Qi Yue was thirteen when Empress Dowager Qi passed away, and Noble Consort Yan took charge of the harem in her stead.
Li Yi had promised Empress Dowager Qi that he would never depose the Empress, and so he would not depose Qi Yue. However, once Empress Dowager Qi died, Li Yi naturally no longer needed to bother looking in on that peculiar little girl.
A little girl like Qi Yue—without father or mother, unable to curry favor, dazed and foolish—was not worthy of Li Yi’s liking.
In the Yan dynasty, palace selection was held once every three years.
At the beginning of the year when Qi Yue turned fifteen, it was time for the selection.
The harem instantly grew crowded.
Qi Yue wore a pale blue palace dress, her black hair casually bound up with a gold hairpin, revealing a slender and delicate neck. Two wisps of loose hair hung by her ears, making her face appear even fairer and softer. The clothes she wore were rather plain, not at all like something an empress would wear.
Qi Yue, however, did not mind at all. She could wear a phoenix robe, and she could wear a simple dress even more gladly.
At present, it was the spring of third month, and the flowers in the Imperial Garden were in full bloom. Qi Yue had Aunt Yun and Aunt Jing with her, and she was carrying a small basket woven from willow strips. Inside the basket was a pair of scissors, and she was about to pick some flowers to bring back to the palace.
Suddenly, she heard the chattering voices of several palace maids nearby. “Noble Consort Yan was furious this time!”
“Isn’t that so? Noble Consort Yan is already twenty this year, isn’t she? Those newly entered selection candidates are all girls in their teens—far fresher than she is.”
“All right, stop gossiping! If Noble Consort Yan’s people hear you, half your lives will be gone!”
The palace maids were all girls in their teens too. What girl didn’t like gossip? Seeing that no one was around, they whispered, “What are you afraid of? There are plenty of people in the palace who curse her in private. Last month I went to deliver fabric to her and happened to catch her in a bad mood. A bowl flew right onto my head; I still have the scar!”
“Walls have ears. You silly girl, you’ve been in the palace for a year already—how are you still this ignorant?” one maid lectured. “Does Noble Consort Yan rely on her beauty? Her father made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion, her family has strong backing, and the Emperor favors her. Maybe in a couple of days he’ll depose the Empress and confer the title of Empress on Noble Consort Yan. If you keep spouting nonsense and it gets out, when Noble Consort Yan becomes Empress, the first people she’ll deal with are you loose-tongued ones.”
Qi Yue held her flower basket and the delicate silver scissors in her hand. With a crisp snick, red juice flowed across Qi Yue’s fair little hand.
She did not cut the stems and leaves of the flowers, but instead cut off the tender petals.
Aunt Yun and Aunt Jing had heard all of the maids’ words. Once the maids had gone far away, Aunt Yun said, “Your Majesty, these little maids know nothing. You must not take their nonsense to heart. Back then, His Majesty promised our Empress Dowager that he would never depose the Empress. Your seat is secure and stable.”
Aunt Jing also said, “Aunt Yun is right, Your Majesty. Your looks are enough to outshine the entire harem. In the days to come, once His Majesty sees you grown up, he will surely cherish you dearly.”
Qi Yue’s hand, stained with rose juice, lightly touched her own face. Her eyelashes trembled slightly. “Aunt Yun, tell me—His Majesty promised the Empress Dowager that he would absolutely never depose the Empress. But what if I die?”
Aunt Yun’s expression changed. “Your Majesty, you must never say such things!”
“One day, if he wants to install a member of the Yan family, and sends someone in the dead of night to Zhengyang Palace to strangle me with a white silk sash, then gives me a pleasant posthumous title—how would that count as deposing the Empress?” Qi Yue’s expression did not change. She curved her lips, her eyes unreadable. “To His Majesty, I have never really counted for anything.”
“Your Majesty, please don’t think like that!” Aunt Jing said. “What happened two years ago… it’s already in the past. He is the Son of Heaven. You can only endure, can only yield, and gain more of his favor.”
Qi Yue lowered her head and continued cutting flower branches.
From the side, she truly was a very beautiful and tranquil young girl. Her skin, under the sunlight, was dazzlingly white. In the entire harem, there was no second girl as beautiful as she was.
If the emperor were truly to place any woman at the tip of his heart and cherish her, Aunt Jing and Aunt Yun felt that that woman would certainly be Qi Yue.
Very soon, summer arrived, and with it came even more mistresses in the palace. The harem was quickly filled with young and beautiful women.
In this plentiful harem, everyone knew that the Emperor already had an Empress. The Empress stayed in Zhengyang Palace year-round and rarely came out. It was said that the Empress was a little girl, a most peculiar little girl, someone the Emperor did not like and merely left to one side.
The most sought-after person in the palace was Noble Consort Yan.
Noble Consort Yan held great power, was unrivaled in beauty throughout the harem, and had the limelight all to herself, practically functioning as the true empress. The entire harem, from the high-ranking consorts to the lowly ones, had to obey Noble Consort Yan.
In the blink of an eye, it was Mid-Autumn Festival.
Every year on Mid-Autumn Festival, Li Yi would spend the holiday with the imperial consorts, and this year was no exception.
For the past two years, Qi Yue had always claimed illness and hidden in Zhengyang Palace. Li Yi had no interest in accompanying that little girl who had lost her backing, and whether Qi Yue was truly ill or pretending to be ill did not concern him in the slightest. Even without Qi Yue presiding over the Mid-Autumn family banquet, capable Noble Consort Yan was there.
A group of young consorts who had entered the palace for less than half a year and had not yet won imperial favor eagerly presented themselves before Li Yi. They displayed their talents, offered brilliant poems, sang moving songs, and danced graceful dances.
But in Li Yi’s eyes, they were nothing more than a bunch of gaudy, mediocre women.
Li Yi had never truly liked anyone. As an emperor, he took concubines like countless emperors before him. He was more diligent in state affairs than most emperors, and the achievements he had built were also things most emperors could hardly compare with.
Noble Consort Yan kept a cold eye on the concubines trying to stand out, while smiling as she leaned against Li Yi, hoping to win imperial favor.
Recently, Li Yi had been occupied with important state matters and seldom came to the harem.
Now that Noble Consort Yan was in the ascendant, she felt she might have a chance to shove aside Empress Qi and take that glorious phoenix seat herself.
But she still lacked one opportunity, and that opportunity ought to be a child.
Noble Consort Yan said in a soft, charming voice, “It is getting late now, Your Majesty. Shouldn’t we also return to rest?”
Li Yi said, “I still have court affairs to handle. You may continue to enjoy yourselves. I will take my leave first.”
Noble Consort Yan tried to keep him there. “Your Majesty—”
And yet, no matter how she tried to persuade him, Li Yi did not wish to look at her again.
Once he was gone, Noble Consort Yan withdrew every trace of expression from her face.
Below her, Consort De smiled faintly. “I thought His Majesty would remain at Noble Consort’s quarters tonight. Who would have thought Noble Consort would receive the same treatment as the rest of us?”
Noble Lady Wu, who had always stood on Noble Consort Yan’s side, said, “What do you mean, Noble Consort also received the same treatment as us? Just some days ago, His Majesty even sent gifts from tribute states to Noble Consort’s residence. The favor and benefits Noble Consort receives are things we will never get in our lifetimes.”
Noble Consort Yan was already seething with anger, and the more she looked at Consort De, the more displeased she became.
Yet this cunning fox of a Consort De left no flaw to seize upon.
Noble Consort Yan could only mock her. “Consort De, it has been three months since His Majesty last stepped foot in your palace, hasn’t it? Those of us who serve His Majesty do so to make His Majesty happy. But you, as one of the Four Consorts, cannot even keep the Emperor by your side. Once word gets out, who knows what people will say? In the future, you had better put in a little more effort.”
Consort De said in a bizarrely sweet-and-sour tone, “Yes, this concubine understands. But Noble Consort is not much better than this concubine, is she? His Majesty has not gone to Noble Consort’s place for two months either.”
Noble Consort Yan’s hand tightened, and her long nails dug into her palm.
Li Yi walked all the way over. As he neared Zhengyang Palace, he heard the sound of a flute.
What had originally been a clear and distant flute melody had somehow been played into something lingering and melancholy.
Li Yi suddenly remembered that he had not seen his Empress for two years.
In Li Yi’s memory, Qi Yue was still that somewhat vicious and somewhat peculiar little girl.
Li Yi had always preferred gentle and virtuous women. A girl like Qi Yue, who seemed gentle and innocent on the surface but was full of poisonous schemes underneath, was someone he avoided as though she were a plague.
Qi Yue resembled Empress Dowager Qi by about thirty percent. Back then, Empress Dowager Qi had relied on pretending to be weak and innocent while secretly harming imperial consorts and imperial heirs to secure her place as empress.
A feeling of disgust instantly rose in Li Yi’s heart.
When the eunuch saw Li Yi stop, he had a sudden thought and said, “Your Majesty, the Empress should have grown into adulthood by now.”
Li Yi gave a soft “Mm,” and in the end still stepped into Zhengyang Palace.
Outside, Aunt Jing and several maids heard that the Emperor had arrived and all dropped to their knees.
Li Yi walked inward. “Where is the Empress?”
Aunt Yun also came out from inside.
Aunt Yun knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty, Her Majesty is unwell and has caught a chill. It is inconvenient for her to receive you. You should not go in, lest you be infected by the illness.”
“It is fine.”
Li Yi strode inside.
When he reached a flower-and-bird screen, he suddenly stopped.
For some reason, now that he had come this far, Li Yi no longer wished to go in. He felt that the little girl inside was no different from the strange, annoying little girl from two years ago.
From inside came two faint coughs. Shortly after that, a soft but somewhat cool voice said, “Is it His Majesty?”
Only from that voice alone, Li Yi could tell that this was no longer the voice of a childish little girl.
The room carried a quiet, secluded fragrance. Once it entered the lungs, it made one feel cold.
The faint coughing came again. Qi Yue said, “This concubine has caught a chill. Please return, Your Majesty.”
As though guided by some unseen force, Li Yi turned and walked back out.
The palace maids were kneeling all over the ground.
He asked, “The flute melody just now, did it come from Zhengyang Palace?”
Aunt Jing said, “No, no one in the palace would dare make noise late at night.”
Li Yi walked away.
Translator’s Anecdote:
The emperor insists he’s not interested, yet he still ends up walking into Zhengyang Palace anyway. That little pause at the screen door? Oh, that was not indifference—that was the beginning of trouble.