Hua Chun gave a dry laugh. “As curious as I am, and as much as I keep feeling like you’re hiding something from me, I really don’t want to hear any more bad news right now.”

Qing Niao nodded, murmuring quietly, “May everything go smoothly from here on… I’ll happily eat vegetarian for a whole month as my price for it.”

Whether the price offered was too small to satisfy the heavens, or for some other reason, the bad news that was bound to come still came. After the Emperor’s general amnesty freed many prisoners, bandits began running rampant in Yanjing, and mountain brigands grew bolder across the land.

If it happened once, that could be coincidence; if it happened twice, coincidence as well — but with so many good deeds done in Consort De’s name all turning sour, the common people could no longer help but believe that Consort De truly was a bringer of calamity.

Yuwen Jie frowned at the memorials piled on his desk. Now, aside from Tang Yue and Lü Sanbian, nearly every senior official opposed his plan to make the Hua woman Empress, citing every kind of example to try to convince him to keep her confined within the harem, granting her no further power, and certainly never elevating her to the position of Empress.

It was almost absurd — he had fought his way through so many battles against so many enemies, and yet he couldn’t win against mere rumor and gossip.

“Your Majesty,” He Chang’an said, cupping his hands with a solemn expression. “The Empress Dowager should be laid to rest soon.”

“Do you think…” the Emperor considered for a moment, “if I had Hua Chun attend the Empress Dowager’s funeral procession, might it change her fortune somehow?”

He Chang’an paused, then shook his head. “Her Highness won’t go.”

She hadn’t even attended Wan Shi’s burial — how could she possibly attend the Empress Dowager’s?

“But things can’t go on like this,” the Emperor said. “Even if I can force everyone to show her respect, I can’t stop people from slandering her behind her back.”

Hua Chun had, in truth, done a great deal of good — being cursed like this now truly wasn’t fair. Perhaps it was the Empress Dowager’s spirit at work? If only she would sincerely attend the funeral procession…

“This official thinks that if Your Majesty makes such a demand of Her Highness, she may well be displeased,” He Chang’an sighed. “But if Your Majesty insists, this official has nothing further to say.”

Why would she be displeased? He knew full well this was for her own good, and nothing else.

Pressing his lips together, the Emperor rose, and after having neglected Hua Chun for over ten days, finally stepped into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Hua Chun was quite surprised — she’d just been about to chat with Qing Niao — and upon seeing him arrive, could only rise and bow. “This concubine greets Your Majesty.”

“I have something to discuss with you,” Yuwen Jie said, getting straight to the point. “The Empress Dowager’s coffin is to be moved to the imperial mausoleum. If you have time, you may go along to see her off.”

Her expression darkening, Hua Chun frowned at him. “May this concubine refuse?”

“Why?”

Did he really need to ask why? Taking a deep breath, Hua Chun tried to keep her tone calm. “Because Wan Shi died at her hand. If this concubine attends her funeral, it would be an act of filial betrayal.”

“The person is already gone — must you still hold onto that?” Yuwen Jie’s brow furrowed as well. “Your position right now is precarious. Can’t you set the matter of Wan Shi aside for now, and go see the Empress Dowager off first?”

Hua Chun shook her head. “This is a matter of principle. I won’t go.”

Yuwen Jie pressed his lips together, looked at her for a long moment, and said flatly, “Chang’an really does understand you better.”

What was that supposed to mean? Hua Chun felt a flash of anger and looked up at him. “You haven’t come to see this concubine in so long, and that’s fine — but the moment you do come, you don’t spare a single thought for what this concubine wants, and just demand I do something like this. This concubine doesn’t wish to agree, and you say something like that to me?”

What a petty, bitter thing to say — what exactly did he mean by it?

Perhaps not expecting her to suddenly lose her temper, Yuwen Jie stood stunned for a moment, opening his mouth to explain, but feeling a flicker of irritation as well. He hadn’t said anything wrong, and her temper seemed to be growing shorter and shorter these days.

After a stretch of time apart, the distance between them had deepened somewhat, and communication had grown more difficult — friction was only natural under such circumstances. Angry as he was, the Emperor had no intention of blaming her, thinking it best to simply let her calm down on her own.

So he chose to simply turn and walk away.

When a man and woman quarrel, knowing how to defuse the situation is a delicate art, testing a man’s emotional intelligence above all else. Many men think leaving a woman alone to cool off is enough, but a woman left to stew in silence usually only grows angrier the more she thinks about it, increasingly convinced the other person doesn’t care about her at all, until eventually she conjures up an entire imagined drama of abandonment in her head, growing angrier still.

Hua Chun was exactly this kind of ordinary woman.

Watching Yuwen Jie’s retreating back, she was practically fuming, and couldn’t help flipping up her middle finger, hissing under her breath, “Fuck!”

Torn between exasperation and laughter, Qing Niao pulled her hand back down. “Don’t mind His Majesty. He probably just has too much to deal with right now and is in a bad mood, that’s all. If the Empress Dowager’s funeral isn’t something you should attend, then don’t — this servant supports you!”

“Turns out a best friend really is more reliable than any man,” Hua Chun said with feeling, reaching out to hug her. “Let the men go to hell — the two of us will just live our lives well together.”

Pausing slightly, Qing Niao managed a strained smile. “This servant doesn’t know how much longer I’ll be able to stay by your side, either.”

Hua Chun startled, staring at her wide-eyed. “Do you have someone you want to marry?”

“No.” Waving a hand, Qing Niao turned and closed the door, pulling her into the inner hall. “This servant said there was something to tell you — it seems the time has come now.”

“It’s just the two of us — you don’t need to keep calling yourself ‘this servant.’ It sounds so stiff,” Hua Chun said, shivering and giving her a teasing look. “The two of us are practically comrades of communism, equals under socialism — calling yourself ‘this servant’ when there are others around is fine, but when there’s no one else here, why does it still come so naturally to you?”

She meant it as a joke, but Qing Niao — or rather, Qin Niao — wasn’t smiling at all, looking at her with great seriousness. “I’ve called myself that for so many years, and called you ‘mistress’ for so many years too, so it’s hard to break the habit. In the modern world, calling you by your name was actually what felt unnatural to me.”

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Hua Chun reached out and touched her forehead. “Do you have a fever? We’ve only been here a total of one year — where would ‘so many years’ come from?”

Taking a deep breath, Qin Niao shook her head. “That’s not it. It really has been many years. Mistress, do you remember the TV drama I used to send you?”

“I remember.” Hua Chun pressed her lips together, and seeing the look on Qing Niao’s face, felt her own heart grow heavy in turn. “There’s something wrong with that drama, isn’t there?”

No opening credits, no closing credits, none of the actors recognizable — and yet it had always felt strangely familiar.

“That wasn’t a TV drama.” Qin Niao said in a low voice. “That was something you truly lived through — only the ending has since been changed.”

What? Hua Chun was stunned, staring blankly at her for a long moment. “Are you messing with me?”

“Haven’t you noticed? So many people here — Wan Shi, Old Master Hua — you’d never actually met them before, and yet you felt so familiar with them. And His Majesty too — he clearly hasn’t always been good to you, and yet you fell in love with him without a moment’s hesitation or surprise.”