The imperial study was where the Emperor reviewed memorials and received his ministers—not even princesses, let alone the Dowager Empress, rarely set foot there.
In this solemn place, a young lady’s leisurely voice suddenly rang out, drawing the gaze of every palace attendant before the Emperor.
Before long, the voice stopped abruptly.
Seeing her cease her movements, Xiao Zhi paused and asked in bewilderment, “Why aren’t you grabbing for it anymore?”
“No strength left.” Her shoulders slumped as if she had tired herself out from all the grabbing.
Xiao Zhi took the plate of pastries from Yu Lian’er and handed them to Yun Yi: “Here, have a taste. Eat your fill, and you’ll have the strength to grab it.”
“Not eating.” Yun Yi crossed her arms and pressed them against her stomach. “I’m on a hunger strike.”
“…” Wang Delan broke out in a cold sweat for the girl.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll punish you?”
Yun Yi wore an expression of utter defiance: “At worst, a hundred lashes.” She’d already done time in prison—what was there to fear?
Still being stubborn, was she?
Xiao Zhi bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, then tapped her head lightly with the painting scroll.
Tap. Tap.
“One lash, two lashes…” Yun Yi, now being tapped like a wooden fish, nodded in rhythm.
The eunuchs and maids were stunned: What kind of new punishment method was this? They desperately needed to learn it!
The Emperor had remained unmoved when the Dowager Empress threatened him with a hunger strike.
But before Miss Yun, even the Son of Heaven could only bow his head and compromise.
The painting was newly mounted, and the scent of ink still lingered. The woman in it had brows and eyes suffused with a soft charm—a classic beauty.
“Wow, a beauty!” Yun Yi’s eyes lit up.
Xiao Zhi shot her a sideways glance. Flat nose, small eyes—her skill at blowing her own trumpet was getting better and better.
“You don’t look like that,” the Emperor said, his tone tinged with sarcasm.
No matter how good Helian Tu’s portrait of her was, he wouldn’t acknowledge it. And that fellow even dared to ask for her hand in marriage? Where did he get the confidence?
“…Then what do I look like?” Yun Yi pouted.
The Emperor picked up his brush to draw. Just then, the rice paper ran out, so he simply grabbed a memorial and sketched a little figure in the blank corner.
A large body with a round, bulbous head.
Yun Yi: “I look like a stick figure?!”
“Stick figure?” Xiao Zhi casually rubbed her head, his tone dismissive. “Not quite.”
He took Yun Yi’s arms and stretched them straight with both hands, saying with utter sincerity: “Thick arms and thick legs—good eater and strong.”
He paused.
He seemed to recall that surreal experience at the First Hospital.
Xiao Zhi added: “If you really looked like a stick figure, you’d have to register at the First Hospital.”
“Aah!” Yun Yi snatched the painting and chased after the Emperor, swinging it at him.
Helian Tu never imagined that the portrait of his beloved, which he had spent all night painting, would end up being used by that very beloved to beat someone with.
The maids and eunuchs present were on the verge of suffocating.
Wang Delan squawked in his hoarse voice: “Protect the Emperor—!”
The imperial guard commander stepped in front of the Emperor and took a few hollow blows from the rolled-up painting. The Emperor waved him off with a look, forbidding him from coming any closer.
.
The national mourning period had passed, but this year’s spring hunt was notably low-key.
During the late Emperor’s reign, a summer retreat palace had been built at Fuyun Ridge.
From a distance, scattered palace lanterns traced the outline of halls and pavilions. Further beyond, the sky was a deep, almost dripping blue, with a lone bright moon hanging suspended.
Yun Yi stuck her head out of the carriage and was met with a face full of night wind.
“Ah-choo—” Her nose felt a little itchy.
“Miss,” Yu Lian’er, attending by her side, quickly lowered the carriage curtain, “the mountain wind is too cold. Please be careful not to catch a chill.”
“Where is he?”
“His Majesty has important matters to attend to.”
Yun Yi knew this already.
Before they left, Cen Ni had suddenly requested an urgent audience, so Xiao Zhi had let Yun Yi and the princess head to the retreat palace ahead of him.
“The retreat palace has hot springs. His Majesty said you and the princess should enjoy them.”
No matter the era, steaming hot springs were always a hit with the ladies.
“Your Majesty,” Cen Ni reported, “when the Fifth Prince was young, he accompanied the late Emperor on a campaign against the Northern Di. He was captured by their elite troops and held in the Northern Di for a full six months. The one responsible for guarding him at the time was none other than the young Khan, Helian Tu.”
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Xiao Zhi walked outside the hall and gazed into the distance toward Fuyun Ridge, as if the retreat palace were right before his eyes.
If it weren’t for Xiao Qingzhu begging him for so long, he wouldn’t have let Yun Yi leave ahead of him with her.
“Xiao Li and Helian Tu—from enemies to friends?” Xiao Zhi let out a derisive laugh.
“Yes.”
“Xiao Li has been thrown into the imperial prison by me, yet Helian Tu didn’t even mention his name—he only pressed for the princess’s hand in marriage. This is the friendship of the Northern Di?”
Cen Ni was quite surprised.
The matter of Helian Tu’s audience was naturally known to the court officials. Everyone had assumed Helian Tu had come to plead for the Fifth Prince.
“Do not neglect Helian Tu. After the spring hunt ends, see that he leaves promptly.” Xiao Zhi frowned and stepped onto his imperial carriage amid the vast darkness.
The retreat palace was naturally no match for the imperial palace.
Though every brick and tile was made to imperial specifications, its scale was several notches below that of the Yan imperial palace.
“When my mother consort was alive, she would come here every summer with the late Emperor to escape the heat. I’ve been here a few times too.”
Dressed once more in her splendid robes, Xiao Qingzhu was again the noble and exalted princess.
Her cloud-like sleeves brushed past, carrying the fragrance of spring blossoms.
“See that? The bronze bell with the bamboo joint pattern—it was custom-made by the late Emperor after my name.”
Yun Yi had changed back into eunuch’s robes. She held a palace lantern aloft and walked around the main hall.
Beneath the eaves on the southeastern corner of the main hall, the night wind blew, gently swaying the bronze bell. The bamboo leaves rustled, like a sturdy stalk of bamboo growing against the wind.
As she expected, every corner of the eaves had an exquisite bronze bell hanging, each with a different design.
“That’s Fifth Brother’s,” Xiao Qingzhu said, playing tour guide, pointing at the one with the carp pattern. “There used to be one for First Brother too, but after he was deposed as crown prince, the late Emperor had someone take his down.”
Yun Yi: “Your late Emperor really held a grudge, didn’t he.”
Xiao Qingzhu: “…” Such treasonous words, spoken so casually by the girl before her.
Even though the late Emperor had passed, no one dared to speak of him like that.
Xiao Qingzhu studied her, noticing that she showed little awe toward the retreat palace—as if she had seen such architecture many times before and found it utterly ordinary.
Just who was this Little Chair? Surely she couldn’t be an immortal from beyond the heavens.
Yun Yi raised the palace lantern higher. “Where’s Xiao Zhi’s bell?”
Xiao Qingzhu glanced around nervously. Several palace attendants were standing about ten meters away.
“Addressing the Emperor by his personal name is a capital offense…” Please, give my imperial brother some face.
Yun Yi raised an eyebrow: “Where’s your Emperor’s bell, then?”
“…” Somehow, “Xiao Zhi” still sounded more bearable. Xiao Qingzhu shot a look that forced the attendants to retreat another ten meters, then leaned close to Yun Yi’s ear and murmured, “Second Brother was placed under house arrest by the late Emperor, so naturally, there isn’t one.”
“Hmph.”
Xiao Qingzhu knew Yun Yi was feeling indignant on Xiao Zhi’s behalf.
Muttering sounds came from her mouth, but Xiao Qingzhu couldn’t make them out clearly, so she leaned in closer.
“Senile old fool. Had so many children but couldn’t keep things fair.”
Xiao Qingzhu: “…”
The hot spring pool was large. The two young ladies undressed and stepped into the water.
Yun Yi lay sprawled over the aqua-green glazed tiles, surrounded by drifting mist. The princess’s voice came and went, now near, now far: “In past years, the spring hunt would last a month. This time, it’s only three days.”
The national mourning period had ended months ago, but entertainment and festivities across Yan had yet to fully resume—the common people were all waiting to see which way the wind blew. The Emperor made the first move by launching the spring hunt.
Yun Yi did the math: one modern day was equivalent to thirty ancient days.
Staying in Yan for a month meant only one day had passed back in the modern world.
The difference in the flow of time gave her some relief, but how would she get back?
Last time, it had been the comet’s influence—and comets didn’t show up every day.
Seeing Yun Yi lost in thought, Xiao Qingzhu, fearing she was missing the Emperor, quickly reassured her: “There was business at court—Second Brother couldn’t get away. He’ll definitely come by daybreak.”
No sooner had she spoken than Yu Lian’er came in from outside and announced: “His Majesty has arrived.”
Xiao Qingzhu was stunned by the Emperor’s speed. She flung her hand, splashing a trail of water: “Who exactly can’t bear to be apart from whom?”
The door creaked open.
The Emperor stood outside. With ladies inside, it wasn’t proper for him to enter, so he simply asked: “Are you done soaking?”
A head adorned with hairpins poked out through the crack in the door.
Seeing it was his sister, the Emperor’s expression darkened a few shades, and his tone turned rather brusque: “Where is she?”
Xiao Qingzhu: “Have you finished with state affairs, Brother? Why not rest a night at the palace and come over tomorrow?”
Xiao Zhi couldn’t be bothered to argue. He simply ordered: “Bring Little Chair out to see me.”
“Oh dear,” Xiao Qingzhu raised an eyebrow, “Little Chair? She seems to have disappeared.”
Before she could finish, the Emperor, his face grim, brushed past Xiao Qingzhu and shoved the hot spring door wide open.
“Hey, she’s still soaking in there…” The princess’s voice was cut off as the door swung shut.
The air was thick with steam, and the warm atmosphere carried a faint floral fragrance.
A young lady lay sprawled by the edge of the pool. Her black hair cascaded from her neck all the way down her back. Though barely covered, there was nothing seductive about it. Her shoulders were slack, her head resting on her arms—she had clearly fallen asleep.
Yu Lian’er was holding a wicker basket and scattering petals into the pool. Iridescent pink petals, studded with droplets of water, drifted like schools of fish.
Seeing the Emperor arrive, Yu Lian’er hurriedly bowed: “This servant—”
“No need for formalities.”
She was about to withdraw tactfully when Xiao Zhi called her back: “What is that? A fishing rod?”
Beside the flower basket lay several bronze poles, four or five zhang long, carved with falling cherry blossom petals—exquisitely beautiful.
“Your Majesty, these poles are for stirring the petals in the pool.”
Before Yu Lian’er withdrew, she stole a careful glance. The Emperor did not go over to call the young lady; instead, he picked up a pole and began to gently stir the floating petals in the water.
Xiao Zhi had rushed all the way here, the jolting of the carriage having knocked his innards out of alignment.
When Xiao Qingzhu had said Yun Yi was gone, his heart had slammed violently twice in his chest.
Now, seeing her lying by the pool like a reclining Buddha, that unpleasant feeling vanished instantly.
With the bronze pole in hand, the Emperor idly stirred the clear water. The petals, like a school of crimson fish, drifted away from him and floated toward Yun Yi.
The spring murmured.
Yun Yi cracked her eyes open through the haze. In the blur, a man who looked like Xiao Zhi was walking toward her, a fishing rod in hand.
She was still heavy with sleep. In her dream, she had just reeled in a twenty-pound trout—she was in no mood to wake up.
Seeing that the newcomer’s hands were empty, she mumbled: “We fishermen never go home empty-handed. You came up with nothing—go buy a crucian carp from the market before you head back.”
So you don’t lose face.
Xiao Zhi knew she was speaking in some encrypted language from a thousand years in the future. He couldn’t understand it but tried to keep up with her words: “I am indeed a fisherman.”
“A crucian carp is too ugly,” he stretched out the pole tip and stirred the water near her, satisfied, “I’m fishing for a mermaid.”
The clear sound of a human voice suddenly reached her ears.
The mermaid by the pool snapped her eyes wide open: “AHHH! You pervert!”
Wave after wave of water splashed up, drenching the Emperor from head to toe.
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