Wu Zhen had grown accustomed to sneaking around, so she quietly followed Wu Huanghou and her entourage without them noticing. She trailed them to the Penglai Palace, where Mei Guifei resided. At first, Wu Zhen thought the Empress would see the Guifei, which surprised her a bit. After all, Mei Guifei had always been attentive and gentle towards her sister, Wu Huanghou, often taking the initiative to accompany her to Qingning Palace. If nothing was pressing, she would stay there for an entire day, which meant Wu Huanghou rarely visited Penglai Palace.
Wu Zhen sensed something was amiss; the Empress’s demeanor seemed different from usual, which struck her as odd. What felt even more out of place was the cat that Wu Huanghou was holding. From a distance, she couldn’t quite make it out, but there was something peculiar about that cat, and she regretted not being able to get closer to see it.
Wu Huanghou instructed the palace maids to wait at the door and enter the hall alone. Wu Zhen stealthily followed her inside, only to find that Mei Guifei was not there. Instead, the Empress placed the cat on Mei Guifei’s bed and sat beside it, gazing intently at the feline.
Her sister, who was several years older than her, had always been the epitome of composure and maturity. She loved to present herself as the elder sister, often scolding Wu Zhen while also caring for and protecting her. After becoming Empress, her authority had grown day by day, and she managed affairs both in the court and outside with remarkable efficiency. Although she had only given birth to a daughter, she earned the Emperor’s respect, as if she could handle any major issue with ease. Yet now, she displayed a look of deep concern, as if the sky were falling, while staring at a delicate white cat.
Wu Zhen found her sister’s expression quite strange and crouched on a beam to observe for a while.
“How could such an outrageous event occur? Although it has been temporarily concealed, it cannot be hidden forever,” Wu Huanghou said, rubbing her forehead. “The only solution now is to summon two high monks to see if they can help you return to your original form.”
The white cat meowed softly and nudged Wu Huanghou’s hand with its head.
Wu Zhen sensed something was off in the conversation and a thought suddenly struck her. She jumped down from the beam and stealthily moved closer. Wu Huanghou continued, “Su Han, how are you feeling now? Are you alright?”
Su Han? Mei Guifei Mei Suhan? Wu Zhen paused, realizing she had guessed correctly. Somehow, Mei Guifei had turned into a cat. With a series of strange occurrences surrounding her, if Wu Zhen still couldn’t figure out that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes, she might as well give up her role as a cat.
After pondering for a moment, Wu Zhen boldly jumped out, landing in front of Wu Huanghou and the white cat.
Wu Huanghou was startled and immediately picked up the white cat, eyeing the suddenly appearing tabby cat with caution. She remained composed, without any screams or loss of poise, far more collected than most people would be.
“I can help you,” Wu Zhen spoke in a deep, unfamiliar voice, which was nothing like her usual tone.
“I can help Mei Guifei return to her human form,” she said. “However, if I do, Wu Huanghou must give me something in return.”
Hearing that she could help, Wu Huanghou’s eyes filled with doubt and contemplation. But upon hearing the condition, she relaxed a bit; having something to gain was always more reassuring.
“What do you want?” she asked cautiously. She refrained from probing into other matters, knowing that digging into identity issues would not help solve the problem at hand. Her current goal was clear: to help Mei Guifei shed her feline form. To be honest, she was reaching her limit; she had despised cats for years, and suddenly being forced to accept one was truly painful.
Wu Zhen grinned mischievously, looking rather sinister. “I want the Zangjing Treasure Seal.”
The Zangjing Treasure Seal was an invaluable artifact, the size of a palm, made of jade, inscribed with an entire scripture in tiny, nearly illegible characters. The exquisite craftsmanship was beyond human capability, and it was said that the seal also had the power to ward off evil. It was a treasure kept in the inner palace.
Despite its immense value, Wu Huanghou did not hesitate to agree, and the fact that it was so precious made her even more at ease. Unbeknownst to her, the cat grinning before her was her mischievous little sister. Wu Huanghou, feeling slightly anxious, began to negotiate with her.
Wu Zhen, with wicked intent, toyed with her sister for a while before getting serious about solving the problem. She first observed the white cat that was once Mei Guifei closely, then waved her paw, causing the white cat to float in mid-air, startling it into a bit of a frenzy. Wu Zhen stifled a laugh and opened her mouth wide—suddenly, the white cat began to shimmer and distort, vaguely transforming into a human shape. However, before Wu Huanghou could express her joy, the human form abruptly vanished, and the white cat tumbled back onto the bed, landing on its back.
Something was off. Wu Zhen rested her paw on her chin, adopting a thoughtful pose like a human. She had initially thought it was some kind of magical transformation that turned a person into a cat, but it seemed that this was not a simple spell.
As Mei Guifei struggled to right her disheveled white fur, Wu Zhen tried again, this time observing even more closely. She noticed that Mei Guifei was enveloped in a dark shadow, which seemed to bind her tightly in the shape of a cat, like a piece of human skin.
Naturally, her attempt failed again, but Wu Zhen had figured out what it was. It wasn’t particularly powerful, but it was troublesome. The binding was made from the fur of a sentient creature, known as “diyi,” and ordinary spells would be useless to break it. There was only one way to remove it—tears from close relatives, at least four of them.
In other words, to free Mei Guifei from this binding, four of her blood relatives would need to be found to shed tears upon her.
Coincidentally, Mei Guifei had only four blood relatives left in this world: one was the Crown Prince, her biological son; another was Mei Si, her elder brother; and the last two were… Mei Zhuyu.
Wu Zhen now had to think about how to make these individuals cry. Of course, her main focus was on how to make the young lord cry. The other three would be easy, but the young lord—truth be told, she was a bit reluctant to torment him.
“How is it? Is there any trouble?” Wu Huanghou asked, unable to contain her impatience.
Wu Zhen snapped back to reality. “It’s a bit tricky. I’ll prepare and come back tomorrow.” With that, she jumped out of the window and ran off, not caring about Wu Huanghou’s expression.
Wu Zhen didn’t rush to leave the palace; instead, she went to find the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was Mei Guifei’s only child, raised under Wu Huanghou’s care, who treated him like her own. However, Mei Guifei was not particularly close to her son. Aside from Wu Huanghou, she maintained a certain distance from everyone, even preferring the princess born to Wu Huanghou over her son.
The Crown Prince was only nine years old, a chubby little boy who still cried easily. Getting his tears was a piece of cake. Wu Zhen simply took advantage of the moment when the young prince was alone in his chamber doing homework and gave him a gentle scratch. The little boy burst into tears, offering her plenty of tears. Watching the soft, doughy Crown Prince sobbing while clutching his red, scratched hand, Wu Zhen decided to bring him some interesting little trinkets as compensation next time she entered the palace.
Next, Wu Zhen went to find Mei Si. Mei Si was at home painting, his head tied with a red ribbon, his hair a bit messy, and his sleeves stained with ink, looking rather disheveled and dispirited. A cold meal sat untouched beside him. It took him a while to notice that his sister Zhen had arrived. He scratched his head with the brush, making his hair even messier, and exclaimed in surprise, “Zhen Jie, when did you come?”
He quickly covered his painting. “I haven’t finished yet; you can’t look! If you do, there won’t be any surprise!”
Wu Zhen had already seen it for a while. Mei Si had indeed put effort into his work, which was quite different from the popular ghost and demon-repelling images of the time; each of his creatures was unique and distinct.
After putting away his painting, Mei Si finally remembered to ask, “Zhen Jie, did you come to find me for something?”
Wu Zhen replied, “Yes, come on, cry for Zhen Jie to see.”
Mei Si looked confused. “Huh?”
“Cry, start now.”
“Wait a minute, how can I just start? I’m not ready yet!” He hadn’t even thought to question why he had to cry. Hearing Wu Zhen say “start” made him a bit flustered—perhaps it was a leftover habit from when she had forced him to practice archery. Wu Zhen had once set strict time limits on how many arrows they had to shoot, and if they didn’t meet the quota, they had to double it. It had been a painful training experience. Hearing her familiar “start” made Mei Si instinctively want to grab a bow and aim, causing him to sweat nervously.
After getting Mei Si’s tears, Wu Zhen went to find Mei Si’s father. Mei Si’s father was the head of the Guozijian, a kind and gentle man who treated everyone well, but he was strict with his son, always wanting him to study hard and inherit the family business. However, Mei Si was not keen on that, leading to frequent conflicts between them.
Wu Zhen found Mei Jizhao at a tavern, where he was drinking with colleagues, lamenting about his son’s lack of progress. Wu Zhen listened to the woes of a middle-aged married man regarding family troubles. With a flick of her finger, a gust of wind swept through the tavern. Sitting by the window, as Mei Jizhao was expressing his heartbreak over his son’s unfilial behavior, he was suddenly blinded by the unexpected wind, causing his eyes to redden. After rubbing them, tears streamed down his face.
Having successfully obtained Mei Jizhao’s tears, only Mei Zhuyu remained. Wu Zhen searched everywhere for him but finally found him near her own home. He was standing under a tree, quietly gazing at the gate of the Duke of Yu’s residence.
Wu Zhen had once jokingly told him that if he wanted to see her, he could write her a letter, and she would come to meet him upon receiving it. However, Mei Zhuyu had never written to her. He had always waited for her to remember him and come find him, never bothering her.
After standing near the gate for a while, Mei Zhuyu prepared to leave.
“Come to find me,” Wu Zhen said with a smile from behind him.
Mei Zhuyu, who hadn’t seen her for several days, stared at her for a long moment before softly responding, “Ah.” Today, he had finished his official business early and had unconsciously walked to this spot. Standing there, he hadn’t expected to run into her, and the moment he saw her, all the melancholy from the past few days seemed to vanish.
As they walked together, Mei Zhuyu thought about what he could do to make Wu Zhen happy, while Wu Zhen contemplated how to make him cry.
Should she use the same trick again? With a slight movement of her fingers, a gust of wind swept up dust and sand in the street. The weather was poor today, with a gloomy sky and occasional gusts of wind stirring up dust. Wu Zhen’s action caused the wind and sand to swirl even more.
“Be careful of the wind and sand getting in your eyes,” Mei Zhuyu’s voice came from beside her. Just then, Wu Zhen felt a shadow fall over her eyes as the young lord gently covered her eyes with his hand to shield her from the wind and sand.