The scent of ambergris hung in the hall, and the candle flames lit on the table swayed and flickered. Song Juguang picked up a few of the memorials and casually glanced over them, a smile of understanding appearing on her face. "It's merely that these imperial censors are making conjecture at my intentions; every word and every action this minister does is for the Great Li." "For the Great Li," Jiang Changbai's voice was still harsh, "can you do as you please for the Great Li? Do you hold Us as in esteem? Song Juguang, We have not treated you poorly." Hearing that, Song Juguang bowed her head, a sudden, strange sensation arising in her heart. From the time Jiang Changbai had ascended the throne, this was the first time she'd used the imperial "We" when it was only the two of them. She gazed furtively about the surroundings, and found that there were a number of people hidden away. She'd been Regent for too long now—she really wasn...

What Song Juguang had said was "aid", and not "obey Dianxia's orders". It was the difference of a few words, but the implications were worlds apart. But Liang Jiwen was, at this moment, overwhelmed with emotion, and didn't have the ability to consider the twists and turns of Song Juguang's words. To say nothing of the fact that Liang Jiwen's ability with the language of the Great Li was far from such a proficiency. "Many—many thanks to Wangjun." In the end, Liang Jiwen took the tally, grasping it tightly. "The Shejin Royal Palace is dangerous as a dragon's pond or a tiger's cave; when Dianxia departs day after next, there will be someone accompanying Dianxia on the journey," Song Juguang said, the final thing she'd wished to tell Liang Jiwen today. "Both this regent and her majesty have already done everything we're able to do. The Great Li will not interfere in another country's governmental affairs; all ...

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...