A Mirror That Longs To Return - Chapter 9

The towering gates of the imperial city stood open, studded with gilded rivets against vermilion lacquer.

Dragons and phoenixes in flight had been carved into the brick-and-stone walls.

He Jingling’s journey into the palace went remarkably smoothly.

A total of one thousand Jinyiwei waist badges had been cast, each bearing its owner’s name. Moreover, the emperor had personally summoned her. The moment He Jingling reached the palace gates and displayed her badge, the two eunuchs standing guard exchanged glances before smiling ingratiatingly at her.

“Lord He, please wait a moment.”

Before long, a junior eunuch emerged and respectfully led He Jingling deeper into the palace.

This was not her first time, so He Jingling found nothing strange about it.

The same thing had happened the first time she was summoned to the palace for an audience with the emperor.

The junior eunuch conducted himself with extreme caution. Only after leading He Jingling around several corners did he finally speak.

“Lord He, this humble servant was ordered by my godfather to come and receive you.”

He Jingling was surprised.

“Who is your godfather?”

“Eunuch Wei,” the junior eunuch replied quietly. “Wei He.”

He Jingling fell into thought.

The name sounded somewhat familiar.

Wei He was a newly favored figure at the emperor’s side. He was skilled at reading the direction of the wind and adjusting his sails accordingly. He cared nothing for loyalty or sentiment, only profit.

Even someone like him had now reached out to He Jingling, sending his own godson to guide her.

Wasn’t this clearly an olive branch?

It seemed He Jingling truly was about to rise to the heavens today, taking every chicken and dog in her household with her.

The young eunuch escorted He Jingling all the way to the entrance of the hall, then bowed.

“His Majesty has been waiting for quite some time. Lord He, please enter.”

He Jingling nodded and thanked him.

At last, the eunuch smiled.

“This humble servant would not dare accept Lord He’s thanks.”

The corner of He Jingling’s mouth twitched slightly, but she said nothing and entered the hall.

Pale smoke curled through the Golden Dragon Hall. The emperor was staring thoughtfully at a book spread across the desk.

He rubbed the edge of the paper between his fingers. Hearing movement at the entrance, he raised his head.

The emperor was only around twenty years old. Even dressed in imperial dragon robes, he still did not look particularly formidable.

Not that he ever would.

He Jingling thought this gloomily. After all, that was how the novel developed.

Today, she was not wearing the red Flying Fish Robe and therefore lacked the sharp, striking air she had possessed during the Mid-Autumn banquet.

“Chiliarch He, I have finally managed to see you.”

The emperor narrowed his eyes, amusement and scrutiny mingling within them.

“There is no need to salute.”

He Jingling’s movements paused. Although she held her head upright, she still displayed proper respect.

“This subject thanks Your Majesty for your grace.”

“There is no need for empty formalities between us.”

The emperor lowered his voice.

“After all, I will still need to rely heavily upon Lord He in the future.”

He Jingling lowered her head.

The emperor leisurely savored the tea on his desk.

“This pre-Qingming Biluochun truly must be drunk while it is hot. People are much the same. They must be cultivated at the proper time. Wouldn’t you agree, Lord He?”

Every time he summoned her, the emperor gave some variation of this speech.

“Your Majesty is entirely correct.”

He Jingling could only agree.

The emperor nodded in satisfaction and slowly moved to the real subject.

“At the Mid-Autumn banquet that night, Lord He appeared at precisely the right moment. You helped me recover a great deal of dignity in front of Prince Heng.”

Yan Qiu’s position as crown prince had never been secure.

At one point, he had fallen deep into the mire and stood on the verge of being stripped of his rank and reduced to a commoner.

Fortunately, his imperial elder sister had done everything in her power to save him, allowing him to escape disaster.

Throughout the Great Yan Dynasty, powerful and illustrious empress dowagers and princesses had never been uncommon.

One recent example was his aunt.

The closest was his elder sister.

The time he had nearly been reduced to a commoner had been thanks to Prince Heng.

Yet even now, the emperor still had no way to deal with Prince Heng completely.

At present, the only princes in the Great Yan Dynasty who held military authority were Prince Heng and one prince of a different surname.

For now, the emperor could only barely depend upon Princess Jialang, but he had long since begun thinking about seizing power from her.

He Jingling said, “This subject was promoted by Your Majesty, so naturally I must serve Your Majesty.”

The emperor took another sip of tea and looked approvingly at He Jingling.

“Lord He is a sensible person. Speaking of which, I still have a few doubts regarding the palace disturbance during that banquet…”

“What doubts does Your Majesty have?”

The emperor stared at He Jingling and spoke one word at a time.

“I am merely wondering whether so few people remain in the Jinyiwei. Aside from you and Pei Jin, everyone I saw that night seemed rather advanced in age.”

Older men might not react quickly enough, yet they had happened to be on duty precisely when the palace coup occurred.

“Lord Pei arranged it. This subject was not originally among those assigned that night. I merely filled in for Lord Zhao.”

“Pei Jin arranged it?”

A cold gleam gradually appeared in the emperor’s eyes, and his voice chilled.

“Is that so? Fortunately, no important person was injured during the coup. Only a few insignificant eunuchs died.”

As the emperor spoke, he leaned back and slowly closed his eyes.

The beast-headed incense burner continued releasing delicate tendrils of fragrance.

A palace coup was naturally a confidential matter.

Since the emperor did not bring it up directly, He Jingling would not ask.

What if she accidentally became entangled in it and was killed?

In He Jingling’s opinion, guarding against unidentified arrows during the coming battle of male rivalry was already stressful enough.

“Pei Jin can be considered young and capable,” the emperor murmured. “Unfortunately, he is far too stubborn. I once bestowed a marriage upon him, but he refused it.”

Could he possibly have accepted it?

He Jingling complained inwardly.

At first, the emperor had intended to win Pei Jin over, but his efforts had failed.

After considering the matter, he thought of his deceased consort, He Huiyi.

This was where the issue of He Jingling’s identity after transmigrating into the novel came in.

According to the system, it had deliberately arranged everything this way.

He Zhenxian had accidentally picked up a bundle the emperor had “lost” and was forcibly given another eldest daughter. Through a series of twists and turns, even their family genealogy was altered.

Eventually, they were connected by blood on paper to the He family of Qingyang.

Because of the women in her family, He Jingling had then been appointed a chiliarch of the Jinyiwei.

“Dear host, with this identity, you will surely be like a tiger given wings! I believe you will undoubtedly emerge victorious from the great battle of male rivalry!”

Although it was absurd, it had at least given He Jingling a clear identity and background.

Damn it.

Had the other choice the system offered not been even more absurd, she never would have agreed to follow this path.

Even after an entire year, He Jingling still felt her chest tighten whenever she recalled it.

Not a single woman competing for the female lead had appeared in the original novel, yet here she was willingly charging into female rivalry.

How was that supposed to attract attention?

Was she simply dissatisfied with how slowly she was heading toward the grave?

The emperor set down his teacup and suddenly asked, “Speaking of which, Lord He, do you know why I summoned you to the palace today?”

He Jingling shook her head.

“This subject does not know.”

“I heard that you escorted the Eldest Princess back to her residence that night.”

The emperor’s gaze grew increasingly obscure, and his voice took on a peculiar tone, somewhere between expectation and suspicion.

“Did that truly happen?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, it did. Moreover, Her Highness the Eldest Princess kept this subject there for the entire night.”

He Jingling delivered the answer smoothly and without pause, afraid the emperor might become even slightly more suspicious of her.

In the original novel, the conflict between the Yan siblings ran throughout the entire story. Both had planted informants among the other’s people.

Since the emperor currently wished to recruit He Jingling, he would naturally watch her closely.

With that in mind, He Jingling decided honesty would be safer.

The emperor showed faint surprise.

He had not expected He Jingling to be so straightforward.

It seemed he would not need to reveal too much of his ruthless side today.

After thinking for a moment, he raised an eyebrow and curved his lips playfully.

“Lord He should understand what it means to be kept for an entire night by my imperial elder sister, shouldn’t you?”

It meant that even if she had not entered the residence upright and left lying flat, He Jingling would probably be found dead in the wilderness within a few days!

But He Jingling did not dare say that.

She could only shake her head.

“This subject truly does not know. I was promoted beyond my merits, and there are still many things I do not understand.”

“It does not matter.”

The emperor believed her explanation.

“I summoned you precisely because I knew you were unaware.”

He Jingling looked confused.

“Your Majesty, please enlighten this subject.”

The emperor did not answer.

Instead, he descended from the raised platform and came to stand before He Jingling.

Unfortunately, his short and compact stature could not compare with He Jingling’s in any respect.

He did not resemble his elder sister in the slightest either.

Even so, the emperor presented himself with considerable solemnity.

“I know it was not easy for your respected mother to raise you and your younger sibling through so much hardship… It is understandable that she knows little of court affairs.”

He had carefully searched among numerous people surnamed He before finally selecting He Jingling.

A widowed mother and fatherless children, belonging to a single-heir branch of the family.

Their genealogy was convenient to alter, and they were easier to control.

“‘None in embroidered robes can surpass his beauty.’ Lord He truly is an outstanding young man of this age.”

The emperor turned his back to her.

From this angle, He Jingling had a perfect view of his flat-backed head.

“At the time, I was surprised that my imperial elder sister had not taken an interest in Lord He. That night, she even said she had no interest in you.”

He Jingling laughed politely twice.

“Yet not even half a day later, she summoned Lord He to her residence and kept you overnight.”

The emperor chuckled twice more.

“So it turns out she likes someone like Lord He.”

His laughter made He Jingling’s skin crawl, but she could only remain standing stiffly.

“Then, Lord He, what happened that night?”

The emperor abruptly turned and leaned closer, looking eager to know.

Seeing the anticipation on his face, He Jingling tugged faintly at the corner of her mouth and finally told him the truth.

Although the truth was cruel, absolutely nothing had happened between the two of them.

The emperor’s expression turned cold for an instant, but he did not doubt He Jingling’s words.

“I knew it… All those male favorites in her residence are merely there for show.”

He Jingling remained silent.

In the original novel, the emperor frequently sent male favorites to Yan Changjun. On the surface, it appeared he was pleasing the princess, but in reality, he was planting spies.

Still, the fact that He Jingling had been taken into Yan Changjun’s room after their first meeting greatly pleased the emperor.

It had already exceeded his expectations.

“But Lord He has already performed well enough.”

The emperor returned to the imperial seat.

“Being allowed into the Eldest Princess’s residence is no small accomplishment.”

He Jingling understood the hidden meaning and quickly said, “This subject owes everything to Your Majesty’s promotion.”

Silence filled the air for a breath.

The emperor carefully examined He Jingling before speaking leisurely.

“As expected, I did not misjudge Lord He. Your future prospects are limitless.”

The current commander was still her superior.

For the emperor to say this was effectively a promise.

He Jingling remained silent and allowed him to guide the conversation to another subject.

“Is your respected mother in good health?”

She was.

“And what of Lord He’s younger sister?”

Xiaolou was now twelve or thirteen and studied every day in preparation for the female officials’ examination two years later.

The emperor nodded. After thinking for a while and exchanging a few more pleasantries, he indicated that He Jingling could leave.

He Jingling emerged from the Golden Dragon Hall and walked along the palace road.

Unexpectedly, she encountered a group of civil officials.

Someone among them pointed toward her but did not offer a greeting.

He Jingling did not recognize these men dressed in crimson and dark green robes.

She was about to pass them when someone suddenly called out.

“Lord He, please wait.”

The voice was warm, clear, and refined.

He Jingling turned toward it.

The speaker was an elegant scholarly man, graceful and open as a clear sky after rain, with an exceptionally gentle presence.

Her heart immediately gave a jolt.

“This humble official is Xie Yanchu, a director in the Ministry of Rites.”

The softly spoken sentence landed with the weight of ten thousand pounds.

This was the male protagonist of the original novel.

He had known the female lead since childhood, but he had never become her prince consort.

Had the female lead and male protagonist simply gotten together from the beginning, there would have been no story worth reading.

Instead, the plot had been extraordinarily turbulent.

After the bloody battle of male rivalry, Xie Yanchu had survived to the end.

Although he was eventually imprisoned, he could still barely be considered the victor.

“Oh. Lord Xie.”

He Jingling looked surprised and offered a slight bow.

Xie Yanchu’s brows and eyes were gentle, and his voice remained peaceful.

“I have long heard of Lord He’s great reputation. I heard that during the Mid-Autumn banquet, it was Lord He who protected Her Highness Princess Jialang and escorted her out of the palace.”

Why did everyone surnamed Pei or Xie refuse to let this matter go?

“Her Highness ordered this humble official to accompany her.”

He Jingling used different explanations depending on whom she faced.

Xie Yanchu’s expression did not change in the slightest. A faint smile remained on his face.

“Lord He is indeed impressive. Still, for a Jinyiwei officer to protect Her Highness is only natural.”

“Precisely. That must be why Her Highness selected me to accompany her.”

He Jingling spoke casually.

“I was quite honored that Princess Jialang granted me such an opportunity.”

Xie Yanchu’s expression stiffened.

After considering the matter, he spoke again.

“I have something to report to Her Highness the Eldest Princess. Would Lord He be willing to honor me by accompanying me there?”

He Jingling replied calmly, “Lord Xie is kind, but I am very busy.”

Xie Yanchu’s clear eyes darkened slightly.

“There is no need for Lord Xie to trouble himself.”

He Jingling took two steps away.

“I only left the Eldest Princess’s residence yesterday morning. Everything that needed to be said has already been said.”

Xie Yanchu’s temple twitched.

He stared fixedly toward the distant horizon, where fiery evening clouds rolled and swallowed the clarity of daylight.

At last, someone beside him spoke.

“Young Master, are we still going to Princess Jialang’s residence?”

“…No.”

She had not seen him for a very long time.