"Princess Wei, the Holy Emperor invites you to the Diligent Governance Hall for a discussion," Li Yuzong said with the utmost respect.
Wei Liru smiled radiantly. "Thank you for the invitation, Eunuch. I will go at once."
But she didn’t move.
Li Yuzong gently prompted her, "I must return to the hall to attend to my duties. Please, Your Highness, co quickly."
Once Eunuch Li was a good distance away, Wei Liru stepped closer to Ji Qingwu.
’She already had her suspicions. The reason Yuan Heng was so close to this woman from the Ji Family was obvious: the Ji Family wanted to use the connection to the Prince as a pretext to get one of their own into the palace and compete for the Emperor’s favor.’
Wei Liru lowered her voice. "Miss Ji, trying to win the Holy Emperor’s affection by getting close to the Young Master... that’s not a very clever tactic."
’The Emperor would never allow soone with ulterior motives near the Prince.’
Ji Qingwu t her gaze, her own expression open and clear.
A pair of dimples graced her cheeks, and her eyes seed to shimr with a warm glow.
She replied calmly, "Whether the tactic is clever or not isn’t for Your Highness to say."
’It all depends on whether the person being courted is willing to accept the gambit.’
Seeing Ji Qingwu’s nonchalant expression, Wei Liru couldn’t help but scoff, a smirk playing on her lips.
Her voice dripped with triumph. "You just wait, Miss Ji. The Emperor is summoning inside. I won’t stay and chat with you any longer."
The triumph in her voice was grating to Ji Qingwu’s ears.
After the dazzling, cherry-pink figure disappeared into the Diligent Governance Hall, Ji Qingwu stared at the red gate as it closed once more.
’To outsiders like Princess Consort Wei, she and the Ji Family were probably still seen as inextricably linked, sharing in all fortunes and failures.’
’Only she knew the truth: she had no desire to be a pawn in the Empress Dowager’s power gas, much less the self-sacrificing puppet Old Madam Ji expected her to be for the sake of the family.’
’However, now that she had returned to Lin’an City, leaving again would not be so simple.’
’As long as she was still considered one of the Ji Family, she was destined to be unable to escape the swirling vortex of power at the heart of the capital.’
’She had no desire to join the imperial harem, but rely by appearing in the palace, her every action would be twisted and seen as a deliberate attempt to curry favor.’
’For the sake of Mrs. Qiao and her children, she had to be careful. She could not let slip even the slightest hint of the secret that Yuan Heng was her son.’
Seeing Ji Qingwu staring at the distant palace doors with a slight frown, Jiu Jiu hopped down from the steps and threw herself into her mother’s arms, interrupting her reverie.
The little girl tilted her head back and asked, "Mama, are we going ho now?"
Ji Qingwu asked, "Aren’t you being tested on your lessons today?"
Jiu Jiu shook her head. "The tutor just said that Your Majesty the Emperor has important matters to attend to, so he doesn’t have ti for the test. We’ll do it another day."
’Another day...’
Ji Qingwu was suddenly struck by a sense of disappointnt.
’She still rembered him asking when she would finally appear before him as her true self.’
’But now she was here, and the doors to the Diligent Governance Hall were no longer open to her.’
’At first, she could hide her disappointnt with excuses: sothing important was happening in the hall; the Emperor was occupied with the countless affairs of the state; he had official business to attend to.’
’But after Eunuch Li invited Princess Consort Wei inside, she found she could no longer convince herself.’
’Even though she had given herself many reasons, telling herself it was all for her two children, she knew that deep down, she had been hoping to see him.’
’No one is happy after having the door shut in their face.’
’It’s better that I didn’t see him,’ Ji Qingwu thought. ’I was being impulsive. It’s all because Emperor Wu Su’s recent actions have left my mind in such a jumble that I can’t think straight.’
She took Jiu Jiu’s small hand, and the two of them turned to leave.
Suddenly, with a loud CREAK, the heavy hall doors were slowly pushed open by a eunuch. A figure strolled out and paused before the entrance.
Ji Qingwu glanced back.
A single glance was all it took. She froze, as if rooted to the spot.
The red gates of the Diligent Governance Hall stood open behind him. He was dressed in a dark, cloud-patterned brocade robe and a tall black gauze cap. His sharp, sword-like eyebrows slanted upward toward his temples, the vermilion doors a re backdrop to his presence.
He had removed his sword for the imperial audience, but the empty scabbard at his waist still glinted with a cold light.
When he first stepped out, a relaxed, gentle smile touched his lips. But the mont his eyes t Ji Qingwu’s, the smile vanished like mist, replaced by a gloom that promised a brewing storm.
Ji Qingwu involuntarily clenched her fists, a storm of complex emotions surging within her.
’He was back.’
’And he had returned to Lin’an in secret.’
’She hadn’t heard any news of General Zhenbei leaving his post to return. All the rumors circulating were that Wei Ting had been attacked by an assassin from the Xijin Country and was now gravely injured, his life hanging by a thread.’
Ji Qingwu scrutinized him, searching for any sign of injury, but she couldn’t see a single one.
Five years had flown by. The harsh cold of the borderlands hadn’t changed Wei Ting’s features much, but his skin was far darker. His fra was still tall and lean, not coarse, but his aura had been tempered, becoming more reserved and steady.
Wei Ting’s long, narrow eyes, like hidden daggers, were fixed intently on her.
"Mama, that hurts."
Jiu Jiu’s small voice piped up from below, laced with pain.
Only then did Ji Qingwu realize she had been gripping her daughter’s hand too tightly.
She quickly averted her gaze, gently rubbing Jiu Jiu’s hand as she apologized, "Let Mama rub it better. Does it still hurt?"
Jiu Jiu shook her head sensibly. Seeming to sense her mother’s turmoil, she said, "Mama, Nanny Li must have a delicious al all ready for us. Let’s go ho and eat."
"Alright, let’s go ho."
Ji Qingwu took a deep breath and prepared to leave.
"Brother, what are you looking at?"
Wei Liru erged from the Diligent Governance Hall with a smile, appearing behind Wei Ting.
She had been overjoyed to learn of her brother’s arrival in Lin’an earlier that day, which was why she had co to wait by the entrance to the Diligent Governance Hall without waiting for the Emperor’s summons.
The gloom on Wei Ting’s face vanished when he saw the princess consort.
When he looked up again, his expression was as placid and undisturbed as a calm lake.
"Nothing," he said.
Wei Liru also noticed the mother and daughter up ahead. ’So they haven’t left yet.’
She said, "That’s the one I ntioned in my letters—the Fifth Miss Ji, whom the Ji Family recently brought back."
Wei Ting repeated in a low voice, "So that’s Fifth Miss Ji."
Aside from a hint of surprise, his tone betrayed no other emotion, as if he and Ji Qingwu were strangers eting for the very first ti.
Noticing his gaze fall on the little one beside Ji Qingwu, Wei Liru added, "And the girl next to her is her daughter."
Wei Ting glanced at the little girl’s face, then his eyes shifted back to the slender, graceful figure in pale green.
He narrowed his left eye slightly, his expression darkening, but still he said nothing.
Upon hearing Princess Consort Wei’s introduction, Ji Qingwu, who had been about to leave, faltered. She had imagined eting Wei Ting again, but never under circumstances like these.
After the initial shock, she composed herself.
’Ji Qingwu and Wei Ting were hardly strangers. After all the ti they had spent together, she knew his habits like the back of her hand. The way he was clenching his jaw, for instance, ant he was suppressing so powerful impulse.’
’She should have walked over and exchanged a few pleasantries, but with so many prying eyes in the palace, this was hardly the place for it.’
A breeze swept past, and Ji Qingwu tucked away a stray strand of hair the wind had blown across her temple.
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