The Emperor hadn’t visited the rear palace in a long time. This time, he suddenly came over, arriving just at this moment. Weilan had no choice but to go in first to inform Qiu Qu’er.

“Your Majesty, the Emperor is coming.”

“Now?” Qiu Qu’er asked, panting slightly.

“Yes, he should arrive soon.”

Although Qiu Qu’er’s chest ached, the Emperor hadn’t visited in a very long time. If she reported feeling unwell, the Emperor might go to another consort’s bedchamber instead. She quickly drank some water to calm herself and instructed Weilan, “Hurry and help me with my grooming.”

Weilan froze for a moment and said worriedly, “But Your Majesty, in your current state?”

“I’m fine. Hurry.”

“…Yes!” Weilan helped her to the dressing table and quickly applied her makeup.

After applying makeup, she looked much more refined, and the sickly pallor on her face was somewhat concealed.

Women in ancient times would show their age once they passed thirty, yet Qiu Qu’er’s skin remained as smooth and delicate as that of a teenage girl. Especially after makeup, upon closer inspection, it seemed water could be squeezed from her skin. No wonder the women of the rear palace were so jealous of her.

She waited for a short while, and the Emperor arrived, bringing some food items—all her favorite dishes.

The two dined together in the hall.

During the meal, Qiu Qu’er’s chest still felt uncomfortable, and her complexion nearly changed, but to avoid worrying the Emperor, she continued to endure the pain and asked, “Is Your Majesty not busy with court affairs today? It’s rare for you to visit the rear palace.”

At this question, the Emperor sighed and had all the attendants withdraw.

“What’s troubling Your Majesty?”

The Emperor had always cherished the Empress deeply, and there were no secrets between them, so the Emperor told her about the celestial omen.

Qiu Qu’er already knew but feigned shock. “How could such a thing happen?”

“I truly don’t know what to do! The matter of celestial omens is grave. Since the founding of Qujiang, emperors of all dynasties have believed in celestial omens—this shows it’s no trivial matter. I must be careful, but to sacrifice human life to heaven—this is also unprecedented.”

How distressing!

Qiu Qu’er said, “This consort doesn’t understand such matters and has never concerned herself with state affairs, but I do understand the principle that human life is paramount. All the people under heaven revere Your Majesty, but if Your Majesty truly sacrifices human life to heaven, it will surely provoke public outrage. What should be done then?”

“But this matter concerns the nation’s fate.”

“Celestial omens are still just celestial omens—believe in them and they exist, disbelieve and they don’t.”

The Emperor seemed thoughtful but still couldn’t make up his mind. He also knew the Empress never concerned herself with court affairs, so he didn’t continue discussing this matter. “Forget it, I will think this through carefully.”

It seemed currently there were only two choices!

He needed to think them through very carefully.

Qiu Qu’er suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, her brow furrowing tightly.

The Emperor was terrified. “Empress, what’s wrong?”

“This consort is fine, perhaps I ate too much.”

“Summon the Imperial Physician.”

“Your Majesty need not worry, this consort is truly fine.” Qiu Qu’er faintly suppressed the pain, her face still showing that same radiant smile.

Displaying an appearance of being perfectly well!

Seeing she was fine, the Emperor felt reassured. As it was getting rather late and many memorials still awaited his review, he left after sitting for a while. The moment he departed, Qiu Qu’er summoned Weilan. Weilan quickly went to call for the Imperial Physician. After examining her pulse, the Imperial Physician said a great deal, which amounted to various precautions. Actually, Qiu Qu’er’s heart pain was an old ailment—she’d had this condition even before entering the palace and had always relied on medicine to manage it. After entering the palace, her health had gradually improved, and she hadn’t taken medicine in a long time. Today, provoked by Qiu Shu, her illness flared up all at once.

The Imperial Physician prescribed medicine for her to take. After drinking it, she felt much better.

Weilan placed a brazier beside the bed and said, “Your Majesty, you must take care of your health. Why not tell the Emperor? The Emperor cares for Your Majesty deeply and would surely visit you often.”

“No, the Emperor is already busy enough with court affairs. I don’t want the Emperor to worry further, so this must be kept secret.”

“But…”

“Enough, don’t say more. Tell the Imperial Physicians to keep quiet about my illness—it absolutely must not reach the Emperor’s ears.” Qiu Qu’er instructed.

Weilan agreed.

At this moment, Little Shunzi returned from outside the palace and said, “Your Majesty, Miss Qiu has been safely delivered home.”

Qiu Qu’er breathed a sigh of relief and asked, “How is she now? Did she continue making a scene?”

“The young lady cried in a daze the whole way. By the time we reached the residence, she had already fainted. This slave delivered her into the residence and hurried back to report to Your Majesty.” Little Shunzi said.

Qiu Shu had an impulsive temperament and always did whatever came to mind. This time, she would likely be heartbroken for quite a while.

But Qiu Qu’er had no other choice. If not for her worries, she wouldn’t have acted this way.

…

The moonlight was enchanting, the night breeze refreshingly cool. Ji Yunshu awoke from the cold. The room had no lamp lit and was pitch black. She groped her way out of bed and, borrowing the faint light coming from outside, went out the door. Unexpectedly, the two young women who had been watching over her earlier still hadn’t left—they had fallen asleep sprawled across that stone table. The night wind was chilly; sleeping like this, they might catch cold. Ji Yunshu found a blanket from inside the room and gently covered them with it.

Then she began wandering around the vicinity.

Cuiyue Pavilion was very large, with numerous rooms and decorative rocks. After walking for a while, Ji Yunshu lost her way and didn’t know where she was.

It was deep into the night, with only the outdoor lanterns providing light.

She saw a room with light in the distance and followed the light there, stopping at a doorway.

For some unknown reason, it was as if a force was pushing her, making her reach out and push open the tightly closed door before her. A very strong medicinal smell emanated from inside the room, even somewhat pungent. She stepped through the doorway and looked around, discovering the place was filled with medicine jars—it seemed to be a place specifically for brewing medicine. With so many medicine jars and stoves, it resembled a medical clinic. On the right side of the room was a door. Curious, she walked over. The door was slightly ajar. She slowly pushed it open and discovered a bed and a table inside.

And someone was lying on the bed! When she drew closer, she discovered an extremely pale-faced woman lying on the bed. Despite this, one could still see the woman’s face was exceptionally refined, her features delicate and beautiful—an extraordinarily lovely beauty. Looking at her like this, there was a kind of morbid beauty that inspired both heartache and pity, and with just one glance, she became unforgettable.

Suddenly—

A voice came from outside the door: “She is my daughter, Hua Zheng.”

Ah!

Ji Yunshu jumped in fright. She turned around to see it was Red Matchmaker, her expression sorrowful, tears welling in her eyes as she walked in and sat by the bedside. Pulling her daughter’s hand, she began to grieve. “She’s now like someone neither living nor dead, sustained by medicine every day. Those medicine jars you saw outside are all for her. I must feed her medicine almost constantly, otherwise her whole body turns purple and she’ll die! For my daughter, to keep her alive, I’m willing to do anything, as long as she can wake up.”

Ji Yunshu’s eyes couldn’t help reddening as she asked, “What illness is this exactly?” “I’ve sought out many physicians—they all said there was nothing they could do, that they couldn’t determine the cause.” Red Matchmaker looked at Ji Yunshu, her eyes full of pleading. “Miss, I truly have no other options. You’ve seen the situation now. If I weren’t completely desperate, I wouldn’t have brought you here. To treat Hua Zheng’s illness and pay for her medicine, I’ve already sold Cuiyue Pavilion to someone else. If this continues, we’ll all perish. Miss, I know you’re kindhearted—please help me. As long as you pretend to be Hua Zheng and make public appearances, then we’ll all be saved.”

To put it bluntly, she needed Ji Yunshu to impersonate Hua Zheng to earn money, buy back Cuiyue Pavilion, and even obtain another sum to treat Hua Zheng’s illness until she could wake up.

After a long silence, Ji Yunshu said, “Even if I truly agreed, how can you guarantee I won’t be recognized?”

Hearing this, Red Matchmaker’s eyes suddenly brightened. She rose and walked toward her, saying, “You don’t need to show your face—just wear a veil. You’ve seen it yourself—your eyes and brows are virtually identical to Hua Zheng’s. Wearing a veil when appearing before others, no one will recognize you.”

Very certain!

“Miss Hua Zheng can play the zither and compose poetry, but I can’t do any of these things.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already arranged all of that. You just need to follow along.”

It seemed Red Matchmaker hadn’t just recently prepared for this, but had premeditated it long ago. Likely from the second day of Hua Zheng’s illness, she had already begun plotting and planning to find a woman who could substitute for Hua Zheng. Ji Yunshu had initially thought she was simply doing this for money, but now it appeared that wasn’t entirely the case. To be able to treat Hua Zheng’s illness, she had sold Cuiyue Pavilion. In this way, she was also someone with deep feelings and loyalty, someone with flesh and blood.