Chapter 8: The State Preceptor Scheming to Overthrow the Court

The beastly State Preceptor returned to Mingze Hall that very night. Before leaving, she lingered in the flower bed for a long time, with the Medicine Apprentice attending at her side. Only when night had deepened did she finally depart.

As soon as the person left, the Medicine Apprentice hurried back to the inner hall and dropped to his knees with a thud. “This servant has let Your Majesty suffer humiliation.”

Back then, the rumors had spread far and wide. There were even tales among the common folk that the Female Sovereign admired the State Preceptor and sought to force herself upon her, but the State Preceptor refused to yield even unto death. In fury, she had forced her way into the palace and, out of revenge against Her Majesty, imprisoned her. He hadn’t entirely disbelieved those stories at the time. Now, it seemed they were actually—

Actually, it was that beast Shi Qingyi who had ill intentions toward Her Majesty!

His mind raced, but the person on the bed merely kept her eyes closed. The inside of the bedchamber was extremely warm, especially the spot beside her leg bones. Heat radiated from her chilled knees upward, warming even her fingertips.

When that person had left, she had slipped a porcelain warmer into her brocade quilt—perhaps thinking she was already asleep and unaware. She had tucked in the corners of her quilt and securely closed the windows, all with very light movements. Yet she had felt every one.

The Medicine Apprentice was still overcome with grief and indignation. After a long moment, a heavy voice finally came from the bed: “Withdraw.”

Her Majesty had been humiliated by that beast, so her heart must be in turmoil at this moment. One day, when they caught that beast, they would make her wish she were dead! Nursing his worries, the Medicine Apprentice slowly withdrew. He had just stepped out of the hall door when a sharp crack sounded behind him—like some heavy object crashing to the ground.

He figured it was probably that porcelain warmer, wrapped in the finest fur. It had been filled with a decoction of medicinal soup that the imperial physicians said was good for Her Majesty’s legs. Shi Qingyi had simmered it for a full hour before pouring it in. Worried it might scald Her Majesty, she had wrapped it in another layer of fox fur. The effort was sincere, but Her Majesty probably still found it repulsive.

Fearing the warmer might shatter and burn Her Majesty, and hearing no call for him, he could only stand guard outside the hall door. Only after a long time, when faint sounds came from inside, did he wait another quarter-hour without a summons from Her Majesty before finally leaving with peace of mind.

No one knew that in the dim light, the Female Sovereign struggled to sit up and groped around to retrieve the porcelain warmer she had just hurled away. She hugged it to her chest.

Her teeth clenched tightly, as if quarreling with someone. She told herself that once it cooled, she would immediately throw it out and smash it to pieces. But even when she fell asleep, the warmer still held some residual heat.

—It was as hateful as that person, thwarting her wishes.

It was Shi Qingyi who took it from her embrace the next morning.

Early in the morning, as the Medicine Apprentice went out to fetch water to prepare the medicine, he nearly dropped the medicine jar again upon seeing the white-robed State Preceptor. Fortunately, the State Preceptor was from Zhongnan Mountain after all. With a light motion, she caught the jar and handed it back to him. Her voice was cool and clear: “Don’t disturb Her Majesty.”

There was even a hint of disdain.

The Medicine Apprentice stood there dumbfounded, not daring to speak. In his heart, he grumbled that if she hadn’t startled him so suddenly, with his skills, he wouldn’t have dropped it.

Xu Zhaosu’s health was poor. The medicine she drank had a sedative effect, and she often woke in the middle of the night, so her sleep was shallow. Hearing the noise, she slowly awoke. Someone was already supporting her waist, and a soft voice said, “This slave will help Your Majesty rise.”

Xu Zhaosu’s entire body stiffened. That hand guarded her lower back with a gentle, warm pressure—not too light, not too heavy.

She truly hadn’t expected Shi Qingyi to come again the next day to play such a ridiculous charade. Even if Shi Qingyi burned to ashes, she could pick her relic bones out of the pile. And yet, she thought she wouldn’t recognize her?

That hand supported her as it reached into her embrace and withdrew the soft porcelain warmer. Only then did she realize she had been hugging the thing all night long.

A cold glint involuntarily flashed in her eyes. She shouldn’t have picked it back up yesterday at all.

Yuming Hall was relaxed and casual, without many palace maids attending. Xu Zhaosu had poor appetite and set down her breakfast after just a couple of bites. She leaned against the pavilion railing to bask in the sun.

In front of the hall was a pool of water. It had once been planted with many lotuses, but now in spring, with no one to tend it, only half a pool of water remained, with a few withered branches sticking out haphazardly.

Xu Zhaosu’s spot was right in the wind, and Shi Qingyi brought over the porcelain warmer and placed it in her hands. She was just about to join her and catch some sun—after all, to come serve Xu Zhaosu today, she had stayed up all night the previous evening handling a pile of memorials. A bit of sun and a nap would be perfect.

Taking advantage of Xu Zhaosu’s blindness, she leaned over the table without fully settling when—splash—the porcelain warmer she had just brought over splashed into the water, sending up a wave.

She looked up at Xu Zhaosu. The Female Sovereign’s features were exquisitely beautiful, now tinged with a trace of chill. Her hands were empty.

Shi Qingyi: “…”

I don’t believe that was an accident.

Whether she believed it or not didn’t matter. Feeling utterly defeated, she stood up and lowered her voice: “This slave will fetch another one for Your Majesty.”

There were plenty of porcelain warmers anyway. If she wanted to smash them for fun, so be it.

“I want this one.” The Female Sovereign lifted her chin, and the spring sunlight cast a shadow across her peerless face, leaving Shi Qingyi momentarily stunned.

“…”

She was sure she had misheard.

After a long silence with no response, Xu Zhaosu turned her head, her voice growing icier, enunciating each word: “I said, I want this one. Do you not understand?”

She had held the highest position for many years, her aura overwhelming. Anyone else might have been crushed under the pressure, gasping for breath.

This was deliberate provocation. It was said that after emerging from the Dark Prison, Xu Zhaosu’s temperament had grown increasingly volatile and unpredictable. Those who came to serve were either driven away or thrown out for the slightest mistake, leaving Yuming Hall empty save for the Medicine Apprentice.

Shi Qingyi sighed, rolled up her sleeves, and resigned herself: “Yes, this slave will go retrieve it for Your Majesty right away.”

Her words were deferential, without a trace of her former aloofness or cold indifference. Then—splash—she had already jumped in.

Xu Zhaosu’s hand suddenly clenched tight, her body instinctively leaning forward.

This pool’s water had been diverted from the mountains by her father in years past. It had accumulated layers of silt and hadn’t been cleaned in ages. The spring water was bone-chilling—if she jumped in and—

And what?

Wouldn’t death be better? A scoundrel like Shi Qingyi deserved to be riddled with arrows. The Female Sovereign veiled the deep chill in her eyes and told herself that even if she drowned, it would be her just deserts.

Shi Qingyi hadn’t thought that far. The spring water was piercingly cold, soaking her skirts from the knees down. With the ice and snow just melted, it made her teeth chatter. Worse still were her hands.

Just days ago, they had been scalded by the medicinal soup Her Majesty the Female Sovereign had smashed at her, peeling the skin. The imperial physicians had said to keep them dry, but there was no time for that now. She waded shallow here, deep there through the muck. The water was murky, impossible to see through, so she could only grope around the approximate spot.

The System saw her face pale with pain and couldn’t help advising: “Aren’t you stupid? You could have called someone else to fish it out. Why jump in yourself?”

—She couldn’t see anyway.

Shi Qingyi didn’t respond. Xu Zhaosu was clearly targeting her. Who knew if making a fuss would lead to another smashing?

She groped in the water for nearly a quarter-hour, nearly freezing into an icicle, before finally touching the porcelain warmer. It wasn’t far from the shore near Xu Zhaosu. She dug it straight out of the mud, waded over, knelt at the bank, and placed it at Xu Zhaosu’s feet.

“This slave has retrieved it for Your Majesty.”

Her voice was level and composed—no resentment from the deliberate torment, no forced flattery. Just plainly carrying out the order.

Xu Zhaosu suddenly felt hatred surge again. She tormented and retaliated against her like this, yet she showed not a flicker of emotion—just like all those times in the past. No matter what rare treasure of the world she placed before her, she could never win her favor.

She wanted to torment Shi Qingyi further and kick the warmer back into the pool but ultimately didn’t. She closed her eyes in the blazing sunlight, feeling an unbearable stuffiness in her heart. Her slender fingers nearly dug bloody holes into her own palm.

Shi Qingyi jumped in nimbly but struggled to climb out. She floundered at the bank for a long time before dragging her mud-soaked self ashore like a drowned dog. The Medicine Apprentice, passing by with medicine, watched in stunned silence but said nothing.

The Spring Day Pool water was terrifyingly cold and damp. Shi Qingyi borrowed the side hall to bathe and change. Xu Zhaosu sat in the courtyard, listening to the water sounds inside, her face expressionless.

The porcelain warmer had been washed spotless, though the outer layer of soft fur was gone. It sat neatly before her. The blind Female Sovereign, with white gauze over her eyes, couldn’t see it. Only when a suppressed cough came from the side hall did her eyes flicker slightly.

Even just sitting there, Xu Zhaosu could smell a faint metallic tang of blood. Her hands must still be wrapped in bandages from the scald.

Vaguely, she recalled three years ago when Shi Qingyi had accidentally knocked over a teacup during a policy disagreement with some lord. Three drops of scalding tea had splashed onto her hand. She had been heartbroken, summoning half the imperial medical bureau to treat it and forcing her to apply ointment for a full month until it was fully healed.

Back then, she couldn’t bear for Shi Qingyi to suffer the slightest hardship or grievance. Yet one day, she had wounded her to this extent—ripping open her injuries, hating her to the point of wishing her dead.

The Female Sovereign felt a vague haze settle over her heart, an emptiness. In just a short year, those past events felt like a lifetime ago. Looking back, they seemed like a dream from another world.

Her lips pressed tightly. She told herself this was what Shi Qingyi deserved. This time, pretending to be a nameless little palace maid to deceive her—who knew what schemes she was plotting? Even without schemes, for reducing her to this state, she would repay it a hundredfold.

This was just the beginning. Later—

Her gaze darkened as she pondered how to exact revenge one by one. Then the side hall door creaked open. A chill plum fragrance mingled with a thick scent of blood wafted in on the wind.

The person approached in a few steps and abruptly seized one of her hands.

Xu Zhaosu’s eyes trembled slightly. She barked coldly, “Insolent!”

Shi Qingyi, playing the role of an anonymous little palace maid, stuffed a handkerchief into her palm and frowned slightly: “Your Majesty, next time you’re upset, grab something else. Don’t hurt yourself.”

The Female Sovereign’s hand was as white as jade, though overly thin. The bones nearly pierced through the thin skin. Her palm bore four neat crescent marks from her nails, dug deep into the flesh.

Shi Qingyi glanced at it a few more times and suddenly said, “Let me trim Your Majesty’s nails.”

Having been locked in the dungeon for a full year, no one had trimmed Xu Zhaosu’s nails. The once smooth, pink nails had grown wild, some even embedding into the flesh. It hurt just to look at.