When Emperor Jingren came to, he had a vague recollection of viewing the flowers in the imperial gardens, where he’d had a run-in with a palace maid. She had knelt in front of him, sobbing, then thrown herself at him and knocked him down. His head had happened to hit the steps, and he had passed out.

Thinking back on it, this was extraordinary. A maidservant who seemed no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, affectingly slight and delicate, had managed to reach him despite the attempts of a dozen bodyguards to stop her. She had single-handedly swept aside four or five palace eunuchs and sprang forward determined to clutch Emperor Jingren’s knees. And the strength with which she had thrown herself at him had been immense. Instead of catching him around the knees, she had knocked Emperor Jingren to the ground.

After regaining consciousness, Emperor Jingren didn’t open his eyes. He lay quietly in bed, remembering how he had hit his head. Though it was a little embarrassing to have been knocked over by a frail maid, as soon as he thought of how that maid had been able to break through so many lines of defense, Emperor Jingren had no attention to spare for the question of whether he was embarrassed; he suspected that the girl was a trained martial artist. But palace maids skilled in fighting were all specially trained by the Imperial Guard, concealed within the palace to ensure the safety of the women of the harem. They wouldn’t reveal their abilities except as a last resort. Naturally, Emperor Jingren had a list of these maids, and he was certain that that woman wasn’t on it.

In other words, an unknown woman strong enough to break through a dozen of his personal bodyguards had snuck into the palace and impersonated a maid, appeared in his presence, and injured him. So—where had this palace maid come from? What were her goals? If one such person could sneak in, so could others.

A terrifying thought.

Therefore, Emperor Jingren didn’t immediately get up but kept his eyes closed. Before he opened his eyes, he wanted to arrange his thoughts, so he could handle this in a rational manner when he rose.

Four years had passed since Emperor Jingren had inherited the throne at eighteen. Though he was still a young emperor, he had a cautious disposition and never took a one-sided view of any question. He didn’t judge affairs based on his impressions of people, and he couldn’t be fooled into a misunderstanding by the gossip of those around him. He dealt with everything in strict accordance with the law; he was a fearfully level-headed person.

As he considered whether a deeper conspiracy underlay these events, he heard a low whisper: “My Lady, it’s already one in the morning, you’ve sat by His Majesty’s bedside for two days…”

This was Xiahe, a high-ranking palace maid, and the empress’s personal attendant. She always spoke with perfect tact and was entirely devoted to the empress. Last year she had reached the age at which she could leave the palace and return to her home; the empress had given her permission to do so. Yet she had stayed, and planned to spend her life as an unmarried palace matron, waiting on the empress.

When he heard Xiahe’s voice, Emperor Jingren was very touched. The empress was the dignified and virtuous daughter of a noble house, all her conduct bespeaking the poise of nobility. The harem operated smoothly under her command. Emperor Jingren greatly revered the empress. Though after four years of marriage she had borne him no heirs, Emperor Jingren had not heeded any wicked slander; he was not at all dissatisfied with the empress.

Of course, it helped that the empress wasn’t alone. Emperor Jingren’s harem was filled with beauties, yet every one of them was childless; he didn’t even have any daughters. The courtiers were very worried about this. Countless famous physicians had been invited to the palace. But while a year ago these famous physicians had still been examining the palace women, now they wanted to check on Emperor Jingren. But he had refused them all.

This was the sole point on which the levelheaded, rational Emperor Jingren was obstinate; he rather feared being made to face the reality and wouldn’t let the imperial physicians check his health. This troubled the courtiers concerned by his lack of offspring.

Regardless of who ultimately gave birth to a prince (or even if there was no prince), Emperor Jingren had no plans to disturb the empress’s position.

From what Xiahe had said, he could guess that he had been unconscious for two days, and that during those two days the empress had kept watch at his bedside. Emperor Jingren was rational, but he could still be touched. If this matter were truly to be investigated up the chain, the empress could hardly avoid coming in for her share of blame. But Emperor Jingren wasn’t currently planning on making a big fuss, and he certainly wasn’t planning on taking his anger out on the empress. He wanted to deal with this quietly, to avoid alerting his enemies.

Having settled on his countermeasures, Emperor Jingren was about to open his eyes slowly when he heard a deep masculine voice say, “No matter. My health has always been good. Three or four days without sleep will not hurt me. His Majesty has been injured. In my position, I wouldn’t feel easy if I didn’t watch over him myself.”

Emperor Jingren was astonished.

Hold on, hold on. Based solely on the contents of this speech, it was clearly the empress speaking. But that voice!

Emperor Jingren had never been so shocked. He opened his eyes impatiently. After the young eunuch beside him cried in mingled surprise and joy, “My Lady, His Majesty is awake!”, a tall figure appeared in his field of vision.

This person wore a robe with a design of all the birds paying homage to the phoenix. Though the clothes were not formal dress, such fine garments could not be worn by just anyone in the palace. And on her—his?—head was a nine phoenix tail hairpin. In this palace, not even the empress dowager could adorn herself like this. The only person who could wear this ornament that symbolized boundless honor and glory was the mistress of the harem, the mother of the realm—the empress.

But…was his empress this tall? Were the feet visible beneath her skirt this big? Were the knuckles of her hands so rugged? Did her face…have such blade-hewn lines?

Emperor Jingren wrestled with this thought and found that hitting his head had damaged his memory. He actually couldn’t remember what the empress looked like. All that swam through his mind was the exceedingly striking face before him. So was this the empress’s true appearance? Was the dignified and magnanimous empress he had respected for four years so…strapping?

Was this actually someone disguised as the empress? But who would choose a person who looked like this to impersonate an empress?

Emperor Jingren looked collectedly at the empress’s handsome countenance, but the empress only took a glance at him, then immediately turned her head. “Imperial Physician Chen, come examine His Majesty.”

An extremely pretty and refined man stepped forward, excused himself, and picked up Emperor Jingren’s hand to check his pulse.

Emperor Jingren was astounded.

He remembered that Imperial Physician Chen was the Imperial College of Physicians’ greatest expert in diagnosis. He was practically always the one who attended to Emperor Jingren’s health. His impression was that Imperial Physician Chen ought to be fairly elderly, while this man… His behavior was practically indistinguishable from Imperial Physician Chen’s, but wasn’t he too young? After hitting his head, Emperor Jingren simply couldn’t remember what the people around him looked like. Could it be that because of his great medical skills, Imperial Physician Chen had discovered the secret to preserving his youthful looks?

Imperial Physician Chen’s hand lingered on Emperor Jingren’s wrist. When it had been so long that Emperor Jingren was beginning to suspect his bump on the head had caused some unpleasant ailment, the empress suddenly spoke: “Imperial Physician Chen, how is His Majesty?”

Imperial Physician Chen put down Emperor Jingren’s hand and turned his head to cast a glance at the empress. For some reason, Emperor Jingren read a sense of animosity in that glance.

An imperial physician feeling animosity toward the empress? The ever-composed Emperor Jingren felt a little perturbed.

“No great harm has been done,” said Imperial Physician Chen. “His Majesty will probably experience dizziness and nausea for a few days. Rest will take care of it. Keep in mind not to jar the head, and abstain from sexual intercourse until after recovery. I will adjust my previous prescription. It should be taken for three more days.”

“That is good.” The empress’s furrowed brow relaxed at last, and she smiled in relief.

Looking at the empress’s handsome face, which appeared even more valorous now that she was smiling, Emperor Jingren was silent.

The empress truly had straight brows and bright eyes. Though the aesthetic sensibilities of the day favored refined scholars, it could not be denied that the empress was uncommonly good-looking.

Once these words appeared in his mind, Emperor Jingren’s head became a little heavy.

Had he not been confident that he found himself in his own chambers in Zichen Hall, where he slept every day and which was intimately familiar to him, Emperor Jingren would have begun to suspect that he had been abducted by evildoers and taken from the palace, and the people around him were all imposters.

“Does Your Majesty feel unwell?” the empress asked solicitously, seeing discomfort on Emperor Jingren’s face.

Emperor Jingren looked into her—his?—face for a long time, then finally couldn’t resist saying tentatively, “Your looks really are remarkable, Jinyi. There isn’t a single person in the harem who can rival you.”

This was the plain truth. What delicate girl could be as tall as the empress? What effeminate eunuch as imposing? What wooden-faced guard as attractive?

Faced with this sally, the empress did not waver. With a placid smile, she simply said, “Your Majesty is too kind. Your subject wife takes after her father. The first time Your Majesty saw me, you even remarked that a general’s family was sure to turn out remarkable daughters. Your subject wife’s looks can hardly stand out amid the beauties of the harem.”

No, no, no, you certainly stand out, you’d be picked out at a glance, you’re by far the tallest…

While Emperor Jingren inwardly disagreed with her appraisal, the empress’s explanation led him to make some guesses. The empress had been only fourteen when she married him and hadn’t yet grown to her full height. Probably no one had expected her to become so tall. And the empress’s family came from the north. It was said that the women there were all taller than southern men. Perhaps…it made sense for her to be this tall at eighteen. And he couldn’t depose the empress for having a powerful build. After all, looks weren’t the only thing that mattered about a woman; there was also her virtue.

Though he made all the excuses he could for the empress, Emperor Jingren still felt that something was wrong. While instinct told him that the person before him was indeed the empress, Emperor Jingren didn’t want to rely solely on his feelings; he wanted to make further observations before reaching a conclusion.

But this wasn’t urgent. He still had to recover his health. Emperor Jingren felt a little weary. He gave instructions that the palace maid who had run into him was to be kept in custody; he would question her himself when he was well. Then he fell into a deep sleep.