Chapter 118

A gentle breeze stirred the air. Fu Ping’an spoke these words with utter sincerity, yet they sent Luo Qionghua into a flustered silence, her head bowed low.

Fu Ping’an instructed her attendants, “It’s late. Let us return.”

Even after arriving back at the temporary palace, Luo Qionghua’s mind kept replaying Fu Ping’an’s words.

Clear water yields lotus blooms, naturally carved, untouched by adornment.

Though a simple phrase, it carried an inexplicable, elegant beauty. It made her recall another line unbidden: “We bound our hair as wife and wife, in love and trust, never doubting.” That couplet too was perfectly balanced, brimming with tender warmth, and Luo Qionghua had silently recited it in her heart many times.

She thought that if a perfect person existed in this world, that person would surely be Ping’an. Ping’an’s only flaw had been her frail health, but now, blessed by heaven, even that flaw was gone.

When they entered the bedchamber, Fu Ping’an released the hand she had been holding. Luo Qionghua couldn’t help but clench her fist, a hollow emptiness settling in her heart.

The hour was late, and the palace servants quickly surrounded them to help them change clothes. Luo Qionghua finished last and walked toward the bed, shrouded by thick, heavy curtains. Tonight, for some reason, she felt even more nervous than she did in the palace. The words Commandery Princess Yunping had spoken suddenly surfaced in her mind—It’s as if I, too, would be willing to die for you.

Her footsteps halted. She stood there, dazed and lost in thought for a moment. Just then, the bed curtains parted. Fu Ping’an pushed them aside and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The deep crimson curtains framed a snow-white face. The strands of hair beside her ears were jet-black and soft. The lamplight flickered, dreamlike and surreal.

“I…”

Her heart seemed to beat without rhythm. A bewildering sense of aimlessness rose within Luo Qionghua. She felt somewhat excessively stimulated, so much so that sleep eluded her entirely.

“Can’t sleep?” Fu Ping’an asked.

It wasn’t entirely accurate, yet it seemed to capture the current feeling. Luo Qionghua nodded. Fu Ping’an sat up, tied the bed curtains back open, and said, “Zhen cannot sleep either.”

The palace servants attending outside heard the sounds and knocked on the door. “Your Majesty? Your Highness?”

Fu Ping’an replied, “It’s nothing. Withdraw further away.”

Seeing Luo Qionghua still standing, she patted the space beside her. “Come sit. Let’s chat.”

Luo Qionghua sat down, but not too close. Yet the moment she sat, she regretted it, wishing she had moved closer.

Strange. She had never overthought things like this before.

Fu Ping’an noticed it too. She spoke, puzzled. “Why do you seem so reserved today?”

Luo Qionghua lowered her head, her hands hidden within her sleeves, fidgeting with her fingers in silence. “I don’t know. I just feel… somewhat reserved.”

What a useless answer.

Fu Ping’an laughed. “Did Sister Yunping’s appearance this morning frighten you?”

It dawned on Luo Qionghua. “Yes! I can’t stop thinking about it today.”

“Thinking about which parts?”

“It’s just… she said she’d be willing to die for you…”

Fu Ping’an gazed at Luo Qionghua, thinking to herself that this was truly an honest girl.

“Hearing those words, aren’t you unhappy?” Fu Ping’an asked.

Luo Qionghua’s eyes widened, and she instinctively clutched her chest.

Was this unhappiness?

It seemed… it really was, a bit.

But this kind of unhappiness made her hate herself.

Perhaps it was precisely because she didn’t want to admit she was unhappy that her mood had become so strange and fragmented.

Seeing the shocked expression on Luo Qionghua’s face, Fu Ping’an also felt she might have been too blunt. Yet she found it very normal. The books said that one’s spouse should be the most intimate person, but this morning’s conversation with Mu Tingyun had clearly been deeply affectionate and meaningful.

Luo Qionghua must be jealous.

Armed only with theoretical knowledge, Fu Ping’an judged this conclusion to be about eighty percent correct.

The books said that if a wife was jealous, it was a sign of her love for her partner. As her spouse, she needed to comfort her and give her a sufficient sense of security.

Thus, she began, “We grew up together since childhood. Naturally, our bond is close and deep. In the past, within the palace… circumstances were dire, and every step was treacherous. If it weren’t for our mutual support, perhaps we wouldn’t have made it to this day…”

Even as she spoke, she sensed something was off.

Luo Qionghua’s expression looked even more dejected.

Fu Ping’an hastened to add, “But now, you are the Empress. There will be many difficulties ahead, but we shall walk through them together. Take this crisis at Qianliang Mountain, for instance. Without your help, Zhen would certainly have been flustered and overwhelmed.”

Luo Qionghua stared at her. “…You’re lying. Your Majesty alone could surely handle it perfectly well.”

Fu Ping’an shook her head emphatically. “No, you helped tremendously. Don’t belittle yourself. You never used to be like this.”

Luo Qionghua paused.

Right. She never used to be like this.

“You did very well.” Fu Ping’an looked at her. “Even better than Zhen imagined.”

Emboldened by this praise, Luo Qionghua finally mustered more courage. After a moment’s thought, she scooted closer to Fu Ping’an, swinging her feet.

Their silhouettes were cast onto the wall by the lamplight—two long, slender figures, also swinging their feet.

Luo Qionghua’s heart stirred. She suddenly exclaimed, “Shadow puppetry is just like this.”

“What? The kind Chen Songru made?”

“Yes.”

Luo Qionghua raised her hands and pushed up her sleeves. “Has Your Majesty ever played?”

She folded her hands backward, clasping her thumbs together and wiggling the remaining eight fingers. “Look, this is a bird.”

Fu Ping’an looked at the wall. Indeed, a bird resembling an eagle was spreading its wings in flight.

Luo Qionghua then clenched both hands into fists and brought them together. “What do you think this is?”

Fu Ping’an studied it for a moment. “A mouse?”

Luo Qionghua hurriedly stretched her two index fingers out longer. “It’s a rabbit!”

Fu Ping’an said, “Right, it’s a rabbit. Zhen’s eyesight was poor.”

Luo Qionghua pursed her lips and glared at her, her cheeks puffing out slightly. “If it doesn’t look like one, just say so.”

Fu Ping’an laughed and stretched out her own hands. “How were they folded? Teach Zhen too.”

Luo Qionghua brought Fu Ping’an’s hands together, bending her fingers one by one. Fu Ping’an held perfectly still, lifting her hands toward the lamplight.

Perhaps because her fingers were longer, the ears pricked up, and it was unmistakably a rabbit.

“It’s a rabbit,” she confirmed with a nod.

Luo Qionghua changed the hand gesture. “Dog.”

“Ooh.”

“This is a horse.”

“The horse looks a bit like the dog.”

“It’s different!”

The two of them ended up playing like this for half the night. Finally, Luo Qionghua was so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open and collapsed onto the bed.

Fu Ping’an straightened Luo Qionghua’s body before lying down herself. As she closed her eyes, it suddenly struck her—she had actually played such childish games.

And found them quite fun.

If she hadn’t turned off the livestream room before bathing tonight, the old viewers seeing this scene would surely have mocked her.

Thank goodness she turned it off.

Still, she had coaxed her wife rather well, hadn’t she?

With this thought, drowsiness gradually crept in, and she drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning, because Ren Danzhu had sent a report, Fu Ping’an got up and went to the study to discuss affairs. Luo Qionghua had been hoping to have breakfast with Ping’an, but seeing her rush off, she could only sigh wistfully. After finishing breakfast, it was still early. She thought for a moment and decided to first visit Commandery Princess Yunping.

Weaving Star Hall wasn’t far. It took Luo Qionghua only a few steps to arrive. When she entered the room, she was startled to see Mu Tingyun fully dressed and performing a perfectly proper curtsy. “You’re still ill, why go to such trouble? Please rest properly first,” she said.

Mu Tingyun stole a glance upward, observing Luo Qionghua’s expression.

It seemed she truly wasn’t angry.

She rose. “It’s nothing. I am completely recovered.”

Hearing this, Luo Qionghua lowered her gaze, a sorrowful expression clouding her face. Mu Tingyun quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Luo Qionghua glanced at Jingyue and the other palace servants behind her. “Wait outside for me.”

Seeing this, Mu Tingyun also instructed her own attendant, Dongkui, “You may leave as well.”

Once the servants were gone, Luo Qionghua finally spoke. “…Sister, you aren’t even this formal with Her Majesty. Why are you so distant with me? Weren’t we on very good terms before?”

Mu Tingyun was used to the barbed, insincere politeness of noble ladies and their inner circles, but listening to Luo Qionghua’s tone, she could immediately tell this was genuine.

Luo Qionghua’s voice sounded truly hurt, almost as if she was about to cry.

Mu Tingyun looked up, staring blankly at Luo Qionghua for a long moment. Finally, she couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

She stepped forward, took Luo Qionghua’s hand, and led her to sit together on the low couch. Studying Luo Qionghua’s face, she said, “Only your height has grown. Has life in the palace not taught you any guile?”

The last time they had met was nearly a year ago. People this age grew the fastest. Mu Tingyun scrutinized Luo Qionghua’s features. “Taller, and thinner too. But being so naive and artless, how do you manage those internal affairs?”

Luo Qionghua answered honestly, “Her Majesty has Qin He and Wan Feng assist me.”

Mu Tingyun frowned. “The servants attending you today aren’t even your old maids, I see.”

“My maids weren’t honest. They were sent to the Lateral Courts.”

Mu Tingyun’s frown deepened. “Who did that?”

“Her Majesty.”

Mu Tingyun: “…”

After a moment of silence, she nodded in understanding. “I see. Her Majesty is raising you like a daughter.”

Luo Qionghua’s eyes widened. “I am only a year younger than Her Majesty, and I’ve already come of age!”

She had no desire to be Ping’an’s daughter!

Mu Tingyun laughed, leaning back. “No, no, I just mean she’s doting on you. I’ve been raising a child myself these past days, and I finally understand the amusement in it. She doesn’t understand anything, trusts you completely. That feeling is truly quite… interesting…”

Hearing this, Luo Qionghua’s breath caught in her throat—Mu Tingyun still didn’t know about Tanggao’s untimely death.

Struggling to steady her breathing, she hurriedly changed the subject. “You look almost completely well today, though. How can Her Majesty’s medicine be so miraculous?”

If only she hadn’t said that. The moment she did, Mu Tingyun immediately recalled yesterday’s events.

After waking up and realizing it hadn’t been a dream, she had wished she could find a hole to crawl into.

What had she said?!

It was simply… simply overstepping… and utterly baffling.

Her initial focus on observing Luo Qionghua’s expression today had been born of worry that Luo Qionghua would overthink things.

And now it turned out she was the one judging a noble heart with a petty mind. Even more embarrassing.

Her eyes wavered. Luo Qionghua immediately noticed her awkwardness and quickly said, “I can understand the bond between you two. Her Majesty said that you used to rely on each other and were always very close…”

Her voice trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Mu Tingyun understood. Luo Qionghua was still somewhat bothered, after all.

Strangely, she felt a sense of relief instead. “Her Majesty and I were merely childhood companions. You mustn’t overthink it.”

Luo Qionghua looked up, bewildered. “Overthink what?”

Mu Tingyun stared into her eyes. “You don’t understand?”

Luo Qionghua said, “I feel that I shouldn’t be like this. It’s wrong, isn’t it?”

Mu Tingyun laughed again, this time truly clutching her stomach. Finally, she reached out and pulled Luo Qionghua into an embrace, pinching her cheek. “My dear little sister, you truly don’t understand. You’re jealous. It’s perfectly normal.”

“What is jealousy?”

Mu Tingyun thought for a moment, unable to immediately recall where she had first encountered that term. She swapped it for another word. “It’s… envy, but not quite as severe as envy.”

Luo Qionghua’s expression grew even more uneasy. “I’m envious? But… but the books say an Empress must not be prone to jealousy.”

Mu Tingyun: “…Oh. Right.”

Luo Qionghua’s expression darkened. “I really am not a qualified Empress.”

Mu Tingyun pondered for a moment before replying, “Don’t say that. Her Majesty… Her Majesty wouldn’t mind.”

“Her Majesty wouldn’t mind having a jealous Empress?”

“Mm.” Mu Tingyun affirmed. “If you don’t believe me, just go ask her.”