Chapter 129

Dawn broke, and the first faint light of morning seeped across the sky.

A steady knock sounded from outside the door, accompanied by Hua Bufang’s cautious voice.

“Your Majesty, Empress, it’s time to get up.”

Inside, Yun Yaoyao rubbed her bleary eyes. When she reached toward the other side of the bed, all she felt was coldness. It seemed Tu Shanjin had already risen and gone off to attend to business.

Yun Yaoyao buried her head beneath the covers and mumbled, “Five more minutes. Just five… zZZ…”

Outside, Hua Bufang continued to chatter without pause.

“Your Majesty, I heard that His Majesty’s army is not faring well. The traitorous Ruan and Du are spreading rumors to His Majesty’s disadvantage. Do you require my assistance? This subordinate will do everything in his power to help…”

“And those three great clans are simply shameless. It is their honor that Your Majesty, a Goddess, invited them to a flower-viewing banquet, yet they actually sent only a few unfavored secondary daughters from their families. They clearly don’t take His Majesty or Your Majesty seriously…”

“Your Majesty, it seems we won’t be able to win over the great clans. Keeping them around will only prolong the war. Why not have His Majesty send a few peerless experts to cut them all down?”

“Your Majesty…”

Yun Yaoyao was roused once more.

Yaoyao was furious. Yaoyao was ready to explode. Yaoyao felt as though the lid of her coffin had been ripped open.

Why was someone still urging her to get up and work even after everything had gone back to normal?!

In her mind: The maple leaves aren’t red enough this year. Drag this wretch who disturbed Her Majesty’s sleep away and behead him!

Out loud: “Xiuer, attend to me. I need to wash and dress.”

After washing and dressing, Yun Yaoyao left her room and assigned several tasks to Hua Bufang, who was rubbing his fists and itching to personally quell the rebellion in Shu.

Hua Bufang departed, thoroughly satisfied.

The moment he was gone, Niu Xiu’er reported indignantly, “Your Majesty, people from the three great clans have arrived outside the residence. However, all they sent are unfavored secondary daughters. One of them is even the daughter of a courtesan, with an exceedingly low status. Their attitude is already perfectly clear. Should we still hold the flower-viewing banquet? And what should we do with them?”

Yun Yaoyao had expected this outcome long ago. “There’s no need to change anything. Proceed as usual. It doesn’t matter who they sent. As long as they came, they can be of use.”

At the same time, three carriages were waiting outside the gates of the Hua residence. Three plainly dressed young women climbed down from them.

Not a single one wore a gold hairpin or jade bracelet that might reveal her status. None had a maidservant at her side. Even the coachmen wore expressions of either pity or disdain, as though they were afraid to be associated with them.

The three young women gathered together, all wearing looks of despair.

“Did you leave all the valuables on you with your family? Once we step through these gates, I’m afraid none of us will make it back alive. Life at home is already difficult enough. Things that can’t be taken to the grave are better left to those we care about.”

Her words cast an even greater air of desolation over the already solemn atmosphere.

The Son of Heaven had personally led an expedition to Shu, and the Empress had summoned a flower-viewing banquet to test the attitudes of the great clans. The clans harbored ulterior motives but were unwilling to tear away the last thin veil of hypocrisy between them. Thus, they had sent the three women as sacrifices.

All three were of lowly status within their respective households. By attending the banquet as representatives of their clans, they would be showing contempt and insulting both the Empress and the Emperor—an act that would amount to completely severing all ties.

Yet even knowing this was a trap, they had no choice but to go.

With a creak, the gates of the Hua residence opened, and a maidservant came forward to lead them inside.

The three women steeled themselves. They closed their eyes and drew a deep breath before suppressing their fear and entering the residence with the resolve of people marching to their deaths.

The moment they stepped inside, they could feel that the defenses were even more stringent than they had imagined. Soldiers stood guard every few paces, armed with swords and spears, while warhorses whinnied nearby. The sight made their hearts tremble.

As they walked forward in trepidation, they couldn’t help stealing curious glances around them.

Aside from the densely packed soldiers, there were also quite a few women within the residence. One of them passed by with an especially dashing bearing and a resolute expression—a female military officer.

Miss Meng of the Meng family could not hold back her curiosity and asked the maidservant leading them, “Who is she?”

The maidservant’s voice was filled with pride. “That is Lord Ning. She is highly skilled in martial arts and was one of the first female officials personally selected by His Majesty. She also possesses the talent to command troops in battle.”

“A woman can truly go to war?” Miss Meng’s eyes were filled with admiration as she continued watching Lord Ning’s retreating figure until it disappeared at the end of the path. “I always thought Mulan was only a story…”

Once one of them had spoken, the other two young women also mustered their courage.

“And those women? Are they officials of the imperial court as well?”

Several women passed by them in haste, each exuding an imposing, dignified presence.

The maidservant nodded. “That’s right. There are now thirty-one official female officials in the imperial court. Each has her own talents, and His Majesty greatly appreciates their ability to handle affairs.”

“The Emperor is actually so enlightened as to allow women to serve in the court…” one of them murmured in astonishment.

The maidservant glanced at her and continued sincerely praising the Emperor and Empress. “His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress are enlightened in far more ways than that.”

“All women in the capital may walk openly through the streets. They may attend women’s schools and serve as female officials. They may seek employment without suffering discrimination. And women may no longer be harmed in the name of so-called chastity. All of this has been written into the laws of Yan-Chi!”

The three young women grew even more envious.

They had heard some of this before, but witnessing it with their own eyes and hearing it with their own ears was far more shocking. They also found themselves yearning intensely for the capital the maidservant described.

Yet when they thought of their current situation, their hearts sank once more.

Those women had bright futures ahead of them. They could become officials and serve the people.

But they were merely discarded pawns, sent to their deaths by their families.

The maidservant added pointedly, “Women today study independence and ambition, not obedience and submission.”

One of the women understood what she meant and gave a helpless smile. “Thank you for the reminder. But some circumstances aren’t easily changed by someone like me.”

At her dispirited words, the maidservant let out a cold snort.

“His Majesty and Her Majesty have said this themselves: if you are trapped or caught in a desperate situation, then you should have an even greater determination to break through it and an unyielding will. To do nothing and simply accept your fate—that is the behavior of a true weakling!”

The maidservant’s words struck them like thunder. They were a sharp blade, cutting through the layer of hopelessness that had shrouded their hearts.

None of the three women had expected an ordinary maidservant leading them down the road to possess such insight or to speak with such conviction. Meanwhile, they had done nothing but wallow in self-pity, never once considering how they might break free of their circumstances.

Break free…

The thought surfaced in all three of their minds. Their long-silent hearts began to pound violently, as though they might burst from their chests at any moment.

As they spoke, the group had already arrived at the gardens. The maidservant bowed and withdrew.

Not far away stood a pavilion. Two figures were within it, one seated and one standing. Even from behind, the seated woman possessed an air of noble elegance and commanding authority.

The three women knew that she must be the Empress.

“Sit,” Yun Yaoyao said with a slight nod.

The three women took their seats stiffly. Even when tea was brought to them, they only took the smallest sips, afraid that they might make a mistake.

One of them looked toward Yun Yaoyao and was just about to speak.

But Yun Yaoyao spoke first. “Before we view the flowers, come watch a play with me.”

Only then did they notice that a stage had been set up before the pavilion. Several actors in elaborate costumes began singing in high, melodious voices.

At first, the three of them were uneasy and bewildered, but as the performance went on, they became immersed in the story, their hearts rising and falling with the heroine’s fate.

The play told of a poor orphan girl who caught the eye of the local magistrate. Using her younger brother’s life as leverage, he forced her to become his concubine.

To preserve her brother’s life, the orphan agreed. All she asked was that the magistrate give her brother a place to live and enough food to survive.

Before half a year had passed, the magistrate had grown tired of her. He stopped visiting her courtyard, and one day, while drunk, he beat her younger brother to death with a whip.

Heartbroken, the orphan girl clutched her brother’s corpse and finally came to understand that the submissive compromises and self-sacrifice she had relied on to obtain a peaceful life had never been secure. They had only emboldened the wicked. Only by saving and strengthening herself could she protect the people she wished to protect.

In the end, the orphan embarked on the journey to the capital. She would beat the grievance drum and bring her injustice before the Son of Heaven!

After hearing the orphan’s final inner monologue, all three women were deeply shaken, their faces pale.

Was their situation not just like that of the orphan girl?

Each of them had someone she cared about in the household, and they were prepared to die for that person.

But after they died, would the people they cared about truly receive respect?

No. They would not.

Once the women were gone, those who had never been valued or cared for would be even more disregarded, and their circumstances would only become more difficult—just as the orphan had lost the magistrate’s favor.

Only by becoming strong themselves could they truly change their circumstances.

The maidservant’s parting words echoed once more in their ears:

“When trapped in prison or caught in dire straits, you should all the more possess the will to break through your predicament and the resolve to remain unyielding! Doing nothing and merely allowing yourselves to be forced into submission—that is the true behavior of the weak!”

Of the three, Miss Meng was the first to kneel. She bowed deeply to Yun Yaoyao and said, “Meng Changqiu of the Meng family has understood the principle Her Majesty the Empress sought to teach us. From this day forth, Changqiu is willing to acknowledge Her Majesty as her master and will never betray her. I beg Her Majesty to accept me!”

The other two young ladies hurriedly knelt as well, afraid they would be too late.

“Please accept Qinglu, Her Majesty!”

“Please accept Sifei, Her Majesty!”

Yun Yaoyao nodded in satisfaction. After a moment of contemplation, she said, “Rise.”

Only then did the three women let out a long breath of relief. They knew that this noble, mysterious, and unfathomable Her Majesty the Empress had ultimately granted them a chance to break free from their predicament.

Half an hour later, the three women left the Hua residence.

The coachman, who had assumed they would never come out, was so startled when he saw them that he nearly dropped the whip in his hand. He did not dare ask any questions and hurriedly drove the carriage away.

Inside the Hua residence, Niu Xiu'er poured tea for Yun Yaoyao, still puzzled. “Her Majesty, weren’t we here to admire the flowers? How did it turn into recruiting people?”

After pretending to be solemn and aloof for an entire hour, Yun Yaoyao could finally drop the act. She stretched lazily and smiled. “Didn’t we admire flowers just now? The flowers of women’s awakening and independence.”

Niu Xiu'er gave a foolish little chuckle. “Her Majesty is so wise. But they’re all abandoned daughters whom no one favors. How could they possibly help us?”

Yun Yaoyao’s lips curved into a smile. “Xiu'er, sometimes, those who are ignored by everyone and seem the least remarkable—the transparent, unnoticed ones—are precisely the people capable of producing unexpected results.”