Chapter 75 My Side Story

I was born as the Crown Prince, and I am also the third prince of the current dynasty. Before me, two princes had already passed away in the palace. My birth is a great joy. For my father, the eldest son is the legitimate heir, but for my mother, I am just a new comfort for her in this palace.

My father and mother were a young couple, and the Eastern Palace where I later resided was also their honeymoon residence. According to Aunt Danshan, the personal maid of my mother, my father also drew my mother's eyebrows and painted her portrait.

They were just like any other loving couple in the world.

However, this period of good fortune did not last long, as the emperor's father ascended the throne and became the new emperor.

That was their fourth year of marriage.

The Empress Dowager had never conceived, and the court was already dissatisfied with her. The Emperor had just ascended the throne and had countless affairs to attend to. Thus, even though they lived in the palaces not far apart, they rarely saw each other.

From sunrise to sunset, watching the golden tiles and red walls of the palace bathed in sunlight, watching countless leaves fall from the trees, a day passes just like that.

Perhaps when night falls and the palace lanterns are lit in the deep of night, the emperor will occasionally come to this palace, which is somewhat unfamiliar to him.

"But where does Father go when he doesn't come to Mother's place? It's so cold outside, it'll freeze people." My ignorant words as a child shattered the beautiful dream in Mother's memory.

The Empress Dowager remained silent for a long time. She looked at me and then smiled.

I remember many things since I was a child. I can always recall what others have said and done.

But I easily forget the smile of my mother.

-

The crown prince may not need to take concubines, but the emperor cannot be without offspring.

In the second year of his reign, the court officials petitioned for the emperor to select concubines. Their reasoning was that if the emperor did not select concubines to fill his harem and produce offspring, the country would cease to exist and its foundation would be crippled.

It's not actually that hard to understand. If the daughters of high-ranking officials could enter the palace and give birth to imperial heirs, it would be both a gamble and a benefit for their respective families.

The Emperor, who had been frowning every day, finally succumbed to the pressure and one day stepped into the Empress's Kunning Palace.

That day, all the palace servants left the main hall, leaving only the young couple to be completely honest with each other.

My aunt Danshan later told me that it was my father who cried that day, but my mother didn't shed a single tear.

After the imperial concubine selection, the palace was filled with many young and beautiful concubines. They were like flowers in full bloom in spring, easily surrendering their beautiful and long years to the cold palace.

It was almost inevitable for the concubines to gain favor, but there would always be one or two who stood out.

While criticism of the Empress Dowager was still ongoing in the court, a favored concubine named Wen Jieyu emerged in the inner palace.

She had a delicate, smiling appearance, and even her voice was soft and slow, gentle and soft-spoken.

This seemingly frail woman killed several princes in the palace without the slightest fear.

The eldest prince was born to Consort Chen in the palace. Her rank was too low, and even though she gave birth to the eldest prince, she was only promoted to the rank of consort, just enough to raise the imperial heir by her side.

But the joy lasted only a few months before the eldest prince died prematurely from a cold.

It was the dead of winter, and the entire palace was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere of sorrow.

Consort Chen was so heartbroken that she hanged herself from a beam seven days later.

Then rumors began to circulate in the court that my mother's fate was bad and clashed with the nation's destiny.

It took the Emperor a great deal of effort to deal with those who spread rumors and disrespected the Empress Dowager in the court.

After that, the Emperor visited the Empress Dowager's palace less and less.

When the second prince was born, it was early summer, and the koi in the pond were swimming happily.

But he was a prince born with congenital defects. He was sickly and bruised. The imperial physicians were at a loss for words and only told the emperor that the second prince might not survive.

Sure enough, before a month had passed, the second prince died.

Rumors have resurfaced in the court, but this time the Emperor doesn't need to intervene; the Empress Dowager has requested to reside in Changyong Mountain for an extended period.

The Emperor agreed.

In reality, my mother was pregnant at that time. Fearing that someone would harm me, she made an agreement with my father that after the ten months were up, she would go to Changyong Mountain to bring her and me back to the palace.

Although Changyong Mountain is remote, it is a sacred site for the imperial court, where emperors of all dynasties offered sacrifices to Heaven and communicated with the emperor.

My mother spent a comfortable time on Changyong Mountain. On the day I was born, I heard from the historians that colorful clouds rose up on Changyong Mountain that day, and the sky was filled with rosy light. The bells and tripods in Wuji Temple on the mountain rang without anyone's knowledge, which was a wonderful sight.

When the news reached the court, my father was overjoyed and immediately issued an edict to appoint me as the crown prince, bestowing upon me the name Mingheng, hoping that I would be fair and just when I became emperor.

Perhaps because he had already lost two children, the Emperor treated me with extra caution, and specially assigned someone from the Imperial Guard to stand guard by my side.

From the time I became aware of my existence, my mother always loved to sit in front of the palace gate and look at the flowers.

Later, I heard from Aunt Danshan that the Empress Dowager wasn't looking at the flowers, but rather wondering if the Emperor would come to see her that day.

When I was three years old, my mother fell seriously ill. It was then that she called me to her bedside and quietly asked me if I would like to go to Consort Qiao's palace.

I could not see her anxiety, her despair, or her unwillingness; she simply asked, and I answered.

I asked her why.

She suddenly threw things at me, scattering the soft pillows and bedding on the bed onto the ground, attracting the attention of the palace servants outside the hall, who hurriedly took me outside.

As she wished, I went to Consort Qiao's palace.

At that time, Qiao's mother was only a concubine.

She was a close friend of the Empress Dowager and treated me with great care. Most of the time, she spoke highly of the Empress Dowager, saying that the Empress Dowager was not like this before.

The princes and princesses in the palace died one after another, and the concubines were investigated one after another.

Among them was Consort Wen.

She held the rank of concubine and gave birth to a prince, but because she harmed someone else's child, others would turn around and harm her child in return.

Only after all these sordid affairs were laid bare for the light of day did the Emperor realize how foolish he had been, having been completely manipulated by a few women.

Consort Wen was demoted to a slave and subjected to the punishment of slow slicing. All the other concubines who had harmed the imperial heirs were also given death sentences without exception.

Suddenly, there were far fewer people in the palace.

Later, Consort Qiao gradually became Imperial Noble Consort Qiao. She treated me very well, and my father often visited her palace.

As the days passed and the nights went by, the Empress Dowager became pregnant again.

I was overjoyed at the impending birth of my younger brother or sister, and my mother was also extremely happy. However, this joy vanished after I miscarried in May.

That year, I was exactly eight years old.

The Empress Dowager stopped eating and drinking, and the Emperor could not persuade her, so he suggested that Consort Qiao try to persuade her.

It hadn't rained for a long time then, and because the Empress Dowager disliked being served, she only had a few palace maids by her side.

Consort Qiao and the Empress Dowager were talking late into the night when a fire broke out in the side hall of Kunning Palace. The fire was particularly large, and thick smoke billowed into the main hall. My Empress Dowager and Consort Qiao fell into a deep sleep in the smoke and perished in the fire.

After the national mourning, I saw that half of my father's hair had turned white, and the deep sorrow conveyed in his eyes often left me speechless.

Apart from me, there are other princes in this palace, yet he seems to have placed shackles entirely on me.

So he took me under his wing and raised me, teaching me how to be a qualified emperor.

As I grew older, I gained power, but I did not agree with his policy of appeasement.

Perhaps it was because his father treated his court officials and concubines too gently that he ended up living that way.

Before his death, my father told me that he always thought of my mother and that he favored Lady Wen in order to prevent the court officials from focusing on her mistakes. Little did he know that this action would be a harbinger of my mother's heartbreak.

He advised me that I should treat all women in the harem equally, and that if I had a beloved, I should never show my affection for her to others.

Looking at his aged face, I ultimately did not answer with a single "yes".

I am different from him. After ascending the throne, I ruthlessly purged the stubborn officials of the court. Those who were corrupt—killed; those who were disrespectful—killed; those who were incompetent—there was no need to kill them. But how could incompetent officials stand before me? I dealt with them all.

From then on, everyone in the court praised my ruthless methods, and they all trembled with fear upon hearing them.

In other words, I acted like a heartless and ruthless wise ruler. Although the court was vaguely worried about the fact that I had no children, they dared not ask too many questions.

I originally thought that Father Emperor was overthinking things. I have never had anyone I love.

But then I thought, if one day I really do find someone I love, I won't hide her away and keep her in my heart as my father said. Of course, I will show my love for her to everyone and let them see.

I will not allow her to sit in the palace all day waiting like my mother, feeling depressed and unhappy.