Chapter 5: The Fourth Crossing

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Cui'er hesitated, “Miss, this is all the hot water there is. Once you finish, I will go pour more.”
Yu Qingyan shot her a sharp glance, and Cui'er obediently replied, “I will get it right away.”
Life these days was unbearable—no proper food, barely enough to drink, and the sky outside was an endless expanse, yet she couldn’t even step out of the courtyard. She truly could not fathom how the once delicate young lady had endured this past year.
“Sit down too.”
“…Yes.”
Cui'er sat down awkwardly. Yu Qingyan placed a porcelain bowl in front of her and handed over a steamed bun. “Eat quickly!”
“Cui'er, I don’t dare—”
“Eat when I tell you to eat. How can you work without strength from food?”
Cui'er answered with a slight quiver in her voice, “Yes.”
“Don’t act like I’m bullying you, alright?”
“It’s not that. Miss treats Cui'er well, Cui'er knows.” Tears began streaming down her face again.
Yu Qingyan sighed helplessly. “If I treat you badly, you cry; if I treat you well, you still cry!”
So this was what they meant by women being made of water. To think that she, a formidable modern assassin, would be moved to tears watching a beauty weep in this sunless ancient cold palace.

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Life is truly strange; you never know what might happen next.
“An imperial edict has arrived for Lady Yu of the cold palace—”
“Cough,” Yu Qingyan choked slightly, as a loud, harsh voice accompanied the arrival of a short, stout eunuch.
Cui'er hurriedly stood up. “Miss, quickly!”
Yu Qingyan frowned. An edict? That meant kneeling, didn’t it? To this fat eunuch?
She shoved the last piece of bun into her mouth and drank some hot water to warm herself.
“How dare you! Kneel and receive the edict at once!”
Yu Qingyan stood and snatched the edict from the eunuch’s hand.
“You, you… Guards! Seize this criminal woman!”
“Who dares? Step forward and try!”
Two young eunuchs seemed intimidated by her commanding presence and paused. The stout eunuch was also taken aback but quickly recovered and shouted, “Such audacity!”
Yu Qingyan frowned as she read the edict. Though an assassin, she had some knowledge of antiques and calligraphy—it was a required skill—and she could see at a glance the contents: she was being granted to the Idle Prince as his consort?
The stout eunuch coughed lightly, finishing his duty. “His Majesty decrees that although Lady Yu of the cold palace has erred, considering her sincere repentance, she is granted marriage to the Idle Prince as his consort. The wedding will be held in five days. By imperial command! You—go and accept the edict with thanks!”

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“Get lost!”
“How dare you be so bold! I will report this to His Majesty—”
“Now leave!”
“You… you shameless woman! Just wait—”
Yu Qingyan tossed the edict aside and looked at Cui'er, who was wiping away her tears. “Who is this Idle Prince?”
Did the emperor bear a grudge against him, to bestow a discarded empress from the cold palace upon him as his consort? In this cruel old society, a ruler could command a subject to die, but the subject could not refuse. The Idle Prince had no choice but to accept the edict, though surely it must be maddening!
“Miss, how could the emperor humiliate you so? You have been married to His Majesty for a year and a half. Even if… even if…”
Yu Qingyan frowned. “Even if what?”
Cui'er hesitated, “Even if… even if His Majesty has not favored you…”
So that was it. Chu Yuheng had married her only to keep in check Yu Songnian, who was then the prime minister, ensuring his smooth path to the throne.
But once he ascended the throne, he wasted no time eliminating Yu Songnian. If it wasn’t the old saying of ‘when the crafty hare dies, the good hound is boiled,’ then Yu Songnian simply did not support him.