When Qin Shuying mentioned Princess Yongxing, Princess Yongjia fell silent for a long time. Her expression was peaceful, but her eyes gazed blankly into the distance, lost in thought.

Rose Pavilion was utterly quiet, and Qin Shuying drank her tea with complete indifference.

The wind blew through, making the leaves rustle.

Occasionally, the voices of people strolling in the rose garden drifted over. In the distance, people walked in groups of twos and threes, their voices and laughter carrying over from time to time.

Ziyuan had stationed people at the entrance, so people knew the Princess was resting at Rose Pavilion and no one came up to disturb them.

After a long while, Qin Shuying said coolly, “In this world, women already have it difficult. To find a confidante is even more precious. Your Highness, why should women make things difficult for other women? Don’t you agree?”

After a very long time, Princess Yongjia’s slightly hoarse voice softly hummed an “Mm.” “Beauty fades easily, confidantes are hard to find. In a snap of the fingers, a moment of splendor passes.”

Not knowing what she was thinking of, she suddenly smiled. She was already extremely beautiful and well-maintained, and this smile was truly brilliant to the extreme, making even the garden full of roses pale in comparison.

Then, she glanced at the serving maids beside her and waved her hand, saying, “All of you, withdraw.”

The maids respectfully acknowledged and respectfully withdrew.

“Enough, enough.” Princess Yongjia shook her head and said this several times before turning to look at her. “I wronged Yongxing, and I don’t want to wrong you again. However, you must know that the men of this world are unreliable. If someday in the future you come to understand this, the Princess’s residence will still be open to you.”

“This subject thanks Your Highness! There’s something I don’t know if I should say.”

“Speak. If you speak wrongly, this princess will forgive you.”

“Your Highness, perhaps Princess Yongxing wasn’t wronged by you, but by this world. This subject has heard that Princess Yongxing was outstanding in appearance, remarkable in talent, passionate in temperament, and kind-hearted. She was skilled in horseback riding and archery, as well as poetry and painting. In needlework and household management, she was proficient in everything. Such a woman, if born as a man, would surely make people bow in admiration and would certainly be among the talents of our Great Zhou. It’s just a pity that Princess Yongxing was born a woman. Looking across all of Great Zhou, what kind of man would be worthy of her? At fifteen, one should be betrothed, yet Princess Yongxing couldn’t find a man with a broad mind, couldn’t find a man willing to take no more concubines for such a woman. Princess Yongxing was unwilling to compromise, unwilling to spend her life in the scheming and fighting of the inner quarters, so she remained unmarried until twenty. If she were a man, being both literary and martial, she would surely win the favor of many women. But being a woman, reaching twenty without marriage was considered a sin, a transgression.”

As Qin Shuying spoke, she couldn’t help but smile mockingly. She was only fourteen now – in a few years, if she also didn’t marry, wouldn’t she face the same mockery and ridicule that Princess Yongxing had endured?

Princess Yongjia narrowed her eyes as the image of that charming and clever young woman flashed through her mind. What Qin Shuying said was absolutely right – Yongxing was the most extraordinary woman among all the people she had ever seen.

She was extremely intelligent with a passionate temperament, but as Qin Shuying said, the men of this world were all wretched and disgusting – none of them was worthy of her Yongxing.

“However, Princess Yongxing was different from others. For the sake of Great Zhou’s stability, she married far from home. Your Highness, if this world could be more tolerant of women, wouldn’t Princess Yongxing have avoided marrying far away? Perhaps, even if she never married, she could have lived peacefully and comfortably, just like Your Highness.”

Princess Yongjia looked at her. “You don’t want to marry Liu Junqing?”

Qin Shuying smiled. “Your Highness, this world won’t allow this subject to think this way, nor will it allow this subject to act this way.”

Princess Yongjia sighed deeply and said, “You’re right. If this world could be more tolerant, why would Yongxing have had to live so exhaustingly? None of the men in this world were worthy of her, none.”

The corners of her eyes suddenly became moist. After a good while, she looked into the distance and said wistfully, “Yongxing said I wasn’t born this way… If my imperial brother hadn’t been confused back then, how would I have… I’ve hated, cried, and suffered. But what good did that do? I still had to live, still had to eat grain and stay alive.”

Princess Yongjia didn’t notice that her choice of words had changed, from “this princess” to “I.”

“Those years, I lived in a daze, like a walking corpse. Until one day, I saw Yongxing at a flower-pinning banquet. She was only thirteen then. She was so wonderful, so captivating, I fell in love with her immediately. Then, I often invited her to come to my residence. She was so understanding, so kind. Knowing I was always in low spirits, she tried every way to divert my attention and taught me many interesting things. That was the happiest period of my life. But gradually, I discovered my feelings for her had changed – no longer the care and protection of an aunt for her niece, but rather…”

Princess Yongjia was twenty-six at that time, Princess Yongxing was thirteen.

“Yongxing was such a clever person, how could she be completely unaware? Who would have known that she wasn’t afraid at all, but frankly told me that she didn’t love women. However, if I could no longer love men, I could also love women. When had I ever heard such earth-shattering words? But Yongxing was so serious – she wasn’t joking, she wasn’t mocking me. Just like that, Mei Niang came to my side. She cared for me meticulously and truly loved me. Though I had Mei Niang, my feelings for Yongxing still made me feel so ashamed.”

Qin Shuying listened quietly. This Princess Yongxing was truly different from ordinary people. How did a thirteen-year-old girl know so much and handle things so capably?

Could it be that, like herself, she was reborn?

“But I restrained my emotions. Though I associated frequently with Yongxing, I never overstepped propriety. I admired Yongxing and couldn’t bear to harm her. However, when she reached twenty without an engagement, I truly became anxious. I hoped she would have a good match. I asked her why she hadn’t become engaged – was it… was it that she also loved women? Yongxing said no. She simply hadn’t met her destined one and was unwilling to casually marry someone she didn’t like, unwilling to be trapped in the inner quarters from then on, trapped in the strife between wives and concubines. Until that day when she came to tell me she was going to marry far away… I asked her how much she knew about Luo’er Si?”

Luo’er Si was the name of the tribal chief Princess Yongxing later married. At that time, he was twenty-five years old.

“Yongxing told me she only knew from people’s descriptions that Luo’er Si was a man of great spirit and foresight. But I knew that Luo’er Si was different from us Great Zhou people. He was unusually tall, with blue eyes, pale skin, and slightly curly hair. I heard his ancestors were captives from a legion from a very distant place. Such a man, in Great Zhou, no one would dare marry – everyone would avoid him like the plague. Yet Yongxing wanted to marry him. She was always so different from everyone else.”