Chapter 76: Thirteen Years Ago

Chapter 76: Thirteen Years Ago

At the mention of "bloodbath," Wen Ruan felt an urge to run, sensing that knowing too many secrets might not be entirely beneficial. "I suddenly remembered something I haven't..."

"No, you need to listen."

Zhu Yan firmly held him back and fed him a sip of wine.

Wen Ruan: ...

There was no need for such courage-building.

He wasn't afraid of danger; he sensed that his future destiny had reached a turning point. Listening would change many things. But looking into Zhu Yan's eyes, his hesitation vanished inexplicably.

"Alright."

He believed he could embrace and handle these changes.

A softness seemed to flow in the depths of Zhu Yan's eyes, quickly disappearing as he helped Wen Ruan sit comfortably. "You've been in the capital for less than a year. Do you know about the special customs of the Lantern Festival here? The emperor ascends the city tower on this night to celebrate with the people?"

Wen Ruan nodded. "I've heard of it."

Zhu Yan continued, "The lanterns illuminate the night like daylight, the moon shines brightly, and the crowds are dense. The emperor travels through the streets in his ceremonial carriage, and the commoners don't have to kneel, demonstrating his approachability and benevolence. It is the least formal ritual among all the imperial processions, and the people have always loved this day, offering their most sincere blessings. Therefore, during every Lantern Festival, the emperor's carriage is spontaneously surrounded by the people, who protect its passage."

"The entire ceremony lasts a long time, and there are special rooms prepared on the tower for the emperor and his entourage until late at night. This tradition has persisted for decades without any mishaps."

It couldn't afford any mishaps.

Yet, one still occurred.

Zhu Yan lowered his gaze. "That year, my father took the crown prince along to tour the streets. The fire trees and silver flowers made the stars and moon seem dim. Smiling faces surrounded them, and some bold children even handed their lanterns to the crown prince..."

"Did you see it?" Wen Ruan recalled that the sixth prince hadn't been in the capital that year.

"If only I had been there."

If he had been there, his mother and elder brother wouldn't have met their fates.

Zhu Yan drained his cup. "The crown prince was always popular with children, and accompanying the emperor on the Lantern Festival procession wasn't his first time."

Wen Ruan understood. He had seen it more than once and could vividly imagine the scene.

"The ceremony is lengthy. Even after ascending the tower, one must appear from time to time. With the crown prince leading, all tasks were accomplished well. My father remained resting in the room, not showing himself again," Zhu Yan's voice was slightly subdued. "This had been going on for several years, and everyone was accustomed to it. No one thought the crown prince was overstepping his authority, nor did anyone believe the emperor was being lazy."

The winter night was quiet and long, as if there was no rush, allowing for a leisurely conversation.

Wen Ruan poured wine for Zhu Yan. "What kind of person was His Highness the Crown Prince? I've heard he was unparalleled in wisdom, benevolent and virtuous in governance, and his talents and character were admirable."

"How could a crown prince be mediocre?"

Zhu Yan seemed proud. "He began his education at three, could compose poetry at four, and by five or six, he was reading books that ordinary teenagers aged thirteen or fourteen didn't understand. Not only was his talent astonishing, but he also possessed the ability to govern. He impressed the court officials when he first entered the political arena, and all the other princes standing beside him seemed like dim stars, none able to match him."

"In the six arts of a gentleman—poetry, literature, eloquence—the crown prince excelled in all. No one surpassed him. I was raised and disciplined by him daily. Even now, the characters I write are those he taught me personally. Outsiders criticize my temper and harshness, but no one has ever said my handwriting is bad. Court officials still lament that my calligraphy is excellent despite my flawed heart. Only the crown prince used to scold me for not practicing enough, needing to refine my nature, and lacking in aura. The pipa tunes I played were praised by outsiders, even experts in music and etiquette dared not easily find fault. Yet, few knew that the crown prince's musical skills were brilliant. In front of him, I was forced to practice and improve..."

From Zhu Yan's narration, Wen Ruan saw a gentleman, adorned with the brilliance of the sun and moon, yet never ostentatious or boastful. He dedicated himself to doing what he should, viewing the officials and the people as his responsibility. He gently pushed and repaired each small gear, striving to let Da Li, this massive chariot, travel calmly on the road, flourishing and prosperous year after year.

The loss of such a person was a loss for Da Li.

Zhu Yan showed no emotion, but Wen Ruan could tell he was deeply saddened.

"That night, did something happen to the crown prince? Was he severely injured?"

Wen Ruan was young then, knowing nothing. Later, the royal family kept the matter under wraps, and gradually, no one mentioned it. All he heard were rumors circulating among the common folk. The only certainty was that the empress died that day, and the crown prince died that year, not on the same day, but there was undoubtedly a connection.

"Yes, that night marked the beginning of all the filth being exposed."

Zhu Yan took a sip of wine. "There is a considerable distance between the tower and the palace. During the Lantern Festival, with so many people around, this distance seems even longer, making communication difficult. If someone wanted to exploit this time lag—"

Wen Ruan drew a breath. "If utilized well, it would indeed be advantageous."

"Do you remember the appearance of Imperial Concubine Zhen and Imperial Concubine Rou when you accompanied me into the palace?" Zhu Yan tilted his head to look at him.

The mothers of the second and third princes?

Wen Ruan nodded. "One was radiant, the other gentle. Neither timid nor shrinking, they boldly vied for power or undermined each other, clearly favored by the emperor."

He was already being tactful. Now, these two ladies dominated the emperor's harem, engaging in numerous battles and schemes that many outside didn't dare to discuss.

Zhu Yan said, "They were newcomers. When my father was younger, he lavished greater favor upon women. Back then, there was a concubine named Xia, a beauty whose charm could captivate a city. When she was favored, Imperial Concubines Zhen and Rou were mere consorts, seeing my father no more than twice a year."

"Oh?" Wen Ruan understood. The events thirteen years ago seemed connected to this Xia concubine.

"At the time, Concubine Xia was pregnant, barely five months along, but her belly was large as if she was about to give birth," Zhu Yan's expression was blank. "She seemed terrified herself, hiding her belly and even attempting to bind it with cloth strips. But how could such a thing be easily concealed?"

Wen Ruan asked, "Was it discovered?"

Zhu Yan replied, "Her arch-rival, Consort Mu, found out and exposed it on the Lantern Festival, claiming the belly couldn't possibly be only five months along. Counting back seven months, my father was on a southern tour, not yet returned to the capital."

In the second prince's tent, before he could finish mocking Zhu Yan for being cuckolded, a note was delivered from the palace, causing the second prince's face to turn pale.

"Imperial Concubine Rou is becoming increasingly cunning, actually taking advantage of Father's absence from the palace to force my mother into granting her the convenience of moving freely within and outside the palace for medical consultations!"

Was this about seeking medical advice? This was about seizing a special privilege. Once obtained today, it would become a precedent tomorrow, heavily suppressing my mother and me!

And didn't the palace have imperial physicians? Didn't it have medical texts? What kind of illness required her to seek 'life-and-death opportunities' outside the palace? At that critical stage of illness, she probably wouldn't even have the energy to cause trouble, unable to wake up!

His advisor, the half-old man Chen Gen, stroked his goatee. "Imperial Concubine Rou has always been frail and sickly. We can't completely ignore her plight, or else when the emperor returns in a couple of days, a minor issue will escalate into a major one."

"That woman is best at using this to achieve her goals! Mother has suffered countless silent losses due to her pride! If not for my support, she would have been ruined by that woman long ago!" the second prince gritted his teeth. "What frailty and sickness? How could she endure it so casually thirteen years ago? She walked the entire night, matching the empress step for step. The empress died, but why didn't she die that night as well!"

Chen Gen carefully handed over the tea. "I heard that... Consort Xia had an affair with someone back then?"

"In front of me, Sir, you don't have to be so cautious. The events of those days were deeply concealed by the Emperor, who didn't wish for them to be mentioned. But you are my confidant, and it's naturally no issue for you to know," the Second Prince received the tea, his brows and eyes clouded with gloom. "The women in this palace, aren't they also just women? They vie for favor and become jealous, plot against each other in secret, and also feel empty and lonely..."

"When the Emperor went on his southern tour, from late April to early August, he was away from the capital for nearly four months, yet Consort Xia became pregnant. She even lied, saying she conceived after the Emperor returned to the capital during the Mid-Autumn Festival. By the end of the New Year, in the first month, she was already five months pregnant. A belly that big at five months, looking as if she was about to give birth, who would believe that? Who wouldn't suspect? For years, she competed with Consort Mu for the Emperor's affection. Others might have been wary of harming the imperial offspring, but how could Consort Mu not dare to act? She had long gathered evidence, knowing that a man had entered Xia's Yufu Palace. When did he enter, what route did he take, whether he encountered any palace servants in between, and if anything unexpected happened, she had all of this information in her grasp!"

The Second Prince scoffed lightly. "It just so happened that night was the Lantern Festival. That wild man couldn't bear his yearning and entered the palace again. Consort Mu had people waiting, and they noticed something amiss. Why did she wait until then? Wasn't it to catch them in the act? Naturally, she immediately took the evidence to report to the Empress. Not only was the Empress informed that there was something wrong with the imperial offspring, but she was also told that the wild man was still in the palace. Do you think she wouldn't investigate?"

In the tent here, Wen Ruan sighed. "An investigation couldn't be avoided."

"If it were any other time, Empress Mother would have handled it without issue; she had been the Empress for so many years and was not one to be trifled with," Zhu Yan lowered his eyes. "But during that year's last month and through the Spring Festival, there were unusually many matters, particularly busy. After the New Year, Empress Mother fell ill from exhaustion, and by the Lantern Festival, she had yet to recover. She held on for a day, but when it came time to see off Emperor Father and the Crown Prince out of the palace, she could no longer bear it. She took her medicine, preparing to rest, but just as the effects of the medicine began to take hold, Consort Mu came knocking at the door. The evidence was laid out one by one, and the 'stranger' who had illicit relations with the palace concubines was still in the palace. How could it not be sealed and investigated?"

Wen Ruan: "But even as the Empress, holding the phoenix seal and managing the inner palace, wouldn't her authority... also be limited?"

Zhu Yan nodded: "Yes, Empress Mother couldn't interfere with Emperor Father's affairs. Moreover, that night was the Lantern Festival, a celebration shared with the people. The palace also needed to make all necessary preparations. Emperor Father and the Crown Prince had yet to return. Regardless of whether it was the Imperial Forest Army or the Palace Guard, Empress Mother had no authority to intervene. It was simply impossible to seal all the palace gates and thoroughly investigate every place. Some areas couldn't be touched, and timely feedback couldn't be provided. Not wanting to put her subordinates in a difficult position, Empress Mother forced herself to walk around and personally inspect."

Wen Ruan: "But the imperial palace is so vast..."

"Yes, so incredibly vast."

Dragging his sickly body, step by step he traversed.

Zhu Yan's gaze darkened slightly: "Consort Mu reported Consort Xia, and the palace soon descended into chaos. Imperial Concubine Zhen and Consort Rou—then known as Noble Consort Zhen and Consort Rou—didn't go anywhere else, they all rushed to Empress Mother's side. It was both for safety and to avoid suspicion; they certainly had their own ulterior motives, fearing that they would be dragged into the turmoil and become stepping stones for others. They were on edge every step of the way, never leaving her side. Empress Mother has always been proud and supreme; when faced with issues, she would find ways to resolve them. She never thought of hiding or taking out her anger on others. Thus, she did not chase these two away..."

"Unexpectedly, after searching around and finding no one, at Consort Xia's Jade Lotus Palace, they actually found a man."

Zhu Yan narrowed his eyes: "At that time, the man was lying in a pool of blood, already without breath. Consort Xia held a dagger in both hands, her hands covered in blood, her face and dress splattered with it as well."

Wen Ruan was shocked: "Consort Xia... killed this man?"

"She claimed it wasn't her, that she was acting deranged at the time, looking quite off, babbling incoherently that it wasn't her, that she wouldn't kill him—"

Zhu Yan paused before continuing, "That man used to be Xia Consort's childhood sweetheart, a familiar face in the capital due to his family's generations-long residence there. After Xia Consort entered the palace, she denied having any romantic feelings for him, and indeed, they didn't have much contact afterward."

Yet, such a person suddenly appearing in the imperial palace, specifically in Xia Consort's Jade Lotus Palace, was rather intriguing. Coupled with the fact that Mu Consort, her rival, meticulously gathered evidence and reported it herself, followed by numerous palace servants coming forward to testify...

"The Empress felt something was amiss, but at that time, her 'intuition' couldn't convince everyone. Her health was failing, so she ordered that the Jade Lotus Palace be temporarily sealed until the Emperor returned. However, even despite her misgivings and prioritizing her own health, she still couldn't make it back... She fainted and had to be carried away."

Wen Ruan felt uneasy: "Was it from exhaustion?"

Zhu Yan shook his head. "The herbal soup she used before was switched; she had already been poisoned, yet she was unaware."

Wen Ruan: "Who did it?"

Zhu Yan closed his eyes. "Around the Empress Dowager, few matters are delegated to others; there's always a trusted nanny in charge."

Wen Ruan: "This nanny, did she betray?"

"Or perhaps she betrayed, or maybe she was just negligent, but only this once," Zhu Yan shook his head. "I don't know. That night, she died too, making the truth hard to uncover."

Wen Ruan furrowed his brows. "The Empress fainted, and the palace is in chaos?"

"A great chaos." Zhu Yan's fingertips rested on the wine cup. "When Mother suddenly fainted, everyone rushed over to take care of her, lifting and carrying her away. Consort Xia, who had already been sufficiently frightened, suddenly miscarried. Her Yufu Palace caught fire, and Consort Mu, because she was being desperately held by Consort Xia, couldn't leave in time and was also engulfed by the flames..."

So this was the truth behind the great fire in the palace on Yuan Night?

Wen Ruan pondered that there must have been many more details, many more twists and turns, too complex to explain one by one. Zhu Yan probably pieced together the facts from investigating each matter at the time.

Zhu Yan: "In the end, in the charred ruins of Yufu Palace, besides the bodies of the palace attendants who couldn't escape in time, there were also the corpses of two palace consorts and the tiny bones of two unborn fetuses."

Wen Ruan: ...

"So it wasn't an illicit affair; she was carrying twins."

But this wasn't something to be ashamed of. It was perfectly normal for a pregnant woman's belly to be larger than usual when carrying twins. Xia Fei must have known whether or not she had engaged in an affair. Why was she so nervous and secretive, unable to confidently refute the rumors?

And then there was the imperial physician.

"Didn't the imperial physician take her pulse? How could they not detect it?"

"How can we trust the imperial physicians in the palace!"

Just as the Second Prince received a message from Imperial Concubine Zhen within the palace, the Third Prince also received a letter from Consort Rou, slamming the table in anger: "Those imperial physicians all belong to factions; they listen to their masters. Whether they can accurately diagnose the pulse is one thing, but whether they choose to speak of it is another! With Mother Consort so gravely ill, Imperial Concubine Zhen refuses to seek medical help from outside, citing rules and regulations. She even offers to provide medicinal herbs from her own rations, claiming that she has arranged for the remaining imperial physicians in the palace to be at Mother Consort's disposal... Ask her if she truly believes her own words. Would my mother dare to make a choice!"

"Speaking of kindness, how did Consort Xia die back then! She planned everything meticulously, eliminating all unsafe elements. After becoming pregnant, she didn't allow the palace physicians to take her pulse even once, only trusting the doctor sent by her family. She guarded against Consort Mu as if guarding against some great threat, yet she still fell into their trap! The very doctor she trusted and relied on so heavily had been bought off long ago!"

The pulse of twins might be undetectable by some local doctors, but those with exceptional medical skills, such as those who could enter the Imperial Medical Institute or serve the consorts in the palace, would not miss it—it was intentional!

The physician was quite cunning, first earning the trust of Consort Xia, then assisting Consort Mu in schemes against her, while also implicating the Empress, ultimately leading to the tragic end where all three - the Empress and the two consorts - met their demise together. How much dark intrigue do you suppose lies beneath these events?

The Third Prince grew increasingly distressed as he thought about it, "Now that my mother is alone in the palace while both I and the Emperor are away, what if the events of those years were to repeat themselves!"

Intrigues within the palace to gain favor are not unlike the princes' struggles for the throne. At times, trivial matters can easily escalate into raging wildfires, leading to a fatal misstep and the ultimate cost – one's life...

"No, I cannot allow this to happen; I must return!" Prince Third exclaimed, rushing towards the exit.

"But the Emperor has commanded that the hunting expedition concludes tomorrow, and we are to strike camp the day after..."

"I can't worry about that now. I'll slip back for a moment and return by dawn. You keep an eye on Second's people. If anything happens and I fail to return in time—"

The Third Prince's eyes narrowed. "Find a way to involve Sixth Brother's people, have them confront Second Brother!"