The innocent, unguarded voice of a child echoed through the hall, rushing into the ears of everyone present without warning. It seemed that only utter silence could express the shock of the moment.
Everyone looked at one another, as though they wanted to confirm from the others’ faces that they had not misheard.
The first to recover was Third Uncle Cui Huaiyi. Clutching his stomach, he burst out laughing. “Yaoyao really is still a child. Even if she’s read the histories at such a young age, she’s still at the age where she says all sorts of nonsense.”
Cui Huaihao gave a soft chuckle as well. “That’s right. Yaoyao, you mustn’t talk nonsense. If someone else heard you, you could be charged with a crime.”
Cui Yeping also came to his senses. Patting his granddaughter’s back, he put on a stern expression. “You mustn’t repeat such foolishness to outsiders.”
Rongyao: “...I wasn’t lying.”
Cui Yeping: “Even if you weren’t lying, you still can’t say such things recklessly.”
Rongyao widened her eyes and looked at her mother. “In my dream, the Emperor was my father!”
Cui Huaiyin blushed and stepped forward to take her soft, adorable daughter into her arms. “Yaoyao’s dreams may sometimes come true, but most dreams are false.”
Eldest Uncle Cui Huaiji said, “That’s right, Yaoyao. Most dreams are false. You’ll understand once you grow up. You’re still young and can’t tell truth from falsehood.”
Third Uncle Cui Huaiyi added, “Exactly, exactly. Our Yaoyao must want a father so badly that she dreamed up something like this.”
Rongyao: “...”
Rongyao knitted her brows in distress. She glanced at the clear sky outside, pressed her lips together, and said, “Everything I said is true, and my dreams are true too. If you don’t believe me, just wait and see! I say it will snow in the capital tomorrow, and it will snow for three days in a row!”
Cui Huaiyin smiled and pinched her daughter’s little cheek. “All right. Mother will wait for the snow.”
No one paid much attention to Rongyao’s words.
Yet the next day, before dawn had even broken, snow began to drift down from the sky, melting quickly as it landed on people’s shoulders.
Cui Yeping left the house before daylight. He looked up at the snow in a daze, then smiled and muttered to himself, “It must be a coincidence.” He brushed the snow from his clothes and hurried toward the Ministry of Revenue offices south of the imperial city.
Everyone in the Cui household went about their usual business. After seeing the snow, they all said it was merely a coincidence, but each of them secretly counted the days, carrying a faint hope they deliberately kept in check.
In the imperial palace.
Wang Zhong took the dossier and read it carefully before bending over and respectfully presenting it to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, this is the information on the mother and daughter you ordered me to investigate yesterday.”
Eunuch Wang Zhong stole a glance at the Emperor, then quickly lowered his head again, sighing inwardly.
Yesterday, His Majesty had encountered a mother and daughter at a restaurant outside the palace. The beautiful woman truly was breathtaking—a beauty difficult to forget after only one glance.
Unfortunately, she was already married and had even borne a child.
His Majesty had rarely shown such interest in a woman, much less stared at one in a daze. At the time, Wang Zhong had thought that if the beautiful woman had not been married, His Majesty might have brought her into the palace and made her a consort. What a pity they had met too late.
His Majesty valued propriety above all else, loved his people as his own children, and was also a man who cared greatly about cleanliness and order. There was no way he would forcibly take another man’s wife.
Yet Wang Zhong had never expected that after the mother and daughter left, His Majesty would compare the woman to Consort Chen and even ask how she measured up to Consort Chen.
How could he possibly dare tell the truth?
How could the two even be compared?
Consort Chen had always enjoyed His Majesty’s favor in the palace. Although the Emperor only visited the harem a few times a month, Consort Chen had given birth to a son and a daughter, both exceptionally intelligent. She herself was also highly capable, and every palace banquet she arranged was fresh and original. In the eyes of the palace servants, Consort Chen had earned His Majesty’s regard through her talents and children. Compared with the other consorts, she was indeed not particularly beautiful. Next to the woman Wang Zhong had glimpsed at the restaurant, she could not compare at all.
Everyone said that His Majesty was not one to indulge in beauty and cared only about a woman’s talents. Yet what had happened the day before made Wang Zhong begin to question that belief.
After the beautiful woman left, His Majesty had stood at the restaurant for a long while, watching with his own eyes as the mother and daughter departed in a carriage before finally looking away. He had even ordered Wang Zhong to investigate the woman, as if he intended to seize her by force.
Fortunately, none of the court officials knew about this matter. Wang Zhong was the only one aware of it. He had ordered people to investigate the woman overnight, and only then learned that her name was Cui Huaiyin. Her father was a minor official in the Ministry of Revenue who had recently been transferred from Huangzhou to the capital.
He had also received some good news: the woman had already divorced her scholar husband.
A divorced woman!
Wang Zhong could not tell whether this was a good thing or a bad one.
In Great Zhou, there had long been precedents of divorced women remarrying and seeking new husbands. But for someone as exalted as the Emperor to take a divorced woman into the palace would ultimately sound rather improper.
Thus, he had presented the dossier with trepidation first thing that morning. Now, with His Majesty holding the dossier and wearing an expression devoid of emotion, Wang Zhong felt even more uneasy.
Dantai Ji swept his calm gaze over the dossier. After reading it, he set it down and leaned back against the dragon throne, closing his eyes to rest.
“Wang Zhong, do you truly not think this woman resembles Consort Chen?”
Wang Zhong’s heart lurched. He hurriedly knelt and replied, “This servant’s eyes are poor. I truly cannot see any resemblance between this woman and Consort Chen.”
The hall fell silent for a long time. Wang Zhong felt his breathing grow labored. He cautiously stole a glance at the Emperor, only to see His Majesty’s brows drawn tightly together, his face filled with confusion.
After a long while, the Emperor finally asked, “Then tell me—am I a lecherous man?”
Eunuch Wang Zhong’s heart gave a thud. He immediately pressed his forehead to the floor and said, “Your Majesty is wise and mighty, with your heart devoted to the empire and its people. Your harem has but a handful of consorts. You are absolutely no man who indulges in lust. You are a truly good emperor of Great Zhou!”
Even after answering, Eunuch Wang Zhong remained shaken. He had not been offering empty flattery. His Majesty truly was a good emperor. Including the Empress, there were only five consorts in the harem.
Compared with the three palaces, six courtyards, and three thousand beauties of the late Emperor, His Majesty’s harem was immeasurably better.
Then what was His Majesty acting like this for...?
Wang Zhong’s gaze hardened with determination. He stole another glance at the Emperor seated on the dragon throne and said, “Lady Cui is stunningly beautiful, gentle and modest in manner, virtuous and well-mannered, brave and resolute. Since she is already divorced and is a model among women, why not bring Lady Cui into the harem to accompany Your Majesty?”
For the Emperor to take a woman as his own was that woman’s good fortune!
His Majesty did not often visit the harem, and his heirs were few. He had only two princesses and three princes. He worked tirelessly for the affairs of state and ought to have a beloved woman brought into the palace to attend to him.
Dantai Ji opened his eyes and gazed deeply at Wang Zhong, who was kneeling below him. “Do you think she would be willing?”
Wang Zhong replied, “To serve Your Majesty is the blessing of every woman beneath Heaven. Lady Cui will surely be delighted to prepare for the wedding.”
The Emperor’s brows relaxed slightly. His fingers tapped lightly against the tabletop.
“Draft the edict.”
Wang Zhong bowed his head to the floor once more. “This servant obeys!”
