Whether her broken promise had caused him harm, she didn’t know. When no one was around, Wanwan also pondered this question. She had never wronged anyone in her life, but growing up, she had learned to be worldly. Tonghuan said there was nothing wrong with this—people always had to distinguish between benefits and harm, importance and priority. Personal feelings were secondary; the country and world should come first.

Everything she said was right. Because she was born extraordinary, she had to shoulder burdens heavier and greater than others. Actually, she wished she were a man—even if she had to don armor and guard the nation’s gates, it would be better than being trapped in the women’s quarters, troubled by emotions.

Many people said Prince Nanyuan was worth fearing, yet when it came to naming his faults, they couldn’t point out a single one. So the more flawless he was, the more suspicious he became? Wanwan felt he didn’t seem so frightening—a very gentle person who didn’t even speak up when his own concubine was having unclear relations with someone else. She probably couldn’t have managed such restraint herself.

“Men take such matters very seriously—who would willingly wear a green hat? If he had made a fuss, that would have seemed more normal. But this Prince Nanyuan didn’t say a single ‘no’—either his heart is boundlessly magnanimous, or he’s an extremely formidable character who has calculated everyone into his plans.”

This habit of constantly suspecting others wasn’t good. Tonghuan was clever in every way, just sometimes sharp and mean, viewing everyone in the world as villains.

The weather gradually turned cold. Beijing entered winter early, and by October, Wanwan couldn’t bear the temperature. She reclined on the arhat couch with a quilt covering her, a brazier burning beside her. Her pet squirrel was also afraid of the cold and lay on her chest. Her hand gently stroked it, and it drowsily closed its eyes in comfort.

“How could you possibly know about other people’s household affairs? Though the Secondary Consort comes here intact each time, who knows if they haven’t quarreled behind closed doors! After all, higher rank oppresses people—who in this world dares fight with the Emperor? Even knowing the inside story, what good would it do? You still can’t beat or scold him. Now that those two are passionate, what if Yin Ge impeaches him before His Majesty? Wouldn’t that be losing both the wife and the soldiers?” Wanwan turned to look out the window. In the bitter cold, the sunlight was pale, and the courtyard ground was bleakly white. Even the painted decorations under the eaves had lost their brightness. She sighed. “It was His Majesty who wronged him in the first place. For us to gossip behind his back really isn’t right.”

The world in her eyes was black and white. Character formation had much to do with one’s growing environment. The palace had indeed never been clean—where there were many people, there was strife, especially among women. But she had never integrated into it. She could see their hardships but not their viciousness. So she always maintained goodwill. Even when slighted, she would examine whether she herself had done something inadequately, feel sad for a while, but if you gave her a smile, she would become happy again.

Tonghuan watched her from the side, helpless. “Forget it, I won’t speak of him anymore. Your Highness should rest a while—it’s almost time for the evening meal.”

Palace life was extremely boring. She had lived this way since childhood. When the weather was warm, she could still go outside for walks, but once winter came, she was like a sick cat, curled up in her room unwilling to go out.

She yawned, drowsily sleepy, when she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside. Xiao You ran in from the front hall, gasping for breath and exclaiming: “Something’s happened at Luanluan Palace! Master doesn’t know yet! Tongyun from Consort Duan’s side suddenly got pregnant, and it’s been taken to Cining Palace!”

Wanwan was startled. “What… does this mean?” As she spoke, she called for Tonghuan to bring an outer robe.

Xiao You crouched to put on her shoes, looking up: “Tongyun felt unwell last night. A little eunuch found someone to take her pulse, and they said she was pregnant. Old Lady Zhao made a huge fuss and took it to the Empress Dowager.”

Wanwan frowned. “Why is she involved in everything?”

“That deputy physician is Old Lady Zhao’s person—he used to diagnose pulses exclusively for Kunning Palace. There’s a lot of scheming involved. Now Xiao Zhangyin wants to summon someone for re-examination. This servant hurried back to report to you—I don’t know what happened after.”

Wanwan hastily threw on a crane cloak and ran out. Tonghuan followed behind, running while blaming Xiao You: “You should avoid this kind of thing at all costs, yet you report it to her? You’re so immature—we really shouldn’t have transferred you back…”

Wanwan couldn’t bother with them and ran to the entrance of Cining Palace, stopping to catch her breath before entering the warm pavilion.

The Empress Dowager sat beneath the south window. On the floor rug before her knelt a crowd of people, including Xiao Duo. Seeing this scene, she was somewhat stunned. She heard the Empress Dowager let out a long breath: “So that’s how it is. You too—if you had spoken earlier, how much better it would have been. No need for today’s commotion. Forget the physical examination—examining would only be face-slapping. Since everything’s been said openly, the person is awarded to you. You work hard on duty every day, and your subordinates are all setting up households and marrying. You won’t be shortchanged.” Having said this, she stood up, rubbing her forehead: “Clean this up quickly and get out. Keeping her here won’t accomplish anything and will give people something to gossip about.”

Wanwan only heard the conclusion, not knowing what had gone wrong in between. Later she figured out that pregnancy had become indigestion, Empress Zhao had wanted a physical examination, Xiao Duo had taken responsibility for the matter, and so Tongyun was awarded to him as wife.

What kind of situation was this? Wanwan was truly confused. After calming down to think, she slowly understood. Xiao Duo wouldn’t protect a palace maid for no reason—ultimately it was for Yin Luo’s sake. As for Yin Luo, such a stubborn person—having her serve in bed was unlikely from the start. It seemed Tongyun’s indigestion might not be real. If she had once made great sacrifices for Yin Luo, Xiao Duo’s unexpected action today wouldn’t be surprising.

What a tangled mess—even she, an observer, felt her brain aching. Tongyun cried bitterly when she married out. Both she and Yin Luo felt indescribable emotions. Who would have thought that in the end, it was Tongyun who married Xiao Duo? Yin Luo prepared quite a dowry for her. After she left the palace, Wanwan accompanied Yin Luo drinking through half the night. Yin Luo cried while drinking, pouring out all her grievances. Wanwan held her wine cup, only able to console her—how could she tell anyone about the melancholy in her own heart?

Human plans cannot compare to heaven’s plans—sometimes it’s just like this.

As for Xiao Duo, his methods of revenge were shocking. Empress Zhao had offended him too many times and finally gambled away her life. He ordered Jiefeng Palace sealed and cut off all her food and clothing supplies. The Empress Dowager didn’t interfere, and Empress Zhang wished for her early death, so her fate was naturally tragic. She had once discussed with her how Consort Zheng Hui had starved to death, never expecting to follow in her footsteps. Only Consort Zheng Hui had chosen it willingly, while she was forced by circumstances.

Near year’s end, this time every year the palace was always one incident after another. Just after Empress Zhao’s funeral, the next day Yin Ge entered the palace. Not avoiding Wanwan’s presence, she knelt before Yin Luo and began crying.

“Your Highness, what am I to do? Please make decisions for me.”

Yin Luo was bewildered. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Speak properly.”

She dismissed the attendants and had her helped up to a seat. Yin Ge was tear-stained like pear blossoms in rain, dabbing with her handkerchief: “I’ve been uncomfortable these past days. This morning I had a physician examine my pulse, and the doctor said I… am with child.”

Wanwan and Yin Luo looked at each other. “Prince Nanyuan hasn’t been in the capital recently—where did this child come from…” After saying this, she silently cursed their bad luck. This looked very bad—it was another of her brother’s good deeds.

Hearing this, Yin Ge became even more ashamed, crying until she was gasping like pear blossoms in rain: “Precisely because of this, I now have no face to explain to anyone. If word spreads, I don’t matter, but I fear implicating His Majesty. What would we do then? Your Highness, we are blood sisters—we’re of the same surname. I’m now in a tight spot. You must think of something for me.”

Yin Luo frowned: “What can I do about this? Rather than telling me, you should report to His Majesty. He caused the trouble—let him handle it properly. I do have a method here: while no one knows, abort the child. Are you willing?”

That was absolutely impossible. It was still dragon seed—how could they just discard it? Moreover, she could hardly wait—there was no reason to abort it.

Yin Ge turned to plead with Wanwan, not because she truly needed her help, but to make her understand Prince Nanyuan’s situation more clearly.

“Your Highness, you are the child’s aunt—you can’t wash your hands of this.” She grabbed her sleeve and slowly knelt down. “Not to mention that dragon seed can’t be casually disposed of—if anything happens, the blame will probably fall on our Prince. This matter is entirely my fault. I failed in wifely virtue and harmed the Prince. I regret it now, but it’s too late. Please save me and save our Prince too!”

Wanwan was put in a difficult position by her and withdrew her hand: “When trouble comes, you seek me—where were you before? I don’t care about your affairs. As for being an aunt, I dare not acknowledge it. His Majesty’s offspring are not few—whether it stays or goes is up to you. Even if it’s taken to the Empress Dowager, that’s the reasoning. You coming to us for help—we can’t assist. In the end, His Majesty’s word carries the most weight. Go discuss it with His Majesty.”

Yin Ge stood up with tears in her eyes, lingered for a while, then curtsied pitifully and left. Wanwan leaned against the elbow rest and shook her head: “I heard Bu Taifu is highly learned with good family education. Didn’t Yin Ge read ‘Women’s Instructions’ and ‘Women’s Rules’ from childhood? It was wrong for her to stay in the capital from the start. If she had returned to Nanyuan with him, nothing would have happened.”

Yin Luo’s meaning was that she came to the palace today for one reason only—to curry favor. Because the winter solstice was approaching and the palace would eat dog meat hot pot during the festival, afraid they might slaughter Yin Luo’s fat dog too, she volunteered to take the dog out. At that time, she didn’t seem very distressed.

But worldly affairs are just so coincidental. After Wanwan returned to Yude Palace, she soon heard that Yin Ge had offended Empress Zhang over the dog matter. The Empress had long disliked her seductive, bewitching behavior and ordered her subordinates to slap her twice across the face. This was serious—she ran disheveled to the Emperor. The Emperor, being in the heat of passion and considering the child in her belly, flew into a rage and deposed the Empress, sending Empress Zhang to the cold palace.

A fleeting romance valued so highly—he must have developed real feelings. Wanwan had reached the point where she couldn’t understand this brother’s absurd behavior. To depose an empress for someone else’s concubine—the Empress had been his young wife, together since they were about ten years old. Yet because of this discord, he cast her aside without any room for compromise. What would happen to Prince Nanyuan next?

The harsh winter intensified. The weather became very bad, with dark clouds pressing down on the Forbidden City—a heavy snow could fall at any moment. Inside the room was warm, and a layer of mist condensed on the glass. She used one finger to draw circles, wiping clear a world the size of a dumpling.

Tonghuan said: “For now we can still muddle through, but in a few days it’s the winter solstice. When Prince Nanyuan comes, how will he handle this situation…”

Wanwan said nothing, propping up her elbow to support her cheek, frowning with closed eyes.