13.
To break the awkward tension, I immediately called toward the door:
“Why haven’t you brought in the tea yet?”
As it happened, Shangguan Yan was the one who brought in the tea.
But she accidentally spilled it all over me.
I sprang to my feet and slapped the table hard:
“What kind of work is that? You’re so clumsy! Did you burn yourself anywhere?”
As I spoke, I grabbed her hand and examined it.
The emperor: “…”
The regent: “…”
A beauty’s hand really was soft.
Shangguan Yan blushed and murmured, “Empress Dowager, I… I’m fine. Did you get burned anywhere?”
“I’m fine. I’ve got tough skin.” I smiled gently, then pulled her inside with me. “Come along and help me change.”
I took off my outer robe and let her help me change.
“Do you like either of those two? I could help set you up.”
I really couldn’t take those two men anymore. If I could get rid of one, I would.
“Th-that wouldn’t be appropriate. The emperor is wise and mighty, while the regent is decisive and ruthless. And both are peerlessly handsome. I’m just a tribute from Phu Du. How could I dare presume?”
One was unfathomably cunning; the other smiled without really smiling.
Neither of them was any good!
“Men are nothing but entertainment. We women shouldn’t think so little of ourselves.”
“Empress Dowager, your way of thinking is truly unusual—far beyond ours, the women of Phu Du. But… I truly wouldn’t dare reach above my station.”
All right, I got it. They were both rotten vegetables that no one wanted.
14.
The royal family was holding an autumn hunt, and the winner would be awarded a thousand taels of gold.
So tempting! I really wanted to take part!
With that much money, I could sneak away from here!
So, before the hunt began, I seized the chance to practice riding and archery at the imperial racecourse.
The third time the horse threw me, I suddenly heard a quiet laugh from a distance.
“You’re just as stupid as you were the first time I met you. How can anyone be this stupid?”
I glared over at him.
One look told me it was that bastard emperor!
A dog can’t spit out ivory—he couldn’t say one nice thing!
“Keep staring and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”
Hmph, as if I care!
I got up off the ground, determined to climb onto the horse again.
I refused to believe I couldn’t learn! I was an outstanding student at a top-tier university, after all, and I wasn’t bad at sports!
I gritted my teeth, gathered momentum, and leaped into the saddle, turning around as I landed—successfully mounting the horse!
“See?… Ah!”
Before I could even gloat to the bastard emperor, the horse beneath me suddenly went wild and bolted like the wind.
All I could do was cling to the horse’s neck. Whether from fear or the dust blowing into my eyes, tears began streaming down my face.
The emperor immediately spurred his horse after me. After circling the track, he quickly caught up.
He reached out to grab my collar, but the horse only ran more and more wildly.
I was so scared I squeezed my eyes shut.
The next moment, he wrapped his arms around me and we rolled to the ground.
“You little fool, why are you crying? I’m here now.”
“Who’s crying? The wind and dust are just too bad!”
I mustered my courage and opened my eyes. I saw scrape marks on his arm from our fall.
The sleeve of his bright yellow robe was torn, and blood seeped through.
“You’re hurt!”
“It’s a small wound, nothing to worry about. You want to learn to ride and shoot? Wait until I change, and then I’ll teach you.”
After changing, he patiently showed me how to mount, then taught me how to shoot a bow.
He stood behind me, guiding my hands as he adjusted my aim.
His warm breath brushed lightly against my neck.
“Trần Uyển Uyển, keep your right hand steady and your eyes focused. Fix your gaze on the target. Once you’ve made up your mind, commit to hitting it.”
Whoosh!
The arrow sliced through the air and struck the bull’s-eye.
“I’m amazing!”
“You’re not completely hopeless.”
15.
After a long period of grueling practice in riding and archery, the autumn hunt finally began.
But I didn’t even get a chance to show off my riding and archery skills.
Because I… was poisoned.
I drank a cup of tea, then promptly started spitting up blood.
“Which damn scoundrel is trying to kill me?!”
The moment I finished speaking, I passed out.
16.
When I woke up, I saw the emperor and the regent standing beside my bed.
Shangguan Yan was tied up and kneeling on the floor.
I furrowed my brow and spoke slowly:
“Why did you poison me? I don’t think I’ve treated you badly.”
“I let you do as you pleased in the palace, never made you serve me, and made sure you got your share of the food.”
Shangguan Yan’s face was expressionless. “I have nothing to say. Kill me.”
With that, she lowered her head and said nothing more.
The emperor glanced at the regent, his gaze inscrutable.
“Regent, take her and interrogate her. See if you can get anything out of her.”
“Your Majesty, I obey.”
“Since you’ve received my order, take her away and question her.”
Using the same excuse to send everyone away twice—what a bastard emperor.
“It seems the autumn hunt will have to be canceled.”
The moment I heard I might not get the thousand taels of gold, I shot up from the brink of death.
“We’ve come all this way. It’d be a shame to cancel it. I’ll be fine after two days in bed. Canceling would spoil everyone’s fun.”
The emperor pressed me back onto the bed, pulled the covers over me, and smiled gently:
“You little miser. Lie still and get some rest. I’ll do as you wish.”
I must not have fully recovered from the poison, because I soon drifted back into a hazy sleep.
17.
At last, Shangguan Yan confessed why she had poisoned me.
She’d been ordered by people from Phu Du.
She thought that if I weren’t around, the emperor would have brought her into the imperial harem long ago.
But because of me, she could only remain a lowly servant.
For that reason, she decided to kill me.
Clearly, that wasn’t the real reason.
If that were really the case, why hadn’t she said so when I asked her?
The regent smiled and praised me for being clever.
He promised to spare Shangguan Yan’s life, and only then did she reveal that the true mastermind was the emperor.
He had promised to exempt Phu Du from paying tribute for one year in exchange for her poisoning me to death.
Because the emperor could wait no longer.
He suspected I had secretly agreed to side with the regent.
He wanted to kill me, then bring a woman from the Chen family into the imperial harem.
That way, he could gain complete control over the Chen family’s power.
He took my hand, his gaze deep and unreadable.
“Wanwan, you and I come from the same world. You have to trust me.
“Only when I stand at the very top can I protect you and keep you safe for the rest of your life in this palace.”
I closed my eyes, my heart burning like a fire.
After a long while, I finally replied:
“Give me some time to think.”
18.
The hunt officially began.
I rode a warhorse into the forest.
I had just raised my bow and hit a hare when I heard a sharp arrow whistling straight toward me.
A strong arm pulled me into a warm embrace. A moment later, I heard an arrow tear through flesh.
The regent had arrived.
“Wanwan, are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
But just then, black-clad men leaped down from the trees and surrounded us.
“Kill them!”
I was their target!
“Run!”
“I’ll protect you!”
He stepped in front of me and casually snapped off the arrow embedded in his shoulder.
I had truly underestimated the regent’s martial skills.
He simply picked up a stone and hurled it, knocking the swords out of the hands of three black-clad men.
Then he kicked the last one away.
After just a few exchanges, he had killed three of them. Only one was left alive.
He stepped forward and asked coldly:
“Who sent you?”
“I won’t tell you.”
The man crushed the poison pill in his mouth and dropped dead on the spot.
But they found a secret order bearing the imperial insignia on him.
Only the emperor could have issued such an order.
The regent held me tight.
“Thank goodness I got here in time. Otherwise, you’d have been in danger.”
“I can’t lose you again.”
He tore a strip of cloth from his clothes.
I took it and gently bandaged the wound on his shoulder.
I looked at him and said softly:
“Let me help you.”
19.
After the hunt ended, the emperor summoned Chen Xin’er, the third young lady of the Chen family, to the palace and immediately made her Consort De.
She was the first consort he had officially appointed.
But if I remembered correctly, Chen Xin’er already had someone she loved.
He was our residence’s deputy general, and had grown up with her.
I truly hadn’t expected her to agree to enter the palace.
After Chen Xin’er entered the palace, she came to pay her respects to me, but I made an excuse that I wasn’t feeling well and turned her away.
20.
After Chen Xin’er entered the palace, the regent came to see me.
He said that now I had to trust him completely.
He told me his plan.
Three months later, he would join forces with Phu Du to stage a border rebellion, forcing the emperor to send a large part of his army to defend the frontier.
At that moment, he would lead the secret army he had been training for years straight into the imperial palace.
He intended to force the emperor to declare himself unworthy of the throne and pass it to his younger brother.
If the emperor refused… he would kill him outright.
After all, they were twins, with exactly the same face.
Once the emperor was dead, he could simply succeed him as the eldest son and secure his place on the throne.
21.
I summoned my father, Chen Shen.
I laid out the current situation for him in detail.
Then I added:
“Although Chen Xin’er is your daughter, she entered the palace against her will.
“She may not be wholeheartedly devoted to the Chen family.
“But I’m different. I’m the Empress Dowager now.
“I understand one thing: when the family prospers, we all share in its glory; when it falls, we all lose everything.
“I only want to strengthen the Chen family.
“But if anything happens to me, don’t expect the Chen family to remain safe, either. You wouldn’t want to drag the whole family to its death with me, would you?”
In the end, my father nodded and promised that, no matter what, the Chen family would stand with me.
22.
Before long, news arrived at the palace that Phu Du had rebelled.
I knew the storm in the palace was about to break.
Everything unfolded just as the regent had predicted.
The emperor sent ten thousand soldiers out of the capital to guard the frontier.
The palace guard was greatly reduced, leaving the Forbidden City more vulnerable to infiltration than ever.
It seemed this dynasty was about to change hands.
“Xiao Cui, before court this morning, make sure I look my very best.”
Xiao Cui asked in surprise, “Empress Dowager, you usually prefer a light touch with your makeup.”
“Add a bold line of black across my eyelids. Today, I’m going dark.
“I’m done being a pure-hearted white lotus!”
Xiao Cui: “…”