Chapter 48 Extra Chapter 1: Waiting
On the day the album was completed, Chen Guanxue looked at it for a long time. It contained paintings accumulated over many years.
On the day the album was completed, Chen Guanxue looked at it for a long time.
There are many paintings accumulated over the years, and the album is as tall as an arm. It's difficult for one person to carry it, so I can only put it on the table and slowly flip through it.
As she flipped through the pages, she felt sleepy, her eyelids so heavy she could barely lift them.
"Runxi, help me to rest..." Before he could finish speaking, he lost consciousness. He heard Runxi's panicked screams and a cacophony of sounds around him.
Emperor Kangxi, who was reviewing memorials, suddenly paused. The excruciating pain made him subconsciously look in the direction of Chen Guanxue's residence.
Realizing what he had done, he disregarded the folded paper in his hand and started walking in that direction.
His steps went from unsteady to steady and rapid, and finally he even started running.
A palace maid bumped into him and was pushed aside.
Runxi cried as she hugged the person in her arms tightly.
Kangxi opened his mouth but could not make a sound. His throat felt like it was being choked. He could only swallow hard, then squatted down on the ground, trembling, and held the limp person tightly in his arms.
He had a constant ringing in his ears and his eyes were bloodshot and lifeless.
After a long while, the sound of sobbing from the palace maids could be heard throughout the room, and Fushou was crying in her arms.
Kangxi carried the person, his legs straining to lift, and staggered to the bedside before setting him down.
"Fu Shou, kowtow to your mother." His vision was blurry, so he ordered someone to prepare hot water and asked Runxi to find the clothes she had worn at the beginning.
Runxi was told to drag Fushou, who had kowtowed, out of the room and dismiss everyone else. Then, he took a towel from the hot water and used it to wipe Fushou's face and body, quickly changing her clothes as if afraid she would catch a cold.
He also combed her hair, but his hands and feet were not as gentle and delicate as those of the palace maids, and the combing was somewhat ugly. So he called Runxi in to comb her hair again and put jewelry on her.
Finally, he put his private seal around her neck and the private seal she brought around his own neck.
Fu Shou had never seen his father like this before. In just one day, he seemed to have exhausted all his energy, his face was haggard, and even his hair had turned much whiter.
He cried as he pressed his father onto the bed, begging him to get some rest.
Kangxi lay there with his eyes open, patting his hand. "Fushou, remember, life and death are predestined. If your father and mother pass away before you, don't be too sad."
Seeing him nod repeatedly, Kangxi closed his eyes and told him to leave.
Tears soaked the pillow.
The emperor, a man of great stature, wept silently when he was alone.
Emperor Kangxi endured for a month, only managing to sleep for one or two hours each day, before finally sending Chen Guanxue's coffin into the imperial mausoleum so that he could be buried with her after his death.
Originally, only the Empress could be buried with him, but the imperial edict to posthumously confer the title of Empress could not be issued, so they had to settle for posthumously conferring the title of Imperial Noble Consort, otherwise Fushou would have become the legitimate son.
Human hearts are unpredictable. He is already old, and now he feels even more exhausted and his days are numbered. Fu Shou is still young, and he dares not guess whether the Crown Prince and others will treat him well in the future.
During the day he handled official business as usual, but only at night could he devote himself to missing Chen Guanxue.
What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.
Kangxi received the answer he wanted in his dream.
“She’s not from our world,” said the man who looked just like him but was much older.
“She was originally mine. Of course, I am you, and you are me, and she is ours.”
Emperor Kangxi did not want to hear those words.
He had known from Chen Guanxue's eyes a long time ago that someone else was in her heart, and even now that he knew they were the same person, he still felt sad and disgusted.
“She is from hundreds of years in the future. Her coming here is just an accident. She will return to where she belongs.” The man seemed to know Kangxi’s thoughts and told him everything he knew. “You cannot bear her departure, and neither can I. But I met her in the future. You can go to where she belongs to find her, and I can take your place and continue to wait for her.”
"And the price?" Kangxi asked.
"Your price is the loss of your memory and the rest of your life, while my price is to endure long periods of loneliness."
Emperor Kangxi did not believe in gods and ghosts, but at this moment he seemed to be possessed, convinced that his words were true, just like a person dying of thirst who knows that the water in front of him is poisoned but still drinks it.
The moment Kangxi nodded, the man became younger, his snow-white hair turned black, and the wrinkles on his face disappeared until he looked exactly like him.
The original Emperor Kangxi disappeared in the dream.
When Kangxi awoke, he was more lonely than before, indifferent to everything except—fortune and longevity.
"I thought he wouldn't agree," Kangxi murmured. After all, Chen Guanxue had left behind a child. If it were him, how could he easily give up Fushou?
Kangxi smiled.
Everyone noticed that Kangxi had changed; he was more indifferent to his other sons and daughters, but treated them all equally.
After investigating the princess's unhappy marriage, the emperor issued an imperial edict to execute her husband, brought the princess back to the palace, arranged for a tutor to teach them various things, ordered them to find what they wanted to do, and sent princes to assist them in accomplishing it.
"Father Emperor is like a completely different person..." Yinqi exclaimed.
"Fifth brother, be careful what you say." Yinreng interrupted him, "Father was heartbroken because of the Imperial Noble Consort, it's fortunate that he has only changed his temperament a little."
He understood clearly that he had been genuinely worried that his father, the Emperor, would be so heartbroken that he would fall ill and follow Chen Guanxue in death.
Then he looked at Fu Shou and sighed silently.
Father Emperor truly considers the well-being and longevity of his children far more than he did when he was young.
"Second Brother, why are you looking at me like that?" Fu Shou asked.
"It's nothing." Yinreng shook his head. "It's still early today. Shall we return to the palace immediately or wander around some more?"
Fu Shou had already planned it out: "Go buy two portions of pastries first; Father Emperor should like them."
Even if the Emperor doesn't read it, he still has to buy it, because the Emperor will smile as soon as he eats it.
"Okay." The group then led him out of the teahouse to buy pastries.
However, an unexpected incident occurred while buying pastries: someone was lying in wait to kill Yinreng.
Fu Shou was young and short, and his vision was in places his older brothers didn't notice. When the gleaming dagger was swung out, he pulled Yinreng, causing the dagger to pierce himself.
The princes were not without guards; the assassin was immediately pinned down and his jaw was dislocated.
After Yinreng came to his senses, he held Fushou, who was injured in the chest, and felt his hands and feet were ice cold.
"Send a message back to the palace!"
Large patches of blood stained Fu Shou's light blue clothes. Yinreng took him to the nearest clinic. The old doctor, seeing the severity of the wound, dared not remove the barbed dagger. He could only use silver needles to seal the pulse and stop the bleeding. He then told them to take Fu Shou back to the palace immediately.
Kangxi stood outside the palace, looking up at the sky. Below the steps were the Crown Prince and others, kneeling upright with their heads bowed.
"Have you found out who orchestrated the assassination?" Kangxi asked.
Yinreng gritted his teeth and bowed, "Reporting to Father Emperor, they are remnants of barbarian tribes from beyond the Great Wall."
"The Crown Prince will lead troops to bring back the tribes involved in this matter, and those who resist will be executed."
A single sentence can determine the life or death of more than just a few dozen or a few hundred people.
The prince and the others touched the ground with their foreheads.
They might have dared to advise against it before, saying that the action was too cruel, but now they wish they could sprout wings and bring the person back.
Nothing more.
Kangxi is now like a madman wearing a calm exterior.
If Chen Guanxue was the shackle that bound the madman before, then now Fushou is the thorn that pierces the madman's flesh, causing him pain anytime and anywhere, and even allowing the thorn to penetrate deeper. If someone tries to pull out the thorn, it will drive the madman mad with pain.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Emperor Kangxi stared intently, the small print in his palm pressing into his flesh.
He dared not go in, fearing that the group of timid imperial physicians would put pressure on him and that the slightest mistake would cause Fu Shou to be injured even more severely.
All we can do is pray that God will open his eyes and not let the child she left behind die.
"Your Majesty, the dagger has been pulled out, and the young prince has also woken up."
When Kangxi entered the room, he indeed saw Fushou with his eyes open, and there was lingering fear in his eyes when he saw him.
"Father Emperor." The voice was weak.
"Hmm." Kangxi sat on the edge of the bed and responded faintly, but the hand placed on his forehead trembled violently.
Fu Shou smiled at him, then looked around the room and, seeing that his brothers weren't there, couldn't help but ask, "Where are Father Emperor and the others?"
"Let them in."
A short while later, Fu Shou saw his brothers helping each other, limping in, their faces covered in sweat, with twisted smiles on their faces.
Fu Shou called out to each of her brothers, pretending not to see their disheveled appearance. "Father, my eldest brother and the others have been waiting outside for a long time. Let them go back and rest. They need to go out of the palace tomorrow to give my sisters some advice."
Kangxi nodded, and a dozen or so people helped him leave.
Fu Shou and Kangxi were talking, and Fu Shou said it was a pity that he hadn't brought back the pastries.
The departing prince and his entourage exchanged glances and gave each other helpless, bitter smiles.
“I used to think it was easy for you to kneel, but today I realize how bitter it is,” Yinreng said.
Those of similar age and experience who had gone through similar experiences gave him a dry laugh.
"When you send Seventeenth out of the palace later, make sure he takes more people with him, and don't let him go to those small, cramped places." It's impossible for them to leave the palace without Fu Shou; he just loves to run around. There's nothing fun in the palace anyway, so it's just a lot of work for his older brothers.
The next day, the crown prince took the imperial edict and rushed to the border. After several months of hard work, he captured the tribe that had arranged the assassination and escorted them back to the capital one by one.
As if they were intimidated, no one dared to attempt an assassination in the capital again.
Emperor Kangxi watched Fushou grow up as if he were his own eyes.
As the face in the mirror gradually overlapped with a familiar one, Fu Shou's wedding day arrived.
Fu Shou was granted the title of Prince Kang, and his palace was built next to the palace. It took five years to complete. He and his wife were in love.
"Seventeenth Uncle's wedding is indeed the most grand I've ever seen." Yu Shu, who had drunk quite a bit of wine, leaned against the tall guard.
Calling them guards is not accurate; they should be called one of the prince consorts. However, they did not have official titles. To outsiders, they were called guards, but everyone knew that they were serving Yu Shu.
"Your seventeenth uncle has been preparing for two years, and with Father Emperor present, it's quite a grand affair." Yinreng had also drunk quite a bit, his mind was still clear, but his body was sluggish. Seeing Yushu leaning against someone else, he could only turn his head away, unable to lecture her. After all, Father Emperor supported her.
Emperor Kangxi was also pleased, and drank too much wine. He became so drunk that he ordered someone to take him to the imperial mausoleum that very night.
After dismissing everyone, he lay down on Chen Guanxue's coffin and poured wine onto the ground, cup after cup.
"You two are living the high life," she said mournfully, then added excitedly, "Fu Shou is getting married, and I should see you next year. If I'm lucky, I might even let you hold your granddaughter. I just hope you don't scare her..."
After saying that, Kangxi remembered something else. When he saw her, he was at Changchun Garden recuperating.
He then sighed.
"These old bones of mine are really..."
He pounded his head, forcing himself to forget about it.
“I still can’t bear to part with that boy Fushou. His Prince’s Mansion is right outside the palace. Whenever he misses his father, he can get to the Qianqing Palace in less than half an hour.”
"Your red wedding dress is beautiful. I'll have the Imperial Household Department make one for you too."
"Only tonight, when I'm drunk, can I come to see you. At other times, I'm terrified of seeing your cold, lifeless coffin..."
Kangxi patted the coffin, poured two cups of wine, tied them with red rope, placed one cup in front of her coffin, and held the other himself. While drinking the wine, he knocked over the cup placed in front of the coffin.
"Heqin wine".
Kangxi walked steadily out of the imperial mausoleum and returned to the palace.
In autumn, Fu Shou, who had been married for three months, lived in Changchun Garden with his wife and Emperor Kangxi, but both of them contracted smallpox.
Seeing that they had fevers, Kangxi drew his sword and was about to kill the people serving him.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince and his entourage rode over and, together with Runxi, stopped him.
"Father! My seventeenth brother is ill. How can we let blood stains tarnish his virtue?" Yinreng, who was not young, held the hand of the furious Kangxi, his voice trembling.
The knife was taken from Kangxi's hand, and he stayed in the Fushou Room day and night.
During Fu Shou's wedding, the procession sent by Emperor Kangxi to fetch the Living Buddha arrived in the capital.
Emperor Kangxi kept the Living Buddha in the room, and it is unknown what they discussed.
The Living Buddha set off for home the next day.
According to records, the couple lingered for half a month before passing away on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Emperor Kangxi dismissed all the servants who had attended to Fu Shou and placed the couple together in the imperial mausoleum.
In reality, Yinreng's expression was twisted as he looked at the couple who awkwardly called him "Father."
What kind of living Buddha is this? There's no medicine, so this is the only idea they came up with!
It's not easy to accept that your brother has become your son.
"Hahaha." Yu Shu clutched her stomach, laughing so hard she almost fell over. She glanced at the acne scars on Fu Shou's forehead and couldn't stop laughing.
Her seventeenth uncle was already handsome, but now with a mark between his eyebrows, he looked even more gentle and beautiful, like a Bodhisattva in a temple.
"Stop laughing, call me brother." Fu Shou's eyes lit up.
He was the youngest child of the Emperor, and he was the only one who could call others "brother," but he had never been called "brother" by anyone.
Although Yu Shu was once his junior.
But the past is the past, and the present is the present.
Now he's the older brother.
"Brother, brother!!!" Yu Shu called out quickly, more accepting of the fact that her uncle had become her brother than Yinreng.
"Sister-in-law!!!" Calling her that once wasn't enough; looking at the bright and elegant former seventeenth aunt, he called her that too.
Yinreng covered his eyes, and the sounds of "brother" and "sister" echoed throughout the Yuqing Palace.
However, upon seeing the Emperor's relaxed face, he felt unusually at ease.
Forget it, whatever happens, as long as he's alive, that's all that matters.
The former Prince Kang became Prince Kang of the Second Rank, and the whole capital accepted it well. Let the emperor go mad, at least the rope that keeps the madman in check is still there.
Everyone seemed to accept it well, but whether they kept any diaries in private is unknown.
As New Year's Eve approached, Kangxi flipped through the thick album one last time, touched the familiar faces in the pictures, and then, with a heavy heart, tore the album apart and threw the pictures one by one into the fire pit.
As if that was the beginning, he then found all the things related to Chen Guanxue in the Qianqing Palace, inventoried them one by one, and personally watched as people burned them.
There were many items, especially clothes and jewelry.
All the clothes were burned, and the records of the Imperial Household Department were also erased.
Jewelry disassembly and recasting.
He even erased every single word of the previous records about Chen Guanxue.
Apart from the existence of Fushou and Runxi, there is almost no trace of her past.
He even issued an imperial edict forbidding anyone from mentioning Chen Guanxue again.
The court officials accepted this well.
The emperor has just gone mad, it's alright. Erasing the records won't matter; they can just be dug up and rewritten when the new emperor ascends the throne.
The officials, while chanting "Prince Kang," accepted the madman-like emperor with smiles.
There was really no other way. The Emperor only made foolish mistakes and did idiotic things regarding Consort Chen. He handled state affairs better and better. Somehow, he got the news that many gold and silver mines had been discovered, and he had more silver to pay salaries and get things done.
Fifty-seven years is destined to be an extraordinary year.
Emperor Kangxi appointed the Crown Prince to oversee the country, with his other sons assisting him, and even selected a large number of ministers to assist him.
Then he moved to Changchun Garden, acting as if he didn't care about anything and was handing over power to the crown prince, which was no different from abdicating and becoming an emperor emeritus.
The officials tentatively offered some advice, only to find that Prince Kang had told them to take the memorials back, and the Crown Prince himself looked like a newly appointed official, full of ambition.
Some people are wondering why the imperial seal was stamped so smoothly when the crown prince hasn't ascended the throne yet.
The shrewd ones have already adapted to the Crown Prince's pace and are vying to be the first to receive orders and get things done.
They understood a little, but not completely. They thought about how Prince Kang, who had been pampered by Kangxi and thought would become the new crown prince, was now Prince Kang, the son of the crown prince. They assumed that Kangxi was planning for Prince Kang to succeed to the throne after the crown prince's death, so they buried themselves in their work.
Since the meat's already rotting in the pot anyway, let's do more work!
The memorial will not be delivered to Changchun Garden.
All the eunuchs and palace maids in Changchun Garden were replaced, and they all remembered one sentence: There is a concubine surnamed Chen here.
Kangxi finally had the time and inclination to pamper his face, so he asked his retired concubines for all sorts of creams and ointments and diligently applied them to his face.
After applying it for several months, as the weather got warmer, he began to wander around the lake.
The exact time of Chen Guanxue's appearance was somewhat vague in his mind, as if it were obscured by a thin mist.
That's why he eagerly anticipates each new day.
On June 1st, he was wearing a brand-new navy blue casual suit and talking to Fu Shou when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure suddenly appearing by the lake.
My vision blurred for a moment, and my heart, which had been adrift like duckweed, finally took root.
Fu Shou followed his stunned gaze and stood frozen in place as well.
Kangxi quickly regained his senses, rubbed his eyes, reached out to tug at his collar, and then straightened his clothes to make sure he was perfect before taking a deep breath, brushing aside the weeping willows, and walking over.
One is older and more composed than before, while the other is younger and more flustered.
Kangxi's sudden appearance startled Chen Guanxue, who immediately curtsied in an irregular manner.
A large hand came into her sight, and when she looked up slightly, a gentle and doting smile appeared on his face.
Chen Guanxue placed her slightly damp palm on it.
The hand holding hers tightly seemed to be trembling, or perhaps it was restraining its strength.
Fu Shou stared blankly at them, feeling a lump in her throat, and wanted to go over and take a look too.
A hand landed on his shoulder, stopping him from moving forward.
"Second Brother?" Then she changed her address to "Father."
Yinreng was so shocked that he was speechless and instinctively stopped Fushou.
"Um."
Only after the people by the lake left did Yinreng regain his senses. "Father has his own plans. If there is an opportunity, he will let you see Mother Chen."
Yinreng accepted Fushou as his nominal son, and seeing him go from looking like he was about to die to being healthy in an instant, he accepted that strange and supernatural things exist in the world.
The Emperor had been plotting for a long time and finally got the result, but he couldn't reveal the secret.
“I know what I’m doing,” Fu Shou nodded.
Afterwards, Fu Shou watched from the shadows as his father held his mother in his hands, feeling both happy and worried.
Until Kangxi summoned him.
"What's there to worry about? It's just fate's arrangement. We should just take it one day at a time." Kangxi saw things clearly and instead comforted others.
Everyone in Changchun Garden witnessed the Emperor showering the rumored Consort Chen with affection.
Fu Shou calmed down, and when his son was born, he finally met Chen Guanxue formally again.
Kangxi took the child from his arms and placed it in Chen Guanxue's hands.
She hugged him frantically, her body stiff, and forced a smile, "This child is so beautiful."
After saying that, he looked at Fu Shou again but didn't say anything.
Fu Shou didn't stay with her for long, and they didn't even talk. When he left, he heard her say, "Perhaps it's because he looks like the Emperor, but I always feel that the Crown Prince's child looks familiar."
“He looks half like me,” Kangxi replied.
Tears streamed down her face.
[Author's Note]
Next up is a modern-day side story.
Daily Life in a Marriage with a Husband with a Dual Personality
PS:
I thought of an extra chapter as soon as I started writing. I didn't want Kangxi to wait forever, nor did I want Guan Guan to have to choose between the two, because they are both the most important parts of her life.
The breaks in the middle were due to my poor mindset and inability to write well, making the story uninteresting and fragmented. The beginning and end were written with 100% genuine hope that they would be happy.
Thank you to all the readers who have read this novel and still enjoy or have enjoyed it.
Finally: I'm sorry that I let you down along the way, and I also let down this story and them.
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