Hua Jinghua was a woman — with a body built just like her own — so what was there to be so excited about? Why was she getting worked up over this?

And besides, she herself was currently living as this very person — so why did looking at her own body still fill her with a strange sense of nervousness?

Most importantly, it was only now, about to bathe, that she realized: ever since crossing over into this body, Hua Jinghua had never once taken a bath!

Taking a deep breath, Hua Chun spread her arms and closed her eyes, letting Pin Tan strip off her grimy official robes, then her inner garments.

A slight chill against her skin, the tightness in her chest becoming more pronounced. She kept telling herself internally that she needed to respect this person’s privacy, that she shouldn’t peek at someone else’s body, that she ought to be a law-abiding, upstanding citizen.

But when Pin Tan removed the tightly-bound wrapping across her chest, the sudden increase in weight made Hua Chun shamelessly snap her eyes open.

Oh my goodness!

Catching a glimpse of her figure reflected in the bronze mirror behind the screen, Hua Chun nearly bit her own tongue in excitement.

“Master?” Pin Tan, who was testing the water temperature, turned at the sound and glanced at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing—” Her face flushed crimson, Hua Chun covered her face and shakily climbed up the wooden step beside her, stepping into the bathtub.

Every woman has one particular worry: the size of her chest. Back in the modern world, Hua Chun had tried countless methods to enhance her bust, and in the end had no choice but to console herself with the saying “a flat chest cannot bring peace to the realm.”

That’s right — she was the legendary type of woman on whom a plane could safely land, chest-wise.

And this Prime Minister Hua, in order to pass as a man, had truly gone to extreme lengths — with what must have been at least a C-cup, forcibly compressed down to an A by the chest binding, such that anyone unfamiliar might mistake it for pectoral muscle when touched.

What ruthlessness it must have taken.

“Master.”

Watching her expression, Pin Tan offered her usual comfort: “Don’t take it too hard. Next time we’ll switch to an even tighter wrap — it’ll gradually shrink down further.”

Hua Chun: “…” They wanted to compress it further?!

Who could possibly understand how she felt right now? It was like being starved half to death and watching someone toss a whole roast chicken away right in front of you! Absolutely unforgivable!

She resolved then and there — from now on, every night while Hua Jinghua slept, she would personally give this body a proper massage, and would never let such a naturally excellent figure go to waste like this!

Having secretly made this resolution, Hua Chun began washing herself with real focus.

Speaking of which, Hua Jinghua really was something — tall in stature, pale-skinned, yet firm, and even her stomach had the faint outline of abdominal muscles…

How on earth had this woman trained her body into this shape?!

No wonder she always carried that air of restrained austerity — a figure this slender yet this strong, forced every day to wrap herself up tightly to hide her identity — of course she’d have to live an ascetic life; it was a wonder she didn’t break out in heat rash come summer.

Once she’d finished bathing, Pin Tan indeed went and fetched an even tighter chest binding, presenting it to her. “Master, here we go.”

In that moment, Hua Chun felt she could hear a wail rising from her own chest. But there was no way around it — Hua Jinghua’s fate in this life was to remain a man; otherwise, given the crime of deceiving the Emperor, it wouldn’t just be her chest at stake, but her head.

Obediently letting Pin Tan bind her up with the contraption, Hua Chun resigned herself and went to bed to rest.

Being Prime Minister was truly a hard lot — she could only sleep for about two hours before having to deal with official business again.

In the side courtyard.

Concubine Ren had been fuming for a long while, angry enough to be in tears, and finally unable to hold back any longer, wrote a letter and had someone deliver it into the palace for Liuying to see. This was simply too unfair, wasn’t it? Why should all the benefits go to that foolish woman? If that courtyard really got renovated, wouldn’t she get insufferably smug about it?

The letter, full of tearful complaints and accusations, exaggerated the facts without any thought to the consequences of airing the family’s internal conflicts, just to get Madam Wan and her son in trouble.

The result of all this was that Yuwen Jie, who had been in quite a good mood playing chess with He Chang’an, was suddenly startled by the sound of crying coming from outside the door.

“Your Majesty!” Hua Liuying’s makeup was streaked with tears as she knelt outside, calling out loudly, “This concubine begs Your Majesty to see justice done!”

Frowning slightly, Yuwen Jie looked toward Eunuch Qin. Understanding at once, the eunuch went and brought Noble Consort Hua inside.

“What’s the matter?”

The moment she saw the Emperor, Hua Liuying reined in her sobbing and knelt down with an aggrieved expression. “I heard Your Majesty granted Prime Minister Hua a special favor, allowing the Hua family to renovate their rear courtyard again? Didn’t you say that if the Hua family courtyard isn’t renovated, then Yong’an Hall wouldn’t be either? But now…”

“What do you mean?” The Emperor seemed a bit lost, frowning at her. “When did I ever agree to let Prime Minister Hua renovate the Hua family’s rear courtyard?”

Hua Liuying froze, staring at him wide-eyed with an innocent expression. “You didn’t grant that favor?”

Favor? The word sounded familiar — it seemed Hua Jinghua had indeed brought it up with him before, but… hadn’t it been phrased differently?

“I did not.”

He Chang’an, listening with some curiosity, glanced at the Noble Consort, who looked both delighted and a bit spiteful, and asked the Emperor quietly, “What’s this about?”

“It’s about the disaster relief,” Yuwen Jie explained flatly. “Prime Minister Hua proposed halting palace renovations to fund disaster relief first. The Noble Consort’s position was, since her own palace renovation was being halted, the Hua family courtyard shouldn’t be renovated either — the Prime Minister ought to set an example.”

Raising an eyebrow, He Chang’an said, puzzled, “Isn’t the Noble Consort Prime Minister Hua’s own sister?”

“Indeed.” Hua Liuying, supported by a palace attendant, rose to her feet and hurriedly dabbed at her face with a handkerchief, evening out her smeared makeup.

If they were siblings, why would things have come to such a mutually destructive standoff where neither would let the other have anything good? He Chang’an was curious but didn’t press further.

Noble Consort Hua said, “In that case, has Prime Minister Hua been falsely issuing imperial decrees?”

Yuwen Jie turned to look at her and asked, “Do you know what the consequences are for falsely issuing an imperial decree?”

“This concubine only knows it’s very serious,” Hua Liuying said, composing her expression. “But if Elder Brother has truly committed a crime, this concubine, as his sister, would absolutely not shield him — Your Majesty should do whatever is proper!”

She’d said the same thing last time, when Hua Jinghua was sentenced to caning. Yuwen Jie knew she didn’t get along with Hua Jinghua, and since he didn’t particularly like her either, he’d simply gone along with it then. But framing her own elder brother to this degree — that was truly foolish; she’d completely forgotten she carried the Hua surname too.

“Since my beloved consort is so magnanimous, then someone shall be sent to investigate the truth, and the matter handled accordingly afterward,” he said, looking at Hua Liuying’s smug expression. “If it turns out Prime Minister Hua truly did falsely issue an imperial decree, then he ought to face the punishment of having his household confiscated and being exiled — with all relatives punished alongside him.”

Her smile froze on her face. Hua Liuying stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

That expression was truly foolish. He Chang’an shook his head — were all women this thoughtless? Completely unable to consider the bigger picture, acting recklessly just to please themselves. Now look — she’d practically handed the Hua family a charge of falsely issuing an imperial decree on a silver platter. He was almost curious to see how the Noble Consort would handle this.

Coming to her senses, Hua Liuying panicked. “This… Your Majesty, surely it’s not that serious?”