Emperor Jingren was a little startled, but a sense came over him that this was how things ought to be. Though he had been enraged last night, he now felt calm. The rage had been at Yan Xu’s audacity. The calm, meanwhile, was because he understood that nothing could happen to him in the palace.

It was hardly unheard of for a dedicated emperor to get tired and fall asleep at his desk. At such times, those waiting on him would at most drape a cloak over him, a considerate gesture that also had the effect of waking the emperor. When he was awoken by the gesture, the emperor would either continue to handle business in the imperial study, or he would go to bed. At the same time, he would feel a bit of gratitude toward the person who had covered him up. That was how people behaved in the palace.

What guard would dare to lift a sleeping emperor to his feet or carry him in his arms? This was blasphemy against the imperial person. It was an insult. Only in an emergency, when the emperor was severely ill, could it be considered a necessary evil; otherwise, it was insubordination.

Even if Yan Xu had tried to fob off the maids and eunuchs waiting on Emperor Jingren by saying that the emperor was unwell and had ordered him to help him back to his chambers, it wouldn’t have worked. When the emperor fell ill, the first thing to do was summon an imperial physician, not have a guard move him. This action on Yan Xu’s part would in itself attract suspicion, never mind entering the emperor’s bed chamber and staying there; how could he be permitted to have his way? Did he really think the imperial bodyguards were so incompetent that he could simply knock the emperor out with soporific incense? What a joke.

Of course, knowing himself to be unharmed was one thing, and anger was another. These two moods did not interfere with each other. Moreover, after a night of dreams, Emperor Jingren had been confused upon waking. It was pardonable for him to have taken the person beside him for Yan Xu.

Once he had calmed down, he understood that this person couldn’t be Yan Xu. And he felt perfectly well; nothing had happened. His head only hurt a little. This was because he had been dreaming all night.

Looking at the empress’s familiar face and unfamiliar body, Emperor Jingren was silent awhile, then ground his teeth and said, “Get dressed. Do you want to be found out?”

The empress had woken up as soon as Emperor Jingren touched him. He sat up and put on an inner robe, covering up his firm chest.

Emperor Jingren looked at that white inner robe. It looked just like all the ones the empress had worn during the past months when they had slept in the same bed. He really couldn’t understand, when it was so obvious, how he could have failed to see that the empress was a man.

When the empress was dressed, he looked at Emperor Jingren in concern, just like before. A little sadly, he said, “Your Majesty must have slept badly again last night. There are dark circles under your eyes.”

He touched the skin under Emperor Jingren’s eyes, very gently.

“Where’s Yan Xu?” Emperor Jingren decided to set aside the question of the empress’s identity and first deal with that audacious traitor!

“Commander Jing has taken him to the Embroidered Guard’s prison. Don’t worry, Your Majesty, Commander Jing’s methods are formidable. Yan Xu won’t die, much as he might want to.” When he mentioned Yan Xu, the empress’s expression turned cold. There was a flash of ferocity in his eyes.

“How did you end up sleeping here?” Emperor Jingren asked, frowning.

“Eunuch Lian noticed that Yan Xu was behaving inappropriately, so he summoned the guards. I rushed over as soon as I heard. I accidentally broke that bastard Yan Xu’s filthy paw. Your Majesty was fast asleep and wouldn’t wake. The imperial physician treated Your Majesty and said you were only drugged and would be fine when you’d slept long enough. I was worried Your Majesty might have nightmares, so I stayed to look after you.” The empress’s manner was the same always, without the slightest change. He was still deeply solicitous toward Emperor Jingren.

Then why did you take off your clothes to sleep? You used to dress quite correctly, didn’t you?

Looking at the empress’s concerned expression, Emperor Jingren silently swallowed these questions. Actually, the answer was very simple. They both knew it. Before, the empress had naturally covered up in order to conceal his sex, and he hadn’t let Emperor Jingren touch him while he slept. Probably the empress hadn’t had a single night of sound sleep while they were sharing a bed. Now that he had been exposed, the empress had simply stopped concealing himself around him and was just doing whatever felt comfortable.

This knowledge upset Emperor Jingren, but at the same time it also gave him a little thrill. He didn’t understand why he should feel that way.

“Morning court today…” Emperor Jingren knew by looking at the sky that morning court was already over.

“Word has already gone out that Yan Xu attempted to assassinate Your Majesty,” the empress replied. “The officials know that Your Majesty was attacked and won’t be attending morning court for a few days.”

Emperor Jingren stared at the empress for a while. In the end, he swallowed all the things he wanted to say. All he said was, “Help us dress.”

So the two of them rose. Only when they were both fully clothed did they call in servants to help them wash up. Relations between the emperor and empress seemed as affectionate as before.

Emperor Jingren felt intense hatred for Yan Xu, but he remained calm. He had suspicions concerning what Yan Xu had said last night. There were some things he needed to question him about.

In his memory, Yan Xu had always been strictly rule-abiding, not an irreverent person. Though Emperor Jingren knew that his memories were imprecise now, they were still suggestive. He couldn’t help thinking that Yan Xu’s personality change was so great that he seemed to be two different people before and after. This confounded Emperor Jingren.

When he felt less weary, Emperor Jingren went in secret to the Embroidered Guard’s prison. Normally, an emperor wouldn’t go to a place like that. An emperor only wanted results. As for how the Embroidered Guard questioned the criminals, that had nothing to do with the emperor. But this time, Emperor Jingren had doubts in his mind that couldn’t be clarified by a simple report from the Embroidered Guard. He had to question Yan Xu in person.

“If Your Majesty goes, will you permit your subject wife to accompany you?” The empress understood what Emperor Jingren was thinking and volunteered himself. “I can wear men’s clothes.”

The mention of men’s clothes prodded an unspeakable sore spot in Emperor Jingren’s mind. Looking at the unperturbed empress, he felt a faint pang at heart, but he couldn’t bear to do anything to the empress. The feminine phoenix robe the empress wore now was unusually jarring. Emperor Jingren let out a soft sigh and nodded slightly.

In the end, he couldn’t give up the empress.

A guard was added to the team going to the Embroidered Guard’s prison. He wore the outfit of an ordinary guard, yet his presence was unmatched even by the head of the Imperial Bodyguard. This person stayed just behind Emperor Jingren, guarding him closely. Yet Emperor Jingren didn’t turn his head once to look at him.

This trip to the Embroidered Guard’s prison was covert. Emperor Jingren rode in a plain little sedan and at the prison had a quiet reception from Jing Xixian and a group of his subordinates.

Once in the prison, they saw a woman in masculine clothes cleaning a cell, her face ghastly pale. Generally speaking, it was easy to spot a woman dressed in masculine clothes; you could tell practically at a glance. The same went for men in feminine clothes. This was what bewildered Emperor Jingren. Why had he always taken the empress for a woman, failing to note his great height and sturdy build? The empress had performed spear dances in front of him every day dressed in tight-fitting fighting clothes, and the swell at his chest was obviously that of firm pectoral muscles; yet Emperor Jingren had seen without acknowledging. How strange!

This woman in men’s clothes wasn’t one of the Embroidered Guard’s specially trained female spies. She was Su Huailing, who had been ordered by imperial decree to study the law. Since the company had returned from the hunting grounds, many prisoners in need of interrogation had been brought to Embroidered Guard’s prison. The formerly cobwebbed prison now looked as good as new under Jing Xixian’s management, turning from a disused and moldering building into a grim and forbidding prison with a readily apparent chill. It seemed that Jing Xixian hadn’t been idle over the past few days.

Su Huailing looked dreadful. This period of education in the prison seemed to have made her understand many things. When she saw Emperor Jingren, she didn’t try throwing herself at him again. Instead, she knelt in the proper fashion, not daring to look him in the face.

Emperor Jingren was very pleased with this. But now wasn’t the time to talk about Su Huailing. He didn’t spare her a single glance before proceeding into the prison.

The empress in his guard’s clothes glanced at Su Huailing, then looked at the young emperor in front of him. He smiled slightly.

As a prisoner, Yan Xu lacked his former dignity as commander of the Imperial Guard. To receive Emperor Jingren, the Embroidered Guard had actually tidied him up a little. Apart from a broken arm care of the empress, he had no particular injuries.

“Has he said anything?” Emperor Jingren asked.

Jing Xixian replied, “He hasn’t said a word since he was brought to the prison. We’ve used some torture methods, but we can’t pry a single sentence out of him.”

Jing Xixian viewed this with some respect. Whatever insolence Yan Xu might have perpetrated, his endurance was still worthy of admiration. As commander of the Embroidered Guard, Jing Xixian naturally knew how dreadful its methods were. He believed himself incapable of withstanding such torture. Yet Yan Xu had been able to grit his teeth and bear it, without letting even a groan escape. He was a brave man.

But Emperor Jingren frowned and ordered a guard to raise Yan Xu’s head. He saw that Yan Xu’s eyes were clear, his mind unclouded. This was enough.

“We have only two questions to ask you,” said Emperor Jingren. “First, what does it mean to be ‘out of the running’? Second, we understand that burning incense allows you to induce dreams, but how can you all be certain that we will dream of the person who uses the incense?”

The empress’s eyes had been on Yan Xu. When he heard these two questions, he looked swiftly at Emperor Jingren. The young emperor was sitting upright in his chair, with no expression on his face, his emotions unreadable.

Such was the reaction of the always collected empress. Yan Xu was naturally even more shaken. His astonishment was entirely unconcealed. The dread of having his secret found out was all over his face. For Emperor Jingren, this was enough.

But torture ought still to be attempted. Emperor Jingren waved a hand and said coldly, “Don’t mind us. Carry on.”

Despite being told not to mind him, the Embroidered Guard still had to consider the young emperor’s sensibilities. There was nothing visually striking about the tortures that followed. At most they were of the pricking and flogging sort, nothing too cruel. At any rate, Yan Xu still said nothing. He didn’t even make a sound.

Su Huailing, observing, covered her mouth. Since coming to the Embroidered Guard’s prison, she had thrown up nearly every day. It was only in the last couple of days that she had started to adjust. Though she still felt a little unwell, at least she wouldn’t disgrace herself in front of the emperor. Su Huailing had grown used to listening to screams and pleas for mercy. Seeing Yan Xu today, she felt a trace of unwilling admiration.

But what was admirable to Su Huailing was suspicious to Emperor Jingren. It was one thing for Yan Xu to make no sound, but why didn’t his expression change? Being pricked and flogged seemed to him no worse than being tickled… No, it was as if he didn’t feel it at all.

Emperor Jingren waved a hand, and the Embroidered Guard ceased administering torture. Jing Xixian went to Emperor Jingren’s side and heard the emperor say, “Which of the Embroidered Guardsmen here is the most resistant to pain?”

One of the guardsmen stepped forward and knelt before Emperor Jingren. Emperor Jingren said, “Those needles just now. Gently prick him with one of them.”