Man experienced a moment of panic. Instinctively, she curled up to protect her head. Unexpectedly, she landed in a warm, somewhat familiar embrace. She tumbled and bumped along for an unknown duration before finally coming to a stop.
In the darkness, Xiao Man couldn't tell north from south. However, upon landing, she heard a muffled groan, which was all too familiar. She remembered the Tenth Prince had jumped in after her when she fell. Could this person be the Tenth Prince?
Xiao Man reached out to push away the person holding her, but a deep voice echoed from above her: "Don't move erratically."
"Your Highness Prince Qin." Nangong Yu took a deep breath. Something had pricked him as they rolled down. The situation was unclear, and he feared Xiao Man might injure herself if she moved recklessly.
"You should get up slowly."
"Alright." Xiao Man slowly rose from Nangong Yu's embrace and reached out to feel her surroundings, touching nothing. They must have fallen into a secret chamber. After getting up, Xiao Man immediately tugged at Nangong Yu. "Your Highness, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Are you unharmed? Don't break the wound again." Nangong Yu's voice sounded much like his usual tone, and Xiao Man didn't realize he was injured.
"I'm fine, Your Highness needn't worry." Xiao Man fumbled for a tinderbox, lit it, and then saw clearly that they had fallen into a secret chamber. The walls were on all sides, and there was no sign of an exit.
"How can there be such a place beneath Gan Ye Temple?" Xiao Man asked, puzzled.
"Gan Ye Temple has existed for many years."
"I heard that Gan Ye Temple once defended against foreign invaders and saved the founding ancestor, which is why it was designated a state temple. This must have been left from that time." Nangong Yu reached out and carefully felt the wall, searching for a mechanism to exit.
"Let's hope this secret chamber wasn't used to trap enemies," Xiao Man said.
If it was meant to trap enemies, it was unlikely to have an opening mechanism. They then began to search the walls and floor, one by one, looking for a mechanism.
However, after searching the walls and the floor, they found no mechanism. "It seems there's no mechanism to get out."
Nangong Yu leaned against the wall and sat down. "Then let's rest. Someone will surely come to rescue us soon."
Xiao Man nodded and sat down beside Nangong Yu. Nangong Yu immediately instructed, "Put out the tinderbox. This is a confined space, and the burning tinder will consume the air faster. We won't be able to hold out until rescue."
Xiao Man agreed with a nod and took two pills from her purse, handing one to Nangong Yu. "One is an antidote, just in case, and the other is to replenish your energy."
Nangong Yu took them and swallowed them, and Xiao Man ate hers as well. She then extinguished the tinderbox. "Oh, right. I remember the Tenth Prince jumped in after me when I fell. Where is he?"
"I don't know. Perhaps he fell elsewhere." Nangong Yu's voice was soft, as if he feared disturbing something.
Xiao Man felt something was amiss and reached out to touch Nangong Yu's wrist to check his pulse. However, in the darkness, she missed his wrist and instead touched his waist. Nangong Yu immediately gasped.
Xiao Man slowly withdrew her hand. Her hand was damp. She brought it closer to her nose, and the strong smell of blood filled the air. "Your Highness, you're injured!"
Nangong Yu's voice remained deep. "It's nothing, just a superficial wound."
"Let me tend to your wound first." Without further ado, Xiao Man relit the tinderbox. Nangong Yu's moon-white palace attire was already stained with a large patch of blood around his waist.