Chapter 8

Many strange people joined the livestream room.

The first ones came while Fu Ping’an was eating. Because packing up had taken some time, it was already dark by the time this meal was served.

The Prince of Yong’an’s mansion had been abandoned for the past two years, but because Fu Ping’an had suddenly been restored to her status, emergency repairs had been carried out over the past month. However, a house uninhabited for so long inevitably had various issues. Luckily, it was summer, so they didn’t need to clean the chimneys yet. They only repaired the main hall and main rooms first, ensuring Fu Ping’an’s living comfort as a priority.

Though, it looked like Fu Ping’an would only be staying for one night.

Fu Ping’an had thought her childhood memories were already blurry, but unexpectedly, as soon as she returned, those memories suddenly flooded back. She remembered playing hide-and-seek in this main hall as a child, accidentally knocking over a bronze gilt lamp. The lamp oil spilled onto the screen, nearly setting the hall ablaze.

Her mother had been so angry she wanted to hit her. Her father had held her in his arms, laughing as he said, “Don’t hit her, don’t hit her. Ping’an won’t do it again.”

Her mother had said, “Just spoil her then. If you raise her like this, sooner or later she’ll become a wastrel.”

Her father had replied, “Once she begins her education, we’ll teach her properly. She’s still young now.”

Remembering this, Fu Ping’an felt dazed, as if she could again smell the faint sandalwood scent on her father’s person, the gold-threaded brocade cool yet soft.

Thinking and thinking, Fu Ping’an suddenly felt a pang of sadness, lowered her head, and tears fell. She quickly wiped them away, seeing that the maids were still setting out the dishes and seemingly hadn’t noticed. But fearing she might lose control of her emotions, she spoke up: “All of you, leave.”

The Nanny said, “Your Highness, allow this servant to attend to your meal.”

Fu Ping’an glanced at her. “Leave.”

She was now beginning to grasp a method for controlling these attendants: the most important thing was not to show her emotions and, at times, to display some negative ones.

If she didn’t show it, the Nanny always felt she could say a few more words, but as soon as Fu Ping’an became firm, the Nanny no longer dared to speak.

Indeed, though the Nanny’s expression showed some unease, she and the maids withdrew together.

Before her on the low table were four dishes and a soup. The soup was a simmered lamb rib soup, smelling pungent and spicy; a plate of roast chicken, the skin golden brown; a dish of seasonal vegetables; and a dish of raw fish slices.

The staple food was a bit strange—not the usual yellow millet rice, but something with larger grains, crystal clear and pure white, giving off a sweet fragrance.

At that moment, Chang’an Flower spoke—

[Chang’an Flower: Oh ho, having rice today, huh.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: Don’t you usually eat rice?]

[Chang’an Flower: They usually eat wheat rice.]

[Regardless of Wei and Jin: I came here from that post. Looking at this, this place really does feel quite similar to something from our ancient times.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: Any experts here who can judge roughly what dynasty this is based on the furnishings?]

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: The furnishings look a bit like Qin-Han era, very simple and restrained.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: Are you an expert? Your username doesn’t look like one.]

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: Discriminating much?]

[Trisolaran: Everyone should be Earthlings, right? Did everyone come from that forum?]

[JULIET: Aren’t you a Trisolaran?]

[Trisolaran: 《Three-Body Problem》 is a novel! Case closed, you’re not an Earthling.]

[JULIET: No, I just casually clicked in when scrolling through real-time posts.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: Streamer, streamer, do you use toilet paper when you go to the bathroom?]

…

The sudden flood of comments left Fu Ping’an dumbfounded for a moment. Then her expression changed as she recalled her previous experience.

But how exactly should she handle this? She had absolutely no idea.

[Sleepless Days: Everyone, stop sending danmaku for now!]

[Sleepless Days: The streamer can’t read yet. She receives everything purely through mental power. If you all send this much spam, the streamer will faint.]

[Trisolaran: You’re not an admin, though.]

[Sleepless Days: Ping’an, set me as admin.]

Fu Ping’an: “I… I don’t know how.”

[Sleepless Days: Summon the system panel, find settings.]

Fu Ping’an: “Which one is settings?”

[Sleepless Days: Summon the system panel, fifth row. Write the characters you see in the sand tray, and I’ll be able to confirm.]

[Sleepless Days: I used to be a streamer too, I roughly know what the panel looks like.]

Fu Ping’an was greatly astonished.

Sleepless Days… suddenly became so reliable!

[Sleepless Days: Next, if anyone speaks more than two lines of nonsense, they’ll be muted by me.]

Fu Ping’an stared at the panel and, following their instructions, traced two characters.

[Sleepless Days: Go further down. This is top-up.]

Fu Ping’an wrote down the next row.

[Sleepless Days: Correct, tap into it, see the last line, pull down, select my name. A dialogue box will pop up. Press the button on the right.]

Fu Ping’an half-understood. She focused intently on the last line, but nothing happened. After thinking for a moment, she pictured in her mind—pull down.

Sure enough, several familiar names suddenly appeared. First was “Baby Ping’an is So Cute,” second was “Sleepless Days,” and then “Chang’an Flower.”

Fu Ping’an paused briefly on the first name but quickly turned her gaze to the second, thinking: select.

She was starting to get the hang of how to operate this.

Indeed, a dialogue box popped up, and she chose the button on the right.

A small purple frame appeared before “Sleepless Days'” name, with the words “Admin” written on it.

Fu Ping’an was greatly shocked and suddenly had a feeling of “I’ve learned something new.”

[Sleepless Days: Okay, now everyone can start speaking in an orderly fashion.]

[Trisolaran: Crazy, I’m out of here.]

[Sleepless Days: I’ve summarized the basic situation in the post. In short, this little kid is going to become emperor. Let’s set other matters aside for now. Tomorrow, she’s going to meet the Empress Dowager. What does everyone think?]

For a moment, no one spoke.

They were clearly just a bunch of words, yet Fu Ping’an somehow felt the air grow heavy. Feeling thirsty, she took a sip of soup. “Slurp”—a warm current carrying a slight spiciness swept through her body. She felt much better, and as she reached her chopsticks for the raw fish, someone spoke—

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: Is that freshwater fish sashimi? I advise you not to eat it. There might be parasites. (This doesn’t count as nonsense, right?)]

[Sleepless Days: No, it doesn’t. I also think you probably shouldn’t eat it.]

Fu Ping’an’s movement halted. Confused, she asked, “Why? What are parasites?”

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: A type of lower eukaryotic organism that can cause illness and death. It was popular for a while in ancient times, and quite a few people died from parasitic infections.]

[Sleepless Days: Basically, bugs will burrow into your stomach, make your gut rot and your stomach hurt. Now that you know, don’t eat it.]

Fu Ping’an gave an “oh” and put it down, though a bit reluctantly. But her attention was quickly drawn by the danmaku.

[Chang’an Flower: Tomorrow’s meeting with the Empress Dowager is critically important, equivalent to a Fortune 500 company interview.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: More than a Fortune 500, this is a final civil service exam interview.]

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: Don’t project your own experiences onto it. The streamer is, after all, a child.]

[Sleepless Days: Anyway, let’s walk through the process.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: The Empress Dowager is an older woman. Older women like children. The streamer is quite cute. If she acts lively and gets close to the Empress Dowager, it’ll definitely work.]

[Regardless of Wei and Jin: I feel like, since the Empress Dowager is adopting the streamer, the streamer absolutely must not show that she loves her real mother more. If the Empress Dowager asks if she misses her mom or something, she must say no.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: That’s such nonsense. If she flat-out says no, will the Empress Dowager believe it?]

[Regardless of Wei and Jin: Why wouldn’t she? Don’t overestimate people in high positions. They’re so used to being flattered that they have no empathy whatsoever. They only want to hear what they want to hear.]

[Chang’an Flower: But if you ask me, saying no outright is too fake. How about saying, she’s too young, can’t quite remember clearly.]

[Regardless of Wei and Jin: That’s a good one.]

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: Could pretend to be a bit silly, saying she does miss them, but then look distracted or start eating, seeming like she doesn’t miss them all that much.]

[Sleepless Days: Let me remind everyone, the streamer is only nine. Don’t think up overly complicated schemes.]

In truth, Fu Ping’an was getting a bit dizzy by now.

But perhaps because she’d been eating and sleeping well recently and had grown a bit, she felt she could still hold on. She also sensed that this discussion was very important to her, so she kept her eyes wide open, watching.

But still young, after all, watching and watching, she fell asleep on the table.

Before losing consciousness, she only saw one line—

[Sleepless Days: That’s about it. If you forget tomorrow, remember to check the danmaku history… You should recognize those two characters, ‘history,’ right?]

…

When the Nanny came to carry her to bed, Fu Ping’an stirred slightly but was too tired to open her eyes.

She remembered that after being laid on the bed, the Nanny stroked her head and murmured softly, “Heavens protect you.”

The Nanny’s palm was dry and hot—a familiar sensation. Over the past few years, it had been these hands that accompanied her to sleep.

Though the Nanny was naggy and vain, she treated Fu Ping’an like her own child.

She turned over and hugged the Nanny, murmuring sleepily. The Nanny whispered, “I’m here.”

And so she fell back asleep.

When she was woken in the morning, it wasn’t fully light yet. Attendants swarmed in—some carrying water, some helping clean her teeth, some wiping her face.

Ah Zhi helped her get dressed, layer upon layer. While adjusting the collar, Ah Zhi suddenly leaned close to Fu Ping’an’s ear and whispered, “Last night, what was Your Highness thinking of that made you shed tears?”

Fu Ping’an mumbled, saying nothing, when she heard Ah Zhi add: “If Your Highness misses the Prince of Yong’an and his Princess Consort, you absolutely must not show it in front of the Empress Dowager.”

Fu Ping’an was taken aback. These words were the same as what the people in the danmaku had said.

She didn’t ask further, just lowered her eyes and nodded slightly. Ah Zhi knelt on the ground to help her tie her waist sash, jade pendant, and so on, then tidied the hem of her robes. Finally, prostrating on the ground, she said, “Your Highness, you are fully dressed.”

Fu Ping’an said, “Mm, let’s go.”

Once inside the carriage, the Nanny secretly asked, “Is Your Highness hungry? Would you like something to eat? I brought some pastries.”

Fu Ping’an shook her head. “Nanny, I have no appetite.”

The Nanny’s eyes flickered, then she let out a long sigh. “Your Highness… has grown up.”

By the time they arrived at Qianqiu Palace, Fu Ping’an was already feeling somewhat tired. Her clothes were too heavy and thick, causing a thin layer of sweat. Only one side of Qianqiu Palace’s gate was open. Several palace servants in white stood there. When she approached, they stopped the attendants she had brought with her and allowed only her inside.

The palace was deep and dark, with lamps still lit. Fu Ping’an saw a woman who looked no more than thirty or forty sitting in the main seat, her brows slightly furrowed as if burdened by endless worries.

[Chang’an Flower: …Who was it yesterday that said the Empress Dowager was an old woman? Step forward.]

[Off-Key Diva Wang Ami: I forgot ancient people got married really early. My bad, my bad.]

[Regardless of Wei and Jin: What do we do now then? Now I’m panicking.]

[Taro Boba Milk Tea: Don’t panic, it’s more or less the same. Just stick to the plan.]

The Empress Dowager, seeing Fu Ping’an, quickly waved her over and said, “A Rong, come, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. You’ve changed so much.”

[Sleepless Days: Who’s A Rong?]

Fu Ping’an also blanked for a moment before suddenly remembering. Before she’d hazily told “Baby Ping’an is So Cute” that her name was Fu Ping’an while half-asleep, it had been a very long time since anyone had called her Ping’an.

Ping’an was her childhood name, only ever used by her father and mother. Her actual given name was Fu Duanrong.

In this world, no one called her Ping’an anymore.