"Lü Weihua! Deputy Minister of the Ministry of War, Yan Xiaoyu, has formed a faction for personal gain, abused his power, and manipulated the court. Arrest him and throw him into the Celestial Prison to await his sentence!"
As the palace doors were pushed open, Lü Weihua, captain of the imperial guards, knelt to receive the order. "Your will be done!"
Yan Xiaoyu watched helplessly as Lü Weihua, who had always been respectful toward him, now stood before him with a stern expression. "Lord Yan, please."
Yan Xiaoyu hung his head and gave a bitter smile, then kowtowed deeply. "This subject, Yan Xiaoyu, thanks His Majesty."
Imperial authority was supreme. He had defied the Emperor's will to ensure Prince Jing remained unharmed, so now he had to bear the consequences in his place.
Yan Xiaoyu rose, disheveled, and walked out of the palace gates. The night sky was bright with stars, but the path home was no longer his to tread.
"Lord Yan, walk slowly."
Yan Xiaoyu paused. He turned slowly and looked at the young eunuch who had guided him into the palace.
"Lord Yan, please do not make things difficult for me. Do hurry along."
Lü Weihua's voice was cold and hard, yet it carried a hint of sympathy. Under Yan Xiaoyu's gaze, the young eunuch bowed, maintaining a respectful but distant demeanor.
Suddenly, Yan Xiaoyu recalled the two things Yao Yingying had said. She was as wise as a demon; she must have calculated that he would not survive leaving the palace, which was why she had used the farewell meant for the dead—*walk slowly.*
Yan Xiaoyu began to laugh, a sound lonely and desolate. As a mere woman, she had seen through the entirety of Dashang and through Emperor Zhou himself.
Yan Xiaoyu walked forward with a bitter smile, only to hear the young eunuch speak again from behind him: "The dawn is approaching, Lord Yan. You should tidy your robes."
Yan Xiaoyu almost wanted to laugh. He was about to be locked in the Celestial Prison; what did his appearance matter now?
*—When you come to the palace to pay your respects tomorrow, I hope you can still speak to me like this, Lord Yan.*
*...speak to me like this.*
The smile froze on Yan Xiaoyu's lips. Could it be that she meant...
Yan Xiaoyu turned and strode back into the palace. Emperor Zhou was still sitting on the dragon dais, dressed in the same bright yellow undergarments as before.
"Your Majesty, they say the one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it. Since I caused Dashang to lose an opportunity to eliminate Prince Jing, I can now find a way to make the Eldest Princess of Anguo and Prince Jing clash once more. I beg Your Majesty to grant me a chance to redeem myself!"
Yan Xiaoyu knelt, his tone resolute. "Yan Xiaoyu is Your Majesty's subject. It was my own folly that led me to make mistakes, but I have since repented!"
Emperor Zhou had not expected such resolve from Yan Xiaoyu. In his eyes, although Yan Xiaoyu was young, he was rigid and inflexible. If not for his genuine talent and competence, he would have had him beheaded on the spot. But it was precisely that talent that made Emperor Zhou weigh his options now that Yan Xiaoyu had softened his stance—considering whether to spare him.
The hall fell silent. Not daring to waste a single chance at survival, Yan Xiaoyu continued, "I can sense that the Eldest Princess of Anguo has an interest in me!"
The silence in the hall deepened. Emperor Zhou looked at Yan Xiaoyu with surprise. At twenty-five or twenty-six, he was much older than the Eldest Princess, but Yan Xiaoyu possessed a face entirely different from Zhou Wei’s. Even his temperament was gentle, lacking the oppressive, aristocratic air that Zhou Wei exuded. Emperor Zhou immediately recalled that Yan Xiaoyu was indeed very popular among the noble ladies in the Capital.
"If you truly have the ability, go and try. But I warn you of one thing."
Yan Xiaoyu kowtowed in gratitude and asked, "Please, Your Majesty, enlighten me."
"I want Deputy Minister Yan to understand that you are always a man of Dashang. Do not... allow yourself to get trapped."
He was already a man of Dashang; how could he possibly commit treason or anything of the sort? Yan Xiaoyu did not understand, but he kowtowed anyway. Then, he heard Emperor Zhou continue:
"Furthermore, someone like the Eldest Princess of Anguo being sent here for a political marriage makes me suspect she has an abnormal obsession with power. Keep a close eye on her. If that is the case, execute her at once!"
Yan Xiaoyu understood. Emperor Zhou suspected that the Emperor of An could not control such a person, which was why he had sent her to marry. Normally, it was indeed strange that after sending Yao Mengtao, Anguo would now send Yao Yingying. But—
"Your Majesty, in my past life, I saw with my own eyes that she sat in the position of Empress, dedicated to assisting Prince Jing, and there was nothing out of the ordinary."
Yan Xiaoyu did not believe Yao Yingying was interested in power. No matter what, she was just a woman. In the past life, hadn't she helped Prince Jing ascend the throne and become his Empress?
"I told you to watch her, so watch her."
"Yes."
...
In the rear courtyard of Prince Jing’s Estate, the faint scent of plum blossoms drifted through the warm chamber.
Small, fair feet with a pinkish hue rested on the black fox-fur rug, a clear contrast that invited wild thoughts. Jinyi stepped forward to drape a warm cloak over Yao Yingying, her gaze catching on the blood seeping from Yao Yingying’s feet, her heart aching. The journey from Anguo to Dashang had been so rushed...
"Yuejian is already waiting."
Yao Yingying responded with a lazy, satisfied hum. As she circled back from the warm chamber into the inner room, she saw Yuejian waiting with a medical kit. Yao Yingying was in no hurry to apply the medicine and sat down before a bronze mirror. As Jinyi brushed her hair, a sense of drowsiness filled the room, leaving Yao Yingying looking utterly languid.
"Your Highness."
Yushi’s expression turned strange after hearing a young palace maid’s whispered report, and she spoke up to break the idle peace. Yao Yingying looked at her through the bronze mirror. Yushi stepped closer and whispered into her ear:
"Your Highness, a man claiming to be the general who escorted us is outside requesting an audience. He gives his name as Quan Yuanwu and refuses to elaborate on his business. The young palace maid reported that this man is the General of the Third Rank who escorted us on this trip, but in my memories of the past life, I have no recollection of such a person."
In the past life, because Yao Mengtao’s marriage to Dashang had seen no progress for a long time, and Dashang had repeatedly provoked them with troops, the marriage arrangement for Yao Yingying had been extremely hurried. Consequently, the generals who accompanied her were below the fifth rank and were not men of any renown. Yushi was very vigilant about this suddenly appearing Third Rank General.
Even Yao Yingying was surprised. "Do the others all claim to have seen him?"
Yushi’s voice dropped lower. "The maids and eunuchs who were not reborn all say they have seen him, so I suspect..."
"Something has altered their memories."
Yao Yingying narrowed her alluring eyes. "What impression do these people have of him?"
Yushi reported truthfully, "They all give the same account: they say he was diligent and duty-bound throughout the journey, and that he was remarkably rigid and dull—not like a living person at all."
Yao Yingying mused for a moment. "Let him in."
Whether they were reborn or not, they all had memories of one another, all were entangled. She was quite interested in this person who had appeared so abruptly.
Yushi stepped out of the inner chamber and glanced around; a dozen palace maids immediately dispersed in silence, vanishing into the shadows. More than twenty eunuchs, who had appeared out of nowhere, revealed themselves and stood in conspicuous positions throughout the hall. Only then did the young maid guarding the door open it.
Yushi squinted as she scrutinized the man under the light of the lanterns, and a chill shot through her heart.