The motion of Liang Jiwen's hand stopped instantly. The Great Li only had one "Wangjun"; even without turning her head, she knew who it was. Suspicion rose uncontrollably in Liang Jiwen's mind; how come Song Juguang would be here now? "Ah, rise." Liang Jiwen heard Song Juguang's voice sound from behind her. Not the slightest amount of emotion could be heard in Song Juguang's indifferent tone, as if her being here at this moment couldn't possibly be any more normal. But from the time Liang Jiwen had begun living in the Rongfan Palace, she'd barely seen Song Juguang come here more than a handful of times. Suddenly, plots common to folk literature arose in her mind—with events out of the ordinary, there always had to be some unusual explanation. Her mind suddenly filled with dread. She'd only just learned that, due to her own return to Shejin, those who had connections to her were about to lose their freedom. Liang Jiwen felt that there wasn...

"Take it." There was a stubbornness on Su Ya's face, and she said, "Having someone to help you will always make you stronger than being alone." A strangeness rose on Liang Jiwen's expression, and she looked at Su Ya. "How is it that I remember that, when we were in Shejin, the two of use never had any sort of commonality." With the matter that the two of them had, before, been tacitly silent about laid bare like this now, both Su Ya and Liang Jiwen's expressions were embarrassed. Su Ya pressed her lips together, shifting her gaze away, not daring to look at Liang Jiwen. "Back then, I was young, you know that." "But I was three years younger than you," Liang Jiwen said, sadness in her tone, "we clearly had the same status, yet we lived as if we were worlds apart." Su Ya curled her hands, biting her lip, what she was thinking unknown. Liang Jiwen merely stared at her, her scorching gaze seeming to bore a hole th...

Translator's note: Unfortunately my internet connection last week wasn't stable enough to work on anything; pardon the lack of updates. I have reliable internet again, and should have tomorrow's chapter up on time as well. -  Lu Pingwan sat on the low bed, her fingers twisting the handkerchief unceasingly. The night before, she'd had a dream; in the dream, she'd returned to her youth, to when she had yet to become the Princess Ling, and was admiring flowers along with her companion. In the dream, Lu Pingwan felt that the two had made fast friends, an affection as if they'd grown to adulthood together. But when she'd woken up, she couldn't even recall that person's face. Others had admired the flowers and recited poetry, but what sort of talent for poetry recitation could a child have had? They could only watch dumbly. Watch the flower petals ruffled by the breeze, the butterflies alight in the centres of the flowers. But then, suddenly, a wild wind...

"Supreme Yuanhe, Bai'er's [1] ascension to the throne was done with no alternative..." The Cining Palace's main hall had long since been remodelled into a ritual hall, the incense in the censers burning throughout day and night, the entirety of the Cining Palace seeming to be enveloped in the smoke. But the Imperial Palace had always been a renowned and powerful place, and such a ritual hall, when placed within it, seemed rather comical. But Lu Pingwan had never thought so; ever since she'd moved to the Cining Palace and become the Empress Dowager, she'd knelt on this praying mat as she did now for hundreds of days. She wore rough cloth attire, but the jade prayer beads she counted were translucent and limpid. The incense's ash fluttered and fell upon the gold-grouted tiles, as if covering the Cining Palace in a white Daoist robe. She'd been praying all along; praying to the Supreme, praying to her ancestors to forgive her daughter's violation...

"Bixia, please believe this subject," Liang Jiwen said as she knelt in the imperial study, "if this succeeds, I will submit to the Great Li without the slightest disloyalty." Jiang Changbai sat upon her chair, looking down at Liang Jiwen from above, and suddenly felt something unfamiliar. She still remembered when Liang Jiwen had first arrived, she'd been dark and gaunt. Her clothes had been dishevelled, and even her cheeks had been hollowed by extensive hunger. Afterwards, she'd learned to speak the language of the Great Li, and how to read, and her complexion had turned rosy, and her posture had grown tall and straight, and even her speech no longer had its previous timidity. If, before, she looked like a beggar, now, she truly looked like a princess. One could say, she'd watched Liang Jiwen grow up. And now, she was suddenly like a powerful minister who'd been been buffeted by the waves of the court for countless years, kneeling before her, asking...

Perhaps because the days were getting shorter, or perhaps because it was an overcast day, usually by now the skies would long since have grown bright, but today, it was still misty. It was as if the early morning light had been broken by the palace eaves, and atop the golden tiles had gathered a layer of white dew. The wind anxiously blew the fallen leaves in circles on the stone steps, and just then, by chance, they stopped before Jiang Changbai and Song Juguang. Here, there was only the sound of the wind. It was as if the two were competing, staring fixedly at the other, seeing their own reflection in the other's eyes. Yet neither was willing to speak first. The servants by the side had been scared stiff by the sight, holding their breaths and watching with rapt attention, hoping the two wouldn't vent their ire on them. "Why don't you leave," Jiang Changbai suddenly said. Song Juguang, hearing these words, felt her heart suddenly sink, and it was as if her entir...