I Did Not Become Empress On Purpose - Chapter 6

The two continued chatting about the various high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital, and Bai Ruofeng felt his mind easing. Although he could sense the other’s deliberate accommodation, their views on certain matters were remarkably compatible.

Duan Qingzhang invited Bai Ruofeng to share lunch with him.

The mortal world was full of chaos and trouble, yet sitting quietly near the bustling crowds, watching the river sparkle and the flower petals drift lazily downward, Bai Ruofeng felt an unexpected and profound sense of tranquility wash over him.

He plucked a blade of grass to hold between his teeth, then lazily rested his arms behind his head and lay back. His field of vision was immediately filled by a vast expanse of azure sky, segmented into small grid-like patterns by the crossing branches of the blossoming trees.

“Brother Bai, lying down right after eating is bad for your health.”

Bai Ruofeng let out a lazy hum from his nose, having no intention of responding further. He cast a sideways glance at the impeccably seated man in azure robes. Of course, what stood out even more were the young ladies hiding behind the man to steal glances at him, their flushed faces even more delicate and pink than the surrounding blossoms. Yet they strictly adhered to proper etiquette, not daring to boldly step forward and strike up a conversation.

With such beautiful scenery, delicious food, and good company, Bai Ruofeng suddenly felt that staying here wasn’t so bad after all. He had always been accustomed to walking alone anyway, though it was a pity that he would likely never see his parents and younger sister again.

In the afternoon, Duan Qingzhang escorted him back to the Suppressing North Marquis Estate as promised.

The household staff only now realized that their frail, bedridden master had slipped out without a word. Steward Yuan and a servant pushed the wheelchair to the entrance, where Tang Yan smoothly and naturally transferred Bai Ruofeng from the carriage into the wheelchair with practiced ease.

Bidding farewell to Duan Qingzhang, Bai Ruofeng watched the carriage pull away and vanish around the corner before signaling Tang Yan to push him inside.

“Steward Yuan, this is my newly recruited attendant, and he will be taking care of me from now on. By the way, what was your name again?” Bai Ruofeng asked, turning his head as he sat in the wheelchair.

“Reporting to the young master, this subordinate is named Tang Yan, the Yan of speech.”

“Tang, Yan.” Bai Ruofeng tapped rhythmically on the armrest, deep in thought.

Once inside his quarters, Bai Ruofeng used the excuse of needing rest to dismiss Steward Yuan and the other servants, then lifted his chin to indicate the seat opposite him. “Xiao Tang, sit. I want to have a chat with you.”

Tang Yan looked somewhat perplexed. “This subordinate prefers to stand.”

“Fine, stand then, we can chat while you stand.” Bai Ruofeng’s eyes curved into crescents; anyone familiar with him would instantly know he was cooking up another mischievous idea. “Xiao Tang, do you know where Brother Cheng lives?”

Tang Yan froze, looking somewhat conflicted as he nodded, then shook his head.

“You do know where he lives?” Bai Ruofeng asked happily, leaning forward involuntarily as he plotted in a conspiratorial whisper, “How about this, let’s go give Brother Cheng a surprise, shall we?”

That sounded more like a terrifying fright. Tang Yan gasped sharply and shook his head vigorously. Bai Ruofeng would undoubtedly emerge unscathed from whatever happened, but he himself would likely be hacked into eighteen pieces by Fang Youcheng and fed to the emperor’s favorite pets.

Yet the newly ennobled young marquis kept chattering away with his questions, and Tang Yan’s silence, consisting solely of occasional nods and shakes of the head, left him thoroughly dissatisfied. Slamming his hand down on the table, Bai Ruofeng scolded, “Tang Yan, I am asking you a question, not playing a guessing game of nods and shakes. Have you turned mute?”

If escaping everything meant becoming a mute, then being a mute sounded rather appealing. With a bitter expression, Tang Yan nodded.

Bai Ruofeng:

He wasn’t actually trying to make things difficult for Tang Yan on purpose. Lowering his tone, Tang Yan explained, “My master only permits this subordinate to speak three sentences a day.”

“Why?”

Tang Yan scratched his head and fell silent.

“Since he’s assigned you to follow me now, you answer to me.” Unable to puzzle out the reason, Bai Ruofeng dropped the matter and commanded outright, “I don’t have those kinds of rules here. You don’t need to follow any daily three-sentence limit.”

“Young Master is wise!” Tang Yan’s eyes lit up instantly.

Seeing how smoothly things were going, Bai Ruofeng smiled and decided to lay a little groundwork before asking the other to help him find Brother Cheng. “So, Xiao Tang, tell me, who is your master now, Brother Cheng or me?”

Tang Yan answered righteously, “Whoever pays my wages is my master.”

“Good grief.” Recovering from his surprise, Bai Ruofeng ground his teeth and delivered a light punch to the man’s arm. “With a grand estate like the Suppressing North Marquis residence, could we possibly fall short of paying your wages?”

“Young Master is mighty!” Tang Yan cheered. “Is there anything else the young master wishes to ask? Tang Yan shall tell you everything he knows without holding back… ah, wait!” His runaway common sense rapidly sprinted back into his brain, and he began to tremble.

Rolling his eyes, Tang Yan offered a weak defense. “Well, you see, a person has to stay alive to actually spend their wages. Some servants are quite capable of serving two masters. And as for certain matters, they’ll come to light sooner or later anyway; it’s all about fate, don’t you agree, Young Master?”

All this evasive rambling simply meant he was terrified of Fang Youcheng exacting revenge later. Bai Ruofeng was amused to the point of exasperation. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Tang Yan hastily cut in, “Young Master, it’s getting late. Let me check the kitchens to see if dinner is ready!” With that, he bolted out the door and made his escape.

Bai Ruofeng shook his head with a helpless smile. Finding the room peaceful and completely empty now, he turned his wheelchair toward the bedroom to rifle through the items there.

Aside from two dog-eared military strategy books resting on the bedside table, there were very few personal belongings in the room. Failing to find anything resembling the clay puppy from that morning, Bai Ruofeng had to abandon the search with a twinge of regret.

The note had been intended for him, which meant the original owner should have recognized that symbol.

Massaging his temples with his fingertips, Bai Ruofeng let his gaze drift blankly toward the carved wooden door. He was certain his memories were completely intact and crystal clear, devoid of any gaps or missing pieces upon reflection. So what on earth was the deal with that little clay dog?

The mystery in his mind only grew larger, leaving him entirely without a clue, so he had no choice but to set it aside for now.

At dinnertime, Bai Ruofeng encountered his substitute younger sister once again at the dining table.

Reflecting on the fact that they were supposed to be siblings, yet had only met during his awakening and at breakfast, Bai Ruofeng hoped to converse more with her and glean some information about the original owner.

However, Bai Yueying consistently evaded his attempts, either urging him to avoid overthinking and focus on his health, or claiming that due to their long separation, she couldn’t remember anything from their childhood.

After a few of his conversational topics were brushed aside with perfunctory replies, Bai Ruofeng felt his warm overtures met with a cold shoulder, prompting a disappointed sigh as he abandoned any further attempts at bonding. Twirling his chopsticks, he stared thoughtfully at the dishes before him, appearing to contemplate which piece of food to pick up while inwardly thinking that this sister of his knew even less than Brother Cheng.

“Second Brother,” Bai Yueying used her serving chopsticks to place a piece of meat onto his plate, casting a cautious glance at his expression. “I heard that Second Brother and His Majesty were thick as thieves in our youth, and now His Majesty has not only permitted us to return to the capital to recuperate but also dispatched imperial physicians to tend to you daily. Now that Second Brother has regained consciousness, shouldn’t you make a trip to the palace?”

As she leaned closer, a faint fragrance drifted from her person. Bai Ruofeng lost his focus for a split second before registering what she had just said.

“Oh?” Bai Ruofeng felt somewhat flattered, but given his deep desire to keep the new emperor at arm’s length, he had zero inclination to proactively thrust himself forward. Treating the suggestion with casual indifference, he shoveled a couple of bites of rice and dismissed it with a vague reply, “You certainly thought it through thoroughly, but my legs are in no shape to travel right now. His Majesty would likely find me an omen of bad luck, so I will go into the palace to express my gratitude at a later date.”

“Mm, Second Brother, do remember to go,” Bai Yueying replied, serving him a couple more portions of food.

With this exchange filled with hidden agendas coming to an end, the two siblings, having finished deflecting one another, lapsed into silence. Bai Ruofeng bit the tip of his chopsticks and cast a few sideways glances at Bai Yueying, concluding that the original owner’s relationship with this sister must have been quite poor, given how poorly matched their conversations were.

Over the next two days, he stayed safely tucked away inside the estate. Aside from the imperial physician visiting every morning to take his pulse, Bai Ruofeng only interacted with the household staff.

Late one afternoon, Tang Yan was pushing him along for a stroll through the garden. A gentle evening breeze swept through the foliage and brushed against his robes in the slanting rays of the sunset. A thin blanket was draped across his knees, and resting upon it was a slim, dog-eared volume, the very same military strategy book from his bedside table, with every single page covered in handwritten annotations.

Initially intending merely to skim through it, he found himself growing increasingly engrossed until he was completely captivated by the text. If not for his physical condition, he would have desperately wanted to test out the martial arts footwork and combat techniques detailed in the book.

A piercing, high-pitched scream suddenly shattered the quiet air, piercing straight into his ears and startling him so violently that his entire body shuddered. Straining his ears to listen closely, he finally made out the frantic cries: “Help! Someone help, there’s been a murder!”

Bai Ruofeng’s relaxed expression vanished instantly as he pointed toward the source of the commotion. Tang Yan instinctively steered the wheelchair around, pushing him quickly toward the direction of the cries.

A rough-looking man was sitting collapsed on the ground, a long bamboo pole discarded beside him, clearly one of the servants responsible for maintaining and cleaning the lotus pond. Trembling all over with a pale face, he stared in horror toward the two men. “M-Marquis! In the… in the pond, there’s a body.”

As they drew closer, the pungent stench of urine grew increasingly foul. Bai Ruofeng turned his head to look, realizing the servant had been frightened to the point of wetting himself by the corpse.

Stopping the wheelchair three or four meters away from the panicked servant, Tang Yan stepped forward to retrieve the long pole and gave the water a couple of prods, using the tool to hook a bloated, floating corpse toward the bank.

The body was dressed in the familiar uniform of a Suppressing North Marquis Estate servant, and as it drifted closer, the heavy odor of decay billowed outward. Bai Ruofeng could not help raising his sleeve to cover his nose and mouth.

Prompted by the earlier screams, the rest of the estate’s few remaining servants hurried over. Steward Yuan recognized the corpse in the pond as the page boy who had briefly attended to Bai Ruofeng a few days prior.

After giving the body a quick inspection, Tang Yan returned to the side of Bai Ruofeng, who was craning his neck to look, and reported, “There are no other external injuries. He drowned.”

“Drowned?” Bai Ruofeng found this rather absurd, then turned his gaze to Steward Yuan. “This lotus pond is filthy, hardly a suitable place for swimming. Steward Yuan, do you have any idea what happened?”

“The young marquis mentioned that he didn’t need his service anymore that day, so I reassigned him to general cleaning duties around the courtyard and study,” Steward Yuan said, trembling with a look of helpless distress as he clearly remained as clueless as anyone. Worriedly, he muttered, “Although this lad was a bit lazy and loved to sleep on the job, he wasn’t the type to throw his life away in the lake. Goodness! An accident must have happened.”

As for what kind of accident, no one could say for certain.

With all the estate’s meager staff gathered together, panic began to spread in a silent, creeping wave. “If it wasn’t murder, could it be a ghost?” Someone muttered under their breath, and the crowd stirred with nervous ripples of whispered gossip.

Bai Ruofeng couldn’t catch every word they were saying, but stray phrases like ‘Marquis and Marchioness’, ‘the heir’, and ‘the Bai family army’ were more than enough for him to guess the nature of the rumors.

“Nonsense!” A sudden, unexpected surge of fury flared within Bai Ruofeng, driving him to defend the honor of the estate. Raising his voice sharply, he commanded, “The Suppressing North Marquis Estate has remained utterly loyal through generations. Even if spirits were to return, why would they ever harm an innocent life?”

Bai Ruofeng had not displayed such sharp severity since regaining consciousness, and his sudden outburst genuinely shocked the gathered crowd into silence.

Although they quieted down, their eyes and expressions continued to exchange anxious messages. Frowning as a profound sense of unease settled in his chest, Bai Ruofeng ordered Steward Yuan to have the body properly dealt with and immediately dismissed the servants to return to their quarters.

Tang Yan pushed the wheelchair from behind as Bai Ruofeng remained silent for a long moment, asking with a gloomy tone what the other made of the situation.

Tang Yan spoke with blunt directness, “It’s not a ghost, it’s human work. Either the page boy slipped and fell out of his own accord, or someone pushed him in. With so few people left in the estate, whoever is behind this won’t be able to cause much of a stir. Don’t worry, Young Master, I’ll patrol the grounds more frequently over the next few nights.”

“I appreciate your help.” Bai Ruofeng let out a muted sigh of relief. The sudden burst of anger had risen and subsided as quickly as pulling a thread. Soon enough, a nagging sense of wrongfulness began to surface: he realized how remarkably apathetic he had managed to be toward the death of another human being.

In his original era, where the human population had suffered a precipitous collapse, laws protecting human life were extraordinarily rigorous. The loss of a single life was treated as a major public event.

When had he grown so hardened? Or was his true nature simply this cold and detached? Bai Ruofeng clenched his fingers tightly against the armrests, a thin layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

“Young Master? Young Master?” Tang Yan called out repeatedly, snapping the momentarily entranced man back to reality. “Young Master, are you alright? Why are you looking so pale?”

Bai Ruofeng raised his sleeve to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his brow, only now feeling an icy chill radiating through his body. Gathering his scattered thoughts, he attempted to steer the conversation toward a different topic to lighten the heavy atmosphere: “Since Brother Cheng sent you to my side as a personal attendant, I certainly didn’t expect you to double as a guard and bodyguard. Wearing so many different hats can’t be easy.”

Tang Yan easily picked up on his hidden intent to change the subject, his eyes curving into a cheerful smile as he replied, “Ah, that’s nothing. Just make sure the young master grants me a few extra bonuses.”

Bai Ruofeng chuckled softly in response, turning his head to look back at him. “Right, I never asked what you used to do when you were working under Brother Cheng.”

As casually as if answering what he had eaten for dinner, Tang Yan replied, “I was a spy.”

A spy? Bai Ruofeng froze, his smile slowly fading. Yet Tang Yan seemed completely oblivious to any issue, locking eyes with him in an awkward staring contest for a long moment.

Astonished, Bai Ruofeng stammered, “You… you… you’re a secret agent?”

“What’s so surprising about that?” Tang Yan asked righteously. “Aren’t I still doing secret agent work right now?”

Bai Ruofeng:

“Sigh, it’s not easy being me. I work two jobs a day, taking care of the young master by day and reporting back to the master by night,” Tang Yan muttered to himself. Noticing Bai Ruofeng’s speechlessness and peculiar expression, he asked, “Is something wrong, Young Master?”

Dumbfounded, Bai Ruofeng remarked, “This is my first time seeing a spy operate with such… blatant openness. I am truly in awe.” With that, he actually cupped his fists in a mock salute, projecting an expression of profound admiration.

A thoroughly honest and simple-minded smile appeared on Tang Yan’s ordinary features, highly deceptive in nature. However, Bai Ruofeng no longer dared to view him as a mere ordinary guard.

Scratching his head, Tang Yan dropped the formal ‘Young Master’ address and switched to military phrasing, speaking with absolute solemnity. “I truly admire the young marquis. Despite your youth, you have slaughtered countless enemies and defended our country. I couldn’t be happier that the master ordered me to look after you. Speaking frankly about all this is partly because I hope the general will grant me some leniency in the future, but also to let the general know that while I take orders from the master, I harbor absolutely no malicious intent toward you.”

How could he possibly bear the title of general when he hadn’t even figured out who he was yet? Bai Ruofeng offered no verbal confirmation. His fair, slender index finger tapped rhythmically against the armrest, producing dull thuds against the thick wood like the cadence of deep contemplation.

A smiling glint flickered within his vivid peach-blossom eyes. Without pressing for details about his past or questioning the veracity of his claims, Bai Ruofeng adopted an unhurried, perfectly confident tone: “So, whether in the past or right now, Brother Cheng has been keeping tabs on my every move on a daily basis, hasn’t he?”

He had slipped up! Tang Yan’s brain went off like a firecracker, instantly conjuring visions of Fang Youcheng’s scornful sneer and imagining eighteen different ways he could be executed. Panicking, he brought his hands together in a hasty plea for mercy, desperately trying to retract his words. “Young Master! I didn’t say that!”

Bai Ruofeng rubbed his chin. “Well, you see, whenever I’m in a bad mood, I tend to blurt things out.”

“Young Master, please! What will it take to put you in a good mood?” Tang Yan cried out in despair.

Bai Ruofeng snapped his fingers with dashing flair. “You’ve been by Brother Cheng’s side for so long, you must know plenty of things about my past. From now on, whenever I ask you a question, you are obligated to tell me everything without holding anything back.”

Shifting his gaze evasively, Tang Yan replied in a weak, hollow voice, “This subordinate will do his best.”

The incident involving the floating corpse in the pond had evidently alarmed the other resident of the estate.

When Tang Yan pushed Bai Ruofeng back inside, he found Bai Yueying waiting for him in the room, looking deeply worried with her delicate willow brows slightly knitted. “Second Brother, I heard about what happened at the pond…” She trailed off, her eyes filled with unease.

“It’s alright, everything has been taken care of,” Bai Ruofeng reassured her with a gentle tone, advising her to avoid walking around alone in the future.

“Mm,” Bai Yueying responded in a soft murmur, her slender fingers gently tugging at his sleeve. Her lowered neck possessed the soft flexibility of a willow branch, projecting a pitiable and endearing image while deliberately placing herself in a submissive position.

A faint, pleasant fragrance emanated from her, drifting over without warning to envelop him entirely. Bai Ruofeng’s nostrils twitched slightly, and upon collecting his thoughts, he felt a subtle wave of awkwardness, his brows furrowing in hesitation. He wanted to brush her hand away, yet worried that doing so might damage their sibling bond.

The siblings chatted for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late and feeling a wave of fatigue, Bai Ruofeng was about to instruct Tang Yan to escort his sister back to her quarters when Bai Yueying pulled a decorative invitation scroll from her sleeve and presented it to him with both hands.

The paper of the invitation was clearly of exceptional quality, featuring black characters upon yellow paper and sealed with an official red imperial stamp. It explicitly and by name invited the eldest young lady of the Suppressing North Marquis Estate, Bai Yueying, to attend the Empress Dowager’s Jade Pool Banquet.

A plot point that he had temporarily forgotten now materialized right before his eyes, seemingly validating his earlier suspicions. Bai Ruofeng’s pupils constricted slightly. Closing the invitation, he looked up at Bai Yueying. “This invitation…”

“It was only delivered today,” Bai Yueying said, her eyes gazing at him with an expression of earnest supplication. “Second Brother, being able to attend the Jade Pool Banquet means passing the second stage of the imperial selection. With the new emperor having ascended the throne without an empress and the imperial harem vacant, your younger sister wishes to give it a try. I humbly ask for Second Brother’s support.”

With that, she stood up and executed a formal, solemn bow.

His mood plummeted straight from a high, radiant full moon down to the dark floor of a lake. The oppressive sense of frustration arrived abruptly and in absolute silence.

Yet upon careful reflection, it also seemed entirely logical. After all, Bai Yueying was destined for this path; as the female protagonist of the story, she was naturally fated to enter the palace and become the empress.

Watching the ‘plot’ unfold faithfully right before his eyes, Bai Ruofeng let out a silent breath, leaned forward, and gently supported Bai Yueying’s elbows with both hands. Looking directly into her eyes, he spoke with absolute seriousness, “How could your older brother ever refuse to help?”

Meanwhile, Fang Youcheng had finally finished wading through the stack of memorial reports on his desk. Picking up the final document and unfolding it, he discovered page after page densely packed with lists of names.

Pondering for a moment, he flipped back to the cover and realized this was the roster of noble daughters invited to attend the Empress Dowager’s Jade Pool Banquet.

The chief eunuch had placed it on his desk that morning, only for it to be buried beneath the towering mountain of memorial reports from the morning court session, leaving it unnoticed until this very moment.

When a new emperor held a selection, it was customary to choose maidens from across the realm to enter the palace, and the appointment of these imperial consorts was intimately tied to the factions of the outer court, serving as a method to balance political forces both inside and outside the imperial court. Whether or not they entered the palace was essentially a transaction of interests.

Fang Youcheng held no personal interest in the selection itself, yet he could not afford to disregard the political equilibrium of the court. Consequently, under the pretext that the late emperor had passed away too recently to permit extravagant celebrations, he had restricted the selection process to the capital alone.

The managing eunuch would first vet candidates based on their family background and issue formal invitation cards for the Jade Pool Banquet, after which the Empress Dowager and the Emperor would make the final selection of who entered the palace. There were countless subtle maneuvers embedded within this preliminary phase. If someone genuinely wished to avoid entering the imperial harem, they could easily find a way to have their name crossed off during this stage.

Fang Youcheng’s gaze swept over Bai Yueying’s name, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

With only the two siblings left in the Suppressing North Marquis Estate, anyone in the capital knew how deeply favored Bai Ruofeng had remained ever since serving as the crown prince’s study companion; there was simply no need to send a younger sister into the palace. Furthermore, Bai Ruofeng was not the type of person to sacrifice his own sibling for the sake of political advancement. That left only one possible explanation: Bai Yueying’s own personal desire.

His sole impression of this individual was that she was Bai Ruofeng’s younger sister. Bai Ruofeng had once spoken to him about her, mentioning that out of every ten letters sent to him by his family, nine were rants about wanting to run away from home and wander the Jianghu.

Recalling this, Bai Ruofeng had looked somewhat exasperated, though his lips had clearly curved in amusement as he gloated, “My family always says my younger sister and I share the exact same temperament, like a pair of wolves teaming up. I don’t think we’re alike at all, seeing as I’ve never turned the household upside down and gotten myself grounded every single day.”

Such a person, why would she ever want to enter the imperial harem as a consort?

Having grown up amid endless plots and intrigues, Fang Youcheng was naturally inclined to view people through the lens of utmost suspicion. Because Bai Yueying was Bai Ruofeng’s biological sister, he found it impossible to ignore this discrepancy. Summoning a hidden guard, he instructed him to investigate Bai Yueying’s background all the way back in the northern borderlands.

He was determined to see whether this younger sister was truly as innocent and virtuous as Bai Ruofeng had claimed.