Chapter 28: An Audience with the Emperor
Morning mist swirled among the vermilion railings and jade carvings. Noblewomen in silks and satins gathered in small clusters around the stone tables and benches of the imperial garden. Though a riot of blossoms dazzled the eye, Fang Zhixu spotted her at once.
She was with Gu Yan.
Gu Yan was the only man in the imperial garden that day. To avoid suspicion, they had chosen a somewhat secluded spot. She leaned sidelong against the crimson railing, her dark hair loosely tied up with a few stray strands falling onto the back of her neck. Her jade-white cheeks were tinged with a delicate pink, and her long, dark eyelashes fluttered like cicada wings. The faint red morning light outlined her figure, making her appear ethereal and dreamlike, as if not of this world.
The tall, slender man stood beside her in a distinctly possessive stance, effectively trapping her against the railing. His expression was stern and cold as he held a large lotus pod, carefully placing each lotus seed into the celadon plate before her.
She picked them up gently, using a handkerchief to cover her mouth as she ate with elegant and natural grace. After chewing slowly, she spat the lotus seed's bitter core onto the handkerchief and handed it naturally to the man beside her. He took it without hesitation. To onlookers, they appeared to be a perfect picture of a devoted couple.
Fang Zhixu gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly, the veins on his pale, slender arms bulging. He lowered his head, looking at his lifeless legs, and reached up to touch the cold mask covering his face. His remaining eye, clear and penetrating, fixed on the two of them for a long, long time.
...
"Hmm?"
Yan Xuerui dabbed the corner of her lips with a handkerchief and asked, "What is the Marquis staring at?"
Gu Yan swept his gaze around before returning his gaze, his tone firm. "Someone is watching us from the shadows."
He was sharp—a sharpness that had saved his life countless times. He even suspected that it was most likely the Taoist hiding in the shadows.
A cowardly rat.
Gu Yan let out a soft scoff and lowered his head to whisper, "Rui'er, stay close to me today. There's nothing to fear."
Yan Xuerui: "..."
She wasn’t afraid, just a little awkward.
After the recent Flowerviewing Banquet, she had gotten to know the other noblewomen. Today, they had all been summoned to the palace by decree. While the others gathered in small groups, she had come with Gu Yan.
Facing the teasing glances of the crowd, Yan Xuerui put on a graceful, smiling front, quickly tugging at Gu Yan’s sleeve to find a secluded spot. Her earlier nervousness about meeting the emperor had completely vanished.
She pushed the dish toward Gu Yan and said softly, "The palace is truly extravagant. They even have lotus pods at this time of year."
Moreover, they were unexpectedly refreshing, sweet, and tender. The capital’s soil and water differed from that in Yangzhou. Even during the height of summer, the best lotus pods offered at the Marquis’s residence couldn’t compare to the fresh sweetness of those she had eaten in Yangzhou.
The imperial household’s provisions were indeed exceptional.
Gu Yan glanced at it casually and said indifferently, "I’ll have someone source some for you later."
They were just a few lotus seeds—it wasn’t as if he had been neglecting her. If she simply gave the order, the servants would go to great lengths to procure them, regardless of the season.
Yan Xuerui shook her head. She only enjoyed them fresh in the summer. When she was still a young girl in Yangzhou, a local magnate’s craving for perch sashimi had caused unrest among the fishermen along the entire river. One official order could burden the people—there was no need to waste resources and trouble the people.
She said, "There’s no need—"
Suddenly, a sharp cry—"The Emperor has arrived!"—cut Yan Xuerui off before she could finish. Everyone looked startled, hurriedly smoothing their robes and dropping to their knees in reverence. The imperial procession was majestic, with eunuchs clearing the path ahead, palace maids in colorful attire fanning from behind, and eight tall, sturdy eunuchs carrying the bright yellow palanquin slowly forward.
The emperor was elderly and had just finished the morning court session, returning from the front court to the rear palace.
"Long live the Emperor! May the Emperor live ten thousand years!"
The echoing cries of homage roused the emperor from his rest. He opened his cloudy eyes, and an alert eunuch beside him hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, these are the ladies gathered in accordance with Taoist Master Xu’s divination."
The emperor remained silent for a long moment before uttering a low "Hmm." His heroic yet aged face showed no excitement.
Fang Zhixu, this "fake Taoist," naturally didn’t dare to assert to the emperor that Princess Changle was among them. He had used ambiguous words from his master’s teachings, leaving himself an escape route from the beginning.
Moreover, after so many years of searching, the emperor was nearly sixty and had long since given up hope. The eunuch lifted the palanquin curtain, and the emperor scanned the crowd briefly before nodding slightly. "Rise."
He would wait for Taoist Master Fang, an otherworldly figure, to conduct a careful search later. These were all the wives and concubines of officials. The emperor, exhausted from the long morning court session, had no extra energy to spare and, out of propriety, did not plan to stay longer.
"Wait?"
Just as the palanquin was about to be lifted, the emperor narrowed his eyes and spotted the Marquis of Jingyuan and his wife. The two had originally been tucked away behind an out-of-the-way pillar, inconspicuous, but Gu Yan’s tall and commanding presence made him stand out even while kneeling in reverence. His posture was impeccable, like a sheathed cold sword—its edge concealed yet impossible to ignore.
The emperor remarked in surprise, "Isn’t that Minister Gu? I recall he requested leave today."
Without Senior Tutor Gu to maintain order and with Gu Yuan being not a skilled speaker, the Virtuous Prince and the Crown Prince’s factions had clashed during the morning court, giving the emperor a headache.
The eunuch simpered and replied, "Your Majesty, the Marquise has fragile health and has been recuperating in the residence year-round, seldom venturing out. The Marquis feared his wife might lack decorum and cause offense to Your Majesty, so he accompanied her."
The emperor thought for a moment. It was true that Gu Yan had a frail wife, rumored to be of merchant background and elevated from concubine to wife. She was said to be gentle, kind, and timid. Over the years, he had always seen the spirited elderly matriarch managing the Marquis’s affairs but had never met the proper Marquise.
The emperor wasn’t concerned with his officials’ household matters. The grand, luxurious palanquin was slowly carried away when a breeze lifted the bright yellow curtain. Almost involuntarily, the emperor glanced in Gu Yan’s direction.
The woman beside him kept her head lowered, the pearl-decorated *buyao* (hairpin) trembling at her temple. The morning light happened to brush against her fair profile—her dark, shimmering eyes, small and exquisite nose, and full, plump lip bead. For a moment, she faintly overlapped with a figure deep in the emperor’s memory.
The emperor’s hand suddenly clenched, his aged knuckles turning pale. "Halt—"
The palanquin was set down, and the emperor leaned out unsteadily. Everyone knelt once more. He walked slowly to Yan Xuerui, his cloudy eyes startlingly bright as he stared intently at the trembling *buyao* in her hair.
"You, lift your head and let me see."
***
Late at night, the Marquis of Jingyuan’s carriage slowly came to a stop at the main entrance. The heavy studded copper door swung open, and the flustered gate attendant hurried forward to welcome his masters inside.
Everyone found it strange: several families from the same lane had entered the palace with the Marquis and his wife, yet the others had returned long ago. Why had their household stayed until so late? The Marquis’s face was livid, and the Marquise also looked troubled. What had happened in the palace?
No one dared to ask for details. Gu Yan, holding Yan Xuerui’s hand, hurried briskly to the main courtyard. Bi He lit the lamps and, sensing the tense atmosphere, avoided looking at Gu Yan, instead sneaking looks at Yan Xuerui’s expression.
"Have the kitchen prepare some light food."
Yan Xuerui instructed. Once only the two of them remained in the room, she gently tugged at Gu Yan’s sleeve and sighed. "Marquis, calm your anger. Your wife is unharmed."
Earlier in the imperial garden, the emperor had deigned to question her and later summoned her alone to the Qianyuan Palace. It was Yan Xuerui’s first time meeting the emperor, and she had been extremely nervous. But at that moment, he had held her hand, and suddenly, she was no longer afraid.
The same large hand that had once confined and terrified her had now become her source of comfort and reliance.
In the Qianyuan Palace, the emperor’s awe-inspiring majesty and deep authority were intimidating but not frightening—instead, he seemed somewhat kind. Yan Xuerui steadied herself and answered the emperor’s questions properly.
The emperor asked her age, place of origin, whether she had parents, relatives, siblings.
He repeatedly asked her to lift her head when speaking. She didn’t dare to look directly at the imperial countenance and would instinctively lower her gaze. Fortunately, the emperor did not take offense.
The emperor also liked to correct her accent. Her speech wasn’t the proper official dialect of the capital but carried the soft, Jiangnan-style Wu dialect softness. She had spoken this way since childhood and found it difficult to change back.
The emperor had a screen brought in to shield her from view, and a palace maid removed her shoes and socks to examine the soles of her feet.
Smooth and unblemished.
In that instant, Yan Xuerui saw a complex and contradictory mix of emotions flash across the emperor’s aged face—too many to name. She only felt that the emperor, seated high on the dragon throne, had suddenly become an ordinary old man.
He seemed heartbroken.
Yan Xuerui wanted to comfort him but didn’t know how to begin. She knew the emperor was searching for a princess—could he have projected the princess’s image onto her?
The emperor kept her for lunch. She had thought he would speak of the princess, but instead, he mostly talked about the princess’s mother.
That was Consort Chen, a consort so deeply cherished by the emperor that their relationship sounded less like that of a ruler and his concubine and more like an ordinary married couple. The emperor spoke at length, and she listened, enthralled, until she realized it had gotten late.
A palace attendant came to report that Marquis Gu was waiting outside Qianyuan Palace all day.
The emperor had ordered Gu Yan to leave the palace first. Thinking he had long since returned, Yan Xuerui panicked. The morning’s near-defiance of the imperial decree was still vivid in her mind. She knelt and begged permission to return to the marquis’s household.
She could not let Gu Yan cause a scene in the imperial palace.
The emperor gazed at her for a long time before finally waving his hand. “From now on, come to the palace often to keep me company.”
Yan Xuerui quietly agreed. When she emerged and saw Gu Yan, the man’s face was dark, his expression gloomy, his deep eyes intensely somber.
In silence, he helped her into the carriage. Just as she was about to speak, he stroked the back of her hand and muttered coldly, “This is an outrage.”
Having been Senior Tutor Gu for over a decade, who held immense power and influence, Gu Yan had long grown accustomed to his high position. Today, abruptly and unexpectedly, he felt the sting of powerlessness for the first time.
Separated by nothing more than a thin palace door, yet surrounded inside and out by imperial guards, he could only watch helplessly as palace attendants took her away.
The emperor’s decree could not be defied.
From the break of dawn until deep into the night, Gu Yan stood rigidly outside Qianyuan Palace, without drinking a drop of water. No one knew what was going through Senior Tutor Gu’s mind that day.
Yan Xuerui thought to herself: He must be furious.
But that was the emperor—"Under heaven, all is the sovereign’s land; within the realm’s bounds, all are the sovereign’s subjects." No one in this world could defy the emperor.
Besides, the emperor wasn’t frightening. In his words and demeanor, there was even a hint of paternal kindness.
...
Yan Xuerui said, “Marquis, don’t worry. Today… I suffered no hardship.”
“Besides, haven’t I returned unharmed?”
The emperor was nearly sixty, the same age as her father. Seeing Gu Yan like this, one might think something had happened between her and the emperor.
Gu Yan closed his eyes and said, “Come here.”
As her soft, fragrant body nestled into his embrace, Yan Xuerui felt the arm around her waist tighten. Gu Yan exhaled deeply.
His.
She was his—his lawfully wedded wife!
No one could take her away from him. Not even the Emperor, the Son of Heaven himself.