In the days that followed, the Young Emperor visited Si Yunqin’s palace every day. Si Yunqin took her teaching of martial arts seriously, using the same methods her father had used to train her and her siblings when she was young.
The Young Emperor occupied two hours of Si Yunqin’s day, Consort Chen took up another hour, and she also had to study Buddhist sutras with Grand Consort Shu and brew tea, play the zither, and discuss paintings with Grand Consort Xi. She was kept busy all day long.
Shen Yanxin was recently troubled by the flooding in Jiangnan and had no mind to care about what Si Yunqin was doing.
One rare day when the Young Emperor didn’t come, Si Yunqin woke up early in the morning and practiced swordsmanship for half an hour. Just as she was about to go bathe, she saw a plump tabby cat lounging on the palace wall, basking lazily in the sun.
Who doesn’t like a fluffy cat?
Si Yunqin certainly did. She crept closer, but the chubby cat didn’t run away at her approach. It seemed to be a regular in the palace, unafraid of people.
“Meow~” Si Yunqin meowed at it. The cat lifted its head slightly, glanced at her with an expression full of haughtiness, as if to say, “Stupid human.”
Just as Si Yunqin wanted to get closer and reach out to pet it, the cat got up, flicked its tail, and walked away.
Left behind, Si Yunqin couldn’t very well chase after it. This was the back garden of Eternal Peace Palace, some distance from the rear gate, and she couldn’t climb the wall—it would damage the Empress’s image, and she feared if Shen Yanxin found out, she’d kill her.
A little disappointed, she sheathed her sword. Just then, Si Yin came looking for her. Si Yunqin stretched and said, “I feel like eating noodles today. Have the kitchen prepare a bowl for me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Would you like to bathe and change clothes?”
“Mm.” Si Yunqin stretched again. “Does His Majesty have a monthly test today? He won’t be coming, right?”
Every month on the twentieth, the Grand Tutor gave the Young Emperor a monthly test. On that day, the Young Emperor would get up early to cram for the exam, so he had no time to visit Eternal Peace Palace.
“Yes. Grand Consort Xi sent word that she’ll be painting today and will teach Your Majesty to brew tea tomorrow instead.”
“Perfect. Today I can be a total slacker in the palace.” Si Yunqin never imagined that keeping company with young ladies could be so exhausting.
Grand Consort Yuande was the best—she helped handle the harem affairs and could also read storybooks with her.
After bathing and changing, Si Yunqin slurped down her noodles, then pulled out the latest popular storybook that Si Yin had collected for her.
It was richly illustrated. Although the general plot was provided by Si Yunqin herself, she had only described it orally without many details.
The author had not only fleshed out the details but also drawn illustrations. In Si Yunqin’s original story, the female lead had no love interest, but the author added one—and made the love interest a woman.
This immediately piqued Si Yunqin’s interest. The first time she saw it, a palace maid was secretly reading it, and Si Yunqin caught her red-handed, confiscating it with righteous indignation.
Later, she read one chapter and got hooked, desperately wanting to see what happened next. She went back to ask the two maids, who told her the storybook was written and illustrated by a master named Shallow Pond. Some of this author’s works had circulated in the palace before.
However, since the storybooks were all about relationships between women, they were passed around secretly, and not many people knew about them.
After hearing this, Si Yunqin decided to collect all of them—not by herself, but by having Si Yin secretly gather them.
The stories Si Yunqin had told were only spoken in the palace, and only in the Grand Consorts’ palaces. Anyone who knew them must be inside the palace.
Moreover, the author could read and paint, so she couldn’t be an ordinary maid.
Given that, the author must have been the daughter of an official before entering the palace. But even so, finding this person was not easy.
Since Si Yunqin had free time today, she decided to flip through the author’s earlier works.
The female characters in the author’s stories were excellently crafted. Si Yunqin fell in love with the first one she read. The protagonist was a girl from a wealthy family who ran away from home because she was dissatisfied with her parents’ arranged marriage, and then traveled the world alone. Although she was a daughter of a great house who never left her doorstep, she had independent thoughts and was thoughtful in her dealings.
Initially, she fell in love with a scholar who was actually a woman disguised as a man. When she found out the scholar was female, the protagonist was a little unable to accept it at first, but slowly she realized that what she loved was that person—her gentleness, her thoughtfulness, the bond they forged through countless hardships together. It had nothing to do with gender.
After finishing the book, Si Yunqin felt that the author’s way of thinking was extraordinarily open-minded.
Also, the portraits the author drew of the protagonist were truly beautiful—even the intimate scenes behind the curtains were depicted.
The scenes were romantic and suggestive, erotic yet not vulgar, which convinced Si Yunqin that the author must be a woman.
The sunlight outside the courtyard grew warm. Si Yunqin yawned lazily as she read.
She lay back in her lounge chair, covering her face with the book, and fell asleep without realizing it.
After the morning court session, Shen Yanxin was in a sour mood. She had no heart for reviewing memorials, so she decided to take a walk.
In the Imperial Garden, she ran into the Young Emperor, who had just finished his test. Yuwen Luo was hopping and skipping towards Eternal Peace Palace, clutching his exam paper.
When he saw Shen Yanxin, he quickly straightened up, but his clothes were still disheveled.
“Your child subject pays respects to Mother Empress.” Yuwen Luo bowed hastily, a little flustered.
Shen Yanxin looked at his untidy robes but didn’t scold him. She only asked, “Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”
“To the Empress’s palace.” Yuwen Luo didn’t dare lie and answered honestly.
He was still clutching his exam paper. Shen Yanxin noticed and reached out to take a look.
“Your handwriting has become much neater. Mm, not bad.”
“The Empress taught me. Lately, the Empress Sister has been teaching me martial arts. She says it exercises arm strength and makes my grip on the brush steadier. It really works.” Yuwen Luo looked up at Shen Yanxin with bright eyes, his face unable to hide his fondness when mentioning the Empress.
Shen Yanxin held out her hand to him. “Luo’er, you’re going to Eternal Peace Palace now. Are you planning to have lunch there?”
Hearing her question, Yuwen Luo timidly clasped his hands behind his back, fidgeting his fingers. “Mother Empress, is that not allowed? The Empress Sister usually invites me to have lunch in her palace.”
“Have you been going to Eternal Peace Palace often lately?” Shen Yanxin hadn’t known that the Young Emperor had taken to frequenting the Empress’s palace.
“Yes, I go. The Empress Sister teaches me martial arts and also teaches me a lot of fun, novel things.” Yuwen Luo was still young and didn’t know to hide such matters, and Si Yunqin hadn’t told him to keep it secret anyway.
“Come on, then. Let’s go have lunch with the Empress together.” Shen Yanxin reached out her hand to the Young Emperor. He took it obediently, a smile on his face.
He liked being close to Mother Empress, but he was always too afraid to take the initiative. However, the Empress had told him that day that if he liked someone, he had to be proactive.
As they walked, Shen Yanxin chatted with Yuwen Luo and noticed that the Young Emperor’s speech had become much more articulate and his expression clearer. Si Yunqin had only been in the palace for two months, hadn’t she?
It seemed that the little Empress she had forced into the palace did have some ability after all.
Shen Yanxin led Yuwen Luo to Eternal Peace Palace, where the head palace maid, Lin Feng, hastily led the attendants in greeting.
“Where is the Empress?” Shen Yanxin asked casually.
“Her Majesty is cooling off in the back garden.”
“The Grand Tutor praised me today! I want to tell the Empress Sister!” Yuwen Luo said excitedly.
Once inside Eternal Peace Palace, he seemed to instantly let loose.
Lin Feng wanted to stop him, but the Empress had recently been obsessed with those storybooks. Although she hadn’t read them in detail, she knew it wouldn’t be good if the Empress Dowager or His Majesty saw them.
“Allow me to announce your arrival first,” Lin Feng said calmly.
But Shen Yanxin waved her hand. “No need.”
With that, she had someone lead the way directly to the pavilion in the back garden.
Si Yunqin was still asleep. She had gotten up early and was sleeping quite soundly, completely unaware that anyone had arrived.
She was only woken when Shen Yanxin and Yuwen Luo reached the pavilion.
Groggily, she lifted the book off her face. “Yuwen Luo, why are you here?”
She squinted, opening one corner of the book, and saw only the short figure of Yuwen Luo.
Then she noticed the hem of a black long skirt beside him. She froze, lifted the book a little more, and looked upward. Seeing Shen Yanxin standing behind Yuwen Luo, she jolted awake and scrambled to her feet.
She even quickly hid the storybook.
“Your Majesty, why are you here?” Si Yunqin hastily bowed. “I apologize for not welcoming you—I didn’t know Your Majesty was coming.”
“Rise.” Shen Yanxin felt oddly pleased by her flustered look.
Si Yunqin immediately scolded Lin Feng and Si Yin beside her. “Why didn’t you announce that Her Majesty was coming?”
Her head ached. How could she let Shen Yanxin see her like this?
Right now, she was wearing only a peach-pink dress, with her hair simply tied back with a ribbon. It wasn’t messy, but it was hardly proper for receiving guests.
Especially a nominal elder like the Empress Dowager.
“It’s fine. I was just wandering in the Imperial Garden and happened to run into Luo’er coming to see the Empress, so I came along. I hope I didn’t disturb your rest,” Shen Yanxin said calmly.
Her tone was gentle, but Si Yunqin didn’t dare believe it.
“Were you reading?” Shen Yanxin noticed the books beside her and casually picked one up.
Si Yunqin moved quickly to grab it back, but Shen Yanxin already had it in her hand, and she couldn’t very well snatch it away.
For a moment, her expression was awkward. “Just some light reading, not a classic.”
Shen Yanxin opened the book. She had only meant to flip through it casually, never expecting to see such an erotic illustration.
Si Yunqin felt like she was dying of embarrassment. She quickly snatched the book back, disregarding all etiquette.
She hurriedly told Si Yin to take it away and hide it. “Your Majesty, didn’t you have a test today? Why are you here?” Si Yunqin shamelessly forced a change of subject.
Shen Yanxin didn’t say anything, just gave Si Yunqin a meaningful look.
It made Si Yunqin shudder inside, almost afraid that Shen Yanxin would end her on the spot.
After all, Yuwen Luo often visited her palace. If he had seen that book, she could have been charged with corrupting the young emperor.
Right now, Si Yunqin was completely numb. She had no idea why the Empress Dowager had suddenly decided to visit her palace.
“The test is over. The Grand Tutor praised me, Empress Sister! The Grand Tutor also said you should teach me more.” The Young Emperor frequently visited Si Yunqin’s palace, and occasionally she would teach him a thing or two.
Some of Si Yunqin’s habits inevitably rubbed off on him when he spoke and acted. The Grand Tutor was familiar with his only personal disciple, so he could tell right away. The Young Emperor couldn’t keep a secret, so of course he told the Grand Tutor.
Si Yunqin cursed inwardly. That old man was always trying to set her up.
Shen Yanxin, on the other hand, watched Si Yunqin with a hint of amusement, making Si Yunqin’s skin crawl. It felt like she was being treated as prey—not an enjoyable feeling at all.
