Chapter 22: It Depends on Your Performance

Half of the blue curtain on the bed was tied back. Liu Yun held a secret letter, letting it burn to ash between her fingers.

She stared at an empty spot in the air before her, silently rubbing her scorched fingertips.

This was already the fourth letter from the north this month. Ruixue didn’t know the details, but she could tell the border situation was grim.

Seeing the hesitation on Her Highness’s face, Ruixue asked softly, “Your Highness… are you worried about General Liu?”

The General Liu in Ruixue’s words was Liu Yun’s only brother, Liu Lusheng.

He had been exiled to the frontier back then. Though he had repeatedly distinguished himself in battle, his crimes held him back, keeping him an unknown soldier in the army. It wasn’t until Emperor Jiande’s great amnesty that he finally began to rise through the ranks.

Since the turmoil over the succession had implicated so many, most of the military officers in the court had pledged allegiance to Princes Ning and Rong. The Late Emperor had few capable men under his command, so someone as young and unaffiliated as Liu Lusheng quickly gained favor and promotion.

However, during the Late Emperor’s five-year reign, the Great Liang court was relatively peaceful. Nanchu recuperated, and while the Xiongnu were restless, their movements were minor.

Emperor Jiande’s “favor” was certainly substantial, but without war or disaster, they ultimately weren’t as successful as the civil officials.

A man of valor grasps his sword to guard the border—what use is there for a sword without a battle?

Thus, these four secret letters this month weren’t so much Liu Lusheng confiding his worries about the crisis at the border to his sister, as they were the young, ambitious wolves eager to break through the fences and charge into their hunting grounds and golden platforms!

Liu Yun patted the brocade quilt on her body and sighed softly. “This war is unavoidable after all. I hear the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu is gravely ill, and his two princes are busy vying for the throne. Rumor in the Xiongnu tents is that the Great Chanyu favors the younger son and wants to leave him the throne.”

“The First Prince’s mother is from the bravest, most warlike tribe on the grasslands. To secure his own position, he’s pushing hard for an attack on Liang, hoping to use our new emperor’s shaky hold on power to make a name for himself…”

Ruixue sighed too. “So it’s only a matter of time before the fighting starts.”

Of course it was! Liu Yun thought. War was inevitable, but for Great Liang, the sooner this battle began, the better.

Liu Yun pulled her thoughts back. Before she could speak, the quilt on her body suddenly bulged. A lock of black hair slipped out from under the covers, sliding smoothly across Liu Yun’s hand.

“Hmm?”

Shen Yuezhuang, who had been sleeping with her head pillowed on Liu Yun’s lap, suddenly lifted her head, pushing up the corner of the quilt. She blinked, rubbing her eyes as she groggily looked around.

She looked so much like a confused little kitten that Liu Yun felt a strange, inexplicable itch all over her body.

This vague, unfocused itch slowly gathered, finally concentrating at the point of her heart, as if a feather were gently brushing against it.

Liu Yun’s throat tightened. Unable to scratch the itch in her heart, she reached out and pinched Shen Yuezhuang’s chin, rubbing the pad of her thumb over the corner of Shen Yuezhuang’s lips, which had a strand of hair stuck to them.

It was getting late. But since it was already late, sleeping a bit longer wouldn’t hurt.

But before she could say “if you don’t want to get up, just sleep a bit more,” Shen Yuezhuang squinted, looked around the room, and said in a voice that was slurred but couldn’t hide her excitement.

“Where’s the fight? I want to go see!”

Liu Yun: “…”

The itch instantly became a prickling annoyance. Liu Yun’s breath hitched. She pursed her lips, and her voice regained its usual coolness.

“If I send you back to the Huo residence right now, you’ll be able to not only see a beating but experience one yourself. Are you in?”

Shen Yuezhuang blinked slowly.

She only picked up the signal that there was no fun to be had. She pouted, muttered “boring,” and then rolled over, falling back onto the bed inside the curtain, sprawling with her limbs stretched out.

Liu Yun ignored her. The scene of her rubbing Shen Yuezhuang’s chin in front of Ruixue just a moment ago belatedly made the tips of her ears burn. She stepped into her shoes and got off the bed.

Ruixue could no longer pretend Shen Yuezhuang didn’t exist. So she changed the subject, shifting from border affairs to the arrangements in the palace.

The arrangements were, of course, for the Candidate Consorts still in the palace. In the past few days, a few of them, feeling their exam results weren’t good, wanted to ask for permission to leave.

This was expected. They could be handled according to prior arrangements. Liu Yun divided half of her attention, landing on the scattered spring gown of goose-yellow lying by the footrest.

Following Liu Yun’s gaze, Ruixue paused her reply. She bent down to pick it up, but Liu Yun raised a hand to stop her.

Liu Yun seemed to think of something. Her ears grew hot, but her brow furrowed. She raised her voice. “Don’t touch it!”

She glanced at Shen Yuezhuang, a hint of guilty anger in her voice. “She threw it around herself. She can pick it up herself.”

“Shen Yuezhuang, did you hear that? Change your clothes and come down for dinner!”

Shen Yuezhuang only looked back, frowning slightly. “Didn’t they say the Huo family brought me a change of clothes? That dress I wore yesterday, I was climbing the wall in it. It’s all dirty.”

Liu Yun’s brow sank. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She signaled to Ruixue, who got up to look for Shen Yuezhuang’s bundle in another chest. Liu Yun, looking at the mess on the floor, finally couldn’t take it anymore. She crouched down and snapped, her tone terrible. “If you knew it would get dirty, why did you go climbing the wall? What’s wrong with you?”

She went to pick up Shen Yuezhuang’s clothes, but her fingertips touched something hard. Her fingers quickly brushed over it. From the shape, Liu Yun immediately thought of the wish plaque that Shen Yuezhuang had only written half of and put away yesterday.

Shen Yuezhuang was still sprawled on the bed. “It’s all A Sang’s fault. I thought she saw the Tathagata Buddha or something, she was so excited!”

In the end, she didn’t find the Buddha. Instead, she got pinned under Five Fingers Mountain!

Shen Yuezhuang busied herself with fiddling with her fingers. Liu Yun had already pulled the wish plaque halfway out, but when she saw Ruixue approaching, she inexplicably and quickly stuffed the wish plaque into her own sleeve.

Shen Yuezhuang was busy choosing her clothes. By the time she changed and came out, a small table outside the screen was already laden with vegetarian dishes.

A Sang was eating in her own room. Inside, besides the attending Ruixue, only Shen Yuezhuang and Liu Yun were present.

The vegetarian food at the Precious Flower Temple tasted pretty good, but Shen Yuezhuang was a die-hard carnivore. After the novelty of the first couple of days wore off, she ate only a couple of bites before putting down her chopsticks. Along with her appetite, she also shed her earlier meekness—being fed made her soft, but now that she was full, her tongue grew sharp and she started making trouble.

Shen Yuezhuang stared at Liu Yun, looking utterly bored. “When are we finally going back to the Capital?”

“In a hurry to go back and get beaten up?” Liu Yun chewed her food delicately, shooting her a glare. “Or have you paid off all your debts, so you can swagger back without worry?”

Shen Yuezhuang frowned, her face full of righteous indignation. “Nonsense! I have serious matters to attend to!”

Liu Yun only gave a scoff. “I told you, you don’t need to get involved in persuading the Grand Preceptor.”

The reason she had let Shen Yuezhuang tell Grand Preceptor Huo through the matter of the female officials was simply to make him understand that the war between Great Liang and the Xiongnu was an inevitability!

The current conflict between the two court factions was expected. While Grand Preceptor Huo had always been prudent, if he stepped forward, it would remove many obstacles for the Emperor.

The worst outcome was that he wouldn’t want to go to war. But knowing the imperial will, he’d at least not oppose the Emperor outright.

However, Liu Yun suspected that the Grand Preceptor would eventually agree to Shen Yuezhuang becoming a female official.

When war broke out between the two nations, having one more female official in the court wouldn’t be so conspicuous.

Besides, with Great Liang facing an external enemy, Shen Yuezhuang going to collect debts would be under the bright banner of the frontline soldiers. As long as the Grand Preceptor opened the door, who could still claim their own family’s hardship as an excuse?

No matter how hard things were, could it be harder than for the soldiers on the front lines?

With this higher purpose, Shen Yuezhuang’s move would naturally face fewer obstacles.

Besides, the Huo family would have to pay the money anyway. Why let the chance to have a female official slip away?

Liu Yun was ninety percent certain about this, so she didn’t take Shen Yuezhuang’s “serious matters” seriously at all.

But Shen Yuezhuang was suddenly enlightened by Liu Yun’s words.

That’s right, she still had to make money to pay off her debts. And the fastest way to get money was her bet with Duan Liang, wasn’t it?

Shen Yuezhuang slammed her hand on the table, suddenly full of confidence. “I’m talking about the serious matter of paying back money!”

She quickly explained her bet with Duan Liang, and immediately thought of a reason to return to the Capital.

“On the fifteenth, it’s the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion’s Hundred Flowers Banquet. I need to go see if I won. If I did, my debts and my inability to go home would both be solved!”

“Hah!” Liu Yun put down her bowl and chopsticks, folding her handkerchief and pressing it to the corner of her mouth. “The Hundred Flowers Banquet, at the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion?”

A frightening layer of frost appeared on Liu Yun’s face, but she laughed continuously. “If this Ninth Lady didn’t win, wouldn’t you lose all the shops you won earlier? I’m curious now. Just what kind of person is this Ninth Lady? I thought she was a beauty worth a fortune, but it seems she’s actually a beauty worth a kingdom for you, Miss Shen!”

In truth, Shen Yuezhuang hadn’t been to the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion for days. That day, she’d even been drinking, and didn’t remember this Ninth Lady’s face clearly.

But seeing a chance to leave the temple, Shen Yuezhuang smiled warmly, adding fuel to the fire.

“She’s beautiful, and she dances well…” Shen Yuezhuang held back for a moment, then finally said, “Anyway, you’ll understand when you see her. She’s just born with the face of a Flower Queen!”

“Oh!” Shen Yuezhuang, as if blind to Liu Yun’s darkening expression, grew excited. “Why don’t you come see for yourself?”

Visibly, the gloom on Liu Yun’s face dissipated, even showing a trace of interest.

Ruixue, standing nearby, had been secretly smug, waiting for Miss Shen to completely enrage their Empress Dowager. She hoped their Empress Dowager would lock her in the meditation cells and not let her out, so everyone could have some peace!

But seeing their Empress Dowager not only unruffled but with a hint of clearing skies, Ruixue grew anxious. She even stepped forward and shouted in reprimand, “Miss Shen, watch your words! How could Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, in her exalted state, go to such a lowly place?!”

Shen Yuezhuang was in the middle of her excitement. Being blocked, she retorted without hesitation. “The Emperor is the Emperor of all the people under heaven, and the Empress Dowager is naturally the Empress Dowager of all the people under heaven. Everyone within Great Liang is the Empress Dowager’s and the Emperor’s subjects. What’s wrong with the Empress Dowager going to see how her subjects are doing?”

Ruixue didn’t bother to check the Empress Dowager’s expression. She replied coldly, “Her Grace the Empress Dowager is unwell. Miss Shen witnessed it herself yesterday. Her Highness’s body is sensitive to cold. If…”

Before Ruixue could finish, Shen Yuezhuang cut in again. “If Her Highness is unwell, then she should get treatment! It’s not like she’s going out right this instant!”

“If she’s sensitive to the cold, she can wear more clothes. Have the servants seal the carriage with oiled paper and line it with thick mattresses. You can’t just be afraid of falling if you go out, so you never leave the house, can you?”

“You!” Ruixue, unable to win an argument, looked indignantly at Liu Yun. “Empress Dowager!”

Shen Yuezhuang refused to back down. She cheerfully filled a bowl of soup and, with an obsequious smile, brought it to Liu Yun’s lips. “Empress Dowager~”

That drawl gave Ruixue goosebumps. Shen Yuezhuang fed her the soup, then wrapped her arms around one of Liu Yun’s and pretended to knead it. “Just one day. We’ll come back after watching the Flower Queen’s performance.”

Shen Yuezhuang pouted, hooking her finger through Liu Yun’s and swinging it back and forth. “It’s not every day we get to go out and play. Let’s go!”

In the pause while drinking her soup, Liu Yun glanced at Ruixue. She was so angry her eyes were red, looking ready to eat Shen Yuezhuang alive.

After all… it wouldn’t be right to play favorites too blatantly.

Liu Yun cleared her throat, her expression turning serious. “Before you’ve finished copying the sutras, don’t even think about going out!”

Shen Yuezhuang immediately caught the subtext, blinking her eyes. “And after I finish copying?”

“…It depends on your performance.”