Chapter 91

Chapter 91

The Empress Dowager sat on the soft couch, stroking Chen Yingchou's hair. "Chou'er, Jiang Mo is dead, but don't forget, she left you a child. The child has already lost its mother; it cannot lose its father too."

She had said these words to the Late Emperor before, never expecting she would have to repeat them to his son.

Chen Yingchou buried his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably. At first, his sobs were suppressed, but gradually, he was sobbing uncontrollably.

Three days. He finally cried. After crying for an unknown time, he looked up at the Empress Dowager. "Mother, do you still hold a grudge against me? Do you think I will be a foolish ruler blinded by lust, or that Jiang Mo will be a femme fatale who ruins the country? Is that why you were heartless enough not to save her during her difficult labor?"

The Empress Dowager, seeing Chen Yingchou's tear-streaked face, cried too. "Chou'er, I regret it, but it's too late. Death ends everything. Accept it."

At these words, Chen Yingchou's tears fell again. "A Mo once said she was afraid of childbirth—afraid of bad luck, afraid she wasn't blessed. I never thought it would come to pass."

The Empress Dowager leaned over, patting his back. "Chou'er, three days is enough. Go to the morning court tomorrow. All the civil and military officials are waiting for you. Any longer, and it won't be possible to hide it."

"Hide what? Did I ask you to hide it?" Chen Yingchou stood up and walked to the door, looking toward the Hall of Governance. "I've never believed that loving someone is something to hide. My joys and sorrows have always been out in the open. If you don't say it, I will one day proclaim it to the world: Jiang Mo is my only wife, whom I married under heaven and earth in this life. I will posthumously make her Empress, bury her in the imperial mausoleum, and after my death, I will be buried with her."

"No!" The Empress Dowager immediately refused. That corpse isn't Jiang Mo's; it can never enter the imperial mausoleum.

"She's dead—do I not even have the right to honor her posthumously?"

The Empress Dowager walked to his side. "Chou'er, the Late Emperor has only recently passed. This matter cannot be rushed." She knew she had no suitable reason to stop him, so she barely managed a half-decent excuse, hoping that one day Chen Yingchou would move on and gradually forget Jiang Mo.

Chen Yingchou turned his head, his tear-filled eyes fixed on the Empress Dowager. "Why? What did I do wrong, Mother, for you to treat me like this?" He jabbed his finger hard against his chest. "Right here, it hurts. It really hurts. Mother, I'm begging you—can you give her back to me?"

Even if it were just an illusion, even if it were fake, he'd take it. He felt as though he had shattered into pieces, barely held together by this skin, and only Jiang Mo could piece those fragments back together.

He truly could not understand why his mother, who had treated him like her own child, would be so cruel. With a sorrowful expression, he couldn't help but question, "From childhood, I studied hard and practiced diligently, burning the midnight oil without a moment's rest. At thirteen, I followed my uncle to the battlefield, charging at the front, killing enemies in the vanguard. My whole life has been lived for you and Father's expectations, for the people of Great Qi, for the eternal stability of Great Qi's land. Have I not done enough? Now, all I want is Jiang Mo. Is that so hard? I just want her by my side. Is that not allowed? When A Mo was in labor, why didn't you tell me? You knew damn well Bai Si was waiting at the Imperial Medical Institute. Why didn't you call for him? Why did you insist on saving the child over the mother?"

The Empress Dowager was speechless. Only then did she realize she had truly been wrong. Chou'er's depth of love was even greater than the Late Emperor's.

"Chou'er, I was wrong, but it's too late to talk about it now. Don't you want to see the child? Those eyes look just like Jiang Mo's." The Empress Dowager smoothed Chen Yingchou's messy hair. "Look at yourself—do you still look like an emperor?"

"Where are Jiang Bingzhong and Jiang Bai?" Chen Yingchou walked to the desk, picked up a brush. "Where did you hide them?"

The Empress Dowager took a deep breath, ready to tell a huge lie. Since the lie had already been told, she had no qualms adding another. "I had Jiang Mo's body cremated. The Jiang father and son took her ashes and left. Where they went, I do not know."

Thus, even if she were buried in the imperial mausoleum, it would only be an empty tomb.

Chen Yingchou supported himself with one hand on the desk while the other held the brush. Upon hearing the Empress Dowager's words, he snapped the brush in two, the splinters cutting his hand and drawing blood.

The Empress Dowager hurried over, pulling out a silk handkerchief to bandage his wound. Chen Yingchou gritted his teeth. "Mother, I truly don't understand. Why do you have to be so ruthless?"

He shook off her hand and shouted, "Guards, light the lanterns!"

Several attendants entered, lighting all the lanterns, brightening the entire hall.

Qiao Yun, who had just delivered the memorials, and He Ji, who had seen off the court officials, saw the bedchamber light up from afar. Exchanging a glance, they rushed inside.

The two saw their master spreading out a sheet of fine paper, writing something with great gravity. He paused many times, looking up to steady himself before continuing.

Putting down the brush, Chen Yingchou said, "Tomorrow, I will issue a decree, posthumously honoring Jiang Mo as Empress Dexianwen, and inter her in an empty tomb in the imperial mausoleum."

He looked at the two at the door. "Qiao Yun, have this epitaph engraved on the back of the Empress's stele."

As Qiao Yun moved to take it, the Empress Dowager blocked him and approached the desk, looking down at the text:

*My wife, Jiang Mo, daughter of the Secretary of the Ministry of Works, gentle in nature, lofty in virtue, skilled in music and rhythm. She deeply comforted my heart when I was in darkness, and I loved her dearly. Later, learning she was forced into a substitute marriage, I felt her suffering and loved her even more, wishing to bring her into the palace. After the Late Emperor's passing, amidst a thousand threads of chaos, my mother hid her away. When I saw her again, she was six months pregnant. I forgave those with prejudice, trusted my mother's words, and did not follow her when she left. Alas, in a single night, we were separated by life and death. I ask heaven, why sever the paired wings? Water cannot flow backward; feelings cannot fade. When flowers bloom again, they are no longer the same. Life and death cannot break the bond of fate. I wish to die in this life and be reborn in the next.*

"Chou'er, do you plan to take no consorts? 'I wish to die in this life and be reborn in the next'—are you planning to leave the harem empty? This epitaph cannot be engraved!"

The Empress Dowager tore the paper. "If Your Majesty insists on engraving this epitaph, I will dash my head against this pillar and die here today."

Chen Yingchou was not angered. "I expected Mother would disagree. No matter. When Mother passes on to a hundred years, it can be engraved then. There's no need for you to threaten me with death. This is only to make Mother understand my resolve." He smiled bitterly. "Perhaps I will even precede Mother to the grave. Then Mother will truly have her wish."

The Empress Dowager had not expected Chen Yingchou to say this. She only felt that though the man before her was alive, he lived as if he were walking dead, utterly listless, as if waiting for the day of his death.

She deeply regretted that if she had known it would come to this, she would never have sent Jiang Mo away. She had underestimated Chen Yingchou's feelings for Jiang Mo and overestimated her own control.

"Then let His Majesty live well, until I tread the road to the Yellow Springs and see Jiang Mo."

Chen Yingchou slowly sat down in the armchair behind the desk. "Mother need not provoke me with words. I must still raise Yan'er to adulthood. I only wish for Yan'er's peace and joy, and for Great Qi to have calm seas and clear rivers."

According to the imperial genealogical register, the generation was "Ning." "My grandson has a name: Ning Yan. Ning Yan—tranquil peace, peace across the seas. I thought His Majesty had forgotten he still had a son."

Seeing Chen Yingchou finally no longer deranged, she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's late today. Tomorrow, after the child is fed, I will bring him to see Your Majesty."

Chen Yingchou looked up and closed his eyes. "I'm tired. There's no need to see me out." He waved his hand. "All of you, withdraw."

Qiao Yun said, "Your Majesty, let this servant attend to your rest."

Chen Yingchou opened his eyes and looked coldly at Qiao Yun. Qiao Yun dared not say more and left with the others.

Outside the bedchamber, He Ji's face was full of guilt. "Qiao Yun, I don't understand. I had the best and most alert Yulin Army soldiers guarding the Kunning Palace. When did the midwife enter? How did I not know?"

Qiao Yun sighed deeply. "We only thought the Empress Dowager would send Miss Jiang away. We focused on letting out, not letting in. And when His Majesty asked the imperial physician who examined Miss Jiang, he said the fetal condition was stable, no premature birth, the position was favorable, no difficult labor. No one expected Miss Jiang to both have a premature and difficult delivery."

He Ji slapped his head in frustration. "It's all my fault. See what has become of His Majesty."

Qiao Yun grabbed his hand. "What's done is done. From now on, we must not bring up Miss Jiang in front of His Majesty. I will also instruct the eunuchs on duty in the Zichen Hall to be careful with their words. I hope that with time, His Majesty will gradually forget, and one day, meet another woman who stirs his heart."

He Ji recalled the epitaph just now, looking toward the bedchamber. "I'm afraid that's difficult. Let's hope."

In the bedchamber, stillness had returned. Chen Yingchou took out the hairpin, stroking the jasmine flowers on it. "A Mo, you cooperated so well with Mother just now. Does that mean you also want to leave and be reborn? Go in peace. I know what you want to see: our child growing up healthy and safe, a peaceful and prosperous nation. A Mo, I will fulfill your wishes. When Yan'er is grown, I will come find you."

He suddenly smiled. "A Mo, it seems I can understand Father now. I never thought I would become like him."

Everyone in the palace knew that after Miss Jiang's passing, His Majesty had gone mad for three days, his hair turning white overnight. Afterward, he was diligent and untiring, rising early and working late, devoted entirely to state affairs.

Chen Yingchou still became what others expected of him. Only those truly close to him knew that their master had changed—become taciturn and unsmiling, a spinning top of constant work. Only when facing the child did he show a faint trace of a smile, but that smile hid sorrow.

On the thirtieth day of the eighth month, He Ji rushed in to report, "Your Majesty, An Zeyou has disappeared."

Ever since Duke Qingguo had exposed An Shengwu, Chen Yingchou had ordered He Ji to send a team of skilled guards to watch An Zeyou, allowing him to do anything as long as he didn't leave Shangjing City.

He Ji removed the sword from his waist, raised it with both hands, and knelt. "This general deserves death for failing to protect Miss Jiang and to watch over Master An. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

For ten years, everyone believed An Zeyou knew no martial arts, especially after the Late Emperor tested him, making it an accepted fact. No one knew An Zeyou was a master of lightness skills. Evading those guards was no trouble at all. He had actually left ten days ago, but had a substitute stay at the Huashang Tower. By the time He Ji discovered it, it was far too late.

Chen Yingchou stepped down from the dragon throne and helped He Ji up. "What use is punishing you? The priority is to suppress the rebellion."

What An Zeyou's departure from Shangjing meant was clear to all: a war was about to begin.

*

Among the three prefectures bordering the northern region, Shu Prefecture had towering mountains and rugged terrain, Qian Prefecture had layered peaks and deep valleys, both easy to defend and hard to attack. Only Su Prefecture was the easiest to breach.

An Shengwu knew this, and so did Chen Yingchou.

But after careful thought, An Shengwu still decided to attack Shangjing from Su Prefecture. The natural forces of mountains and valleys were beyond his power to overcome; only human force could be matched.

Su Prefecture's Su City was the first city he planned to breach.

And the fastest route from Shangjing to the northern region also ended at Su City.

At this moment, in a second-floor room of an inn in Su City, Jiang Mo stood by the window, staring woodenly at the evening glow spilling across the sky, dyeing it orange-red. A bird circled among it, as if unable to return to its nest.