What was going on between Shen Yuezhuang and Liu Yun?
Shen Yuezhuang only ever lived in the present. She couldn’t be bothered to think about the past or the future, so even she herself couldn’t give a definitive answer.
And Ruixue, who had been Liu Yun’s trusted confidante ever since she entered the palace, couldn’t understand it either.
She didn’t know much about the Empress Dowager’s life before entering the palace. She only knew that Liu Yun had been the daughter of Liu Jie, the Commissioner of Jinzhou.
Later, Lord Liu was convicted of dereliction of duty and executed. Liu Yun became a criminal slave at the age of five and was sent to the capital to be sold. She was bought by the Yongding Marquis Shen Mansion, becoming the personal maid of the legitimate daughter.
Liu Yun spent ten years in the Shen Mansion. Ruixue didn’t know what happened during those ten years. She only knew that on the night Liu Yun entered the palace, someone had disguised themselves as a eunuch and sneaked in. After a huge quarrel with the Empress Dowager, that person left in fury.
Later, as the Empress Dowager’s status grew more and more exalted, many rumors about her and this Miss Shen reached Ruixue’s ears.
Everyone said that Shen Yuezhuang was supposed to be the one to enter the palace for the selection, but Liu Yun had used some scheme to steal her chance to rise to prominence.
Everyone said that Shen Yuezhuang was arrogant and overbearing, and that when Liu Yun was her slave, they had already built up a deep enmity. Now that the Empress Dowager held a high position, she deliberately suppressed Shen Yuezhuang. Her marriage prospects had been so poor all these years because the Empress Dowager had given secret orders behind the scenes.
Now, Shen Yuezhuang had been summoned to the palace, only to be sent out again. Some said this was the Empress Dowager’s way of humiliating her, to completely cut off any chance of Shen Yuezhuang entering the palace.
It was hard not to believe. In fact, Ruixue had personally carried out some of those orders.
Ruixue also knew that the Empress Dowager had entered the palace deliberately. But what she was plotting, Ruixue didn’t know. Still, it seemed to confirm that Liu Yun had used underhanded means, even stolen Miss Shen’s future to enter the palace.
But that didn’t stop Ruixue from loathing that Miss Shen.
Even if the chance to enter the palace had been stolen, so what? She had witnessed with her own eyes—and experienced herself—the hardships the Empress Dowager had endured along the way!
That Miss Shen was stupid and ignorant. She had only been in the palace a few days and had already caused a whole basket of trouble. Someone like her, placed in the circumstances of that year, would never have been able to survive!
Without any self-awareness, she relied on the Empress Dowager’s guilt to act so wantonly! Why would the Empress Dowager show such leniency to someone so foolish?!
The Empress Dowager had never been a benevolent person. Ruixue had never seen what she was like before entering the palace. The Empress Dowager she knew was cautious, meticulous, strict, and even ruthless.
When her status was lowly, she was like a sword carefully hidden in her sleeve, a danger concealed beneath fine clothes!
Now, as the Master of the Harem and the adoptive mother of the current Son of Heaven, she could shed her fine clothes. Her blade was sharp and unmatched, with nothing left to fear!
Yet, precisely because of this, the differences in the Empress Dowager during Miss Shen’s stay in the palace were all the more obvious.
She had visibly sheathed her sharpness, showed clear signs of unease, and shed the layer of cold harshness that seemed almost welded onto her.
Was it just to make amends? Just because she felt guilty?
Ruixue took it for granted and cooperated, making all the necessary arrangements for Miss Shen’s stay.
From a distance, she watched the Shen family carriage leave the palace, and only then did she return to report.
The Empress Dowager wasn’t in Longevity Palace. She was in the study, which was still in disarray. The study’s window faced west—the direction Miss Shen had departed.
Ruixue could tell that the Empress Dowager didn’t like Miss Shen getting too close to others in the palace. But she didn’t understand why, when the Empress Dowager had called her back, when she was just a few steps away in the study, she hadn’t even gone to see her, but instead rushed to send her away.
She didn’t understand why, when the Empress Dowager’s eyes and ears were spread throughout the palace, she didn’t silence the unpleasant rumors, but let them fester and spread.
She didn’t understand, if the Empress Dowager was truly trying to make amends, why she had to start those pointless arguments with Miss Shen? Clearly, she could have called the secret guards and found out the truth about the Phoenix Splendor Palace fire in an instant. Yet she insisted on forcing Miss Shen to tell her the truth herself, even working herself into a rage.
Her Grace clearly didn’t care about the truth at all. But if not that, then what?
Ruixue looked at the cold, lonely figure before her and couldn’t help but say, “Miss Shen was in quite good spirits when she left the palace. In my humble opinion, Miss Shen has no desire to enter the palace now. Your Grace can rest assured.”
Ruixue also believed that the root of their conflict lay in the matter of entering the palace. She naively thought that as long as Shen Yuezhuang no longer wanted to enter the palace, the enmity between them would dissolve.
But as soon as she spoke, she immediately realized her mistake.
She started to kneel, but Liu Yun raised a hand to stop her.
The sun was dipping westward. The golden light fell heavily upon Liu Yun’s lowered brows and lashes.
She was like a sundial, silently marking the passage of countless ages. Then, in some sudden instant, her step faltered, allowing the weight of those vast vicissitudes to press and crush down upon her slender shoulders…
Liu Yun’s tone was cold. She laughed at herself, carrying a desolation that couldn’t be ignored.
“You’re right. She doesn’t want to enter the palace.”
Not now, not ever. She never had!
That desolation faded quickly, like an illusion.
Liu Yun walked a few steps to the desk, and that hint of exposed emotion was already wiped clean from her face.
“Go ask the Emperor when he can come. Tell him there’s news from the north.”
~~~
On this side, Old Madam Huo asked carefully, “So, have you two made up?”
“Who made up with her!” Shen Yuezhuang was like a firecracker. At those words, she shot upright.
She spoke with finality. “I swore an oath back then. If I ever make up with her again, I’ll be a green-haired turtle in the pond!”
“You child, don’t talk nonsense!” Old Madam Huo glared at her reproachfully. “If you haven’t made up, then why do you still listen to her so obediently? She told you to agree, so you agreed. She told you to enter the palace, so you entered!”
Shen Yuezhuang looked confused. “Wasn’t it always like this? Back then, when you told me to listen to her, you never told me why either!”
Old Madam Huo was both exasperated and amused. “Back then, you were both part of the Shen household. Of course, you shared the same thoughts. Now, she’s the Empress Dowager, and you two… aiya, child, when did you become so stubborn?”
Grand Preceptor Huo had been mulling over the matter but now snorted coldly. “Don’t bother with her. She doesn’t listen to reason at all. The more you tell her to do something, the more she’ll do the opposite. She’s like a debt collector reincarnated!”
Old Madam Huo shot him a look, exasperated. “You understand her so well, and yet you’ve never once managed to persuade your granddaughter!”
Grand Preceptor Huo retorted, “Do you see her as someone who listens to advice?”
Old Madam Huo snorted. “Then why does she listen to whatever that woman says?”
“It’s because you spoiled her!” Grand Preceptor Huo clapped his hands together and pointed at Shen Yuezhuang. “Why does she listen to that woman? You know perfectly well in your heart! This little thing knows exactly who to push around. She bullies the weak and fears the strong!”
“Think back. You and Old Man Shen spoiled her rotten. You couldn’t bear to hit her, couldn’t bear to scold her. And now look—she won’t listen to anything! Hah. If it were someone else, just the sound of their name would make her legs go weak, let alone talk back!”
Shen Yuezhuang had been about to talk back, but upon hearing the last sentence, she silently swallowed her words. Shamelessly entertaining herself, she thought, Her grandfather really does know her well!
Old Madam Huo sighed, half in exasperation at how difficult this girl had become, half in lament that Liu Yun and she had ended up like this!
She had watched both Liu Yun and Shen Yuezhuang grow up.
Liu Yun’s father, Liu Jie, had been a fellow soldier with Shen Yuezhuang’s father. Later, when the Liu family met with disaster, Shen Yuezhuang’s father bought Liu Yun back to the Shen residence. She was called a maid, but in truth, she was treated in the household just like Shen Yuezhuang—a proper young lady.
Between the two, Shen Yuezhuang had been loud and boisterous since childhood, acting without thinking. Liu Yun was steady, one of the few people who could keep Shen Yuezhuang in check.
Old Madam Huo pitied Liu Yun’s background and cherished the bond of growing up together between her and Shen Yuezhuang. For the past ten years, she had treated Liu Yun like her own granddaughter!
Later, Emperor Jiande ascended the throne and declared a great amnesty. Liu Yun was freed from her status as a criminal slave. Old Madam Huo had even made a special trip to the White Horse Temple in the western suburbs to fulfill a vow. Who would have thought that a single imperial edict for consort selection would bring them to this…
Grand Preceptor Huo waved his hand. “I’m not dealing with you children’s games!”
“Becoming an official is no joke. Tell me honestly—repeat everything the Emperor said to you, word for word.”
Huo Rufang had thought it would take some effort to get the girl to confess. But to his surprise, Shen Yuezhuang spoke up quite readily.
She repeated all her nonsense in reply to the Emperor, then summarized the Emperor’s words briefly. After a few sentences, Grand Preceptor Huo shot to his feet.
“I should have known it! The Emperor was really coming after me all along!”
Shen Yuezhuang: “…”
She loved her grandfather’s resolute self-confidence!
Grand Preceptor Huo, brimming with confidence, looked down at Shen Yuezhuang. “The Emperor said the Xiongnu were harassing the border, so he needs to collect debts?”
Shen Yuezhuang nodded.
Huo Rufang asked again, “And he told you that at the beginning of next month, the preliminary exam results and the palace exam results would be announced together, and then you’d be appointed to a post?”
Shen Yuezhuang nodded again.
“Hah!” Grand Preceptor Huo asserted confidently and pressed on, “But you won’t be appointed until next month. So you have at least a month to collect this debt. Yet the Emperor told you not to worry, even if the Xiongnu attacked this month. Didn’t you find that strange?”
What could that mean? There was still surplus money in the national treasury!
Shen Yuezhuang looked as if she half-understood. “You mean… they didn’t keep me for lunch in the palace not because they’re too poor?”
Grand Preceptor Huo was so furious he shook his sleeves, disappointed that iron couldn’t become steel. “This is him giving you a month to back out!”
“Now, there are so many people who owe the court. Finding an entry point is the hardest part. And I, as Grand Preceptor, if I repay this money, others will lose an excuse. The debt collectors can then pick them off one by one.”
Huo Rufang paced a few steps, his demeanor already one of smug satisfaction.
“The Emperor… Hah! If I didn’t want you to become that so-called female official, I would have to repay the court’s money before your preliminary exam results are announced.”
“If I repay the money, you don’t become a female official. And the Emperor can send someone else to collect the debts—he doesn’t lose either way.”
“If, in this month, you can persuade me, then this money of mine will be the first fire for your new official career! No matter how you look at it, the Emperor is determined to get these debts back.”
Grand Preceptor Huo stroked his beard, raised his head, and sighed. “It seems that the Emperor is dead set on this war with the Xiongnu.”
But an army needs a just cause. The court had been accustomed to peace for too long and wouldn’t easily agree to war. He just didn’t know if the Emperor had any other preparations.
Shen Yuezhuang was gradually beginning to understand. No wonder Liu Yun hadn’t told her to keep it from her grandfather. It turned out she still needed to win his approval!
Shen Yuezhuang sighed. “I understand. I’ll do my best.”
Grand Preceptor Huo: “???”
“Best at what?”
Shen Yuezhuang said matter-of-factly, “Best at persuading you, Grandfather!”
Grand Preceptor Huo was almost laughed to tears by her. After a long moment, he ground his teeth and said, “I see you’re as stubborn as a turtle eating a weighing stone—dead set on it! Let me make this clear: becoming an official is no joke!”
“Who’s joking!” Shen Yuezhuang said seriously. “Once this job is done, I’ll have an iron rice bowl for life! With such a good deal, why wouldn’t I take it?”
Grand Preceptor Huo sneered. “First, an official must be able to gauge the sovereign’s intentions. Can you do that?”
“Why not!” Shen Yuezhuang spread both palms in front of Huo Rufang. “I’ve gauged it. The sovereign’s intention is for you to repay the money. When will you do it?”
Huo Rufang clutched his chest. “The village boys bully me because I’m old and weak…”
Shen Yuezhuang flashed a row of pearly teeth in a grin. “Grandfather, be dignified!”
“I’m no thief! I’m a female official—the first female official of Great Liang!”
