The fact that her cousin would be constantly by her side during the autumn hunt could no longer be changed, and Yun Si could not come up with a reason to alter it, so she had no choice but to silently accept it.
When the autumn hunt arrived, she would see if there was a way to slip away from her cousin for a little while to steal a glance at the Emperor.
At worst… at worst, she would really take her cousin along to sneak a peek at the Emperor!
She could pretend to be extremely curious about what the Emperor looked like. Her cousin wouldn’t suspect anything—curiosity about the Emperor’s appearance was only natural.
The only thing Yun Si had to overcome was her own sense of shame. If she really went with her fiancé to secretly watch the man who had been intimately close to her in her dreams…
It was just too…
Yun Si didn’t know if she could keep a straight face or if her cousin would notice something amiss.
Worried that it might really come to this and wanting to avoid any slip-ups, she began repeatedly imagining the scene in her mind at home in advance.
Holding a clear bronze mirror in her hand, Yun Si imagined her cousin beside her as she stole a glance at the Emperor, trying to picture every detail… Then she looked into the mirror to see if her face had turned red.
At first, as soon as she started imagining the scene, Yun Si’s cheeks flushed redder than the summer sunset.
She also noticed that her reflection in the mirror would grow nervous, her breathing quickening, and her eyes blinking repeatedly…
This shy and timid appearance would seem suspicious to anyone and would definitely not escape her cousin’s notice.
Facing the mirror, Yun Si forced herself to imagine the scene over and over again in her mind. Until, no matter what she felt inside, her fair and delicate skin showed not a hint of redness, she was finally satisfied.
The maidservants, seeing Yun Si gazing into the mirror every day, assumed she was beautifying herself for the one she admired. Thinking that she would be spending day and night with her fiancé during the upcoming autumn hunt, they believed she was paying extra attention to her appearance, wanting to show her most beautiful side to her fiancé.
Jin Ming smiled and said, “Miss, you are naturally stunning. No matter what, you are absolutely beautiful.”
Lu Ya snorted lightly, “Young Prince Xie is truly getting a great bargain by marrying our miss.”
Bai Hao laughed, “Don’t worry, miss. Even when dressed as a man, you will surely be so beautiful that Young Prince Xie won’t be able to forget you.”
Yun Si pretended to be angry, “What nonsense are you all talking about? Don’t say another word!”
The maidservants thought she was gazing into the mirror every day for Xie Changze, but only Yun Si knew it wasn’t for him.
Because the maidservants believed Yun Si cared deeply about her appearance, they tried their best to make her look attractive even when she was dressed as a man.
“Don’t worry, miss. You are the most beautiful young lady in women’s clothing, and in men’s clothing, we will surely turn you into the most dashing young gentleman.”
“We definitely won’t paint your skin dark and sallow or make your eyebrows thick and black.”
With Yun Si’s looks and bearing, such makeup would not suit her and would instead draw attention. Transforming Yun Si from a beauty in women’s clothing into a beauty in men’s clothing, turning her gentle and delicate charm into a spirited and heroic appearance, was the most natural and seamless approach.
The maidservants experimented with one makeup look after another on her face and tried one hairstyle after another.
Finally, after settling on the makeup and hairstyle, Yun Si went to show her father and mother, both of whom were pleasantly surprised.
“What a spirited and handsome young man!”
With the help of the hairstyle and makeup, Yun Si’s face possessed a beauty that blurred the lines between masculine and feminine—like a refined boy of fourteen or fifteen who had not yet fully matured. It did not appear effeminate but instead made one marvel at the favoritism of the goddess Nüwa when creating humans.
“If your younger brother grows up to have even seventy percent of your looks, the threshold of our house will be worn down by the daughters coming to propose marriage,” Madam Zheng said, covering her mouth with a laugh.
Yun Zhang, her younger brother, looked at his sister dressed in men’s clothing with wide-eyed curiosity and said sincerely, “Sister, you look so handsome!”
“When I grow up, I definitely won’t be as good-looking as you.”
The only trouble with disguising as a man was having to bind her chest. To avoid being discovered, Yun Si had her maids tightly wrap her chest.
…It hurt a little.
It also felt stifling, making it hard to breathe.
Lu Ya and Yinzhen couldn’t bear to wrap it too tightly, so in the end, Jin Ming and Bai Hao worked together, trying several times to find the right tightness—one that wouldn’t reveal the disguise but also wouldn’t cause Yun Si unbearable pain.
As Jin Ming wrapped the cloth, she said, “If it were last year, Miss would have suffered less.”
“Miss has grown much fuller this year compared to last…”
When Jin Ming said “fuller,” she was referring only to that one area. Yun Si’s slender waist had actually become even slimmer this year, making her figure all the more delicate and graceful.
“Seems like the changes have been especially noticeable in the past few months?” Bai Hao recalled.
Yun Si blushed and forbade her maids from saying any more.
“Wrap a few more layers of cloth around the waist to make it look thicker.”
She had also noticed the changes in her body… Yun Si felt too shy and flustered to speak of it, suspecting it might also be related to the dreams she had at night.
She couldn’t tell anyone.