Rain began to fall suddenly in the middle of the night. What started as a light drizzle soon grew into a fierce downpour. A sudden clap of thunder heralded a violent storm, startling Yun Zhao and Feng Yi awake.
Song Yunzhao draped a robe over her shoulders, rose, and pushed open the window to look out. Beneath the pitch-black night sky, a few palace lanterns hung under the eaves, swaying in the wind. Their flames flickered, alternately brightening and dimming, growing and shrinking.
The wind gusted in through the open window, making Yun Zhao's robes whip about. Feng Yi came over, reached out to shut the window, and looked at her. "Don't stand in the draft, or you'll have a headache tomorrow. Go back to sleep."
Feng Yi drew Song Yunzhao into his arms and guided her back. Once they were inside the bed canopy, she said, "That rain came on so fast and hard. The first big storm of the summer."
