Flower Stealing Master

“I doubt it was Taihe Hall you found enjoyable—it was the Empress herself, wasn’t it?” Zhao Yingluo used her pinky to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, biting her lip slightly as she glared at Song Qingshu.

“Uh—” Song Qingshu let out an awkward chuckle. “Both are fun, haha.”

“You really… with the Empre—” Zhao Yingluo was stunned, cutting herself off mid-sentence as she realized how improper her words were. Her face flushed red as she stared at Song Qingshu. 

On the bed, Fifth Princess suddenly sat up straight, her cherry-like lips parting in shock as she instinctively covered her mouth.

“I don’t think we’re close enough for me to share the details with you, are we?” Song Qingshu finally snapped out of his daze—this woman wasn’t his wife or lover, so why should he feel guilty in front of her?

“Shameless!” Zhao Yingluo huffed, turning away and refusing to look at him.

“Hey, how am I shameless? It was consensual—what’s wrong with mutual attraction between adults?” Song Qingshu grumbled.

“What kind of ‘consensual’ are you talking about?” Zhao Yingluo seemed to have struck a nerve, her anger flaring. “A married woman and a married man, one betraying her husband, the other betraying his wife… getting… getting together like that—isn’t that shameless?”

“Uh—” Song Qingshu suddenly realized she had a point. By this world’s standards, such behavior was indeed disgraceful—though even in his past life, it wouldn’t have been considered honorable. Still, society back then was slightly more open-minded about such things.

“Actually, you’ve misunderstood me. It wasn’t as sordid as you think—I had another purpose.” Song Qingshu blinked, quickly devising an excuse.

“And what purpose could that be?” Zhao Yingluo sneered. For some reason, she had initially felt goodwill toward the little eunuch Song Qingshu had pretended to be. But upon learning his true identity, all that goodwill had turned into fury at being deceived.

Especially when she recalled how he had silently watched her embarrassment, how she had mistakenly believed him to be a eunuch and even allowed him to undress her for treatment, and how he had forcibly k!ssed her—the only reason she hadn’t killed him yet was because she still needed his help to rescue her suffering sisters.

“It was all to save your poor sisters! I sacrificed my dignity to gather intelligence from the Empress!” Song Qingshu put on a pained expression. “You could say I’ve made a great sacrifice for the Dynasty!”

“Is that how you define ‘sacrifice for the Dynasty’?” Fifth Princess, who had been watching their exchange from the bed, couldn’t hold back a laugh. Her sudden smile was like a night-blooming flower, stunning Song Qingshu for a moment.

“Fifth Princess truly is a peerless beauty,” Song Qingshu couldn’t help but praise.

Zhao Fujin’s cheeks reddened slightly at the compliment, though she quickly regained her composure. “Flattering me won’t help, young master. The one you’ve angered is my sister.”

Zhao Yingluo fumed. “Fifth Sister, don’t be fooled by him! He’s a notorious womanizer in the martial world, with countless romantic entanglements. And now he’s even entangled with the Empress—utterly shameless!”

“Young Master Song is renowned throughout the land, surrounded by many beauties. How could he possibly be interested in a withered flower like me? You’re overthinking it, little sister.” Zhao Fujin’s expression darkened.

Zhao Yingluo was startled and quickly moved to comfort her. “Sister, I didn’t mean it like that…” Seeing her sister’s reaction, she shot Song Qingshu a glare. “This is all your fault!”

“My fault?” Song Qingshu pointed at himself indignantly. “Lady Yang, when I first saw you on Shaolin Mountain, your hair flowing in the wind, robes fluttering like an immortal descending from the heavens—pure, noble, untouched by mortal desires. What happened to that ethereal grace? Now you’re no different from a common market gossip!”

Zhao Yingluo’s face burned. She had noticed how easily he disrupted her usual calm. “Hmph! Spare me your flattery. I’m no immortal—just an ordinary woman with emotions. I treat refined gentlemen with courtesy, but for someone as vulgar as you…”

She trailed off, unsure how to finish.

“You treat me with vulgarity too?” Song Qingshu grinned mischievously.

“Ugh!” Zhao Yingluo spat, her pale cheeks flushing pink.

“You…” Fifth Princess chuckled at her sister’s flustered state before turning to Song Qingshu with a teasing smile. “So, young master, after your great ‘sacrifice for the Dynasty,’ did you gain anything useful?”

She emphasized the phrase mockingly, making even Song Qingshu’s thick skin feel a little warm. “Of course! After such a heavy investment, how could I return empty-handed?”

He pulled out the vial of Carefree Powder he had taken from Empress Pei Man. “Look what this is!”

“Carefree Powder!” Zhao Fujin gasped. She recognized the porcelain vial—it was the same kind used by the Laundry Court to administer the drug.

“Bingo!” Song Qingshu said, earning confused looks from both women. “The nature of this drug is peculiar—it’s both poison and antidote. With careful dosage, it should gradually neutralize the toxins in your bodies.”

This was merely speculation. After witnessing Empress Pei Man’s symptoms—hallucinations and delirium, yet milder than the narc0tics from his past life—he guessed that the Carefree Powder might not be incurable. Still, there was no need to explain all this to Zhao Fujin and the others. He’d discuss it privately with Zhao Yingluo later.

“Thank you, Young Master Song!” Zhao Fujin’s eyes shone with hope. “With this medicine, my sisters and I can finally be saved!”

“Well… this vial isn’t enough to cure everyone,” Song Qingshu admitted awkwardly. “So I’m afraid I’ll have to…”

“Go back to the Jin Dunasty’s Empress for another ‘sacrifice for the Dynasty’?” Zhao Yingluo bit her lip, tugging at Zhao Fujin’s sleeve. “Fifth Sister, do you really believe he’s doing this for the medicine? He’s clearly taken a liking to the Empress and is… enjoying himself!”

“Little sister, I actually admire Young Master Song’s actions,” Zhao Fujin sighed. “You don’t know what the Jin people did to our father’s concubines and noblewomen back then. The Jin Dunasty’s Prince Gaotian even… even forced Consort Wei and Princess Kang to… to serve him together in bed.”

“Empress Dowager Wei?” Zhao Yingluo gasped. 

The “Consort Wei” Zhao Fujin mentioned was the birth mother of the current Southern Song Dynasty Emperor Zhao Gou. Years ago, the Southern Song Dynasty had executed Yue Fei to negotiate peace with the Jin, who then repatriated Consort Wei. Zhao Gou honored her as Empress Dowager. As for “Princess Kang,” she was Zhao Gou’s principal wife—making the two women mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in truth.

“Monsters! Absolute monsters!” Song Qingshu lamented dramatically. The idea of a mother-daughter-in-law pairing was something he had only fantasized about—he’d never dared act on it. Yet the Jin had actually done it?

The man in the story—Prince Gaotian—was none other than Wanyan Zongxian, an elder statesman who wielded immense power. Though Wanyan Liang was influential, he paled in comparison.

Wanyan Zongxian had been appointed Grand Preceptor by the late emperor and now controlled both the Department of State Affairs and the Marshal’s Office, making him the undisputed leader of the Jin Dynasty’s military and government. Even the Jin Emperor treated him with the deference of a disciple.

As for the two unfortunate women in the story, Song Qingshu felt little sympathy. When the Northern Dynasty had first risen, Emperor Zhao Kuangyin had conquered Later Shu and taken the Flower-Spirit Consort as his own. Emperor Zhao Guangyi had destroyed Southern Tang, capturing its emperor Li Yu and his empress, Lady Zhou, whom he frequently summoned to the palace to humiliate—even commissioning painters to document the scenes in the infamous “Xiling’s Conquest of Lady Zhou.”

Now that the Northern Song Dynasty had fallen, their descendants suffered the same fate—a karmic retribution of sorts.

The Jin Dynasty had begun by defiling the Northern Dynasty’s women, only for their last empress to be violated by the Southern Dynasty’s Meng Gong in revenge (“The Aftermath Banquet”). The Mongols had started by plundering the consorts of conquered nations, only for their last empress to be taken by the Ming Dynasty’s Lan Yu.

‘What goes around comes around…’

‘Bah! What nonsense! I refuse to believe in karma.’ Song Qingshu suddenly realized his current actions were no different from those of Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi. If karma were real, he’d be doomed.

‘This must be viewed through historical materialism. When an old dynasty falls, the victors claim their spoils—it’s an inevitable process, unrelated to karma or fate.’ Comforted by this thought, he relaxed. (G: Copium.)

“So when I heard that Young Master Song had… had done that to the Jin Empress, I was overjoyed!” Zhao Fujin’s voice trembled with emotion. “On behalf of all the women who suffered during the Jingkang Incident, I thank you for your great kindness. Please accept my bow!”

With that, she slid off the bed and knelt before Song Qingshu.

Zhao Yingluo was dumbfounded. “Fifth Sister, what are you doing?”

Zhao Fujin looked at her deeply. “Yingluo, if you still consider me your sister, kneel with me and thank the young master for his kindness!”

“Me? Kneel to him?” Zhao Yingluo nearly refused—until she saw the pain in her sister’s eyes. Something inside her softened, and though reluctant, she knelt as well. “Thank you… for your great kindness, young master.”