Double Queens GL - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

“Hening, as for that Guanyin portrait, the more I look at it, the more I like it,” Ye Guichen said, finding that lies now came to her as easily as breathing. “Hanging it in the main hall invites dust; it’s better to keep it close at hand where I can take it out and admire it carefully. Every time I look, I find a different feeling.”

“Is that so? And what ‘different feeling’ has Huachao discovered?” Liu Hening asked.

“Speaking of the portrait, I do have a question for you.” Since Liu Hening always managed to needle her, Ye Guichen decided to return the favor.

“Ask whatever you wish,” Liu Hening replied, her tone suggesting she would withhold nothing.

“I wonder if it is my imagination, but why do I feel that the Guanyin in the painting bears a striking resemblance to you, Hening?” Ye Guichen asked with feigned confusion.

Ye Meng looked at Liu Hening, waiting to see how this new Empress could possibly have the nerve to admit she had painted herself as a deity.

“Wow, Huachao noticed!” Liu Hening exclaimed, her voice filled with genuine delight.

How could I not notice? I’m not blind, Ye Guichen thought. Her temples began to throb. She felt she shouldn’t have started this conversation; instead of mocking Liu Hening, she felt as though she were walking straight into a trap the other woman had laid.

“Anyone would notice,” Ye Guichen pushed on. “But I don’t understand—why would you use your own face for the Guanyin?”

“The Buddha has no fixed form; ten thousand manifestations arise from the heart. Why be obsessed with the physical shape?” Liu Hening asked with a smile.

Ye Guichen was momentarily speechless. In this first true clash of wits, she had been defeated—and quite embarrassingly so.

“You are right,” Ye Guichen finally admitted, conceding her “worldly” perspective. “It was my own narrow-mindedness. However, looking at that portrait, I feel that Guanyin should look like that. It seems Hening is truly no ordinary person.”

“The heart precedes the form, and the form follows the heart,” Liu Hening replied, praising her back. “It is because Huachao has ‘kind eyes’ that she mistook me for a Guanyin. One with kind eyes must possess a kind heart.”

Ye Guichen felt this was a direct jab. Since Liu Hening entered the palace, she had looked at her with nothing but distaste. Where were the “kind eyes”? By saying this, Liu Hening made her feel small and narrow-minded. Ye Guichen could only offer a forced, awkward smile.

“I am truly happy that Huachao looked at my painting so closely,” Liu Hening said, her gaze lingering on Ye Guichen with a hint of… was that indulgence?

Ye Guichen felt a wave of embarrassment. It was like trying to show off carpentry skills in front of Lu Ban—a master. Liu Hening had effortlessly deflected her barbs with “two ounces of strength to move a thousand pounds.”

“Your painting and your words today have been most enlightening,” Ye Guichen said, feeling desperate to dismiss them. “I have much work to do. When I am free, we shall discuss Buddhist philosophy further.”

Liu Hening sensed she had peeled back one layer of Huachao’s heart, only to find several more thick walls behind it. She was being unceremoniously sent away again.

“Very well. I love chatting with you, Huachao. You are so wise.”

…

On the way back, Liu Hening was cheerful. Back at the Eastern Palace, however, Ye Guichen was brooding.

“Miss, what’s wrong?” Ye Meng asked.

Ye Guichen was too proud to admit she felt outclassed. “Liu Hening is exceptionally eloquent. She is not as simple as she looks.”

She wondered: Is it as she said? Because I pre-judged her, do I see her as an eyesore? Am I trapped in my own perception, allowing her to lead me by the nose? The thought was deeply irritating.

“A-Meng,” she commanded, “tell the craftsmen to make several sets of exquisite jewelry and send them to the Central Palace.”

“Miss, no matter how many you send, she’ll just give them all away again and come back here to ‘borrow’ more,” Ye Meng grumbled. “She’s buying people’s hearts with your treasures. Soon, every concubine in the palace will be wearing Empress-style jewelry. People won’t even know who the real Empress is!”

Ye Guichen frowned. Ye Meng was right. If everyone wore Empress-grade ornaments, it would be a disaster for royal decorum.

“Go to every palace,” Ye Guichen ordered. “Issue a decree: Any jewelry gifted by the Central Palace that exceeds one’s rank is strictly forbidden at the Winter Solstice banquet. Violators will be punished severely.”

“But since the Central Empress gave them… won’t this look bad?”

“The banquet will be filled with court officials and censors. They won’t sit by if the concubines are dressed above their station. The Central Empress was wrong to give those items in the first place. I am the one in charge of the six palaces; if a scandal breaks, it falls on me.”

“So we have to clean up her mess again? How thankless!” Ye Meng huffed.

“Just deliver the order. Whether they listen or not… well, that’s when we see who is truly foolish enough to side against the Eastern Palace.”

…

The news hit the harem like a thunderbolt. To the concubines, it looked like a direct declaration of war: the Eastern Palace versus the Central Palace.

Zhang Qingyu was devastated. She had planned to show off a golden step-shake she’d received. “Xiao Xuan, can I really not wear it?”

“Do you want to go against the Eastern Empress?” her maid asked.

“I don’t have the guts,” Zhang Qingyu muttered. Even if the new Empress was technically higher in rank, Ye Guichen was the one with the actual power. “Do you think the Eastern Empress is mad at me because I’ve been hanging out at the Central Palace?”

“You’re just realizing this now?” Xiao Xuan sighed. “You’re already on the Central Palace’s boat. It’s a bit late to jump off.”

“I was blinded by the treasures!” Zhang Qingyu fretted. “I’m known as an ‘Idiot Beauty’ anyway. Maybe if I just stay quiet, she won’t target me.”

Meanwhile, in the Longevity Hall, the “frail” Yu Changping sneezed. She panicked, fearing a cold, and reached for her expensive ginseng. Thinking of the vibrant, fiery Zhang Qingyu, she sighed. “If only I were a demon… I would love to suck the vital energy right out of her. It would be so nourishing.”

She missed the “Idiot Beauty” already—mostly because Zhang Qingyu was so fun to provoke.