Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“Nonsense! How could Mother Empress possibly have copied it out by hand…” The Crown Princess, beside herself with rage, flipped through the booklet. But the moment she saw that familiar handwriting, her voice cut off abruptly.

In the end, the two of them threw the booklet down, forced their backs straight, and hurried away. They did not even take the palace regulations I had copied.

I put away the booklet, whose handwriting was identical to Her Majesty the Empress’s, and let out a scoff.

The Palace Bureau of Governance did indeed have a handwritten copy of the palace regulations by Her Majesty the Empress. It had been copied by her personally as an example to warn the consorts.

Every Female Scribe who entered the Palace Bureau of Documents had to study it. I had practiced by copying that model, and in doing so, learned to imitate Her Majesty the Empress’s hand. That booklet was nothing more than my practice copy, but it was more than enough to fool laymen.

Later, I escorted Wang Runhe out of the palace.

She had already steadied herself, and in front of me, she said smugly, “With all your schemes and tricks, no wonder Lord Xie didn’t want you.”

I said calmly, “A man who forgets loyalty at the sight of profit will not suddenly become faithful and devoted just because he marries. Today, you are the profit, so he abandoned me and chose you. Tomorrow, someone else will be the profit, and he will abandon his wife for that person. For you to have chosen such a husband is truly your good fortune. I do not envy you in the slightest.”

Wang Runhe left in a fury.

But it seemed she remembered what I said that day.

That needle buried in her heart had finally pierced Xie Yun.

Xie Yun stared dazedly at Wang Runhe. His throat bobbed, but he could not say a single word.

Wang Runhe scrambled to her feet in a sorry state. She did not even have time to brush the dust from her clothes before she turned and strode away.

I called after her, “Miss Wang-no, Madam Wang, please wait patiently. According to the palace regulations, the divorce papers will be delivered to the Xie Family residence in as little as three days, or at most five. Please rest assured, Madam. No matter what, even if you are escorted out of the capital under guard, the divorce papers will certainly be placed in your hands.”

Wang Runhe looked back and glared at me with hatred.

I gave her a brilliant smile, feeling utterly refreshed.

Xie Yun rose in a daze and went after Wang Runhe.

As he passed by me, he said coldly, “Fine, hate me if you must. But not everyone in the Xie Family has wronged you. At least Xie Qun hasn’t. For the sake of revenge, you dragged the innocent into this. I’ll be waiting for your retribution.”

I was rendered speechless.

He sneered, as if he had finally found my weak spot.

I said, “Then did he spend the money you embezzled?”

Xie Yun had no answer.

I gave an oh. “So he did spend it… I have only ever heard of iron certificates and cinnabar writs being able to absolve crimes. I have never heard of a devoted lover being able to absolve crimes. Besides, he isn’t even a devoted lover.”

Xie Qun kept a substitute for me outside the city.

I only learned of it in my second year after entering the palace.

By then, I had climbed step by step from Female Scribe to Dianyan.

Over those two years, I had heard bits and pieces of news about the Xie Family.

The most famous tale was that Second Young Master Xie, Xie Qun, had gotten into a violent fight with someone over a woman. Later, he kept that woman outside the household.

Once, when I left the palace on official business, I stopped to rest at a teahouse and unexpectedly ran into Xie Qun.

The instant he saw me, he froze in shock. Then, in a panic, he moved to shield a woman behind him, stubbornly refusing to let her show her face.

The woman was obedient too. She hid meekly behind Xie Qun, covering her face with a round fan.

But Xie Qun could not control me.

I walked around to stand before the woman and gently lifted her round fan. Beneath it, I saw a face that looked eighty percent like mine.

The woman stared in astonishment, her beautiful eyes wide.

I smiled. If I had not known that my parents had only given birth to me, I would almost have thought she was my own sister.