Hua Chun nodded.
Hua Xunyue smiled. “Elder Brother really is willing to give up anything for the sake of the court.”
Her tone carried a sour edge—what did she mean by that? Hua Chun frowned, looking up at her. “Your Highness should focus on attending well to His Majesty.”
Hua Xunyue’s voice had been rather quiet, but Hua Chun’s voice was normal volume, and the emperor beside them naturally heard it. He turned to look at the two of them and said, “Consort Shu, if there’s nothing else, you may go now.”
“This concubine obeys.” Hua Xunyue curtsied, smiled at Hua Chun, and turned to leave.
The moment she stepped out of the Purple Dawn Hall, she’d barely walked a few steps before running into Huo Xianrou.
“Didn’t this concubine say so?” Huo Xianrou smiled. “With the Prime Minister around, Your Highness can come and go from the Purple Dawn Hall as she pleases. His Majesty’s treatment of the Prime Minister is nothing like it used to be, is it? Clearly he’s held in the palm of His Majesty’s hand, cherished in his heart.”
“That’s not an appropriate thing to say.” Hua Xunyue said. “Elder Brother is a man—His Majesty simply values him greatly, that’s all.”
Huo Xianrou smiled. “Indeed—fortunately he’s a man. If he were a woman, there might be no room left in this harem for either of us.”
Hua Xunyue fell silent, flicked her sleeve, and continued walking. Consort Huo followed alongside her, chatting and smiling.
“I hear Prince Xi has trained a good number of dancers and warriors, preparing to present them as a gift at the state banquet,” He Chang’an said. “Does Your Majesty have a plan to respond?”
Without looking up, Yuwen Jie said, “You two can just go stage another ‘Chenxiang Rescues His Mother’—that would suit fine.”
Hua Chun’s mouth twitched. “Are you being serious?”
The emperor said nothing. He Chang’an laughed and said, “His Majesty must be joking. It’s just that Prince Xi has always been skilled at cultivating connections with people, and the foreign states are, after all, an asset to Great Liang’s cause—we need to put more thought into this, so no one can pull any tricks on us.”
“You need someone to entertain the guests? That’s my specialty.” Hua Chun said, patting her chest. “Just have His Majesty send people to thoroughly investigate the backgrounds of the visiting envoys, and this official guarantees she can tailor the approach perfectly.”
Glancing at her flat chest, the emperor said flatly, “I’ll put Huo Zichong under your command—whatever needs doing, just have him do it. As long as the state banquet leaves the envoys in awe of Great Liang’s might and loyal to me, I will surely reward you afterward.”
“Good.” Hua Chun agreed with a beaming smile. “But the reward had better not be stingy!”
The emperor nodded.
And so Hua Chun began spinning around like a top, busy with preparations.
Hosting envoys was an art in itself—after all, Great Liang was a great power, and they couldn’t overly cater to the foreign states, but instead needed to strike a balance: showing off their might on one hand, while making guests feel genuinely welcomed in the details on the other. Hua Chun had plenty of experience with this sort of thing, having done no small amount of it back in the modern world.
So she began searching through the palace storerooms for suitable items and helping arrange the banquet grounds.
“Why would the Prime Minister be handling such minor chores personally?” Prince Xi’s voice suddenly came from behind her, startling Hua Chun, who quickly turned around.
Prince Xi, accompanied by guards, seemed to be passing by. He looked at her, puzzled. “This prince thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.”
Smiling, Hua Chun quickly cupped her hands in greeting. “Greetings, Your Highness.”
Stepping closer, Yuwen Xi lowered his head, his gaze lingering deeply on her. “The Prime Minister has worked hard.”
“It’s all this official’s duty.”
The moment she saw Prince Xi, she had a bad feeling—there was something about this man that always seemed to see right through her, and it made her uneasy.
“You’ve been busy for so long now—why not come back to my residence with me for some tea?” He drew a step closer, smiling.
Hua Chun shook her head, replying respectfully, “This official is under His Majesty’s orders and must return to the Purple Dawn Hall right away—unable to accompany Your Highness. Please forgive me.”
“Oh?”
Prince Xi smiled. “Is it truly by imperial order, or are you afraid of this prince?”
Hua Chun frowned, about to say that though he looked intimidating, it wasn’t quite to the point of fear, when he continued:
“Afraid this prince will expose you?”
Her heart lurched, and Hua Chun looked up at him in shock. “What does Your Highness mean by that?”
Prince Xi smiled, unreadable. “Does the Prime Minister not know his own secrets?”
Surely not? Hua Chun lowered her head—how could Prince Xi possibly know too? From his tone, it sounded like he really might, but she quickly caught herself.
He was definitely just bluffing her!
All these big villain types shared one trait in common—they loved speaking nonsense with a completely straight face, specifically to trap newcomers. Her former boss back in her old life had been exactly the same, saying things he had no idea about as if they were absolute fact. Anyone with weaker nerves would fall for it completely.
Composing herself, Hua Chun looked at Prince Xi with an anxious expression. “Though this one doesn’t know how Your Highness came to learn of it, I beg Your Highness to keep it confidential for my sake.”
“Why should this prince keep it confidential for you?” Prince Xi raised an eyebrow. “You and I are not related, nor do we owe each other any favors.”
“This matter… isn’t good to spread around,” Hua Chun said, fidgeting. “This one still has to live in society.”
Yuwen Xi paused, somewhat at a loss.
He had indeed been bluffing Prime Minister Hua, but what he’d drawn out didn’t quite match his expectations. This person’s face showed only nervousness and embarrassment, not the shock or the panic he’d anticipated.
“Keeping this from His Majesty seems inappropriate,” he continued, probing further. “Deceiving the sovereign is a grave crime.”
Hua Chun looked at him with an innocent expression. “This one merely suffers from an embarrassing ailment—what does that have to do with deceiving the sovereign? This ailment isn’t contagious, nor does it affect His Majesty in the slightest.”
Yuwen Xi: “…”
An embarrassing ailment?
“Is Your Highness trying to fish information out of me?” Hua Chun said, looking suddenly enlightened, stepping back with an expression full of wariness. “I never expected I’d be the foolish one here. A prince of such standing, why would you stoop to prying into someone’s private affairs?”
“This prince…”
“Your Highness need say no more.” Hua Chun said angrily. “This official serves the sovereign with utmost loyalty, and never imagined I would first be toyed with by Your Highness’s dancers, and now insulted by Your Highness’s words! Even if it costs me my dignity, I intend to seek justice from His Majesty over this.”
Yuwen Xi stood stunned, not expecting things to develop this way. He’d only meant to test Hua Jinghua’s reaction—after all, many people were secretly suspicious of his identity these days—yet what he’d drawn out was this, and now he was the one being accused.
Seeing Prime Minister Hua turn to leave, he quickly reached out to stop her. “This prince offers his apologies. There’s truly no need to trouble His Majesty over such a small matter.”
“Your Highness is His Majesty’s own younger brother. Even if Jinghua were to go to him, I don’t expect to truly get justice,” Hua Chun said, indignant. “But as Prime Minister, I have a duty to speak for all the civil and military officials—rejecting the casual insults and harassment of members of the imperial house! This concerns the dignity and integrity of all officials. Please, Your Highness, step aside.”
Yuwen Xi looked at him, greatly astonished.
He’d only meant to fish for information, testing the waters a little—how had it escalated all the way to the dignity of all officials? Such a heavy charge—how could he possibly bear the weight of it?
And so Prince Xi’s attitude softened considerably, and he said with a smile, “Isn’t the Prime Minister also busy preparing for the state banquet? Look, there are so many things here, quite a few of which belong to this prince. If the Prime Minister can calm his anger, this prince will hand over those sets of luminous cups for the Prime Minister to use as he sees fit. How about it?”
“The dignity of all officials isn’t a matter of a few cups…”
“I’ll add the casks of grape wine beside them too!”
“…nor is it a matter of a few casks of wine…”
“And the gold and silver bowls and chopsticks from my own residence—several dozen sets of them.”
Hua Chun finally fell silent, looking up at him. “Since Your Highness is being so thoughtful, this one certainly can’t keep clinging to the grudge. Many thanks, Your Highness.”
Prince Xi forced a smile, glancing at the pale, delicate wrist revealed as she cupped her hands in thanks, then turned away, his expression darkening.
“Zhanshui, go arrange a special performance.”
“Yes.” The man beside him complied and quickly left.
Having finished compiling the list of supplies, Hua Chun bounced her way back to report to the emperor.
Yuwen Jie took the list and looked it over, frowning. “Weren’t the luminous cups a gift from the Empress Dowager to Prince Xi? How did you end up with them?”
“He gave them to me willingly.” Hua Chun said without looking up.
The emperor was quite astonished, and further down the list found no small number of other items under Prince Xi’s name as well.
“You ran into him?”
“Mm.” Hua Chun said. “He tried to fish information out of me, but this official turned the tables on him instead. To make up for it, he handed all these items over for my use.”
The emperor raised an eyebrow, looking at her with an admiring gaze. “Getting anything at all out of Prince Xi—you really are something.”
Lifting her chin proudly, Hua Chun’s tail practically wagged up to the sky. “With this official around, Your Majesty needn’t worry about a thing.”
Yuwen Jie nodded, set the list aside, and said, “It’s time for the midday meal. No one else is here—clear the memorials away and eat at the desk.”
Whenever she’d accomplished something, the emperor was always especially gentle with her. Hua Chun sat obediently as one dish of the imperial meal after another was brought in.
The one good thing about staying busy in the palace was getting to mooch free meals! And every meal she ate was delicious and nourishing, plenty to go around—these past two days at the Hua estate she’d lost weight from stress, but at this rate she’d probably gain it back within two meals.
Eunuch Qin stood off to the side, watching Prime Minister Hua confidently pick up her chopsticks, while the emperor, not having touched his own food, didn’t seem to notice at all.
This was really something…
Full and satisfied, the emperor lit some sleep-inducing incense, and Hua Chun went straight to the couch to sleep. Yuwen Jie sat by the desk himself, continuing to revise memorials.
Many of the characters Hua Jinghua wrote left-handed came out wrong, and horrendously ugly at that, but somehow he could always tell what she meant—likely from being too familiar with how she handled things.
Turning to glance at the couch, the emperor thought that, to have climbed to the position of Prime Minister while being a woman, and to be this capable at it besides—there was probably no one else like her in the whole realm.
She was worth cherishing properly.
By the time she woke, the memorials had already been revised. Hua Chun was still dazed for a moment when she heard the emperor say, “Come walk with me in the garden.”
“Yes.” She agreed, stretched, and followed the emperor outside, full of energy.
New koi had arrived in the pond, large and beautiful. Hua Chun crouched by the pond’s edge, marveling at them for a long while, then closed her eyes to make a wish.
“You still believe in this sort of thing?” The emperor scoffed.
“Better to believe it might be true than not!” Hua Chun opened her eyes and smiled. “Won’t Your Majesty give it a try?”
He had tried it before. It had worked remarkably well.
Yuwen Jie pressed his lips together, looking away. “Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I don’t believe in fate.”