Chapter 57 (1/2)

Chapter 57 Original and most updated translations are from volaretranslations.

After being jolted on the road for a few days, I finally arrived outside the palace walls. The late night was illuminated by a chilly moon, and the high walls seemed to stifle me with an oppressive weight. My heart felt as if it was on tenterhooks. By my estimation, the walls were about three to four zhang[1] high. Taking a deep breath, I peered upwards. It was a good thing I’d recovered most of my skills, or else I might’ve had trouble scaling this thing. After collecting my nerves, I tied the ends of my robes around my waist and flew into the air, leaping atop the palace walls with a single jump.

It was a bit humid, and occasionally the cry of birds rang through the air. There were no trees in this section of the court, so it was hard to walk along the walls beneath the moonlight. I laid low to wait for my chance until a young eunuch pa.s.sed by, and struck him with a rock. He crumpled instantly, allowing me to steal his clothes. a.s.suming a timid posture, I kept walking along the palace walls, noting the gloomy silence. My memory of the grounds led me to the emperor’s quarters.

The north side was dark, illuminated at times by spots of lamplight from the people walking by. It sounded like there were quite a few guards on patrol, as if they were taking extra precautions. I immediately turned back to walk the other way, but their footsteps only grew closer. Not anyone could stroll around the emperor’s courtyard at night. Not to mention, my eunuch’s robes were rather ill-fitting, so a close examination would definitely ruin my disguise. I quickly leapt up into the eaves to lie low, hiding in the darkness.

“Who’s there?!” a voice demanded.

My expression darkened as I crept low over the roof tiles to take a peek. An eunuch was walking past with his hands behind his back, meeting the approaching patrol. Even though he didn’t speak, there was an impressive air about him.

The patrol raised his lantern to s.h.i.+ne on the eunuch and quickly changed his expression into a smile. He bowed down and said, “So it was Head Eunuch Li.”

Head Eunuch Li….??

My thoughts flew into a trance. Although the lighting was dim, there was no way I’d mistake that voice and those features. This was Little Li. The same Little Li that used to serve me was now head of the eunuchs. The only difference now was that he didn’t shake in fear, and his clever smile had faded somewhat. What replaced it was a calm and steady mien as if he always used to be this way.

“The emperor has commanded more guards to be added for these recent days,” He seemed to tilt his mouth in my direction, almost as if he was smiling. “There are plenty of a.s.sa.s.sins that come by in autumn.”

This person was hiding words within his words.

I’d held my breath and lightened my steps, so it should be impossible to detect me. I used to think that after I’d been s.n.a.t.c.hed away, he’d be the one punished since he was my personal servant. But now…

Head Eunuch?

I couldn’t figure it out. But I did see a few more guards appear around the corner, including some archers… Sweat dripped down my brow. Looks like whisking the emperor out of the palace was going to be harder than I thought.

Che! I’ll think of another way.

—

With the impending wedding, security was tight in the still and gloomy palace, while celebrations were in order at the general’s house. The noises from outside and inside blended together with busy preparations everywhere. The end result was that I managed to sneak inside, and I couldn’t help but feel self-satisfied.

No wonder all the people outside were discussing what the general’s daughter looked like. Now that I’d seen her with my own eyes, she really was bright and beautiful. Her figure was soft and supple as well, like water…

Stooping on the roof, I brushed aside the broken fragments of tiles to take a closer peek. A gentle and graceful form sat upright with her back facing me as if she’d just finished taking a bath. There was a servant girl wrapping up her cascading hair in a towel to clean it off. “Young Miss, your servant will fetch some incense for you.”

A crystal clear voice rose in reply, sweet-sounding yet filled with an aristocratic air. “Tell the mama[2] to come in. There are still some steps to tomorrow’s ceremony that I can’t remember, so I’d like to trouble her to repeat them for me.”

After answering in the affirmative, the servant closed the door and went out to give her orders. It wasn’t long before a woman of forty to fifty years old appeared to stand respectfully by the door. Meanwhile, the servant girl headed towards the south gates. I used my lightness technique to follow after her before knocking her out, taking her clothes, and changing my face to a.s.sume her ident.i.ty.

This servant girl’s face was very ordinary, so it was easy to copy. After straightening my clothes, I pulled out a pill and stuck it in her mouth before carrying her body to the ceiling to tie her to the rafters. She’d probably sleep for seven to eight days at this rate.

I followed the path back to her mistress’s room, taking time to regulate my breathing before entering the room and closing the door behind me. The mama was already teaching particulars to the Young Miss inside, but nodded as I entered. She continued in a low voice, “Someone from the palace came to tell my master that when mistress is ready to go, she can take the sedan chair to the palace. Plenty of servants came to serve you for the occasion, and the sedan chair itself is resplendent.”

“Why do we have to rush there overnight? Didn’t father say the court was coming to pick me up tomorrow morning?”

“I heard it was the emperor’s idea.”

That delicately pretty girl gave a small laugh before turning towards me. “Well, have you brought over the incense?”

“Yes, it’ll be ready in a minute.”

I turned to pinch out some incense from my sleeve and stuck it into an incense holder. A thread of light colored smoke wafted into the air as the curious mama walked over to fan the fumes. She was laughing as she spoke. “The things from the imperial palace are so nice. Even the scent of their incense is different.”

That was…

…something I made myself. It not only smelled nice, but had other uses as well. I hid my face to laugh secretly.

“It’s getting late. Be quick with your preparations. Don’t delay the mistress’ important affairs.”

“Yes.” I lifted the incense burner while carrying along a low table to set both behind the lady. As the fumes from the incense rose to slowly suffuse the room, I began to comb her hair. In the bronze mirror, the beauty closed her eyes as if enjoying the smell. The mama helped make up her face before smiling at the lady.

“When mistress is ready, give a call and your servant here will be outside to receive you.”

No one answered her. The mama couldn’t hold her smile indefinitely, so she quickly retreated and closed the door behind her. I leaned forward to peek at the reflection of the lady in the mirror. Her arched eyebrows were like willow leaves, relaxed from enjoying the incense. As I watched, they lifted up slightly to match her growing smile.

“Aiya…you’ve hurt me.”

“Your servant deserves death,” I hastily loosened my grip, but managed to drop the comb. She stared at the mirror, consoling herself by touching her hair while staring at me. “Little Cui[3], you weren’t this clumsy before. What’s wrong with you today?”

When the beauty got angry, her almond-shaped eyes widened and her smile turned cold. It was an unconscious action that betrayed her thoughts and belied her inherent grace, rather hard to imitate. I was long kneeling on the ground, working up a fl.u.s.ter.

“Young Miss is going to the palace to be the empress so your servant kept thinking of you. I’m afraid that I won’t get a chance to serve you anymore.”

This lady was born beautiful, but possessed a heroic tilt of the eyebrows seldom seen in other females. If it was her attending to matters of the inner court, she would probably become very adept. The emperor’s woman should be someone with a bit of daring, after all. So I thought to myself as I kept my head bowed, secretly groping about my sleeves. But she actually grabbed me and spoke, smiling.

“Look at you…I’ve already spoke with father to bring along a few servants. All the palace eunuchs are strange and stiff, and of course none of the court ladies are intimate as the ones from home.”

My entire face was filled with grat.i.tude as I followed the tug of her arm to stand up. Then I spoke quietly. “Actually, you don’t need to inconvenience yourself like this. Young Miss won’t need to worry about what goes on in the palace, either.”

She looked at me in surprise.

I withdrew my hand from my sleeve and tossed stun powder all over her face. There was a simple smile on mine as I leisurely finished her off. “Because…”

“…I’m going to be the one entering court.”

—

Within the Palace.

“The auspicious hour’s arrived!” an eunuch’s voice cried from outside.

Within the chambers of the room, a woman gently raised her eyebrows, as calm and unhurried as before. The faint morning light shone against her body. Eyebrows like these…resembled gloomy willow leaves, and when they creased, betrayed the feelings of this otherwise joyful girl. She possessed a heroic tilt to her eyebrows seldom seem in other females. As she raised her sleeve, slender fingers came to caress her temples, the digits trembling slightly.

I carefully traced my face while facing the mirror, gathering a bit of rouge on my index finger to apply to my lips. The color was a rich, festive red. Some time later, an unfamiliar face appeared in the yellow bronze of the mirror as I completed my preparations. As for the person slated to be empress, I’d hidden her under the bed in the general’s house. She was probably still out cold.

The incense was a good type that made people lower their guard. Smelling it for prolonged periods actually sapped one’s strength away until they were too weak to even call out for help. It was easy to imitate this lady’s bearing and copy her face. As for her voice, I just had to add in the soft syllables of southern girls and their way of speech. It was still extremely difficult to imitate her tone of speech exactly, but I had no way of knowing how familiar Han Zichuan was with this woman.

There was still some lingering fear when I thought back to how I’d hijacked the empress position from the general’s daughter. I’d just touched up the face mask when Little Li…no…I should call him Head Eunuch Li now. He seemed to charge in politely right on time before summoning a group of people to lead me to the sedan chair. Even afterwards, we didn’t leave immediately, but lingered for awhile. I only heard him exchange polite, mocking civilities with the general. And then…I vaguely recalled us leaving through the north gate.

“10,000 blessings for Your Highness,” a voice broke through my thoughts. I recovered my senses to see a court lady greeting me with handkerchief in hand.

Your Highness…

I hadn’t even been conferred a t.i.tle yet, but she still greeted me so naturally.

“The auspicious hour’s arrived, so your servant will help Your Highness change clothes.”

I gently rose from the chair, face expressionless as she washed and dressed me…as it turned out, the red ceremonial robes spread out before me was the exact same cut as the one I’d tried on before for the highest-ranking imperial concubine. Only the embroidery was different, with much more phoenixes and golden beaded dragons.

I couldn’t help but laugh derisively.

Exactly what was Han Zichuan thinking…

Originally I thought he had feelings for Fang Hua. Now that Fang Hua was dying, he hadn’t even bothered asking after him…and yet, he’d let Fang Hua live by himself all these years in his cold and empty house.

As for how he treated me, I used to think he loved me. But when I was stolen away from the palace, he could still live his life as before. It’s fine if he didn’t send anyone to look for me, but now he was suddenly anxious to marry this empress? How laughable.

One after another, the layers of clothing weighed upon me until it was hard to breathe. With the phoenix coronet on my head, even my scalp hurt. The woman in the mirror had white skin and bright red lips, emanating a jubilant aura from the hazy red reflection. But she wasn’t anyone I recognized.

Someone helped me up to the imperial phoenix carriage. That little eunuch was far more anxious than me, almost forcing me into the thing. How strange. It wasn’t like the general’s daughter had refused this marriage.

What was his problem…

My seat wobbled a bit, and I held onto something for support as we began to move. I moved the curtains aside to take a peek outside, seeing golden walls with red tiles, a wide and desolate lane, and a group of eunuchs following along, their steps light and quiet.

Deep into the palace we went.

When Fang Hua was living in the Cold Palace, he must have been so lonely. How could I have thought of leaving him behind back then? A peal of wind blew past the high walls, weighing my heart down in grief, So many chaotic scenes from the past rose in my mind…

“Your Highness,” someone said softly.

I didn’t reply.