Under the Empress’s watchful gaze, Xunian saw Fu Ruxue out the door.
Once Fu Ruxue was sure there was no one around, she quickly pulled Xunian aside to a secluded spot.
Without delay, Fu Ruxue began pouring out everything she’d discovered the night before.
“There’s always been a rumor in the Imperial Palace. They say that at midnight, the sound of a woman’s mournful crying can often be heard coming from some corner of the palace.”
“When did this rumor first appear?”
“My people asked the old Nannies in the palace. It started the year the Emperor ascended the throne and has continued ever since.”
So, this rumor was inevitably connected to the Emperor.
Xunian remembered the rules.
[Rule One]: Do not look directly into the Emperor’s eyes.
Perhaps it was related to Rule One.
“Also, have you noticed? The Imperial Son is already an adult, but both the Empress and the other Consorts all look very young—none of them are over thirty……”
“I looked into it, and as expected, there were other Consorts in the past. Of ten, seven disappeared, two went mad, and the last died under strange circumstances. But since new faces kept coming in and the Palace Maids who served their mistresses were buried with them, very few know about it.”
“How did you find out?” Xunian caught a detail.
If so few people knew about this, how did Fu Ruxue manage to learn all of it in just one day?
“Don’t ask. I have my ways.”
“I know. Be careful when you’re digging around,” Xunian said, remembering something.
“Once you get the Palace Banquet List, give me a copy.”
“OK.” Fu Ruxue made an “OK” hand signal.
From the shadows, the Hei Yi Ren vaguely overheard their conversation.
He was certain that the gesture Fu Ruxue made must be some sort of secret sign, so he observed and memorized it carefully.
“The Palace Banquet is the perfect opportunity to test who might be Players. We should keep a close eye on those with power and status—there’s bound to be Players among them.”
“Alright, I’ll find an excuse to test them when the time comes.”
Sensing a gaze fall on her, Xunian glanced over her shoulder, then leaned close to Fu Ruxue and whispered in her ear,
“Walls have ears.”
Fu Ruxue was a little startled and lowered her voice even further.
“Even here, there are ears? Then that means the Empress’s…” she gestured, “subordinates?”
“Yes.”
Fu Ruxue felt compelled to ask Xunian on someone’s behalf, “Do you still remember the Duke’s Daughter by the shores of the Capital?”
Now that Xunian and the Empress seemed so close, even Fu Ruxue was finding it hard to watch.
Xunian had no idea what Fu Ruxue was misunderstanding.
“What if I told you the Empress is the Duke’s Daughter—would you believe me?”
Fu Ruxue’s expression was filled with disbelief—her eyes all but shouted, ‘I don’t believe you.’
“Anyway, be careful.”
The Empress looks so frail—can she even handle it?
Hidden in the shadows, the Hei Yi Ren could no longer hear their words, and didn’t realize how thoroughly he’d been exposed.
He turned and repeated everything he’d overheard to the Empress word for word.
He also relayed the hand signal to her.
The Empress tried to mimic the gesture, making an “OK” sign.
What kind of code was this?
The Empress couldn’t decipher the meaning of this sign, no matter how well-read she was.
Xunian opened the door, a flash of black darting past her eyes.
Was it the one who’d tailed her that day?
The Empress greeted her calmly, “Come.”
Dressed in white, with a furry blanket draped over her shoulders, the Empress made room beside her and smiled gently.
“Would you like me to teach you some characters today?”
Xunian hesitated for a moment. “Alright.”
She sat down next to the Empress, wrapped in the familiar scent of medicinal herbs, mixed with the sleep-inducing fragrance of Calming Incense in the air. For some reason, she felt at ease.
Outside, willow branches swayed, and the gentle wind rustled softly.
“This character is called qing.” Listening to the Empress’s slow explanation, Xunian’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
“If you’re tired, just sleep for a while.”
A pair of soft, cool hands covered her eyes, coaxing them closed.
Half-asleep, Xunian heard the Empress say, “From now on, I’ll call you Nian Nian—how’s that?”
Xunian frowned instinctively, rejecting the name.
No.
Only her elder sister could call her that. No one else was allowed to take that privilege—no one.
It felt as if someone had tried calling her that before—
Duke’s Daughter.
Her thoughts faded as she drifted into deep sleep.
The Empress, sitting beside Xunian, draped half her own blanket over her and quietly listened to Xunian’s breathing grow calm and even.
She was so close she could nearly touch noses with Xunian—close enough to count her eyelashes and see the fine peach fuzz on her face.
When Xunian slept, she looked even more obedient—so much softer than her usual chilly self.
Her cherry-red lips murmured in sleep, and the Empress’s deep eyes lingered on them, suddenly wanting to kiss her.
Her heart raced.
Only when Xunian was asleep did the Empress dare let a little of her strange affection show, for fear of scaring her while she was awake.
Had she fallen for Xunian at first sight?
It seemed so—from the very first glance, her heart had chosen Xunian.
Restraining herself, she gently hugged Xunian. Even through the layers of clothing, feeling Xunian’s warmth brought her contentment.
Perhaps she shouldn’t delay Xunian’s future.
“Fira…”
Fira?
That sounded like a person’s name.
Such a strange name.
So Xunian was calling out someone else’s name in her sleep while lying here with her???
The Empress’s gentle gaze instantly chilled, jealousy burning inside her like biting into a lemon.
Her mind spun with possessive and obsessive thoughts.
Maybe it would be best to just lock her up and keep her by her side.
……
Thick, ink-black night shrouded the entire palace.
Though it was summer, the air was eerily cool, the long drone of cicadas echoing in the dark.
“Tok, tok, tok.”
The sound of wooden clogs striking planks came from far to near.
A Palace Maid carried a lantern through the palace corridors, her silhouette flickering in the shifting glow.
Her footsteps suddenly slowed.
In the darkness, something long seemed to hang from the branches of a nearby tree.
She held her breath and crept closer.
The lantern light illuminated the thing.
It was a pair of rouge-red embroidered shoes, with deathly pale ankles exposed above them.
Her breath quickened, heart pounding as if squeezed by an invisible hand.
Shaking, she raised the lantern higher.
A pair of eyes, showing only whites laced with red veins, stared straight at her.
Foam dripped from the corpse’s mouth, its tongue unnaturally long, fingernails dark purple, neck tied with a rope and body hanging from the tree.
“Pa—”
The lantern crashed to the ground. Her legs buckled, and she collapsed, a shrill, terror-stricken scream tearing from her throat—
“Ahhh!!!”