A Night of Lanterns

The Mid-Autumn Festival brings the capital to life with lanterns, music, and festivity. Xie Zheng, in a rare gesture, invites Changyu to the lantern festival in the city. She is delighted — and determined not to show it. They wander the market streets together, an awkward but endearing pair. He is stiff and formal; she is loud and enthusiastic, dragging him from stall to stall.

At a riddle-lantern booth, Changyu impresses everyone by solving riddles that stump the scholars. Xie Zheng watches her with an expression that is dangerously close to admiration. When a drunken nobleman makes a crude remark about Changyu's common origins, Xie Zheng steps forward and silences him with a single look — the look of a man who has commanded armies.

The evening ends on the bridge overlooking the river. Hundreds of lanterns float downstream. Changyu makes a wish and releases her lantern. When Xie Zheng asks what she wished for, she says, "That we can be honest with each other." He has no reply, but his silence speaks volumes.