Shen Guiyan couldn’t figure it out and wore a grave expression. The palace maids nearby all came out to watch the excitement. This was quite a commotion—two palace maids turned and ran toward the Eastern Palace, whispering to the young palace maid at the entrance. The young palace maid’s eyes lit up, and she passed the message to the senior palace maid by the Empress Dowager’s side.
Empress Dowager Wen was hosting a banquet for Prime Minister Gu, with Gu Chaobei in attendance. Before the three of them lay not delicacies, but a rosewood box with a gold lock on top. The key was in Prime Minister Gu’s hands.
This was the late Emperor’s edict written previously. Prime Minister Gu had said it stated the throne should pass to Crown Prince Ming Xun. But Ming Xun was already dead, so the edict could not take effect and could only be voided. What they needed to discuss now was how to handle this object.
Burn it? That would be disrespectful to the late Emperor. Keep it? It seemed like something that could easily cause trouble.
“Why not just take it and make me a pillow?” Gu Chaobei said with a grin. “Who would tear open a pillow to look inside, right? The pattern on the surface looks nice, and the fabric is excellent quality too.”
Prime Minister Gu’s face turned ashen. He looked at Gu Chaobei with extreme dissatisfaction. Being able to sit on the throne was entirely his luck, and now that he was already Emperor, he still had no sense of propriety. How could the Ming Dynasty prosper in his hands in the future?
Right now, Empress Dowager Wen ruled from behind the curtain—the realm still belonged to the Wen family. As Prime Minister, he could only continue to endure humiliation, which was one thing, but he couldn’t see even a shred of hope in Gu Chaobei.
What a disaster.
Empress Dowager Wen smiled. “Since His Majesty likes it, have someone make it into a pillow. Prime Minister need not be so stern—we’re all one family now.”
“This subject understands.” Prime Minister Gu bowed and took out the key to open the box. Empress Dowager Wen had just reached out to take a look when Gu Chaobei had already pulled it out and played with it casually, glancing at it twice. “The calligraphy is really beautiful. It would be even better if Ming Xun’s name was changed to mine.”
Empress Dowager Wen withdrew her hand and scolded lightly, “Don’t fool around. Altering the late Emperor’s edict is a grave offense of great disrespect that you cannot bear.”
Gu Chaobei was frightened into immediately sitting up straight.
Just as Empress Dowager Wen was about to laugh at him, Fanghua at her side entered and said in a low voice, “Empress Dowager, at the Northern Palace, the newly assigned palace maid has somehow offended Empress Dowager Nian. In this icy, snowy weather, she’s been punished to kneel in the courtyard. She looks quite pitiful.”
Fanghua’s voice was very soft. Prime Minister Gu, though sitting close, didn’t hear. But Gu Chaobei, a martial artist with keen ears and sharp eyes, heard it very clearly.
There were no other newly assigned palace maids to the Northern Palace—only Shen Guiyan.
Gu Chaobei’s face still wore a smile as he looked at the imperial edict in his hands, acting as if he hadn’t heard anything.
Empress Dowager Wen pursed her lips and said with a laugh, “I knew Lady Nian wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Poor girl—let’s just hope she doesn’t lose her life.”
Fanghua smiled lightly and withdrew. Empress Dowager Wen turned to look at Gu Chaobei and Prime Minister Gu. “Come, let us dine.”
Delicacies from land and sea, singing girls and dancing girls all entered the Eastern Palace. The three sat separately, dining and watching dances, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Gu Chaobei remained very engaged throughout, not distracted in the slightest. Midway through, he even cast several flirtatious glances at the dancers below.
Note—it was the Emperor casting glances at the dancers below, not the dancers taking the initiative.
Empress Dowager Wen watched with mixed amusement and exasperation. She had originally wanted to observe whether he would feel sorry for Shen Guiyan, but who knew this fellow was completely heartless and unmoved in the slightest.
Only now did she finally set her mind completely at ease, able to sleep without worry.
Shen Guiyan had nearly fallen asleep kneeling when Xiao Lü finally ran over to help her up. “Half a shichen has passed.”
“Mm.” Shen Guiyan stood up. The items on her legs amazingly hadn’t been soaked by the snow. But they were too thick—she had some difficulty standing.
Xiao Lü sympathetically helped her up. “It must be very uncomfortable, right? Go back and warm up. Like this, you’ll probably get frostbite, which is very unpleasant.”
Shen Guiyan very much wanted to tell her it was actually fine, but thinking that this ordeal had come from praising Empress Dowager Nian, she understood some of the underlying principles. She simply put on a pained expression and followed Xiao Lü into the room.
“The palace is selecting official ladies, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs has reduced our provisions. In winter there’s only one quilt, and we can’t even get new ones.” Xiao Lü brought over some charcoal to light, coughing from the smoke. “You came from a wealthy family—you probably haven’t suffered like this before, have you?”
Shen Guiyan laughed softly. Where had she not suffered? As a child at the Shen residence, her living quarters were presentable, but in winter the quilts and charcoal were never provided adequately. She wasn’t afraid of this.
“It’s alright. We’ll make do with sleeping.” Shen Guiyan pinched the somewhat damp quilt. She didn’t even want to remove the items on her legs or her outer garments, so she simply lay down just like that.
The palace had just been settled, with very few people in all quarters. At midnight when the moon was dark, someone who habitually climbed walls brought Zhuiyun along and scaled his way into the Northern Palace.
The door to the chamber where the maids lived was gently pushed open. The two people inside were already sound asleep. Upon entering the room, even Zhuiyun shivered—it was dark and damp. He felt sorry for his master.
Gu Chaobei carefully lifted Shen Guiyan up, and Zhuiyun spread the blanket in his hands under her bedsheet.
That blanket was a warm jade blanket from the Western Regions sent to the palace. Though very thin, it would heat up when someone lay on it. It was an extremely rare treasure in the national treasury.
Yet tonight, the newly appointed Emperor had taken this treasure and secretly come to lay it for Shen Guiyan.
Placing her back into the bedding, Shen Guiyan turned over but remained deeply asleep. Gu Chaobei touched her legs—good heavens, the swelling was severe!
Afraid talking would wake her, Gu Chaobei grabbed Zhuiyun and went outside.
“Tomorrow have an imperial physician come examine her.” Gu Chaobei took a deep breath and said quietly, “The swelling is too severe. What if her legs become disabled?”
Zhuiyun looked at him with difficulty. “Your Majesty, palace maids can only be seen by medical women, not imperial physicians.”
“I don’t care. I’m leaving it to you.” Gu Chaobei patted Zhuiyun’s shoulder. “You’re now an imperial guard who attends before the throne and bears a blade—don’t disappoint my expectations.”
Zhuiyun’s face darkened. He was an imperial guard—why did he have to do what a eunuch steward should do?
“Does Your Majesty want to go in and look again?” Zhuiyun asked.
Gu Chaobei took a deep breath and clenched his fists. “No need. I still have matters to attend to.”
With that, he climbed the wall and left.
Zhuiyun could only follow his master in scaling walls and crossing roofs. Just after leaving the Northern Palace compound, Gu Chaobei refused to leave, turning instead to stare blankly at the palace eaves.
He wouldn’t go in when asked, yet wouldn’t leave either—who was he tormenting? Zhuiyun really wished he could give him a push. Unfortunately, his master bore his own helplessness on his back. As a subordinate, he could only watch anxiously.
Dawn broke. Shen Guiyan had slept well through the night. When she woke, her bedding was incredibly warm, and the feet wrapped in cotton coverings were even a bit hot.
What had happened? She felt her bedding in confusion—it was still as thin as yesterday. How could it be generating heat?
Before she could think more carefully, Nanny Qiujin outside was already calling, “The Empress Dowager is rising. You should get up quickly to attend to her.”
“Yes.” Xiao Lü was shivering from cold, hugging her quilt with great difficulty before putting it down. She went out to wash with a pained expression. Though Shen Guiyan only needed to clean the bedchamber, she couldn’t sleep later than her master and still had to get up and stand in the hall.
“In a moment, Consort Shen will come to pay respects.” Qiujin looked at Shen Guiyan. “You just stand by the Empress Dowager’s side.”
Consort Shen? Shen Guiyan pressed her lips together. She knew that sooner or later she would come. Now she was a lofty consort while Shen Guiyan was just a lowly palace maid—wouldn’t she seize the opportunity to humiliate her thoroughly?
Hanlu was very pleased with herself. She had finally managed to enter the imperial palace. From now on, wealth and honor were in her grasp—she didn’t need to worry about anything. It was just that Shen Guiyan was still in the palace too. She couldn’t understand why—couldn’t she be kicked out of the palace? Unable to contain herself, she still wanted to come see.
Hanlu had already known that the Northern Palace Empress Dowager was difficult to deal with, so she had inquired about her preferences and came properly and respectfully.
“This subject-consort pays respects to Empress Dowager.”
Empress Dowager Nian was rinsing her mouth, water held inside, and for a long time didn’t spit it out, so naturally she couldn’t tell her to rise. Hanlu knelt awkwardly and looked up, only then seeing Empress Dowager Nian pointing helplessly at her own bulging cheeks and spreading her hands in an innocent gesture.
Hanlu: “…”
Couldn’t she just spit out the water?
Rising on her own initiative, Hanlu lifted her eyes to scan the side. The one holding the spittoon was precisely Shen Guiyan, wearing an orange-colored maid’s outfit and sporting an ordinary hair bun. What was rare was that she still looked quite beautiful.
Empress Dowager Nian finally spat out the water in her mouth, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief as she looked at her. “Consort Shen is thoughtful. In this bitter cold, you must also take care of your health.”
Hanlu said with a smile, “This subject-consort is fine. Showing filial piety to the Empress Dowager is proper. It’s just that coming to the Northern Palace this time, this subject-consort has brought several clever palace servants for the Empress Dowager.”
With that, she waved her hand and three palace maids came forward from behind.
“What is the meaning of this?” Empress Dowager Nian raised an eyebrow.
“This subject-consort wishes to exchange one person with Empress Dowager.” Hanlu sighed. “Previously, this subject-consort had some connection with this newly arrived palace maid in Your Ladyship’s palace. Now that she’s suffering, this subject-consort cannot bear to stand by and do nothing, so I wanted to take the three cleverest palace maids from this subject-consort’s palace to exchange with Your Ladyship.”
It sounded quite touching. Shen Guiyan’s face darkened. Looking at Hanlu’s eyes full of scheming, her heart began to drum.
If she was taken to Luhua Palace, would she have any path to survival?
Empress Dowager Nian immediately darkened her face, looking at Hanlu. “Consort Shen means that Yan’er being in this dowager’s palace is suffering, but going to your palace would be enjoying fortune?”
Hanlu was startled and quickly shook her head. “No, it’s just that this subject-consort and Yan’er are old acquaintances…”
“Yan’er, do you know Consort Shen?” Empress Dowager Nian turned her head to look at her.
Shen Guiyan lowered her eyes. “This slave is lowly—how could I know Her Ladyship?”
“I see.” Empress Dowager Nian nodded. “Consort Shen is probably taken with Yan’er’s cleverness and wants to casually use some palace servants to placate this dowager?”
Knowing Empress Dowager Nian was difficult to deal with, Hanlu hadn’t expected her to be this difficult. She bit her teeth and said softly, “How would this subject-consort dare? If the Empress Dowager doesn’t believe it, you can test them. These three palace servants are extremely clever and definitely better at serving than Yan’er.”
“Is that so?” Empress Dowager Nian smiled. “Yan’er, you stand over there.”
Shen Guiyan paused, curtsied in acknowledgment, and followed the direction Empress Dowager Nian pointed, standing in a row with those three palace servants.
“Now, all of you walk toward this dowager. Walk slowly.”