Keeping her doubts in her heart, she feigned weariness. Seeing this, Jin Yun hurriedly took her leave, chattering more instructions before departing. Qin Chang Ge listened to the sound of her footsteps fading away, then slowly sat up.

Taking up a bronze mirror, Qin Chang Ge carefully examined the appearance of the person in the reflection. She rummaged through the makeup box – a little palace maid had nothing of value. After thinking for a moment, Qin Chang Ge took up an eyebrow pencil and carefully traced along the upper edge of her eyebrow line, lightly lifting the end of her brows, instantly adding several points of spirited elegance, her dark brows flying with divine beauty.

There were several types of lip rouge, vaguely the varieties made in the palace back in the day. Qin Chang Ge remembered that when she was in the palace, there were sixteen popular types of lip rouge alone: “Pomegranate Beauty, Great Red Spring, Little Red Spring, Tender Wu Fragrance, Half-side Beauty, Ten Thousand Gold Red, Sacred Sandalwood Heart, Dewdrop, Inner Family Round, Heavenly Palace Clever, Luo’er Deep Red, Light Red Heart, Orangutan Blush, Little Vermillion Dragon, Double Tang Style, Charming Flower Slave” – each with different hues, adorning the myriad beauties of the rear palace. However, it was clear this palace maid preferred plain colors. Qin Chang Ge rummaged through with a rustling sound, selecting a powder-colored lip rouge called “Heavenly Palace Clever.” With a light press of her pale lips, she instantly gained charm.

She then spread rouge in her palm, applied it thinly to both cheeks, covered it with fragrant powder, creating a flying sunset makeup.

She loosened her hair knot, her black silk hair flowing smooth as water – this palace maid had beautiful hair. She simply arranged it in a spiral bun with pale silk ribbons hanging behind, no pearls or jade, her graceful bearing ethereal, perfectly matching: “Spiral bun condensing fragrance, morning eyebrows dark and rich.”

From the clothing chest she found a cherry-colored short jacket and cloud-purple skirt. Low-ranking palace maids couldn’t wear silk scarves, so Qin Chang Ge found a thin gauze skirt with scattered gold threads and without hesitation took scissors to cut it into long strips, draping them over her shoulders and around her arms, the clothing bands fluttering in the wind.

When her makeup was complete, she stood gracefully. The person in the mirror had raven-black hair and snow-white skin, carved jade for bones, turning lightly as if dancing, plain brocade scattering in flight. Looking closely, there wasn’t exceptional beauty, but her bearing and elegance were excellent, presenting a clear and lovely appearance. Her wonderful eyes flowed with myriad charms, like shattered jade and gleaming gold, slightly seductive, yet different from that autumn water divine charm.

Qin Chang Ge tilted her head and took up a bright rouge, lightly dotting it below her eye.

A spot of crimson red, like a falling tear.

She smiled gently.

Wen Chang, Wen Chang, do you still remember this outfit?

Those memories that should have been buried in the prosperous life of Zique Long Tower – after years of wind and frost, do they still remain in your reminiscence?

She still remembered three years ago, Princess Wen Chang’s birthday.

As usual, an awkward person on an awkward day.

There was a reason for this.

Wen Chang was Emperor Qian Yuan Xiao Jue’s elder sister, the illegitimate daughter of the former Prince of Huainan, Xiao Jin. Being illegitimate wasn’t particularly unusual – it was common in royal and noble families. The problem was her mother, who reportedly couldn’t bear the loneliness and ran away with a stable boy from the mansion just three years after giving birth to her.

Xiao Jin lost face and took his anger out on his daughter, never paying attention to her again. Wen Chang was raised by servants in the mansion, wearing coarse clothes and eating poor food, never experiencing a single day as a proper young lady.

Unfortunately, Wen Chang was beautiful, arguably the most outstanding among all the daughters. The princess consort and other sisters naturally disliked her, and the brothers, due to gender differences, paid little attention to this sister. Only the fourth brother Xiao Jue, who was also illegitimate and whose mother died early, being fellow unloved children, actually grew close to her.

Xiao Jue’s lack of favor also stemmed from the Xiao family’s values. Xiao Jin valued literature over martial arts, always believing that in chaotic times, military generals often had unfortunate fates, while civil officials with moral character and literary accomplishments were useful in any dynasty. No matter who sat on the throne, respecting scholars was always proper.

Therefore, when the Xiao family sons gathered together, they discussed poetry and literature, appreciated music and composed lyrics. Only Xiao Jue, though he also read poetry and literature, would practice martial arts whenever he had free time, desperately following the family’s martial instructors to learn various skills. While his brothers mocked him, he simply ignored them.

Once, when the mockery became too much, the ten-year-old child burst out angrily: “What you study are merely skills for serving under others as subjects. What I want to learn are skills for ascending above others to save the people from the chaos and suffering of this world!”

After these words, all the brothers fell silent, and no one dared mock this martial-obsessed brother again. This statement quickly reached the ears of the old Prince of Huainan. The cautious and prudent prince was furious, saying his son was acting absurdly and speaking without knowledge. He severely beat his son and locked him in the woodshed for three days without food.

It was Wen Chang who secretly ran to the woodshed every night, pushing her own meager food through the door crack to her brother. When Xiao Jue asked if she had eaten, Wen Chang would touch her stomach and smile while nodding to her brother. Xiao Jue was just a boy after all, with a rough mind, and didn’t think much of it. He would hold the rice bowl and eat it clean, completely missing his sister’s hungry eyes watching eagerly as the food magically disappeared.

It wasn’t until the third day, when Xiao Jue had only eaten half, that his sister fainted from hunger right in front of him.

Xiao Jue panicked, holding his sister and calling to her for a while, then randomly pressing her philtrum and tiger’s mouth acupoints, treating her in a confused manner until Wen Chang finally woke up. Of course, Xiao Jue refused to eat the remaining rice, and the siblings pushed it back and forth for a while before finally sharing that bowl of leftover rice with tears in their eyes.

Xiao Jue told this story to Qin Chang Ge. He never forgot that half bowl of rice and mentioned it many times after becoming emperor. After ascending the throne, Wen Chang was the first princess to receive titles and the heaviest rewards. Xiao Jue often sighed to his ministers and harem: “This is my elder sister who showed me kindness over one meal.”

However, he didn’t know that the emperor’s deep favor actually made Wen Chang’s already difficult life in the palace even harder. The Empress Dowager and Empress viewed her like a thorn in their eyes, wishing to pluck her out for relief. The consorts, reading the mood of the two palaces, naturally kept their distance. Even worse, Wen Chang had reached marriageable age, and princesses younger than her had already been matched by the two palaces, but she alone remained in the palace wasting her years. After a long time, even Xiao Jue found it strange and wanted to arrange her marriage. When he proposed candidates, they were all blocked by the two palaces, who claimed the princess was unwilling and needed to choose another suitable match. In Xiao Jue’s heart, his sister wasn’t worthy of anyone anyway, so he let it be, only instructing the two palaces to pay more attention.

As the princess grew older, it was becoming improper for her to remain in the palace. The two palaces consulted and carefully inquired, then arranged for her to marry Song Xu, son of Song Yao, the Pacification Commissioner of Zhongzhou. This Song Xu had some reputation – reportedly handsome and talented in poetry and literature, having passed the imperial examinations at a young age and becoming famous throughout Zhongzhou. Xiao Jue was also satisfied and immediately arranged the marriage. On the wedding day, it was prosperous and glorious, gold powder and glamour everywhere. The princess’s dowry was the richest among all princesses – what a magnificent grand wedding.

Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long. After just one year, Song Xu died of illness, and the princess became a widow.

At this point, Xiao Jue could only lament his sister’s unfortunate fate. Normally, a newly widowed princess should remain in Zhongzhou to mourn for life, but he pitied his sister’s loneliness and specially built Jin’Ou Palace for her, bringing her back to live in the palace permanently. Though this was meant as deep kindness and favor, it pushed her back into a pit of fire.

At that time, Qin Chang Ge had not yet been made empress and was still only Noble Consort Rui. She was not someone who liked to meddle in others’ affairs – if others stirred up trouble, what did it have to do with her? But Wen Chang was different. Between Wen Chang and her, there was another story – but that was a tale for another time.

That day was Wen Chang’s first birthday after returning to the palace as a new widow. According to Wen Chang’s wishes, she was an inauspicious person and didn’t need to disturb everyone above and below. But Xiao Jue remembered his sister’s birthday and early on sent palace attendants to deliver rewards – various brocades and pearls, precious vessels and rarities filled an entire hall.

This made certain people’s eyes bulge.

In the afternoon, rewards from the two palaces arrived.

They were nothing more than ordinary trinkets, but strangely, all items that came in pairs had only one left.