Yu Yuan’s injuries were almost healed, so starting today he could begin working again.
Yan Mu didn’t know how long recovery from burns took, and she also didn’t dare to ask anyone.
So, to guard her secret, her face was still wrapped in bandages.
Drinking sweet honey osmanthus tea, she saw Yu Yuan off.
The weather was getting colder and colder.
At her reminder, Yu Yuan wore a few more layers.
Even so, the teenager’s waist was still firm and slender enough to make Yan Mu envious.
Last night, she’d fallen asleep holding that waist.
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Yu Yuan walked halfway and turned back.
“What’s wrong?” Yan Mu was puzzled, “Did you forget something?”
“Mmm,” Yu Yuan nodded.
Looking at Yan Mu’s bright and clear eyes, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss.
“The osmanthus tea is very sweet,” Yu Yuan’s chuckle rang out beside her ear, “I’m leaving.”
After speaking, he hurriedly left.
Her ears still remained scorchingly hot.
Yan Mu dumbly raised her head and watched Yu Yuan’s figure disappear.
I’m over. My heart is beating even faster.
Yan Mu quickly took another few sips of osmanthus tea, trying to suppress her pounding heart.
She enjoyed the breeze in the courtyard for a little longer, and finally felt her heartbeat calm down.
Youngsters were indeed full of energy. She really couldn’t bear it.
Yan Mu sighed and walked into her room.
She hadn’t had breakfast yet.
Yan Mu didn’t want to go to Baoyue to eat today. Instead, she wanted to eat the pastries from her own store.
She had just taken a few bites when she saw Eunuch Qin return again.
“Hello, Miss Yan.” Eunuch Qin was still all smiles.
Yan Mu quickly put down the pastry in her hand.
Before she could speak, Eunuch Qin said, “Miss Yan, there’s a noble person who wants to see you, so please come with me.”
“Noble person?” Yan Mu was keenly aware that something wasn’t right.
This implied that the person she was going to see wasn’t Chu Cong but someone else.
Eunuch Qin was Chu Cong’s servant, so for him to call this person a noble person, they most likely had a higher status than Chu Cong.
Yan Mu knew she couldn’t refuse.
She pursed her lips and asked, “Does His Second Highness know about this?”
“His Second Highness has been busy with the Empress’s birthday affairs recently, so naturally, he doesn’t have time to take care of everything,” Eunuch Qin euphemistically said.
Good God! This means that Chu Cong doesn’t know about what’s going on right now.
Yan Mu was a little worried.
No one in the royal family could be provoked.
She still wanted to ask Eunuch Qin more about what this so-called noble person wanted to do with her.
However, he remained silent and led Yan Mu out.
“Miss Yan, where are you going?” Because their fathers had a good relationship, Xiao Qing paid extra attention to Yan Mu.
Sensing that something wasn’t right, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked.
“Bodyguard Qing, His Second Highness wants to discuss some last minute matters with Miss Yan,” Eunuch Qin stood between Yan Mu and Xiao Qing.
“But……” Xiao Qing was a little uneasy.
In the past, before Chu Cong came to pick someone up or inspect the shop, he would send someone to inform them in advance.
Today, His Second Highness didn’t send anyone to notify them.
This showed that the person who wanted to meet Yan Mu wasn’t His Second Highness.
“Xiao Qing, are you trying to stop me?” Eunuch Qin’s tone suddenly lowered.
“I……” Xiao Qing was at a loss for words.
Eunuch Qing was a eunuch bestowed to Chu Cong by the Empress, and his identity and status far surpassed them, who were only guards.
He hesitated repeatedly, but in the end, still made way for Eunuch Qin.
Watching Yan Mu and Eunuch Qin getting into the horse-drawn carriage, Xiao Qing secretly gritted his teeth.
He pulled out a horse, hopped on, and rushed towards the Second Prince’s residence.
*****************
Yan Mu’s shop was some distance away from the palace. Sitting face-to-face with Eunuch Qin along the way, she couldn’t help but feel a little awkward.
However, remembering the theme of her new book, she immediately cleared her throat and greeted him.
“There’s something I want to ask your opinion about, but I don’t know if it’s offensive……” Yan Mu weakly asked.
“Miss Yan must be joking, if there’s anything just ask away.” Eunuch Qin still appeared all smiles, as if wearing a mask.
“It’s……” Yan Mu hesitated for a moment before whispering, “Do you know about dining partners2对食 (duì shí) – So, as we all know, eunuchs can only be counted as half man, and as we all know, romantic relationships among servants are forbidden, so they’ll inevitably feel lonely. So, this term describes the relationship between a eunuch and a palace maid. They can do nothing but have meals with each other, so I’ll translate this term as ‘dining partner’. If you want to know more about this term, you can Google it.?”
“……” Eunuch Qin remained silent.
Yan Mu didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt like Eunuch Qin’s mask3facade seemed to have cracked a little.
“Miss Yan, you’re a girl. Why are you asking me this?” Eunuch Qin struggled to keep himself composed.
If he hadn’t heard about Yan Mu’s character from His Second Highness, he would’ve thought she was making fun of him.
“It’s just that……” Yan Mu was a little embarrassed, “I want to write a novel with dining partners as the main concept.”
“No one would read such filthy stories.” Eunuch Qin refuted her almost instantly.
Although this dynasty didn’t forbid eunuchs from finding dining partners, few eunuchs could have long-lasting relationships with them.
Just like Eunuch Qin, he’d once had a dining partner too, but as their seniority in the palace grew, their distance also gradually widened.
Since then, he hadn’t looked for dining partners.
Eunuch Qin felt a little sad as he remembered.
Yan Mu originally wanted to conduct background research with a scientific and rigorous attitude, but she hadn’t expected that it would make Eunuch Qin sad, so she suddenly felt a little apologetic inside.
She sincerely apologized to Eunuch Qin.
Before Eunuch Qin could respond, the horse carriage suddenly stopped.
They had arrived at the palace.
Eunuch Qin immediately left what had happened just now behind him.
He quickly brought Yan Mu down from the carriage.
Shortly afterwards, a palace maid came and searched Yan Mu’s body to ensure she wasn’t carrying any weapons or poison.
By and by, both of them passed through seven or eight checkpoints before officially entering the imperial harem.
The imperial harem was really just like it was written in Yan Mu’s book, and she found it novel. Not only did she not feel afraid or nervous, she even felt a magical sense of familiarity, as if returning home.
With Yan Mu and Eunuch Qin’s identities, they were unworthy of sitting in sedan chairs.
So, both of them could only walk in.
Along the way, some palace maids whispered when they saw Yan Mu’s bandaged face, but when they saw Eunuch Qin, they immediately shut their mouths.
The two of them walked for a long time before reaching the empress’s palace.
Yan Mu looked up, and indeed saw the three characters of ‘Feng4凤 (fèng) – phoenixyi5仪 (yí) – appearance; ceremony; rites Hall6殿 (diàn) – palace hall‘.
“Miss Yan, from here onwards, you’ll have to go in by yourself,” Eunuch Qin said.
Yan Mu saw that his head was covered in sweat, and a few strands of silver were falling out of his black gauze hat7纱帽 (shāmào) – worn by feudal officials; (fig.) job as an official
Might look something like this: 
.
Remembering her unintentional offense towards Eunuch Qin just now, Yan Mu couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
She thought for a moment, then took out a few taels of silver and stuffed them to Eunuch Qin when he wasn’t paying attention.
“Eunuch Qin must be tired from walking such a long way. Take this money and come to my bookstore for tea.” After speaking, Yan Mu also gave him a VIP card.
Afraid that he would refuse, after giving him everything, she turned around and left.
Holding the rewards, Eunuch Qin was frozen in place for a long while before coming back to his senses.
He understood Yan Mu’s intentions, but after a few decades in the palace, he’d long learned to hide his true heart deep inside.
Eunuch Qin softly sighed and tucked the silver and card into his sleeve.
*********************
Yan Mu stood in the hall, allowing the Empress to size her up.
Curls of burning incense rose up in the hall, and after observing her for a while, the Empress lowered her head to sip her tea.
Yan Mu’s legs were sore from standing, but she was too embarrassed to sit down before the Empress spoke.
Finally, the Empress put down her teacup and raised her eyes.
“You’re Yan Mu?” The Empress’s emotions were indiscernible from just her voice.
Yan Mu hurriedly acknowledged.
The Empress was expressionless. She lifted her hand, and the palace maid beside her quickly brought a chair.
It seemed like she was now allowed to sit.
But knowing that the Empress was a force to be reckoned with, Yan Mu secretly remained cautious.
Since the Empress didn’t ask her to sit, she didn’t sit.
The Empress was very satisfied with this, and only then did she ask Yan Mu to sit down.
Yan Mu then sat down.
“I heard you’re working under Cong’er,” the Empress said. “Why don’t you tell me about it?”
Yan Mu didn’t know what the Empress was thinking8葫芦里卖的是什么药 (húlu lǐ mài de shì shénme yào) – lit. what kind of medicine is (he) selling in (his) gourd; what has (he) got up (his) sleeve?; what’s going on?, so she was on full alert9打起十二分精神 (dǎ qǐ shí’èr fēn jīngshén) – originates from Cantonese; to be on guard; to watch out; literally ‘to be 120% awake’ and answered truthfully.
“How much profit does the bookstore make exactly?” the Empress asked again.
“This……” Yan Mu was baffled by the question.
She wasn’t good at math, and was only responsible for management and development. Accounting was the bookkeeper’s job, and she’d never looked at the books herself, but Yu Yuan would check them from time to time.
Yan Mu clearly knew that with Chu Cong’s support and her own ingenuity, it would be strange if the bookstore was in the red.
However, she couldn’t say this to the Empress, because what if she then asked her, how do you know that these genres will sell well?
Then Yan Mu couldn’t say she was actually a transmigrator, could she?
So Yan Mu hesitated for a while, and only replied that the bookstore profits had always been good.
This raised suspicions in the Empress’s heart.
After all, very few shopkeepers didn’t check the account books.
As suspicion had arisen in her heart, she found Yan Mu more and more troublesome the more she looked at her.
In the end, the Empress’s gaze fell on the bandages she was wrapped in.
“I have an excellent imperial physician here. Why don’t I let him have a look at Miss Yan?” the Empress said indifferently.
She keenly noticed that Yan Mu’s body stiffened.
“This maidservant’s face was burned by fire and is too ugly. I’m afraid it’ll scare Your Majesty.”
Yan Mu’s heart was filled with panic.
The Empress increasingly felt like something was wrong with Yan Mu’s face.
“I’ve never been one to judge people by their appearance,” the Empress smiled.
Her smile didn’t have a hint of warmth, and it frightened Yan Mu.
“This……” Yan Mu was speechless.
Seeing that Yan Mu couldn’t answer, the Empress found Yan Mu all the more suspicious.
“I heard Cong’er say that you were taken away by the Eldest Prince and were totally disfigured. Cong’er pitied you. That’s why he gave you those rewards.” The Empress slowly said, “I just kindly want to treat your injuries, but you keep giving me excuses10推三阻四 (tuīsān-zǔsì) – decline with all sorts of excuses; give sb. the runaround, so something’s clearly fishy.”
After these words, the Empress’s tone suddenly became fierce.
She slapped the table and ordered the palace maid beside her, “Qinghe, hold this girl down for me!”
As soon as her words fell, Yan Mu felt a strong force upon her.
——————————————————————————————————————————————
The author has something to say:
That’s right, I’m that kind of person who’s extremely poor at math and feels dizzy when I see numbers T-T
Edited by: Gaze
To be fair with the Queen, at least up to this point. Her origin, presence and relationship with her son does seem questionable.