Chapter 4

The rain had passed, leaving behind an unseasonable cold snap. The wind howled, scattering leaves that fluttered chaotically around Yan Qingzhuo’s feet.

Beneath the corridor, Wei Qi straightened Yan Qingzhuo’s court robes and draped a cloak over her shoulders. She felt immensely proud. Her princess was aloof and dignified, with an elegant bearing. Even ordinary court robes looked exceptionally noble when worn by her.

Yan Qingzhuo glanced at Jiang Ji, who was sitting not far away, exposed to the wind, then lowered her voice and asked Wei Qi, “Did you get rid of that wedding matron from yesterday?”

Wei Qi replied, “Not yet. I’ll throw them all out around lunchtime. There are so many of them that by the time they’ve all been accounted for, it’ll be curfew. They’ll be so hungry their stomachs will be sticking to their backs. That’ll teach them a lesson.”

Yan Qingzhuo silently gave Wei Qi a thumbs-up, then added, “There was a maid eavesdropping outside the room last night. If you see her, give her a good scare. Don’t let her go around spreading rumors.”

“One of our maids?” Wei Qi was somewhat puzzled. Since when had the maids in the princess’s residence become so bold?

“She probably came with that wedding matron.” Yan Qingzhuo patted Wei Qi on the shoulder. “She was wearing a feather hairpin. If you can’t find her, forget it. Just make sure you count everyone properly and throw them all out together. Don’t leave anyone behind.”

“Don’t worry, Mistress. Leave it to Wei Qi.” Wei Qi patted her chest confidently. “I won’t leave so much as a strand of hair behind.”

Yan Qingzhuo smiled briefly, then turned her gaze back toward Jiang Ji and said quietly, “Once they’re gone, secretly bring in a physician to examine Jiang Ji’s legs. Have her eyes checked too. I suspect she can’t see out of her left eye.”

Wei Qi drew in a soft breath.

On the wedding night, she’d personally led the men who brought Jiang Ji here. They’d carried her straight out of the prison, her entire body covered in blood. When the servants changed her into her wedding robes, the blood had practically fused her clothes to her wounds. It was a horrifying sight.

Wei Qi had long known what methods the emperor was capable of, but witnessing them firsthand inevitably unauthorized copy reminded her of the three years her own princess had spent in prison.

She raised her head to look at Yan Qingzhuo, and another wave of heartache washed over her.

Fortunately, her mistress had completely forgotten those three years.

“May I ask, Your Highness…” Wei Qi suppressed her sorrow and slowly continued, “Should we treat these injuries or not?”

“Her injuries can be treated, but…” Yan Qingzhuo pondered for a moment before saying, “Test her martial arts skills. See whether they’ve really been crippled.”

Although Yan Qingzhuo knew it was only a matter of time before Jiang Ji recovered her martial arts, she still hoped it wouldn’t happen just yet.

At the very least… not until the two of them had become familiar with each other, and not until Yan Qingzhuo had thoroughly figured Jiang Ji out.

Yan Qingzhuo gathered her cloak around herself and descended the steps. As she passed Jiang Ji, who was sitting with her back to her, she instinctively glanced over her shoulder.

As it happened, Jiang Ji turned to look at her at the same moment. Like a scene unfolding in slow motion, Jiang Ji’s lips slowly curved into a smile.

The look in her eyes was as though she were gazing at some amusing little plaything.

Yan Qingzhuo remained expressionless. She gave Jiang Ji only a brief glance before turning away.

The wind picked up, sweeping the hem of her robes into a wide arc.

Thirty-nine steps led up to the entrance of Chaoluan Hall, with a broad, open space stretching out before it. Yan Qingzhuo struggled forward, gathering her robes around herself and battling with the fabric as she walked. A woman approached from the opposite direction, dressed in purple court robes and holding a ceremonial court tablet. Her figure [stolen content]was straight, her bearing dignified, and she carried herself with an imposing air of authority.

Yan Qingzhuo knew that purple court robes were worn by officials of the first through third ranks. She raised her eyes slightly, putting on an expression of disdain as she waited for the woman to approach and pay her respects.

The woman came over, but instead of bowing, she tucked both hands into her sleeves and teased her with a rather casual air. “Is the Eldest Princess trying to catch butterflies in front of Chaoluan Hall?”

Yan Qingzhuo had only just managed to catch hold of her wildly flapping cloak. She turned back in annoyance and glared at the woman, rummaging through her memories before frowning again.

Her brain wasn’t working. She couldn’t remember. Who was this woman? And why was she acting so high and mighty?

She certainly had some nerve to behave so insolently in front of a “madwoman” like her.

Perhaps she should just give her a scolding.

But just as Yan Qingzhuo was about to speak, the woman in front of her laughed. “Don’t tell me the Eldest Princess has lost her memory again?”

Yan Qingzhuo really couldn’t remember much of the original owner’s memories, but that word “again”…

Could it be that the original owner suffered from amnesia?

In that case, her inability to remember things made perfect sense. Having such an illness would also make many things much easier for her. Although the Eldest Princess had been a terrible person, she certainly seemed to have surprises waiting for her at every turn.

Yan Qingzhuo cleared her throat, raised her head, and studied the woman before her. She looked thoroughly hypocritical, hardly like a decent person.

Imitating the mannerisms of [read the original at bailiantales.com]that “madwoman,” Yan Qingzhuo raised an eyebrow and sneered. “And who might you be?”

The woman frowned, lifting her chin slightly in displeasure.

Such arrogance. Could this woman be Yan Huaijin? Dressing up in an official’s robes just to toy with someone certainly sounded like something she’d do.

Yan Qingzhuo couldn’t quite figure it out. Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind her.

“Your Highness, Chancellor Zhao.”

Zhao was the surname of the Empress Dowager’s family.

The hand holding Yan Qingzhuo’s court tablet trembled. She quickly turned her head and met the woman’s gaze.

Throughout Great Liang, there was only one person who could be addressed as “Chancellor Zhao”: Zhao He, the younger sister of Empress Dowager Zhao Junlian, and therefore Yan Qingzhuo’s own maternal aunt.

She was also the treacherous minister who controlled the emperor and wielded the real power behind the throne.

This woman had the watchful eyes of a hawk and the cunning of a wolf, and her methods were ruthless. With Jiang Ji imprisoned and Yan Huaijin being nothing more than a wastrel who spent her days admiring fish and playing with birds, Zhao He was the only person in all of Great Liang whom Yan Qingzhuo truly needed to guard against.

If anyone could take her life in an instant, it was Zhao He.

Yan Qingzhuo immediately averted her gaze, wiped the smile from her face, and bowed with her court tablet in hand. “So it’s Chancellor Zhao.”

Even if the “Eldest Princess” was a ​unauthorized copy​madwoman, Yan Qingzhuo had no desire to provoke Zhao He right now, nor did she have the power to afford such a confrontation.

“It seems Your Highness has remembered me?” A faint smile appeared on Zhao He’s face. She nodded and said, “How could I possibly allow Your Highness to bow to this old minister? It should be this old minister paying her respects to Your Highness.”

She made a show of holding her court tablet and bending slightly at the waist.

Although Yan Qingzhuo couldn’t afford to offend Zhao He, she also didn’t dare abandon her frivolous, unruly persona and arouse the chancellor’s suspicions.

She laughed heartily and said with carefree irreverence, “We’re all family, Chancellor. There’s no need to be so polite. We have plenty of time ahead of us. Who knows? We might even become closer relatives through marriage someday.”

Zhao He had a daughter who was currently famous throughout the capital. Hearing these words, she frowned, though the smile on her face remained unchanged. She glanced behind Yan Qingzhuo and said, “This old minister will head inside first.”

Only after the woman had left did Yan Qingzhuo finally breathe a sigh of relief. When she turned around, she saw a woman in crimson court robes bowing to her.

“You are…”

“This humble official, Ye Chanyi, Vice Minister of Justice, pays her respects to the Eldest Princess.”

When the woman raised her head, she appeared to be in her twenties, with delicate, attractive features. However, the proportions of her face were so perfectly standard that she looked almost as though she’d been carved by a machine. The moment Yan Qingzhuo turned away, she found herself unable to remember what the woman looked like.

Yan Qingzhuo had no idea why this person had helped her. She waved a hand dismissively and headed toward the great hall.

It was quite some time before the Emperor of Liang finally entered, still yawning with sleepiness. Upon seeing Yan Qingzhuo, her eyes lit up as though she’d spotted some fascinating new object. Even the assembled officials’ formal greetings suddenly seemed boring to her. She hurriedly waved a hand and said, “Everyone, rise.”

She plopped herself onto the dragon throne and crossed one leg over the other.

“Imperial Sister.” Yan Huaijin raised an eyebrow. “Looking at your pale complexion and those dark circles under your eyes, I imagine you must be very satisfied with the general I bestowed upon you yesterday?”

“Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern.”

According to what Yan Qingzhuo had heard, the “Eldest Princess” had only been released from prison because she’d submitted to Yan Huaijin. But judging by Wei Qi’s reaction when Yan Qingzhuo had spoken disrespectfully of the emperor, that submission probably hadn’t been particularly sincere.

So Yan Qingzhuo deliberately remained standing where she was, wearing a smile full of arrogant indulgence and debauchery.

Sure enough, the Emperor of Liang took no offense. Instead, she continued as casually as though they were chatting about family matters. “I’ve heard that Jiang Ji is so formidable on the battlefield that she can hold off ten thousand enemies single-handedly. I wonder whether she’s just as unstoppable in my imperial sister’s bedchamber?”

“Your Majesty has certainly trained her well.” Yan Qingzhuo clenched her back teeth, though the smile remained on her face.

The Emperor of Liang seemed somewhat disappointed. She turned to Zhao He and joked, “Imperial Sister’s health has been declining year after year. Chancellor, tell me, who do you think came out on top in bed? Was it my imperial sister or Jiang Ji? Surely my imperial sister hasn’t become the first Qianyuan in Great Liang to be topped by a Kunze?”

Having said that, her unrestrained laughter echoed throughout Chaoluan Hall.

The officials behind them kept their heads lowered, barely daring to breathe for fear that the two sisters would take their anger out on them.

Yan Qingzhuo didn’t answer. Once the Emperor of Liang had finished laughing at her own joke, she leaned back against the dragon throne and asked, “Imperial Sister, how did you find Great Marshal Jiang in bed? I imagine she’s every bit as good as one of you Qianyuan, isn’t she?”

Yan Huaijin was a Kunze.

Yan Qingzhuo was beginning to understand why she’d bestowed Jiang Ji upon her.

In warfare, attacking the enemy’s mind was the highest form of strategy. Yan Huaijin wanted Yan Qingzhuo to understand that although she was a proud Qianyuan, she would spend her entire life being crushed beneath a Kunze, unable even to catch her breath.

She wanted Yan Qingzhuo to lose her temper right there in the imperial court.

But Yan Qingzhuo had no intention of falling into that trap. She chuckled softly, her gaze cool and aloof. “She was certainly quite satisfying. Could it be that Your Majesty would like to try her yourself?”

“Your Majesty is one of the finest Kunze Great Liang has ever seen,” Yan Qingzhuo continued, her voice taking on a suggestive tone. “I imagine Your Majesty understands these matters far better than I do.”

The Emperor of Liang’s smile stiffened on her face, and it took a long moment before she finally managed to wipe it away. What she hated most was having people bring up the fact that she was a Kunze. In particular, those officials were forever harping on about heirs simply because she was a Kunze, which irritated her to no end.

But she couldn’t very well lose her temper over it either. If that old wretch Zhao He lectured her again about how a ruler ought to be benevolent, she felt as though her head might explode.

The Emperor of Liang turned away and asked Zhao He coldly, “Chancellor, are there any matters to report today?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty.” Zhao He glanced at Yan Qingzhuo and said gravely, “Regarding the earlier embezzlement case at the Divine Temple in Lizhou, Magistrate Cui, the convicted official, has already taken her own life out of fear of punishment. However, her daughter, Cui Suwen, has continued submitting petitions to plead her case.”

“Since she’s already admitted her guilt, why should we concern ourselves with the daughter of a mere county magistrate?” The Emperor of Liang frowned impatiently.

“Cui Suwen is known as the Immortal Healer of the Healing Hands. It’s said that she can bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bare bones. She’s deeply respected and loved by the people of Lizhou.” Zhao He raised her head, speaking with considerable earnestness. “The matter still ought to be investigated.”

“Then who does the Chancellor think should investigate it?”

As soon as the Emperor of Liang finished speaking, Zhao He glanced toward Yan Qingzhuo again.

Yan Qingzhuo thought to herself, This old schemer isn’t planning to make me investigate it, is she?

Then she heard Zhao He say, “This humble official believes that Vice Minister of Justice Ye Chanyi is capable of undertaking this important responsibility.”

Ye Chanyi? The woman who’d just helped her out of that awkward situation?

Anyone who caught Zhao He’s attention, whether for good or ill, was truly an unlucky soul.

As Ye Chanyi stepped forward, kowtowed, and accepted the imperial order, Yan Qingzhuo’s mind was already wandering.

The matter had nothing to do with her, so she didn’t particularly care. After all, the original owner hadn’t even known who Ye Chanyi was. Surely this woman had nothing to do with her.

Nothing particularly important came up afterward. Listening to court affairs was even more sleep-inducing than attending an early morning meeting. Yan Qingzhuo was struggling to stay awake and simply passing the time when she heard the female court official beside the emperor call out in a drawn-out, high-pitched voice, “If there are no further matters, court is dismissed—”

Yan Qingzhuo instantly felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She picked up her feet and headed straight outside.

The wind cleared her head considerably. Judging by the time, the physician she’d arranged for Jiang Ji would probably have arrived at the residence by the time she got home.

She had better hurry back and take a look.

She couldn’t let Jiang Ji kill the poor physician.