Emperor Jingren thought that, tired as he was, he was sure to sleep soundly. Even if he dreamed, he would dream of the empress. Instead, he had a nightmare that he never could have predicted. In the dream he was transformed into an indiscriminate demon of lust. He held Zhuangyuan Lin down and bit him again and again. Emperor Jingren tried several times to wake up, but he couldn’t. In his dream, he seemed to have become a different person and developed an appetite for men; it was fearful!

The dream was highly erotic, but in the depths of his heart, Emperor Jingren was repelled. He thought that even if he really was interested in men, he still shouldn’t turn his thoughts on a pillar of the nation like Zhuangyuan Lin. For a person with no virtue, this kind of dream might have been enjoyable, but for the principled Emperor Jingren, it was a torment.

Wanting to wake but incapable of struggling free, Emperor Jingren was bathed in cold sweat. It was only at dawn that he was roused by the empress wiping sweat from his brow. Panicked, he opened his eyes and saw the empress’s comfortingly familiar face. Then Emperor Jingren’s racing heartbeat gradually slowed.

“What was Your Majesty dreaming of?” the empress asked. “Did you dream of me?”

These words immediately called to Emperor Jingren’s mind what the empress had said last night before he went to sleep. The empress had mentioned Zhuangyuan Lin several times and told him not to dream of him. He had probably been thinking of having marital relations with the empress, so he’d had this absurd dream.

“I dreamed…” Emperor Jingren said indistinctly. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t a good dream. Next time don’t talk about who might appear in dreams.”

Of course the empress knew who Emperor Jingren had dreamed of, but seeing from his expression that he wasn’t impressed by it and instead felt it had been a bad thing, she relaxed. There was no way to predict the human heart. No matter how exquisite Lin Boyuan’s plan might have been, it hadn’t occurred to him what a principled person Emperor Jingren was. An inexplicable erotic dream wouldn’t make Emperor Jingren happy but disgust him. It was different with the palace women. Whatever happened in dreams with his own wives, it would be all right, because Emperor Jingren’s principles permitted it, regardless of whether it was something the world approved of; going a little too far would be fine. But if he dreamed of one of his courtiers, given Emperor Jingren’s disposition, violating that taboo would give him no pleasure. He would only think it was inappropriate for him to be having such thoughts.

“It was my fault.” The empress accepted the blame candidly, even though Emperor Jingren hadn’t actually said why he had slept badly.

Emperor Jingren knew very well that it had nothing to do with the empress, and her candid acceptance of blame made him feel guilty. He said, “It’s nothing to do with you. We were only tired yesterday.”

“Then sleep a little longer, Your Majesty,” the empress said, looking at the sandglass. “I won’t do morning exercises today. I’ll stay here with you.”

Seeing that there was still an hour left before he had to get up, Emperor Jingren lay back down and closed his eyes. The empress gently stroked his head, making him feel very comfortable. Soon he was asleep again. This time his sleep was very deep, and he had no dreams. Only the dry touch of the empress’s palm followed him into slumber.

When he went to court, Emperor Jingren had recovered, but he felt a persistent aversion to seeing Lin Boyuan again. In fact, Emperor Jingren knew that this had nothing to do with Lin Boyuan. It was his own dream; he shouldn’t be taking it out on someone else. But reason was one thing, and emotion was another; he could still value Lin Boyuan’s contributions, could still praise this talented Zhuangyuan before all the officials at court, but Emperor Jingren could never again be compelled to be alone with him. He would always feel a little awkward.

Lin Boyuan had thought that, regardless of what methods the empress used, he would be able to leave an indelible impression on Emperor Jingren’s heart. Unfortunately, though he had made an impression, it wasn’t a good one. Not only had he not managed to get closer to Emperor Jingren, even being alone with him had become difficult. As a sixth-rank official, he couldn’t enter the palace without being summoned, and he certainly couldn’t stay behind alone after court. Contrary to his expectations, after that night, Emperor Jingren refused to summon him for a tête-à-tête; he now had no chance at all.

At first Lin Boyuan thought this was the worst of it, but the reality was still more wretched.

When Zhuangyuan Lin had engaged in verbal sparring with all the officials, endured the barrage of the whole court, succeeded in his support of Emperor Jingren’s new law, and offended his own father almost to the point of being disowned, he thought that his loyalty and sincerity would have been enough to move Emperor Jingren, to let him become Emperor Jingren’s most trusted courtier, so he would give him a token that let him enter the palace at any time and request to see the emperor.

But none of that happened.

Zhuangyuan Lin was rewarded with a promotion from a sixth-rank censor to a fourth-rank Vice-Minister of Public Works, with full authority and responsibility for putting the new law into effect. Emperor Jingren sent him out to supervise throughout the land. When he returned to court, he would probably be promoted again; he might be counted the most trusted of the emperor’s courtiers among the younger generation.

Lin Boyuan was flummoxed.

The palace eunuch who came to deliver the imperial decree to the Lin residence was Eunuch Lian. This was no coincidence. He had contrived to have this opportunity to see Lin Boyuan alone. Lin Boyuan’s face was ghastly pale as he received the imperial decree; Eunuch Lian, on the other hand, wore a superior smile.

“My most sincere congratulations, Vice-Minister Lin. Though you were at odds with all the civil and military officials at court, in the end you still won His Majesty’s favor. You are certain to go on rising in your career. Those outside the six ministries have no hope of joining the cabinet. Now that you are part of the Ministry of Public Works, the cabinet is a possibility for you. Perhaps you will even surpass your father.” Eunuch Lian’s face was radiant with joy as he congratulated Lin Boyuan. His smile was sincere. But Lin Boyuan wasn’t happy at all.

Lin Boyuan dismissed everyone else from the room. Gritting his teeth, he said to Eunuch Lian, “What are you smiling about? I’m going to implement the new law. When I return in a few years, the emperor is sure to grant me even more favor. Once I join the cabinet, I’ll have plenty of opportunities to be alone with His Majesty. My looks may not measure up to the consorts and concubines of the harem, but with my unfailing loyalty, my tremendous literary talent, and my ability to solve problems, on top of being around him day and night, having discussions by candlelight, Emperor Jingren will one day be mine. And you? Look at your old face. Like a desiccated orange rind. You think you have a chance? Emperor Jingren may not judge people based on appearance, but at the very least I bet he’d only go for someone he could stand to look at!”

Sure enough, Eunuch Lian turned ashen. He touched his face, hatred filling his eyes. He was surrounded by beautiful maidservants and handsome guards, while he was old and withered, and a eunuch on top of that. He didn’t have the shadow of a chance. In fact, the person who had spent the most time with Emperor Jingren over the years was Eunuch Lian, but with his venerable countenance, no amount of time spent together would do any good. Others had used their incense many times, but while he had plenty of opportunity, he had never dared. He was afraid that if he used his incense, it would only anger Emperor Jingren, and he would never let him serve him again. Then he really wouldn’t have the tiniest chance.

Having scored a hit against Eunuch Lian, Lin Boyuan sighed. “I’ve fallen out of the running for now too. I’m not your enemy. Let me ask you this—my plan the other night was so good. Emperor Jingren ought to have dreamed of me all night. After a dream like that, at least he ought to have seen me with new eyes. Why do I feel like he’s been deliberately avoiding me instead?”

Eunuch Lian thought about it and said, “Since that day, the emperor hasn’t spent the night with any of the consorts or concubines. He’s been staying at Qifeng Hall. He’s hardly even been back to Zichen Hall.”

“The empress?” Lin Boyuan was disbelieving. “But she’s hardly better off than you for looks.”

That was going rather too far. Though the empress was tall and strapping, she was also young and handsome, a hundred times better off than Eunuch Lian. But when this young, handsome empress wore her phoenix robe, with her expression set in the dignity particular to an empress, the enormous incongruity undoubtedly made her a sight too dreadful to behold. How could anyone find that attractive?

Eunuch Lian was also disbelieving, but something did occur to him, so he said to his one-time enemy, now his fellow sufferer and ally, “The empress confiscated all the incense in the harem. Only the owner of a particular piece of incense can use it. Someone else who tried would only get an outcome contrary to what they wanted. The empress has no use for it.”

“Though she has no use for it, she can still leave the rest with no options. Every time someone in the harem wants to get close to Emperor Jingren, they’ll hesitate.” This was Lin Boyuan’s analysis. “It seems it must have been the empress who made Emperor Jingren change his mind about me that night. It looks like she’s our strongest opponent after all.”

Before he left, Lin Boyuan planted this thorn in Eunuch Lian’s heart; he was concerned that the situation would take a turn during the years he was away from court. With Eunuch Lian there to get in her way, it would be difficult for the empress to put any schemes in practice.

But what Lin Boyuan could not guess was that he himself was the reason Emperor Jingren had been staying with the empress all this time.