Candlelight flickered through the paper windows, alternating between brightness and dimness.

Wei Shubin held an old, faded scroll in her hands as she walked softly along the corridor toward the living quarters of the Purple Void Temple’s Head Priestess. The closer she got, the more intense the fragrance from the room became, inexplicably making her blush and causing her palms to sweat.

It was already late at night. The serving maids on night duty were dozing off in the corridor, and Chai Yinglu had probably retired for the night as well. Wei Shubin hesitated, stopping in her tracks as she contemplated the few illegible lines on the scroll in her hand. She could always ask True Master for guidance tomorrow morning – it was just her impatient nature and self-imposed deadline for copying ancient texts that made her feel uneasy about leaving it incomplete.

Just as she was about to turn back to her chambers, a woman’s soft moan suddenly came from behind the latticed window.

Wei Shubin froze in shock. Could Chai Yinglu be injured? Or perhaps ill? She hadn’t noticed any signs of discomfort during the day… Though this female Daoist was always proud and never showed weakness, perhaps she had been forcing herself to endure.

That wouldn’t be good. Wei Shubin frowned and continued toward the Head Priestess’s chambers. The door was slightly ajar, and as she quietly pushed it open to enter, she heard more rapid, heavy breathing.

The maid in the outer hall was also dozing off on her sleeping couch. The sounds were coming from behind the large screen near the bed, and it wasn’t just Chai Yinglu’s feminine voice – there was also a deeper male voice intertwined with hers… The Prime Minister Wei’s eldest daughter suddenly realized what she was witnessing. Her face flushed hot, and she hurriedly tried to tiptoe back out.

At that moment, she heard the man’s trembling voice:

“Ying’niang… mmm…”

The voice was familiar, languid, and sticky in the dim candlelight and sweet incense, but it felt like a bucket of ice water poured over Wei Shubin’s head. Without thinking, she quietly circled the large screen and hid behind the curtains separating the inner chambers, peering out with half her face visible, using the dim lamplight to observe the Head Priestess’s bed.

The bed screen was half-open, but the inner curtains were drawn. Apart from the occasional trembling movements, nothing could be seen. Just from the voices and laughter, one could guess what was happening inside, but Wei Shubin stubbornly refused to believe her ears. She remained hidden behind the pillar, staring intently at the large bed until the man accidentally pulled open the curtain, briefly revealing his lean, chiseled face…

In the West Chamber of the Great Peace Palace’s main hall, Wei Shubin sat on the carpet with her knees drawn up, softly describing this vivid scene to Consort Yin De beside her. Her tears had stopped at some point, and her tone was as flat as if she were talking about matters completely unrelated to herself:

“I had heard servants at Purple Void Temple gossip before, saying that True Master was… was… unfaithful… had many lovers, even including Yang the Elder from Prince Wu’s Treasury… they had been intimate for years… but I never thought… that was her uncle…”

Consort Yin De gave a light laugh:

“Child, you’re too naive. What does it matter if he’s her uncle? At least they don’t share the same surname or clan – there are far fewer taboos. Madam Chai is quite something. Her lovers… you couldn’t even dream of how many there are and who they might be… Guess why, when she became a Daoist nun, constantly claiming she wanted to pray for her deceased mother, she refused to shave her head and become a Buddhist nun, insisting instead on keeping her hair as a Daoist priestess?”

“I thought… it was because the royal family are descendants of Laozi…”

“That’s just an excuse to fool people.” Consort Yin De sneered, “The Purple Void Temple is so conveniently close to the military garrison. The True Master’s cultivation and alchemy, playing with the unity of yin and yang, never lacks strong soldiers to use as medicine dregs. She wouldn’t even spare her young uncle who was barely fifteen or sixteen – her appetite is truly…”

At this point, she seemed to remember something and carefully examined Wei Shubin:

“Oh right, I heard that a few days ago in the Lizheng Hall, the Fourteenth Prince expressed interest in marrying you, Lady Wei?”

Two flames of embarrassment burned on Wei Shubin’s cheeks. She lowered her head and, after much effort, responded in a mosquito-like voice:

“That was… the Fourteenth Prince speaking rashly in a moment of urgency… it doesn’t count…”

“I heard you rejected him at the time.” Consort Yin De chuckled teasingly, “It seems you still haven’t forgotten your feelings, after all, isn’t he the young lord who had previous entanglements with you, Lady Wei?”

Wei Shubin buried her face in her knees, refusing to respond further. Consort Yin De sat beside her laughing to herself for a while and was about to say something more when there was an announcement from behind the screen – Palace Supervisor Yin Tuo had come to seek an audience with Consort Yin De.

Consort Yin De patted Wei Shubin’s arm, indicating she should make herself comfortable, and rose to step outside the screen.

Wei Shubin remained seated without moving, listening intently to the muffled conversation beyond the screen. It seemed Yin Tuo had only come for routine reporting, mentioning that it was past curfew outside, palace guards were patrolling, and asking if the Consort had any instructions.

Consort Yin De told her brother about the earlier confrontation with Chai Yinglu, ordering him to “check on that female Daoist again, make sure she’s bound and confined securely, wait until dawn to deal with her, don’t give that little tramp any chance to cause trouble. That tramp might have accomplices, so arrange careful surveillance inside and outside the Great Peace Hall, and double the night watch at the palace gates” and so on.

Yin Tuo replied with repeated acknowledgments, without saying anything extra. Wei Shubin felt the Palace Supervisor seemed somewhat perfunctory and distracted, as if eager to leave.

Consort Yin De seemed to notice this too, asking twice “Is there something wrong?” Her brother kept responding that there was nothing wrong, telling his sister not to worry. After talking about the time it takes to eat a meal, Yin Tuo took his leave.

By now the room had grown dark. Serving maids came to light lamps and candles, close the windows tightly, and tidy up the furniture and bedding that had been disturbed during Chai Yinglu’s capture. Wei Shubin remained sitting with her knees drawn up in the corner, ignored by the maids. When Consort Yin De walked back behind the screen, she suddenly sniffed and frowned, saying, “What’s that smell?”

Wei Shubin smelled it too – a faint stench in the room. Consort Yin De glanced at her, sighed, and walked toward the Emperor Emeritus’s large bed, lifting the curtains.

Two maids went to help her and called for others to bring in water basins and towels from outside. Wei Shubin, sitting on the floor, couldn’t see what was happening inside the bed curtains, but she saw Consort Yin De bend down to lift something, then exclaim in surprise, muttering, “There’s nothing…”

“My lady?” asked a maid holding a stack of bedding.

“How strange… Well, let’s change it anyway,” Consort Yin De decided.

During the changing of Emperor Emeritus’s bedding, the sleeping old man showed no reaction, allowing several women to lift him and move him around as they pleased. If Chai Yinglu hadn’t just checked her grandfather’s pulse earlier, Wei Shubin would have wondered if this founder of the Great Tang Dynasty was still truly alive.

After finishing the task, Consort Yin De settled the Emperor Emeritus back down, covered him with thick blankets, and sighed wearily. She waved for the maids to leave, then walked over to Wei Shubin on the floor, reaching out to help her up:

“It’s dark now, and the floor is cold. Come sit over here.”

“Consort Yin De, I…” Wei Shubin rose obediently, feeling embarrassed, “You’re too kind, I… I should…”

Leave? But where could she go? The palace gates were closed; she couldn’t leave the Great Peace Hall tonight. Even if she could leave, how could she face returning to the Purple Void Temple?