Moonlit Reunion

Wu Zhen was ushered out of the hall by Wu Huanghou, her sister's parting words still ringing in her ears: "Go home and wait to be married."

She shrugged, swinging her horsewhip as she strolled along, lost in thought. As she passed through a long corridor, she encountered the emperor. He was clutching a few sheets of paper, muttering to himself, utterly absorbed. A dozen or so eunuchs and palace maids followed silently behind him, heads bowed.

Wu Zhen stopped and bowed, greeting him with a respectful "Your Majesty." Hearing her voice, the emperor finally tore his gaze from the musical score in his hands and glanced at her. Seeing her androgynous attire, he chuckled but said nothing, merely asking amiably, "Ah, Erniang, here to see the empress?"

Wu Zhen replied, "Yes, I just left Her Majesty's presence."

The emperor waved the stack of papers in his hand mysteriously. "Erniang, do you know what this is?"

Wu Zhen understood immediately. "Your Majesty's new composition?"

The emperor laughed heartily, clearly pleased. "Indeed! Even the Noble Consort praised this one. I'm quite satisfied with it. Once the musicians in Xingyuan learn it and choreograph a dance, I'll invite you to enjoy it with me!"

The emperor's fondness for Wu Zhen stemmed from two reasons: first, she was Wu Huanghou's younger sister, and second, they shared a mutual love for music and dance. The emperor greatly valued her discerning taste in these arts and had often summoned her to the palace for performances.

After exchanging a few more words, the emperor hurried off, heading toward Xingyuan—the performance grounds for dancers and musicians.

Wu Zhen continued down the corridor. To return to Duke Yu's residence, she should have headed toward Xufeng Gate, but instead, she made her way to Jianxing Gate. Crossing the vast white-jade-paved square, she headed straight for Taiji Palace.

After the imperial court moved to Daming Palace, most government offices followed suit. However, some departments, like certain bureaus within the Ministry of Justice, remained in Taiji Palace due to the sheer volume of records that were too cumbersome to relocate. Since the emperor rarely needed them, they stayed put, along with their officials.

Mei Jia Dalang served as a director in one of these bureaus. If Wu Zhen wanted to see him, Taiji Palace was the place to go.

Known for her idleness, Wu Zhen had wandered Taiji and Daming Palaces often enough to know her way around. Soon, she found herself near the Ministry of Justice offices. However, as an unaffiliated loiterer, barging in unannounced wouldn't be appropriate. Moreover, her father and sister had repeatedly warned her not to frighten the young Mei gentleman.

Glancing around, she spotted a small, unused palace nearby and ducked inside. Moments later, the vermilion door cracked open slightly—but it wasn't Wu Zhen who emerged. Instead, a sleek gray-black tabby cat with golden-orange eyes slipped out. Squinting against the bright sunlight, the cat leaped nimbly onto the palace eaves and darted like the wind toward the Ministry of Justice offices.

Inside the empty little palace, not a soul remained. Only Wu Zhen's crimson round-collar robe and her horsewhip lay draped across a beam.A few minor officials from the Ministry of Justice were taking a breather under the corridor, animatedly discussing the ladies of Pingkang Ward when a Tabby Cat strolled leisurely along the eaves, surveying the surroundings from above. No one spared it a second glance.

With no one paying attention to the Tabby Cat walking in a straight line on the roof, she leisurely scanned the scenery while searching for someone. Truth be told, Wu Zhen hadn't visited this government office more than a couple of times and wasn't very familiar with it. Now that she was in cat form, she couldn't exactly ask someone where Mei Jia Dalang was—she'd have to find him herself.

Finding someone was no easy task, especially when she didn't even know what this Mei Dalang looked like. After wandering around the office for quite a while without success, Wu Zhen perched on a wall to rest when she suddenly overheard a conversation between two minor officials.

"What should we do with these?"

"Take them to Vice Director Mei. Once he copies and signs them, we can file them away and be done with it."

The moment the words "Vice Director Mei" reached her ears, Wu Zhen perked up immediately and followed the officials. One of them, carrying a stack of documents, suddenly noticed a Tabby Cat keeping pace with him along the wall. His eyes lit up, and he beckoned, "Here, kitty~ Come here, kitty~"

Wu Zhen twitched the long whiskers at the corners of her mouth. Whenever she roamed outside in this form, cat lovers would often beckon her like this. This man clearly adored cats.

However, this gentleman's face was dotted with tiny freckles, as if he'd buried it in a jar of sesame seeds and come out covered in them...

As the official called out, the seemingly lazy Tabby Cat suddenly flicked a small piece of loose gravel from the wall with her paw, sending it flying straight into his forehead with a sharp "thwack." He yelped in pain.

The sesame-faced young man could only sigh at the wall, rubbing his forehead before continuing on his way. As he walked, he kept glancing back, noticing the Tabby Cat following him at a leisurely pace. But by the time he reached Vice Director Mei's office and looked up again, the cat that had trailed him all the way was gone.

The official delivered the documents and left, but Wu Zhen stayed. She crouched on a rooftop directly opposite an open window, inside which was the figure of the man she'd been searching for—Mei Jia Dalang.

He wore a light crimson official robe and a black gauze headpiece. From the back, his posture was tall and straight. Yes, Mei Dalang had his back to the window, so Wu Zhen couldn't see his face at all.

The rooftop she was on was still too far from the window. Wu Zhen eyed a tall paulownia tree planted right in front of it, then leaped down from the eaves and nimbly climbed up the tree, which brought her much closer to the window.

The paulownia tree was in full bloom—its flowers, the most vibrant in late spring, were now nearing their end. The bluestone pavement below was strewn with fallen white petals. As Wu Zhen leaped onto a branch, a shower of blossoms cascaded down like a gust of wind had swept through.

She crept forward until the branch dipped under the weight of the Tabby Cat, bringing her close enough to the window. There she settled, tucking her paws neatly beneath her, nestled among the paulownia blossoms as she gazed at the figure inside.

Under the intense late spring sunlight, the paulownia flowers exuded a faint, dreamy fragrance, lulling one into drowsiness. The Tabby Cat in the tree yawned, revealing a mouthful of tiny, sharp white teeth.Perched on the branch of a tung tree with her tail drooping, Wu Zhen narrowed her eyes to observe Mei Langjun. Her gaze traveled from his meticulously tied hair tucked into a black gauze headscarf, down his slender neck, to his back—not particularly broad but straight and firm—and further to the waist cinched by a belt... Tsk, so slender. That waist is quite something. The tabby cat on the tree twitched her furry paw.

Perhaps sensing something, the eldest Mei brother, who had been bent over his desk working inside, suddenly turned his head toward the window. His eyes met those of the tabby cat perched on the tung tree branch outside.

Seeing the sight of a tabby cat weighing down the tung blossoms, Mei Langjun showed no surprise, merely watching calmly as the cat swayed precariously with the branch in the breeze.

Finally getting a clear look at Mei Langjun’s face, Wu Zhen thought to herself: Not bad, not ugly at all.

What kind of person was Wu Zhen? She had seen countless handsome young men in her time, and this Mei Langjun could only be considered average among them—his looks weren’t particularly striking, but they were pleasant enough. He bore no resemblance to his delicate, fair-faced cousin Mei Si, nor did he share the ethereal beauty of Consort Mei. If one had to choose a word to describe him, it would be "upright."

His eyes were calm yet cool, his expression clear with a hint of sharpness—not the cold severity of an unsheathed blade, but the stern air of someone accustomed to meting out justice.

Observing the young man’s restrained and dignified demeanor, Wu Zhen sighed inwardly. To be honest, she was the worst at dealing with people who took things seriously at first glance.

Mei Langjun turned his head to look at the tabby cat outside the window, his wrist pausing mid-air. The ink on his brush lingered too long, dripping a blot onto the paper. He turned back, set aside the spoiled sheet for other uses, and took a fresh one to continue his work.

Wu Zhen had seen what she came for and should have left by now, but for some reason—perhaps sheer laziness—she stayed put, continuing to watch Mei Langjun’s back.

After a while, she couldn’t help but mutter to herself. Most people worked for a bit, then stepped out to chat with colleagues or slack off a little. But this Mei Langjun? Once seated, he barely moved, his brush never stopping, while the stack of papers at the side of his desk grew taller and taller.

After who knew how long, Mei Langjun finally stood up. Wu Zhen, who had been dozing, lifted her head to look and inwardly chuckled. Sitting down, she hadn’t noticed, but now that he was standing, she realized—this eldest Mei brother was tall . She herself was among the tallest of women, rivaling many men in height, yet Mei Langjun towered over her by a good half-head.

Perhaps because of his height, Wu Zhen thought he looked even thinner standing up. That lean, scholarly frame truly fit the image of a refined noble scholar.

As Mei Langjun left the room, Wu Zhen also stood up, leaping from the branch through the window. She intended to take a closer look at his desk.

But still drowsy, she misjudged her landing and accidentally stepped into the inkstone, staining her fluffy white front paw black with ink. Without hesitation, she pressed her paw onto the discarded sheet of paper nearby, planning to wipe it off for the time being.Several paw prints were left on that scrap of paper when Plum Lord returned. He had gone to fetch water to drink, but upon entering, he found a fearless Tabby Cat standing on his desk. Even when caught in the act, it didn’t flee—instead, right under his nose, it stamped another plum blossom print onto the paper.

Not a single sip of the water Plum Lord had brought was drunk by himself; all of it was used to wash the Tabby Cat’s paws.

Wu Zhen didn’t think Plum Lord seemed like someone who particularly liked cats, so when he used the water to wash her paws, she was genuinely surprised.

After washing her paws, Plum Lord noticed the Tabby Cat shaking its damp paw. Suddenly, he set the jug aside and offered his own sleeve to the cat.

The Tabby Cat paused, then naturally pressed its paw against his sleeve to dry it off.

Once its paw was dry, the Tabby Cat leaped out the window and left. Plum Lord returned to his work.

Outside the window, the tung flowers rustled as they fell.