Chapter 81: A dream that isn't a dream

Translator's note: Tomorrow's chapter might be delayed slightly due to travel, but I'll do my best to get it up as soon as possible if I can't make the day. Thank you for your understanding!

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Xu Shuqiao didn't yield an inch either. "What's I'm saying is factual; did you not work your magic last year? Then how come there's been another disaster this year? If a canal had been dug in Boyang last year, and a reservoir had been created, would there have been such an issue now? Even if the Supreme Yuanhe were even more capable, no one's seen her true form. But you and I are living, breathing people—could Qin-daren truly not believe in her own abilities?"

"You—" For a moment, Qin Anhe couldn't speak, only able to glare fiercely at her.

In an instant, the atmosphere between the two had become that of bared swords and drawn bows—it was lucky that they could both be counted as scholarly officials, neither of them having origins in martial training, or else right now both of them would probably have pressed their hands to the hilts of their blades.

In the end, it was Jiang Changbai who spoke, and only ended this commotion. "We don't care which one of you is correct, and which one of you is wrong. This time, We are sending the two of you together to Boyang, and sending an imperial edict for the Prefectural Magistrate of Boyang to cooperate with you. We only have one requirement; another disaster like this cannot occur in Boyang next year, and if it does, the two of you will be brought in for questioning—do you have any complaints?"

Qin Anhe was still internally indignant, but since Jiang Changbai had already spoken, even if she were more indignant, she could only extinguish the flames. Only after a muted acceptance of this assignment did the three leave from the imperial study. Now, it was only midday, and the summer sun blazed down, scattering across the crown of the head; having only taken a few steps, beads of sweat would appear on one's forehead.

The three had come together, walking shoulder to shoulder, but when they left, they were separate. Xie Qianbing walked in the middle. Those before and in front of her were both far apart, as if they were strangers who'd never met before.

"It's just because Wangjun wasn't here today," Qin Anhe, walking at the very back, glared fiercely at Xu Shuqiao. "If Wangjun were to have heard those words, even if you'd died, you wouldn't even have known how you'd died."

As for Song Juguang, the midday was the hardest time of day to endure.

Midday was the time when the sunlight was the greatest, and the yang energy was greatest during the midday as well. Nothing could hide beneath the sunlight, including this soul of Song Juguang's, an outsider, which wasn't of this world. More than that, lately, she'd been feeling that she had to return.

Her thoughts couldn't help but be pulled back to when she was in the sect. At that time, Song Juguang had cultivated for many years, and had seen countless shijies and shimeis descend to cultivate, and had seen them return, but she herself had never before experienced it. Having suddenly received this task, she was both expectant and nervous. She didn't know when she'd go, and she didn't know when she'd come back.

When she'd asked her Shifu, she'd only said, "When it's time for you to return, you'll feel it."

At the time, Song Juguang couldn't understand the words her Shifu was speaking, and could only nod dumbly. As a result, the years she'd been regaining her memories, she'd often recalled these words of her Shifu's. But she'd never felt it, such that she'd even felt that she'd spend this entire lifetime in the Great Li. But now, she felt it. Her soul was ceaselessly pulling away, as if, at any time, it could leave this body.

But now, she wasn't willing to leave.

Perhaps calmly and stably passing the life of a Regent for a lifetime in the Great Li was better than hurriedly rushing to return to the sect to cultivate.

This wasn't a thought that had only occurred recently, but even Song Juguang herself didn't know when it had arisen, or how it had grown to such a size. It was just that, when she realised it, this thought had already rooted itself deep, and it wasn't possible to pull it out of her mind.

In today's midday, in her distracted state, she saw Jiang Changbai. Every midday, Song Juguang would hide in her own residence, allowing the eaves of the building block the sunlight for her, in order to gain some peace. But today, she couldn't sit still, and, horse at full gallop, she rushed towards the Imperial Palace.

Today was bright and sunny, and there wasn't a single cloud in the skies. When she'd left, Song Juguang felt that her eyes were nearly about to be blinded by the sun.

Jiang Changbai was, just then, sleeping.

Though at this time the court wasn't in as much turmoil as it had been the year before, but the matters that had to be done, and the people who had to be kept an eye on, hadn't reduced in the slightest. The senior ministers of the court weren't pleased with the women who'd earned jinshi degrees during the exams occupying their space, competing with them for power, and they barely had the mind to do their regular daily business. Impeachments here and impeachments there—as long as they could snatch up something about these new jinshi holders' improprieties, they'd pettily make a fuss in court and turn everything on its head.

The bare remnants of the imperial relatives hadn't settled either; all day, Prince Yu's manor sent out people to visit senior minister after senior minister, and request that they held Jiang Mingyou speak during court, and help Jiang Mingyou inherit the title of Prince Yu. Jiang Changbai felt that all of them were rather unintelligent. Jiang Mingyou didn't have the slightest aristocratic temperament. When he spoke, he'd sometimes have a bit of a Boyang accent—like a farmer from a rural village, unable to rise to sophistication.

But Jiang Changbai also felt that Yang Zhuofei was a pitiable person. A son loved by a mother, for whom her plans were far-reaching. Before, Jiang Mingyou had been gone, and Yang Zhuofei had spent her days looking for him like she'd gone mad, and now that she'd found him, she was expending all her energy for him to inherit the title. Occasionally, Jiang Changbai would think how good it would be, if her mother were like Yang Zhuofei.

Jiang Changbai couldn't tell how long it had been since she'd seen her mother.

As a result, as long as Yang Zhuofei's actions weren't too excessive, Jiang Changbai would allow her to send people all about to lobby. After all, the highest authority was still in her hands.

She didn't know whether Qin Anhe and Xu Shuqiao had arrived in Boyang or not—and besides that, there were countless matters which weighed on her such that she couldn't even breathe. Today, she'd only managed with great hardship to snatch a moment of rest, and chased everyone out of the room, sleeping deep.

But in the entire Palace, there wasn't anyone who dared to obstruct Song Juguang, and no one who could obstruct her. As a result, while Jiang Changbai was still in her dreams, Song Juguang came to her bedside.

In the whole private quarters, there was only the sound of breaths. The sunlight spilled in through the cracks int he window, casting the entire room in warmth. Song Juguang didn't make a sound either, only watching her silently. She could see the features of her face clearly, and could clearly see the flutter of her eyelashes as she breathed.

Everything was silent. In this moment, it was as if they weren't an emperor, weren't a regent, but rather that young pair of master and servant in Prince Ling's residence all those years ago.

When Song Juguang had been brought back to Prince Ling's residence, she'd been gaunt, gaunt to the point that it seemed a gust of wind could blow her away. Song Juguang didn't know the age of this body, and Jiang Changbai had treated her like her own younger sister. She'd instructed her in every matter, and looked over her in all things.

With the Princess' protection, none of the servants of Prince Ling's residence dared to bully her. When Song Juguang's memories had returned, and she'd remembered, bit by bit, all the years she'd spent cultivating, she'd been pleased to consider Jiang Changbai in the role of her older sister, and though she understood everything, she still had to feign that she hadn't understood, and bother Jiang Changbai to explain it to her again.

The Jiang Changbai of then had been very patient, and truly did, day after day, took great pains to explain all those things she'd already learned to her countless times. Besides He Leyong not liking her much because she felt that Song Juguang was too much of a fool, the days Song Juguang had passed in Prince Ling's residence could be counted as carefree and without worry—even happier than her time in the sect.

But now, there was a bit of a sense of the rustle of things changing with the passage of time. This was one of the few things Song Juguang was dissatisfied with the Great Li about. She'd known far more people in the sect than she knew in the Great Li, but everyone had been in seclusion, embroiled in cultivation. No matter how long passed, they seemed to be no different from when they'd first gotten to know each other.

Occasionally, there would be some people who, after returning from cultivating in the lower worlds, seemed to have changed entirely, but time would smooth all things over, and after meeting again after seclusion they were no different from the start.

But the Great Li wasn't the same. The Great Li's people had short lifespans, and everything they wanted and chased after was different. The companions who could usually crowd their heads together in the past years and have fun, a few years later, would take different paths and part ways, and even if they were to run into each other on the street, would feign at not having come across each other.

Even she and Jiang Changbai were like this, too. It wasn't that Song Juguang couldn't tell that Jiang Changbai was guarded against her, but even if she could tell it, she could only play at being a fool. These sorts of things, it seemed, could never be spoken about plainly, and even if there was a day when the two of them spoke earnestly about this matter, then what was waiting for them would most probably be a parting of ways.

Just like the matter of Boyang. Song Juguang knew that Zhang Yizhi was falsifying reports, and she knew that Han Yu, from Prince Ling's manor, had secretly gone to Boyang. But she couldn't say it, nor did she dare to say it. Song Juguang knew, as well, that Xu Shuqiao and Qin Anhe had secretly set off to Boyang, but she could also only feign at not knowing.

It seemed as if this position of Emperor, on high, was a set of chains, and no matter how kindly the person sitting atop it was, they'd be changed by the chains into a mistrustful and paranoid form.

Sometimes, Song Juguang really did want to dig her heart out and lay it before Jiang Changbai, and allow her to properly see whether her heart was black or white, and let her see clearly whether she was loyal or traitorous. To let her wholeheartedly trust in her, and to allow her to no longer only be able to play at being a fool.

It was just that sometimes, Song Juguang would wonder, as she'd relied on the results of a prediction to dogmatically push Jiang Changbai onto the the Dragon Throne, was it right, or wrong? But luckily, she wasn't a bad emperor.

Thinking about this, Song Juguang's hand inexplicably extended, about to caress Jiang Changbai's cheek. But perhaps because her figure had obstructed the sunlight, before Song Juguang's hand settled, Jiang Changbai opened her eyes.

On opening her eyes and seeing Song Juguang sitting by her bed, Jiang Changbai unexpectedly wasn't angry, but rather, her cheeks inexplicably flushed. She'd already grown accustomed to Song Juguang only appearing in the evenings, and seeing her now, she was a bit dazed.

Often, one's mouth ran faster than their mind, and Jiang Changbai's mind was still in a daze, yet she spoke. "How is it that A Guang is here?"

Many answers arose in Song Juguang's mind. She'd thought of coming here because she'd seen Jiang Changbai in her daze, and when she'd seen Jiang Changbai, she'd been cultivating—cultivating in order to allow herself to remain in the Great Li for a bit longer. And she remembered the newly-bought wild horses in the barracks in the outskirts of the capital, who, even injuring themselves over and over, still hadn't been tamed, and the ceaseless rushing about of Prince Yu's manor lately.

In the end, the words turned over and over, yet she said, "It's nothing; this minister will leave…"

Jiang Changbai merely felt her mid buzzing. Without thought, she remembered that dream of before, and recalled the frigid state of mind she'd fallen into when Song Juguang had said that she was going to leave. Today was a sunny day, utterly cloudless, the sun shining dazzlingly. Adding on the murky state of not having fully woken, naturally Jiang Changbai assumed that she was still dreaming.

Since this was a dream, then many things didn't require consideration.

So, she thoughtlessly pulled on Song Juguang's sleeve. "You're not allowed to leave."

Jiang Changbai was still sleep-dazed, but Song Juguang was fully sober. She was startled by Jiang Changbai's sudden intimacy, and her mind was at a loss, yet an unconscious smile rose on her face. "How is it that Bixia's even restricting this minister's freedoms?"

Yet Jiang Changbai put on the bearing of an emperor. "If We say you're not allowed to leave, then you're not allowed to leave; before you said you wanted to help Us settled stably on the throne, yet now danger lurks in every corner, how is it that A Guang wants to turn tail?"

Only now did Song Juguang realise that Jiang Changbai had been fearing that she'd "retire and return to her hometown". For a moment, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry; she wanted to explain, yet she wanted to question things. In the end, her curiosity won out against everything else, and she suddenly came closer, asking, "Then, what about once you've settled stably onto the throne?"

Jiang Changbai had been half reclining on the bed, and with Song Juguang suddenly coming closer, she obstructed the great majority of the sunlight in her line of sight. Now looking into the backlight, Song Juguang's entire figure was plated with a layer of light.

Even if she felt that, now, she was in the land of dreams, Jiang Changbai was still a bit hesitant. As a result, she stammered, yet after a long while, she hadn't managed to say anything.

Song Juguang, curiosity aroused, in a flash, shifted closer. Close enough that the two could both feel the other's breaths, close enough that the tips of their noses were almost pressing together. "How come Bixia's not speaking? This minister's foolish; if you don't speak clearly, then how can this minister understand?"

Jiang Changbai thoughtlessly shifted, moving closer to the wall. But she'd only just touched the wall when the icy cold sensation travelled up her back to her scalp. She, half dreaming and half lucid, was awoken fully, and only at this did Jiang Changbai realise that this all hadn't been a dream.

Her cheeks unconsciously flushed.

Song Juguang still wanted to press, but before she could say anything, Jiang Changbai's icy words shoved them back into her. "Regent, please conduct yourself properly."

The confusion in Song Juguang's mind increased. How was it that it was clearly Jiang Changbai who'd pulled at her, not letting her leave, and the person who, at this moment, wanted her to conduct herself properly was her as well? Could it be that emperors were simply this mercurial?

Jiang Changbai was still embarrassed, and, head lowered, coughed lightly, trying to adjust her condition. She hoped for someone outside to come asking for an audience, in order to break the subtle atmosphere within the private quarters. But it seemed as if whatever the Emperor thought would occur; in the next moment, she heard Xun Zhu lightly rap on the door. "Bixia, Liang Jiwen requests an audience."

A relief of a great burden.

Song Juguang could only rise as well, putting on a proper bearing. "Bixia, there's still urgent matters in the barracks in the outskirts of the city; this minister will leave now."

Only now did Jiang Changbai respond to the fact that, just then, Song Juguang's words had had this meaning, and in a flash, the pink on her cheeks increased, yet she didn't forget to call out to Song Juguang. "Don't tell anyone of today's matters."

"What is it Bixia's speaking of?"

"If you're going to leave, get going!"

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