He had not been in the tunnel for long when he suddenly heard the sound of voices.
“Thankfully this servant ran fast enough that they didn’t spot me. We have plenty of food, water, and bedding here — enough to last half a month, easily.” Qing Niao chattered on as she tidied the bedding.
The room they had chosen was the cleanest one — it had one large stone bed and one small stone bed. Qing Niao had spent the past few days moving supplies into the tunnel, and by now both beds were laid with palm mats, thick blankets, and quilts, so there was no danger of the cold. This room was also close to the underfloor heating channel of Zichen Hall, and one wall stayed warm; Hua Chun leaned against it to rest.
“Did you get a clear look at what uniforms the men surrounding the area were wearing?” Hua Chun asked.
Qing Niao shook her head. “This servant only glanced from a distance — it looked like a confrontation was about to break out, so I came straight back. I didn’t get a good look at the clothing, only that there were many of them, and it seemed like they had taken control of the guards at Zanglong Mountain.”
Hua Chun frowned. “I told Second Brother early on to keep an eye on Zanglong Mountain, but he wouldn’t listen — probably thought the tunnel was safe since no one knew about it.”
According to what the emperor had said, only a handful of people knew of this tunnel, so it should indeed have been safe. It was hard to understand why trouble had reached Zanglong Mountain as well.
“How are things at the palace now, I wonder…” Hua Chun murmured to herself. “Why don’t we rest a while longer, then head back to check?”
Qing Niao frowned. “Didn’t His Majesty say that from inside the tunnel, only he can open that door?”
“It’s not that only he can open it — it’s that only he has that jade pendant,” Hua Chun said with a sly smile, reaching out and pulling something free from her sleeve. “Look what this is.”
Yuwen Jie craned his neck to look and was nearly furious to death: “You actually stole my jade pendant?”
Startled nearly enough to fall off the bed by the sudden voice, Hua Chun looked toward the doorway in shock, and saw the emperor walking in, dressed entirely in black, reaching out to snatch the pendant from her hand, his eyes full of fury: “Do you have any idea? If you had recklessly used it to get back into the palace, you might well have run straight into the enemy breaking through the door, and lost your life!”
Startled by his shout, Hua Chun froze for a moment, then felt herself grow wronged, her nose and eyes reddening. It had been so long since they’d seen each other — and the first thing he did was scold her?
Just as she was about to protest, her chin was suddenly caught, and warmth pressed over her lips — still that familiar overbearing roughness, and yet it felt wonderful to her.
Qing Niao and Eunuch Qin both froze for a moment, then naturally turned away — one toward the door, one facing the wall.
She had been a little embarrassed at first, but seeing how considerate the two of them were, Hua Chun relaxed, embracing the emperor back and biting down hard on his lip.
“Hiss—” He released her, frowning, a bright red mark blooming on his lip.
Hua Chun pouted. “Don’t glare at me. You came in and started yelling — this is a light revenge.”
Helpless, the emperor fastened the pendant back at his waist. “When did you steal it?”
These past few days had been so busy he hadn’t even noticed the pendant was missing.
Her face turning slightly red, Hua Chun laughed awkwardly. “Just… when we parted.”
Impossible — he was far too vigilant to let her take the pendant without noticing. Even when they had parted…
Wait. When they had parted?
The emperor narrowed his eyes, recalling that scene, displeasure flooding his gaze. “Were you kissing me so passionately back then just to take the pendant?”
Shrinking her neck, Hua Chun felt a chill down her spine and immediately caved: “Not entirely… this concubine just thought Your Majesty’s lips tasted rather good — they look thin and stiff, but they’re actually soft, tender, and sweet…”
Qing Niao wanted to scratch at the wall. Was averting her eyes not enough — did she have to cover her ears too?
His ears reddening, Yuwen Jie reached out and covered the mouth of the person in front of him, then pressed his lips together and said, “The palace will fall before long. I still need to survive for a while longer, so right now I want to leave Zanglong Mountain…”
Before he could finish speaking, Hua Chun was already shaking her head repeatedly, pulling his hand away. “Weren’t you listening when Qing Niao just said Zanglong Mountain has already been taken over? If you go there now, wouldn’t that be walking straight into their mouths?”
Yuwen Jie frowned and looked toward Qing Niao, who quickly turned back around. “It’s true, you really can’t go there. We don’t know who’s surrounding Zanglong Mountain, but leaving through there is impossible. Fortunately, this tunnel’s exit is very well hidden and has a mechanism — ordinary people can’t open it. We can stay here for a while.”
Eunuch Qin asked with concern, “This place is dark with no light of day at all — will the two of you find it too hard to bear?”
“At a time like this, are we still worrying about matters of status and dignity?” Hua Chun frowned. “As long as we’re alive, that’s enough.”
The emperor nodded in agreement, glancing around at the various things stacked throughout the room, then suddenly recalled something and asked, “Why are you staying here? Didn’t I tell you to stay at Zanglong Mountain?”
Hua Chun rolled her eyes. “I only have Qing Niao with me. What if something happened while staying in a place full of soldiers? Besides, I thought it through — if I stayed here, and something happened to you, you’d have to come through the tunnel too, and I’d be the first to see you.”
Candlelight flickered warmly in the room. The emperor looked deeply at her for a long moment, then reached out and took her hand.
“Then you and I shall live in seclusion here for a few days.”
Hua Chun nodded, and together with Qing Niao went to count the bedding and tidy up a nearby room for Eunuch Qin to rest in.
“There’s dry rations for half a month — this weather means it won’t spoil even sitting out. The water barrels are all filled with drinking water, and there are a few changes of clothes as well. Candles and fire strikers are enough too — Qing Niao and I checked together, there’s a ventilation shaft here, so there’s no need to worry about suffocating.”
The emperor nodded along as he listened. Although he had designed all of this himself in advance, accounting for the possibility of living here, he still listened patiently as she introduced it to him so earnestly, with a touch of pride, then gently kissed her forehead. “Thanks to you.”
Grinning, Hua Chun patted her own chest. “That’s right — marrying me is nothing but a bargain!”
His gaze fell to her belly, and Yuwen Jie still felt a trace of worry — in such harsh conditions, would she truly be alright?
As it turned out, the child Hua Chun was carrying was made of iron. Even with insufficient nutrition during this time, not a single troubling symptom appeared. With the emperor there, Hua Chun slept even better, and her whole spirit seemed livelier.
Outside, the fires of war raged on. The palace fell at one point, forcing He Chang’an to lead his men out of Yanjing to join forces with Huo Zichong. Prince Xi pursued relentlessly, but then suddenly discovered — huh? The emperor was gone?
After inquiring around, it turned out the “emperor” He Chang’an had been escorting was a fake. Where the real emperor had gone, no one knew.
Yuwen Xi began to panic. An enemy out in the open was manageable, but one hidden in the shadows was the most unsettling of all — who knew what the emperor might be plotting behind the scenes? What if a trap had been laid for him?
So although he could have declared his ascension to the throne outright, with too many uncertain factors, after much deliberation Yuwen Xi decided to pursue He Chang’an with his troops instead, determined to drive out the emperor’s forces once and for all.