“Is this the study?” Fuyi paused, pulling back the foot she had stepped over the threshold. The study was a very important place, and as the daughter of an official, she couldn’t enter casually.
“There’s nothing particularly sensitive here,” Sui Tingheng assured her. “Come in and take a look.”
“Thank you, Your Imperial Highness.” Fuyi stepped inside and quickly realized the prince’s study was quite different from what she had imagined.
Large lattice windows draped with transparent silk screens let in plenty of light. Positioned nearby was a soft couch, perfectly suited for lounging and reading storybooks. Beside it sat a cozy rocking chair and a swing big enough for two or three people, accompanied by a tall multi-shelf cabinet, seemingly ready to hold an array of snacks. Against the wall stood the working desk, adorned with neatly arranged jade brushes, their handles intricately carved with auspicious patterns.
Bookshelves lined the walls, holding a variety of books. As Fuyi glanced over them, she noticed shelves stocked with storybooks that were particularly popular among the masses.
A decorative curtain made of precious jade beads divided the study into two sections. The area beyond had the look of a traditional scholar’s study, with densely packed bookshelves, an incense burner, a chessboard, and other customary paraphernalia. Fuyi glanced briefly but quickly lost interest.
She reached out to lift the bead curtain; the jade beads making a crisp sound as they swayed. Suddenly, she realized something: this part of the study had likely been meticulously designed for the future Crown Princess. The presence of the soft couch, rocking chair, swing, and storybooks all made sense in this context.
She stole another glance at the bookshelves, noticing many titles she didn’t recognize. In the three years she’d been away from the capital, she had missed out on so much.
“Are there books here that Miss Yun likes?” Sui Tingheng asked, stepping through the curtain and approaching the bookshelf. His clean, slender fingers brushed across the neatly arranged spines. “These are all storybooks published in the capital over the past three years. They are not quite my taste, but if you like, you can take them all.”
“Huh?” Fuyi awkwardly cleared her throat. “Your Imperial Highness, aren’t these prepared for your future consort?”
“Before I befriended Miss Yun, I had no close female acquaintances, let alone a future consort,” Sui Tingheng replied, clapping his hands lightly. A eunuch entered to pack the storybooks into boxes, ready for Fuyi to take with her. “If you don’t take them, they’ll just sit here collecting dust.”
“This subject daughter thanks Your Imperial Highness for the bestowal.” Seeing several large boxes filled to the brim with storybooks, Fuyi couldn’t hold back her grin. ‘As expected, His Imperial Highness is the best prince ever!’
When Qiushuang and Xiayu saw Fuyi enter Chenxi Palace empty-handed but emerge with a train of eunuchs carrying wooden boxes, their eyes widened. ‘Miss! His Imperial Highness hadn’t even moved into Chenxi Palace yet, but you have already helped herself to its contents?!’
“Your Imperial Highness, Grand Tutor Lu requests an audience,” Mo Wen walked to Sui Tingheng and whispered.
Knowing she shouldn’t take more of his time, Fuyi curtsied and bade farewell, “Your Imperial Highness, it’s getting late. This subject daughter will take her leave,”
“Mo Wen, escort Miss Yun to her carriage,” Sui Tingheng instructed. He took a step toward Fuyi but suddenly stopped. “Also, take some of the fresh fruit tributes the palace recently received and wrap them for Miss Yun to take home.”
Fuyi bowed again. “Thank you for your generosity, Your Imperial Highness.”
‘Compared to His Majesty, the prince is much more generous!’
As Fuyi walked out of the palace followed by a procession of attendants carrying boxes, the sight reminded the palace staff of three years ago. Back then, Miss Yun had been favored by the late Emperor and often left the palace laden with gifts—some from the Emperor himself and others from concubines trying to curry favor.
“Mo Wen,” Fuyi said, noticing a long line of men and women escorted out of the palace by the imperial guards. “Who are those people?”
“Yun Junjun, they are palace maids and eunuchs who have served for over ten years,” Mo Wen replied. “Her Majesty, in her benevolence, has granted them permission to leave the palace. Those unwilling to return home may serve at Changning Palace, attending to the dowager consorts of the late Majesty.”
“Her Majesty is truly kind-hearted.”
With this, the Empress had finally eradicated the old factions within the palace. From now on, all matters, both great and small, would fall entirely under her authority.
With the new ruler came a new court. The Empress had exercised remarkable patience before taking action, showing more than enough courtesy for those being replaced.
“Miss Yun, Miss Yun!” A palace maid broke through the imperial guards’ blockade and knelt before Fuyi, clutching her feet and pleading through tears, “This servant once served you. Please help me plead my case with Her Majesty. This servant doesn’t want to go to Changning Palace. I beg you to save me!”
“You’re from Xiangkun Palace, aren’t you?” Fuyi recognized the maid as a second-class attendant who had served Noble Consort Zeng.
“Miss, you still remember this servant?” The maid knocked her head against the ground repeatedly. “This servant begs you, for the sake of your past relationship with Xiangkun Palace, please save me!”
Qiushuang and Xiayu’s expressions darkened in an instant. To mention Xiangkun Palace’s ties with their Miss in front of so many palace attendants and imperial guards—was this truly a plea for help, or a ploy to sow suspicion between the Emperor and the Yun family?
Fuyi stared at the maid, who clung to her leg while recounting how kind Xiangkun Palace had been to her, and instead of getting angry, she laughed.
Three years had passed, and someone was finally trying palace scheming tactics on her again. She almost found it nostalgic.
“If you’ve served me, surely you know I’m petty and vengeful?” Fuyi pulled her leg free from the maid’s grasp. “I still remember how Noble Consort Zeng whispered sweet nothings to the late Emperor, causing the Yun family to be exiled to the remote Chongzhou.”
The late Emperor, that old geezer, had not only been lecherous but also obsessed with immortality, keeping a host of ‘sages’ in the palace to provide him with elixirs. Noble Consort Zeng had conspired with these so-called sages to drive many court officials who had opposed her out of the capital, including the Yun family.
“That was Noble Consort doing; what does that have to do with Wangye?! Have you forgotten all the kindness he showed you? Yun Fuyi, why did you have to survive? Why didn’t you just die?”
“You all wanted me dead,” Fuyi tilted her head, smiling charmingly, “but I’m determined to live well, just to spite you. I’ll be the thorn in your side forever, ruining your plans. Annoying, isn’t it? Oh, I’m so happy. You deserve to be annoyed.”
“Yun Fuyi, you will die a horrible death—”
Before the maid could finish, Mo Wen stepped forward, silencing her with a swift gag. “What are you waiting for? Drag her out immediately!” He gestured for the imperial guards to remove the maid, then turned to Fuyi, bowing repeatedly. “Yun Junjun, please don’t be angered. The Yun family’s loyalty to His Majesty can’t be more evident. Neither His Majesty nor His Imperial Highness would pay heed to such slander.”
As the maid was dragged away, her eyes burned with hatred, glaring at Fuyi with such intensity as if she wanted to devour her alive.
“I understand, Eunuch Mo. Thank you for your concern,” Fuyi said, meeting the maid’s gaze without flinching, her smile growing even brighter.
That smile seemed to infuriate the maid further. Her eyes widened, and she looked as though she might lunge at Fuyi and tear her apart if not restrained.
‘How dare she? How dare she?!’
‘His Imperial Highness had shown such great favor to her, a mere daughter of a court official. But not only had she refused to help him take the throne, but she had even added insult to injury when he fell from grace. How could such a heartless, ungrateful woman live so well?!’
‘Why didn’t she die on that cliff, her bones picked clean by wild beasts?! Why had she survived to break His Highness’s heart?!‘
“Hatred is indeed stronger than love,” Fuyi remarked. “Look at her—two guards are barely enough to hold her down. Such strength! It really shows how deeply she feels about me.”
“…” Qiushuang and Xiayu exchanged glances. ‘Please, Miss, say no more. What if she becomes a ghost and returns to haunt you?’
Fuyi smirked coldly. Wants her to die? After enduring the agony of broken bones and barely surviving, she had vowed to never yield. As for past relationships? What a joke. All she remembered was the excruciating pain and desperation that had nearly made her wish for death.
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Was he really in on it regarding her close to death experience? With the way she talks, she sound so sure. All those past intimate times seems to be of the past that did not matter to her. I wonder what made her so sure that he was the culprit to her fallen days?