“Don’t move!” Yuwen Jie snapped in a low voice, gripping her collar, his face darkening ominously. “Didn’t you say you couldn’t change your own clothes?”

“I can, I can, I can!” Hua Chun was nearly in tears. “This official suddenly remembers how to change clothes, Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”

He Chang’an, caught between laughter and exasperation, pulled the Emperor back. “Don’t get worked up. The Prime Minister surely was only joking. You’re the supreme ruler — how could you possibly dress a subject?”

Releasing Hua Jinghua’s buttons, the Emperor narrowed his eyes. “If you can do it, hurry up and change. Outside the palace, formal etiquette between ruler and subject doesn’t apply — but if you dawdle like some young lady, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”

Her legs weak with fright, Hua Chun clutched the robe and scurried behind a nearby partition, quickly stripping off her official robes and changing into the indigo long robe in her hands.

Her inner garment was even thinner than the Emperor’s — the moment she removed her outer robe, her chest binding was clearly visible. Fortunately He Chang’an had helped resolve the earlier situation; if she’d had to undress in front of the Emperor, seeing that thing, wouldn’t he have asked what was going on? Could she really claim her chest muscles were overly developed and needed suppressing?

What a joke!

Still, ancient clothing had so many layers that her inner garment could only be this thin — any thicker and she’d surely die of heatstroke on a hot day.

Once changed, Hua Chun went back out and stood obediently beside the Emperor.

Yuwen Jie handed her a cloak. The three of them bundled themselves up thoroughly, put on hats, and were led by Eunuch Qin alone onto a carriage, leaving the palace via a side path.

“Once outside the palace, mind how you address yourself,” the Emperor said, seated in the carriage. “Call me… call me Second Brother. Just use casual address.”

“Alright.” This switch didn’t pose any difficulty for Hua Chun — she wasn’t used to constant formal titles anyway.

He Chang’an seemed in good spirits, gazing out the small window at the palace walls, and asked the Emperor, “Are you sure there’s no danger?”

The danger index outside the palace was far higher than inside — Hua Chun wanted to ask this too. But he was the Emperor after all; surely he wouldn’t recklessly leave the palace without ensuring absolute safety somehow?

Instead, Yuwen Jie said, “In critical moments, save yourself.”

Huh? Hua Chun turned to stare at him blankly, then looked at He Chang’an.

Right, the Emperor practiced martial arts. As for He Chang’an — however delicate and handsome he looked, judging by the veins on his hands, he was clearly also skilled in combat.

So the question was: did Hua Jinghua know martial arts?

The answer was no. And even if the original did, Hua Chun currently didn’t, which meant the Emperor’s statement essentially translated to —

If something goes wrong, go die on your own!

She felt somewhat devastated. Knowing full well this was a risky venture, why drag along someone who couldn’t fight? Wasn’t protecting the Prime Minister supposed to be everyone’s responsibility? Without her, wouldn’t the entire court erupt into chaos?

Hesitating, she glanced at the Emperor but didn’t dare say anything, instead looking pitifully at He Chang’an beside her. “Marquis, I can’t fight.”

“Just call me Chang’an,” He Chang’an said. “It’s fine, I’ll do my best to protect you.”

Hua Chun was deeply moved, and didn’t even bother wondering if he was trying to hit on her — based on that one statement alone, she decided to consider He Chang’an a true friend, the kind you’d go through hell for!

The Emperor let out a soft snort, still sitting perfectly upright. Even having removed his dragon robe and changed into ordinary commoner’s clothes, Yuwen Jie’s overwhelming dominant aura remained far too strong. Hua Chun glanced at him several times, wanting to say something, but didn’t dare speak up.

He Chang’an clearly noticed this problem too. Stroking his chin, he studied the Emperor for a moment, then asked her, “Do you have any way to make Second Brother less conspicuous?”

“There’s definitely a way,” Hua Chun said with a guilty conscience. “But Second Brother definitely won’t want to try it.”

With his tall stature and striking face, the moment they stepped out of the palace gate he’d surely draw attention, possibly becoming a walking landmark on the street. Though she didn’t know the purpose of this outing, it certainly wasn’t meant to attract attention.

“Whatever method you have, you may try it,” Yuwen Jie said flatly. “Today there’s no ruler and subject between us — I won’t hold any offense against either of you.”

Really! Hua Chun let out a breath of relief, and her courage immediately swelled. “Then that settles it. Once we leave the palace, we’ll find a cosmetics shop, and I can handle it.”

The Emperor: “…” A cosmetics shop?

He Chang’an raised an eyebrow, looking at her with interest. “Does the Prime Minister know something about makeup?”

“Of course!” Hua Chun answered readily, since in the modern world, applying makeup daily had been a professional necessity.

But she quickly realized she was supposed to be a man now, and hastily added, “I used to help my mother with her makeup often, practice makes perfect.”

Yuwen Jie’s gaze at her still carried that same meaning — Hua Chun couldn’t even be bothered to look, knowing it contained only three big words: sissy.

Fine, sissy it was then. Whatever made him happy. Hua Chun pursed her lips and lowered her head, saying nothing more.

The carriage stopped on a secluded street in the capital. They got out to find a cosmetics shop, and Hua Chun bravely went in to buy a pile of things.

Unlike modern cosmetics, this place only had rouge, kohl powder, and something resembling rice powder.

Still, it would work well enough. Hua Chun had Yuwen Jie sit still, then began applying makeup to him, whitening the shadowed areas of his face, softening his eyebrows, dotting rouge beneath his eyes, and using shading techniques to give the corners of his mouth an upturned effect.

By the end of this makeover, even He Chang’an was stunned.

You couldn’t tell at all that the Emperor was wearing makeup, but his entire face had transformed from expressionless to gentle and approachable, all traces of severity swept away, resembling an elegant young gentleman.

His imposing air remained, but his face no longer gave off a distant feeling — instead it made people want to get close, to hand him a handkerchief or something.

“How is it?” Hua Chun looked at He Chang’an proudly.

The latter praised her without reservation. “Really impressive.”

Yuwen Jie kept a straight face. “Mirror.”

Hua Chun quickly and obsequiously handed over the mirror.

Looking at his own face, the Emperor was clearly displeased, but since they were going out, and he genuinely wanted to observe the common people’s conditions rather than merely serve as bait, he decided… to let it be.

Seeing he had nothing more to say, He Chang’an announced, “Alright, we’re ready. Let’s get off the carriage.”

Hua Chun happily hopped down, looking at the ancient-style street before her, trying to find traces of Nanjing thousands of years in the future.

Unfortunately, not a single street resembled it.

The three of them walked together toward the bustling part of the road, with Yuwen Jie in the middle, while she and He Chang’an trailed behind as attendants.

Yanjing was prosperous, bustling with people. The Emperor seemed to not be a stranger to leaving the palace, walking familiarly to a sesame cake stall at the street corner and buying three sesame cakes.

Hua Chun was somewhat surprised that the Emperor liked eating sesame cakes, yet Yuwen Jie’s movements were completely natural, and he even handed one to her.

Accepting it with gratitude, she took a bite and couldn’t help but sigh, “This is truly pure, natural, organic food.”

“What?” He Chang’an raised an eyebrow.

“I said Second Brother went to great expense.” She quickly corrected herself, wishing she could strangle herself — why did she talk so much?

Second Brother, who’d spent three copper coins ahead of them, glanced back at her, his eyes full of disdain.

Hua Chun laughed awkwardly and forced herself to keep following.

“There’s a crowd up ahead,” He Chang’an said, raising an eyebrow. “Looks like something interesting is happening.”

Several layers of people crowded around a shop entrance by the roadside. Yuwen Jie noticed too and led them straight through the crowd to see what was happening.

“Price gouging on grain isn’t done this way — outside grain sells for sixty coins a pound, what gives you the right to sell it for a hundred?”

“Yeah, what gives you the right?”

This was a grain shop, and Hua Chun, using Yuwen Jie’s broad, sturdy body as cover, successfully squeezed to the front. Looking up, she saw a sign atop the rice vats reading “One hundred coins per pound, no cheating young or old.”

“What gives us the right?” The shopkeeper stood at the shop entrance, snorting coldly at the people before him. “If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. What price we sell at is our business as merchants — what right do you have to make trouble here?”

This dynasty apparently didn’t have mandatory price controls from the government, Hua Chun blinked — so with monopolistic operations, wasn’t it too easy to reap huge profits?

An elderly person nearby, carrying a basket, stepped forward. “This is the only grain shop in this area — how can we not make trouble? Our households can barely make ends meet as it is, and you’re raising prices even higher — you’re trying to drive the common people to their deaths!”

“Right, right!” The crowd echoed in agreement.

Yuwen Jie frowned, watched for a moment, then led them away from the crowd.

“Second Brother.” He Chang’an studied his expression, guessing what he was thinking, and said directly, “The court has always suppressed commerce, yet it’s never been fully successful. These merchants are each cunning — not so easily controlled.”

“I know.” Yuwen Jie frowned.

But with these merchants running amok, weren’t the common people the ones suffering?

Hua Chun thought for a moment, then said carefully, “The government could actually control prices.”

Yuwen Jie was startled, stopped in his tracks, and turned to look at her. “You have a method?”

“You’d just need to establish a Price Bureau, setting a price range for all goods on the market — with both a ceiling and a floor. This would prevent merchants from vicious competition that drives prices too low, and also prevent monopolistic operations that drive prices too high. Wouldn’t that solve it?”

In the modern era, everyone knew this was a method to curb inflation, but people in ancient times didn’t quite understand it. Even someone as clever as Yuwen Jie couldn’t grasp it right away, and he frowned at her.

“Second Brother needn’t worry. Once we get back, I’ll draft a memorial for you to review,” Hua Chun said. “I’ll make sure it’s detailed — though implementing it might still run into difficulties.”

Reforms like this required prolonged struggle.

Pursing his lips, the Emperor nodded in agreement and continued walking forward, his mind still turning over what Hua Jinghua had said.

He Chang’an, deeply impressed, put his hand on Hua Chun’s shoulder. “Jinghua truly is as talented as the rumors say, worthy of assisting a king!”

“You flatter me,” Hua Chun said. “Just some minor ideas, not fully developed yet — it’ll still require Second Brother to implement concretely.”

Modest and courteous, not claiming credit — He Chang’an’s favorable impression of the person before him deepened even further.

He really needed to find an opportunity to become sworn brothers with him — otherwise, if someone else snatched him up first, what a loss that would be!