Chapter 219: The Deceased Empress

Chapter 219: The Late Empress

At the end of September, the capital was chilly, with frost clinging to the high red walls and yellow tiles of the imperial palace. The sun had yet to rise, and breaths formed faint white mist in the air.

After the morning court, Wu Shen was summoned by the eunuch beside Emperor Zhaoxin and invited to the private residence of the emperor—the Jinshen Hall—for a private audience.

The Jinshen Hall was the emperor's private residence. The Internal Affairs Bureau, working tirelessly, completed the restoration of this grand palace, which had recently suffered a fire, in less than two months.

Most of the palace complex had been restored to its former glory, except for the side hall where the fire first started, which remained a charred skeleton, its fire-blackened beams barely holding up.

The emperor had decreed it remain as it was after the fire, so no matter how jarring or unsightly it appeared, no one dared to say it was inappropriate.

Wu Shen glanced at the ruins and walked into the main hall with his eyes forward.

The hall's fire walls and stoves were all ablaze. The emperor, with his boundless wealth, had the vast hall heated to a spring-like warmth at great expense.

Wu Shen, feeling overheated, broke into a light sweat the moment he stepped inside.

Due to his frail health, Jia Hongyuan had wrapped himself in a black bear fur cloak for winter. Despite being in a warm environment, he seemed to sit in an endless expanse of ice and snow.

After exchanging formalities, Jia Hongyuan gestured for Wu Shen to sit. Wu Shen took a sip of the tea served by the eunuch who once served as sixteen. After serving the tea, the eunuch silently exited the hall.

"Du Yunse has submitted a report stating that the Tianjin Shipyard has newly built six tower ships, ten warships, and over thirty small transport and supply ships, which can form a fleet to sail to the South Seas and showcase the might of Great Yu," Jia Hongyuan said, picking out the report and handing it to Wu Shen. "What do you think, my cousin?"

Wu Shen quickly read through the report. Du Yunse's report was well-crafted and logically structured, thoroughly analyzing the current situation and the pros and cons of sailing to the South Seas, leaving little room for objection.

Jia Hongyuan had already decided to send the fleet soon, with only one issue left unresolved, which was why he had summoned Wu Shen for a private discussion.

After a moment of thought, Wu Shen had a candidate in mind. "Many small countries in the South Seas have been paying tribute to our empire for years. They know the disparity in national power between us and them, so there's little risk of them rebelling."

"However, the fleet's journey will be long, with different small countries having different national conditions, and there is also the possibility of encountering pirates. Therefore, the fleet's escort must be substantial, and the person leading these troops must be carefully selected."

"There are not many generals in our empire skilled in naval warfare, and they are all stationed along the coast responsible for coastal defense, making them difficult to mobilize. Rather than selecting one of them to lead the mission, Your Majesty should consider choosing the Taiping Marquis."

"The Taiping Marquis?" Judging by Jia Hongyuan's expression, he hadn't considered this option before but remained hesitant.

The Taiping Marquis, Kang Zhong, was the younger brother of the Noble Consort Kang. As a child, he was abducted by traffickers and sold to the coastal regions, becoming a homeless boat dweller. After reuniting with his family, the late emperor, in an unprecedented gesture, granted him the title of marquis, bestowing him with a name and surname, and greatly valued him.

During the later palace coup for the throne, Noble Consort Kang stood on Jia Hongyuan's side for revenge and the future of her family, and Kang Zhong also aligned himself, helping Jia Hongyuan control the nine major gates of the capital, preventing the rebels from making a decisive move.

After Jia Hongyuan ascended the throne, he retained Kang Zhong's marquis title and bestowed many rewards, but due to his awkward status, did not continue to heavily employ him.

Kang Zhong had no objections to this. After taking his sister out of the palace, he lived a leisurely life as a marquis in his estate.

"The Taiping Marquis has long lived at sea, is skilled in water, and holds a high status with a noble title, making him capable of commanding respect. Additionally, he is acquainted with Du Yunse, who is in charge of Tianjin Port, and the Qishu County Princess, so there would be little friction in cooperation."

Wu Shen advised, "The Taiping Marquis shares a deep bond with Noble Consort Kang. With the noble consort remaining in the capital, there is no fear of him harboring any rebellious thoughts while abroad."

When a general is abroad, the emperor's orders may not reach him in time. A general leading troops abroad must have hostages left in the capital. Wu Shen, a general himself, knew this well and spoke bluntly.

Jia Hongyuan nodded, accepting this advice. For now, Kang Zhong was indeed the most suitable candidate.

After finishing the official matters in a few words, Jia Hongyuan took a light breath, and his demeanor subtly changed as he began to chat casually with Wu Shen.

"I heard that your aunt has already visited the Min family, and both families have expressed a desire to form a marital alliance. When do you plan to hold the wedding?"

Wu Shen did not expect Jia Hongyuan to suddenly bring up his marriage. Not wanting to say that he was afraid the timing was inappropriate to request an imperial marriage, he vaguely replied, "I originally intended to ask Your Majesty for an imperial marriage, but I got so busy that I forgot."

Jia Hongyuan understood and smiled lightly. "Recently, the capital has been fraught with turmoil. A joyous occasion is needed to lift the city's spirits. I will issue an imperial decree today for the marriage, and have the Imperial Astronomers and the Ministry of Rites assist in preparing the wedding. We should be able to drink to the celebration next month."

Wu Shen rose to thank him, but Jia Hongyuan waved his hand casually, his gaze shifting to a corner of the grand hall, where he suddenly fell silent.

Wu Shen knew who Jia Hongyuan was thinking of and remained silent. Sixteen, or rather, the empress's coffin, was left unburied in the Huagai Hall between the Fengtian Hall and the Jinshen Hall.

To the court officials, posthumously conferring the title of empress upon a deceased person, elevating an unknown guard to the status of empress, leaving the empress's coffin unburied behind the Fengtian Hall, and insisting that the empress was still alive while conducting a nationwide search... each of these absurdities was more outrageous than the one before, leaving them utterly baffled.

In any case, Jia Hongyuan, wielding supreme imperial power and the threat of the executioner's blade, stubbornly carried out all these actions.

However, there is a limit to everything, and even an emperor cannot truly act with absolute freedom. If he continued down this path of madness, the future would become unpredictable. After all, the not-yet-elderly former emperor was still living in seclusion in the Kunning Palace.

Fortunately, a few days ago, after Azure Phoenix Lord entered the palace to offer advice, Jia Hongyuan finally regained his composure, ceasing his unrestrained outbursts of madness. For the court officials, this was the best possible outcome. After this ordeal, everyone's tolerance had diminished significantly, and the most absurd empress in history was begrudgingly accepted.

Wu Shen, being closer to Jia Hongyuan than most officials, understood things more clearly. He knew that Jia Hongyuan's madness stemmed not only from anger but also from fear.

Was Jia Hongyuan truly so certain that Sixteen was still alive, so certain that the remains found in the side hall of the Jinshen Hall were not Sixteen's? Not necessarily.

If he had been absolutely certain, he would not have left the empress's coffin in the Huagai Hall.

He simply could not accept the fact that Sixteen had left this world forever, so he forced himself to believe that Sixteen was still alive and that the remains were fake.

But then the question arose: who could have the capability to set fire to the imperial palace, remove someone the emperor had ordered to be confined, and replace them with a set of remains? Only Sixteen himself.

For a moment, Wu Shen was uncertain which would be more devastating to the emperor: the death of Sixteen or the betrayal of Sixteen faking his death to escape the palace.

If he refused to believe one, he had to force himself to accept the other as true. For Jia Hongyuan, this was undoubtedly a soul-crushing dilemma.

Perhaps because Wu Shen had been staring for too long, Jia Hongyuan saw through his thoughts and let out a brief, bitter laugh.

"After Sixteen left, I revisited all his belongings—his past, his training records, his mission logs, his residence, his personal items..."

After ascending the throne, Jia Hongyuan no longer had anything to hold him back. He meticulously examined everything related to Sixteen that he had previously been unable to investigate or had not paid much attention to.

Finally, he saw what lay behind that loyal shadow—a barren, cold wasteland.

Jia Hongyuan looked at the few shadows in the grand hall. Among those shadows were guards, but not the one he desired.

"Sixteen... in the imperial villa and his residence in the palace, there was only a bed with a thin quilt. The bed held no trace of his scent because he spent most of his time by my side, standing guard through the night, leaning against the wall in a corner, awakening at my call."

"He had no gold or silver, no land or property, no close friends, no enemies, nothing at all. There was nothing left to find."

"...There was once a short sword he carried with him, but even that has disappeared. I wanted to keep something of his with me, but I couldn't find a single thing."

Jia Hongyuan opened his mouth, but the countless words in his throat dissipated, and he could not utter another sound.

He remembered the words Phoenix Roost had said before leaving, and the long-overdue remorse struck his heart.

"All this time, you've been taking from him. You never truly gave him the love he could feel, so how could he understand what kind of love you wanted?"

He had treated Sixteen like a stone, naturally incapable of understanding love, and had selfishly resolved to keep him by his side forever. But the scars and hardness on Sixteen's body did not appear without reason. Before the endless days and nights of inhuman training shattered his bones and stripped away his sense of self, he had been a normal person who could feel pain, fear, cry, and laugh.

There was no such thing as a naturally loyal "dog." When everyone comes into this world, they are children longing for love.

He had selfishly wanted to keep Sixteen as a guard forever because that version of Sixteen made him feel most at ease. He claimed he didn't want Sixteen to get hurt, but in reality, the one who benefited the most from this arrangement was himself.

After the incident with the secret medicine, their relationship could no longer return to that of simple master and servant. He was filled with dread, terrified of losing Sixteen, and so he forced the other to fall in love with him immediately, using the position of empress, family ties, and confinement as both threats and incentives.

But he forgot that Sixteen was, at his core, a human being. As a human, he longed for warmth and love, and as a human, he had emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. Pushed to the brink, Sixteen left him with a great fire and a set of unrecognizable remains.

The fury in Jia Hongyuan's heart had gradually dissipated after repeatedly receiving reports of fruitless searches. Like the palace after the fire, all that remained were ashes and debris.

He would rather believe that Sixteen truly faked his death and escaped, forcing himself to believe that Sixteen had found a better place, than accept that the remains within the ornate coffin in the Huagai Palace were those of his irretrievable lover.

The sun rose outside the palace, yet the frost on the glazed tiles remained unyielding.

Would they ever meet again? Jia Hongyuan narrowed his eyes, numerous subtle clues piecing together in his mind.

They must, he almost smiled, but instead, a more sorrowful expression crossed his face.

Author's Note:

Let me say a few words about this tragic love story. While everyone has their own perspective, many forget some earlier details or skip too much, missing nearly half the plot and a lot of key small scenes, which leads to misunderstandings. So, here's a streamlined version to clarify the complete, established plot and character settings (similar to a previous chapter's note, so skip if you've already read it)—

If Hua Nian hadn't strongly urged Sixteen to leave the palace, the two would have continued to drag things out, with Sixteen being imprisoned by the Crown Prince until death, with no peaceful, happy ending in sight.

Because the Crown Prince was obsessively seeking love, but Sixteen's emotions were essentially a result of the royal family's manipulation, which led to the death of his loyal family. Despite knowing something was amiss, the orphan was still conscripted into palace servitude, subjected to inhuman training that shattered his bones and stripped him of his identity before sealing it all away. Before he could feel love, he would first awaken to pain and hatred. Thus, he could only remain a loyal servant named Sixteen, but he could never, as Mei Wangshu, admit that he loved the Crown Prince.

Hua Nian's "disapproval" came after seeing Sixteen imprisoned and on the verge of a mental breakdown. It was necessary to save Sixteen.

Although both Sixteen and the Crown Prince are pitiable, in their relationship, the Crown Prince remains the absolute controller and taker, the dominant party. It's not that he doesn't speak up; it's that the concept of needing to do so doesn't even exist in his mind.

If not for the secret medicine, he would have continued to pretend not to know, using the excuse of distrusting his future self and not wanting to hurt Sixteen, to proceed with a normal marriage and taking concubines, all while keeping Sixteen by his side, forbidding him from leaving the palace to live with his family or seeking love and happiness, leaving him to stand alone in the shadows, watching the Crown Prince enjoy a harem and a flourishing lineage.

He never considered whether Sixteen was doing well or happy. Over the years, Sixteen never received any real benefits from the Crown Prince's affection, not even a reduction in dangerous missions or an extra peaceful night's sleep. It's not that he didn't love Sixteen; it's that over two decades, he had grown accustomed to taking without ever being refused, so he never learned to give.

His first change of heart came when the secret medicine disrupted their stable master-servant relationship. Fearing that Sixteen would no longer belong to him purely, he sought to make Sixteen his Empress to keep him close.

Sixteen couldn't reciprocate his love, and his reaction wasn't to pursue him normally but to pathologically imprison Sixteen, forbidding him from seeing anyone, resorting to threats and bribes until he succeeded. He was in pain, but he caused even more pain to others.

The Crown Prince didn't see Sixteen as a subject, a subordinate, or an equal lover. In his subconscious and habitual mindset, Sixteen was a possession he could manipulate at will, his greatest source of security.

For someone like the Crown Prince, born into privilege and accustomed to dominance, only when things spiral out of his control does he change. If the Crown Prince never realizes that "Sixteen is a person, not a dog" or that "Sixteen might yearn for light and run away," they could never achieve a happy ending.

In the end, the guard Sixteen betrayed his master because the entire royal family, including the Crown Prince, were implicated in the destruction of Mei Wangshu.