Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven: The Framing

Because Lin Miaomiao had previously promised to paint a portrait for Emperor Yongchang, she was summoned to the palace early the next morning.

Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe walked hand in hand into the imperial palace, though Lin Miaomiao still disliked the atmosphere within its walls. Perhaps due to the upcoming imperial selection, the palace was bustling with activity. It was then that Li Yanhe spotted the Great General, Yuan Sihan.

"Uncle," Li Yanhe said, standing there and addressing the General. Yuan Sihan glanced at Li Yanhe and hurriedly walked over to his side.

"Your Highness," Yuan Sihan bowed in greeting. Li Yanhe looked at Lin Miaomiao, who understood that he had matters to attend to.

"Go ahead," she told him. "I will wait at the Empress Dowager’s palace."

Li Yanhe nodded, and then departed with General Yuan Sihan. No sooner had Lin Miaomiao walked away than she felt she was being followed. Before she could figure out what was happening, she found herself passing through the Imperial Garden, where a beautiful woman blocked her path. Lin Miaomiao looked up and said, "Excuse me, I need to pass."

The woman was a newly arrived noble lady named Noble Lady Cao, the legitimate daughter of the Ministry of Personnel official, Cao Bida.

Nanny Zhao stepped forward to shield Lin Miaomiao. Seeing the woman glaring at her, Lin Miaomiao asked, "I rarely enter the palace. Who might you be?"

Upon hearing this, Noble Lady Cao rolled her eyes dramatically and retorted, "I am from the Ministry of Personnel’s estate, and I am a Noble Lady of this palace."

Lin Miaomiao nodded, unimpressed. "And then? Do you have some advice for me, Noble Lady Cao?"

Taken aback, Noble Lady Cao replied with displeasure, "Truly someone from the boondocks; not a shred of upbringing."

Lin Miaomiao looked up at the woman stirring up trouble. "What does my upbringing have to do with you?"

"I called you 'Noble Lady' out of courtesy. Step aside; do not delay my business."

Lin Miaomiao felt the woman was deranged. She didn't even know her, yet here she was, blocking the path for no reason. If that wasn't sickness, what was?

Noble Lady Cao had grown up pampered at the Ministry of Personnel’s estate. What she despised most was the current Imperial Noble Consort. A daughter from a military family, why did she deserve such favor from the Emperor? The late Emperor had decreed that the current virtuous Imperial Noble Consort, Yuan Chuxia, could not be Empress. Since the late Empress’s death, there had only been this one Imperial Noble Consort.

Lin Miaomiao, unaware of what was going through Noble Lady Cao’s mind, simply wanted to leave this place of discord, unwilling to look at the woman's face any longer.

Noble Lady Cao glared at her coldly and said, "A rustic village woman, truly small-minded. My eyes have finally seen one."

Hearing "small-minded" repeated over and over, a mocking smile tugged at the corners of Lin Miaomiao’s mouth. "Noble Lady Cao, we do not know each other. I am the Princess Consort of the Prince of Shengxuan, a second-rank official’s wife. I wonder what rank you hold?"

Upon hearing this, Noble Lady Cao gasped, choked by her own indignation, and raised her hand to slap Lin Miaomiao across the face.

Lin Miaomiao dodged to the side, and due to the force of her swing, Noble Lady Cao hit nothing but air. Furious, she shrieked, "You dare to dodge!"

Lin Miaomiao looked at her as if she were an idiot. "If I don't dodge, what am I supposed to do? Wait for you to hit me?"

Lin Miaomiao continued, "You aren't my mother or father, so by what right do you educate me? Listen, Auntie, you keep going on about my low status and me being a village woman—have I ever crossed you? Whether you think I’m low or you’re noble, we have no business with each other. Is it really necessary to keep pestering me? To put it nicely, you’re looking for trouble where there is none. To put it bluntly, you’re sick—go get treated."

Noble Lady Cao, unable to catch her breath, pointed a finger at Lin Miaomiao and shouted, "How dare you treat me this way!"

At that moment, Noble Lady Cao stiffened and fainted straight to the ground. Lin Miaomiao rolled her eyes and leaned against a nearby structure, watching the performance coldly. She thought to herself, "That’s too fake. Even soap operas wouldn't dare act like this. Are you playing a game with me?"

Just as she was silently complaining, she saw Emperor Yongchang—the ultimate "plot device"—appear, accompanied by the head eunuch, Bai Qiu, who shrieked, "His Imperial Majesty has arrived!"

Lin Miaomiao was speechless. This legendary romantic drama-turned-melodrama was too punctual, and the plot device had arrived at the perfect moment.

After performing the proper salutations, Lin Miaomiao stood quietly to the side. Emperor Yongchang looked at the unconscious Noble Lady Cao and sighed. "What is the meaning of this?"

Lin Miaomiao glanced at the woman on the ground. "She just keeled over. I don’t know what's wrong with her. Father, perhaps you should choose concubines with better health. Look at Noble Lady Cao; she’s so frail. I don’t even know what happened—she just fainted. It’s impossible to explain."

For some reason, hearing Lin Miaomiao’s words felt like a memory from a past life to Emperor Yongchang. She reminded him so much of the young Imperial Noble Consort, Yuan Chuxia.

In that fleeting moment, the Emperor was dazed. When he was still a prince, Yuan Chuxia was a secondary consort. A pregnant concubine had once tried to frame Yuan Chuxia using her unborn child. At that time, Yuan Chuxia had just stood to the side, watching with indifference. Li Zuo, then a prince, had known the concubine was faking it. Even after Yuan Chuxia explained the situation, she had simply stood there quietly.

In this moment, Emperor Yongchang felt the same impatience and utter disdain emanating from the girl.

As the Emperor was lost in memory, Bai Qiu asked, "Your Majesty, should we summon the Imperial Physician?"

While a group of people scurried to call for a physician, the Emperor sat on a stone bench, and Lin Miaomiao stood to the side. Once the physician finished taking the pulse, Lin Miaomiao walked over and asked, "How much is the medical fee? I must pay for it. Since it can be solved with money, I’d rather pay. She’s trying to extort me, so I can only pay the fees; otherwise, I’ll never be able to clear my name."

Standing there with her small bag, Lin Miaomiao pulled out a small pouch. With her small stature and bright, wide eyes looking at the physician, everyone present suddenly found the scene rather amusing.

"Well? How much?" Lin Miaomiao asked, looking at everyone. "I’m not sure if I have enough." As she spoke, she pulled out a stack of banknotes and a gold ingot from her bag.

Just then, Li Yanhe returned. Seeing Lin Miaomiao counting out silver, he sighed and said with doting affection, "You silly girl, it doesn't cost that much."

Lin Miaomiao rubbed her nose and looked at Li Yanhe. "But he is a palace physician; shouldn't it be very expensive?"

Li Yanhe sighed again, looking at the physician. "It's fine. He’s giving us a 'friendship price'."

The physician from the Imperial Academy looked at Li Yanhe, and the servants standing nearby felt as if they were being blinded by the display of affection. Everyone wondered why they had to be here as such unnecessary spectators.

Noble Lady Cao, lying on the ground, was furious. She began to cry out to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, the Princess Consort of Shengxuan is arrogant and willful! Is this not a misfortune for our Great Yong Dynasty? A farm girl, actually unable to distinguish between high and low..."

Lin Miaomiao raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't touch you, did I? Ask the servants nearby if I laid a finger on you."

The Emperor looked at the servants, who knelt on the ground. "What happened just now?"

Lin Miaomiao frowned, and Li Yanhe addressed the Emperor, "I know what Miaomiao is like. If it is inconvenient for you today, Father, I will take her home." He looked at Lin Miaomiao and added, "It’s alright. She’s just in poor health and wanted to extort our family’s money."

Everyone heard Li Yanhe’s words and glanced silently at the Emperor. At that moment, the Princess Consort whispered to her husband, "I think so too. She just fainted on purpose to extort our money."

Lin Miaomiao had spoken very quietly, but everyone present was not deaf. They wondered if the two of them could have saved their secrets for after they left.

Emperor Yongchang looked at Noble Lady Cao and said coldly, "Noble Lady Cao, you are grounded."

Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe left with the Emperor, heading toward the palace of the Imperial Noble Consort, Yuan Chuxia. As they walked side by side, chatting, the cold-faced Prince—whom some said had crawled out of a pile of corpses—was gentle to the extreme toward the young girl.

Sitting in his palanquin, the Emperor watched them and couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. He didn't know why he felt so sad. His heart ached, and he didn't understand why. It wasn't until the news of Yuan Chuxia’s eventual passing reached him that he finally understood: this heartache was the realization that some things could never return.

Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe drew sketches for the Emperor and the Imperial Noble Consort. It didn't take long, and when Yuan Chuxia received the portrait, she was stunned, and then tears began to stream down her face.

"I don't know why," she said to Lin Miaomiao, "but suddenly, I feel a bit homesick."

The Emperor looked at her. After a long silence, Lin Miaomiao smiled and said, "You will have a chance to go back."

Yuan Chuxia looked at her, and after a while, she began to cough violently, murmuring to Lin Miaomiao, "Yes... there will be a chance. There will be a chance."