The ginkgo tree

Once he was certain the figure had gone far away, Ye Jingtang sheathed his saber, his expression turning grave.

Leaving aside whether the Red God of Wealth was friend or foe, their brief exchange had truly put him under pressure.

Back in Border Town, he had been the "greatest expert," and had considered his martial skills first-rate even by the standards of the martial world.

But after witnessing the Red God of Wealth's spear techniques, he finally understood how vast the gap was between him and the martial world's renowned masters-it felt like playing chess. With every move, he wanted to smash straight through the board, but even if he actually did, it would not change the fact that he was a hopeless player, without a scrap of true skill at the game.

Simply put, he seemed to have poured all his strength into the "saber hilt," heading in entirely the wrong direction.

Ye Jingtang was not surprised. He had learned his martial arts from his adoptive father, but his adoptive father had never taught him any real techniques. That meant everything he had learned was mere "showmanship." It would have been strange if he had gotten it right.

This time, the visitor had been a "friend." The next person to come knocking with murder in mind might not be. Without profound martial skills to protect himself, this was certainly no lasting solution...

At that thought, Ye Jingtang raised his eyes and looked toward the Imperial City.

The Red God of Wealth had offered to teach him spear techniques, but until he actually learned them, he could not pin his hopes on that promise.

Even if the Red God of Wealth sincerely wanted him as a disciple, he still needed a fallback to avoid being at someone else's mercy.

And at present, that "fallback, that hidden trump card," could only be the Dragon-Mingling Diagram his adoptive father had mentioned.

Leaving aside eternal youth and ascension to immortality, rumor in the martial world held that obtaining any one of the nine Dragon-Mingling Diagrams would allow a person to transcend the ordinary and enter the realm of sages, far surpassing common mortals.

Although the Dragon-Mingling Diagram was buried beneath a ginkgo tree in the "inner palace," making it difficult to obtain.

But the reigning sovereign was a woman. Even if she kept male favorites, they were unlikely to live in the inner palace, which meant it was bound to be sparsely populated...

Even if her male favorites did live there, and the inner palace was full of handsome men, with looks so blessed that the Queen Mother of the West chased after him to spoon-feed him, slipping inside to fish in troubled waters did not seem too difficult...

Trespassing into the imperial palace was clearly not something he could decide on a whim. Without first learning the situation and finding a way in, he could easily end up turning himself into "Noble Consort Ye."

Ye Jingtang gazed toward the Imperial City for a long time. With no clear plan yet, he tucked the idea of "infiltrating the inner palace" away in his heart and returned inside to clear away the broken tiles and splintered wood.

He had barely begun cleaning when hoofbeats sounded in the alley, followed by the voices of the veteran escort Yang Chao and Niao Niao:

"Young master? Young master?"

"Chirp, chirp, chirp..."

"I'm fine."

Ye Jingtang dusted off his hands and walked out of the courtyard, looking at the escorts who had rushed to his aid.

"A martial artist came by just now. We exchanged a few words, and he's already left. Nothing but a false alarm."

The twelve escorts frowned as they surveyed the devastated alley. Yang Chao urged him:

"Young master, Third Lady's a good person. She arranged lodging for every one of us. Even Little Six's place is brighter and roomier than yours. Why don't you come back with us? You don't know the capital or anyone here..."

Ye Jingtang was not certain whether the Red God of Wealth had any connection to the Pei Family. After a moment's consideration, he shook his head.

"It's all right. It's quiet here. I'll be fine once I get used to it. I really haven't found any opportunities in the capital, so I'll visit the Pei Family again tomorrow and ask for a job. Don't worry about me. Go back early and get some rest."

Hearing this, all the escorts breathed a sigh of relief. They promptly dismounted and helped Ye Jingtang clean up...

Beneath the same night sky, deep within the Imperial City.

Night had fallen, and the ornate lamps had just been lit. Palace lanterns swayed beneath the upturned eaves, their light filtering through the luxuriant branches of a great tree and casting little fan-shaped leaf shadows across the white stone paving.

Several palace maids in colorful robes stood silently with bowed heads along the covered walkways, lanterns in hand.

A swing hung beneath a ginkgo tree already a thousand years old.

A young matron dressed in a gold-and-red phoenix robe gripped the swing's ropes with both hands, swinging back and forth through the night. She soared high, her splendid skirts and red embroidered shoes tracing a half-moon arc beneath the tree.

Whoosh...

Whoosh...

The night was tranquil, the beauty picturesque, yet not a single human voice could be heard. It lent what should have been a lovely, moving scene the loneliness of "a courtyard deep within courtyards, filled with emptiness untold."

The spacious, elegant courtyard, for all its beauty, looked like an exquisitely crafted birdcage.

And the young matron swinging alone was like a canary trapped within it, trying to use the swing to rise above the red walls and golden tiles for a glimpse of the world outside.

Tap, tap...

After the swing had traveled back and forth countless times, footsteps sounded along the corridor, followed by the palace maids' respectful greetings:

"Greetings, Prince Jing."

The swing beneath the ginkgo tree slowly came to a stop. The woman in the phoenix robe turned her head, revealing a face of extraordinary beauty.

She had red lips, almond-shaped eyes, and features as lovely as a painting, yet they carried a trace of the melancholy resentment of someone long confined to secluded chambers.

Seeing Prince Jing approach, the woman in the phoenix robe did not step down to greet her. She continued swinging and asked softly:

"Liren, how did you find the time to come here today?"

"I came to pay my respects to you, Empress Dowager."

Dressed in a silver-threaded python robe, Dongfang Liren looked like a handsome prince of peerless elegance. She came up behind the swing, placed her hands on the Empress Dowager's shoulders, and gently pushed.

"I was discussing affairs of state with Her Majesty just now, and she asked me to come see you. It's so late, yet you haven't retired. Are you finding the palace lonely and dreary? Shall I arrange for someone to take you to Jade Pool Manor for a short stay?"

"I'm alone in the palace, and I'd still be alone outside. What difference would it make?"

"Her Majesty and I are the same."

"No, you're not. You and Her Majesty have proper things to do. If you wish, you can go anywhere under heaven, and you can choose men who suit your fancy~"

The Empress Dowager tilted her head and looked at Dongfang Liren.

"What can I do? I've spent ten years shut away in this palace. There aren't even any consorts in the inner palace for me to oversee. My only hope in life is to count the days until I'm buried in the Imperial Mausoleum..."

"Once you enter the palace depths, year after year, you never see spring."

Dongfang Liren pushed the swing and comforted her softly:

"It has always been this way in the imperial family. Your life may be lonely and dreary, but at least Her Majesty respects and loves you..."

The Empress Dowager looked somewhat displeased. "I'd rather Her Majesty disliked me. The late emperor's other consorts could leave with their sons for their fiefs if they had sons. Those without sons had it even better-they could leave the palace after tending his tomb for three years. I'm the one who suffers most. I have no son to take me out, and I can't remarry..."

Dongfang Liren's gaze turned helpless. "You're the Empress Dowager! An empress is a wife; the consorts are concubines. Since ancient times, unless a dynasty fell, when has an empress dowager ever remarried?"

The Empress Dowager fell silent for a moment. "History may have no empress dowagers who remarried, but there have been countless ones who disregarded a wife's virtue and kept 'male favorites'..."

?!

Dongfang Liren felt that these words were a request for male favorites directed at her, the Empress Dowager's daughter in name. With considerable disrespect, she gave the Empress Dowager's shoulder a smack.

"Empress Dowager, what are you saying?"

The Empress Dowager gave a soft huff. "I'm nearly going mad from being cooped up in this palace. Can't I even say something in passing? I never said I wanted to keep male favorites... Fortunately, I'm not your birth mother, just an ornament in the palace. If I were Her Majesty's legitimate mother and flouted propriety by keeping male favorites, wouldn't you have to close one eye and look the other way..."

Dongfang Liren sighed. "Fine. I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

The Empress Dowager thought for a moment, then asked:

"Neither you nor Her Majesty has anyone sharing your pillow. Have you been looking lately? Do you have any portraits or anything? Let your mother help you judge."

Dongfang Liren had indeed just painted a "portrait of a handsome man," but seeing how urgently the Empress Dowager yearned for romance, she could hardly bring it out for them to admire together.

"Her Majesty is busy with state affairs, and the Green Bandits have left me frantic and frazzled. How could I have the time to think about marriage..."

"You're not so young anymore. If an opportunity comes along, you should give it some thought sooner rather than later..."

After they chatted for a while, a few chilly raindrops fell through the gaps in the ginkgo tree.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

The Empress Dowager raised her eyes to the ginkgo tree's lush canopy, a trace of resentment entering her gaze.

"They all say this tree has a spirit. I come to visit it every day, and what do I get? Not a single good thing has happened in my ten years in the palace. Making my life miserable is bad enough, but now, when I'm just swinging to ease my mind, it rains and spoils my fun. I'll have you chopped down in a few days!"

"Heaven refuses to oblige and sends rain, but the tree shelters you from the wind and rain. If you cut it down, wouldn't you be left even more defenseless against the storms?"

"That's true..."