The Great Han's Elegant Dream [Year 30, Second Watch]

  She thought, she was dreaming again.

  The warm sunlight shines on my body, giving me a cozy feeling. This dream is like the countless similar dreams I've had in the past, with distant and continuous heavy buildings and wide eaves.

  In front of me was a long stone staircase, extending all the way to the end of the high platform. On top of the platform stood a majestic three-layered palace, with vermilion pillars standing ten steps apart, twelve in total. Above them was a heavy eave, with a straight and long ridge, flying cornices, and a dignified and solemn atmosphere, like an eagle spreading its wings to soar into the sky. Standing before it, one couldn't help but feel reverence.

  She lifted her skirt and ran past the black-armored guards holding halberds on both sides of the stone steps, rushing up the stone steps to take a look at this magnificent palace. The hem of her dress dragged along the edge of the step, with a strange dragging feeling.

  After running for a while, she felt a bit tired and stopped to wipe her forehead. Suddenly, she heard a faint cry from the palace on the high platform, followed by a woman's loud argumentative voice, which was distant and unclear. Her heart racing, she hurried forward several steps.

  The speaker's voice changed to a soft, crying female voice, gentle as a willow, with a melodious and moving tone, gradually becoming clearer, "...even if I have done something wrong, the Empress can reprimand me, why must she slap me?"

  The other party sneered, "You didn't say that when you insulted my elderly mother earlier."

  " Qi Yi."

  Could it be that this time, those who will enter her dream are the renowned Empress Lü and Concubine Qi of the Han palace?

  As her words fell, she stepped onto the last stone step.

  The magnificent double-eaved temple gate unfolded before her, with crimson lacquer and multiple rows of gilded door nails. In the center, a gilded dragon's head rose majestically, its icy gaze seeming to pierce through her forehead. Outside the gate, two rows of palace maids and eunuchs stood at attention, their eyes fixed intently on her.

  A female official with a clean forehead on her right hand was startled as soon as she saw her, hastily walked out to pull her over, put her index finger on her lips and made a silencing gesture, took her aside, speaking in a very low voice, "My young mistress, how did you come over here? The slaves of the Pepper Chamber are all dead."

  She smiled and didn't mind her words, pointing to the shadowy figure in the east wing of the hall, also asking in a soft voice, "What's going on inside?"

  "It's not that concubine Qi is a cheap person." The female official gritted her teeth and said, "The empress has already been magnanimous and didn't bother to argue with her, but she deliberately made things difficult. Today, when we met at the wine pool, she was extremely rude. The empress couldn't help but slap her in the face, and Your Majesty saw it...". Finally, she sighed, "Your Majesty is so biased towards Concubine Qi, I really don't know who the real Empress Dowager of Chang Le Palace is."

  "Oh, so it's not good if Aunt Su says so." On the other side of the palace gate, a sharp-chinned female official turned her head and smiled slyly, saying, "Empress Lü is old and faded, hasn't received imperial favor for a long time, if it were our mistress, she would have long since voluntarily stepped down. But instead, she's still stubbornly holding on to jealousy towards our mistress, who's the one with reason?"

  She didn't pay much attention to the quarrel between the two female officials and stretched her head to observe the situation in the hall.

  In the eastern wing, dark-colored curtains hung down from the beams, divided into sections and rolled up, with tassels hanging down, covering the figure of a woman wearing imperial queen's attire. Lü Zhi walked out step by step, her face not particularly beautiful, but between her eyebrows was a strong and resolute expression, it was the face that had appeared in her dreams, she said venomously, "One day, I will make you repay ten times over for the humiliation you brought upon my mother and me."

  "Bang—"

  The Emperor, who was sitting on the couch behind the desk, became enraged upon hearing this and stood up. His dark wide sleeves swung down and knocked over a green jade cup on the desk, which shattered into pieces with a clear cracking sound. With anger filling his face, he rebuked, "Lü Zhi, don't think that just because you are the Empress, I won't depose you."

  In the great hall, there was a sudden stillness. Inside and outside the hall, no one dared to make a sound.

  A piece of pale blue jade fragment fell to the ground, and Lü Zhi stood among them, suddenly becoming dazed for a moment.

  She soon re-armed herself, stood upright in front of Liu Bang, raised her eyebrows and said coldly, "If Your Majesty really wants to abandon me for a small concubine, I will not refuse. But please ask the Lu family to put down their armor and return to their hometown, as before, farming and enjoying themselves. Alas, alas, I can only sigh that I cannot serve the emperor until old age, nor can I fulfill my filial piety. I hope Your Majesty remembers what you promised me in the third year of Han."

  This is to use momentum to make demands, to move people with emotions, and to advise the ruler with sincerity.

  "Oh, what does the Empress mean by this? I don't understand." A soft voice came from behind the light curtains, a young woman with a green lake-colored skirt and a face as white as jade, slightly red and swollen, her hair was tied up in a cloud-like bun, just her figure alone could make people's hearts break, she was a natural beauty.

  Qi Yi walked over from behind Liu Bang, her beauty and charm dazzling. "I don't know what Your Majesty promised my sister that day, but I think a promise is the benefactor's kindness, not the recipient's shield. If the Empress is relying on a single promise to be unscrupulous, then it would be unfilial to Your Majesty."

  "Your Majesty, is that so?" She glanced sideways at Liu Bang, the last tone soft and charming, a gentle whisper in his ear.

  Liu Bang's expression changed, and his clear and wide eyes narrowed with a gentle sentiment. He took her hand and cleared his throat, saying, "Yi'er is right. Considering your two elder brothers' positions, Empress, I will pardon you this time. You will return to the Pepper Chamber Hall to face the wall for a month. After a month, you should also stay in the Pepper Chamber Hall more often and not go out to cause trouble again."

  Qī Yì's beautiful eyes flashed a hint of disappointment, Lǚ Jì gazed at her coldly and let out a cold laugh.

  In the distance, in the eastern wing, three people with long sleeves stood, Lü Zhi's back was facing the gate of the palace, her hands were clasped behind her back, and the blue veins on them were clearly visible. Her voice became calm again, and she said faintly, "Yes."

  That blue vein——

  Her eyes fell on the thick, muscular hands of Lü Zhi, and with a sudden burst of anger, she exclaimed, "You scoundrel!" As if all her pent-up indignation had been ignited by his presence, she abruptly shook off Su's hand, cast aside her frightened gaze, leapt into the hall, and glared at Liu Bang with an upturned chin.

  "Ah Yan," Lü Zhi was startled, glared fiercely at Su Mo outside the hall, bent down to hug her and pulled her in front of herself, scolding loudly, "How did you get here?" She looked up at Liu Bang, pleading, "Ah Yan is still young, she doesn't understand things, Your Majesty, please don't blame her."

  "——A Yan, don't you apologize to His Majesty yet?"

  "I'd rather not admit my mistake." She struggled hard, refusing to change her words, thinking that this was just one of the countless times she had done so in her dreams. Since it was her dream, she could do whatever she wanted, and there was nothing to fear in heaven or on earth. In her dream, she was the master, not some ridiculous god-emperor. And all she wanted was to point at this heartless man's nose and scold out the true feelings she had been hiding for years after covering up that chapter of history.

  "How great is the emperor? One can be unscrupulous, but not too unscrupulous. When your wife was managing the household and giving birth to children, where was this woman with the surname Qi? When your wife was fleeing from the battlefield and worrying about you, where was she? When your wife was helping you plan and assisting you in governing the country, where was she again?"

  She cast a disdainful glance at Qi Yi and said, "A person is valuable for having self-awareness. Someone who hasn't paid any price, with just a faint smile and two tears, wants to take away something that others have paid the ultimate price for? What right do they have?"

  "Your Majesty," the sarcastic voice echoed in the grand hall, "you owe an apology to your empress."

  A long speech flowed like clouds and water, finished in one breath, echoing in the empty and spacious great hall, with a loud voice. Still faintly lingering between the beams.

  Inside and outside the palace, all the eunuchs and maids were frightened into silence by her shocking and unconventional words.

  Lü Zhi loosened her grip, forgetting to hold onto the small child in front of her. The long-held resentment in her heart was suddenly struck by the innocent words of a six-year-old child. She thought she could be strong, yes, as a mother and an empress, she could be strong enough to withstand all poisons, but as a wife and a woman, deep down, she wasn't without grievances. She didn't necessarily love him, but he had wronged her, hurting not her feelings, but a woman's dignity.

  "A Yan."

  Lü Zhi let her go and stood up straight; she never did anything useless.

  The two guards standing outside the temple door rushed in and grabbed the girl's arms, dragging her out of the temple. The girl was shocked and struggled with all her might, kicking her legs and trying to break free, but her small body was easily lifted up by the two powerful guards and carried out of the temple. At the same time, a young officer wearing a double-edged helmet walked up the steps, knelt down on one knee outside the temple, and asked, "How should we deal with Zhao Guo's grave disrespect?"

  "Your Majesty," in the palace, Lv Lian stared at her emperor husband, with a subtle gaze, "You can't hurt Ah Yan again. You've already imprisoned her father, you can't imprison her too."

  "Let me go!" she shouted desperately, but no one paid attention.

  That young officer knelt in a place extremely close to her, she could even feel the heat on the boy's skin through the cold armor, wasn't this just a dream? In her flustered state, she finally realized what kind of mistake she had made. If this wasn't a dream, then where was she exactly? She looked up in confusion, only to discover that the guard holding onto her was extremely tall, and if she stood straight, she would only reach their waist.

  Were people in the Han Dynasty really this tall? She wondered.

  No, it's not like that.

  It wasn't that they had grown taller, but rather she had shrunk. She was shocked to discover that her own feet, hidden under the long skirt, were only three inches in size, with slender arches and delicate beauty, yet it seemed like a nightmare to her.

  What's going on?

  Her figure had shrunk by half, as if she were a young girl who hadn't grown up yet. Her hair was long and reached her waist after being combed into a bun, just like before. She wore a peach-patterned blouse with a right lapel and a purple skirt that trailed on the ground, typical of the attire of women in the early Han dynasty. The fabric was luxurious and the sleeves were wide and flowing like clouds.

  In the hall, Liu Bang shifted his strange gaze from his wife's hair knot to his granddaughter and suddenly changed from anger to a smile.

  Among the footsteps and rustling sounds, she lifted her head to see the aging emperor walking towards her with a weary yet spirited face. "Zhang Yan, do you know your mistake?"

  With a lump in her throat, she gritted her teeth and shook her head, glaring at him defiantly.

  "Good." Liu Bang's thumb twitched upwards, and he laughed loudly, "This is indeed worthy of being my grandson." Suddenly his face sank, "Let her kneel outside the hall, when she is willing to admit her mistake, then she can get up again."

  Many years later, thinking back to that winter day in Chang Le Palace, the astonishing scene after noon was like a dream. Zhang Yan would only faintly smile and sigh, "Remember when we were young." In fact, thinking about it afterwards, there were too many signs at the time telling her that it wasn't just a simple dream, such as the fatigue that couldn't be shaken off while climbing the stairs, the feeling of falling while dragging her long skirt over the stone steps, Su Mo's respectful call to her as "Master", and Lv Wei calling her nickname "A Yan". In the past, when she dreamed, it was just a series of silent and continuous pantomimes. When someone spoke, the dream would end. But that day, she really heard every word spoken by everyone.

  It was only when the authorities were present that she, like a sleepwalker, acted on her own instincts, ignoring all obvious or hidden signs.

  Two Han cultural tips: Changle Palace is one of the two most important palaces in Western Han, located in the southeast of Chang'an City. The palace has a gate on each side, with que towers on the west and north sides. It was the political center of Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang's reign, as well as the residence of empress dowagers of subsequent Western Han dynasties.

  The Chinese palace system, front court and back bedroom. The Changle Front Hall is where the imperial court is located, and the west is the harem. The Empress's Zhonggong Palace is on the north side of the Front Hall.

  The Front Hall is the main building of the Changle Palace, surrounded by walls, with the gate facing south and a courtyard inside. The courtyard is spacious and is where court meetings are held. On either side of the main hall of the Front Hall are symmetrically arranged east and west wings of equal size, both of which have important uses, with the east wing being particularly prominent. Although the emperor's audience with officials takes place in the main hall, many military and political affairs are conducted in the east wing. Civil and military ministers often wait in the east wing before entering the main hall.

  Zhang Yan rushed into the front hall of Chang Le. At first, it was in the courtyard of the front hall, on the steps in front of the platform, and the dispute between Empress Lü and Qi Yi occurred in the east wing.

  The first three chapters are quite substantial, looking forward to it.

  Wishing you good fortune in the Year of the Cow, may all your wishes come true.

  Collect and recommend.