“The Empress wants to see me?” Fuyi muttered, confused. “Father, I’m fairly sure I haven’t offended Her Majesty’s child…right?”
Though Fuyi had always been bold and impulsive, she never targeted innocent people. Before His Majesty ascended the throne, he had not been favored by the late emperor, which also led to both the empress and their child being treated coldly. In fact, some people even went so far as to belittle His Majesty’s family in an attempt to gain favor with the late emperor’s favored son. Fuyi had always despised such behavior. While she had little interaction with the current prince, she had certainly never wronged him either.
Yun Wanggui nearly choked upon hearing his daughter’s words. What kind of proper young lady, when summoned by the Empress, would instantly wonder if she had bullied a prince?
“If you’ve made an offense, go apologize,” Yun Wanggui said exasperatedly. “Stop causing your father trouble every day.”
Yun Fuyi looked at him with pitiful eyes, her gaze as bright as stars, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
Looking into his daughter’s eyes, Yun Wanggui was reminded of the incident three years ago.
In order to allow her family to escape the pursuit, Fuyi risked her life to lure the assassins away and ended up falling off a cliff. During the agonizing period when they didn’t know if she was dead or alive, the entire family lived in constant anguish. He wasn’t one to believe in gods or Buddhas, but after his daughter went missing, he prayed to every deity and Buddha he could find, desperately hoping she was still alive.
“Since His Majesty intends to entrust me with such responsibilities, the Empress won’t be too harsh on you,” Yun Wanggui softened. “If you really have offended the prince, I will go with you to apologize to him.”
His Majesty’s life prior to ascending the throne was far from easy, with he and the Empress relying on each other through those tough years. The couple’s devotion to one other remained strong, and to this day, they had only one son.
Fuyi got up and walked over to Yun Wanggui, grabbing the sleeve of his robe and shaking it playfully. “Thank you, Father. I knew you’d always be the best to me!”
“Have some decorum,” Yun Wanggui softly reprimanded, though he didn’t pull his sleeve away from her grip.
…
The majestic imperial palace, towering and heavily guarded, was a place most people could never dream of entering, but it wasn’t anything new to Yun Fuyi, who had often visited the palace when the late emperor was still on the throne.
The carriage stopped at Dongfeng Gate, where a few palace servants were already waiting. Seeing Yun Fuyi step out, the eunuch in charge quickly came forward to greet her with a smile. “Greetings to Miss Yun.”
“No need to be so polite,” Yun Fuyi replied, stepping down with the eunuch’s help. “Thank you for leading the way,” she smiled.
“It’s this servant’s honor, Miss Yun.” the eunuch said, guiding her to the prepared sedan chair. “The distance from Dongfeng Gate to Zhaoyang Palace is quite far. Her Majesty, concerned about your frail body, has specially granted you the use of the sedan chair. Please, have a seat.”
Though the words ‘frail’ hardly applied to Fuyi, she had grown accustomed to riding the sedan chair during her palace visits since her childhood. So, after thanking the Empress for her kindness, she sat down comfortably.
As they made their way through the palace, the eunuch remained particularly attentive, occasionally pointing out which residence now belonged to whom. Several palace servants they passed recognized Fuyi. Watching her sit gracefully on the sedan chair, they couldn’t help but sigh softly inside—after the change of the regime, many once-powerful figures had been forced into obscurity, yet here was Miss Yun, returning after three years, still able to ride through the palace in a sedan chair.
“Why is the Chenque Palace sealed off?” Fuyi asked curiously, glancing at the palace to her left.
“The Chenque Palace was renamed the Chenxi Palace1 and has been bestowed to His Imperial Highness.2 His Majesty, knowing His Imperial Highness’ fondness for bamboo, ordered the palace to be rebuilt to his liking. It’s still under construction, hence the enclosure.” The eunuch, recalling past events, carefully watched Yun Fuyi’s expression, expecting her to inquire further.
But to his surprise, Yun Fuyi simply nodded without asking more. “I see.”
The eunuch was a bit taken aback. Chenque Palace had once been Ning Wang’s residence, and Miss Yun had been close to him before leaving the capital. Now that the palace had changed its master, wasn’t she curious?
Just as he was thinking of Ning Wang, the prince himself appeared, walking toward them with two attendants in tow. The eunuch quickly bowed, “This humble servant greets Ning Wang.”
Ning Wang stopped in his tracks, his gaze falling on the figure seated in the sedan chair. Today, she was dressed in a pale yellow palace gown embroidered with sparrows, her forehead adorned with a bright floral ornament that gleamed in the sunlight—just as dazzling as she had been three years ago.
Yun Fuyi looked up at Ning Wang and stepped down from the sedan chair. “This subject daughter greets Ning Wang,” she lowered her head and made a formal curtsy.
After a moment of silence, Ning Wang moved to help her up. “There’s no need for such formalities.”
“Things are not as they once were,” Fuyi said as she took a step back. Her smile was polite yet distant, and there was no mirth in her eyes. “Wouldn’t you agree, Wangye?”
Ning Wang’s expression shifted slightly.
“This subject daughter still needs to pay my respects to Her Majesty. If Wangye has no other matters, please excuse my rudeness for taking my leave first.” Fuyi turned and sat back down in the sedan chair, paying not the slightest regard to how it might embarrass him.
The eunuch lowered his head even further. Miss Yun was right—times had changed. Three years ago, Ning Wang had been the late emperor’s most beloved son, and no one would dare cross him. But now, His Majesty ruled the empire, and Ning Wang had become the loser in the battle for the throne.
“Fuyi…” Ning Wang began.
“Wangye,” Yun Fuyi raised an eyebrow. “You are an engaged man; it would be improper to address a boudoir woman by her given name.”
‘What a lack of male virtue!’
“Oh, and by the way,” she said, casting a sideways glance at the man’s handsome face, “Do you know what my last thought was when I fell off that cliff three years ago?”
Ning Wang’s face went pale.
“If I survive, I will make sure that the scum who harmed my Yun family lives a life worse than death!”
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Author’s Note:
Yun Fuyi: “I am not some delicate damsel; I have the strength and the means to deal with any scum!”
This is a fictional world, and women’s status can be compared to the flourishing Tang and Wu Zhou periods~
Translator’s note:
I added a glossary page. Check it out!
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- Chenque (宸雀): Chen means imperial apartment while Qi means sparrow. Chenxi (宸玺): Chen means imperial apartment while Xi means ruler’s seal.
- Prince or Imperial Son (皇子): All sons born from an emperor are called prince, but this is not a title. Once they reached adulthood, they will be conferred a Wang title. An imperial son is politely addressed as Dianxia (殿下), which roughly translates as ‘His Imperial Highness.’ Their main wife is called Huangzifei (皇子妃) or simply Princess Consort.
Oh, sounds like Ning Wang had a hand in it.