Chương 58: Chapter 56

I wake up slowly as I try to orient myself. For a brief moment everything feels foreign, the ceiling is unfamiliar and the texture of the sheets beneath my fingers is too. I take a deep breath, and the scent, a soft blend of dried flowers and a lingering trace of incense, makes me blink. For a moment I'm frightened, because I'm not sure where I am. My breathing quickens and my heart races as I try to find some point of reference.

I prop myself up slightly on my elbows, but a faint pang in my head forces me to stop, and I let myself fall back onto the bed. And then, like a tide flooding the shore, the memories come rushing into my mind. My return from exile, the tray with tea and buns, my sudden weakness, and the certainty that I had been poisoned. And all of that makes me sigh with relief, because I'm alive.

And since I doubt that whoever wanted me dead would have used low-quality poison, this is the Imperial Palace, after all, that can only mean one thing, the Yao clan wasn't lying. What they promised about their treatment was true, and that's what saved my life. With that conclusion still fresh in my mind, I finally force myself to look around carefully. And that's when I recognize it.

The carved wooden moldings, the translucent paper panels decorated with peonies, the folding screen embroidered with cranes, and the bookshelf lining one of the walls. I'm in my old room in the Pavilion of the Scent of Clouds. But my gaze fixes above all on a figure asleep in a chair beside my bed, covered with a blanket, Xia. A smile spreads across my face when I see her, because she's probably refused to leave my side this entire time.

I can picture her refusing to go, arguing with the handmaidens or with Lianhua, demanding they let her stay. I shift a little and notice how my body responds with ease, which means I can't have been unconscious for very long, I feel no stiffness at all, and I decide it's time to wake up the Sleeping Beauty.

"Xia", I call out in a clear voice. I watch her stir slightly, but she doesn't wake. I purse my lips and take a deep breath as I prepare myself.

"Xia!" I say, this time in a much louder tone. This time she shoots up from the chair, eyes still half-closed with sleep as the blanket falls to the floor. It takes her only a second to focus, and when she sees me awake, her eyes fly wide open.

"Wen! You're awake!" she cries, a mixture of disbelief and joy in her voice, looking as though she's about to throw herself on top of me, though she stops halfway, as if afraid she might hurt me. I can't help but laugh softly at her reaction as I tell her "Easy, I'm fine." But before I can add anything else, I see her spin around abruptly.

"I have to tell Lianhua!" she blurts out, and before I can stop her, she's already bolted from the room, shooting through the door like a bolt of lightning. The door hangs open behind her, and I watch her with a certain amazement, thinking that if she'd been just a little faster, I would have probably seen clouds of smoke rising from her slippers. I shake my head in amusement. I suppose all I can do now is wait. Fortunately, I don't have to wait long. Quick, hurried footsteps soon echo down the hallway.

Moments later, Xia reappears, bursting in like a whirlwind, followed by Lianhua, whose imperturbable expression softens ever so slightly when she sees me. And the moment I see her, a tension I didn't know I was carrying dissolves inside me, and I realize I'd been afraid that during these past days someone might have taken her away because of what happened at the Celestial Fragment of the Sands, before I could protect her. But as I become aware of my own fears, Lianhua approaches my bed and stops beside me.

"I am glad to see you have finally awakened, Zhāohuán Wen", she tells me with that serenity so characteristic of her, the kind that always manages to calm me.

"How are you feeling? Do you notice any lingering effects?"

"I'm fine", I reply, moving my arms slowly to demonstrate.

"Since I haven't been unconscious for very long, I don't feel any stiffness or weakness." Lianhua lets out a slight sigh before saying "I'm afraid you are mistaken, Zhāohuán Wen. You have been unconscious for twenty-three days." The sentence crashes over me like a stone, and my arms, still moving, freeze in midair before dropping heavily onto the sheets.

"Twenty-three days?" I repeat in shock, unable to process what Lianhua has just told me.

"That's impossible! If I'd been immobile that long, my body should be stiff as a board. I'd barely be able to lift my arms." Lianhua regards me gravely, and after a moment she asks "Do you remember what your mother told you on your ninth birthday?" I frown at her words. My ninth birthday? I close my eyes for a moment, searching my memory, and soon I recall the conversation.

"Yes", I tell Lianhua.

"I remember she said the tempering of the muscles prevented muscle degradation. But wasn't that only for day-to-day activity?" Lianhua shakes her head gently.

"No, Zhāohuán Wen. It means exactly what she said, they never degrade. Someone who has completed the tempering of the muscles can remain immobile for days on end and then stand up and move as if they'd only been sitting for a little while." My lips part in astonishment as I listen to Lianhua. That was something I had never considered.

So many times I'd heard about the benefits of tempering, but I had never stopped to think that perhaps the explanation of its effects was so literally true that it went beyond what I thought they were. I shake my head as I set that thought aside and focus on the fact that Lianhua wasn't asking me about my muscles after all, she was asking whether I felt any other discomfort or effects.

"Then", I say, redirecting to her actual question.

"If you weren't asking what I thought you were, no, I don't feel any discomfort or anything similar anywhere in my body." I can see Lianhua release a sigh of relief upon hearing me, and behind her, Xia does the same. I'm about to speak and start firing off the thousand questions crowding my mind when my mother sweeps into the room through the open door like a whirlwind, followed by Lingxi.

I can see my mother's gaze is blazing with concern, a contained tremor running through her gestures, she doesn't even wait for someone to announce her presence. Her eyes sweep the room rapidly until they land on me, and when they do, her expression softens, though not entirely.

"Wen?" she says with a restrained sigh as she approaches my bed without a moment's hesitation.

"Are you all right? Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?" As she approaches, both Lianhua and Xia immediately step aside to one end of the room, clearing the space by the bed. Lianhua does so with her usual grace, while Xia moves somewhat more abruptly, still visibly shaken by emotion. I smile at my mother as I watch her approach, so full of worry.

"No, Mother", I reply, trying to reassure her.

"As I just told Lianhua, I don't notice anything unusual. I'm perfectly fine." She stops right at the edge of the bed, studying me for a few moments as though she still doubts my words, and finally lets out a sigh of relief.

"Thank the heavens that what the Yao clan promised turned out to be true", she says in a measured tone. But her expression turns more serious an instant later. She looks me straight in the eyes, and her voice drops slightly, carrying a tone heavy with warning.

"However, the Taiyi Yulin believes you resisted the poison because of your status as Blessed by the Heavens", she tells me gravely.

"I've sent for him to examine you now that you're awake, so he'll arrive shortly. But it will be your decision whether you wish to tell him anything about the Yao clan or not." I don't need even a second to think it over.

"I made a deal with the Yao clan", I say without hesitation, my voice firm.

"I committed to not speaking about them, and I intend to keep my word. Although, if someone starts asking too many questions or if they interrogate the Nei Wei, they might reach other conclusions because of how conspicuous my condition was, or Xia's, when we passed through their territory." My mother shakes her head immediately.

"You needn't worry about that", she tells me with absolute confidence.

"I spoke with Nei Baihu Liang Xue personally regarding the matter. And one of the things expected of the imperial guards is that they keep the secrets they become privy to when serving as escorts for members of the imperial court." Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! I frown slightly, skeptical.

Not out of direct distrust toward Nei Baihu Liang Xue, but because that supposed confidentiality always tends to spring leaks, whether through incompetence or something worse. But I keep my doubts to myself. After all, what other option do I have? I can only trust that my mother knows what she's doing.

"Thank you for taking care of that, Mother", I say sincerely.

"It was the least I could do to prevent further complications in this whole unpleasant affair", she replies as she strokes my head tenderly. I nod softly, but as soon as a brief pause settles between us, I decide to seize the opportunity.

"If I've been unconscious for that long", I begin cautiously.

"What has happened with everything related to the Celestial Fragment of the Sands?" My mother sighs as she slowly withdraws her hand from my head, as if bracing herself to deliver a report.

"It's all been resolved", she begins.

"When we returned to the capital, I personally accompanied Lianhua so she could be questioned by the Emperor. He questioned her extensively about what happened and about everything she found inside the Celestial Fragment. After hearing her out, he allowed us to return to the Pavilion, and from what it seems, he then shared what she found with the Sect of the Celestial Sun." She pauses before adding "And the sect issued a secrecy decree regarding everything that occurred inside the Fragment."

I listen in silence, absorbing every word of what my mother is telling me.

"And this decree, how does it affect us?" I finally ask.

"Especially Lianhua."

"Not too much", my mother replies.

"If we were common nobles, you'd probably see increased surveillance and more escorts, all to prevent anyone from abducting us to try to extract what the Sect wishes to keep hidden. But given our rank, such measures would be redundant, and increasing security even further would be pointless." I raise an eyebrow with irony "A little more security when we first arrived might have spared me twenty-three days of unconsciousness." To my surprise, my mother nods at my words.

"You're right", she admits.

"But I've had access to a report indicating that your poisoning was planned by taking advantage of the chaos surrounding the arrival and the move. And they organized everything a full week before our group even reached the capital." A chill runs through me as I listen to my mother. A week before. In other words, it wasn't a snap decision or an impulsive attempt the moment they saw me arrive at court. It was entirely premeditated, planned with time and with sufficient resources, and I shudder involuntarily.

Who in this court hates me enough to plan my death with such meticulous detail? I've barely done anything in my roughly ten years of life apart from studying and staying in the Pavilion. How can there already be someone willing to try to kill me for the third time? But my thoughts are interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps, followed by a handmaiden entering the room, and I watch as my mother turns her head to look at her.

"The Taiyi Yulin has arrived to examine the Zhāohuán's condition", the handmaiden announces with a respectful bow. My mother nods and turns her head toward me.

"The rest of your questions will have to wait, Wen", she tells me, then turns to the handmaiden.

"Tell him he may enter." The handmaiden nods and leaves immediately to carry out her orders. My mother looks at the others present and says in her usual firm, authoritative voice "It would be best if only Lianhua remains to assist her during the examination. Everyone else will wait in the main hall until the Taiyi Yulin gives us the results."

And without allowing any protest, she strides out of the room with determined steps, followed by Lingxi and Xia, who casts me one last look of concern before disappearing through the door. After they leave, the room falls silent. Only Lianhua remains at my bedside, upright and serene, awaiting the arrival of Taiyi Yulin. I'm sitting at the desk in my room in the Pavilion of the Scent of Clouds, the same one I've used since I learned to read and which, frankly, already feels too small for me.

I don't mean just the height, though that too. Since we returned to the capital a few days ago, I've noticed that my chair feels more wedged into this corner than before, but above all it's a matter of space and use. The edges are worn from being used as an armrest so many times, and the drawers are overflowing with things I didn't take to Xi'an that now leave me no room for what I've brought back, every inch crammed with papers, pigments, brushes, books, and letters. Letters like the one I'm holding in my hands.

I read it again carefully, going over each character slowly to make sure I haven't misinterpreted anything. It isn't especially long, but it's formal enough that it made me frown several times while reading. When I finish, I let out a snort that turns into a quiet chuckle as I set the letter on the desk, taking care not to damage it. I turn to Lianhua, who stands at my side like a patient shadow, her hands clasped at waist level, her expression serene.

"I don't know whether I should curse my father or congratulate him", I say in an amused tone.

"Zhāohuán Wen", she replies without missing a beat.

"You should not speak of the Emperor that way." She says it in that neutral tone suggesting she's told me this many times before and, honestly, doesn't expect me to listen this time either. I smile at her without hiding the fact that I don't intend to listen this time either.

"With this letter, he has completely destroyed my plan to bypass my mother and get him to authorize a Qi gathering formation for me", I tell her, leaning forward over the desk and pointing at the letter.

"When he came to see me during my recovery and I told him my idea of replicating the conditions of my first day of cultivation, I thought I could pull it off. But it seems he liked my plan a little too much." Lianhua tilts her head slightly as she listens to me but says nothing, so I continue.

"Now it turns out that for my birthday, he's given me a private session of three periods in his personal Qi gathering formation", I say, propping my elbow on the desk and resting my cheek against my hand.

"And he authorizes me to bring two handmaidens to assist during the session, given my particular condition." I can clearly see Lianhua blink, which, coming from her, is the equivalent of someone else letting out a gasp of surprise.

"If you wish to perfectly replicate the conditions under which your first cultivation occurred", she tells me.

"This is the best thing that could have happened."

"I know", I say with a resigned sigh.

"But part of me almost wished he'd just build me a Qi gathering formation here in the Pavilion." After I say those words, an uncomfortable silence settles. One of those silences where we both know that what remains unsaid weighs more than what has been spoken. Finally, it's Lianhua who breaks it by asking "Why would you want a Qi gathering formation if you normally cannot use one?" I lift my head slowly and look her straight in the eyes.

"Obviously it's not for me", I say in a weary tone.

"It's for you." Her eyes narrow just barely, but she says nothing, so I decide to tell her directly, though I'm certain she already knows the reasons.

"Now that you're part of my personal staff, you no longer have access to the Yushitai's resources. And I need to find some way to start compensating you for everything you've given up by choosing me." After hearing me lay out my reasons so bluntly, Lianhua closes her eyes, inhales deeply, and opens them again slowly.

"There may be a way for you to get what you want, Zhāohuán Wen", she says quietly.

"But it will likely come with consequences." Now that does catch my attention, I've never seen Lianhua be this proactive about anything.

"Consequences?" I ask with genuine curiosity.

"And what way are you referring to, exactly?"

"Along with the title of Zhāohuán", Lianhua begins to explain.

"Comes a monthly stipend assigned by the court. Since Guifei Xiang has been personally covering all of your expenses until now, the stipend has been accumulating for your entire life." I sit in silence, blinking at Lianhua's revelation. I'd never heard anything about this, but of course, how would I? A normal minor wouldn't have any reason to know unless someone told her. And in an environment like this, anyone who did tell me would almost certainly have bad intentions, unless that person were my mother.

But now only one question remains, so I put it to Lianhua "And the consequences?" Lianhua regards me with that expression of hers that blends respect with warning "Knowing Guifei Xiang, imagine what she will do if you ask her about that money and express your desire to claim it." I bite my lip for an instant, but I don't need to think very hard to know my mother's answer.

"She'll tell me that if I'm old enough to think about spending that money, I'm also old enough to manage it", I say without hesitation.

"So from that moment on, she'll stop paying all my expenses and make me responsible for everything the imperial budget doesn't cover." Lianhua inclines her head slightly after hearing me, confirming my words without needing to add anything further. I let out a sigh as I lean my head back against the chair.

"And do you at least know how much I've accumulated, so I can figure out whether it's worth the risk?" I ask Lianhua. Lianhua nods at my question.

"It is one of my duties as your Fei Yi. The stipend is one tael of silver per month, starting from when you were one month old", she informs me calmly.

"And since you turned eight, a monthly allocation of five spirit stones was added for your cultivation. Although Guifei Xiang decided they weren't necessary, since your cultivation was advancing too quickly to warrant accelerating it further." My mind tries to process what she just told me, but all I manage to do at first is blink, again and again, as though that might somehow restart the train of thought that seems to have ground to a halt. One tael a month since I was one month old?

All right, that's a lot, though I'm not entirely sure how much. During the nearly two years I spent in Xi'an, I learned some basic economics, enough not to seem completely ignorant, but I'm still far too removed from the lower classes to grasp the day-to-day economy of the average peasant. But it isn't the silver that's making my brain feel like it's about to short-circuit. It's the spirit stones. A quick calculation tells me there are a hundred and ten of them waiting for me.

A sum that in Xi'an would be considered a fortune, a sum over which, as I'd learned the hard way, people would kill. And here, at the heart of the empire, it is simply the accumulated savings of fewer than two years' worth of a girl of the court. Which makes me wonder how much wealth my older siblings have amassed. I press my fingers to my forehead and massage it slowly, closing my eyes for a moment as I try to digest what all of this means.

"Lianhua", I say, opening my eyes and looking at her with resolve.

"You know more than I do about how all of this works. And you also know my expenses well. If I decided to claim the stipend, would it be enough to support all three of us? Including Xia, of course." Lianhua keeps her expression neutral, but her eyes focus on me with greater attention.

"If you continue buying books at the rate you did in the city of Xi'an", she tells me plainly.

"You would spend nearly half your monthly budget." I can't help but frown "That much?"

"Books are never cheap, especially the more specialized volumes you prefer", she says with a slight tilt of her head.

"But beyond that expense, you don't have many other needs. Food, formal clothing, lodging, and all daily expenses are covered by the budget assigned to your rank. Furthermore, both my salary and Xia's continue to be paid from the imperial budget, not from your personal stipend." That I didn't know, so I ask her "So the stipend is only for buying luxuries or indulgences?"

"That's correct", Lianhua confirms calmly.

"Luxury items, entertainment, personal books, external commissions, discreet bribes, gifts, things the Palace is not obligated to provide but that a member of the imperial family may wish for or need." I fall silent, processing her words and realizing that this is money intended for the eccentricities of imperial nobility. A fund for whims, influence, favors, and private collections, rather than money meant to sustain us.

And here I am, with a hundred and ten spirit stones and over a hundred taels of silver stored away in some vault of the court, without having had the slightest idea they existed, while my mother paid for all my indulgences from her personal funds, modest as they may have been. I close my eyes and sigh as I nod to myself. I can't put this off any longer.

It may not be the best idea, but every day that Lianhua's cultivation falls behind because of the decision she made to follow me is a day where the blame would be mine, when I could have prevented it.

"Very well", I tell Lianhua with determination.

"It's time to go see my mother and tell her I want to become financially independent." Lianhua says nothing at first, but her right eyebrow rises by barely a millimeter.

"And as for the books", I add with an almost mischievous tone "I'm in the Imperial Palace now, and I still have free access to the Imperial Library thanks to a certain decree my father granted me." Lianhua watches me in silence, though I can imagine she already knows what I'm thinking.

"And there's no need to spend half a stipend when I have entire shelves to plunder just across the park", I finish with a broader smile.