Three days later, the Empress Dowager sent people to bring His Majesty back to the palace. At the same time, news spread through the imperial harem: the Empress had been gravely wounded by the rebel army while saving His Majesty, and had fallen unconscious. She was currently recuperating at the Yunfu Taoist Temple, which was heavily guarded by troops.
Yuwen Qiyue also returned to the palace with Yuwen Luo. After returning, Yuwen Qiyue went to find Xi Fengyu as usual, but Xi Fengyu was writing behind closed doors and had not been going out much for some time.
It was only after coming back that Yuwen Qiyue learned Xi Fengyu had claimed to have caught a chill not long after they left the palace. The imperial physicians had treated her multiple times, but she had not recovered.
Having finally managed to keep up with their train of thought, Yuwen Qiyue sat by the bed and looked at the person painting before her, asking softly, “Are you all going to leave the palace?”
Xi Fengyu thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. Yunqin’s talents are wasted in the harem. The Empress Dowager can’t bear to let her go, but…”
“Your talents are the same,” Yuwen Qiyue suddenly said to Xi Fengyu.
Xi Fengyu gave a light laugh. “Me? I can’t compare to Yunqin. Even though we learned many of the same things, people’s perceptions differ.”
“You both have the world in your hearts, I understand. Just like the Empress Dowager, I also understand.” Yuwen Qiyue sighed softly. “It’s only after you leave that the palace will become much more boring for me.”
Xi Fengyu reached out and rubbed her head. Yuwen Qiyue wasn’t wearing many hair ornaments today; her hair was simply tied up, with only a jade hairpin pinned in place—one that Xi Fengyu had made herself when she was idle and bored.
“Your Highness the Grand Princess doesn’t have to be trapped in the palace either,” Xi Fengyu said to Yuwen Qiyue. “You are already the Grand Princess. You can beg the Empress Dowager to allow you to live in the Grand Princess Mansion. She will agree.”
Yuwen Qiyue reached out and grabbed her wrist, lifting her eyes to look at that face which had stunned the world the moment she first entered the palace. “Did you and Yunqin beg the Empress Dowager for this?”
Xi Fengyu gently shook her head. “The Empress Dowager had you enter the palace originally only to prevent the Chancellor and others from contacting you so easily. She didn’t want you to become a pawn of the Chancellor.”
Yuwen Qiyue sighed softly. “What Fengyu says is truly hurtful. It seems I can only be a pawn.”
“No.” Xi Fengyu withdrew her hand and slowly shook her head.
“Empress Xuande wanted you to live a peaceful and smooth life. She didn’t want you to be drawn into the arena of power. The Empress Dowager also wants to protect you, but her relationship with you is ultimately not like that of Empress Xuande, and with her status and position, she cannot be too close to you. Of course, it’s also a matter of personality.” These were things Si Yunqin had told Xi Fengyu.
Xi Fengyu relayed them to Yuwen Qiyue. Even though Yuwen Qiyue already knew that Shen Yanxin harbored no hostility toward her, having someone explain it clearly felt different.
Yuwen Qiyue nodded slightly, then asked hesitantly, “Does the Empress Dowager truly not want a woman to rule the world?”
This time, Xi Fengyu did not answer her directly. Instead, she lifted her eyes to meet Yuwen Qiyue’s gaze. “Qi Yue, do you think the Empress Dowager could become the Empress Regnant?”
Yuwen Qiyue was silent for a long time, then finally let out a bitter laugh. “In terms of governing the country, she is a wise ruler. But my surname is Yuwen.”
Just as Xi Fengyu thought she had the answer, Yuwen Qiyue sighed again. “But what has the Yuwen Clan given me? If it weren’t for Mother Empress’s kindness, I would have been nothing more than a princess in the deep palace that no one cared about.”
“The Yuwen Clan gave me a seemingly glorious princess identity, but if I hadn’t met Mother Empress, I might have lived worse than a commoner. My father granted my mother the status of Mother of the Nation, yet after her death, he exiled my maternal grandfather to a barbaric wasteland. My father arranged a marriage for me without ever considering whether I liked it or whether marrying into the Wen Clan would truly bring me half a lifetime of peace. I was merely a tool for exchanging interests between the imperial family and the aristocratic clans.” Yuwen Qiyue lifted her gaze to the sky.
“If I hadn’t met you all, I might never have realized I was just a bird in a cage, with no need for a self.”
“Now that I have seen the birds soaring through the sky, I no longer wish to be trapped in this gilded cage.”
A hint of a smile bloomed on Yuwen Qiyue’s face as she looked at Xi Fengyu. “These days with you have been the freest, the most joyful of my life. So if the Empress Dowager truly becomes the Female Emperor, perhaps it’s not such a bad thing.”
“And besides, Luo’er is also a girl. As an elder sister, how could I not want my younger sister to openly wear red robes and let the world know she is a woman?” Yuwen Qiyue said to Xi Fengyu.
Seeing Xi Fengyu’s calm expression, Yuwen Qiyue relaxed lazily. “So you knew all along.”
“I know. One of the conditions Yunqin set when negotiating with the Empress Dowager was that if she ascended the throne, at least the next three emperors must all be female emperors.” Xi Fengyu did not hide it from her. This was something she and Si Yunqin had agreed upon. Since Yuwen Qiyue treated them with sincerity, as friends, they did not want to conceal anything.
“You think and plan far ahead. It makes me somewhat envious. Unfortunately, I don’t have your strategic abilities of deliberation,” Yuwen Qiyue said with some regret.
Xi Fengyu tapped her forehead. “Don’t belittle yourself.”
As she spoke, Xi Fengyu couldn’t help but cough twice. Yuwen Qiyue immediately became tense. “Is your chill really not an act?”
Xi Fengyu’s face showed a mischievous glint as she blinked. “It is an act, but I can’t exactly be full of vigor and vitality, can I? These medicines were given by the Temple Abbot of Yunfu.”
“Will it leave any lasting effects?” Yuwen Qiyue asked nervously.
Xi Fengyu chuckled softly. “How could it?”
Only then did Yuwen Qiyue breathe a sigh of relief.
At the Yunfu Taoist Temple, Si Yunqin was much more at ease than Xi Fengyu in the palace. She lived alone in a side hall, with only Si Yin serving her. She did have injuries, but certainly not life-threatening ones.
The Temple Abbot pushed open the door and saw Si Yunqin practicing with a sword.
“Although the wound the Empress sustained that day was not fatal, if Her Majesty continues to practice the sword all day like this, the injury will hardly heal,” the Abbot said to Si Yunqin.
Si Yunqin glanced at the faint trace of blood seeping through her light-colored robes and smiled nonchalantly. “Wouldn’t it be even better if it never healed?”
The Abbot shook her head. “Given the Empress’s skills, she could have dodged that sword strike that day.”
Si Yunqin had grown up running wild in the Yunfu Temple. The first time she came, the old Temple Abbot was still alive, and the current Abbot had not yet succeeded.
Putting down the sword, Si Yunqin gave a light laugh. “Abbot, you don’t need to worry about me, and don’t call me Empress anymore. In a few days, I won’t be.”
The Abbot sat down opposite her, picking up a chess piece. “Didn’t Her Majesty the Empress summon this humble Daoist to play chess?”
Indeed, Si Yunqin had invited the Abbot for a game of chess. She didn’t want the Abbot to talk about court affairs.
During the day, Si Yunqin followed the Daoist priests in the temple to cultivate and practice swordplay, keeping her wound in a state where it continued to split open but not to a severe degree.
Si Yunqin felt her days were comfortable enough.
Back in the palace, Xi Fengyu’s illness grew more severe. Shen Yanxin had spent considerable time and energy to reorder the court.
After finally finishing the memorials early one day, Shen Yanxin thought of the little Empress who was far away at the Yunfu Temple on the outskirts of the city.
She wondered how that one was doing alone. After a moment’s thought, Shen Yanxin called for Lan Xi. “Prepare the horses. I’m going to Yunfu Temple.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Is the Empress Dowager going to see the Empress?” Lan Xi asked.
“She enjoys liveliness, but the temple is quiet. I’ll see if she’s getting used to it. She still has to stay there for a while,” Shen Yanxin said.
“Understood.”
Shen Yanxin rode through the night to the Yunfu Temple. But when she arrived at Si Yunqin’s quarters, she heard laughter and cheerful voices from inside.
“Senior Sister, this Bamboo Leaf Green liquor really packs a punch,” Si Yunqin said with a laugh.
“I brought it back from my travels some time ago. It’s a pity you can’t leave the palace freely right now. If you could, you could travel the world with me and taste the fine wines of the land,” another female voice replied, tinged with a free-spirited and unrestrained demeanor.
“That’s not impossible,” Si Yunqin chuckled. “I just lost to Senior Sister in sparring, but I’m not convinced. Won’t Senior Sister give me a few pointers?”
“Of course. Draw your sword!”
Shen Yanxin walked to the doorway and saw the two figures crossing blades, shadows clashing. The person she had worried might be too bored was smiling with unrestrained joy.
The clothes Si Yunqin wore were a Taoist robe Shen Yanxin had never seen before. In one hand was a wine flask, in the other a long sword. She didn’t look like the eldest daughter of the Sikong’ mansion, but rather a free-spirited wandering swordsman of the martial world. In that moment, Shen Yanxin felt it was the entire Heavenly Light City that had trapped her—not just the palace.
Zhou Xinglian thrust her sword at Si Yunqin, and Si Yunqin blocked with her own blade. But due to her injury, the pain in her arm caused her to fail to stop the sword’s strike. The wound reopened, staining her Taoist robe with blood.
“You’re injured?” Zhou Xinglian had only returned today and didn’t know about Si Yunqin’s injury.
Si Yunqin sheathed her sword. “It’s nothing.”
Zhou Xinglian watched Si Yunqin drink, then turned her head to look at the figure at the door. The temple was heavily guarded by troops; anyone able to enter could not be an ordinary person.
Besides…
Zhou Xinglian observed the person’s features—there seemed to be a hint of an extraordinary aura about her.
Si Yunqin also looked over. When she saw Shen Yanxin, she choked on her drink, almost coughing to death.
She coughed violently beside her. Zhou Xinglian patted her back. “Choking on wine?”
Si Yunqin couldn’t care about that. She put down the flask and quickly bowed in greeting. “Your subject pays respects to the Empress Dowager. I was not prepared for Your Highness’s arrival.”
Shen Yanxin glanced at her coolly. “The Empress has not yet recovered; she should not indulge in drinking.”
She stepped inside. Zhou Xinglian was also startled, having never expected this person to be the current Empress Dowager. But on second thought, Si Yunqin’s recuperation at the temple must have been permitted by the Empress Dowager.
Zhou Xinglian quickly followed suit and bowed. Si Yunqin awkwardly introduced her. “Senior Sister Zhou is the only personal disciple of the Abbot. She just returned to the temple today. Your subject and Senior Sister are old acquaintances, catching up.”
Shen Yanxin sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard and nodded. “Mm.”
Seeing the Empress Dowager sit, Zhou Xinglian guessed the two had matters to discuss and tactfully excused herself.
Si Yunqin sat down opposite Shen Yanxin. “Why has the Empress Dowager come so late at night?”
“I came to check on the Empress’s injuries. I didn’t expect to disturb the Empress’s enjoyment.”
Si Yunqin listened to Shen Yanxin’s words—how awkward they sounded.
