Chapter Thirty-One

A secret imperial edict arrived at Prince Shuo's residence. Prince Shuo, who received the edict, already had a premonition. The son he had raised for sixteen years, though certainly not his own, still… caused him heartache. Prince Shuo, carrying the poisoned wine bestowed by the Emperor, entered Haozhen's courtyard. "Little Kouzi, where is your master?"

Xiao Kouzi knelt on the ground, trembling. "After dinner, the young master took Akdan out, muttering that he was looking for the jade pendant."

Prince Shuo raised his leg and kicked, "Didn't I say that the beast wasn't allowed to leave the courtyard? Who let him out?" Prince Shuo was even more furious when he saw Xiao Kouzi's reaction. "You'd better pray that the young master can be found, otherwise, your whole family can meet in the underworld!"

Xiao Kouzi froze, then immediately began kowtowing repeatedly, praying to all the bodhisattvas for protection.

Prince Shuo immediately sent someone to find Haozhen. Whether it was Xiao Kouzi's sincerity or the competence of Prince Shuo's men, Haozhen returned soon, a smile of excitement on his face, talking to Akdan as he walked. Akdan first noticed Prince Shuo sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard with a gloomy face, while Xiao Kouzi knelt on the ground, covered in dust. The usually dull-witted Akdan suddenly became clever and immediately knelt down before Prince Shuo. Haozhen, who was excitedly watching Akdan kneel down, turned to look at the courtyard. Seeing his father, Haozhen immediately rushed to Prince Shuo, demanding, "Father, where have you locked Yinshuang up?" His voice booming with accusation.

"You unfilial son, you wicked beast! How could I have a son like you?" Prince Shuo's ears rang as he listened to Haozhen's roar.

"Where is my noble and kind father? Mother said that Yinshuang is not my blood relative at all. Mother said that she said that for my sake. Father, where is Yinshuang?"

"I am neither noble nor benevolent?" Prince Shuo looked at Haozhen, the ingrate he had raised for sixteen years, how come he hadn't noticed it all along?

"Your Highness, this servant must return to the palace to report back!" The eunuch following Your Highness raised his voice to signal.

"You guys give the wine to the young master."

Even without the Prince's prompting, the guards were determined to get things done. The ones who came up to restrain Haozhen were the imperial guards, who were there to force-feed him wine. Haozhen instinctively struggled, "Father, what is this, um... cough cough... um..." The entire pot of wine was poured down his throat without wasting a drop.

"Your Highness, this servant has returned to the palace to report!" The eunuch watched as the wine was poured down his throat, then immediately bowed and left with the imperial guards.

Haozhen, who had been thrown to the ground by the guards, managed to speak with difficulty, "Father, that is..."

"The poisoned wine was bestowed by the Emperor," Prince Shuo stood up, looking down at Haozhen. "You are nothing more than the son of a woodcutter, who enjoyed sixteen years of wealth and honor because of the rivalry of Lady Zhasuli. You could have continued to enjoy your wealth and honor, but unfortunately, you did the foolish thing of having an affair with a woman in mourning."

Haozhen's eyes widened, his mouth agape but he couldn't utter a word, shaking his head incessantly. Xiao Kouzi and Akdan, kneeling behind Haozhen, trembled violently, trying desperately to minimize their presence.

Prince Shuo had no time to spare for the dying Haozhen. He still needed to find Bai Yinshuang; he had to nip it in the bud. If Bai Yinshuang were alive, she would be a great threat. And there was also the Zhasuli clan… the Commander-in-Chief and his wife. After Prince Shuo left Haozhen's courtyard, Haoxiang went in, looking down at Haozhen with an air of superiority. For over a decade, Haozhen had looked at him the same way. "How could my elder brother, so accomplished in both literature and martial arts, be lying on the ground like this? Oh, I forgot, you were originally a servant. It's only right that you prostrate yourself before your young master like this."

Without the ability to roar, Haozhen could only glare at Haoxiang, who smirked, "Haozhen, you servant, what kind of look is that? Your master is very unhappy with the way you're looking at him!"

~~~~

"What's your name? How did you get hurt like this? Who was so cruel?" A woman dragged a girl who was covered in bruises back to her home. After settling the girl in, the woman asked.

"Little Swallow, I was... I was beaten up. Ugh, I don't know them... It was so scary..." Little Swallow huddled under the covers, recalling the scene just now. Liu Hong, Liu Qing, why didn't you come to save me? They hit me so hard.

"Where do you live?" When the woman heard the name "Little Swallow," something flashed in her eyes, and she had already guessed that this was an orphan.

"I have no home. I was taken in by Liu Qing and Liu Hong in a place called a tenement." Little Swallow was jolted awake by the pain as the woman carefully cleaned her wounds. She looked around the house; it was an ordinary family home. A little boy on the kang (heated brick bed) was blinking at her. "Who are you?"

“My husband’s surname is Xia, and his family is from Jinan. Because of a misfortune, I happened to be taking my son back to my parents’ home that day, which is how we escaped the fire. Everyone else in my family died in the fire. I came to Beijing to seek refuge with relatives, but I couldn’t find them no matter how hard I looked.” Xia said, her heart filled with resentment as she recounted her family’s ordeal.

"How pitiful! When I get better, I'll help you chop wood and teach your son martial arts so that no one will bully you." Little Swallow's compassion overflowed.

~~~

After searching Chunxiang Courtyard several times, Prince Shuo still couldn't find Bai Yinshuang. Unaware that her face was disfigured, Prince Shuo was currently washing vegetables in the kitchen. Believing Bai Yinshuang had been lucky enough to escape Chunxiang Courtyard, and after searching the capital without success, Prince Shuo returned to his residence. Meanwhile, Xue Ru and her sister, the wife of the Commander-in-Chief, were also secretly ordered to commit suicide by imperial decree. A few days later, the Emperor found another pretext to dismiss the Commander-in-Chief from his post.

The heavily pregnant Empress was selecting princesses from respectable families who were older and unmarried. After much deliberation, she chose a princess from the Nimacha family under the Bordered Red Banner. This princess had first participated in the selection at the age of fourteen, but was delayed due to illness. On her second participation at seventeen, she was injured in a collision outside the palace on the day of the selection. By the time she recovered, she had passed the legal marriage age.

"Your Majesty, what are you doing?" Fifth Princess looked at the Empress with curiosity as she drew a circle around a name.

The Empress spoke of the princess from the Nima Cha family, asking, "What does Wu'er think of the princess from the Nima Cha family?"

"Who does the Empress Dowager intend to marry this princess to?" The Fifth Princess, who had spent a long time in the palace, thought that Nima Cha was a clever person.

The Empress smiled but did not answer. The Emperor had asked her that morning to choose a few candidates to be a consort for Prince Shuo. Since Prince Shuo could not be stripped of his fiefdom at this time, the royal family naturally had to give him some face. The Empress only selected a few candidates; the final decision rested with the Emperor.

The Fifth Princess didn't get any answers, so she stopped asking. She spoke with the Empress for a while longer before requesting to leave to find the Fourth Princess and Lan Xin.

The Fourth Princess was teaching the Twelfth Prince riddles, Lanxin was embroidering flowers on her handkerchief, and the Seventh Princess was fast asleep on the kang (heated brick bed). When the Fifth Princess entered, she saw the Twelfth Prince's wide-eyed expression. Just as they were talking, they heard a commotion outside, and then a wet nurse brought in a prince about the same age as the Twelfth Prince. The others recognized the young prince, but were puzzled by his presence in the Kunning Palace.

The Fourth Princess had the Twelfth Prince play with the Eleventh Prince, then asked the Fifth Princess to watch over the two of them before running off. Although the Fourth Princess knew the Eleventh Prince was raised under the Empress's name, given Consort Jia's current health, why was the Eleventh Prince sent to Kunning Palace? Had Consort Jia angered the Emperor? The Fourth Princess, her mind filled with questions, entered the main hall and saw the Empress simply sitting on a soft couch, looking at something that resembled a book. "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"Is Si'er doing this for Yongxing?" The Empress didn't even look up, continuing to look at what she was holding.

"Does the Empress Dowager want to tell Fourth Princess about this?" Fourth Princess asked cautiously.

"Consort Jia suddenly fainted. The imperial physician is taking her pulse. His Majesty has ordered Yongxing to be brought to me." The Empress spoke calmly, without a trace of urgency. Fourth Princess's eyes widened. Why was the Empress reacting so strongly to Consort Jia's fainting? "I was wondering why I didn't go to see Consort Jia."

"Please enlighten me, Your Majesty." The Fourth Princess was very puzzled. When other concubines were sick, the Empress would always arrive quickly. Why did the Empress not take the usual action when it came to Consort Jia?

"Consort Jia's illness came on very strangely." The Empress put down her book, looked up at the Fourth Princess, and said, "Consort Jia has contracted smallpox."

The Fourth Princess stared wide-eyed at the Empress in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? How old is Consort Jia? How could she only be sick with smallpox now?" The Fourth Princess quickly recovered from her surprise and lowered her head. She didn't know much about smallpox. In modern times, every child is vaccinated at birth. She had looked up some information about smallpox while reading novels, but she had forgotten it all, only remembering that it was a highly contagious disease.

"I just examined her; the bedding and clothes have all been burned." The Empress was very pleased with the Fourth Princess's rapid transformation. "Yongcheng and Yongxuan have already moved into the South Third Palace."

Fourth Princess paused for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, I think we should vaccinate Yongqi against smallpox." Fourth Princess recalled that many novels mentioned the practice of vaccination against smallpox, so this method should be feasible.

The Queen stared wide-eyed at the Fourth Princess. "You're saying cowpox can prevent smallpox?" The Queen's voice held a mixture of uncertainty and excitement.

Fourth Princess nodded hesitantly. "I overheard the servants talking about this folk remedy outside the palace before, and my sister laughed and said it was impossible." Those servants were obviously made up by Fourth Princess, but Ziwei had indeed heard her mention it, though she had taken it as a joke and there was no basis for it. "If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can have the imperial physician find some children to try it on."

"This..." The Empress hesitated for a moment, then stroked her belly. "You may leave now! Yongxing will be living in Kunning Palace from now on. You have been mistreating him."

"Yes!" The Fourth Princess withdrew and returned to the main hall. She wondered if she had talked too much today. Turning her head, she saw the Fifth Princess looking at her with concern. The Fourth Princess felt much better. The current Ziwei Flower was very different from before. She would no longer be foolish enough to insist on marrying only Fu Erkang.

"What's wrong with Sister?" Fifth Princess walked to Fourth Princess's side. "Why does Sister look so puzzled?"

"Nothing, just thinking about some things." The Fourth Princess lowered her head, and when she looked up again, her face had returned to its usual smile. The Fourth Princess had been wondering if Consort Jia's smallpox was related to the Empress.

"Sister, it's too hot outside, come inside and think about it!" Under the blazing sun, Fifth Princess really didn't want to stand there any longer.

~~~

The news that Consort Jia had contracted smallpox caused an uproar in the palace, and no one dared to approach her. The eunuch who was delivering the imperial decree stood outside the courtyard and announced that Consort Jia should rest in peace, but unexpectedly ran away immediately.

Consort Ling of Yanxi Palace thought that since she had been a consort the longest, she would surely be able to take over the palace affairs managed by Consort Jia. The eunuchs in Yanxi Palace, who were waiting for the imperial decree, waited for two days but no one came. They sent Dongxue to inquire and learned that the Empress had regained control of the palace affairs, with Consort Chun assisting her. Consort Ling was so angry that she wrung out her handkerchief.

The Emperor has been very busy with state affairs lately and has been staying in the Hall of Mental Cultivation for several days. The Empress Dowager is a little worried about the Emperor's health, but she doesn't want to ask. So she asked the Fourth Princess and the Fifth Princess to check on the Emperor.

The Fourth and Fifth Princesses carried the Emperor's favorite snacks, prepared by the Empress, into the courtyard of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Wu Shulai, seeing the two princesses enter, immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, the Emperor is currently very angry! Perhaps we should wait a while before summoning him?"

"Wu Shulai, I'm just checking on Father Emperor's health. Is there anything amiss?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty..." Wu Shulai was about to reply when a voice came from inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, "Who is that in the courtyard?"

Fifth Princess gave Wu Shulai a look, and Wu Shulai immediately ran inside. "Your Majesty, Fourth Princess and Fifth Princess have brought you some refreshments."

"Let them enter the Hall of Benevolence and Humanity, I will also rest for a while." Emperor Qianlong rubbed his temples, the constant battles, large and small, were truly a headache.

"Yes, sir!"

"Greetings to Father Emperor! May Father Emperor be blessed!" Just as Qianlong was about to get up and head towards the Hall of Benevolence, he saw Yongqi standing uninvited before him. Qianlong frowned slightly in displeasure. "Yongqi, who allowed you to come in?"

"Father, I haven't seen you for several days and was worried about your health. I just came to see you," Yongqi knelt down and looked at Qianlong. Yongqi secretly resented Consort Ling's cunning words, which had managed to persuade his father to dismiss Erdemo and replace him with Fuertai. Yongqi knew Fuertai's background perfectly well. He had hoped Fuertai would recognize his place and obediently follow the servants around him, but instead, Fuertai claimed kinship with him. This infuriated Yongqi. He reprimanded Fuertai several times, but Fuertai didn't change his ways. Instead, Fuertai praised Consort Ling's virtues in his ear, which greatly angered Yongqi.

Emperor Qianlong looked at Yongqi for a long time but ultimately said nothing. He just sighed in his heart, wondering why Yongqi's manners were not as good as those of the Fourth and Fifth Princes.

"Father, your son wants to share your burdens!" Although Fu'ertai's status wasn't high, he still managed to come up with a good idea; he had reached the age where he could help his father.

Author's Note: Looking into the distance... Yongqi has appeared.