Prince Xi startled, unnerved by her righteous, unwavering manner.

Strip in front of everyone? If she were really a woman, how could she dare say such a thing? Or was it just a bluff to scare people?

Pressing his lips together, he asked, “What does the Prime Minister want?”

“This official is not an unreasonable person.” Hua Chun said, her brow stern. “But the Prince has slandered this official time and again, and this time has even joined forces with outsiders, putting His Majesty in an awkward position. If this official endures again, it might chill the hearts of all the civil and military officials at court! Since the Prince wants to gamble, let’s gamble big—if it’s proven that Jinghua is male, I ask that the Prince return half his fiefdom to Great Liang!”

Everyone was shaken, and Prince Xi’s face turned pale. “Such a demand from the Prime Minister, and you still say you’re not unreasonable?”

“If others treat me with courtesy, I return courtesy. If others come at me with blades, I return blades.” Hua Chun said, word by word. “Rumors are fearsome things, repeated lies become truth—everyone knows how important reputation is to a person, yet the Prince, relying on his status, has repeatedly slandered this official. Once can be endured, twice can be endured, but a third time endured would mean losing the integrity of a scholar-official!”

As she spoke, she reached out and began undoing the buttons of her official robe, casually pulling off the outermost layer.

Underneath was first a lining robe of pale blue-green, fitting neither too loose nor too tight, revealing a flat, even chest.

Removing more, underneath was a white inner garment, through which one could almost see the outline of Prime Minister Hua’s thin upper body.

Yuwen Jie’s hand clenched tightly; watching her hand move to the sash of the inner garment, a sharp rebuke nearly escaped his lips.

Remove any more and there would be no clothing left at all!

Hua Chun’s expression remained composed, her movements without the slightest hesitation, causing Yuwen Xi to break into a cold sweat as he called out in a low voice, “This prince has not yet agreed, Prime Minister!”

“Oh?” She glanced sideways at him, her eyes full of disdain. “Making such a huge scene today, having His Majesty urgently summon me into the palace—wasn’t it to verify my identity? Everything I, Hua Jinghua, do is open and aboveboard. Since the Prince has such solid evidence, what is there to fear?”

That was half a fiefdom’s territory—could this be taken lightly! Yuwen Xi’s lips had gone pale; he gritted his teeth. “Proving your identity is your own affair, Prime Minister—why should this prince have to wager his fiefdom on it?”

“Because the Prince is the one who stirred up this matter.” Hua Chun said coldly. “The Prince should pay the price for his own words.”

“That price is too much.” Yuwen Xi frowned. “The fiefdom was granted by the late Emperor—how can it simply be taken back?”

Looking at him calmly, Hua Chun smiled without warmth. “Isn’t the Prince quite confident that this official is a woman? What is there to be afraid of then? You can’t lose, after all.”

Reports from every direction had indeed said she was a woman, yet… her behavior was far too bold—what woman would act like this? And there was even a pregnant wife standing right beside her, and she still dared to wager so boldly with him…

His eyes wavering for a moment, Prince Xi said, “This matter should perhaps be deliberated further.”

What was there to deliberate? Hua Chun scoffed coldly, turned and knelt before the Empress Dowager, her gaze burning as she said, “This official begs the Empress Dowager to render judgment. This official has served at court for many years, and while I won’t claim to have exhausted myself entirely for the state, I can at least say I have a clear conscience. Yet today Prince Xi has pinned this baseless accusation on me—who knows what rumors might spread outside in the future. Since the imperial family cannot extend trust to this official, then this official requests to resign, to return to being a commoner and find solace in the mountains and rivers!”

The Empress Dowager was startled. “Prime Minister, don’t be rash—your loyalty and ability, I have seen with my own eyes. Today’s matter… there must be some misunderstanding.”

The Emperor looked at Prince Xi. “If the Prime Minister resigns, it would be a great loss to Great Liang—then let it be compensated with half of my brother’s fiefdom.”

Such a dramatic reversal left the onlookers stunned, all turning to look at the kneeling Prince and the Western Xia envoys.

Prince Xi seemed lost in thought, while the Western Xia envoys were utterly terrified, prostrate on the ground without moving.

The Prime Minister wasn’t a woman? Hadn’t they been told with absolute certainty that she was? Now things had gone badly wrong, and they’d been dragged down along with Prince Xi! What should they do now? If Prime Minister Hua accused them of slander in return, would they even be able to return to Western Xia?

Thinking of this, Yang Yuanchen hastily spoke up: “Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, forgive us. This subject and the others were merely misled by rumors and misunderstood the Prime Minister.”

“Oh?” the Emperor asked. “What rumors did you hear, and where?”

Yuwen Xi glanced at him flatly.

Yang Yuanchen startled, his eyes darting around, his voice trembling as he said, “It was… rumors circulating within the palace. This subject and the others, while moving about the palace, overheard many people discussing it.”

“How outrageous!” The Empress Dowager was somewhat angered, slapping her hand on the table beside her. “People within the palace daring to gossip about the Prime Minister in front of foreign envoys?”

Hua Chun curved her lips slightly. “The Empress Dowager need not be angry. Now that it’s been clarified today, that’s enough—there will always be some within the palace who look unfavorably upon this official.”

“You’re being generous.” Empress Dowager Ning sighed. “Quickly, put your clothes back on—it’s been cold lately, don’t fall ill again.”

“Thank you for your concern, Empress Dowager.” Hua Chun said. “But the Prince still hasn’t given an explanation.”

Prince Xi came back to himself, lowering his eyes. “This prince, too, was merely misled by rumors and sought to verify them. But since the Prime Minister used the fiefdom as leverage, naturally this prince cannot take such a risk.”

“Oh?” She turned to look at him. “Does the Prince mean that he still believes this official is a woman, but is simply unwilling to continue the investigation in order to preserve his fiefdom?”

Prince Xi said nothing, which was as good as admitting it.

“How interesting.” Hua Chun scoffed, picking up her clothes from the ground and putting them back on, then turned to look at the Emperor. “So in this life, this official will only serve Your Majesty alone, because Your Majesty is worthy of it.”

Yuwen Xi gritted his teeth.

Wasn’t this basically stepping on him openly while flattering Yuwen Jie? Hua Jinghua truly wasn’t leaving himself any room to back down—well played.

“Enough.” The Empress Dowager said, somewhat wearily. “Today’s farce ends here. The Prime Minister’s wife is with child, and the Prime Minister has been open and forthright—everyone go back to their own business. What should and shouldn’t be said, everyone should know in their hearts.”

“This concubine obeys.” The group of consorts beside them bowed and took their leave, and the palace servants also withdrew one after another.

The Emperor looked at the Western Xia envoys below with a pitying gaze. “You were originally supposed to set out for Western Xia tomorrow—now that this matter has come up, why don’t you all stay in Great Liang a few more days, and let the King of Western Xia come collect you?”

“Your Majesty, spare us! Spare us!” Yang Yuanchen burst into tears immediately. “If our King comes to collect us, would we even still have our lives?”

“Then before slandering our dynasty’s Prime Minister, why didn’t you think about whether you’d still have your lives?”

“This subject… this subject truly realizes his error now!”

Hua Chun shook her head looking at them, saying, “Sometimes a pie that falls into your lap isn’t always safe to eat—it’s often poisoned. See? You fell for someone else’s scheme, and ended up as nothing but a scapegoat for nothing.”

Yang Yuanchen startled, his thoughts racing, and he looked in fear at Prince Xi beside him.

This news had been given to him by the Prince, who’d said that if he wanted to bring the Prime Minister down, he should join him in the accusation. If he alone made the accusation, the Emperor and Empress Dowager might still show favoritism, but with the addition of foreign envoys, the Emperor and Empress Dowager would have to consider Great Liang’s dignity and handle it fairly.

If not for how far the Prime Minister had gone earlier, they wouldn’t have been angry enough to help Prince Xi in the first place. But now, they’d ended up harming themselves instead.

Yuwen Xi narrowed his eyes, looking at Hua Jinghua and said, “The Prime Minister has played this game of sowing discord quite beautifully.”

“Ah?” Hua Chun widened her eyes at him. “Is the Prince… in league with the Western Xia envoys after all?”

“……This prince never said that.”

“Didn’t you just say ‘sowing discord’?” Hua Chun blinked. “This official has read little, but even so, knows that phrase is used between people who are close. So that means the Prince has been secretly maintaining a very intimate relationship with the envoys, behind His Majesty’s back!”

His face full of dark lines, Yuwen Xi said angrily, “This prince’s tongue is no match for the Prime Minister’s.”

“Reason lets one travel the whole world; without it, one cannot take a single step.” Hua Chun smiled. “The Prince should perhaps read more books too.”

Prince Xi couldn’t take it anymore, looking up at the Empress Dowager. “Mother, this child knows his error.”

“What use is admitting your error to me?” the Emperor said flatly. “It’s Prime Minister Hua whom you’ve wronged.”

Hua Chun magnanimously waved her hand. “No need for the Prince to apologize to this official—this official couldn’t bear it.”

Prince Xi paused, feeling things were finally easing, about to follow up with some conciliatory words to smooth things over, when Hua Jinghua’s next line came: “Just give some compensation directly, that’ll do.”

Yuwen Xi: “……”

Did this person have no shame left at all?

Something was wrong! He’d been so confident today, determined to bring Hua Jinghua down—why had he ended up cornered like this instead?

Ordinarily his own schemes played out smoothly enough, but somehow he always stumbled when it came to Hua Jinghua, and he couldn’t understand why.

“That’s fair enough.” the Empress Dowager said. “Xi’er, prepare a generous gift for the Prime Minister as an apology, and let this matter be settled.”

“……This child obeys.”

Straightening her clothes, Hua Chun glanced at Qing Niao, whose face had gone pale, and hurriedly helped her up with concern, asking softly, “Is it hard on you?”

Qing Niao shook her head, gripping tightly onto her sleeve. “As long as my lord is all right.”

“Nothing will happen.” Hua Chun comforted her, then looked up at the Emperor and Empress Dowager. “Qing Niao isn’t feeling well—since today turned out to be a misunderstanding, may this official take leave now?”

“I’ll have someone escort your wife back to the residence first.” the Emperor said. “You stay behind, come with me back to Zichen Hall.”

What else could there be? Hua Chun frowned, glancing worriedly at Qing Niao. The latter, understanding, let go of her hand, smiling. “This concubine will wait for my lord at the residence.”

“All right.” Nodding, Hua Chun bid farewell to the Empress Dowager and left Huiming Hall together with the Emperor.

At Huiming Gate, Qing Niao left with Eunuch Qin. The Emperor boarded the imperial carriage; Hua Chun had intended to walk alongside it, but the person above reached out and pulled her straight up.

Iron-like arms clamped tightly around her, pressing her entirely into his embrace—warm and solid.

Slightly stunned, her chin bumped against his shoulder, and she asked in confusion, “Your Majesty?”

“Don’t move.” Yuwen Jie said in a low voice. “Let me hold you for a while.”