The autumn air was crisp and refreshing, a season of golden days.
With the return of Princess Zhaoning, Emperor Yan issued a grand amnesty. Prisons were emptied, taxes reduced, wrongful convictions overturned, and orphans and the vulnerable were cared for. The people of Great Yan rejoiced, their curiosity about this Princess Zhaoning growing by the day.
"So it turns out the Princess Zhaoning born to the Empress Dowager was swapped at birth! Who knows how much hardship she endured out there..."
"The Empress Dowager was so kind and benevolent... Ah, perhaps her spirit is watching over us from above."
"I heard Princess Zhaoning is even more favored than Princess Muling used to be!"
"Of course! On the very day of her investiture, she was granted her own princess manor. And the Emperor even exempted her from all formal protocols—if she wishes, she can enter the palace to see His Majesty even in the middle of the night!"
"That’s truly unprecedented! But Princess Zhaoning must be nineteen this year. I wonder if the Emperor will hurry to choose a consort for her..."
"You think those young lords have been rising early these days for no reason?"
"Ah, so that’s what’s going on! Haha..."
The common folk chattered excitedly, but Princess Zhaoning herself was lazily lounging about.
A princess manor? Yes, she had one—but she didn’t live there.
Because far too many men had come knocking, offering themselves as suitors. Jiu Yue found the attention overwhelming and fled back to the palace in the dead of night.
Besides... she still had to deal with Consort Ning.
Her system asked curiously, "Host, when do you plan to meet her?"
"Me? Go to her?" Jiu Yue shook her head, smiling mysteriously. "Just wait. She’ll be the one who wants to see me."
After some thought, Jiu Yue concluded that Consort Ning must have targeted Muling because the princess had somehow crossed her interests. But Muling had lived peacefully in the palace for over a decade—what could have suddenly threatened Consort Ning’s position?
That led to the matter of the marriage alliance.
Would Consort Ning suffer if Muling went to marry the Khan?
Or, conversely, would she lose something if Muling didn’t go?
Jiu Yue couldn’t quite figure it out.
"Princess." The voice of her maid, Lianqiao, interrupted her thoughts. "His Majesty requests your presence for the meal."
Jiu Yue raised a brow, set down the fruit platter with a grin, and dashed out like the wind.
Outside the palace, Eunuch Mao, the Emperor’s attendant, was already waiting for her.
Seeing the prepared palanquin, Jiu Yue waved dismissively. "No need, no need. I’ll walk."
Eunuch Mao hurriedly protested, "Ah, Your Highness, that won’t do!"
"It’s fine. It’s not far to His Majesty’s palace anyway." Jiu Yue cheerfully tugged at the eunuch’s horsetail whisk. "I’ll trouble you to accompany me, then."
The palanquin was dismissed, and Eunuch Mao walked beside her, chuckling. "Your Highness flatters this old servant. If anything, it is you who are accompanying me."
"Same difference." Jiu Yue rather liked this old eunuch.
As they strolled, Jiu Yue skillfully extracted plenty of information from him—which princes and princesses resided in the palace, which consorts were favored, and whether Muling had shown any unusual behavior before her disappearance...
"Unusual behavior?" Eunuch Mao pondered briefly before shaking his head. "This old servant isn’t certain. Perhaps Your Highness could ask Consort Ning."
Jiu Yue feigned confusion. "This Consort Ning... was she close to Princess Muling?"
Eunuch Mao smiled. "Consort Ning is as serene as a lotus. She treated all the princesses in the palace as if they were her own."
"Is that so..." Jiu Yue rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
Seemed this Consort Ning had crafted quite the impeccable image for herself.
"Your Highness cares so much for Princess Muling. When she returns, she’ll surely be overjoyed to have you as her elder sister," Eunuch Mao said warmly.
Jiu Yue paused.
News of Muling’s fate had already been relayed to Emperor Yan by the Fu Family, but the Emperor had suppressed the matter, keeping it from public knowledge.
Unaware of the complexity in her gaze, Eunuch Mao stopped in his tracks. "This old servant shall not intrude further on Your Highness’s meal with His Majesty."
They had arrived at the Emperor’s palace.
The entourage of palace maids and eunuchs halted behind her. Collecting herself, Jiu Yue stepped inside.
"Father." She found Emperor Yan already seated.
The Emperor looked up, his expression stern but his eyes brimming with paternal warmth.
Yet it was clear he hadn’t slept in days—his bloodshot eyes and weary demeanor betrayed his exhaustion.
"Zhaoning, come. I was delayed today—you must be hungry." He beckoned her forward. "See if any of these dishes suit your taste."
Jiu Yue obediently took her seat.
Emperor Yan picked up his chopsticks and personally served her several Great Yan delicacies before setting them down, watching her expectantly.
"These are all specialties of our Great Yan. Try them—tell me which you like best."
Jiu Yue accepted everything, proving her appreciation by eating heartily.
The Emperor seemed to discover the joy of feeding her—by the end of the meal, Jiu Yue’s plate was piled high, while he had barely taken two bites.
Muling’s death had struck him a devastating blow.
Were it not for Jiu Yue becoming his emotional anchor, Emperor Yan would have sunk even deeper into melancholy...
Setting down her chopsticks, Jiu Yue felt a pang of sympathy for the middle-aged ruler.
"Father..." She meant to offer comfort.
But the Emperor cut her off.
"Zhaoning." He rose and walked toward the inner chamber, his tone steady. "I am tired."
Jiu Yue fell silent and withdrew.
Emperor Yan left the palace without his attendants, making his way alone to the Eternal Joy Palace—the former residence of the Empress.
Everything remained exactly as it had been.
The Emperor sat silently before the Empress’s old dressing mirror, staring at his own reflection for a long time, his eyes reddening.
"Lianyi... I was useless..."
"I was wrong. You were right—in this palace, I couldn’t protect anyone..."
"First you... now our daughter..."
No wonder... no wonder she had never told him, even in death, that their firstborn hadn’t been stillborn. She had already given up on him.
Once, Emperor Yan had scorned his own father, believing his declarations of love to be hollow lies. His mother’s tragic death, he thought, was entirely because his father had been weak!
When he ascended the throne, he immediately made the woman he loved his Empress.
Naively, he had believed an Emperor’s favor could shield Fu Lianyi from harm... only to pay a terrible price for that arrogance.
Now Muling had been caught in the crossfire...
If he hadn’t doted on Muling so openly, the Khan of the grasslands would never have demanded her hand in marriage.
Lowering his gaze, Emperor Yan took out paper and brush, writing a single character with heavy strokes:
Power.
An Emperor’s favor, a father’s love—these were fleeting.
To survive in this palace of devouring shadows, one needed power.
"Lianyi... I will protect Zhaoning." His whisper was a vow. "She is all I have left..."
