"Winning is not easy."
"Life after victory is even more challenging."
Chu Zhao looked at the assembly and sighed softly.
"You will face many difficulties and obstacles in the future. Compared to the men in court, you are like boats sailing against the current—if you do not advance, you will retreat."
"What I can offer you is an opportunity, but only you yourselves can secure your footing. Please take good care of yourselves and strive wholeheartedly for your own sake."
At this point, Chu Zhao playfully winked at everyone.
"So, my dear ministers, use your status and opportunities to strengthen yourselves—not for my sake."
Was she telling them to use their family resources for themselves first? The women were taken aback, then couldn’t help but laugh, though their laughter carried a tinge of melancholy.
Although they had gained recognition through the imperial examinations, their families saw them merely as bridges to connect with the Empress, believing her appointment of female officials was merely a strategy to win over noble families.
Now the Empress was plainly telling them she sought no such alliances—they should use whatever benefits their families could provide for their own advancement.
The Empress saw them as individuals—each an independent person.
Her expectations were for them themselves.
Zengniang felt dazed; she had almost forgotten she was her own person.
She took a deep breath, bowed, and said, "Your servant will respectfully follow Your Majesty’s command."
The other women also bowed and declared in unison, "Your servants will respectfully follow Your Majesty’s command."
Chu Zhao said, "Rise, no need for formalities."
She looked at them again.
"But a single tree does not make a forest. To truly achieve your potential, you still need support."
"And this support comes from the common people."
"Therefore, you must look downward. Besides focusing on yourselves, you must also care for other women."
"Use your abilities to promote women’s education, encourage women to take imperial examinations, and enable more women to enter officialdom."
"Make the people believe that women can truly study, achieve greatness, and hold high positions of power."
"Only then can hearts unite, drops form streams, streams surge into mighty rivers, and you will ride the winds and break the waves, sweeping all before you."
The women responded in unison once more, their expressions not only excited but also filled with soaring ambition.
"Worldly affairs are easier said than done, especially when pioneering uncharted paths." Chu Zhao sighed softly and stood up. "You were born into wealth, free from want, destined for tranquil lives. By drawing you into this whirlpool, I hope you do not resent me."
Zhou Jiang chuckled and said, "Your Majesty has endured hardships and narrowly escaped death to reach this point. Why have you become more timid now?"
Chu Zhao also laughed. "Ignorance breeds fearlessness. It is precisely because I have experienced life and death that I cannot bear to see others suffer."
Zengniang said, "Your Majesty need not worry. Having the opportunity in this lifetime to choose between tranquility and turbulence is already our great fortune."
Chu Zhao looked at the others, who also smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Good." Chu Zhao said, "Then I ask all you ministers to serve the nation and its people, devoting yourselves entirely until your last breath."
Everyone straightened and shouted in unison, "Your servants will serve the nation and its people, devoting ourselves entirely until our last breath."
"Very well, hardships and dangers are yet to come." Chu Zhao smiled. "The palace has prepared a Hairpin Flower Banquet. I invite all my dear ministers to go and enjoy yourselves to the fullest."
The women laughed again as palace maids entered carrying incense burners, bowing in unison.
"We respectfully invite Your Excellencies to the banquet."The women bowed to Chu Zhao once more before being escorted by the palace maids toward the Grand Court Hall.
...
...
When Deng Yi was summoned, the banquet had not yet concluded. Chu Zhao, having drunk a few extra cups of wine, had withdrawn to rest in the flower pavilion outside the hall.
Upon seeing him approach, the palace maids stepped aside.
"Greetings, Empress," Deng Yi bowed outside the pavilion.
Chu Zhao fanned herself leisurely without opening her eyes. "Your exam results were rather mediocre—you’ll only be compiling books in the Hanlin Academy for a few years."
Deng Yi replied, "I’ve neglected my studies for too long. Merely passing is an achievement in itself."
"You’ve become quite content now," Chu Zhao laughed.
"What else can I do but be content in Your Majesty’s presence?" Deng Yi said.
Disregarding court etiquette, he casually sat on the steps, listening as the woman’s voice continued from behind.
"Indeed, those who weren’t content have all been killed by me."
Her voice drifted softly, seeming both near and far.
"Minister Deng, having already died once, should remember this well."
It was a warning. Deng Yi’s lips twitched slightly as he responded, "Your Majesty should not grow overconfident, thinking yourself invincible from now on. A centipede dies but never stiffens—I’ve heard bandits and mountain thieves recently received leaflets about hunting a rather scrawny, sickly sheep."
Chu Zhao said, "I know he’s difficult to kill. To him, we are nothing but insignificant ants. But when countless ants gather, they might just shake a tree."
"This time, that time"—Deng Yi had occasionally heard her use such peculiar phrases before, but it no longer mattered.
"However," Chu Zhao sat up and opened her eyes, "you are no longer part of our household. Do not pry into our affairs from now on."
Deng Yi turned his head. "Since we’re on the subject, although my family has moved away, that residence was my tuition payment. Surely you two cannot seize it without justification?"
Chu Zhao immediately feigned drunkenness. "What? What are you saying? I’m drunk—I can’t understand you."
She raised a hand to call out.
"A Le, A Le!"
A Le hurried over from outside the pavilion to support Chu Zhao.
"I told you your alcohol tolerance is weak, yet you drank so much," she chided gently. "Quick, return to the palace to sober up."
Master and servant then stepped over Deng Yi’s robes as they departed.
Deng Yi remained seated on the steps, suddenly chuckling and shaking his head before standing to return to the banquet.
Inside, laughter and chatter filled the hall, but when several people near the entrance noticed him, their merriment paused, and they averted their eyes.
Unfazed, Deng Yi took his seat and poured himself a drink.
He knew this was how it would be from now on—treated like a ghost, perpetually distrusted.
Once, he had been human, engaging in shady deeds.
Now, he was a ghost. He wondered what it would be like to act human again.
...
...
The excitement of the Spring Imperial Examinations faded with several spring rains, and in the blink of an eye, the scorching summer arrived.
Although disputes over female officials arose intermittently during this period, they were all resolved smoothly.
Chu Zhao’s days passed rather idly.
"Your Majesty," a eunuch announced, "His Majesty has arrived."
Xiao Yu strode in briskly.
"Sister," he frowned, waving his sleeves. "It’s unbearably hot! I reviewed memorials in light inner robes, and those ministers actually reprimanded me. I suggested they remove their official robes too, and they started wailing as if the sky were falling.Chu Zhao laughed, fanning him with her fan. "You certainly dare to speak your mind."Xiao Yu sat beside her, took a teacup from the table, poured herself some tea and drank it all in one gulp: "Always citing ancestral rules—I think our ancestors wouldn't mind me reading memorials in casual attire."
Chu Zhao looked at her sympathetically: "Our A-Yu has it hard. Being Emperor is truly not easy."
Xiao Yu gazed at her and said: "Sister, I want to visit the imperial mausoleum to see Father and Mother."
Chu Zhao seemed surprised: "Didn't we pay our respects during the spring imperial examinations?"
Xiao Yu replied: "There were too many people then. I want to visit Father and Mother alone."
Chu Zhao raised an eyebrow with a smile: "Oh, I see. A-Yu misses Father and Mother."
For a boy of this age, the word "miss" was somewhat embarrassing. Xiao Yu's ears turned slightly red, but he nodded: "Yes. Lately I seem to recall many childhood memories, and suddenly I miss them very much."
For a long time, he had forgotten his childhood—as if by doing so, he could escape the fear.
"Alright." Chu Zhao nodded with a smile. "We'll go tomorrow."
......
......
Chu Zhao hadn't visited the imperial mausoleum often, having spent several years traveling abroad.
Chu Zhao looked up ahead—this was the late Emperor's tomb.
She could no longer clearly remember the late Emperor's appearance.
Looking back felt like recalling a previous lifetime, and that previous lifetime was even more blurred. Sometimes it felt like it might have been a dream.
"Sister."
Xiao Yu's call came from nearby.
Chu Zhao bowed to the late Emperor's tomb before walking over.
"Finished sharing secrets with your father and mother?" she asked with a smile.
Xiao Yu nodded: "I told them so many things." He patted his chest. "I feel much more at ease now."
Then he quickly grabbed Chu Zhao's arm, hastily explaining: "Sister, I feel better after talking with you too."
Chu Zhao laughed heartily: "Why explain? Would I be jealous of your parents?" She reached out and pinched Xiao Yu's nose. "The more people A-Yu can confide in, the happier I'll be."
Xiao Yu suddenly remembered something and took out a bamboo tube: "I almost forgot the gift for my father.Looking at the bamboo tube, Chu Zhao's expression became complex, though mostly relieved.
"Actually, my father was rarely close with me." Xiao Yu stroked the bamboo tube. "I held some resentment toward him. The gift I prepared for him that day was meant to scare him—"
It contained a snake, Chu Zhao remembered, though the bamboo tube had long been replaced with a toy snake.
"Later he died. I never got to scare him, and I never got another chance to be close with him." Xiao Yu said, gazing at the tombstone before him. "I've kept holding onto this bamboo tube, as if doing so would mean I haven't lost him."
At this, he smiled slightly and placed the bamboo tube before the tombstone.
"Now, I'm no longer afraid of loss."
"Just as Sister said—as long as the love in your heart remains, the person will always be there, whether they're by your side or not."
Chu Zhao reached out and embraced him, sighing softly: "Our A-Yu has truly grown up."
Xiao Yu leaned against her shoulder and said: "So, Sister, you can leave now."
Chu Zhao straightened up and looked at him.
Xiao Yu met her gaze: "I can accept loss now, Sister. You can trust me one more time."
He knew that though his sister had returned that day, she no longer trusted him.
She never held his hand again.
When he went to see her, he could no longer approach casually—she was always surrounded by guards.Sister would no longer shield him behind her like before, entrusting her back to him.
He didn't blame his sister - this was all his own doing.
Chu Zhao raised her hand and gently smoothed the boy's furrowed brow.
"Do you know why sister must leave? It's not actually about distrusting you," she said. "You are the Emperor, and I am a different kind of Empress. No matter how much we trust each other, under imperial power, we cannot coexist."
Xiao Yu opened his mouth to say something.
Chu Zhao lightly touched his nose with her finger, stopping him.
"Of course, this isn't really a problem either, because sister has many methods to make you completely unthreatening, to make you trust only me in this lifetime, to turn you into my puppet."
She watched as Xiao Yu shook his head slightly.
"But I don't want that - I don't want to turn you into that, and I don't want to become that kind of person myself."
"I've been an Empress who was nothing."
"I could also be an Empress who can do anything now."
"But ultimately, I want to be the version of myself that I like."
Xiao Yu nodded solemnly. "Sister, aside from being Emperor, I will also be the version of myself that I like."
Chu Zhao smiled, holding Xiao Yu's face in her hands. The once childish boy had grown into an elegant young man.
"Ah Yu," she said. "Sister has never regretted saving you. I feel honored that I saved you that day."
Xiao Yu could no longer restrain himself from reaching out to embrace her, burying his head in her shoulder as tears quietly fell.
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