Huh? Something felt off.

She groped and found nothing, then checked again carefully, twice — and her mouth twitched. A normal man was supposed to have a bit more going on down there, wasn’t he? So why did this body feel exactly the same as her own female one?

So Prime Minister Hua was… a woman?!

Something struck her heart hard. After a moment of stunned silence, Hua Chun felt utterly deflated, as if she’d just been dumped.

She’d finally found a man she thought was gorgeous, and it turned out to be a woman! What sin had she committed? Here she’d thought heaven had graciously granted her a close encounter with a male idol, only for it to be this same tired old time-travel cliché.

So she really had traveled through time then, into the drama, to play the role of this Prime Minister or something? She’d read plenty of time-travel novels before and had fantasized about what she’d do if it ever happened to her — but the scenarios she’d imagined always involved a beautiful heroine meeting a domineering CEO, never becoming a man herself.

What was even the point of a time-travel like this? Some kind of gay romance plot?

And she had no idea how this drama ended. What if it was a tragedy — would she, as the lead, have to die all over again?

Her thoughts racing, Hua Chun rubbed her backside with a complicated expression.

Someone must have already applied medicine, but it still burned with pain. That emperor really was just like he’d been in the first episode — utterly heartless, shameless, and unreasonable! All Prime Minister Hua had done was suggest the Emperor take fewer consorts and stop indulging so much in opera, and for that he’d been beaten black and blue. Where was the justice in that?

She was a devoted fan of Prime Minister Hua and was determined to carry on his fine tradition — absolutely refusing to bow to tyranny, even if it meant getting beaten to death…

If she got beaten to death, maybe she’d get sent back!

She pursed her lips, consoled herself with that thought, and was about to go back to sleep lying face-down, since it really did hurt too much.

But before she could even close her eyes, a maidservant knocked frantically at the door outside: “Young master, His Majesty… His Majesty is here!”

What? Hua Chun jolted reflexively and immediately lay back down, playing dead. The same person who had just beaten her was coming to check on her — what good could possibly come of that? This emperor was also clearly a raging case of the “chuunibyou,” expressionless and rebellious, roughly the same age as Prime Minister Hua but somehow lacking in every possible way by comparison!

She was a petty person by nature, and after that beating, she had absolutely no goodwill toward this emperor whatsoever.

The door opened, and Yuwen Jie strode in, his expression blank. He wore silver everyday robes, the hidden dragon patterns still radiating nobility. His frame was so tall that Hua Chun, even with her eyes closed, could feel the room darken around her.

“Wasn’t he already awake?”

A low voice sounded by the bed. Hua Chun slowed her breathing, keeping her eyes shut tight, trying hard to look naturally asleep.

The little maid Pin Tan glanced anxiously at the person on the bed and couldn’t help but grab her arm and shake it. “Master, wake up quickly.”

Hua Chun didn’t respond.

Yuwen Jie lowered his eyes, watching her.

Pin Tan gritted her teeth and shook harder. “Master!”

The force nearly knocked Hua Chun off the bed — there was no staying “asleep” through that.

“Mm?” She responded with heavy drowsiness, yawned, opened her eyes, glanced up at the Emperor, and forced a smile. “I didn’t know Your Majesty had arrived — forgive my failure to greet you properly.”

Yuwen Jie looked at her for a moment, his gaze sliding from her face down her body and finally settling on her backside. “I come on the Empress Dowager’s orders, to inquire after the Prime Minister’s health.”

The words carried not a hint of warmth, delivered as if reciting lines, every syllable somehow conveying “the Empress Dowager forced me to come, I never wanted to” — his handsome, sharp-featured face as rigid as a blackboard.

Her mouth twitched. Hua Chun thought it over and answered carefully, “This subject is grateful for Your Majesty’s concern, and thanks the Empress Dowager for her kindness.”

As long as he wasn’t here to add insult to injury, she’d thank him regardless. In the drama, the Emperor and this Prime Minister were natural enemies — every meeting turned into a clash, and because of the difference in status, it was always Prime Minister Hua who came out worse. Given how pitiful she looked now, the Emperor apparently still had some conscience; he looked her over twice, didn’t push further, nodded, and turned to leave.

Not one extra word — truly the most half-hearted “visit” imaginable.

She pursed her lips and, along with Pin Tan, called after him, “Respectfully see Your Majesty off.”

Yuwen Jie didn’t look back. He walked straight out of the Hua residence, got into his carriage, brushed off his robes, and told the person outside, “Report back to the Empress Dowager. I’ve done what was required.”

“Yes.” Eunuch Qin acknowledged, sighing silently.

His Majesty actually did know right from wrong — he understood what was correct and what wasn’t. It was only that Prime Minister Hua had spoken too sharply at court today, which was what had brought on this beating. After today, the Prime Minister and the Emperor would likely be even more at odds with each other.

Who knew when the two of them would ever manage to have a calm, civil conversation.

Back in the room, Hua Chun lay face-down on the bed, glancing sideways at the little maid beside her. She thought it over and tentatively spoke up. “Pin Tan, would you help me change clothes?”

Pin Tan startled, shaking her head quickly. “Your wound hasn’t healed yet, it wouldn’t be convenient. Please bear with it a little longer — I’ll help you change into fresh clothes next time we redress your wound.”

From the way she spoke, it sounded like she was used to helping dress Prime Minister Hua regularly — which meant she must know his true identity as a woman.

Hua Chun grew even more curious. How had a perfectly fine young lady ended up disguising herself as a man and even entering the imperial court as an official? If discovered, wouldn’t that count as deceiving the Emperor? In ancient times, that sounded like a crime punishable by the extermination of one’s entire family.

She recalled having seen similar plots before — heroines cross-dressing as men usually did so either out of stubborn ambition, wanting to make something of themselves, or because their family forced them to, say, if a generation produced only daughters with no son to inherit the family’s legacy, forcing them to disguise one daughter as a son.

Which category did Prime Minister Hua fall under?

She thought about it and asked, “Where is everyone else in the household? Why hasn’t anyone else come to see me?”

Pin Tan answered, “Third Miss is still at her lessons, Fourth Miss went out and hasn’t returned yet. As for Young Master Fifth… don’t expect anything from him. It’d already be good if he doesn’t come to kick you while you’re down.”

That single sentence carried plenty of information. Based on what Pin Tan said, she could deduce that the Hua family did have a son, and that he wasn’t on good terms with Prime Minister Hua. There were also two younger sisters, though the relationship there didn’t seem particularly close either.

So the reason Prime Minister Hua disguised herself as a man might really be out of stubborn ambition? Rubbing her chin, Hua Chun nodded quietly to herself — that possibility seemed fairly likely. Conveniently, her own field of study back in the modern world lined up well with Prime Minister Hua’s line of work, so she could still carry on this career for her idol… or rather, her goddess.

Just as she was thinking this over, more visitors arrived outside.

“Prime Minister!” A group of elderly court officials filed through the door, white-bearded and grey-haired, looking at her as if they’d seen a deity, all dropping to their knees beside the bed in unison.

“Please recover quickly, Prime Minister! The nation cannot go a single day without its sovereign, and the court cannot go a single day without you!”

That actually rhymed nicely. Hua Chun looked at them and quickly reached out to help them up. “Please, gentlemen, be seated while we talk.”

Men this old, kneeling before her — she was genuinely afraid it would take years off their lives. But looking at them, Hua Chun felt strangely moved. There was a certain backbone in these old men, every one of them loyal to the core, a devotion the very heavens could attest to.

“Prime Minister, please don’t let today’s events chill your heart,” Grand Tutor Tang said, cupping his hands. “We have already submitted a memorial reprimanding His Majesty for today’s actions. Your integrity, Prime Minister, is known to all under heaven.”

“We only hope you will continue to guide His Majesty well, so that peace reigns under heaven and the common people live in security!”

Each line moved Hua Chun more than the last, until she finally spoke up. “Rest assured, gentlemen — once my injuries heal, I will absolutely continue to offer loyal counsel and fulfill my duties to the sovereign!”

That was exactly what they’d been waiting to hear. The elderly officials all smiled with relief and, in unison, produced items from behind their backs. “Here are new memorials to be submitted to His Majesty — please review them, Prime Minister, and pass them along.”

“Please inform His Majesty that the famine in Huaibei can no longer be ignored. The palace renovations should be set aside so relief efforts can proceed first.”

“Please urge His Majesty to refrain from taking further consorts into the harem, and to reduce harem expenses in order to replenish the national treasury.”

Hua Chun was stunned.

Every single one of these was a hot potato, and they were all dumping them on her? No wonder they supported Prime Minister Hua so enthusiastically — turns out they just wanted him to serve as their human shield?