Although the Taiji Palace had hundreds of halls with carved beams and painted rafters, it still couldn’t match the grand magnificence of the Daming Palace. However, after Empress Wang moved in, the palace servants became extremely meticulous. The pavilions, towers, and gardens were maintained in perfect order, dispelling the decline from when Empress Wang first arrived. Though the palace no longer gleamed with newness, three hundred years of weathering had given it an incomparable classical elegance.
Empress Wang had indeed summoned her about the matter of Noble Consort Guo.
She remained that stunning beauty who had once captivated all souls. When Huang Zixia arrived, she was standing in the evening sunlight of summer, playing with a parrot under the corridor. Huang Zixia stood at the doorway, gazing at her silk-like flowing hair and pure white clothing that made her appear as otherworldly as an ink painting. Even standing far away, unable to see her features clearly, Huang Zixia was still entranced by her exceptional grace.
A woman like Empress Wang should be able to live very well. Even if the present day seemed to hold no visible hope, even if she was riding a small boat through dark currents on a midnight sea, she could still maintain her composure and live her best life.
Chang Ling whispered something in her ear, and when she raised her eyes to see Huang Zixia, she draped an apricot-colored shawl over her shoulders and, supported by Chang Ling’s arm, slowly walked along the corridor toward Huang Zixia.
Huang Zixia gazed at the Empress Wang before her. She seemed to be in an excellent mood, with a slight smile at the corners of her lips. One could hardly imagine she was already thirty-five or thirty-six years old, and there wasn’t the slightest hint of melancholy about being in an auxiliary palace.
She didn’t stop in front of Huang Zixia but merely gestured for her to follow along to the garden behind.
Though sunset had begun, the summer heat still lingered. Even standing in the shade, they could feel the warm breeze.
All unnecessary personnel had already withdrawn to the back. Empress Wang sat down on a stone railing in the shade, and Huang Zixia quickly said to her, “Congratulations, Your Highness!”
Empress Wang glanced at her and asked, “What is there to congratulate?”
“Your servant sees that Your Highness is in high spirits and radiant – surely you must be returning to the palace soon!”
Empress Wang smiled slightly and said, “There’s only a slight indication, and I still need your help.”
Seeing her speak this way, already appearing to have everything planned, Huang Zixia quickly lowered her hands respectfully to listen.
“I heard that His Majesty personally appointed you to investigate the case at the Princess’s mansion. Is this true?”
Huang Zixia answered, “Yes. But there are no leads yet in this matter.”
“I don’t believe that with Eunuch Yang on the case, there could be any mystery that cannot be unraveled.” Empress Wang smiled while gazing at the drooping crape myrtle branches ahead, then added casually, “Of course, if this case could help His Majesty see Noble Consort Guo’s true face, or if it involved some unknown secrets, that would be even better.”
Huang Zixia carefully pondered the meaning of her words, not daring to respond.
Empress Wang’s gaze shifted to fall upon her: “What do you think, Eunuch Yang? Does this case show such tendencies?”
“As the case remains unclear, your servant… dare not speculate.”
“What is there not to speculate about? If you find it difficult, I can point you in a clear direction.” Empress Wang raised her hand to gently pull down a crape myrtle branch in front of her, examining it closely while speaking as if to herself, “Since the Princess’s marriage, Noble Consort Guo has frequently visited under the pretext of seeing her daughter. I hear the Prince Consort never avoids impropriety either, often mixing and feasting together…”
Huang Zixia hadn’t expected her to provide such a significant lead, and was somewhat alarmed, momentarily unable to speak.
“Also, Princess Tongchang, hasn’t she recently taken a male favorite? If you’re interested, you might want to look into that as well – perhaps you’ll find something of value.”
Male favorite… Huang Zixia knew that Empress Wang must be referring to Yu Xuan.
The rumors about him and Princess Tongchang had indeed spread throughout the capital, even reaching Empress Wang’s ears.
Huang Zixia lowered her eyes silently, feeling a surge of hot blood pulse through her chest like a spasm. She forced herself to say quietly, “Your servant… will pay attention.”
“You naturally should pay attention. I see you’re best at finding truth from the slightest clues, aren’t you?” She used the flower branch to cover half her face, but couldn’t hide the slight upward curve of her lips, “Huang Zixia, Noble Consort Guo is now overconfident and careless – this is the best opportunity for me to return to the Daming Palace. When I return to Penglai Hall, the first thing I’ll do is reward you generously.”
Huang Zixia immediately bowed and said, “Your servant wouldn’t dare, your servant will merely do her utmost duty.”
After speaking, she waited there for any other instructions from Empress Wang.
But Empress Wang merely waved her hand and said, “You may go. I await your good news.”
Huang Zixia was slightly puzzled. If it was just for these few words, Empress Wang could have sent someone to relay the message – why specifically summon her here?
But she could only keep her doubts to herself. She bowed to Empress Wang, then turned to leave.
The heavily drooping crape myrtle flowers bloomed before her eyes, and the sunset about to fade cast a golden-purple glow over the garden.
She looked up and saw, far away atop the palace towers, between the intricate windows and vermillion doors, a man in purple clothing standing by the window, watching her with eyes sharp as an eagle’s.
Even from such a distance, even unable to see the person’s features clearly, she could still feel his gaze examining her inch by inch, sliding from her forehead, down her nose bridge, to her chin, to her neck. His gaze was sharper than a blade’s edge, keener than a needle’s point. That feeling of being watched by a poisonous snake sent chills through her even in the height of summer evening, raising fine goosebumps along her arms.
When that person saw her rigid body, he suddenly smiled. It was too far to see clearly, only a faint suggestion of a smile. His hand rested lightly on a transparent glass tank beside him. Huang Zixia only then noticed that beside him sat a round glass tank about a foot in diameter, with several small fish swimming back and forth inside, some black, some white, but mostly red.
As Huang Zixia watched this person and these fish, she felt an awful oppression that made her very uncomfortable. She turned around and quickened her pace, almost fleeing from the small garden beside Lizheng Hall.
She walked so hurriedly that she didn’t see Empress Wang’s figure appear beside that man not long after.
Empress Wang stood beside him, watching with him as Huang Zixia quickly departed, and said softly, “That’s Huang Zixia, Yang Chonggu from Prince Kui’s side.”
“Mm.” He responded casually, still watching Huang Zixia’s departing figure. She walked very quickly as if fleeing.
“Can she be of any value to us?” Empress Wang asked again.
He smiled slightly, finally speaking. His pitch was slightly high but his tone deep, revealing a contradictorily oppressive and lingering quality: “Why rush? When you return to the palace, won’t you know then?”
Empress Wang raised an eyebrow slightly and asked, “Can she succeed?”
“Even if she can’t succeed, you have me, and she has Prince Kui. If this still can’t ensure your return to the Daming Palace, who could?”
Empress Wang pressed her lips together slightly, the peach blossom-like color of her lips showing a vibrant bloodiness from her animated spirit, making her even more dazzlingly beautiful.
But that person didn’t even glance at her, only lowering his head to observe the small fish in the tank, then muttering to himself, “Oh… it seems the little fish are hungry.”
He raised his hand, bringing his index finger to his lips to bite it, and blood immediately welled up.
He put his hand into the fish tank, and as the blood diffused, the small fish suddenly became lively, gathering around the source of blood, competing greedily to lick the wound on his finger.
Empress Wang stood beside him, watching coldly.
Those fish clustered around his pale, slender fingers, the light red blood and the bright red fish looking like great blooms of blood flowers.
She suddenly felt slightly ill and turned her head away, casting her gaze back to the distant Huang Zixia.
Huang Zixia, wearing the crimson clothes of a eunuch, walked quickly to the end of the palace wall. As darkness fell, she was like a drop of vermillion falling into ink, watched until she was completely consumed.
Sometimes, Huang Zixia truly admired Li Shubai.
If nothing else, for one person to manage everything, concern themselves with every ministry, and deal with every foreign state, it had to be considered a kind of miracle.
She pondered this while curled up in the Ministry of Revenue cracking melon seeds, holding case files just brought from the Court of Judicial Review, thinking about that case while watching Li Shubai sit at his desk handling various case documents.
“Wang Administrator, these are the legal annotations you wrote the day before yesterday. There’s a month error on page thirty-seven, and name errors on pages sixteen and fifty-four – please proofread them again. Xu Administrator, bring over Jiang Weixu’s promotion records over the years, they should be in the first row, fourth room, twelfth shelf of the archives storage. His Majesty will promote him at tomorrow morning’s court session, remember to present it for imperial review. Zhang Administrator, tomorrow notify Vice Minister Cheng that the matter of Shi Chengyao’s appointment as Prefecture Governor of Yunzhou has been rejected. Shi Chengyao’s uncle once committed a crime in Yunzhou years ago, so by precedent, this must be avoided. Liang Tingfang, who was Prefecture Governor of Yanzhou three years ago, will soon complete his mourning period and can take this position…”
Huang Zixia felt she really couldn’t crack any more melon seeds.
She held the seed, silently thinking to herself – would this terrifying memory even remember how many leaves were on the tree outside the window when he woke up ten years ago?
Before long, the Ministry of Revenue matters were handled, and he took her to the Ministry of Works.
When the people at the Ministry of Works saw Li Shubai, everyone from top to bottom was overjoyed. Minister Li Yonghe, who only needed to work half a day but specially waited until dusk for Prince Kui, needn’t be mentioned – even the horse handlers at the gate showed delight on their faces.
As soon as Huang Zixia saw those huge account books filled with red ink deficits, she immediately understood their pain – having an emperor who so loved building auxiliary palaces and pleasure grounds was truly the great misfortune of the current dynasty’s Ministry of Works!
Every time Li Yonghe reported the accounts, he had to suffer: “Last year, Princess Tongchang’s marriage and the construction of her mansion completely emptied the treasury. Early this year, we built Jianbi Palace, and even now the pavilions and towers aren’t complete – we don’t know where to get money from anymore. But now, we’ve reached a point where we must spend money – just during the heavy rain a few days ago, several wards in the low-lying areas south of the capital were flooded, the drainage system couldn’t handle it at all, the deepest water was over ten feet! Your Highness knows the above-ground channels are fine, but money spent on underground tunnels – who knows where it goes? Those workers dig randomly underground, and those in charge of waterways can only stand above and look, see that the outside is cleared neatly, and pay out money, but who knows what it’s really like inside? Now the waterway that was just cleared last month is already blocked, and yesterday, Administrator Lu from our ministry fell into the water and drowned! Now there’s all kinds of talk in the capital, all saying our Ministry of Works brought this on ourselves – it’s truly leaving us nowhere to hide our shame!”
Li Shubai frowned slightly, took the account book, but said nothing, sitting down to begin looking through it.