"Oh? Then tell me, what crime have you committed?"
Hua Zhi remained meek with lowered eyes. "This common woman's actions have displeased Your Majesty - that is my crime."
"Let's set aside that crime for now. What I'm curious about is who taught you all these skills. Hua Yizheng wouldn't know such things."
"The Hua family once possessed the largest Book Collection Pavilion in the land. Since learning to read, I have wandered freely among its shelves. Everything I know and can do comes from books."
The Emperor's eyes sparkled with interest. "Do you resent me?"
"This common woman wouldn't dare."
"I want to hear the truth."
Hua Zhi's tone remained flat. "Both thunder and rain are manifestations of imperial grace. My grandfather taught me this since childhood."
"I've heard you traveled to Yinshan Pass twice."
"Yes."
"Do you know your crime?"
Hua Zhi knelt again, pressing her forehead to the floor. "This common woman knows her crime."
"Oh? Explain."
"If Your Majesty says I have committed a crime, then I have committed a crime."
The Emperor's smile vanished. "Have you come here seeking death?"
"A poor life is better than a good death. This common woman wouldn't dare think such thoughts."
"I think you dare quite a lot." The Emperor stood and walked before her with hands clasped behind his back. "Shall I point you toward official approval? It might even lessen the Hua family's suffering and hasten their return to the capital."
"Your Majesty's instruction is requested."
"Enter the palace as my consort."
In the inner chamber, Shaoyao jumped up, though she had learned her lesson and made no sound. Her face contorted with silent fury.
Gu Yanxi's expression remained impassive, but storms raged in his eyes, where countless cold winds had already swept through.
After a moment's silence, just as the Emperor thought she would agree, Hua Zhi spoke: "Does Your Majesty wish to hear the truth?"
"Naturally."
"If Your Majesty wishes the truth, then I shall give it to you. But before that, I beg a promise from Your Majesty."
"Speak."
"If my words or actions prove improper, I beg Your Majesty not to extend punishment to the Hua family."
The Emperor, tired from pacing, sat back down behind the imperial desk. Wanting to hear the truth, he nodded. "I grant your request."
Hua Zhi straightened her back and lifted her head, her gaze no longer downcast. Her entire demeanor transformed into someone completely different from before. "Since Your Majesty knows about me, you must have investigated. Then my relationship with Yan Xi cannot be hidden from you. I've always heard that Your Majesty relies on The Heir more than your own princes, but now I see such rumors cannot be trusted. If you truly valued him so highly, how could you say such things? Are you aware that Yan Xi sees you as a father?"
"Insolent!" The Emperor's cheek twitched, clearly provoked.
A ball of fire burned in Hua Zhi's chest, nearly consuming her. Her heart ached for Yan Xi, so much that she wanted to smash a chair over the Emperor's head - even if it meant facing charges of regicide to vent Yan Xi's grievances. But she remembered she couldn't drag the Hua family into this mud. That crime would exterminate nine generations. So she restrained herself and replied, "You said you wanted the truth. This is the truth."
The Emperor glared at her darkly. "What if I promised that merely by accepting, the Hua family could be restored to power?""Your Majesty does not understand the Hua family well enough. The Hua household is filled with scholars, and scholars never lack integrity. If this humble woman were to use such methods to ensure her family's safety, my grandfather would rather remain at Yinshan Pass for the rest of his life than return. My father would feel he had burdened me and would choose to end his own life rather than accept such protection. I too am unwilling. If I were to agree to this, it would be trampling the Hua family's dignity and self-respect into the dust. You may with a single word ensure the Hua family never rises again, but I cannot bear to see it. I cannot bear to see their hands, accustomed to holding brushes, forced to do rough labor, and even less can I bear to destroy their spirit, subjecting them to a catastrophe worse than exile."
"So you went to Yinshan Pass to deliver silver to them?"
"Might I ask Your Majesty, which statute of the Daqing Code forbids relatives and friends from visiting their loved ones? The silver this humble woman brought was earned through my own efforts, not stolen. Why should I not be allowed to deliver it?"
Hua Zhi raised her head and met the Emperor's gaze directly, her eyes so bright they seemed capable of scorching anyone who looked into them. What was one life? She would gladly sacrifice it!
"Yan Xi respects you as a father. When he traveled to the farthest corners to plug the leaks in the Daqing Dynasty, he said you were first the Emperor and then his uncle. When he received a word of comfort or a trace of affection from you, he said you were his uncle, the kin who treated him best. He has given you and the Daqing Dynasty everything he has to offer. But what of you? You value his competence and loyalty, and you know full well he has no designs on your throne, so you exploit him relentlessly, making him work like an ox or a horse, all under the guise of valuing him. Might I ask Your Majesty, when you speak those words, do you feel no guilt?"
"Are you pleading his case?"
"Yes, I am pleading his case. You have three thousand consorts in your harem, while he has only an empty Heir Apparent Residence and the never-ending tasks of the Seven Constellation Bureau. And then, he found me. He has only me." Hua Zhi wore a smile, but her eyes were icy. "Yet he does not know that the uncle he respects, the man he sees as a father, wishes to take away the little he has. Your Majesty, it seems you do not truly value him but must harbor some grudge against him."
The Emperor looked at her. "Did he tell you this?"
"Why would he need to? One who has been lonely for too long carries an aura of desolation." The pain in Hua Zhi's knees was excruciating, yet she stubbornly remained kneeling, her back straight and unwavering. She had already defied the imperial decree, and now her attitude was brazen. Since she was doomed anyway, if she could use this nearly spent life to stir even a sliver of guilt in the Emperor toward Yan Xi, it would make his future slightly easier.
Some people, having received much, come to see it as their due, unaware that nothing in this world is truly owed.
The Emperor fell silent, his gaze fixed on the void as if lost in thought. The imperial study grew quiet.
In the inner chamber, Gu Yanxi closed his eyes and made to step out, but Lai Fu held him back firmly, shaking his head and mouthing silently: Wait a little longer.
Gu Yanxi looked at him, and Lai Fu nodded emphatically. Having served the Emperor for decades, though His Majesty had become increasingly unpredictable over the past year, there were still traces to follow. He could not believe the Emperor truly fancied Hua Zhi—not that she was lacking, but since the incident with Consort Yi, the Emperor had rarely visited the inner palace. There was no need to take the daughter of a disgraced official he himself had punished into the harem, and it would not reflect well on his reputation if word spread.Moreover, the Emperor genuinely held some sincerity towards the Heir. If he truly investigated and learned of their mutual affection, whether he would grant his blessing or not was uncertain, but he certainly wouldn't stoop to such methods to disgust the Heir. As the young lady had said, this wouldn't be regard—it would be enmity.
Gu Yanxi was reluctantly persuaded, but he didn't retreat. Instead, he stood pressed against the door, ready at any moment to rush out and share life or death with A Zhi.
He was afraid—afraid that if he couldn't restrain himself and charged out, he would endanger A Zhi; afraid that this might be the Emperor's test; afraid that no matter what he did, he wouldn't be able to save A Zhi; afraid...
He feared far too much. Gu Yanxi thought, if he truly couldn't save her, then they would depart together. It wasn't such a terrible thing.
Shaoyao came over and leaned against Yanxi's arm, her expression unprecedentedly calm. All the people who mattered to her were here. No matter what happened, she would stay with them—in whatever form that took.
PS: Third update. This segment needed to be written continuously for coherence, so yesterday's missed update wasn't posted separately first.
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