Chapter 61: Su Yanci

"Isn't this Su Yanci?"

The Capital's most famous young man, only twenty‑eight years old, is the Emperor's favorite inner‑court official.

He can freely come and go in the Imperial Palace, brimming with talent, adept in both civil and martial arts. He is carefree and lazy, loves Journey to the West, and has no interest in official rank.

Thus, only when there are changes in the court does he enter the palace to discuss matters with the Emperor.

According to the original plot, Su Yanci met Xu Luoyan in the palace, later becoming Xu Luoyan's loyal hound, serving her in every way and even sacrificing his life.

Wan Tang's steps gradually slowed, and she felt a hidden alarm in her heart.

She did not expect that her very existence had already altered the original storyline.

Su Yanci?

Could this person save Xu Luoyan?

It seems that from now on, one must be extra wary of this talent.

Morning mist lingered, and crystal‑clear dew rolled on the lotus leaves before He Fengyu Jing Palace, resembling tears that had not yet dried.

Li Ping'er and Qiu Ju paced back and forth along the palace corridor, glancing around from time to time.

"Consort!" Qiu Ju, sharp‑eyed, was the first to spot Wan Tang's figure and immediately lifted her skirt and hurried forward.

When she saw the dark red staining Wan Tang's collar and cuffs, she gasped a cold breath, "What's wrong with you?"

Li Ping'er seized Wan Tang's wrist, her fingertip lightly brushing the bloodstain on the cuff, and her gaze suddenly grew complex.

She lowered her voice: "Consort and Xu Dapeng have quarreled?"

Wan Tang's heart skipped a beat.

She forced herself to stay calm and said lightly, "Just a few words of dispute, no harm."

Qiu Ju still wore a bewildered expression, while Li Ping'er smoothly removed her own cloak and draped it over Wan Tang's shoulders, laughing, "Look at this red ink on the ground; Xu Dapeng is really careless."

She gave Qiu Ju a glance, "Go prepare hot water; I'll change Consort's clothes."

Warm steam filled the air, and Wan Tang sank entirely into the bathtub.

Floating rose petals on the water surface covered the tremor on her shoulder.

Beyond the screen, Xiao Shunzi stood upright.

Xiao Shunzi's voice was pressed down to a whisper, "The Songbai Palace side has already been dealt with cleanly."

In the water, Wan Tang let out a light laugh, her voice tinged with indescribable fatigue, "Xiao Shunzi, in this palace, besides you, whom else can I trust?"

Xiao Shunzi hesitated briefly, "Li Ping'er... perhaps is trustworthy."

He recalled what he had just seen, "She knew it was blood yet deliberately called it red ink. When washing, she even used soap pods to rub repeatedly, and kept it hidden from everyone."

"Although it was evident, she said nothing and even continued to conceal it."

"I think her loyalty to the Master is genuine."

"Have I also become a murderous devil?" Wan Tang suddenly cut him off, her voice muffled in the water, "I have become the kind of person I once despised most."

Beyond the screen came a muffled "dong" thud.

It was Xiao Shunzi who knelt.

He choked out, "Consort was forced! Since we stepped through the palace gates, our lives have been predetermined; any matter has long been beyond our control."

"Enough." Wan Tang lifted her face from the water, droplets sliding down her chin, "How is Noble Consort Qi's child?"

Xiao Shunzi's throat rolled, "It was saved."

"But the imperial physician said it may... become mentally impaired."

Wan Tang's eyes instantly lost their luster, becoming utterly hollow, and her voice, weary, said, "Go down!"

"Yes!" Xiao Shunzi's tone was full of worry as he hesitated, "Master, please take care of yourself."

"These matters are not your fault."

Wan Tang said nothing.

Xiao Shunzi seemed to sigh, then slipped away quietly.

The water surface splashed with a "whala" sound, and Wan Tang's whole body suddenly sank.

"Master!" Li Ping'er rushed in, seeing the water surface bubbling and gurgling.

She grabbed her out of the water; the soaked dark hair clung to Wan Tang's pallid face like a net she could not escape.

The next day.

Xiao Shunzi wore a worried frown and hurried to report, "Master, a message comes from Songbai Palace."

"They say you should go; if you don't, Madam Xu will not leave."

Li Ping'er's complexion darkened, and she said discontentedly, "Whether she leaves or not is naturally under the Empress's control."

Wan Tang sipped tea, smiled, "Alright, go have a look."

Morning light was faint; outside Songbai Palace, fallen leaves rustled, and the autumn wind swept the remnants across the palace steps, producing a soft rustle.

When Wan Tang entered the hall, Wang Jingyi sat upright on the main seat, cradling a steaming cup of tea, the curling vapor unable to mask the chill in her eyes.

Xu Luoyan reclined on a soft couch, her fingertips playing with a gold‑inlaid jade armor piece, her expression lazy and haughty.

"Consort Wan finally deigned to show her face?" Wang Jingyi raised her eyes, a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips.

Wan Tang's expression was indifferent, her gaze sweeping the hall before finally resting on the clay doll Wang Jingyi was handling.

Her pupils flickered; it was the only object her mother had cherished in life, a rough clay figurine that, from years of rubbing, glowed with a warm sheen.

In memory, her mother always treated the clay doll as life itself, saying it could prove her identity.

It was a deep, blood‑soaked feud of the family.

But later, her mother suffered a difficult birth, and the clay doll's whereabouts became unknown.

Wan Tang searched every corner, yet found nothing.

She did not expect it to appear in Wang Jingyi's hand.

Her fingertips tightened slightly, but her face remained impassive: "Mrs. Xu, what guidance do you have?"

Wang Jingyi let out a light laugh, her fingertips gently caressing the mud doll's face as if admiring a trophy.

"I am leaving the palace today; before I go, I must bid farewell to Consort Wan."

She spoke slowly, her gaze as cold as a viper's, "After all, there remains an unfinished promise between us."

She rose slowly, walked to Wan Tang, lifted the mud doll before her eyes, and gave it a gentle shake.

She lowered her voice, a grim smile on her face: "If my daughter cannot regain the Zhaoying, your younger brother will be just like the mud doll in my hand."

With a flick of her fingertip, the mud doll fell to the ground.

Wan Tang forced her inner grief and anger to the surface, appearing calm.

Fortunately there was a soft mat on the floor, and the mud doll was unharmed.

This was Wang Jingyi, deliberately using her younger brother to manipulate her.

Xu Luoyan let out a light laugh nearby, her eyes full of smugness.

"Mother, why waste words with her?" she said lazily, "If she were sensible, she'd know that the one who can control her brother's fate is our Xu Family."

She glanced sideways at Wan Tang, her tone contemptuous: "What can a solitary Zhaoying use to fight us?"

【Spit, does the Xu Family even dare to move him now?】

【Exactly, once the army returns from campaign, the younger brother will be safe.】

【If only the younger brother could stay in the barracks forever.】

Is the younger brother now safe from danger?

Then that's fine.

Wan Tang listened quietly, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Mrs. Xu is right." She slowly lifted her gaze, her eyes icy, "I truly have no support."

She stepped forward, closing in on Wang Jingyi, her voice so light it was almost inaudible: "But don't forget, if I truly throw myself into it, your daughter may not emerge unscathed."

Wang Jingyi's pupils narrowed slightly, yet she had not spoken.

Wan Tang stepped back, regaining her dignified, aloof demeanor.

"Mud doll, you may keep it." She smiled faintly, her gaze bone‑cold, "But if my younger brother loses even a single hair…"

She paused, her smile deepening: "I'll make Xu Luoyan never climb back to the Zhaoying."

The hall fell into dead silence.

Xu Luoyan's complexion changed abruptly, and she sprang to her feet: "How dare you!"

Wang Jingyi raised her hand to block her, her gaze dark as she stared at Wan Tang; after a moment, she sneered coldly: "Fine, very well."

She slipped the mud doll back into her sleeve, turned toward the hall gate, and said without looking back: "Then we'll see."

Wan Tang watched her depart until the figure vanished completely beyond the palace gate.

Only then did she slowly release her clenched fingertips, her palm already marked by deep blood scratches from her nails.

She was terrified, to the point of fearing for her life.

Since her mother passed, she had never been as frightened as she was now.

Wang Jingyi truly had a hold on the people and things she cared about most.

Now, she could only force herself to hold on, striving not to show any flaw.

Fortunately there is a Barrage, allowing her to know her younger brother's safety.

On the way back to the palace, Qiu Ju asked cautiously, "Madam, what did Mrs. Xu say?"

Wan Tang's expression remained unchanged, she said lightly, "Just some threatening words."

She lifted her gaze toward the distant palace wall, a cold emptiness beneath her eyes.

"But threats… have always been two‑way."

A few colored glass palace lanterns hung from the eaves of Lotus Breeze Imperial View Palace.

Night fell, the lanterns shone.

Wan Tang leaned by the window, her fingertips gently teasing a freshly cut lotus, its fragrant scent staining her sleeves.

"Madam, the Emperor has arrived," Xiao Shunzi reported hastily; before she finished, steady footsteps echoed from outside the hall.

Wan Tang turned her head back and saw Chu Yunzheng walking in on the moonlight.

He was not wearing a dragon robe today, only a moon‑white everyday robe, its collar and cuffs embroidered with dark silver cloud patterns, making him look as clear and graceful as jade.

"Why has the Emperor come at this hour?" she rose to greet him, a faint smile surfacing in her eyes.

Chu Yunzheng reached out to steady her, his fingertip lightly brushing her wrist: "After finishing the paperwork, I recalled you said the lotus's blooming period is almost over."

He lowered his head, inhaling the scent in her hair: "Tangtang's fragrance is even more pleasant than the lotus."

Wan Tang pursed a smile, pulling him to sit at the dressing table: "Then will the Emperor pin a flower for me?"

Their overlapping silhouettes were reflected in the bronze mirror.

Chu Yunzheng took a golden intertwined lotus hairpin from the vanity box, deliberately angling it so the tip brushed her earlobe: "My hands are clumsy; please bear with me, Tangtang."

She let out a light gasp, her earlobe instantly flushing crimson, and scolded him from the mirror, "The Emperor did it on purpose."

He chuckled softly, finally tying her hair earnestly. As his fingertip passed through her black hair, he suddenly said, "I have heard about today's matter at Pine and Cypress Palace."

Wan Tang's spine stiffened.

How much the Emperor has heard.

【Trash dragon, don't gasp so much when you speak—scaring people to death?】

【It's just that I heard Wan Tang went to Pine and Cypress Palace and suffered a bit of grievance.】

【After all, Wang Jingyi wouldn't be so foolish as to let anyone know her secret.】

Whew!

Wan Tang let out a sigh of relief; it's all right.

"Stretch out your hand," he suddenly ordered.

She hesitated, opened her palm, and revealed the still‑unhealed pinch mark.

Chu Yunzheng sighed, took a White Jade Medicine Box from his sleeve, dabbed some medicinal paste and gently applied it: "If you pinch again, pinch the Emperor's hand."

The evening breeze brushed the lotus pond, stirring a soft rustle.

Chu Yunzheng led Wan Tang to Langxia, then suddenly hoisted her sideways in his arms, startling her into clutching his collar: "Emperor!"

"Shh," he whispered, lifting her as he leapt onto the roof, "Look over there."

Soft carpet lay on the glazed tiles, and beside it a pot of warmed Lotus Wine was set.

In the distance, the Star River cascaded down, as if a hand could scoop up star‑fragments like shattered diamonds.

Wan Tang leaned against his shoulder and suddenly felt her eyes grow hot.

"When I was a child, my mother also watched the stars with me," the Subject said.

Chu Yunzheng drew her closer into his arms, his chin lightly brushing the top of her head: "From now on, the Emperor will accompany you."

Returning to the Sleeping Hall, Wan Tang was already feeling drowsy.

Chu Yunzheng tucked the blanket corner for her, but she, half‑asleep, clutched his sleeve: "The Emperor must not leave…"

He smiled, leaned down and placed a kiss on her brow: "Fine, the Emperor will not go."

The candle flame waned, and from within the curtain came her mumbled murmur: "Lotus Wine… you promised to leave me half a pot…"

Chu Yunzheng gazed at her sleeping face, gently brushed her nose tip: "Little drunkard."

Yet he quietly slipped the remaining half‑pot into the little cabinet beside her pillow.

Wan Tang's drunkenness was feigned, but the Emperor's tenderness in his eyes was genuine.

In countless hazy moments, Wan Tang would think that perhaps a lifetime shared with one person—if that person were the Emperor—might not be unthinkable.

Only the yellow that clung to Chu Yunzheng constantly reminded Wan Tang that the imperial family was the most ruthless.

She cooed, leaning on the Emperor's leg, smiling childishly and innocently.

Chu Yunzheng's eyes also gained a hint of melancholy as he whispered, "Tangtang, General Xu is about to return."

"He said he misses his daughter."

"What shall the Emperor do with you?"

Chu Yunzheng either thought Wan Tang had fallen asleep, or perhaps not.

These words, spoken softly from behind, pressed heavily against Wan Tang's chest, almost choking her…