Ziqing could clearly hear the sound of Jun Beiyue’s fist clenching, knuckles cracking audibly. If she’d been acting on impulse a moment ago, she’d since calmed down considerably—now she genuinely wanted to see just how far this woman, this so-called Consort Li, would dare to go with the servants of Prince Yao’s estate.
Consort Li seemed to have a particular fondness for stepping on people’s faces. Having planted her foot on the shadow guard’s cheek, a satisfied smile spread across her lovely features.
“Why don’t you repeat what she just said, then. My memory really does seem to be getting worse these days,” Consort Li said, her composed, regally elegant bearing far exceeding what the mere title of “consort” would suggest—she carried herself with the air of an empress.
What exactly had the maidservant said a moment ago, to provoke this woman’s fury so thoroughly?
Both Ziqing and Jun Beiyue were curious now, waiting to hear the answer.
But to their surprise, the shadow guard pinned beneath her foot stammered and stumbled just as helplessly as the maidservant had, unable to force the words out even after a long while!
It seemed that he would rather have his face crushed entirely than dare speak those words aloud!
“Now I’m curious myself, what exactly was said,” Ziqing spoke up languidly—even within the estate itself, she rarely referred to herself with such regal formality.
“I’m curious too!”
Jun Beiyue’s voice had turned cold at last. Seeing Consort Li about to raise her foot to stomp down again, he was just about to unleash a wind blade to stop her, when suddenly, a familiar voice called out from nearby.
“What exactly are you all doing!”
That voice!
“Hongyi!” Ziqing cried out in delighted surprise, while Jun Beiyue calmly withdrew his gathered wind blade without a trace.
But when Hongyi came running up, breathless, from the distance, what they saw left both Jun Beiyue and Ziqing utterly shocked.
This couple had witnessed—no, more precisely, they themselves had created—more grand spectacles, weathered more storms and upheavals than most people could imagine in a lifetime. Yet in this moment, they found themselves struck utterly speechless, frozen in place, taking a long, long while to recover!
Hongyi…
Hongyi’s voice hadn’t changed at all, but the person standing before them was no longer that sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl from years past—she was now a woman nearing thirty.
Even though her features remained largely the same, her age was unmistakably written across her face, in her eyes, plain for anyone to see!
What… what exactly was going on here?
Hongyi, her face etched with urgency, still gasping for breath and unable to fully catch it, heard Consort Li speak coldly, “Insolent wretch, how dare you show such disrespect in my presence? Who gave you the right to question me?”
Hongyi startled for a moment, then quickly bowed in a proper salute, explaining as she did so, “This servant did not realize Your Ladyship was present. Please forgive the intrusion, my lady.”
“Forgive you? If everyone were to follow your example, if everyone expected me to simply forgive them, then…” Consort Li said, glancing at the unconscious maidservant lying nearby, sneering coldly, “then where would my authority stand!”
“Consort Li, His Majesty will be returning from court soon. His Majesty dislikes anyone approaching this bamboo grove—please don’t forget that,” Hongyi said, neither servile nor defiant, offering a well-meaning reminder.
Ever since the young master had ascended the throne, he had emptied out the imperial harem entirely, yet still resided at Prince Yao’s estate. These days, the western wing of the estate served as a place for holding hostages, while the eastern side housed this bamboo grove and the imperial sleeping quarters.
Since the age of sixteen, the young master had, per ancestral tradition, selected consorts each year, taking in nearly one new consort annually, all kept within the harem. Whether he ever actually visited them, however, remained a mystery to everyone.
But this particular Consort Li was different!
This Consort Li was none other than Li Qinqin, granddaughter of Prime Minister Li—brought to Prince Yao’s estate as a hostage a full decade ago, when she’d been merely six years old.
No one knew exactly how, over the course of these ten years, this young girl had managed to ensnare the young master’s affections.
A year ago, this girl had turned fifteen and undergone her coming-of-age ceremony.
Prime Minister Li had petitioned the young master to allow Li Qinqin to return home to perform her coming-of-age rites, and just as everyone assumed the young master would surely refuse—he had, unexpectedly, agreed!
Not only had he agreed, but he had suddenly, immediately following her coming-of-age ceremony, elevated Li Qinqin on the spot to the rank of Noble Consort, granting her a consort title derived from her own surname: Li.
This event had sent shockwaves through the entire court, with some even whispering rumors that this Li Qinqin possessed some kind of bewitching arts, having ensnared the emperor through sorcery.
After all, the young master these days was no longer the young master of years past, but a wise, resolute, and ruthlessly decisive sovereign in his own right.
Women had never once been an exception for him—yet Li Qinqin, somehow, had become precisely that exception.
Even more unexpectedly, after being named Consort Li, she hadn’t been relegated to the harem at all, but had instead taken up residence in the eastern garden of Prince Yao’s estate itself. Though only a consort, not an empress, she enjoyed the emperor’s overwhelming favor, gradually becoming, in all but name, the mistress of the entire estate.
Even Hongyi herself no longer dared openly defy her in anything.
Hearing Hongyi invoke the word “emperor,” Ziqing and Jun Beiyue turned to look at each other almost simultaneously—this entire cascade of revelations had genuinely left them reeling, utterly unable to comprehend what exactly had happened to this world.
But upon hearing Hongyi speak the word “emperor,” Li Qinqin flew into a sudden rage, viciously kicking away the shadow guard beneath her foot, snapping furiously, “Hongyi, I warned you once before—stop bringing up ‘His Majesty this’ and ‘His Majesty that’ in front of me. Out of respect for His Majesty, I’ve let you off before. Yet here you are, testing my patience again and again. What, do you think that just because you’re one of the Empress Dowager’s people, I wouldn’t dare touch you?”
As Li Qinqin spoke, she advanced steadily on Hongyi, who didn’t retreat at all, quickly finding herself face to face with the encroaching consort.
“Consort Li, this servant was merely offering a reminder, with no intention of provoking you,” Hongyi said, neither servile nor fearful in the slightest.
Without warning, Li Qinqin suddenly raised her hand and swung it hard, aiming a vicious slap straight at Hongyi’s face.
In that split-second flash, Ziqing unleashed a wind blade with brutal force, striking Li Qinqin’s wrist dead-on.
“Ahh…!”
She shrieked in terror, instinctively stumbling backward, tripping and falling within just a few steps, her face draining of all color as she screamed, “Assassins! Someone, seize the assassin!”
Yet Hongyi stood frozen in place. That wind blade just now—why did it feel so hauntingly familiar?
She remembered this particular technique, this style of wind blade…
Back when Her Highness had first learned it, she’d always told her it had been taught to her by a purple-robed, silver-haired musician.
Could it possibly be…?
Hongyi didn’t dare even entertain the thought, feeling her heart pound wildly, threatening to leap straight out of her chest. Cold sweat broke out all over her body, soaking through the back of her robe entirely.
Ten years—it had been ten whole years!
Her entire body trembled uncontrollably. She truly couldn’t bring herself to imagine it, her mind going utterly, completely blank in this very moment!
And alongside Hongyi, several of the shadow guards present had frozen in place as well, their faces growing paler and paler by the second.
Yet no one else present noticed anything strange about Hongyi or the shadow guards’ reactions at all—they were all newly recruited members of the household, with no knowledge of any of this history.
In an instant, every kneeling maidservant and guard scrambled to their feet, surrounding Li Qinqin protectively.
Should anything happen to Consort Li, not a single one of them would survive the day.
They all shouted at once, “Assassins!”
“Someone, help! Assassins!”
“Someone, seize the assassin!”
…
Several guards even drew their blades and gave chase in the direction the wind blade had come from, only to come flying back through the air moments later, sent sprawling.
There stood Ziqing and Jun Beiyue, husband and wife, faces cold and grim, walking step by step out from the bamboo grove…
…