The next morning, gentle sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm glow across the boudoir. Su Tuan’er was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly startled awake by a commotion outside the door.
She sat up in bed with bleary eyes and stretched with a long yawn.
“Miss, get up quickly—wonderful news!” Cuicui pushed the door open with a beaming smile. “Let me help you wash up and dress.”
As she spoke, she pulled the still-groggy Su Tuan’er out of bed and sat her down at the vanity table, bustling about.
“Cuicui, what wonderful news has you smiling so brightly?”
Su Tuan’er yawned listlessly.
Cuicui smiled mysteriously, leaning in close with a mischievous wink. “Miss, someone has come from the palace!”
“Oh, someone from the palace and you’re this happy,” Su Tuan’er said, unimpressed. “People from the palace come all the time. What’s so strange about that?”
Her father and brothers all held positions at court, so palace messengers frequently visited Jiangjun Fu.
“In the past, they came to see the master and the young masters, but this time they’ve come for you, miss—it’s different,” Cuicui said, her smile growing even wider. “Anyway, you’ll find out soon enough. Let me get you ready quickly—Lord Liu is still waiting in the courtyard.”
“Lord Liu?” Su Tuan’er frowned. “Cuicui, you mean Liu Cheng, the chief eunuch from the palace?”
“That’s the one!” Cuicui said, combing Su Tuan’er’s hair. “When His Majesty brought you back last night, I knew something was going on between you two—and I was right! His Majesty’s Shengzhi arrived at our Jiangjun Fu first thing this morning.”
Su Tuan’er shot up from the stool, all drowsiness instantly gone.
The thing she had feared all night had indeed come to pass.
She had fooled herself into thinking Gu Yanbei might change his mind and let her off the hook. She’d been overthinking it—what good intentions could that dog emperor possibly have?
“Miss, don’t get too excited. Finish your makeup before receiving the decree. The Shengzhi has already arrived, so you’ll see His Majesty soon enough.”
Cuicui pressed Su Tuan’er back down onto the stool.
“Cuicui, I’m done for…”
Su Tuan’er wanted to cry but had no tears. The only unkind thing she’d ever done in her previous life was snatching a piece of candy from a little child.
Surely that didn’t warrant this much bad luck in this life…
“Pah, pah, pah,” Cuicui said with a stern face. “On such a joyous day, miss, don’t say such inauspicious things. I know you’re just too happy, but you mustn’t say things like that from now on.”
Su Tuan’er hung her head low, utterly dejected.
She let herself be manipulated like a puppet on strings. Once she was washed and dressed, Cuicui dragged her outside.
Three rows of people knelt neatly in the courtyard. General Su and the three young masters knelt in the front row, their expressions grave.
Liu Cheng stood in the center of the courtyard, holding a horsetail whisk with an upright posture—the very picture of a chief eunuch’s bearing.
In a daze, Su Tuan’er was pressed to her knees at the front by Cuicui. She exchanged a glance with her father and brothers, all their eyes filled with complicated emotions.
Liu Cheng cast a sidelong glance at Su Tuan’er.
The young lady looked as delicate as a willow swaying in the wind, yet her face was breathtakingly beautiful.
He cleared his throat and announced in a loud voice: “By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The daughter of General Su, gentle and virtuous, refined in appearance and wise within, gifted with natural intelligence, has found great favor in Our eyes. She is hereby conferred the title of Guifei, and shall enter the palace in three days. Let this be made known!”
Su Tuan’er’s mind exploded with a deafening bang.
She had originally assumed that Gu Yanbei would casually assign her a low-ranking title to brush things off, but he actually gave her the position of Guifei?
Why did she feel so uneasy about this? This was not a good omen.