Chapter 6 Fear of Relatives by the Empress Dowager
Chapter Six: Fear of the Empress's Relatives
"Go and spend more time with your mother." Su Mufeng's voice was as deep as a stone thrown into an ancient well, stirring up ripples of the past. "I shouldn't have agreed to the Empress Dowager and the elders' suggestion back then. The palace is like a vast sea. If I had known this would happen, I would have chosen an ordinary marriage for Su'er much earlier..."
Su Jizhi clenched his fist tightly in his sleeve, his knuckles turning white. He looked at the new gray in his father's temples and felt a bitter taste in his throat: "My sister has now been demoted to a concubine and must be suffering all kinds of grievances in the palace... I am just a lowly fourth-rank guard, with no power or influence. I don't even have the right to speak up for her. I, as her elder brother, am truly useless."
Su Mufeng gazed at his son, his eyes gentle yet bearing the weight of years: "There's no need to blame yourself; none of this had anything to do with you."
Su Jizhi understood his father's meaning. The late emperor and the current emperor were always wary of the growing power of maternal relatives. When his sister was a noble consort, they could only protect their lives by keeping to themselves. He and his father only wished for the safety of their family. As long as Su'er was safe in the palace, they never coveted power. But now that his sister had been demoted, this carefully maintained balance had finally been broken.
Su Mufeng stroked the letter in his hand, his fingertips brushing across the paper. It felt as if he were touching a layer of autumn frost, cold and hard. Su Su's once lively handwriting, as delicate as apricot blossoms in early bloom, now seemed to have been smoothed out by rules. Every stroke was neat and precise, and even the ink dots at the end of sentences had lost their sharpness. The free and unrestrained style of the past was nowhere to be seen.
He suddenly clenched the letter, his Adam's apple bobbing as he suppressed the sigh and heartache that almost escaped his lips. The little girl who used to jump and shout "Father" under the apricot tree was now trapped alone in the deep palace... His Susu had only just turned fifteen this year.
He couldn't just sit there grieving. He suddenly looked up, a sharp glint in his eyes, and abruptly cut off the sob that was about to escape his lips: "Is there anyone suspicious in the house? How's the investigation going?"
Su Jizhi understood and pushed open the creaking camphor wood door. He entered the study with his father and placed a secret letter on the table with a solemn expression: "Father, I have found out that before my sister's accident, the steward's son suddenly started to have frequent contact with the second wife's family, which is unprecedented. Moreover, this person previously owed a gambling debt of three hundred taels, but recently he has paid it all off."
*Smack!* Su Mufeng slammed his knuckles on the sandalwood table, startling the birds under the eaves into scattering. What a treacherous wretch… What are the steward and the second wife plotting! But a sharp edge was hidden in the wrinkles around his eyes: “Hold your ground and keep an eye on them. They’ll reveal their true colors sooner or later.”
Su Jizhi bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, I have already arranged for people to continue keeping an eye on them."
Su Mufeng nodded and continued, "And next time you send a letter to your sister... bring more money with you." She is currently in Changxin Palace, and her days must be difficult. Su Su always says in her letters that everything is fine, but how could he, as her father, not know the hardships of life in the deep palace?
Su Jizhi had always doted on his younger sister since childhood, and his eyes welled up with tears upon hearing this: "Yes. There are many things that need to be taken care of in the palace, I will go and prepare them right away." His fingers unconsciously rubbed a faded peace knot in his sleeve—it was the one his sister tied for him on his wrist three years ago, on the eve of her entering the palace, in the lamplight of the corridor, she tilted her head and smiled brightly.
Inside the palace, at Cining Palace.
For the past month, on the first and fifteenth of each month, Su Su sat quietly at the end of the table, listening intently to Consort Zhuang's subtly sarcastic remarks to Consort Wan. Having learned that the Emperor had repeatedly visited Consort Wan's palace, Consort Zhuang could no longer contain her jealousy and wanted to use the Empress Dowager's influence to reprimand this newcomer.
The Empress Dowager sat high on her phoenix throne, remaining calm and composed, letting him do as he pleased.
Consort Zhuang adopted a gentle demeanor and said softly, "Your Majesty, as the supreme ruler, His Majesty should emulate the virtue of Heaven and Earth in cherishing life and extend his grace to all the palaces. Consort Wan is new to the palace and may not yet be familiar with etiquette, so she may occasionally make mistakes... I hope Your Majesty will give her more guidance and not let His Majesty lose sight of the ancestral laws due to momentary favoritism."
The Empress Dowager slightly raised her eyelids, and a smile as gentle as spring water spread across her lips. The smile contained three parts kindness and seven parts majesty. She said slowly, "My virtuous daughter-in-law is better at advising the emperor than I am. However, in the inner palace, the continuation of the imperial line must ultimately be the priority."
Despite Consort Zhuang's sharp words, Consort Wan remained calm and composed. The Empress Dowager's gaze pierced her like needles, her voice clear and cold like silk covered in ice: "Consort Wan, now that you have the Emperor's favor, you must always remember the principle that 'a single tree cannot make a spring.' I hope you can persuade the Emperor to distribute his favors evenly and to produce offspring for the royal family as soon as possible." Consort Wan remained indifferent, only calmly replying, "Your Majesty's teachings will be remembered."
Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Consort Zhuang couldn't help but smile with a hint of smugness. After all, Consort Wan was not the Empress Dowager's own niece, so the Empress Dowager naturally wouldn't protect her much, allowing her to monopolize the Empress Dowager's favor.
After the ceremony, everyone dispersed. The Empress Dowager tilted her head slightly and said slowly to the maidservant beside her, "These days, Su Su seems to have hidden all her sharpness. Was she punished too severely before?"
Duan Mama bowed and replied, "Perhaps after experiencing things, Consort Su has learned to know when to advance and when to retreat, and is no longer as willful as before."
The Empress Dowager sighed softly, her voice filled with pity yet retaining its authority: "She has grown up by my side since childhood, and I have neglected her enough. If she truly aspires to the position of Empress, she must understand that the Emperor's heart never belongs exclusively to one person. If she continues to be stubborn, she will only be ruining her own future."
Duan Mama understood and respectfully agreed: "The Empress Dowager is kind and far-sighted, and Consort Su will surely understand your good intentions."
…………
On the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year, New Year's Eve had arrived. Su Su was embroidering a handkerchief with her head down. Chunlan hesitated several times before finally saying softly, "My lady... I'm afraid you won't be able to attend the New Year's Eve banquet this year. How about I cook some dumplings and we celebrate the New Year in our room by ourselves?"
Su Su's silver needles never stopped. She never liked the evening banquet. In previous years, when she accompanied the Empress Dowager, she saw the concubines vying for attention, each using all their skills to win Li Qianzhe's favor. The competition behind the scenes was more tiring than the singing and dancing on stage. They couldn't even get a peaceful meal. Thinking of this, she smiled slightly: "It's good this way now. It's quiet. Go and have Xiao Anzi prepare some ingredients. I'll make dumplings with you."
Seeing that her mistress was so indifferent, Chunlan's brows immediately relaxed: "This servant will go and do it right away." Before she finished speaking, Qiuju was so happy that she hopped to the door like a sparrow: "Let me go! I can run fast!" With that, she disappeared in a flash.
Su Su and Chunlan exchanged a smile, their eyes filled with warmth.
As dusk settled, golden sunlight streamed through the windowpanes. The three sat around the table, their slender hands quickly filling the bamboo curtain with dumplings shaped like ingots. Su Su suddenly chuckled and gently pressed her fingertip against one of the dumplings: "I've hidden a silver coin inside." Chunlan understood and quietly slipped copper coins into several more dumplings.
"Whoever gets the silver coins this year will be the luckiest." Su Su's eyes sparkled with a hint of cunning, while Qiu Ju's eyes crinkled with laughter as she moved her hands more quickly, the rising steam blurring the smiling faces of the three.
In the misty steam, Su Su felt somewhat dazed. She recalled her childhood when she served by the Empress Dowager's side. The dignified woman taught her the ways of being an empress while also ordering people to teach her culinary skills. "To win a man's heart, you must first win his stomach," the Empress Dowager's words still echoed in her ears. But back then, the soups and pastries she personally cooked and made, when served to Li Qianche, only earned her a "decent" in return.
Steaming hot dumplings were served, and the three of them sat down to eat. Su Su lowered her head and stirred the white, jade-like dumplings in her bowl, silently praying, "May I break free from this cage next year, may my parents be healthy, and may all those I care about have good fortune." Just then, she felt a slight bite between her teeth—it was the dumpling with the silver coin hidden inside. A smile had just begun to form on her lips when she caught sight of Qiu Ju beside her, her cheeks puffed out, trying to stuff three or four dumplings into her mouth at once, her eyes wide and round, looking just like a greedy squirrel. The way she was trying to get the silver coin was so endearing that it was hard not to laugh.
Su Su couldn't help but laugh out loud, her eyes glistening with tiny tears, like morning dew on apricot blossoms under the candlelight. She was extremely beautiful, with a radiant oval face, delicate eyebrows, and eyes that rippled like spring water. The flickering candlelight made her dimples appear even more prominently, adding to her charming innocence. Qiu Ju was so captivated by her beauty that she forgot to chew.
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