Chapter 16: Hastening Spring’s End (IV)

Today, Luo Wei wore a narrow-sleeved long dress in dark blue, embroidered with a circle of red lotus at the edges. Her vermilion underbodice and layered mountain jasmine were elegant and dignified. All the ladies in the palace privately loved to dress this way.

Ye Tingyan looked up along her collar and noticed she had drawn long eyebrows and painted her lips red—she had deliberately dressed up.

Just as a strange feeling arose in his heart, Luo Wei sat down on the stone chair he had just occupied, gesturing for him to rise: “Lord Ye, no need for formalities, please sit.”

She glanced over Ye Tingyan’s crimson official robe, her voice carrying a hint of mockery: “I haven’t congratulated Lord Ye on your promotion yet. Such rapid advancement is rare in our dynasty.”

Ye Tingyan replied, “I thank His Majesty and Your Majesty for your kindness.”

Luo Wei asked, “The last time you invited me here was regarding the Western Garden murder case. Now that the case is concluded and everything is smooth, you’ve done me a favor. Are you here today to claim your reward?”

Ye Tingyan blew a breath on the floating dust on his fingertips and helplessly said, “Every time Your Majesty meets with this humble servant, you insist on feigning ignorance despite knowing better. Why trouble yourself so?”

Luo Wei laughed, “Isn’t it from you that I learned this? If you were more sincere, I naturally wouldn’t have to exert myself so much.”

Ye Tingyan’s eyes flickered slightly, then he said, “Alright, then let me be frank today. I’ve traveled from the north to seek a place in this Bian capital and in the court, wishing to serve His Majesty to the best of my ability. But I wonder, can Your Majesty tolerate me?”

Luo Wei knowingly asked, “Oh, this is curious. Serving His Majesty means serving me. What do you mean by ‘tolerate or not’?”

Ye Tingyan said, “Your Majesty just mentioned being more sincere—since the first year of Jinghe, when His Majesty ascended the throne, the court has been divided. The Grand Tutor, backed by the powerful families of Bian capital, has widespread influence and deep roots. Your Majesty, supported by the Yan family and scholars of the Su school, has suppressed the Grand Tutor’s influence and protected His Majesty until now. Entering the court alone, I should choose between Your Majesty and the Grand Tutor.”

Luo Wei raised her tone, “So, am I still more approachable than the Grand Tutor?”

Ye Tingyan blinked and said, “Your Majesty is the Empress, the Grand Tutor is the Chancellor. A Chancellor can be replaced, but deposing an Empress would unsettle the realm.”

“That statement is wrong. Deposing and reinstating Empresses is common in our dynasty.”

“Your Majesty is different.”

Luo Wei picked up a rain-dampened leaf from the table and played with it, not replying.

Thus, Ye Tingyan continued, “In theory, serving Your Majesty is the same as serving His Majesty. However, now...”

He paused, meaningfully continuing, “What does Your Majesty think His Majesty’s intention was in establishing the Zhuque Office using the Western Garden incident? I don’t believe Your Majesty can’t guess. You and the Grand Tutor jointly governed for three years. His Majesty is no longer the naive child he once was. If His Majesty still trusted Your Majesty as before, why take such actions?”

These words were rather bold. Luo Wei stared intently at Ye Tingyan across from her, her smile fading: “Oh? Then this speech, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Lord Ye to say to His Majesty than to me?”

“Your Majesty,” Ye Tingyan rose and half-knelt before Luo Wei, enunciating each word, “Before I was ordered to take over the Western Garden case, I only wished to serve His Majesty faithfully. But the Zhuque Office has been established, and His Majesty suspects even Your Majesty, who has accompanied him for many years. How much more will he doubt his subordinates? I am a common man, greedy for power and fond of pleasures—I cannot be a lone loyal minister. Moreover, if Your Majesty didn’t intend to use me, why risk meeting me?”

Luo Wei observed his expression and finally laughed again, covering her mouth: “Lord Ye is so wise; I dare not use you.”

Ye Tingyan feigned worry: “This is troubling. If I were foolish, I fear Your Majesty would look down on me. Overthinking makes Your Majesty suspicious. I truly don’t know what to do. Please guide me, Your Majesty.”

Luo Wei casually picked up the neatly placed flat-topped hat on the table and swung it in her hand: “What guidance? Tell me sincerely, Lord Ye, apart from fame, wealth, power, and status, what remains of your ambitions in coming to Bian capital? With Lu Fengying dead, I’m inclined to reward you. We are old acquaintances—whatever you desire, I will show some sincerity.”

Ye Tingyan looked up at her, his throat moving.

Thousands of words, utter silence. He somewhat audaciously stared at the redness on Luo Wei’s lips, ultimately deeply bowing his head and kneeling fully with both knees, a respectful posture: “As long as Your Majesty remembers our past acquaintance, I am satisfied.”

There was damp moisture beneath his knees. Ye Tingyan vaguely thought about how he rarely knelt in the past.

He was born too noble, grew up too smoothly, and with youthful arrogance, always felt invincible. His legs knelt only to the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the ancestral temple. Beyond that, even heaven and earth, gods and buddhas, he looked down upon disdainfully.

Later, fate broke his self-proclaimed noble pride, struck his unwilling-to-bend knees, making him kneel to people he never imagined kneeling to.

Now, groveling and kowtowing had become numb. He learned to lower his head, endure, and lie low.

Perhaps resilience doesn’t have only one form.

While Ye Tingyan was pondering these hazy old memories, a delicate touch came to his cheek—

A cool, soft hand had fallen there without notice.

Fingertips gently brushed over the corners of his eyes, his cheeks, his chin, softly and slowly, leaving a shiver of ambiguous and lingering sensations.

Ye Tingyan’s eyes slightly turned, and looking up, he saw the Empress with loosened cloud-like hair, beautiful eyes lowered, attentively caressing his face.

Above her cloud-like hair, a finely patterned rose gold hairpin was inserted. Today’s jade comb was made of Hetian jade, pure and simple in color.

Yet her actions were entirely unlike the steadiness of that jade. Had he not been there himself, Ye Tingyan could hardly believe that the usually rule-abiding Luo Wei would make such a transgressive move.

Her exploring fingers were careful, giving him an illusion of being cherished immensely.

He should have stopped her, but his lips trembled, unwilling to speak.

A flood of tangled thoughts surged.

—Though she has changed much, it shouldn’t be to this extent.

—Could it be that today, she also dressed up for an outsider like him?

Luo Wei was unaware of the turmoil in his heart, carefully stroking that face—long, beautiful eyes, naturally red lips, well-proportioned features, graceful and cultured, nothing like someone from a military family.

Not a single trace of resemblance.

Only those pitch-black eyes, when they flickered slightly, revealed a genuine and touching semblance of an old acquaintance.

If not for this, she couldn’t understand why she was bewitched, feeling that these two unrelated individuals were so similar, more similar than even his blood relatives.

The surroundings quieted for a moment.

“Your Majesty!”

Suddenly raised voices startled her thoughts. Luo Wei’s hand stiffened, but the other person had already avoided her touch and bowed their head.

His words also trembled slightly: “Your Majesty, I...”

Luo Wei withdrew her hand, suddenly finding it somewhat amusing: “Did I misunderstand Lord Ye’s intentions? The southern slope of Wushan, blocked by tall hills[1]—you initially invited me here, and I asked if you knew its meaning. You answered fluently. Now that you’ve got what you wanted from me, why this pretense?”

Ye Tingyan’s lips quivered, momentarily

feeling a blank mind, unable to utter a word, finally squeezing out, “It’s... it’s this humble servant...”

Seeing his panic, Luo Wei found it novel, but he stuttered, unable to produce a complete sentence for a while. As dusk approached, there was no time for more talk.

Thus, she stood up with some regret: “My sincerity has been shown. Today’s twilight is ending; Lord Ye should leave the palace early. In a few days, during the Qingming grand sacrifice outside the city, there will be opportunities for us to meet.”

Ye Tingyan neither objected nor rose, his voice sounding muffled: “I humbly bid farewell to Your Majesty.”

Luo Wei stared at him for a moment, chuckled softly, and left.

Ye Tingyan remained rigidly kneeling in place until the wind blew his flat-topped hat off. Reaching to retrieve it, he heavily remembered that back then, he had someone recite tones and met here simply because it was their old playground… That’s all.