“Didn’t you just say you wouldn’t shield him?” Yuwen Jie turned his head, continuing to focus on the chessboard. “Since my beloved consort has such a broad-minded heart, I can hardly do otherwise than grant your wish.”
Her face went pale. Hua Liuying panicked, hurriedly glancing back at the attendant behind her.
Understanding the signal, the attendant slipped away silently.
How had it come to this? The Emperor had always doted on her, always protected her — why did he suddenly seem so cold today, even throwing this dilemma at her? Hua Liuying quietly studied the Emperor’s expression for a while, guessing that perhaps he was simply in a bad mood.
But she’d only wanted to bring Hua Jinghua down a peg — she hadn’t meant to drag the entire Hua family, or even herself, down with him! This was a terrible trade — she needed to fix this quickly! Since the Emperor was going to send someone to verify the facts, she had to make some moves before that happened!
Her mind racing, she was about to open her mouth to plead further, but then she saw the Emperor set down his chess piece and look up at He Chang’an. “Not conceding yet?”
Coming back to himself, He Chang’an looked at the board, where his black pieces had been thoroughly routed, and stood with a smile, bowing. “This servant is no match for Your Majesty. I concede.”
A faint trace of amusement showed in Yuwen Jie’s eyes, though his expression otherwise remained unchanged as he glanced sideways at him. “Since you’ve lost, then do something for me.”
“Your Majesty need only command it.”
“The matter of Prime Minister Hua falsely issuing an imperial decree,” the Emperor said. “Go to the Hua residence yourself.”
At this, Hua Liuying’s legs went weak with fright, nearly collapsing back to the ground. “Your Majesty!”
If they sent the Marquis Gongyu, how would she ever be able to smooth this over? The Marquis was famously incorruptible, and had no particular relationship with her — there was no time to even attempt a bribe. If Hua Jinghua really had falsely issued a decree, this would spell disaster!
“My beloved consort has been rather inappropriate today,” Yuwen Jie said, turning back to her, his eyes deepening in color. “Shouting and crying so many times now — this is the inner palace, not a public street.”
Her heart sank. Hua Liuying stared blankly into his eyes, and tears welled up almost immediately.
Heaven only knew how much effort it had taken her to steal the Emperor’s favor away from others, yet this fickle ruler could turn cold as easily as he’d turned warm. After half a month of favor, today he’d suddenly changed his face entirely.
The tears weren’t really because of his harsh words — more because Hua Liuying understood that once he spoke like this, the Emperor would neglect her for quite some time afterward. Her heart filled with both anger and anxiety, and she couldn’t help resenting her own birth mother. Not only had she been unable to help her at all, but now she’d actually gone and harmed her like this!
“This servant understands. I’ll head to the Hua residence right away and check in on the Prime Minister’s health while I’m there,” He Chang’an said, cupping his hands. “I’ll take my leave now.”
“Go on then,” Yuwen Jie nodded.
Watching Marquis Gongyu leave, Hua Liuying, unwilling to give up, gathered her skirts and knelt again. “Your Majesty, for the sake of how long this concubine has served you, please show leniency toward the Hua family.”
Standing up and brushing off his robe, the Emperor looked down at her and said in a low voice, “I don’t care for people who say one thing and mean another. You wanted to be impartial and selfless — very well, I’ll give you the chance to be impartial and selfless, to place justice above family ties. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Hua Liuying: “…”
Unable to voice her grievance, she was nearly furious to the point of collapse.
The Emperor walked out without so much as a backward glance. “Eunuch Qin, prepare the palanquin for Qinghe Hall. Let’s go see Consort Hui.”
“Yes.” Eunuch Qin acknowledged, glancing once at the Noble Consort still slumped on the ground, then turned to follow the Emperor away.
He Chang’an left the palace and rode straight for the Hua residence.
Prime Minister Hua was someone he found rather intriguing. As for the charge of falsely issuing an imperial decree, He Chang’an suspected there was likely some misunderstanding — someone reputed to be so clever surely wouldn’t bring such disaster upon himself over something as trivial as a courtyard renovation.
But the Noble Consort’s actions had left him with a poor impression of her, and he found himself, if anything, more inclined to favor Hua Jinghua’s side.
A servant went to inform the gatekeeper, who hurriedly threw open the gates of the Hua residence and rushed to announce the Marquis’s arrival to the Prime Minister.
Hua Chun had slept for a while and felt considerably restored, and was in the middle of reading official documents in traditional characters when Pin Tan came rushing in. “Master, something’s wrong — you need to come to the reception hall right away!”
Something else had happened?
With a bad feeling in her chest, Hua Chun stood up at once, but accidentally strained her hip in the process. Rubbing it, she could only limp her way toward the reception hall.
By this time, He Chang’an had already been sitting in the reception hall for the time it took two sticks of incense to burn down. Master Hua happened to be present in the hall as well, and had bowed deeply to He Chang’an.
“It’s rare for the Marquis to return to the capital, and rarer still for you to visit the Hua residence.”
Not having ever held office himself, Master Hua was rather easily impressed — Marquis Gongyu didn’t even hold as high a rank as the Prime Minister, yet he was being treated so respectfully? He Chang’an gave a quiet laugh, and without wasting further words, got straight to the point. “This Marquis comes under the Emperor’s orders, to investigate the matter of Prime Minister Hua falsely issuing an imperial decree.”
“Falsely issuing an imperial decree?” Master Hua was stunned. Behind the side hall curtains, the assembled concubines all gasped audibly as well.
“Just now, in the palace, Noble Consort Hua accused Prime Minister Hua of falsely issuing an imperial decree, and so His Majesty has ordered this Marquis to come inquire into the matter,” He Chang’an said. “If the accusation proves true, the Hua residence will be sealed, and all relatives — including the Noble Consort herself — will be stripped of rank and exiled as commoners.”
At the first two sentences, Concubine Ren had still been listening with some satisfaction, but at that last line, everyone present grew agitated.
“Why would Noble Consort Hua go and accuse the Eldest Young Master? What is going on here?”
“Exactly — Sister Ren, you’d better give us an explanation. Dragging everyone down with you like this, do you even care if the rest of us can go on living?”
There were even sharper-witted individuals who, upon hearing this, immediately ran back to their rooms to pack their valuables.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Hua Zhengrong cupped his hands and bowed. “Could there perhaps be some misunderstanding? Hua’er wouldn’t be the sort to disregard the rules like this.”
“It’s precisely to clear up any misunderstanding that this Marquis has come,” He Chang’an said. “Please, have a seat, and let’s wait for the Prime Minister to arrive.”
“Here, here, he’s coming.”
Just as she reached the doorway, Hua Chun heard someone calling for her and instinctively answered.
He Chang’an turned and saw her step through the door, dressed all in white, moving with an air of cool elegance.
The world often praised him as a rare beauty, but returning to the capital this time, he realized beauty was not his alone to claim — as the saying goes, there is beauty even among green mountains, and softness even in blue waters.
Looking Hua Jinghua up and down, He Chang’an smiled. “Not too early, not too late — the Prime Minister arrives right on time.”
Seeing him, Hua Chun felt an odd sense of familiarity and stepped forward to make friendly conversation. “How’s your back holding up, my lord?”
“It’s fine now, I put a medicinal patch on it,” He Chang’an said, watching her take a seat. “This morning the Prime Minister was so disheveled I couldn’t get a proper look at you — now that I have, I must say, truly a heavenly figure.”
“You flatter me, you flatter me.” Hua Chun chuckled, modest in words but rather pleased with herself internally.
The atmosphere immediately grew warmer, and the two chatted amiably for a while before Hua Chun finally asked, “By the way, my lord, what brings you to my humble residence?”
“Oh, it’s nothing much,” Marquis Gongyu said gently. “Just here to investigate the Prime Minister’s falsely issuing an imperial decree and deceiving His Majesty.”