Yun Si had prepared all the makeup and clothing for her male disguise.
She also selected two maidservants, Jin Ming and Bai Hao, to dress as men alongside her, taking care of her during the autumn hunt.
The lively Lu Ya was not chosen, stomping her feet in frustration. She wanted to go to the autumn hunt too! Such an opportunity only came once!
Yinzhen pointed at Lu Ya and laughed, “Take you? No matter how much you dress like a man, if you get angry and stomp your feet like that, you’ll give yourself away.”
Lu Ya was the most spirited among the personal maidservants. As for Yinzhen staying behind, it was because her features were the most delicate—even with makeup, she still looked like a woman.
With everything ready, Yun Si only waited for the day of the autumn hunt to arrive.
Unexpectedly, before the autumn hunt, another major event occurred—Yun Si’s close friend Luo Xuanji was engaged!
Upon hearing the news, Yun Si immediately sent an invitation to Luo Xuanji, asking her to come over and play, wanting to inquire about the engagement.
Luo Xuanji did not come to Yun Si’s home but instead sent an invitation of her own, inviting Yun Si to her place.
After Yun Si arrived, Luo Xuanji immediately linked arms with her and said, “My mother won’t let me go out. She says since I’m newly engaged, I must stay home for at least three months to appear dignified.”
Yun Si smiled, “It’s the same whether I come to you or you come to me.”
Luo Xuanji happily pushed several pastries she had prepared toward Yun Si, “Try my family chef’s skills.”
“Delicious,” Yun Si praised the pastries and asked, “Why the sudden engagement?”
Luo Xuanji blushed and whispered, “Actually, it wasn’t sudden… The two families have been discussing it for a while. But my mother said I wasn’t allowed to say a word about it until the engagement was finalized…”
Luo Xuanji cautiously glanced at Yun Si, “Si Si, you’re not angry, are you?”
Yun Si laughed, “Why would I be angry about this?”
Before her engagement, Luo Xuanji had been strictly forbidden by her family to say a word about it. Now that it was settled, she could finally tell Yun Si everything, pouring it all out at once.
The family Luo Xuanji was engaged to was well-matched in status and compatibility in every way.
Hearing this good news and seeing Luo Xuanji’s shy yet joyful expression, Yun Si was genuinely happy for her, “That’s wonderful.”
Luo Xuanji, feeling shy, refused to talk about her own matters and instead teased Yun Si, “It’s nothing compared to your marriage—marrying your childhood sweetheart cousin, with your mother-in-law being your own aunt.”
Yun Si wore a shy smile on her face, stopping Luo Xuanji from saying more.
However, only Yun Si herself knew that her shyness and smile did not come from the heart.
The dreams at night were like a massive Dark Cloud, constantly looming over her head, blocking the sunlight from reaching her.
Yun Si thought that only when she completely escaped from those dreams could she smile genuinely again.
Still, she was sincerely happy for Luo Xuanji.
Luo Xuanji had secured a well-matched engagement.
She hoped both their lives would only get better and better.
The day of the autumn hunt soon arrived.
Yun Si woke before dawn and sat before her dressing table, letting her two maidservants apply makeup, tie her hair, and dress her in men’s clothing.
Jin Ming and Bai Hao also dressed as men, accompanying Yun Si to the main courtyard.
Her father and mother were having breakfast. Yun Si stepped forward and respectfully bowed, “Greetings, Prime Minister, greetings, Madam.”
Both her father and mother were stunned.
A moment later, Mother burst into laughter, pointing at Yun Si and saying to Prime Minister Yun, “Look at her, already putting on the act!”
Prime Minister Yun sighed helplessly, “The older she gets, the more mischievous she becomes…”
Once Prime Minister Yun had finished preparing, Yun Si followed behind him as they left the house.
As Prime Minister Yun’s personal attendant, Yun Si rode in the carriage with him.
Jin Ming and Bai Hao, along with the other attendants, squeezed into the carriage behind.
Xie Changze had been waiting outside the Chancellor’s Mansion gates for quite some time. As soon as Prime Minister Yun’s carriage emerged, he immediately stepped forward to pay his respects, then rode his horse closely alongside the minister’s carriage.
The procession traveled from the Chancellor’s Mansion all the way to the palace gates, where they waited for a long while.
When the Emperor’s imperial carriage emerged from the palace gates, followed by the carriages of the various princes’ households, the Chancellor’s Mansion carriage joined the procession.
Sitting inside the carriage, Yun Si stared at the gently swaying curtain, her heart pounding wildly.
The Emperor… was right at the front of the procession, no more than a hundred yards away from her.
If she lifted the curtain and leaned out, she could see the Emperor’s carriage.
Yun Si used every ounce of her strength to restrain the impulse to lift the carriage curtain.
As the young prince of the Rui Prince’s Mansion, Xie Changze’s carriage should have been positioned much further ahead. However, Xie Changze wasn’t in his own carriage; instead, he rode his horse alongside Prime Minister Yun’s carriage the entire way, attending to the minister’s every need.
Everyone who witnessed this scene chuckled and teased.
“Prime Minister Yun’s son-in-law is even more considerate than a son!”
“Truly, a son is no match for a son-in-law!”
Prime Minister Yun smiled and accepted the compliments on the surface, praising his son-in-law for his thoughtfulness, but inwardly, he snorted countless times.
Attending to his father-in-law’s needs… Was Xie Changze really doing all this for an old man like him? Hmph! It was all for Yun Si inside the carriage!
Today, the moment Xie Changze laid eyes on Yun Si disguised as a man, he couldn’t look away.
Throughout the journey from the Chancellor’s Mansion to the palace gates, Xie Changze’s gaze kept drifting toward Yun Si.
Once Yun Si entered the carriage, Xie Changze’s eyes seemed capable of burning a hole through the curtain.
The first time Xie Changze saw Yun Si today, he was utterly dazzled. He had assumed that disguising as a man would require making oneself look plain. Yet Yun Si hadn’t done that at all—she had simply used makeup to adjust her features and face shape, giving herself a dashing, heroic appearance.
Paired with the sharply tailored men’s clothing, this version of Yun Si, compared to her usual gentle and graceful demeanor, was like spring flowers and autumn moonlight—each beautiful in its own way, impossible to rank one above the other.
Seeing Yun Si like this, Xie Changze felt his heart nearly leap out of his chest. How fortunate he was to have a cousin like her as his fiancée.
Thinking about how he would get to see Yun Si every day during the autumn hunt, Xie Changze felt a fire burning in his chest, warming him from head to toe.
Xie Changze couldn’t wait to get married. After the wedding, he would be able to see Yun Si every day!
Yun Si knew Xie Changze was riding alongside the carriage, but she had no attention to spare for him now. Her mind was entirely focused on seeing the Emperor and verifying the suspicions in her heart.
Throughout the journey, Yun Si remained quite cold toward Xie Changze.
Xie Changze simply assumed Yun Si was being cautious to avoid suspicion. The colder she was toward him, the more fervent his heart grew.
When they arrived at the hunting grounds, everyone disembarked from their carriages.
Taking advantage of the commotion, Yun Si was among the first to jump down from the carriage, gazing into the distance toward the Emperor’s carriage.
Unexpectedly, her luck was exceptionally good. The moment she turned her head to look, she saw the Emperor stepping down from his carriage.
Yun Si first saw the man’s long, straight legs.
Then came the man’s waist, the man’s back…
Yun Si was utterly shaken!
Every line of the man’s back matched perfectly with the one from her dreams.
The man in her dreams was the Emperor!
The Emperor was the man from her dreams!
Just then, the Emperor turned around, and Yun Si saw the Emperor’s face—the face of the man from her dreams—for the first time.
Her first thought was how pale he was.
The Emperor’s skin was even paler than hers, a cold, ashen white.
His nose was high and straight, his eyes narrow and long, his pupils an exceptionally deep black, like bottomless dark pools. His thin, tightly pressed lips curved into a faint, elusive smile.
Such features on a man were almost too beautiful.
With such delicate facial features, a man could easily appear effeminate, but the Emperor’s presence was overwhelming. At first glance, Yun Si was overwhelmed by his aura, almost breathless.
Just as Yun Si was gazing at the man, he suddenly turned his head, his gaze sharp as an arrow, shooting straight in her direction.