Moonlit Reunion

"Grandfather! Grandfather! You're back!"

Mei Zhuyu had just lit three incense sticks when he heard the high-pitched shouts of a little girl from the courtyard outside. Soon after, the sound of pattering footsteps grew closer. He inserted the incense into the burner and turned to see a round-eyed little girl skipping over the threshold into the room, followed by a waddling white goose.

The goose's legs were too short to step over the threshold. Seeing this, the girl turned back and expertly grabbed the goose by its neck, lifting it inside before happily throwing herself at Mei Zhuyu. She nestled against his knees and sweetly called him "Grandfather," then turned toward the three burning incense sticks on the altar and called out "Grandmother."

The moment Mei Zhuyu saw the little girl, the sternness in his expression melted away from the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth, replaced by a warm, affectionate smile.

The girl was the youngest daughter of his third son—a late-born child. Since she was the only granddaughter among all three brothers' families, she was particularly doted upon, and Mei Zhuyu, as her grandfather, adored her especially.

"Yuanyuan, why are you up so early? You should sleep a little longer," Mei Zhuyu said, patting her head.

The girl climbed onto the couch on her own and sat beside her grandfather, swinging her little legs as she held his hand. "I missed you, Grandfather. Next year when you go to Changxi Temple, take me with you, okay~?"

"Grandfather isn't going there to play—it's for official business," Mei Zhuyu said, seeing right through her little scheme. "And you don't miss me—you just want to go out and have fun."

The girl pouted pitifully. "When you're not in Chang'an, I see those monsters, and I get so scared I can't sleep at night."

She sounded utterly sincere, as if genuinely frightened, but Mei Zhuyu knew better than to take her at her word. He sighed helplessly and said knowingly, "While I was gone, did you take off the peachwood charm I made for you?"

The girl froze guiltily for a second before immediately putting on an innocent, wide-eyed expression, trying to charm her way out of trouble. "Yuanyuan has been very good~"

Mei Zhuyu tapped her forehead. "You must have taken it off on purpose to look at the monsters because you thought it was fun. You're still too young—you shouldn't interact with them too much."

The girl buried her face in his chest, wriggling her chubby little body and whining playfully.

Mei Zhuyu had no choice but to pick her up, bouncing her slightly in his arms like a little monkey. "Were you really scared? You've lost some weight."

Only then did the girl lift her head, wrinkling her nose. "I had nightmares and couldn't sleep well. I want to stay with you, Grandfather—I don’t want to sleep at home anymore!"

After a moment's thought, Mei Zhuyu said, "Let me go check if there are any monsters hiding in Yuanyuan’s room, scaring our little girl."

His third son’s home was very close, so Mei Zhuyu didn’t even bother with a horse. Carrying his granddaughter, he walked out of the Mei family residence. He moved slowly, waiting for the waddling white goose behind them as the little girl chattered away about recent events. After turning down a street, they arrived at his third son’s house.

His third son was on duty today and wasn’t home, so the household was in chaos over the missing Mei Yuan. Before Mei Zhuyu even entered, he could hear the anxious voices of the servants inside. "Has anyone seen Yuanniang? Where could she have gone so early in the morning without even eating?"

"Could she be hiding somewhere? Doesn’t she usually like sneaking into the back garden?""We've looked everywhere, she's not here!"

"Did you see the goose? Yuan Niang always takes the goose with her wherever she goes. Maybe call for it?"

"The goose isn’t here either… At least with the goose around, no one would dare bully Yuan Niang…"

"Maybe she went to the old residence to find Lord Mei? I heard he returned to Chang’an last night."

"Oh, that’s very possible! I’ll go ask over there right away!"

Just as the servants were talking, Mei Zhuyu walked in carrying their little Yuan Niang, followed by the honking goose. The older maidservant let out a sigh of relief and hurried forward with a smile to greet them.

Mei Zhuyu had always been stern. Aside from little Mei Yuan, all his sons and grandsons were afraid of him, not to mention the servants. With her grandfather as her shield, Mei Yuan had no fear of her mother’s scolding. She tugged at her grandfather’s sleeve and dragged him to her room to look for monsters.

Mei Zhuyu walked around his granddaughter’s room, sighing inwardly more times than he could count. This little girl was the only one in the Mei family who had inherited his and Wu Zhen’s abilities. Her personality also resembled Wu Zhen’s—she was an absolute handful.

A small porcelain jar in the corner, under the bed, and inside the cabinet—all housed little Monsters, clearly caught and kept by the child for fun. Though Monsters weren’t as dangerous as demons, prolonged exposure was still harmful, especially since the child hadn’t learned any sorcery from him nor had Wu Zhen’s experience.

Finally reaching the bedside, Mei Zhuyu lifted the little girl’s pillow and made a grasping motion in the air, pulling out a flowing, pancake-like entity.

The thing was fluid in form, shimmering with colors.

The moment the little girl saw that her grandfather had actually found something, her eyes sparkled. She rummaged through the cabinet, pulled out a clay pot, and hopped excitedly in front of Mei Zhuyu. "Grandpa, grandpa! What is this? Can I keep it?"

If it had been any other mischievous child asking to keep such things, Mei Zhuyu would have immediately taken them outside for a lesson. But when his beloved granddaughter made the request, the doting grandfather could only indulge her. He placed the creature into the little clay pot as she asked.

"This is a Monster called a Nightmare Fiend. It breeds in human hair and later takes refuge in pillows, feeding on nightmares. If a pillow harbors a Nightmare Fiend, it can cause frequent bad dreams." Generally, if a person was overly anxious or troubled during the day, the turbid energy would seep from their mind at night, breeding Nightmare Fiends in their hair.

Another possibility was like Mei Yuan—born with spiritual power but too young to control it, making her prone to attracting such little creatures.

"If you keep it trapped in this jar, it’ll die soon," Mei Zhuyu said.

The little girl hugged the jar, her face falling. "Huh? Nooo, I want to keep it! Grandpa~"

Before long, the little girl was beaming as she followed her grandfather, watching him take out a cinnabar brush to inscribe talismans on the clay pot so the Nightmare Fiend could survive longer inside.

Seeing his granddaughter’s delighted expression as she hugged the pot, Mei Zhuyu had no choice but to say, "Next time you want a little Monster, tell Grandpa first. Don’t catch them yourself. You’re still so young—if you run into something stronger, I’m afraid you might get hurt."

The little girl knew her grandfather must have seen the other hidden jars where she kept her Monsters. She stuck out her tongue and placed the new pot alongside the others."Grandfather, Yuanyuan wants to go out and play! Father and Mother never take me out, only you're the best!"

"Where do you want to go this time?" Mei Zhuyu asked.

"To the music hall!" the little girl answered without hesitation. "To see all those beautiful Persian dancers!"

"...How do you know about that, Yuanyuan? Have you seen them before?"

The little girl unhesitatingly betrayed her uncle Mei Ruozhuo. "Uncle took me to see them last year during the Lantern Festival! They were so pretty!"

Mei Zhuyu's eldest son had been appointed as the governor of Suzhou this year. When Mei Zhuyu visited Changxi Temple, he stopped by to see his son's family. In front of him, this eldest son always pretended to be serious and proper, but privately, influenced by his mother, he was quite the opposite—taking his little niece to brothels and music halls was exactly the kind of thing he'd do.

The old grandfather felt some regret for not properly scolding his son during this visit. But faced with his granddaughter's big, pleading eyes, he... agreed.

First, he bought her the sesame cakes she wanted from a foreign food shop outside, then took her to drink the fermented milk at Li's Eatery, which Wu Zhen had loved most. After filling the little girl's belly, he finally took her to see the Persian dancers she'd been dreaming about.

Full of energy and having missed her grandfather for so long, the little girl dragged him everywhere, wanting to see everything. Mei Zhuyu, heartbroken that his granddaughter had been cooped up at home, took her wherever she wanted to go, delighting her so much that her face was lit with a radiant smile all day.

After a day of wild fun, they returned home to find the Mei residence bustling with activity. His two sons still in Chang'an had brought their families over for a reunion dinner.

"Father, Yuanyuan can be quite a handful. You must be tired after looking after her all day?" the third son said solicitously, pretending to scold his daughter with a stern face. "What are you doing clinging to your grandfather like that? Get down!"

The old grandfather couldn't bear to see anyone scold his little granddaughter. With the same stern expression as his son, he retorted, "Yuanyuan isn't as annoying as you."

The third son, Mei Sanlang, who'd been called annoying by his father: "..." He'd known his father would say this, so why had he set himself up for this scolding?

Mei Erlang also came over. Of the three children, he was the most like Mei Zhuyu in temperament and the most like Wu Zhen in appearance. Since childhood, he'd been cleaning up after his mischievous older brother and younger brother.

The wives of Erlang and Sanlang brought their sons over to greet the elders. A group of young boys with varying personalities stood meekly before their stern grandfather, as well-behaved as their fathers.

The little girl watched her cousins and brothers, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. Though usually mischievous, her brothers became as docile as the rabbits their mother raised whenever they saw their grandfather.

Noticing their little sister laughing, the boys secretly made faces at her. They didn't dare act spoiled with their grandfather like she did—otherwise, they'd receive the same treatment as their fathers: being called annoying.

The large family enjoyed a lively meal together, chatting for a while before gradually dispersing. Only little Mei Yuan refused to leave. "I want to sleep at Grandfather's place!"

Mei Sanlang thought his little monkey of a daughter would disturb his father's rest with her noise. But his wife persuaded him, "Since Mother passed, Father has lived here alone. It must be quite lonely. Let Yuanniang keep him company for a while."

Mei Sanlang paused, remembering his mother who had passed away a few years ago. With a sigh, he allowed the little girl to stay.

At night, as Mei Zhuyu was about to sleep, he suddenly heard loud knocking at his door—his little granddaughter was pounding outside. "Grandfather! Grandfather!""What's wrong, can't sleep?" Mei Zhuyu asked as he opened the door, draping his robe over his shoulders.

The little girl darted into the room like a puppy, scurrying straight to the adjoining study. "I want to watch the shadow paintings!"

These so-called shadow paintings were actually projections on a blank wall in the study, created by shadow insects Wu Zhen had placed there long ago. Every year since, Wu Zhen would replace some of them, often dragging him here at night to watch the shadows. In the past, only he and Wu Zhen could see them—now, their little granddaughter could too.

Grandfather and granddaughter sat on the daybed watching the shadows, the window wide open. Below the window, mosquito-repelling incense burned, its smoke curling faintly in the air.

"Grandpa, I want to hear the pipa," the cross-legged girl demanded after a while.

"It's late. If I play one song for you, will you go to bed?"

The girl thought for a moment, then held up two fingers. "Two songs."

Taking down the pipa, Mei Zhuyu gently touched the small character "Zhen" carved on its side before lowering his eyes and beginning to play.

The girl rested her chin in her hands as she listened. Her parents, uncles, and brothers all thought Grandpa disliked music and couldn't play instruments—only she knew he could play the pipa, and play it well. He'd told her once that Grandma had taught him when they were young, and that he'd only ever played for her before.

After two songs, Mei Zhuyu patted his granddaughter's head. "Time for bed now."

The girl flopped onto the floor dramatically. "But I still can't sleep!"

Mei Zhuyu: "..."

"Grandpa, tell me a story! Stories always make me fall asleep fast!"

But as the story went on, the drowsy girl remained awake while Mei Zhuyu ended up dozing off against the daybed.

A soft click—as if something had bumped the window—startled the girl awake. Rubbing her eyes, she looked over just in time to see a translucent tabby cat step through the wall.

"Kitty!" she cried happily.

"Shh—" The tabby cat hushed her, and the girl immediately covered her mouth, glancing cautiously at her grandfather whose eyes remained closed. She climbed down from the daybed and crouched before the cat. "Kitty, when will you take me to see the demons again?"

The tabby flicked her tail and smiled. "On your birthday, I'll take you again. But you have to listen to your grandpa."

"Okay!" the girl agreed readily.

"Good girl. Now off to bed."

Once the satisfied girl had left, the tabby cat leaped lightly onto the daybed and curled up in Mei Zhuyu's arms.

A wrinkled hand settled over the cat's back as a voice spoke above her. "You're planning to sneak her into the Demon Market again, aren't you?"

The tabby realized he hadn't been asleep after all and tried to play innocent. "I was just teasing her! Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless~"

Mei Zhuyu sat up, looking exasperated. "You're not teasing our granddaughter—you're teasing me."

"I'm not teasing you, I'm coaxing you."

Mei Zhuyu shook his head and lay back down. "Fine." After all, he'd been teased—no, coaxed—like this his whole life.

Man and cat nestled together as, outside in the courtyard, the night-blooming cereus silently unfurled.

"This year's cereus has bloomed too," came the woman's amused voice. She knew Mei Zhuyu must have rushed back to see this year's flowers with her.

Mei Zhuyu didn't reply, simply gazing at the cereus in the courtyard while gently stroking the cat in his arms.

This year's flowers were just as beautiful.

(The End)