Wu Shi was growing anxious, and thought to have Hua Shi go and persuade Tao Yashu. After all, Hua Shi was Tao Yashu’s female tutor, and frequently accompanied the Empress Dowager for reading and scripture study, which made it convenient enough.

When it came to matters of one’s future prospects, perhaps Tao Yashu would be willing to listen.

But Madam Hua knew all too well about Tao Yashu’s peculiar temperament. That young lady appeared as demure and obedient as any well-bred daughter of a noble family, yet deep down she was as stubborn as they came! If any tutor’s arguments began to grate on her ears, she was perfectly capable of grabbing hold of that person and arguing relentlessly without end!

So this thankless errand required yet another conscript, and thus Hua Shi pulled Chu Linlang along with her.

Chu Linlang and Tao Yashu were bosom friends and intimate confidantes — certain things would land better coming from her lips.

When Chu Linlang heard the female tutor explain this chain of delegated errands, she couldn’t help but laugh: “Madam Hua, the palace isn’t a place I can simply walk into at will. If the Empress Dowager doesn’t wish to see me, there would be little point in my going. Besides, whomever His Majesty wishes to bestow his favor upon — what place do you or I have to speak on such matters? How could such a remonstration ever be said?”

These words struck right at the heart of Madam Hua’s own feelings — wasn’t that precisely the point!

Madam Hua sighed: “Madam Wu rarely makes requests of others. If I refuse outright, it would be rather awkward. But as for having you go — that is actually the Empress Dowager’s own wish! The old lady has mentioned you to me several times already. The place where the Jing Kingdom envoys caused that scene — wasn’t that your very own shop? The Empress Dowager complained that those of us who weren’t present told it poorly and without flair, and has been looking forward to having you enter the palace to give a proper account.”

The Great Jin Empress Dowager’s curiosity was as long-lived as her years. In order to hear fresh and authentic gossip firsthand, the Empress Dowager truly did wish to meet with Chu Linlang.

Very well then — the old lady wanted to be entertained, and Chu Linlang naturally had to be sensible about it and hurry into the palace to put her tongue to work.

Sure enough, the account as told by someone who had been there in person was something else entirely. Chu Linlang was most gifted at this — she understood the pulse and rhythm of elderly ladies who never left their quarters.

And so this little tale of a weak woman’s battle of wits and courage against the wolves and tigers of the Jing Kingdom was told in a way that made every itch land right where it needed to itch, and every satisfying moment land right where it needed to satisfy.

The Empress Dowager listened with repeated gasps of astonishment and sighs of relief, clapping her hands in delight, wishing she could have witnessed the scene herself — to see that overbearing inspector reduced to such a wretched state.

However, the Empress Dowager was, after all, an elderly woman. After listening for a while, she grew tired and wanted to drink tea and eat some fruits, and to chat casually with Madam Hua.

Having previously heard that Linlang’s fondness was for tending flowers, she had Tao Yashu take Linlang for a stroll through her garden and pick out any plants that caught her eye as a reward.

The Empress Dowager’s garden was truly a feast of competing rarities, assembled from all manner of precious specimens — quite enough to hold the eye of a flower-loving Linlang, leaving her barely able to look away.

After consulting with Tao Yashu, she avoided the Empress Dowager’s personal favorites and instead selected a few potted flowering plants rarely seen outside the palace.

As she browsed, she asked Yashu: “You know that this visit of mine to the palace also carried your mother’s intentions, don’t you?”

Yashu smiled faintly: “You don’t carry enough weight as an emissary. Just a few days ago, my cousin the Crown Prince was earnestly urging me to be shrewder and more accommodating within the palace. But lately, for some reason, he’s stopped urging me. Perhaps he realized that if things went the way they all hope, the proper forms of address would become rather tangled and awkward to manage.”

Imperial families had always favored marriages between relatives, but hearing Yashu put it this way, Linlang suddenly realized — if Yashu became Empress, she and her cousin the Crown Prince would effectively become stepmother and son…

This sort of layered family connection was truly something she, a common commoner, could not begin to comprehend.

Thinking this, she reached out and squeezed Yashu’s hand: “Let’s just linger here and talk a while — I’ll consider it as having done my persuading. Don’t go revealing my hand to others… Only, if you truly don’t wish for it, don’t go offending the Empress Dowager either. If you don’t take that step, she will be your greatest support within the palace.”

Yashu smiled softly and lowered her voice: “How are things between you and Situ Sheng? When are you planning to marry?”

Chu Linlang felt that the matter of her engagement to Situ Sheng wasn’t something she could easily explain to Yashu, and so she answered vaguely: “Ahem, well, it’s just sort of… whatever it is. What is there to say about it!”

Yashu looked at Linlang with a touch of heartache and said quietly: “These days, more and more court officials are taking a favorable view of Lord Situ — all of them hoping to take him as a son-in-law. We women have a hard enough time getting by as it is. You need to have some sense of the situation in your heart. At all times, you must protect yourself well.”

In Yashu’s heart, her good friend Linlang was a remarkable woman rare in this world, and more than worthy of Situ Sheng.

But unfortunately, the world was full of ordinary people, and when it came to measuring such things, one could not help but use the world’s ordinary standards.

And by those very standards, Linlang’s circumstances were absolutely incompatible with Situ Sheng’s station.

Yashu could not presume to predict whether Situ Sheng might grow tired of her and seek new affections, nor could she say too much outright. She could only quietly remind Linlang not to sink in too deep, lest she be unable to pull herself free.

Linlang understood Tao Yashu’s meaning, but merely smiled, her tone firm: “He won’t… At least, not for now!”

Situ Sheng carried far too many secrets. Before he had fully shed the burden of his origins, he was likely to keep all the daughters of prominent families at a respectful distance. And so, paradoxically, this gave Linlang a perfectly grounded sense of security.

Because this stretch of road ahead was too murky and uncertain — only she could walk it alongside him. As for what came after, well, that could be left for after.

While the two of them were quietly conversing, a sound like silver bells ringing came from ahead: “Sister Yashu, so you’re here — I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Chu Linlang turned toward the sound and saw a woman adorned from head to toe in pearls and jade ornaments, attended by two palace maids, walking toward them with a bewitching smile.

With Tao Yashu’s quiet prompting, Chu Linlang learned that this woman was Xiao Shuyi — the one who had recently won the Emperor’s favor and affection.

She was not as beautiful as Tao Yashu, but Chu Linlang had a strange feeling of having seen her somewhere before.

Upon closer examination, she found that Xiao Shuyi bore a certain resemblance to Noble Consort Jing — both were of the delicate, refined, small-and-lovely type with pretty, gentle features.

She had heard that Noble Consort Jing herself bore a resemblance to her cousin, Consort Fang. And so the reason for Xiao Shuyi’s favor was more or less self-evident.

The female officials who had entered the palace this time were none of them of low standing. Each one had entered carrying the hopes of her family upon her shoulders.

Among young women, it was much like being classmates competing to advance — ambition and rivalry were inevitable.

Yet when Xiao Shuyi had first entered the palace, she had been inferior to Tao Yashu in every respect. Not only did she not hold as high a rank among the female officials, she also lacked Tao Yashu’s ability to assist the Empress Dowager and hold real authority in her hands.

As the saying goes, “when a tree stands taller than the forest, the wind is sure to fell it.” Once the wind of envy begins to blow, it blows without end.

Whenever Tao Yashu received some reward or gift, Xiao Shuyi would seethe with red-eyed resentment, fuming over why all these advantages should go to one person alone.

Over time, compounded by a series of small, unremarkable disputes, a grudge had formed between them.

Now, however, her fortunes had reversed. She had somehow won the Emperor’s love and favor, becoming the first among the female officials to be formally elevated to the rank of imperial consort — and naturally her spirits were high.

Eager to vent her long-suppressed feelings and hold her head high, she now made a point of coming before Tao Yashu from time to time to flaunt the gifts and rewards she had received from the Emperor.

Today was no different. She smiled and watched as Tao Yashu gave her a proper curtsy in greeting, then suddenly lowered her head and said softly: “Oh my, how did mud spots get on my embroidered shoes?”

At her words, Chu Linlang and Tao Yashu both looked instinctively toward Xiao Shuyi’s shoes.

The shoes were truly exquisite — two kinds of satin stitched together, with a cluster of pearl flowers at the tips, clearly of immense value.

Having said so, Xiao Shuyi deliberately lifted the hem of her skirt and smiled: “These shoes were personally gifted to me by His Majesty — the Ruyi double-brocade shoes. The surface is so delicate! I’m worried the two palace maids I brought along are too clumsy-handed and might damage them. I’ll just have to trouble Sister Yashu to give them a wipe for me!”

Her intent to humiliate was far too obvious.

One had to understand that although Tao Yashu was not a consort of the inner palace, she held the rank of a first-grade female official, and served in close attendance upon the Empress Dowager.

Even the Empress Dowager herself had never made Tao Yashu perform such menial tasks — so what right did this little Shuyi have to order Tao Yashu around?

Yet Xiao Shuyi was currently riding the height of imperial favor, with His Majesty having spent several consecutive nights at her quarters. She was at the very peak of her pride.

If Tao Yashu refused outright, Xiao Shuyi would likely whisper into the Emperor’s ear while lying beside him, saying that Tao Yashu put on airs — that a mere female official had shown disrespect to a consort of the palace.

Tao Yashu, born the legitimate granddaughter of a duke, had never once in her life knelt to wipe anyone’s shoes. Upon hearing Xiao Shuyi’s words, she was seized with such fury in that instant that a faint flush crept across her cheeks.

Just as the two of them stood in tense silence, Chu Linlang stepped forward, composedly dropped to her knees, and said with a smile to Xiao Shuyi: “Shuyi may not be aware — just now, when Female Official Tao was helping this servant move a flower pot, she strained her back and is in some pain. She cannot bend down, so allow me to do it instead!”

As she spoke, she pulled out her handkerchief and made a show of preparing to wipe Xiao Shuyi’s shoes.

While wiping, Chu Linlang kept up a stream of flattery: “Goodness, it truly is an imperial gift — exquisitely crafted indeed!”

And with the handkerchief, she lightly brushed away the practically invisible trace of dust on the shoe’s surface.

Dirty shoes indeed! It was pure deliberate malice — an excuse to humiliate someone.

But Chu Linlang didn’t care in the slightest. She hadn’t been born into nobility — once inside the palace, she would kneel to whoever needed kneeling to.

And so with just a few easy words, she smoothly extricated Tao Huiru from her predicament.

Xiao Shuyi had intended to make things difficult for Tao Huiru, but never expected a Chu Linlang to come charging in out of nowhere.

This crafty female merchant, mouth overflowing with flattery, looking for all the world as though she were perfectly content — where was the satisfaction in bullying someone like that?

At this thought, Xiao Shuyi’s expression darkened considerably. She said coldly to Chu Linlang: “Something personally gifted by His Majesty — and you think a fool like you has the right to touch it!”

Xiao Shuyi had come from the Empress Dowager’s quarters, so she naturally recognized Madam Chu. But she also held her in contempt.

A merchant woman with no family roots or backing, who had made her way up in the world by nothing but a glib tongue — did she really think that just because His Majesty had bestowed on her the sixth-rank title of “Lady of Xinmei” she was now fit to stand as an equal with women born of official and noble families?

And so, having failed to humiliate Tao Yashu, Xiao Shuyi vented the full force of her spite onto Chu Linlang.

Watching Xiao Shuyi’s outburst, Chu Linlang didn’t panic in the slightest. She had already weathered the ordeal of being singled out by Noble Consort Jing and pressed into a confrontation right before the Empress Dowager.

Compared to the deeply entrenched and formidable Noble Consort Jing, this petty little Shuyi was hardly worth a second glance!

She had heard that Xiao Shuyi’s family were military officers, currently in charge of provisions and supply trains at the front lines. The Emperor’s lavish favor toward her — beyond seeing a resemblance to someone from the past — was likely also intended to use palace favor to encourage and reward the generals fighting at the front.

After all, apart from Xiao Shuyi, the other two female officials who had been elevated to consort rank were also daughters of military families.

So in Chu Linlang’s estimation, the old Emperor had likely not been moved by any particular infatuation — he was simply rewarding the troops.

A petty person elevated to prominence — this was exactly the kind of arrogant behavior one could expect.

If Xiao Shuyi insisted on venting her spite, Chu Linlang would simply kneel here in trembling deference, mouth murmuring “Yes, yes, of course, quite right!”

But Linlang knew exactly where she stood. She had been personally invited into the palace by the Empress Dowager’s own formal summons.

This little Shuyi’s brief spell of imperial favor was simply not enough to justify having her dragged away for punishment — that would be slapping the Empress Dowager’s own face. At most, Xiao Shuyi could only throw her weight around a little before her.

But Chu Linlang had forgotten that Tao Yashu was standing right there beside her.

Watching Xiao Shuyi speak so cutting and malicious before all the palace attendants — showing not the slightest breeding — while tormenting Madam Chu, Tao Yashu’s heart was burning with fury.

She knew full well that Chu Linlang was sacrificing herself to pull her out of trouble. She knew equally well that Xiao Shuyi’s spite had originally been aimed at her.

Tao Yashu ought to have kept her mouth shut — let Xiao Shuyi finish throwing her weight around and leave, and gracefully accept the heavy favor Chu Linlang had done for her.

But watching her good friend being humiliated, that stubborn streak in Tao Yashu — the one that always had to argue right from wrong, black from white — flared up again.

Her fingernails dug hard into her palm, and in the end she couldn’t hold back. She spoke in a clear, composed voice: “…I recall that in the time of the late Emperor, he once gifted a precious pair of Western Region leather boots to my great-grandfather. A clumsy servant accidentally spilled hot broth on the surface of the shoes. The servant was overcome with terror and requested to be punished and held accountable, since what had been soiled was an imperial gift. Yet my great-grandfather waved it aside, saying: although these were an imperial gift, the late Emperor’s purpose in giving him the shoes was to reward his efforts in managing the flood relief in Western Hunan — to grant him stronger footing in serving the nation and its people. How could one severely punish a servant over a pair of shoes that was, by its very nature, meant to tread through dust and travel a thousand miles? Would that not be ‘valuing the object over the person,’ and missing entirely the spirit with which the late Emperor had bestowed the shoes? When the late Emperor heard of this, he commended my great-grandfather once again. Yet you, Shuyi, over shoes that have not even been dirtied or damaged, would make things so difficult for a sixth-rank Lady personally bestowed by His Majesty. Those who understand will think that Shuyi cherishes His Majesty’s intentions dearly. Those who do not may instead think that Shuyi is by nature harsh and unkind, and lacking in generous magnanimity!”

“You…” Xiao Shuyi listened, her face flushing scarlet with rage, her very fingers trembling in fury!

Tao Yashu had gone mad! How dare she humiliate her like this in front of all the palace attendants! Just wait — she would go to His Majesty and weep before him, and lodge a thorough complaint against her!

With that thought, Xiao Shuyi huffed indignantly: “The meaning of your words is to mock His Majesty as inferior to the late Emperor? Just you wait — I’ll go before His Majesty and tell him everything!”

At that very moment, an aged and steady voice said calmly: “There is no need. We heard everything.”

Xiao Shuyi’s heart lurched. She turned to look — and there stood Emperor Jinren, accompanied by the Crown Prince and several eunuchs, at the top of the garden steps.

Evidently, everything that had just unfolded had been witnessed by His Majesty with his own eyes.

Xiao Shuyi’s heart seized with fright. She quickly dropped to her knees with a soft, yielding grace, urgently attempting to remedy the situation before the Emperor: “Your servant truly treasures the gift Your Majesty bestowed — in a moment of overanxiousness, I spoke to Lady Xinmei in rather a sharp tone. I never expected it would offend Female Official Tao. The fault is entirely your servant’s…”

The old Emperor had spent a lifetime surrounded by women of the inner palace — more than could be counted — and yet he had always felt he still did not understand women.

Why was it that women who appeared before him as frail as weeping willows could, the moment they turned to face someone else, instantly transform into overbearing, imperious creatures who held their heads insufferably high?

Noble Consort Jing, whom he had favored for decades, had been this way. And this Xiao Shuyi was the same.

Watching the beauty before him — her face streaked with tears like pear blossoms in rain, fragile and pitiable — the old Emperor found he could no longer summon the image of his beloved Consort Fang. Instead, he found himself thinking of Noble Consort Jing, that venomous woman!

And so, without waiting for Xiao Shuyi to finish performing her helplessness, the old Emperor said coldly: “If the shoes are dirty enough to warrant berating people, you had best return and change them at once!”

Xiao Shuyi heard the shift in his tone and was so frightened she dared not say another word. She hurriedly begged leave of His Majesty, and retreated with her tail between her legs.

The old Emperor then turned his gaze to Tao Yashu, who had lowered her head and knelt before him, and spoke: “…You are the daughter of Duke Tao’s household? Lift your head and let Us take a look.”

Under any other circumstance, a young woman who heard these words would have been overcome with joy — but Tao Yashu, upon hearing them, turned deathly pale and raised her head with visible difficulty.

Emperor Jinren had seen Tao Yashu before, but had not paid her any particular attention.

Today, however, was different. He had just heard Tao Yashu speak with quiet dignity and composure, rebuking Xiao Shuyi for valuing dead objects above living people — speaking with reason and principle woven naturally together.

Such a bearing was entirely worthy of a legitimate daughter of a ducal family.

Thinking on it now — the favored Noble Consort Jing, or the likes of Xiao Shuyi — though neither had come from truly humble origins, they were not daughters of families with deep cultural cultivation, and lacked the generous, magnanimous bearing of daughters raised among the scholarly elite.

This Tao Yashu had never lost that bearing of a true great family — no wonder she had earned the Empress Dowager’s repeated praise.

When Tao Yashu raised her head, the old Emperor also noticed that this young woman was truly a breath of fresh air amid the inner palace.

At a small age when one would be most drawn to adornment, her face wore no powder or rouge, and her hair was free of golden hairpins or silver ornaments. From head to toe she was plain and understated — yet this only brought out a certain scholarly quality about her all the more.

The Empress Dowager had been right. The turbulent winds of the inner palace had blown for too long. It was time to cultivate a woman of true noble breeding and upright character to take the helm of affairs…

With that thought, the old Emperor gently asked Tao Yashu about her age and what duties she had been attending to in the Empress Dowager’s quarters.

The Crown Prince, who had been accompanying his imperial father on a stroll through the imperial garden, saw this development and felt not joy but worry.

His maternal grandfather, Duke Tao, had been complaining to him just a short while ago that his cousin Tao Yashu was by nature reserved and unassuming, and would never know how to ingratiate herself before the Emperor. The Crown Prince had taken him at his word and had quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet never could he have imagined that today, the very day he had entered the palace, he would see with his own eyes Tao Yashu speaking freely and with confidence in the imperial garden, attracting his imperial father’s attention…

Whatever happened to the cousin who was said to be as mild as a chrysanthemum, contending for nothing, striving for nothing? It turned out she had been so calculating all along — playing precisely to his imperial father’s preferences!

The Crown Prince could already picture it — once this cousin who appeared so composed and refined ascended to the position of Empress, and then conceived an imperial heir, what heights of ambition she would reach!

A serious miscalculation. Truly a serious miscalculation. How had he been so muddleheaded back then, to ever promise to let his cousin enter the palace to assist him?

While his thoughts churned in turmoil, the old Emperor turned to look at the Crown Prince standing off to the side, his tone shifting to something colder: “We have heard your proposal. It grows late — take your leave of the palace early.”

His Majesty had been speaking to him in just this sort of cool, detached manner lately. The Crown Prince felt unsteady with uncertainty and could only make his way out of the palace.

Chu Linlang, kneeling nearby, listened to the exchange between Tao Yashu and the old Emperor, and felt a growing urgency in her heart.

Once both His Majesty and the Crown Prince had gone, Chu Linlang turned — and found Tao Yashu’s face as white as paper.

Chu Linlang’s heart sank with a heavy thud, and she vaguely began to guess what Tao Yashu was dreading.

Today, Tao Yashu’s clash of words with Xiao Shuyi had drawn the Emperor’s approval — and this was the very last thing Tao Yashu had sought.

Was she… regretting that she had given in to the pleasure of that verbal exchange, and in doing so attracted the Emperor’s notice?

Chu Linlang was about to speak, but then she looked down and saw that Tao Yashu was digging her nails fiercely into her own palm. She was startled, and quickly reached out to grab her hand — only to discover that Tao Yashu’s palm had already been gouged raw and bleeding by her own fingernails.

“What are you doing? Why are you fighting against yourself again?”

Tao Yashu offered a faint smile and said to Linlang: “It’s nothing — I just got into an argument with someone just now and scratched by accident without thinking…”

Chu Linlang looked at her with some worry, wanting to offer Tao Yashu some comfort — yet she felt that anything she might say now would ring hollow and pale.

Just at that moment, Hua Shi came looking for her, ready to leave the palace together. Linlang had no choice but to take the flowers she had selected and exit the palace with Hua Shi first.

As she left the palace, she noticed that someone was standing outside the palace gates at the moat, as usual — a tall, graceful figure in purple official robes with a long black cloak, elegant as a jade tree in wind. It was Situ Sheng.

Perhaps because of how Chu Linlang had been made difficult by Noble Consort Jing the very first time she entered the palace, from that point on, no matter how busy he was, Situ Sheng would always wait at the palace gates until she emerged safely.

Today was no different. Once Situ Sheng saw Chu Linlang and Madam Hua emerge safely from the palace, he turned and prepared to board his carriage and leave.

But just then, a voice tinged with surprised delight rang out from the direction of the palace’s side gate: “Lady Xinmei — to think we’d meet here as well.”

Chu Linlang paused slightly in confusion and turned to look. There, dressed in official robes, was the temple official Tao Zan, walking toward her with cheerful enthusiasm.

As it turned out, Tao Zan had come to the palace today with the monks from the imperial temple to replace the consecrated Buddhist statues in the palace’s Buddhist hall, and had happened to be heading out just as he spotted Chu Linlang up ahead — and had run over to greet her warmly.

Coming closer, he gave a proper bow to both Madam Hua and Madam Chu, then asked: “In a few days, there will be a winter prayer and blessing ceremony. I wonder whether the two ladies would come and donate some incense offerings?”

With that opening, this naturally sociable young man launched into a flowing and enthusiastic introduction.

Chu Linlang had tricked this young nobleman out of a letter written in his own hand the last time they met, and now seeing him again, she felt a twinge of awkwardness.

She was also somewhat puzzled — she had struck Tao Huiru so hard that time, leaving her face swollen and red. Yet Tao Zan, who had been waiting in the carriage, had apparently noticed nothing at all.

And now that they met again, he bore her no grudge whatsoever and spoke to her without the slightest hint of reserve. Was this young man truly that guileless and naive — or was he… too deep to show it, keeping his emotions perfectly hidden?

If it were the latter… then he truly was worthy of being called Situ Sheng’s brother. Both of them were masters at playing the fool while hiding their true capabilities!

Thinking of Situ Sheng… Chu Linlang stole a glance sideways. Oh goodness — that jealous soul still hadn’t left. He was standing there with an expression of icy composure, watching the three of them.

A moment later, Situ Sheng actually strode over with long, purposeful steps, and asked in a measured voice: “Temple Official Tao — this blessing ceremony you mention — would that be the one in the middle of the month?”

Tao Zan had been in full flow, and hadn’t expected anyone to cut in. He looked up — and found himself facing a tall, handsome man standing directly before him.

His tall frame, perfectly positioned, completely shielded Madam Chu’s slender figure from view, making it impossible for Tao Zan to steal so much as another glance at her.

Situ Sheng was dressed in the official robes of a first-rank official — a stately, imposing purple, exuding an air of aristocratic grandeur. Combined with Situ Sheng’s commanding height, the effect was all the more formidable.

This kind of mature, accomplished authority had finally left the oblivious young man slightly tongue-tied.

“Yes… yes, that’s right. Why — is Lord Situ also interested in attending?”

Situ Sheng looked down at this half-brother of his — born of the same father but a different mother — and said evenly: “I find myself a little curious. I was hoping Temple Official Tao might explain it in more detail…”

Since someone was handling the situation, why wait any longer?

Chu Linlang quickly pulled Madam Hua along and boarded the carriage to make their escape. Tao Zan, seeing Madam Chu slipping away from him again without a word, grew somewhat anxious. He raised his arm to call after her, about to ask whether she would be attending the ceremony — but his arm was caught and held firmly by a large hand.

Situ Sheng’s mouth curved in a faint smile, but his eyes were cold as frost: “Temple Official Tao — did no one in your family ever teach you to read the mood? If someone clearly has no wish to speak with you, and you continue prattling on regardless, you become a nuisance to that person.”

—