Jiang Yunshu's sigh came from the heart.
When she heard they would be enjoying an opera performance by the lakeside pavilion, she had worried about the springtime mosquitoes. To her surprise, the palace attendants had already taken precautions—delicate gauze curtains, light as mist, enclosed the pavilion, keeping all insects at bay without obstructing the view or the gentle breeze drifting across the lake.
An incense burner shaped like an auspicious beast emitted fragrant smoke, blended with herbs to repel insects, ensuring none hovered outside the gauze.
On the table before her lay an assortment of fruits, pastries, and a chilled plum soup.
Not far across the water, a flat stretch of land served as the opera stage.
The melodies floated over the lake, and sitting at this perfect distance to enjoy the performance…
A VIP experience!
Jiang Yunshu shifted slightly in her chair, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. The VIP seating was a tad too firm…
Not that the chair was to blame—her back was simply sore today.
She thought she had concealed it well, yet Empress Dowager Wu noticed immediately. Without hesitation, the empress dowager instructed a maid to fetch a soft cushion and place it behind Jiang Yunshu’s back.
Jiang Yunshu was astonished. Empress Dowager Wu was remarkably attentive!
With a knowing smile, the empress dowager said, "I felt the same way after playing shuttlecock—so much fun in the moment, but the next day, every muscle aches."
Jiang Yunshu exhaled inwardly in relief. Thankfully, Empress Dowager Wu believed her soreness came from shuttlecock and hadn’t suspected anything else.
What Jiang Yunshu didn’t realize was that the empress dowager’s meticulous care stemmed from close observation.
For days, Empress Dowager Wu had been imitating Jiang Yunshu’s style of dress.
Fortunately, Jiang Yunshu favored simplicity. Had she dressed flamboyantly, the empress dowager couldn’t have followed suit—it wouldn’t befit her status.
Yet even Jiang Yunshu’s understated elegance wasn’t easy to replicate. The same clothes that looked effortlessly chic and refreshing on her made Empress Dowager Wu appear dull and plain.
Jiang Yunshu wore minimal hair ornaments, but when the empress dowager tried to match her, she had to add several more pieces just to look presentable.
And with those additions, any resemblance to Jiang Yunshu’s style vanished…
So today, the moment Jiang Yunshu entered, Empress Dowager Wu scrutinized her attire first.
Noticing Jiang Yunshu’s high-collared blouse, she paused.
Though the weather wasn’t yet scorching, the palace maids had long switched to lower necklines…
The empress dowager’s gaze kept drifting to Jiang Yunshu’s collar, where the thin fabric barely concealed faint red marks beneath.
A chill ran down Empress Dowager Wu’s spine. She had heard rumors of eunuchs taking palace maids as "companions" and the cruel games they played…
Who would have thought even the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Lord, with his immense power, enjoyed such torment?
Thinking of her infant son’s peaceful sleeping face, the empress dowager clenched her teeth. She had to try.
"Sister Jiang, what kind of opera do you enjoy?" Empress Dowager Wu handed her the playbill.
Jiang Yunshu politely declined. "I like them all. Since Your Majesty has graciously invited me to share in this pleasure, I’ll gladly listen to whatever you choose."
The plays listed in the empress dowager’s booklet weren’t random—each had been carefully selected, all centered on star-crossed lovers.
Empress Dowager Wu had hoped Jiang Yunshu’s choice might reveal the nature of her relationship with the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Lord.
But despite her coaxing, Jiang Yunshu wouldn’t pick.
Left with no choice, the empress dowager selected two operas herself.
The actors took the stage across the water, their painted faces gleaming under the sunlight.
Jiang Yunshu had seen operas before at the Marquis's Mansion during festivals, but the performers there paled in comparison to the palace’s troupe, and the scenery had never been this enchanting.
She was so absorbed that she barely touched the refreshments.
Empress Dowager Wu, however, had seen this opera before. Today, she wasn’t here for the show.
When the actors reached the scene where the scholar picks up the young lady’s handkerchief in the garden, returning it and falling in love at first sight, the empress dowager dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.
"What a fated romance…" she sighed.
She hoped to draw Jiang Yunshu into discussing the plot—words were mirrors of the soul.
By hearing Jiang Yunshu’s thoughts on the scholar and the lady, she might glean insights into her relationship with the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Lord and how deeply his affections ran…
Jiang Yunshu hadn’t expected Empress Dowager Wu to be so chatty.
Ah, in modern terms, the empress dowager would be the type who talked nonstop in cinemas, wouldn’t she?
Jiang Yunshu was the opposite—she preferred immersing herself in the performance without interruptions.
But since Empress Dowager Wu had invited her, and she was enjoying this private lakeside theater, she obliged her host with conversation.
Though while Jiang Yunshu had been admiring the actors’ movements, vocals, and the natural backdrop, the plot itself…
Once she started critiquing, she couldn’t stop.
"What kind of scholar is this? Finding a handkerchief and immediately fantasizing about some young, unmarried lady?"
"The handkerchief doesn’t even have a name on it! For all he knows, it could belong to the mistress of the house, a concubine, a maid—or an eighty-year-old matriarch!"
"He returns it, sees the young lady, and falls head over heels."
"What if he’d met the eighty-year-old instead? Would he have knelt and called her ‘Grandmother’ on the spot?"
The mental image made Jiang Yunshu burst into laughter. "Hahahaha!"
Empress Dowager Wu: "…"
Catching her breath, Jiang Yunshu continued.
"This plot is absurd. The scholar just happens to meet the young lady when returning the handkerchief?"
"In reality, he wouldn’t even get past the maids, let alone see the lady herself."
"Even if the handkerchief miraculously had the lady’s name embroidered on it, do you think the household would admit it?"
Here, Jiang Yunshu recalled how effortlessly Xie Lin had spun lies when they returned to the Marquis's Mansion to rescue Concubine Qiao.
Channeling Xie Lin’s tactics, she improvised:
"If the scholar showed up with a handkerchief bearing the lady’s name, the servants could just say, ‘You’re mistaken—our young lady isn’t called that.’"
Empress Dowager Wu couldn’t resist interjecting, "But what if the scholar asks for the lady’s real name?"
Jiang Yunshu answered without hesitation, "Then slap him! ‘How dare you ask for my lady’s name?’"
She dissolved into laughter again. "Hahahaha!"
That was exactly how Xie Lin had dealt with Jiang Zhaohua that day—so satisfying!
Empress Dowager Wu: "…………"
She had intended to probe Jiang Yunshu’s relationship with the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Lord through the opera—to learn what kind of woman he favored.
So she could mimic that woman and seduce him.
But now, staring at Jiang Yunshu, who was laughing uncontrollably beside her, Empress Dowager Wu wore a complicated expression.
Did the Nine Thousand-Year-Old Lord have a thing for fools? Did he like them deranged and silly?
Empress Dowager Wu: …How was she supposed to act like this? She couldn’t pull it off!
