Before the hour of Chen had even arrived, when the sky was still dim and unlit, Zhao Yan lay curled under the blankets on his side, poking Yu Qijian’s shoulder.
When she didn’t wake after a few tries, he switched to shaking her. “It’s time to get up.”
Yu Qijian groggily opened her eyes, glanced at the window, then immediately lay back down. “So early? Isn’t it still the hour of Chen and three quarters?”
“We need to wash up and have breakfast. If we’re late, the teacher will be angry.”
Yu Qijian forced herself to reboot her brain and stared at the bed curtains like a dead fish. “Chief Eunuch is angry every day. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Zhao Yan said softly, “It’s not Chief Eunuch. Chief Eunuch doesn’t allow me to call him ‘teacher.’ He hired a tutor from outside the palace. That teacher is a bit strict.”
“Stricter than Chief Eunuch?”
“…Chief Eunuch is not strict.”
“Is that so?” Yu Qijian clearly didn’t believe it.
Zhao Yan didn’t try to convince her. Instead, he hesitated for a moment and asked, “Did you… dislike me last night? You kept your back to me the whole time.”
Yu Qijian couldn’t hear any emotion in his tone. When she turned to look, his face was as calm as ever—no joy, no anger.
She still used the same answer. “When children grow up, they avoid their mothers. Your Majesty is already eight years old. You shouldn’t be too close to women.”
Zhao Yan remained unmoved. “Those are two different matters.”
He hadn’t meant to cling to her while sleeping. He simply noticed that she had spent the entire night facing away, leaving him only her back.
Yu Qijian finally caught a hint of stubbornness in his gaze and chuckled lightly. “I don’t dislike you.”
Only then did Zhao Yan get up. He said nothing and quietly began putting on his socks.
Yu Qijian watched him for a while. She almost complimented him—so well-behaved, able to dress himself without needing palace servants.
Before she could speak, Zhao Yan said, “Help me dress.”
Yu Qijian: “……I can’t.”
Zhao Yan glanced at her, faintly disdainful. “I could dress myself when I was two.”
“Good for you. Then dress yourself.”
Zhao Yan lowered his head to adjust his socks, his voice slightly muffled. “Chief Eunuch said you should build a mother-son bond with me.”
No one had ever helped him dress before.
But this woman clearly wasn’t sincerely accepting him as her stepson.
Forget it. He didn’t need—
Before he could finish his thought, Yu Qijian had already called for a palace servant to bring the clothes. She casually threw on a robe and then crouched down to help him dress.
A deep purple ceremonial robe—miniature, but still elaborate and noble.
Yu Qijian wasn’t familiar with such complicated garments. She herself usually needed help getting dressed, so she could only fumble her way through it.
Zhao Yan stood still, lips pressed together, letting her treat him like a doll.
After she put it on inside-out twice, Zhao Yan finally believed she truly didn’t know how to do it. “I’ll do it myself.”
But Yu Qijian had already gotten stubborn with the clothing. “Don’t move.”
Zhao Yan: “……”
After this struggle, by the time they finished washing up and breakfast, they were already half a quarter of an hour late reaching the Hall of Literary Glory.
At the entrance, Yu Qijian crouched down and whispered to Zhao Yan, “If Chief Eunuch gets angry later, just act like an Emperor. Don’t let him trouble me, okay?”
Just as she finished speaking, a shadow fell behind her.
A voice came from above her head. “His Majesty is the ruler; this servant is merely a servant. If the ruler assigns blame, this servant will accept it.”
Yu Qijian stiffened.
She slowly stood up and turned around.
Fang Jinxian stood three steps behind her. Morning light outlined the edges of his black embroidered robe, and a faint scent of dark wood drifted through the air.
His gaze swept over her slightly awkward expression, then over the faint crease at her sleeve—left from her earlier struggle with Zhao Yan’s clothes.
Finally, his eyes landed on Zhao Yan.
The young emperor’s jade belt had been tied into a crooked butterfly knot. A palace servant would never make such a mistake; the culprit was obvious.
But he said nothing about it. “Your Majesty is late.”
Zhao Yan replied calmly, as if used to it. “I—”
“It was this dowager who overslept,” Yu Qijian interrupted. A faint irritation rose in her chest, and her tone turned sharper than usual. “If you wish to blame someone, blame me, Chief Eunuch.”
It was a rather cowardly statement, honestly.
Fang Jinxian’s lazy gaze fell on her. After a brief silence, he curved his lips slightly. “This servant would not dare.”
Though he said he wouldn’t dare, he stepped aside slowly and made an inviting gesture.
“However, the teacher is a rigid man by nature and values punctuality above all. I fear he may make things difficult.”
Yu Qijian muttered, “You weren’t exactly on time either.”
Fang Jinxian didn’t even turn his head. “This servant had official duties and requested leave in advance.”
“Oh.”
The classroom belonged solely to Zhao Yan. The tutor he referred to was Fu Zhong, an elderly scholar with kind features, bright childlike eyes, and a calm, steady voice.
“This old man’s first rule in teaching is punctuality. Your Majesty’s punishment today will be three additional copying assignments.”
Zhao Yan lowered his head respectfully. “Student accepts the punishment.”
“As for the Empress Dowager…” Fu Zhong looked at Yu Qijian. “This old man does not dare overstep. Since you are here to observe, you must also follow the classroom rules. You will stand and listen today.”
Yu Qijian: “……”
This old man really dared.
She instinctively glanced at Fang Jinxian. He had already taken a seat behind the desk and was slowly adjusting his sleeves. Feeling her gaze, he looked up.
That faint, half-smiling expression seemed to say: you made your bed, now lie in it.
Yu Qijian knew she had indeed been late. For the sake of setting a good example for the child, she forced a composed smile. “As the teacher says.”
And so the scene became strangely harmonious: the young emperor sat upright, writing at his desk; the old tutor stood nearby holding a disciplinary ruler, occasionally instructing; and the beautiful Empress Dowager stood behind the emperor like an elegant ornamental statue.
After standing too long, she couldn’t help but feel resentful.
Damn it. Who decided that learning calligraphy required her to stand here like a gatekeeper?
Fang Jinxian occasionally looked up from reviewing memorials. When he did, he saw Yu Qijian shooting him a quick glare while the old tutor turned away.
His fingers paused slightly, then he lowered his eyes, amused.
This Empress Dowager seemed to have a rather bad temper. The submissive act of obedience clearly hadn’t lasted long before she was already thinking of flipping the table.
He had overestimated her patience. How many scenes could she possibly play in this palace drama?
When he looked up again later, she had already turned back into her proper, dignified statue.
Only her stance had shifted slightly—leaning just a little, like a small tree bent by the wind yet still trying its best to stand straight.
“Empress Dowager.”
Yu Qijian glanced over. “Yes?”
“I have heard about the story Your Highness told His Majesty yesterday,” Fang Jinxian said slowly. “The Emperor’s New Clothes?”
Yu Qijian’s face remained expressionless, but internally she cursed.
He had no private contact with Zhao Yan since last night. Where exactly had he “heard” it from? Did he somehow know Andersen?
Was there even any privacy in this place?
She had already chosen to lie low, to stay out of the Yu Clan’s political ambitions. What more did they want from her?
Wasn’t it enough that she was just trying to survive quietly?
Instead of leaving her alone, they stationed eyes everywhere in the Palace of Eternal Peace, made her “bond” with the child, forced her into lessons, and now even questioned her over trivial matters—all while saying “this servant would not dare,” without a shred of real respect.
Did they think she was just clay, to be casually pinched whenever they were bored?