Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Father Emperor finally woke up.

His first act upon waking was to welcome Consort Du out of the Cold Palace and move her into Fengluan Palace, promoting her to Noble Consort.

That palace was the closest to Father Emperor’s sleeping quarters-vast and magnificent.

In the past, Empress Mother had felt the place was too exquisite and ornate, and that maintaining it would be a waste of manpower and resources, so she had left it vacant.

But Fengluan Palace was reopened.

From a distance, the massive palace looked like a residence of the immortals. Mist curled over the ponds, and clusters of lotuses filled the water. White marble terraces wound their way to a pavilion in the center of the lake, from which Noble Consort Du’s laughter rippled out, startling the waterfowl into flight.

When one person finds success, others must face failure.

Those facing failure were Empress Mother and the various concubines of the harem.

There were reprimands and house arrests. Those who had once clashed with Noble Consort Du received their retribution over the following days.

Empress Mother received an imperial edict reprimanding her for a lack of virtue and moderation, ordering her to hand over her authority over the inner palace.

Expressionless, she surrendered the phoenix seal and closed her palace gates, never venturing out again.

The second thing Father Emperor did was promote Du Ziguo. He was appointed as the Chancellor, participating in the military and state affairs, leading the Six Ministries, and directly handling personnel, finances, and resources.

His past corruption was swept away with a stroke of a pen, relegated to the past.

In contrast, several officials whom Father Emperor had previously favored were dismissed, exiled, or had their families executed and properties seized.

For a time, the capital was gripped by panic.

I, too, fell from grace.

I once tried to slip out of Fengyi Palace to visit Father Emperor at the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The moment Father Emperor saw me, his brow furrowed.

He did not respond to my greeting. Instead, he studied me for a long time, the disgust in his eyes impossible to hide.

“Crude and wild, without a shred of a daughter’s grace. You are not to come here again without a summons. Go kneel in the Buddhist hall and copy scriptures to rein in your ambition.”

I… had ambition?

I certainly didn’t know it.

As I knelt in the Buddhist hall, writing out the scriptures stroke by stroke, that question kept echoing in my mind.

The Heart Sutra: two hundred and sixty characters.

The Diamond Sutra: five thousand characters.

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch: twelve thousand characters.

The Shurangama Sutra was the longest: sixty-two thousand, one hundred and fifty-six characters.

I copied these texts over and over. While the desires in my heart seemed to fade, my secret longings grew as wildly as spring grass.

In the fifth year of copying scriptures, I set down my brush. I had gradually come to realize one thing.

I did indeed have ambition.

Under the mask of my cold and detached exterior, that ambition had crawled into every bone and sinew of my body.

That year, Father Emperor held the imperial examinations. An obscure scholar took the top spot in one leap, officially entering the sight of the court officials.

His name was Lu Yuzhang.

A man who had climbed out of the mud, enduring hardships and obstacles to finally reach the high road.

“Triumphant in the spring breeze, the horse’s hooves are swift; in a single day, I have seen all the flowers of Chang’an.”

He spurred his horse toward the ten-mile stretch of the Wang River to attend poetry gatherings and establish his reputation, earning the prestigious title of “Young Master Yuzhang.”

That same year, an orphaned girl arrived in the capital. She unexpectedly saved the Old Matriarch of the Duke’s Mansion. By the Old Matriarch’s decree, she was taken under the Duke’s name and became the adopted daughter of the Duke’s Mansion.

Her name was Song Wanxi.

This legendary tale was praised by everyone; I even heard of it within the inner palace.

Everyone lauded the Duke’s Mansion for its righteousness and envied Song Wanxi for her immense good fortune.

No one knew that she was actually the disciple of the Sage of Medicine. In the future, she would use her miraculous medical skills to complement Lu Yuzhang, shining brilliantly in the capital.

The male and female leads had made their entrance.

It seemed my plot was about to begin.

This year, I turned fifteen. It was time for my hairpin ceremony.

However, the person sitting in the seat of honor waiting for my salute was not Empress Mother, but Noble Consort Du.

Having secured Father Emperor’s favor, she had become even more charming, her every movement radiating a luxurious glory.

Like a pampered cat, she let out a lazy yawn.

Her niece, Du Xuefu, was now sixteen and frequently entered the palace to accompany her. She was the Noble Consort’s most beloved junior.

Du Xuefu stepped past the crowd and said to me with a beaming smile, “The Empress is unwell, so the Noble Consort shall accept the Princess’s salute in her stead. Princess, please, proceed with the ceremony!”

Impossible!

It was a rare day of joy for my Empress Mother. She had dressed in her formal empress robes early this morning, waiting for the ceremony to begin so she could watch me receive the blessings of the court.

Only this morning, she had stroked my hair, saying that her child had grown up and now bore a striking resemblance to her father.

Both she and I knew that the “Father Emperor” she spoke of was the man who had once doted on me and held me in the palm of his hand.

How could she suddenly feel unwell?

Noble Consort Du must have detained my Empress Mother!

She wanted everyone to see clearly who the true master of the inner palace was.

Even as the legitimate princess of the first rank, I was expected to be servile and submissive before her.

Noble Consort Du stood with a haughty expression, a faint smile playing on her lips, her gaze filled with nothing but disdain.

The noblewomen standing to the left and right were surprised, yet they lowered their heads and remained silent.

My Father Emperor merely stared at me with a fixed gaze, his brow furrowed with palpable dissatisfaction.

But before he could say anything, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Numerous assassins suddenly rushed forward, charging straight for my Father Emperor.

As one assassin was about to strike him, I grabbed Du Xuefu, who was panicking and trying to flee, and shoved her in front of my Father Emperor.

With a shrill scream, she took the blade for him and collapsed into his arms.

However, my Father Emperor pushed her aside and grabbed Noble Consort Du, shouting frantically for the guards to protect them.

I immediately moved toward Song Wanxi. Though she appeared to be dodging the chaos clumsily like the rest of the crowd, her movements were actually highly disciplined. Following her lead, I successfully escaped the assassination attempt.

Song Wanxi looked at me in astonishment, her lips parting as if to speak, but she said nothing.

The assassins were quickly subdued.

Lu Yuzhang, relying on his superb martial arts skills alone, ensured the Emperor’s safety.

Soon, everything settled down.

My Father Emperor was livid. He ordered an investigation into the origins of the assassins, only to discover to his shock that they were refugees whose families had been destroyed by Du Ziguo. They had spontaneously banded together as outlaws, practicing martial arts and swordplay for the sole purpose of slaying the Emperor to avenge their kin.

The blade my Father Emperor had once blocked for Du Ziguo had now effectively fallen upon himself.

Utterly shaken, he began a heated argument with Noble Consort Du.

For the first time, the high and mighty Emperor seemed to realize that his favorite consort and her clan had committed numerous atrocities-evils that had, to some extent, shaken the very foundations of his empire.

The sounds of Noble Consort Du’s weeping and complaints drifted out from Fengluan Palace, a place that was once filled with laughter.

Meanwhile, I was in the side hall, watching the imperial physicians treat Du Xuefu.

The physicians were at their wits’ end.

Du Xuefu’s wound was near her heart. They lacked the confidence to treat it and had essentially pronounced her death sentence.

Du Xuefu wanted to live.

With tears streaming down her face, she stared longingly at the palace doors.

She was waiting for Noble Consort Du to come and save her life.

I stepped forward and whispered in her ear, “The Noble Consort is currently arguing with my Father Emperor; she might not be able to look after you for a while. What a pity. Your wound wasn’t that serious originally, but my Father Emperor dropped you, making the cut deeper. Compared to the Noble Consort, you are nothing. My Father Emperor’s true love is for her, not you.”

Du Xuefu’s eyes filled with hatred. “It was you… you pushed me. If not for you, I wouldn’t be like this. I’ll have my uncle kill you! I’ll have my father kill you!”

She was so stupid.

I liked that.

I let out a soft laugh. “Don’t you know? All I have to do is give this blade a little push, and you’ll be beyond saving. Kill me? You’ll likely have to wait eighty years in the Halls of Judgment before you see me there.”

Her expression turned to one of pure terror. “You wouldn’t dare!”

Smiling, I wrapped my hand around the hilt of the knife.

Her tears flowed freely.

“Please, don’t… ah…”

I swiftly pulled the blade out. The moment I did, Song Wanxi stepped forward. She moved with precision-applying pressure, stopping the bleeding, and suturing the wound…

Her movements were methodical, possessing a beauty of calm composure.

I was dazed for a moment.

So this is a female lead.

She really is different from me.