Chapter Twenty: The Birthday Banquet

Li Youwei finally began to look at her with genuine scrutiny. "Who exactly are you?"

Wen Zhiyan, clearly not yet ready to reveal her true identity, replied, "Who I am is not important. What matters is that I can be of help to the Princess."

"Help me?" Li Youwei laughed. "Whichever imperial brother ascends the throne in the future, my status will remain unaffected. Do not harbor any delusions of sowing discord between me and my brothers."

"If I am not mistaken, there are no fewer than twenty elite guards patrolling outside this courtyard. Such heavy precautions reveal your deep-seated anxiety, Princess. Do you truly believe that once the dynasty changes, you will still be able to remain a revered Grand Princess?"

Wen Zhiyan’s tone carried a hint of seduction. "This commoner does not know how many men you have brought back like you did last night, but there have never been rumors of such things among the people. Where have those men gone?"

"They are, naturally, being well-cared for by me." Li Youwei met her gaze. "Having studied under the late Duke of Wen, are you a daughter of the Wen family?"

Wen Zhiyan had not expected Li Youwei to guess her identity so quickly. Unsure if it was safe to be forthcoming, she firmly denied it: "The women of the Wen family have all been exiled. I have no connection to them."

Li Youwei did not force a confession. Instead, she picked up Wen Zhiyan’s calligraphy to admire it. "Your calligraphy is truly excellent; it is clearly the result of rigorous early training. It does not matter if you do not admit it. Regardless, you are currently within my walls; you can hardly stir up any trouble."

"Princess, with your capabilities, you could easily be the one to rule this world. Why suffer under the control of men?"

Wen Zhiyan spoke these words with such sincerity that Li Youwei looked up sharply, a flicker of indescribable emotion crossing her eyes.

"You may keep me locked here, Princess, but should the Emperor ask about the Damask Scroll of Lingluo at the birthday banquet..." Wen Zhiyan leaned in close to Li Youwei and whispered into her ear.

"If that is what you say, then so be it."

Li Youwei’s expression was complex. She left with only a parting remark: "Rest well here. I will come to seek you out again."

***

Half a month later, the Emperor’s birthday arrived. As it had been less than three years since the Crown Prince’s passing, the Emperor had specifically instructed that the event should not be grand, but rather a simple family gathering.

Consequently, the banquet lacked the usual bustling crowd of high-ranking officials. Considering the Empress’s heavy burden in managing the six palaces, the banquet was organized by the mother of a young prince—one of the Emperor’s ordinary consorts. The Empress Dowager only made a brief appearance before departing, leaving the rest of the guests to be merely the imperial consorts and their children. Even the Emperor’s own siblings had been persuaded to stay away.

Li Youwei had not seen the Emperor for some time. When he was helped in by the head eunuch, coughing, she realized her father had indeed aged.

"This daughter offers her respects to the Emperor."
"This child offers his respects to the Imperial Father."

The entire assembly knelt in unison. The Emperor waved his hand, signaling them to rise. His gaze swept over his consorts and children, and finally, a smile touched his lips when he saw Li Youwei.

"Youwei, come here. It has been a long time since I last saw you."

Amidst the Empress’s pride and the envious glances of others, Li Youwei walked onto the dais. The head eunuch skillfully added a chair between the Emperor and the Empress.

"Thank you, Eunuch Su."

"You are too kind, Princess. The Emperor and Empress speak of you daily. Now that you are here, you must spend time chatting with them."

Li Youwei felt a lump in her throat and threw herself into the Emperor’s arms. "Father, Youwei has missed you and Mother so much."

"Hahaha!" The Emperor was amused by her spoiled, childish demeanor. "You are all grown up, yet you are still a crybaby."

The Empress sighed helplessly from the side. "It is because you have spoiled her since she was small, Emperor. The moment she sees you, she is full of grievances, and even I, her own mother, cannot comfort her."

Li Youwei turned to look at the Empress and acted coyly. "I missed Mother, too."

"Why have you grown so thin?" The Emperor stroked Li Youwei’s face, his heart aching. "Have you not been eating well? Are the people at the Princess’s manor not serving you with care?"

"That is not it at all." Li Youwei held onto the Emperor tightly. "I was just missing you, Father. I must see you more often from now on."

"Hahaha—cough, cough, cough..." The Emperor laughed, then could not help but cough. Li Youwei hurriedly helped him catch his breath.

"Your Majesty, please take your medicine."

The head eunuch brought over a bowl of medicine. Li Youwei took it. "Let me feed my father."

"Hahaha, look at this girl, truly..." The Emperor sighed helplessly, but under her insistence, he drank the medicine down.

"Today, I have prepared a special gift for you, Father. I wish you health, a long life, the protection of the Bodhisattvas, and the dispelling of all calamities."

Li Youwei signaled to Caoqing, who stepped forward holding a box with great care. The head eunuch took it and, with the Emperor’s permission, removed the Damask Scroll of Lingluo.

The moment the silk was unfurled, it shimmered with gold and pearlescent light. A gasp of admiration rippled through the hall, and the head eunuch exclaimed in shock.

"Heavens! Is this... is this the Damask Scroll of Lingluo? Since the time I accompanied the Emperor to see it in my youth, I have never seen it again."

At the mention of the "Damask Scroll of Lingluo," the guests began to whisper.

"I have never seen it before. Isn't it said that there is only one piece in the Lingluo Temple far away in Lingnan, and it is their temple’s greatest treasure? How did it come into the Princess's hands?"

"It is said that this scroll is the most efficacious; if one suffers from headaches or other misfortunes, one only needs to drape it over their shoulders to dispel them."

"The Princess has truly opened our eyes! I heard earlier that she was searching among the common people for some kind of book, but I thought it was just the handwriting of some master!"

The Emperor was dazzled by the golden light, and when he saw the content on the silk, he was struck with awe.

"Youwei, where... where did this come from?"

"Your daughter is unfilial; I lack the talent to practice such calligraphy myself. I searched among the people for a long time until I found a person who could write with both elegant boldness and tender grace—a perfect harmony of Yin and Yang, of the Five Elements. I then used the first batch of silk spun by spring silkworms to weave this damask... It took a great deal of effort, and I even took it to the temple to have it blessed by high monks before I dared to present it to you, Father."

"Good, very good!" The Emperor cradled the silk, deeply moved.

"Back then, when I was still an imperial prince, I traveled with the late Emperor to the Lingluo Temple in Lingnan and saw their treasure, the Damask Scroll of Lingluo. However, the temple later caught fire, and the scroll was burned to ash. It was written by the Founding General himself, bearing the seal carved by our ancestor... Since then, no such calligraphy has existed."

Tears welled in the Emperor’s eyes. "I thought then that if this empire were to one day fall into my hands, I must protect the realm built by our ancestors and the Founding General, ensuring that the fruits of their labor would never again come to harm."

"Today, Youwei, you have specially replicated this scroll for me, easing one of my greatest regrets from my youth. It is indeed my daughter who best knows what I desire!"