TGPSAC – Chapter 71

Chi Wan got her wish and was added to the retinue going to Xuanyang Temple for the blessing ceremony. That day, her petulant voice had extinguished Yu Jiuzhou’s anger.

After her rebirth, Yu Jiuzhou had become gloomy and paranoid. She did not tolerate changes to her decisions and hated being forced into anything.

She had forbidden Chi Wan from going to Xuanyang Temple, but who would have thought the woman would run to the palace and have the Emperor issue a decree? She detested being coerced like this.

In her eyes, using the Emperor’s authority to pressure her was a form of coercion.

But after Chi Wan’s petulant accusation, the anger in her heart vanished in an instant. She then said, “So you went to His Majesty to request a decree to force my hand?”

Her tone still sounded cold, but it was an act, different from when she was truly angry.

Hearing the softness in her tone, Chi Wan sat down beside her. “That’s right. I’m going with you, no matter what.”

There was a small table in the middle of the luohan couch, with space on either side, but Chi Wan didn’t sit on the other side. Instead, she squeezed in next to Yu Jiuzhou.

“Why are you so close?”

Yu Jiuzhou watched the woman pressed against her with a cold gaze, but beneath that coldness was utter helplessness. She had no way of dealing with this side of Chi Wan.

The other woman wasn’t afraid of her coldness at all. In fact, she sat so close that Yu Jiuzhou could smell the pleasant fragrance on her.

Chi Wan shifted further onto the couch so her feet wouldn’t touch the floor, her heels tapping idly against the frame.

“Your Highness, is something going to happen at Xuanyang Temple?”

Yu Jiuzhou froze. She suddenly remembered that Chi Wan, like herself, had also been reborn. Even if Chi Wan didn’t know the inside story of the assassination at Xuanyang Temple, she would certainly know it was going to happen.

Under normal circumstances, knowing there would be an assassination attempt, she would have brought the Grand Princess’s entire military escort. With so many soldiers present, it would be incredibly difficult for assassins to succeed.

Infiltrating the trusted Jinwu Guard and Imperial Guard was extremely difficult, which would effectively limit the assassins’ options. With so many people, they wouldn’t all drink from the same well or eat from the same pot. This would make poisoning them much harder, and she could take precautions.

Knowing this, yet only taking two thousand Imperial Guards, Chi Wan, with her intelligence, would surely sense that something was amiss.

Yu Jiuzhou knew it wasn’t easy to deceive Chi Wan, so she had deliberately angered her. When one was angry, their ability to think clearly weakened.

When she saw that Chi Wan truly hadn’t noticed and was instead hiding in her room writing a book, she had been a little disappointed.

That Chi Wan hadn’t seen through her plan was a feeling of both relief and disappointment.

Until the moment Chi Wan entered the palace, she had been angry, yet a small part of her felt a flicker of anticipation. People were truly contradictory.

She clearly detested being forced, but if Chi Wan had come to the palace for the sake of going to Xuanyang Temple with her, she wouldn’t have been so angry.

So when Chi Wan returned, it took only a single sentence for her composure to crumble.

Yu Jiuzhou forced herself to remain indifferent. “You don’t know?”

Chi Wan paid no mind to her cold tone. If she did, and ran away just because of a chilly tone, she probably wouldn’t have dared to even approach her in the first place.

They had spent a good amount of time together, and she had read the novel, poring over every word of Yu Jiuzhou’s extra chapters. Although the real Yu Jiuzhou was somewhat different from her fictional counterpart, perhaps that was just the adorable, budding charm hidden deep within her heart.

That’s right, adorable. Yu Jiuzhou was the great villain of the novel, but only by getting close could one discover the cuteness hidden within her tsundere exterior.

It was precisely because she knew this that Chi Wan wouldn’t misinterpret Yu Jiuzhou’s superficial coldness.

“I only know that you will be assassinated at Xuanyang Temple, a crisis of unprecedented scale. As for the specific details and the hidden story behind the assassination, I don’t know.”

She was telling the absolute truth, holding nothing back. With Yu Jiuzhou, she had no need to hide anything.

Yu Jiuzhou stared at her for a long while. “Don’t be so close to me.”

Chi Wan’s clothes were pressed against hers.

The touch of their skirts signified intimacy. The overlapping fabric, she felt, represented something more.

Especially with the hem of Chi Wan’s robe resting on her skirt. Sometimes, she felt she had read too many of those palace instructional booklets. Not only had nothing come of it, but her mind had also started to think like one.

Chi Wan glanced at the distance between them. There were still about ten centimeters separating them. How was that so close?

So she sat up straight and scooted even closer to Yu Jiuzhou. “Your Highness, what exactly happened at Xuanyang Temple? Are you not letting me go because you’re worried something will happen to me?”

The question was so direct it made Yu Jiuzhou turn her face away.

After a long moment, she asked, “You want to know?”

“I do.”

Of course she wanted to know. The assassination at Xuanyang Temple was the catalyst that officially began Yu Jiuzhou’s struggle for power. She became even more somber and began relentlessly seizing authority, becoming the Regent Grand Princess in fact as well as in name, and the Regent Grand Princess after the new emperor ascended the throne.

This time, she had long since begun to gather talented people and develop her power. The strength she now held was comparable to the period when Emperor Shengyuan was gravely ill.

When Emperor Shengyuan was ill, nearly all the affairs of Great Zhou had been placed in her hands. If Gao Zheng hadn’t sided with Prince Bao’an at the time, Great Zhou would have nearly become her one-woman show.

This life was different. Gao Zheng had lost the Emperor’s trust early on and now had to rely on her, the Grand Princess. During the recent rebellion of the vassal kings, she had seized the opportunity to take control of significant military power.

She could have avoided putting herself in danger, but Great Zhou absolutely could not fall into the hands of foreign tribes. The foreign elements hidden within Great Zhou were a malignant tumor that had to be removed.

Once the foreign tribes invaded, the people of Great Zhou would suffer.

In an internal conflict, most contenders for power would not be too cruel to the common people, for the sake of ruling Great Zhou in the future. But foreign tribes were different; they would slaughter the people of Great Zhou.

For the sake of the people, she had to take this risk.

Since Chi Wan was dead set on going with her, she could no longer keep some things hidden. “I suspect someone in the capital is colluding with Nanyue.”

Yu Jiuzhou told her everything: how her retinue in her past life had lost their ability to fight due to poison, how Nanyue would invade at the end of the year, and everything that had happened during her flight after the assassination.

Chi Wan’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. No wonder Yu Jiuzhou didn’t want to take her, or even Chun Gui and Xia Qu.

“Your Highness, have you ever considered that if you don’t bring them, you might not be able to escape Xuanyang Temple at all?”

Only with loyal followers who would block blades for her without regard for their own lives, determined to escort her back to the capital even in death, was she able to return.

Without their desperate protection, given the circumstances of her past life, it would have been very difficult for Yu Jiuzhou to escape.

Two thousand Imperial Guards. Even though that was a thousand more than before, the enemy was using poison, which was impossible to defend against completely. If you guarded the food, you couldn’t guard the water source. If you guarded the water, could you guard against poison smoke?

But Yu Jiuzhou was resolute. “I will never use others’ lives to die in my place.”

This was why Chi Wan had fallen so hard for her when she was still just a character on a page!

Compared to Prince Bao’an, the protagonist of the novel, Yu Jiuzhou’s character was far more heroic.

Prince Bao’an was vengeful and spoke fine words, but when danger arose, he ran faster than anyone. Yu Jiuzhou, on the other hand, would stay and fight alongside her subordinates, provided she wasn’t a burden to them.

After all, she had no martial skills. In a situation where staying would require others to be distracted protecting her, she would leave without hesitation. But she could not turn a blind eye, knowing that if she brought Chun Gui and the others, they would die.

The blessing ceremony at Xuanyang Temple could not be refused. For the lives of the common people, to save Great Zhou from the chaos of war, this was a trip she had to make.

After hearing Yu Jiuzhou’s explanation, Chi Wan became even more determined to accompany her to Xuanyang Temple. “Then all the more reason you can’t leave me behind.”

“Why?” Why couldn’t she leave her behind?

Shengjing was still very safe. After hearing about the dangers at Xuanyang Temple, shouldn’t she choose not to go?

Chi Wan’s personality was simple. If she could live, she certainly wanted to. But if a matter of principle was at stake, she wouldn’t necessarily shy away from a fight.

In front of Yu Jiuzhou, she could yield, act cute, and be a henpecked wife. But when facing the outside world, she had never been afraid.

“Your Highness is my wife. How can I let my wife face danger alone? As her partner, I should be by her side.”

“Hmph.” Hearing Chi Wan call her ‘wife’ and then ‘partner,’ Yu Jiuzhou couldn’t help but let out a soft snort.

“Why are you hmphing at me?”

Chi Wan leaned closer, feigning confusion. “Isn’t it because you’re worried for my safety that you don’t want me to go to Xuanyang Temple?”

She asked the same question again, and this time, Yu Jiuzhou chose to answer. “It is my own decision. I don’t want to implicate any of you.”

It was an assassination attempt that could be avoided, yet she was deliberately luring the snake out of its hole. It was indeed her own decision.

A smile played on Chi Wan’s lips. “But Your Highness, if you’re not worried about me, why won’t you let me go?”

Yu Jiuzhou: “…” She was speechless.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Your Highness?” Chi Wan asked, fully aware of the answer.

“I don’t wish to speak. You should hold your tongue as well.”

Faced with Yu Jiuzhou’s deliberately cold voice, Chi Wan was not the least bit afraid. “Of course I have to speak. It’s a good thing I realized Your Highness is doing this for my own good. If I hadn’t, I might have misunderstood you as someone who goes back on their word.”

She had promised to take her to Xuanyang Temple, but then suddenly made a different decision and excluded her.

And what about consummating the marriage? It’s been so many days. Did you forget?

Yu Jiuzhou felt she had a point, but seeing Chi Wan’s accusatory gaze, she sensed there was something else—for instance, their agreement to consummate the marriage.

This was indeed embarrassing. Not to mention Chi Wan’s arm hadn’t fully healed, but if they really had to, consummating the marriage was still possible.

It was just that, if Chi Wan couldn’t use her arm, the activities in the palace booklets would require her to take the initiative, and with great effort at that.

Yu Jiuzhou knew her own body. After a period of recuperation, her health had improved considerably, but she still found certain physically demanding activities a bit difficult.

“Chi Wan,” Yu Jiuzhou said suddenly.

“Hm?”

Chi Wan was puzzled. Why was she calling her name so formally?

Come to think of it, ever since she received the courtesy name Jinzhao, those who were familiar with her called her Jinzhao, while those who weren’t naturally called her Fuma. It seemed the only person who still called her Chi Wan was Yu Jiuzhou.

Yu Jiuzhou’s emotionless voice sounded. “Don’t you know that those who know too much are often silenced permanently?”

“Is Your Highness going to kill me?”

Chi Wan looked at her with a half-smile, holding her gaze until Yu Jiuzhou started to feel a bit awkward. Only then did she say, “I know Your Highness had that thought before.”

“The one I wanted to kill wasn’t you.” It was the previous Chi Wan.

As if provoked by Chi Wan’s teasing gaze, Yu Jiuzhou’s tone rose slightly.

Her Highness the Grand Princess had always been reserved, constantly cold. Even when angry, it was a cold anger, never revealing any excess emotion.

Hearing the distinct upward lilt in her voice, Chi Wan smiled happily. “I know. Your Highness can’t bear to kill me.”

Yu Jiuzhou was speechless. The last time they interacted, she had held the upper hand. Today, she found herself unable to fend off Chi Wan’s advances.

She remembered how shy Chi Wan had been the last time she got close.

Seeing her silence, Chi Wan suddenly leaned in, her face close to the side of Yu Jiuzhou’s neck, her gaze falling on the princess’s earlobe. “Your Highness, this subject is counting on you for a good life. If you put yourself in harm’s way and something were to happen, this subject would have nowhere to even cry.”

Feeling the warm breath on her neck, Yu Jiuzhou’s body went rigid in an instant. A tingling weakness spread through her, a sensation she couldn’t describe.

It was a little uncomfortable, yet she also yearned for Chi Wan to be even closer.

She forced herself to endure the discomfort and asked, “A good life?”

Chi Wan was the Fuma and held so many official posts with high rank and generous salary. The Jiujiu Wellness Center earned thousands of taels a day from its Shengjing location alone, and that was before everyone had accepted this new concept.

Before long, people would discover the efficacy of the medicinal pills, and business at the Jiujiu Wellness Center would only get better. A branch had opened in the south as well. With one in the north and one in the south, the shops would gradually spread until they covered all of Great Zhou.

Although Chi Wan only had a ten percent share, the silver she received would not be a small amount. She could be considered wealthy and honored. For many, that was a good life.

But the good life Chi Wan imagined had nothing to do with wealth and glory. “A small courtyard, three meals a day, four seasons a year.” With the two of them together.

As for being together forever… forget it. She felt that if she hadn’t been married to Yu Jiuzhou the moment she transmigrated, she would have remained single for two lifetimes. The type destined to be alone.

Yu Jiuzhou raised an eyebrow. “Very well. I will give it to you.”

There were so many small courtyards in Shengjing, so many in the Princess’s Residence. She could even build one in the imperial palace.

Yu Jiuzhou’s understanding was simple: Chi Wan wanted a small courtyard of her own to live in, a space that belonged solely to her.

Chi Wan was surprised, and an inexplicable disappointment welled up in her heart. She had thought Yu Jiuzhou would ask her to stay by her side.

Fine. This saved her from the hesitation that had begun to creep into her heart, the hesitation about whether to leave Shengjing, especially since Yu Jiuzhou wanted to consummate their marriage.

After consummation, they would have children. Then she would have two more responsibilities and couldn’t just leave whenever she wanted.

Since Yu Jiuzhou had said that, it must mean she only wanted Chi Wan to fulfill her duties as the Fuma, not to develop genuine feelings.

She didn’t want that, and she wouldn’t do it.

It seemed she would have to find an opportunity to refuse to consummate the marriage with Yu Jiuzhou. Even if the Emperor blamed her, she would bear the consequences alone.

With this in mind, Chi Wan sat up straight, rose, and stood before Yu Jiuzhou. “Your Highness, this subject requests that you take me with you to Xuanyang Temple.”

The sudden formality made Yu Jiuzhou stare at her for a long moment. She felt a subtle change in Chi Wan but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“I will not stop you.”

Chi Wan bowed and turned to leave.

Watching her retreating back, Yu Jiuzhou suddenly realized something. How long had it been since Chi Wan had formally bowed to her?

Why had this distance suddenly appeared between them?

Yu Jiuzhou placed her hand on the spot where Chi Wan had just been sitting. The warmth was still there, but the person was already gone.

Was Chi Wan angry? Or just being difficult?

“Chun Gui,” she called out.

Chun Gui entered immediately. “Your Highness.”

“When will Qiu Lai return?”

“The plague in Wucheng has broken out after all. Qiu Lai says she must find an uninhabited place to isolate herself for a month before she can return to see Your Highness.”

“She also says that many people have fled Wucheng and are heading for the capital, which could very well spread the plague. She asks Your Highness to make a decision soon.”

“In addition, Qiu Lai sent word that in order to save on relief grain, Prince Ying’s men carried out a massacre in Wucheng. They reported all the deaths as being from the snow disaster, but in reality, not nearly that many died from the snow. Prince Ying’s men even prevented aid from reaching them.”

Yu Jiuzhou’s expression changed. “What about our people?”

She knew Prince Ying was up to no good and had sent people to keep an eye on him, but she never expected him to be so vicious as to commit such a beastly act for the sake of embezzling silver.

Chun Gui handed her a booklet that detailed everything Prince Ying had done in Wucheng. Each act was too heinous to record.

Prince Ying ordered his subordinates not to distribute supplies, setting up only two locations in the city to serve porridge mixed with chaff.

And even that was so thin you couldn’t see a single grain of rice.

Prince Ying hadn’t dared to tamper with the coarse salt Yu Jiuzhou had sent to Wucheng to melt the snow, and had even spent tens of thousands of taels to ‘purchase’ it.

But as soon as the roads were cleared, Prince Ying sent his men to begin a slaughter. As long as he killed enough people, there would be no need for disaster relief, and all the silver could fall into his own pockets.

To carry out his plan, he had sealed off Wucheng, making it impossible for any news to get out.

Yu Jiuzhou’s people had done their best to secure a path to survival for the people of Wucheng, but Prince Ying was too ruthless. He would do anything for money. Of Wucheng’s population of over one hundred thousand, fewer than sixty thousand remained.

The snow disaster had killed about twenty thousand; the rest were murdered by Prince Ying.

Locking down the city to kill people, withholding supplies, and starving the victims to death—this was the evil of Prince Ying.

Yu Jiuzhou suppressed a burning rage. She had done so much to prevent Wucheng from repeating the tragedy of her past life, but the one thing she had never expected was that Prince Ying would be audacious enough to massacre the city’s population.

She didn’t believe it was just for money.

“Investigate. Find out exactly why Prince Ying massacred the city.”

“Yes.”

Yu Jiuzhou was silent for a moment. “Call a meeting. Have the Fuma attend as well.”

Prince Ying had to die. She had underestimated his viciousness.

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In the council chamber of the Princess’s Residence, Chi Wan met Yu Jiuzhou’s team of advisors for the first time. There were three of them.

One was a female Kun Ze wearing a mask that obscured her face. Another was a female Qian Yuan in a white robe with her hair tied up; she was quite good-looking. Neither of them looked very old, thirty at most.

The last was a woman in her forties. Her clothing gave no hint as to whether she was a Qian Yuan or Kun Ze, and her face was utterly unremarkable, with no memorable features.

The kind of person you wouldn’t look at twice on the street.

The more unremarkable a person was, the more dangerous they often felt. Chi Wan’s perception of auras had become quite refined.

From this person, she couldn’t sense any extraneous emotion. It was like sensing still, dead water.

Seeing Chi Wan enter, the three of them bowed in unison. “Fuma.”

“Mm.”

Chi Wan acknowledged them, feeling a little strange. Had she just entered Yu Jiuzhou’s inner circle?

Come to think of it, whenever she discussed matters with Yu Jiuzhou, it was always just the two of them. She had never spoken with Yu Jiuzhou’s team of advisors.

It seemed she was getting deeper and deeper into Yu Jiuzhou’s camp, bound to her for this lifetime.

The three then introduced themselves. The female Kun Ze was called Yin Mo, the female Qian Yuan was Master Lian, and the remaining ‘ordinary’ woman was Duo Bao.

None of the three were likely their real names. Yin Mo was mysterious, Master Lian suited her name, but the name Duo Bao seemed at odds with the ‘ordinary’ woman.

“You can just call me Jinzhao,” she offered her courtesy name. Whether they used it or not was none of her business; they weren’t that familiar with each other yet.

Chi Wan took the first seat on the left and drank her tea. Yu Jiuzhou arrived shortly after. Seeing that Chi Wan hadn’t taken a seat on the luohan couch but was instead in a chair below, she felt a strange pang.

But Yu Jiuzhou said nothing and went straight to business. “Let them see the booklet.”

The booklet was passed to Chi Wan first. Her brow furrowed at the first glance. This Prince Ying was truly inhuman.

After she closed the booklet and Chun Gui passed it to the others, Yu Jiuzhou finally spoke. “Prince Ying has carried out a massacre in Wucheng. Think of a way to save the city without letting the plague spread.”

To prevent the plague from spreading, treatment was the most resource-intensive method. Killing the victims and cremating them would effectively contain the plague within Wucheng.

Yu Jiuzhou would certainly not do that, which was why she had summoned her advisors.

Furthermore, the evidence of Prince Ying’s crimes had to be presented to the Emperor in a suitable manner, or it would only arouse his suspicion.

Fortunately, Emperor Shengyuan was already very displeased with Prince Ying. The court was filled with voices calling for Prince Ying to be made crown prince. It could be said that whoever had the loudest calls for their appointment was Emperor Shengyuan’s enemy.

Chi Wan already had an idea, but since the other three advisors hadn’t spoken yet, she decided to listen first, lest she make a fool of herself.

Soon, everyone had finished reading the booklet. The good-looking, seemingly gentle female Qian Yuan, Master Lian, spoke first, and she appeared to have a fiery temper.

“This is simply lawless and despicable.”

Master Lian cupped her hands and said in a clear voice, “Your Highness, in this subordinate’s opinion, we should dispatch an imperial envoy to Wucheng to convict the prefect. First, we must get Wucheng under our control. Then, we seal the city and have the imperial physicians lead other healers there.”

“As for Prince Ying, we should have the Fuma submit the evidence of his crimes to His Majesty through the Imperial City Division.”

To Emperor Shengyuan, the Imperial City Division was trustworthy, and it just so happened that the Emperor wanted Chi Wan to investigate Prince Ying and Prince Bao’an.

Yin Mo spoke up. “Your Highness, if the Fuma produces evidence against Prince Ying so quickly, His Majesty might be suspicious. Therefore, the Fuma could make a trip to the Autumn Water Pavilion. The evidence can be framed as having been obtained from Prince Bao’an.”

Prince Bao’an was trying to strike at Prince Ying in the fight for the throne. While we pull Prince Ying down, we can also cause some trouble for Prince Bao’an.

After the two had laid out their strategies, Duo Bao spoke last. “Your Highness, this subordinate believes the plan is feasible.”

The three of them worked together with perfect tacit understanding. Just like that, the matter was decided.

But Chi Wan had something to add. “Regarding Prince Ying, this subject has nothing more to say. But on the matter of the lives of Wucheng’s people, I have a suggestion. I would like Qiu Lai’s treatment records. I will do my best to formulate a prescription for the people of Wucheng.”

“Furthermore, the clothing and belongings of the people in Wucheng must be disinfected with boiling water…”

As Chi Wan spoke, Yu Jiuzhou gestured for Chun Gui to take notes. Chun Gui quickly grabbed a brush and ink to write.

She explained the standard procedures for dealing with a plague. With the limited conditions of ancient times, there was only so much they could do.

It seemed she needed to produce alcohol as soon as possible. The raw materials and fermentation were easy; the most crucial step was distillation and purification.

After the meeting concluded, Chi Wan’s mind was completely occupied with thoughts of equipment that could be used to produce alcohol in ancient times. She merely gave Yu Jiuzhou a nod before leaving.

Seeing such a cold attitude, Yu Jiuzhou’s heart clenched. Chi Wan was definitely angry.

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