“This is bad! His Majesty has been knocked unconscious by an ancestral plaque!”
Li Yueyao was rubbing her temples with her head down when she suddenly heard a young eunuch shouting outside. Startled, she snapped her head up toward the doorway.
“What happened to His Majesty?”
The young eunuch steadied his breathing at the door and reported respectfully, “To answer Your Highness: today is the Laba Festival, and His Majesty took the imperial concubines and the members of the imperial clan to the Tai Temple to worship the ancestors. But just as they entered the Tai Temple, before the three prostrations and nine kowtows were finished, the imperial ancestral plaques on the altar all fell together and… and knocked His Majesty unconscious.”
Li Yueyao’s expression changed drastically upon hearing this. She stood up abruptly. “How is His Majesty now?”
The young eunuch didn’t even have time to wipe the sweat from his face as he bowed his head and answered quickly, “His Majesty has returned to the palace, but he remains unconscious.”
Li Yueyao’s heart was filled with suspicion and unease as she remembered the recurring dream she had experienced for the past three nights.
In the dream, the generations of the imperial family’s ancestors had appeared one after another.
Her Grandfather: [Eldest granddaughter, that foolish imperial nephew of yours has been poisoned. He won’t live past three months. Once he dies, our empire is finished. You must enter the palace to save him.]
Her Grandmother: [My dear granddaughter, that foolish nephew of yours has been bewitched by a female enemy spy. Go and beat that woman to death for me.]
Her Father: [Daughter, that foolish nephew of yours is being led around like a dog by the court officials. Hurry and deal with those rebellious ministers and treacherous sons.]
Her Mother: [The Crown Prince is being raised as a puppet by the Empress. To prevent the consort kin from interfering in state affairs, go and depose the Empress’s clan.]
Her Sister-in-law: [Yueyao, that wretched daughter of mine, Zhao Qing, has countless male concubines, is amassing wealth greedily, and is throwing the court into chaos. Go and teach her a good lesson for me.]
Her Brother: [Imperial Sister, if those rebellious children of mine dare to disobey you, bring them to see me. I’ll beat the life out of them.]
…
Li Yueyao had originally been a seasoned corporate slave who had somehow transmigrated into this fictional Da Jin Dynasty.
Having transmigrated into the womb, she was born a legitimate princess, deeply loved by her father and mother. However, her mother died when she was three, and her father died when she was six. She was raised by the late Emperor, her eldest brother.
Under her eldest brother’s reign, the Da Jin Dynasty’s national strength flourished. The surrounding tribes were subdued, and ten thousand nations came to pay tribute; it was truly a supreme celestial empire.
The person currently on the throne was Li Yueyao’s eldest nephew, Li Chenghong. The two had grown up together and were very close.
Li Yueyao was titled Princess Jinyang, but her prospects for marriage were poor, and she had gained a reputation for being a “husband-curser.” While others were welcoming daughters-in-law at twenty-seven, Li Yueyao remained unmarried at the ripe age of twenty-seven.
Because she couldn’t stand her imperial nephew’s daily nagging about marriage, she had simply hidden away in the picturesque Chun Shan Palace to study medicine and wait for her days to end in peace. She had been hiding for seven years, fully prepared to continue coasting until her death.
Yet, for some reason, her deceased parents, grandparents, brother, and sister-in-law had appeared in her dreams every night for the past three days, repeating those words over and over.
Seeing Li Yueyao’s grim expression, her head maid, Cuiwei, stepped forward and brought her a cup of tea.
“Your Highness, are you thinking about last night’s dream?”
“Yes. Do you think this counts as a warning from the ancestors? Is there really a major problem in the capital?”
Cuiwei thought for a moment and shook her head. “This servant does not know. However…”
“However what?” Li Yueyao asked.
“If Your Highness wishes to know the details, why not return to the palace to see for yourself?”
Li Yueyao nodded. Recalling her grandfather’s warning in the dream that the Emperor was poisoned, she said, “Cuiyu, go and fetch that ‘Canon of Poisons’.”
“Cuiwei, pack our things. We return to the palace immediately.”
“Understood.”
Li Yueyao packed simply and led her people on a fast horse toward the capital.
After descending the Chun Shan mountains and passing the Cang River, she saw a man from a distance standing by a bend in the river. His robes fluttered in the wind, and his ink-black hair whipped about. He looked as if he were admiring the view by the river, yet also as if he were waiting for someone.
Li Yueyao was in a hurry and had no time to concern herself with such irrelevant matters. She galloped past him without stopping for a moment.
From a distance, she seemed to hear the person behind her shouting something.
As they reached a turn, Cuiwei glanced back out of the corner of her eye. She saw a man with a tall forehead, high cheekbones, and a face as handsome as carved jade. He was of imposing stature, dressed in black and riding a black horse, in hot pursuit.
However, Li Yueyao was focused only on returning home. With a single-minded purpose, she urged her thousand-li steed onward in a wild gallop. Before long, she reached the city gates.
After presenting her waist token, the path was clear all the way to the palace gates.
At this moment, the palace gates were tightly shut. The guards were fully armored, holding polearms, their nerves taut. Seeing Li Yueyao and her group approaching on horseback, they shouted loudly, “Halt! By palace decree, no one is permitted to enter or exit!”
“Whoa!”
Li Yueyao was the first to rein in her horse.
Cuiwei shouted from below, “Princess Jinyang has returned to the palace! Open the gates at once!”
But the guard at the gate replied, “By the Empress’s decree, all palace gates are sealed today. No one is permitted to enter or exit.”
Li Yueyao’s face turned extremely cold upon hearing this.
She could have accepted a decree from the Crown Prince, the various Princes, or even the Prince of Qin, but it just had to be a decree from the Empress. It seemed her mother’s warning in the dream—about the Empress’s clan growing too powerful and turning the Crown Prince into a puppet—was not an empty rumor.
With a frozen expression, Li Yueyao pulled a token from her robe and tossed it to Cuiwei.
Cuiwei urged her horse forward and presented the token to the guards. “The Cang Dragon Token is here! Seeing this token is as seeing His Majesty himself! Why haven’t you opened the city gates?”
The captain of the guards stepped forward and inspected the token carefully. It was made of meteoric iron, featuring a lifelike dragon; it was indeed the Cang Dragon Token. He immediately signaled his men to open the palace gates.
The group galloped to the Xuan Wu Gate, where they were once again blocked by the Imperial Guard.
The man in charge of guarding the gate this time was an Imperial Guard Commander, Cai Xun. He stood high atop the gate tower and didn’t even glance at the Cang Dragon Token Cuiwei presented.
“The Cang Dragon Token hasn’t been seen for years. Who knows if it’s real or fake? No one passes through this gate. Retreat at once, or we shall release arrows!”
Li Yueyao’s face darkened as she rode forward. Looking up at the man on the wall, she barked, “Where is Feng Qing? Tell him to get down here!”
“Our General Feng is in the inner palace protecting His Majesty. Today, we guard this gate by the Empress’s command. Not a single person will be allowed into the palace.”
Li Yueyao looked at this man, her fury mounting. For the first twenty years of her life, she had been a tyrant in the palace. Anyone who dared to challenge her like this would have grass growing over their grave by the following year.
Dammit, she had only been gone for seven years, and now she couldn’t even enter the palace gates?!
She spoke up, “This Palace is Princess Jinyang. Who are you? Do you dare state your name?”
“Your Highness, I am Imperial Guard Commander Cai Xun. It is not that I am unwilling to let Your Highness enter, but the Empress’s command is difficult to disobey. Please, Your Highness, do not make things difficult for your humble servant.”
Hearing the man’s speech, his attitude firm and his tone serious, Li Yueyao saw that he intended to stick to the Empress’s decree to the death.
She wasted no more words on him. She pulled a short flute from her robes and blew a single tune three times. After a moment of silence, she blew it another three times.
Shortly after, a high-pitched whistle echoed from inside. Li Yueyao put away her flute.
Not long after, a burly man with a thick beard appeared on the gate tower, clad in armor with a long sword at his waist. Seeing Li Yueyao on her horse below, he immediately bowed and saluted, “This servant greets Princess Jinyang.”
Li Yueyao sat tall on her horse and said nothing.
The newcomer was the Imperial Guard Commander Feng Qing. He immediately waved his hand. “Open the gate.”
The commander who had blocked Li Yueyao frowned and spoke up, “General, Her Majesty the Empress’s decree…”
“Her Highness holds the Cang Dragon Token. Seeing this token is as seeing His Majesty himself. What? Do you have only the Empress in your eyes and not the Emperor?”