Chapter 63 Conferment

"You said it was the Empress."

Yinzhen's face was frighteningly gloomy, and his tone, besides being angry, also carried an indescribable strangeness, as if he were puzzled.

The Empress has been virtuous and kind over the years, and Consort Xin has always been someone who doesn't compete for favor or stand out. How could the two have such a great grudge?

Hongzhao knew his own personality; almost no one would dislike that child. Just now, even though he was so sick, he hid the blood-stained handkerchief behind his back for fear of making him worry. But the more he did that, the more heartbroken Yinzhen felt.

He couldn't understand how Yixiu, the Empress and the mother of the nation, could do such a thing, especially since she herself had lost a child.

The results obtained by the blood-dripping method are inaccurate.

Xia Yi said with certainty, “Your Majesty, Consort Li went to Jingren Palace before she hanged herself. I interrogated Cui Guo, who poisoned the Fifth Prince. After Consort Li went to Jingren Palace, she immediately asked her to find the tea set of someone who had contracted the plague. After the incident, she went to Jingren Palace again immediately.”

He looked up at the Emperor's increasingly gloomy face and continued, "I didn't hear what was said in detail, but I heard Consort Li pleading in the hall. She mentioned... the Third Prince. Not long after, she walked out looking distraught. All the servants along the way saw her. Not long after she returned, she hanged herself."

"Third Prince..." Yinzhen murmured meaningfully.

“With Consort Qi hanging herself, Hongshi will surely be left unattended. The Empress and the Empress are the most suitable candidates. They have a grown-up prince and have quietly eliminated the Fifth Prince. The remaining Hongzhou is too young to be a threat. It is truly a clever scheme.” Yinzhen’s eyes were dangerous and sharp as he spoke to himself, “I had no idea that my Empress had such a plan.”

In the past, Yixiu had never expressed any intention to adopt a child. When Hongzhao was young, there were rumors circulating about it for a while. He had tried to find out, but Yixiu never reacted and even refused.

However, whether in terms of intelligence or attitude, Hongzhao is superior to Hongshi, so why did she choose the more distant option instead of the more nearby one?

Yinzhen felt heartbroken that the person who had been his bedmate for so many years had become so unfamiliar. He pinched the bridge of his nose, but as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw Hongzhao's pitiful appearance in his arms just now.

A tiny child held his hand, calling him "Father" in a soft voice, saying he was scared. This was the first time Yinzhen truly experienced the heartache of parenthood. As the emperor, possessing the entire world, he could do nothing but hold the child in his arms. Helpless, he could only pray to Heaven.

He couldn't help but wonder if he had truly committed too many killings in the first half of his life, and that Heaven was still blaming him, even taking back the auspicious dragon and phoenix bestowed upon him by heaven.

The more he thought about it, the more indignant he became, and his chest heaved more and more intensely. Finally, unable to suppress the anger in his chest, he threw the emerald green jade beads in his hand violently. With a "crash," the string of jade beads broke in response and shattered into pieces.

Only Xia Yi and Su Peisheng were inside. They were both kneeling on the ground, heads bowed, as quiet as chickens.

After a long pause, Yinzhen finally found his voice—"Su Peisheng, draft the imperial edict."

"The sinful woman, Li, has acted immorally and is mentally unstable. She plotted to harm the imperial heir. She is hereby deposed and reduced to a commoner. However, since she gave birth to the imperial heir, she is granted special permission to perform religious practices at the Baohua Palace to pray for the country's well-being."

The Li family is already guilty of crimes, and they were only spared imprisonment because of Consort Qi. Now, however, there's no need to worry about that anymore. Order the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to retry the case and prosecute them according to the law. Their descendants will be barred from taking the imperial examinations for three generations.

"Yes," Su Peisheng replied, then cautiously raised his eyes and asked, "Your Majesty, what about the Third Prince...?"

Yinzhen mentally reviewed all the women in the harem, "Let's entrust them to... Consort Jing for care for now."

After saying that, there was another silence.

All three knew in their hearts that it was the Empress's turn.

He leaned back on the dragon throne, his voice low and hoarse, "Empress..."

"emperor."

An elderly voice suddenly interrupted him, and he didn't think about who it was. He saw the Empress Dowager with one hand on Zhu Xi, and without announcing herself, she walked straight into the Imperial Study.

Yinzhen frowned, his expression not good, but he still stood up and bowed, "Your Majesty, why have you come at this time?"

"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known that Your Majesty was so bold as to dare to go in while Hongzhao was ill. You are the Emperor, and your health is naturally the most important thing." The Empress Dowager rushed over anxiously.

When Yinzhen heard that the Empress Dowager had come because she was worried about him, his tense expression softened a little – “I’m sorry to have worried my mother.”

But his relief didn't last long before the Empress Dowager continued, "I've heard that the Empress seems to have been confined to her quarters. What's going on?"

Ultimately, it was all for Yixiu's sake. After a moment of silence, the Emperor said, "I have just drafted an edict that Lady Li was deposed and reduced to a commoner for plotting to harm the imperial heir. She has confessed that she was instructed by the Empress."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's expression changed, and she took a breath without making a sound—"These are the words of a sinful woman. How can the Emperor doubt the Empress based on just one side of the story?"

“The evidence is conclusive, and it’s not just one side of the story.” Yinzhen didn’t look up, but his words were equally firm.

How could the Empress Dowager not know? As soon as the incident occurred, she could roughly guess who was behind it, but there was nothing she could do. Now, the honor of the Ulanara family and the Uya family were tied together, and she had to protect the Empress even if it meant going against her own principles.

"Your Majesty," she said in a low voice, "I know that Yixiu has never been your favorite, but as Empress, she has never made any mistakes over the years, and she has done an excellent job in selecting concubines to enrich your harem."

As the Empress Dowager's gentle voice echoed in his ears, Yinzhen's mind inexplicably drifted to the drafty windows of the prince's quarters, which he had forgotten to deal with in his haste to leave. Now, as darkness fell and the wind intensified, he wondered if the servants had closed the windows or provided Hongzhao with an extra blanket.

"Empress Dowager, do you know how Hongzhao is doing now?" Yinzhen suddenly asked as the Empress Dowager continued to list Yixiu's good points.

The Empress Dowager was taken aback. She had rushed over as soon as she received the news, thinking only of Yixiu, but unaware of Hongzhao's condition.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Yinzhen continued, his tone extremely low—"Hongzhao has had a fever for several days and it hasn't subsided. Today he has started coughing up blood. The imperial physician said... he's afraid he won't make it."

After all, he was her own grandson, so the Empress Dowager wasn't completely unmoved. Upon hearing this, she frowned with heartache.

Yinzhen said, "That child became extremely thin in just a few days. Even when I went to see him, he was not very lucid. Even so, he told me not to make things difficult for him."

He felt that perhaps it was because of his age that his heart had been particularly soft these days. He spoke from the bottom of his heart, word by word: “Empress Mother, Hongzhao is also your own grandson. He is in my arms, holding my hand and telling me that he is scared and that he can’t bear to leave me and his mother.”

At this point, the Empress Dowager's eyes welled up with tears. Hongzhao had indeed grown up under her watchful eye, but Yixiu...

She thought for a moment and then spoke up: "I know you are heartbroken, but Your Majesty, you are first and foremost the Emperor, and then the father of Hongzhao. You have only been on the throne for a little over a year. If the Empress is deposed now, what a huge upheaval it would cause in the court and the harem."

Yinzhen had already considered this issue, saying, "There's no need to depose the empress. There's a serious epidemic in the palace right now. Isn't that how Hongzhao got sick?"

His voice was extremely cold, and the meaning behind his words sent chills down the Empress Dowager's spine. Her tone was somewhat urgent—"Has Your Majesty ever considered that without Yixiu, the Empress's position is vacant, and who can take over the central palace? Just the fact that the Nian siblings are eyeing the palace like tigers is not easy to deal with. The court and the harem will certainly not be peaceful again. Without Yixiu, who can contend with Nian Shilan?"

Seeing that Yinzhen was looking into the distance and no longer speaking, the Empress Dowager softened her tone and continued, "No matter what, Yixiu is Rouze's sister. Rouze said before she passed away that Yixiu must be treated well. If we depose the empress at the drop of a hat, how will Rouze rest in peace in the afterlife?"

Yinzhen remained silent for a long time, a struggle showing in his eyes. After a moment, he finally gave in and sighed heavily.

"As Your Majesty said, the Empress has been too presumptuous and must be punished. I can temporarily not take back the Empress's seal and book. Since the Empress is wholeheartedly praying for the country, I will grant permission to set up a small Buddhist hall in the back hall of Jingren Palace. She will not have to deal with worldly matters every day. She can copy scriptures a hundred times and recite scriptures a hundred times. This can be considered as accumulating some merit for the deceased."

The Empress Dowager wanted to speak again, but Yinzhen didn't wait for her to continue and continued on his own—"The concubines no longer need to pay their respects to each other every morning and evening. The power of the six palaces will be handed over to Consort Xin to assist, with Consort Jing assisting from the side. In that case, Consort Xin will be promoted to Noble Consort Xin, and Consort Jing will be promoted to Consort Jing."

The Empress Dowager frowned. The Emperor had mentioned promoting her to the rank of Imperial Concubine before, but she had stopped him. She never expected the Emperor to promote her father to such a high rank. This time, her eyes flickered, but she did not object again.

As Yinzhen spoke, he seemed to remember something and added to himself, "Consort Xin has been so heartbroken these past two days that she has almost cried herself to sleep and can't get up. This is very unfair to her, so I will bestow a surname upon her and change her surname from Lü to Lüjia. The title Xin seems a bit mediocre now, so... I will change it to Xian."

The Empress Dowager was surprised that even though she stopped interfering, the Emperor continued to nourish Lü Yingfeng, sometimes on the left and sometimes on the right.

She paused, then swallowed her words. Yixiu's matter had already displeased the emperor, and the bond between mother and son between them was already weak. She should just go along with him on this matter.

But upon hearing the next sentence, the Empress Dowager realized that she had made preparations too early.

"Given Hongzhao's current state, it is fitting to have a celebration. Therefore, we bestow upon the Fifth Prince Hongzhao the title of Prince Rui."