Inside the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, the morning light was just right.
The scroll of portraits Li Chenglu held in his arms unrolled across the floor with a swoosh. The youth in crimson robes squatted on the ground, tapping the painted figures' features with his fingertips, full of enthusiasm. "Mother, look, this is the third son of the Count of Loyal Valor. He took first place in yesterday's archery competition, and he has a handsome face too!"
Li Chanying squatted beside him, her pale yellow skirt spreading out like flower petals. She pulled out another scroll and unrolled it with a bright smile. "This one is good too—the legitimate second son of the Vice Minister of Rites. He speaks elegantly and writes excellent poetry."
The portraits were laid out one by one.
The finely dressed young lords were either heroic, refined, or noble, while the noble young ladies were full of spirit, their most ideal appearances for marriage captured on the rice paper.
The Empress leaned forward to look closely, a smile playing on her lips as her gentle gaze swept over each face. Sunlight filtered through the carved window lattices, flowing over her bright yellow phoenix robes, revealing a genuine maternal affection amidst her regal grace.
Li Chengyu stood two steps away.
He watched the two nearly identical side profiles squatting on the ground—the same straight, delicate noses, the same long, thick eyelashes, and the same cheeks slightly flushed with excitement.
His gaze landed on Li Chenglu.
The youth wore a crimson brocade robe today, embroidered with coiled dragon patterns in gold thread, looking magnificent and dazzling.
But that figure...
Was truly too frail!
Squatting there, his robe sleeves seemed a bit empty, and his waist was so slender it could almost be entirely grasped by one hand. When he spoke, his eyes danced, and an innate, irrepressible feminine charm seeped through the corners of his eyes and brows.
Li Chengyu's Adam's apple bobbed almost imperceptibly.
He recalled Imperial Physician Hua's trembling voice as he prostrated on the floor last night: "...His internal organs are no different from a woman's... that appendage resembling a male organ is actually a malformation... it has no practical use..."
No practical use.
These words were like ice-quenched needles piercing his heart.
Marriage...
Li Chenglu's marriage absolutely could not take place!
Once married, on the wedding night, the affairs between a man and a woman would be unavoidable. The secret of that body would be laid bare before his new wife in the most intimate, unhideable moment.
What would happen then?
It was unimaginable.
But one thing was certain: if Li Chenglu married, it would bring about a catastrophic disaster. A joyous occasion turning into a funeral was by no means an exaggeration. Once the secret of his body was leaked by his bedfellow—
Li Chengyu closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, his eyes were completely calm. He raised his gaze to look at the Empress on her phoenix throne.
Mother and son shared a deep connection.
With just a single exchange of glances—Li Chengyu's eyes briefly swept over Li Chenglu on the floor before returning to the Empress's face. His gaze carried an unmistakable gravity and underlying message.
The smile on the Empress's lips did not diminish.
But the fingertips holding her teacup tightened for a nearly imperceptible moment.
No one knows a son better than his mother.
This son of hers had been steady and precocious since childhood, with a deep and thoughtful mind. He never acted without reason. His look right now... was telling her: this marriage is inappropriate.
It must be delayed.
The Empress's mind raced, though her face showed nothing. She gently set down her teacup. The porcelain met the red sandalwood table with a soft click.
Hearing the sound, Li Chenglu looked up, his eyes sparkling. "What do you think, Mother?"
The Empress looked at him, her gaze soft, though a faint trace of complexity—one even she might not have noticed—flashed in its depths.
She suddenly let out a soft sigh.
The sigh was very light, but it perfectly caused the relaxed atmosphere in the hall to slightly stagnate.
"Looking at these portraits..." the Empress's voice was gentle and slow, carrying a hint of emotion. "It suddenly occurs to me that, in the blink of an eye, you've both reached the age of marriage."
She reached out a hand, gesturing vaguely in the air.
"I still remember when you were first brought to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. You were only this big, two little dumplings. When you cried, your voices were so tiny, like little kittens."
Li Chenglu and Li Chanying both paused.
Genuine nostalgia and reluctance surfaced in the Empress's eyes. "Time passes so quickly... so quickly that I can hardly bear to let you go."
"Mother!"
Li Chanying reacted first. She put down the portrait, stood up, and hurried to the Empress's side. Clinging to her arm, she said sweetly, "I'm in no rush to marry! I want to stay with you forever, Mother!"
Li Chenglu also scrambled up hastily and moved to her other side. Though he couldn't act as coquettishly as his sister, he said earnestly, "I also wish to accompany you for a few more years, Mother."
The Empress wrapped an arm around each of them, a smile rippling in her eyes, though it didn't quite reach their depths.
She gently patted the backs of their hands.
"Silly children, it is the natural order of things for men and women to marry when they come of age," she said in a mild tone, yet with an unquestionable solemnity. "Although you are not my biological children, I have raised you since you were little. In my heart, you are no different from my own flesh and blood."
Her gaze swept over the portraits on the floor.
"For your marriages, I must choose carefully and pick the absolute best for you. Those who looked decent at yesterday's flower-viewing banquet may not necessarily be good matches."
Li Chengyu stepped forward at the right moment.
"Mother is right," he said in a steady voice, taking over the conversation. "Marriage is a major life event; how can we be careless? The family background, moral character, talents, and even the clan relations of these candidates must be thoroughly investigated. Only then can Mother and I be at ease."
He looked at Li Chenglu and Li Chanying, his gaze sincere.
"Ninth Brother, Chanying, rest assured. Leave this matter to your Sixth Brother. I will definitely investigate the backgrounds of these people clearly and ensure you don't suffer the slightest grievance."
Li Chenglu's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Sixth Brother!"
Li Chanying also smiled. "With Sixth Brother guarding the gates, it couldn't be better!"
The Empress nodded with a smile. "That is very good. Then let us not rush to decide. Once Yu'er has investigated thoroughly, we can discuss it slowly."
Discuss it slowly.
How long to investigate?
Li Chengyu silently repeated those words in his heart.
That would depend on... when Chenglu's problem could be resolved.
The smile on his face remained unchanged, but his heart felt heavy.
After chatting for a while longer, Li Chenglu and Li Chanying finally gathered the portraits and took their leave, completely satisfied. The voices of the two young girls faded away with their footsteps, and the hall returned to silence.
The smile on the Empress's face.
Faded away bit by bit.
She didn't speak, only raised her hand and waved it gently.
The palace maids and eunuchs standing by silently bowed and filed out. The hall doors were gently closed, shutting out all sounds and sights from the outside.
In the grand main hall of the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, only mother and son remained.
Sunlight flowed quietly, dust motes slowly drifting in the beams of light.
The Empress sat properly on her phoenix chair, her bright yellow robes cascading down in elegant luxury. She looked at her son standing in the hall, her gaze calm yet carrying a sharpness that saw through everything.
"Speak," the Empress began, her voice not loud, but every word distinct. "What exactly is the matter that requires delaying the marriages of Chenglu and Chanying like this?"
Li Chengyu was silent for a moment.
He took two steps forward.
And came to a halt before the Empress.
He raised his eyes to look directly at his mother. In those eyes that so closely resembled the Empress's, complex emotions were currently churning—gravity, hesitation, and even a rare trace of... helplessness.
"Mother," he spoke, his voice somewhat dry. "If your son were to say... that Chenglu is, in fact, a woman... would you believe it?"
As his words fell.
A dead silence filled the hall.
The Empress looked at him quietly, her face completely devoid of expression—no shock, no astonishment, not even a twitch of her brow.
She simply looked at him.
A long time passed.
So long that Li Chengyu almost thought his mother hadn't heard him clearly, or had heard but couldn't comprehend it—
The Empress slowly spoke.
"I believe you."
Three words. Calm and certain.
Li Chengyu: "..."
All the explanations and build-up he had prepared were caught in his throat at this moment, stuck halfway. He opened his mouth, suddenly at a loss for words.
Seeing her son's rare stunned expression, the corners of the Empress's lips curved ever so slightly.
The smile was very faint and fleeting.
"Actually..." the Empress paused, her voice tinged with a bit of helplessness, and even a trace of... relief. "Your mother has long felt that your ninth brother is quite effeminate."
Li Chengyu: "..."
"He doesn't stand properly, doesn't sit properly, and there's always a certain delicateness in the way he speaks and acts." The Empress shook her head, her tone carrying a hint of frustration over his failure to meet expectations. "I personally taught him archery and horseback riding, taught him martial arts to build his physique, all so he could have a bit more masculinity. But after all these years of teaching, nothing ever changed him."
She raised her eyes and looked at her son, her gaze clear.
"If he was a girl to begin with... then it makes sense."
The Empress let out a soft breath, and in that breath, there was faintly a sense of... liberation?
"At least it proves that it wasn't my poor teaching; it was his own problem."
Li Chengyu: "..."
He suddenly felt his throat grow even drier.
But the Empress had already reined in that subtle emotion, restoring the steady composure of a nation's mother. She leaned forward slightly, her gaze as sharp as a blade.
"Tell me, what exactly is going on? Where did you learn of this? Is it absolutely certain?"
Li Chengyu steadied his nerves and recounted everything Imperial Physician Hua had said the previous night, leaving no detail out.
From the congenital condition of being externally male but internally female, to a pulse identical to a woman's, to the monthly abdominal pains that were actually menstrual cramps, and finally to the method of restoring to the original source theorized by Imperial Physician Hua's ancestors.
His voice was steady, his logic clear.
Yet every single word felt like a heavy stone smashing against the gleaming golden brick floor of the Kunning Palace.
The Empress listened quietly. From beginning to end, she did not interrupt.
It wasn't until Li Chengyu finished his last word that silence returned to the hall. The shifting sunlight cast faint shadows across her face, making her elegant features seem obscure and unreadable.
A long time passed.
The Empress slowly leaned back into her phoenix chair.
She closed her eyes and raised a hand to massage the space between her brows, a gesture that revealed a rare sense of exhaustion.
"So..." She opened her eyes, her gaze now a pool of cold clarity. "Hua Yuan means that the appendage is useless, and it might mutate and endanger his life. The best course... is to remove the diseased part and let him return to being a woman?"
"Yes," Li Chengyu said softly. "Imperial Physician Hua said that if handled properly, her future marriage and childbearing would be no different from an ordinary woman's."
The Empress let out a cold laugh. The sound was very light, yet bone-chillingly cold.
"No different from an ordinary woman?" She repeated the phrase, her gaze cast into the void, as if piercing through the palace walls to look at some unfathomable future. "Yu'er, do you know that for the Ninth to exist like this, living in the royal family... is in itself a mistake."
Li Chengyu's heart tightened.
"If she remains the Ninth Prince, this secret will be exposed one day. When that happens, it will be the crime of deceiving the sovereign, of confusing the royal bloodline—a monumental scandal." The Empress's voice was calm, but every word was like a blade. "If she restores to her original source and becomes a woman again—then who is she? How will the prince Li Chenglu vanish from this world? And how will we explain a suddenly appearing princess to the people of the world?"
She looked at her son, her eyes blazing like torches. "No matter which path is chosen, it is a dead end!"
Li Chengyu's Adam's apple bobbed. "Mother..."
"Therefore," the Empress interrupted him, her voice decisive and devoid of any hesitation. "The only path left for her, in truth, is but one."
She paused. Word by word, with absolute clarity:
"Death!"
