So it wasn’t long before the Emperor came in person.

“Why won’t you do it?” Yuwen Jie looked at Hua Chun, frowning slightly. “It’s not even a troublesome matter, and you won’t have to do anything yourself. Come back with me to Zichen Hall.”

Hua Chun pressed her lips together. “Everything here is fine — having a ritual performed just feels creepy.”

“Didn’t you say you’re not afraid of ghosts?” His gaze swept over her, his imperial eyes deep and unreadable. “Something on your mind?”

“No,” Hua Chun said. “I just don’t feel like doing it, that’s all. Have the Master go do it at the Cold Palace instead.”

The Emperor said nothing, turning instead to look at Eunuch Qin. The latter understood at once and withdrew, taking Zhili with him.

“Are you hiding something from me?” he asked in a low voice.

Hua Chun shook her head. “No.”

Was that true? She hadn’t been talking to him much lately, and she was clearly acting differently than usual, a bit strange. Yuwen Jie pressed his lips together, reached out and took her hand — it was ice cold.

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

Everyone else stood outside in the courtyard — the Emperor hadn’t even brought Eunuch Qin along, wanting to have a proper talk with her alone.

But once they entered the inner hall, Qing Niao was there too.

“You go outside first,” the Emperor said. “I have something to discuss with Her Highness.”

Qing Niao’s expression didn’t look great, and Hua Chun grew worried, afraid that the monk outside might have done something to harm her. She wasn’t even sure anymore whether Qing Niao counted as a living person or a spirit, but seeing her hiding here made it clear it was better if she didn’t leave.

So she said, “Qing Niao isn’t an outsider. Whatever Your Majesty has to say, you can say it directly.”

Not an outsider? Yuwen Jie frowned. “I wish to speak with you alone.”

“What are you so worried about?” Hua Chun said, pouting as she held her belly. “This concubine would stake her life that whatever you say, Qing Niao won’t repeat a word of it.”

Yuwen Jie’s brow furrowed in displeasure, and he glanced at Qing Niao. The latter said softly, “Rest assured, Your Majesty. If there’s something you don’t wish for this servant to hear, this servant can pretend not to have heard it.”

“Oh?” The corner of the Emperor’s mouth curved faintly as he turned and looked at Hua Chun instead. “Then it’s fine even if what I want to say are sweet nothings?”

Hua Chun blinked, tilting her head to look at him. Beside her, Qing Niao’s face flushed red instantly, and she stammered, “This servant will go to the outer hall.”

With that, she lifted her skirts and hurried out.

Hua Chun watched her go, then turned back and stared blankly at the man in front of her. “What did you want to say?”

He’d only said that in a moment of frustration, hadn’t he? A man like him — how could he possibly come out with sweet nothings? The Emperor pressed his lips together and said in a low voice, “I only meant to convince you to accept the ritual. The rumors circulating outside right now aren’t good. Even if I can protect you, if things keep escalating, your days won’t be easy.”

Digging at her ear, Hua Chun said, “That’s beside the point. The point is, you just said you’d say something sweet — this hardly counts, does it?”

“…I was just saying it.”

Eyes widening, Hua Chun’s face fell with disappointment as she clutched her chest and took two steps back. “This concubine trusted you so much, and you toyed with my feelings? You promised sweet words, and the moment Qing Niao left, you went back on it?”

“That’s not it, I wouldn’t…”

“This concubine is heartbroken!” she cut him off, turning away with her arms around her belly. “As the Emperor, your word should carry the weight of a thousand pieces of gold — you shouldn’t toy with this concubine’s feelings. And with this concubine’s belly already so big, whatever you say, the child inside can hear it too! You’re setting a terrible example! You’ll spoil the child rotten!”

“…Listen to me.”

“I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen!” Hua Chun covered her ears and shook her head at a frequency worthy of a melodramatic heroine. “I’ve been married to you all this time, and getting a single sweet word out of you is this hard! Other husbands coo and fuss over their wives with pet names, but you can’t even bring yourself to call me ‘my dear’! The cold wind scatters and slaps my face, Your Majesty’s indifference wounds my heart, this concubine is truly hurt…”

Shouting at the Emperor, she ended up singing to herself, and Hua Chun privately thought she was quite the method actress — this fit of shouting and fussing had completely muddled whatever the Emperor had originally meant to say.

Yuwen Jie stared at her in shock for a good while, his whole body going rigid. “Are you serious about this?”

“Of course! A promise is a promise!” Hua Chun pouted, putting on the look of a wronged young wife.

The Emperor, sure enough, fell into a helpless silence. Hua Chun hadn’t really expected him to actually come up with anything sweet — she only hoped he’d be distracted enough to drop the matter of the ritual.

It turned out to work — Yuwen Jie’s mind really did go into a muddle. He stood there dazed for a long while, and finally, his face full of reluctance, he spoke.

“I’ll say this only once.” he said. “What I told Yuwen Xi last time — I meant it seriously.”

Huh? Hua Chun was stunned, staring at him blankly, taking a moment to even process what he’d said.

What he’d said to Yuwen Xi, he meant seriously? What had he said? Her memory wasn’t great — how was she supposed to know what he’d said last time, and did that even count as something sweet?

Giving him a rather pitying pat on the shoulder, Hua Chun said, “This concubine will find time to gather up a whole pile of sweet nothings and compile them into a book called The Complete Book of Royal Sweet Nothings. I hope Your Majesty will study it well, so this concubine’s days in the palace can be a little easier.”

His eyes fixed on her unblinkingly, Yuwen Jie pressed his lips together. “Your head doesn’t seem to work all that well either.”

“Huh?” Hua Chun raised an eyebrow.

“Never mind.” The Emperor’s expression turned sour in an instant, and he said gruffly, “As for the ritual — if you truly don’t want to do it, then so be it. I’ll have Zhili go elsewhere. But if something happens later, don’t blame me for not having helped you.”

“I won’t, I won’t,” Hua Chun waved a hand. “If something happens, chalk it up to my own bad luck.”

Glaring at her, the Emperor turned and walked out. Hua Chun, smiling, bowed to him from behind with her arms around her belly, watching him leave, and only then let out a breath of relief.

Qing Niao came back in, blushing, her eyes full of meaning. “So His Majesty really does have real feelings, after all.”

“Huh?” Hua Chun was thoroughly confused by this sudden remark. “Where did you see any sign of him having feelings?”

“Didn’t Your Highness hear what His Majesty just said?” Qing Niao raised an eyebrow.

“I heard it, but what does it mean?” Hua Chun pouted. “I don’t even remember what he said to Prince Xi last time.”

Qing Niao shook her head, and was just about to repeat it for her when Rui’er suddenly hurried in and said, “Mistress, this servant has heard some unpleasant word going around.”

“What is it?” Hua Chun raised an eyebrow.

Rui’er’s expression turned grim. “Just now, Master Zhili was telling people that all the yin energy in the harem is concentrated in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and it may well be the root of the calamities. Many people overheard this, and it’s already spreading.”

Sucking in a sharp breath, Hua Chun’s eyes went wide. “Didn’t that monk speak up for me last time? How did he turn around so fast?”

“Everyone says Master Zhili speaks only to the matter, not the person, so a lot of people believe what he says,” Rui’er said. “Add to that how many people in the palace believe in Buddhism, and with this news spreading, it’s very bad for you, mistress.”

How bad could it really be? She could just stay in the Hall of Mental Cultivation and not go out — wouldn’t that solve it? Hua Chun frowned. “Alright, I understand.”

“Your Highness,” Rui’er said, “this servant thinks — perhaps you should still have the Master come back and perform the ritual after all? That way nothing more would come of it.”

“No need,” Hua Chun said, pouting. “I refuse to do it!”

Qing Niao’s brow furrowed slightly. She glanced down at her own palm and said, pressing her lips together, “Maybe you really should do it after all. At worst, this servant will go with you and hide out at Zichen Hall together.”