Even though Xiao Jiu tried desperately to look elsewhere, the corner of his eye still caught the scattered bruises and marks covering the pale chest visible beneath Nalan Xuan’s loosely opened collar. Everyone in Fengyi Palace knew perfectly well what had happened the previous night. An entire night of passion, the emperor’s unmistakable favor, and even His Majesty’s reluctance to leave that morning, with repeated instructions before he finally departed—the answer seemed beyond question. And even leaving all that aside, as long as the empress had not been abandoned, as long as his rank remained, and as long as Xiao Jiu was still only a servant, he would never dare answer “no.”
“His Majesty’s feelings for Your Majesty are plain for everyone to see,” Xiao Jiu replied nervously.
“Then that means only by remaining at my side can you obtain wealth and glory.” Nalan Xuan continued guiding him patiently.
“To remain beside Your Majesty is a blessing earned over an entire previous lifetime. To receive Your Majesty’s favor would be an honor and grace beyond measure.”
Nalan Xuan released him and rose. The rolled trouser legs fell back down, concealing the pale calves that had been exposed. “Then stay in Fengyi Palace.”
Both Xiao Jiu and He Xiang froze. They stared at Nalan Xuan in disbelief, forgetting even to offer thanks. They had thought disaster was unavoidable and had prayed only to keep their lives, yet somehow misfortune had turned into fortune and they were being allowed to remain in the empress’s palace. Countless people would sharpen their heads into points merely for the chance to approach the Central Palace, yet such an honor had fallen into their laps without warning.
“Why aren’t you thanking Her Majesty?” Ji Yu, who had been waiting beside them, followed Nalan Xuan and prepared to help him wash and dress, not forgetting to remind the two who were still kneeling there like wooden statues.
Only then did Xiao Jiu and He Xiang recover. Unable to suppress their excitement and joy, they kowtowed repeatedly, faces full of astonishment and delight. “Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace! Thank you for Your Majesty’s grace!”
Nalan Xuan raised one hand and stopped Ji Yu from placing the middle robe around his shoulders. “When did I say I wanted to dress?”
Ji Yu withdrew his hands. Apparently, the ladies and young lords waiting in the main hall still had quite a while longer to wait.
“Prepare the bath. I wish to bathe.” Nalan Xuan began walking toward the rear hall, then paused. “Oh, and have someone replace the tea with a better pot. Let everyone waiting there appreciate it properly.”
No sooner had Nalan Xuan spoken than Xiao Jiu and He Xiang, newly taken into Fengyi Palace, sprang into action. One rushed straight toward the main hall while the other picked up a bucket and went to draw water. Ji Yu, despite being the chief attendant of Fengyi Palace, was instead left standing to one side.
Nalan Xuan watched their hurried backs disappear and smiled coldly without a sound.
He stretched both arms along the edge of the bathing pool and let his body relax completely, trying to ease the aching discomfort in his waist. Steam rose in thick mist, the warm water nearly erasing all sense of time. His mind emptied. Silver hair spread like snow across the water’s surface. Nalan Xuan glanced at it coldly and found the sight almost painfully offensive. For the sake of a man—for the sake of a man who was not worth it—he had turned white-haired overnight. What humiliation!
No. That had not been him. That had been Ning Xuan. He was Nalan Xuan. They had never been the same person. Nalan Xuan would never make such a losing bargain.
“Find me some henna leaves,” he instructed Ji Yu, who was waiting behind the screen. His voice was not loud, but Nalan Xuan knew Ji Yu could hear him and would have it done quickly.
By the time Nalan Xuan had finished bathing, dressed, slept enough, and most importantly finally decided to meet the assembled harem, it was already close to noon. The ladies and young lords had long since lost patience. Even from some distance away, faint unrest could be heard from the hall: sighs, fingers tapping against tables, teacup lids being lifted and replaced again and again with crisp click, click sounds. Everyone’s expression had soured terribly. If they had not still been inside Fengyi Palace, someone might already have begun openly cursing. Then again, even inside the empress’s palace, there were always people unable to restrain themselves.
“Who does he think he is? He lost the child and he’s still putting on airs! Just because His Majesty is still willing to look twice at that shameless face, he thinks he can act however he pleases? On what grounds? He’s nothing but the son of a condemned criminal—no, even that gives him too much credit. He was born a servant, yet now he’s climbed over my head just to humiliate me? I’d like to see how many more days he can keep acting so arrogantly!” A woman’s sharp voice cut through the restless murmuring. If one ignored what she was saying, the voice itself was actually quite pleasant. Softened in the night and made slightly coquettish, it might even have been enjoyable to hear.
“Noble Concubine Xiao truly is His Majesty’s precious favorite. To speak so fearlessly even inside the empress’s palace—how admirable.” Nalan Xuan recognized Liu Yin’s voice immediately, belonging to that man who was always impossible to read, forever watching everyone with guarded curiosity while seeming more interested in the spectacle than the outcome.
“Don’t tell me Noble Attendant Liu isn’t angry! Even if he is master of the harem and occupies the Central Palace, what gives him the right to make all of us rise at dawn only to leave us sitting here? We came because the ancestral rules require it. We are the ones following etiquette and understanding propriety. He’s the one who came from nothing and has no breeding. Dress him in imperial robes and he still wouldn’t look like royalty! Even the former empress, He Yilan, a genuinely well-bred young lady from a distinguished family, never behaved like this. When did she ever dare treat so many people as though they were beneath notice?” The more Noble Concubine Xiao spoke, the angrier she became.
Nalan Xuan simply stopped walking. Standing in the covered corridor connecting the middle hall and main hall, he listened with open curiosity, waiting eagerly to hear what came next. He could easily imagine the woman’s expression by now—probably like a resentful wife one breath away from standing in the street and cursing at the top of her lungs.
When Nalan Xuan stopped, Ji Yu, Xiao Jiu, He Xiang, and the others following him naturally stopped as well. Eager to demonstrate where her loyalties now lay, He Xiang looked indignant and seemed ready to rush out and teach the speaker a lesson, only for one glance from Nalan Xuan to frighten her instantly back into place.
Liu Yin merely smiled without speaking. He took a small sip of tea and sighed appreciatively over its quality. Only after Noble Concubine Xiao looked ready to smoke from the top of her head did he finally say, “I don’t remember what the former empress was like, and whether she dared do such things no longer matters. What matters is that the present Empress Yu dares. If he wants to make us wait, then we wait. It’s that simple. If you dislike it, then all you need is a rank higher than his and greater favor than his. Naturally, then you may decide matters yourself.”
“You—!” Noble Concubine Xiao was furious. Thinking something was one thing; reality was another. No matter whether she accepted it willingly, the fact remained that she was merely a noble concubine and Nalan Xuan was the empress. Complaining was possible. Openly overstepping her rank was not. According to Liu Yin’s logic, there were only two ways to stand above the empress: either become the emperor or have the empress deposed. The first was impossible even to contemplate. The second could only remain an unspoken wish.
“Noble Concubine Xiao, we are still in Her Majesty the Empress’s palace. You’ve already waited this long. Be patient and wait a little longer.”
At the sound of that voice, Nalan Xuan’s eyes narrowed abruptly and a dangerous glint flashed through them.
Han Ruifeng.
The words sounded mild and reasonable, exactly the sort of thing a harmless peacemaker might say. Yet Noble Concubine Xiao, who had been so aggressive moments earlier, immediately quieted. She still muttered resentfully under her breath, but the commotion gradually settled.
Nalan Xuan knew the entertainment had reached its end.
It was time to meet his old friend.
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