Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After Song Weiwei and I delivered the Empress’s orders, we ran into Consort Rong on the way back.

She had been favored ever since entering the palace, and even after five years, that favor had never faded. Naturally, her temperament had grown arrogant and domineering.

We hurriedly knelt and waited for her procession to pass before moving on.

But unexpectedly, she stopped and said, “You two are Aunt Qidai’s apprentices?”

I answered yes.

Then Consort Rong slapped me across the face.

Ever since we started serving under Aunt Qidai, it had been a long time since anyone had made things difficult for us like this for no reason.

I covered my cheek, dazed.

Song Weiwei threw herself over to protect me and was slapped as well.

Consort Rong wiped her nail guards in disgust and sneered that two lowly maids dared crowd in front of her.

Only then did I realize that Consort Rong looked seventy or eighty percent like Aunt Qidai.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded ahead. Consort Rong went pale with fright and hurriedly ordered her attendants to block us from view.

The Emperor’s voice came from up ahead, followed by Consort Rong’s syrupy reply.

Song Weiwei’s eyes shifted, and she suddenly began sobbing under her breath. Then she pinched a chunk of flesh on my thigh.

I cried out in pain at once.

The noise drew the Emperor’s attention. He pushed aside the people in front and looked a little surprised when he saw the sorry state we were in.

I understood what Song Weiwei was doing and immediately cried even harder.

The Emperor looked at my snot-and-tears-covered face with an expression too complicated for words.

He sighed and reached out, intending to pull me up from the ground.

I dodged him and nimbly scrambled to my feet by myself.

The Emperor’s hand closed on empty air, and he looked a little awkward. Then, as naturally as anything, he reached that same hand toward Song Weiwei on the ground.

Song Weiwei lowered her reddened eyes and gently placed her boneless little hand into the Emperor’s broad palm.

Unlike my wailing, she cried with perfect restraint, delicate and pitiful. When she explained what had happened, she did so softly and clearly, in a way that made people unable not to sympathize with her.

The Emperor rebuked Consort Rong, saying she should not have punished palace servants without cause, and confined her to her quarters for a month.

In the end, Consort Rong left in tears, looking as if she wanted to slice Song Weiwei apart with her eyes.

It was a beautifully fought battle.

That very night, Song Weiwei was taken to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to spend the night with the Emperor.

At the time, I was still chewing on the end of my brush as I copied out official documents and records, while Aunt Qidai read beside me.

When she heard the news, she let out a faint sigh.

“I’ve already heard about what happened today.”

She stared at me, her expression unreadable. “Do you regret it?”

I knew what she meant, so I answered with a grin, “Everyone says being a master is precious and exalted, but I don’t think any of that really means much.”

Aunt Qidai arched a brow. “Oh? Then what do you think does matter?”

I set down my brush and said solemnly, “To me, the most meaningful thing is making it possible for all the women in the realm to study and enter government, just as I do.”

Under Great Duan law, the women of the imperial harem were forbidden from interfering in state affairs.

That restriction was even stricter than the restrictions placed on women studying.

At last, there was approval in Aunt Qidai’s gaze. She nodded.

“No wonder I chose you as my apprentice back then.”

I was puzzled. Hadn’t she chosen us as apprentices because Song Weiwei was clever?

Aunt Qidai saw what I was thinking and smiled, shaking her head.

“No. It was because of you that I decided to take both of you as apprentices.”

The candlelight softened the lines of Aunt Qidai’s face as she murmured:

“Zeyi, you’re very much like how I was when I was young.”

By the time news came that Song Weiwei had been granted the title Lady of Ceremonial Attendance Lian, I was organizing the piled-up case files for the Emperor.

I heard that Consort Rong was throwing a huge tantrum in the palace and demanding to see the Emperor.

But with the Emperor occupied by countless affairs every day, why would he pay any attention to her? Especially when Aunt Qidai was still by his side.

I had long since begun to suspect that the Emperor’s feelings for Aunt Qidai were anything but ordinary.

The two of them had known each other since childhood.

When the Emperor was young, he had no one to rely on. Aunt Qidai was the one who raised him. Everyone assumed his feelings for her were those of family, of gratitude.

But I didn’t think so.

The Emperor liked Aunt Qidai.

That was why Consort Rong, who bore a strong resemblance to Aunt Qidai, had remained in favor for a full five years. Even among the women in the harem, each one looked a little like Aunt Qidai in one way or another.

Even Song Weiwei, beneath that weak and innocent mask, hid an unyielding heart.

That was the part of her most like Aunt Qidai.

The facts later proved my guess right.

That day, I received a secret order and hurried off to find the Emperor, only to stumble upon a secret.

I heard Aunt Qidai question him coldly:

“If Your Majesty truly wishes me well, then you should let me go instead of trapping me in this deep palace!”

It was only early autumn, yet the Emperor was already wearing a cloak. With his back to Aunt Qidai, he let out a soft sigh.

“Aunt Qidai, I can’t do without you.”

“Your Majesty jests. You are no longer that child trapped in the princely estate. It is time for this servant to retire after her task is done.”

“Your Majesty, all I want is to leave the palace and open a Women’s Academy in the capital.”

There was even a trace of tears in Aunt Qidai’s voice as she said this.

The Emperor turned around and gently wiped the tears from her face. His expression was hidden in the darkness, impossible to make out clearly.

“Aunt Qidai, I have never forced you to do anything you didn’t want to do. You love Ling Moyu and not me, so I have never crossed the line. I only want you to stay by my side.”

Aunt Qidai turned her face away, her expression cold.

“Your Majesty, why go this far? I am no one of consequence.”

For a long while, there was no sound at all. At last, the Emperor spoke. “Your apprentice is unreliable. I cannot do without you, Aunt Qidai.”

I knew he was referring to Song Weiwei.

Aunt Qidai raised her head. Though she was already thirty, her face was still breathtakingly radiant.

“Your Majesty, every person has their own aspirations. Since you’ve already made her Lady of Ceremonial Attendance Lian, then treat her well. Do not let her become a second Bilian.”

Bilian was one of the Emperor’s consorts. She had been at his side since his days in the princely residence and was one of the old attendants from back then.

I heard the stunningly handsome Emperor draw in a deep breath.

“I have never once gone against your wishes. But if you want to leave the palace, I will never allow it!”

By the time he spoke that last sentence, his tone had already turned harsh.

The Emperor gave a cold laugh. “If Aunt Qidai is tired, then you may rest. You know that I have always granted your every request.”

“But leaving the palace? Don’t even think about it!” The Emperor turned, his robes swirling, and left behind one final sentence. “Even if you die, you will die by my side!”

Aunt Qidai sank to the ground where she was.

I waited until the Emperor had gone far away before finally stepping out after much hesitation.

“You heard it all?”

I nodded.

Aunt Qidai’s face was pale as she grabbed my hand.

“The Emperor won’t let me leave the palace to establish the Women’s Academy. Zeyi, work hard. This matter depends on you now.”

Aunt Qidai had always wanted to found a Women’s Academy and gather talented women from across the realm.

A school needed instructors, but a Women’s Academy naturally could not hire male teachers. It had to have female instructors.

But in the Great Duan Dynasty, common-born women were not allowed to study, much less become women capable of discussing the classics and citing the canons. And well-born young ladies with learning could not simply show their faces in public.

Aunt Qidai was the most suitable choice, but sadly, the Emperor refused to let her leave.

So the burden fell to me.

I nodded and clasped Aunt Qidai’s hand in return.

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”