Work Text:
Even though she shouldn’t be here, Empress Xiaohui has always been known as a proud, stubborn woman. She’s had numerous opportunities to move on to the Yellow Springs, but she absolutely refuses to do so. She watches her only living son get crowned, sees his children be born, and sees how he governs. She should be proud, and she is, but she also feels sorrowful.
He has always been alone. The air around him feels like ice. She sees the way he lights up when Chu Yanyu’s in the room, but she also sees that Chu Yanyu is merely exploiting him.
Chu Yanyu is no different than a prostitute. Worse. They sell their bodies because they have to, and fake affection because it’s part of their job. When those ladies are off the clock though, they probably have people they care about. She’s not sure Chu Yanyu is capable of genuine affection.
She wonders, where in all the twists and turns of fate things went wrong. Could someone genuninely love Tianchi, even if he never speaks? If Ye Qinghuan lived, could Tianchi smile? She knows his heart; just because he can’t speak or express himself very well, does not mean he can’t feel.
Is there anyone in all the world who would be worthy of all the love Tianchi could give?
00
She doesn’t sleep, of course. But between one blink and the next, she’s sitting at court. Tianchi usually listens in, of course, but she notices suddenly that he’s younger. Maybe twenty. And that’s all the information she gets before she’s whisked away to the fish pond.
00
“Hello User!”
She can’t believe the words coming out of her mouth as they appear before her eyes. What is this ‘user’? What is this ‘moe?’ What are these ‘quests?’
But she understands that Tianchi needs someone or even something in his corner. Maybe a pet will help. Or…she suddenly understands that at some point, the ability to turn back into a human will be given to Li Yu.
Now, there’s an idea. Male consorts are not unknown, and she knows Tianchi prefers men over women. She smirks to herself. Honestly, anyone is better than Chu Yanyu, even a dopey, cowardly, gluttonous carp. She has many opportunities to make Li Yu prove his worth. They’ll have to sort out the succession thing later, but for now, she has to figure out some trials for this carp.
00
She smirks to herself when she realizes Li Yu is jealous of Chu Yanyu. She could work with that. She had to make a ‘map’ of his human form and alter it slightly, and she has to say, it’s not bad. Li Yu’s not a calamitous beauty like Chu Yanyu, but he is quite cute.
She’s kind of annoyed at that husband of hers. First Prince Jing almost gets killed, and then he has to host his brothers. She knows he’d rather face any amount of assassination attempts than spend time with them. Most of them, he likes the two youngest, and they enjoy spending time with him. They even picked up some sign language. And then of course, Li Yu decides to add to the chaos.
She does understand his reasoning, the guards will probably be too busy to notice another ‘guest.’ But.. there are several problems. First of all, she might be a ‘system,’ but it’s not like she knows how things work. So, the poor man transforms completely naked. At least he’s bright enough to make do by appropriating some of Prince Jing’s clothes.
Then he goes wandering. At least he’s safe in the kitchens. If he hadn’t tried to enter the garden, things would have been fine. The guards there are of course on high alert. She did not count on Tianchi deciding to investigate personally.
Seeing Li Yu hits him like a thunderbolt. She’s glad that Chu Yanyu’s performance didn’t move him at all.
So, you’ve learned a bit, she thinks.
Li Yu is quite charming, she admits. Being cute and charming though, doesn’t make the little carp worthy of Tianchi. Chu Yanyu was twice as good-looking and had a worthless heart. Her apologies to Tianchi, but she’s going to have to make the carp suffer a bit.