Chapter 17: The autumn chrysanthemums outside Wangyun Palace, their petals hidden, seem to weep...
At the hour of You (5-7 PM), at Wangyun Palace.
A yellow figure rushed into the palace.
"Mother, Mother, what happened to my third and fourth brothers?!" Jia Yunqi, contrary to his usual behavior, disregarded etiquette and asked the Empress Shangguan Yun as soon as he saw her.
"All of you, get out of here. No one is allowed to come in without my permission." Shangguan Yun turned his back and first dismissed the palace maids, but the door remained tightly shut. Only then did he slowly turn around and stare at Jia Yunqi without saying a word.
"Mother..."
"Kneel down!"
"Mother, what have I done wrong?" Jia Yunqi was stunned and unable to react for a moment.
“You did nothing wrong? Ha—you and Jia Zhang’s shameful affair, do you really think you can hide it from everyone? Do you think I, your mother, am so blind and ignorant?” Shangguan Yun’s tone was sharp, her gaze like a knife as she looked down at the crown prince kneeling before her.
Jia Yunqi shuddered, lowered his head heavily, gritted his teeth and whispered, "Mother, your son... Your son has already agreed to marry Yaohua, and I have come here today only to ask that Your Majesty tell me the truth about what happened yesterday."
"Now that you've decided to marry your principal wife, why are you still so hung up on that sleazy woman?!" Shangguan Yun became increasingly agitated, her tone revealing a hint of pleading bitterness. "I only thought you were young and inexperienced in love, and that you were just confused for a moment. I won't pursue your foolishness any further. But you are now the Crown Prince, and will one day be the ruler of the country. After you ascend the throne, what kind of woman wouldn't you have? Why be so obsessed with this?"
Jia Yunqi looked at his mother in disbelief and blurted out, "Brother Zhang... how can he be compared to a male concubine? Between us..."
"Shut up!" Shangguan Yun interrupted sharply, her eyes filled with disgust. "I don't care who he is! I'll just tell you, his mother was shameless back then! She was promiscuous! How could the son of such a woman be a decent person? I've always looked down on Jia Zhang, but who would have thought that you, whom I value most, would be bewitched by him?! However..." She suddenly sneered, her voice chilling, "He probably won't live much longer now. He deserves to end up like this!"
That laughter, like a poisoned blade, pierced straight into Jia Yunqi's heart. He trembled violently, and suddenly looked up, almost roaring, "Mother! What have you done to Zhangdi?! We are not as despicable as you think... We are just, just brothers!"
"Brother?" Shangguan Yun scoffed. "Unfortunately, your good 'brother' became consumed by jealousy upon hearing that you had taken a concubine, and personally crippled your third brother. Did he ever consider any brotherly affection?!" She coldly looked down at the kneeling Crown Prince and continued, "Besides, why should I personally take action? Even if His Majesty spares his life this time, given his current power, those in the court who want to take his life are far more than just the Liu family."
Jia Yunqi suddenly stood up, his gaze resolute: "I know Brother Zhang's character better than anyone else. He would never do such a thing! I cannot stand by and watch him be framed!"
Having said that, he turned to leave, but Shangguan Yun stepped in front of him and scolded, "How dare you! You, the Crown Prince, are now walking into a trap? Don't you know that it was only because your mother, the Empress Dowager, went to great lengths to suppress your scandalous affairs that they didn't reach your father's ears? Do you really think you can salvage anything on your own?!"
-
Meanwhile, the Zhangwang Mansion was deathly silent, as eerie as a tomb.
Emperor Jia Fengtian stood with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, having waited for a long time. His face was somber, and his eyes were filled with complex emotions as he looked at Jia Zhang kneeling before him.
The chief eunuch behind him, with his head bowed and eyes lowered, held a sandalwood tray with a cup of wine on it. The wine was clear, gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the dim light.
"Have you thought it through?" Jia Fengtian's voice was weary, yet tinged with a barely perceptible expectation. "I want you to explain the whole story! Even if you were drunk and out of your mind at the time, you must know why you swung your sword! Tell me, is there something else going on?"
Jia Zhang knelt upright, but his head was bowed deeply, the shadows obscuring all his expressions.
He recalled that chaotic night, the provocative words of the Third Prince Jia Xuanyu, and the uncontrollable surge of despair and anger within him…
But how could he speak of that twisted jealousy, that emotion buried deep within his heart, unable to be revealed to the world? To tell the truth would inevitably expose the secret between him and Jia Yunqi, dragging Jia Yunqi into utter ruin.
He took a deep breath, and when he looked up again, his face was calm and still, only deep in his eyes was a lingering attachment to the past and a sense of farewell.
"Father, this matter was caused by me alone, and I also injured my third brother. I was drunk and acted recklessly, committing a grave mistake. I know my sins are heinous and beyond reproach, and I submit to your judgment!" He spoke each word clearly, taking all the blame upon himself. He was already broken and could not allow himself to further implicate that person who shone like the sun.
Looking at his posture of surrendering to death, Jia Fengtian felt a sharp pain in his chest. Did he really want to shoulder everything and send himself to his death? Did he really not value his own life? Just like that person...
"You!...Fine, fine, fine!" Jia Fengtian said "fine" three times, his anger and disappointment intertwined. "Since you would rather die than tell the truth! Guards, give me poison!" He raised his hand, his voice trembling with determination.
The old eunuch stepped forward and gently placed the wooden tray containing the poisoned wine on the ground in front of Jia Zhang.
"I'll give you two choices," Jia Fengtian said, turning his back, unable to bear the sight any longer, his voice cold and hard as iron. "Either tell the truth, and out of consideration for your biological father, Prince Yu Huai, I might show leniency and punish you lightly! Or... drink it all right in front of me!"
Jia Zhang's gaze lingered on Jia Fengtian's back, which seemed to have aged considerably in that instant. He recalled being brought into the palace as a child; although this imperial uncle was strict, he had also given him moments of warmth and protection. Slowly and solemnly, he kowtowed three times to that back.
“Father,” his voice was eerily calm, yet tinged with a barely perceptible sob, “your son is grateful for your meticulous care and upbringing over the years. Your kindness is something I, in my sinful state, can never repay in this lifetime. I can only tell you that, no matter what, the person I respect most in my life is you. Thank you… for taking me in. Please accept my bow once more!”
These words resonated deeply, leaving Jia Fengtian with mixed feelings, and he almost wanted to turn around and stop what was about to happen.
However, just as he was struggling with his inner conflict, he heard a clear, crisp sound of porcelain shattering against the ground behind him. Jia Fengtian swayed violently, his eyes closed tightly, and he almost burst into tears.
The eunuch beside him cautiously approached and softly called out, "Your Majesty, Prince Zhang..."
After a long while, Jia Fengtian finally recovered a bit of strength from his immense grief. His voice was hoarse, filled with endless exhaustion and emptiness: "That's enough... let's go back to the palace."
He never looked back, not daring to see the child's final appearance. He simply walked away step by step from the mansion he had personally bestowed upon it, which had now become his burial place.
Only after leaving the mansion and standing beneath the plaque bearing the inscription "Prince Zhang's Mansion" did he abruptly stop. Night had fallen, and the golden characters on the plaque reflected a cold light under the palace lanterns. He looked up at it, gazing at it for a long time.
Finally, he slowly spoke: "By imperial decree, remove this plaque immediately. Posthumously name this residence 'Yiyu Hall,' and enshrine the memorial tablets of Prince Yuhuai, Princess Yuhuai, and their son, Prince Zhang, here. Bury them together in the Yuhuai Mausoleum."
In the end, he couldn't keep any of those he wanted to stay...
-
Inside Wangyun Palace, Shangguan Yun was crying so hard that she had completely lost her composure. She swayed and almost collapsed to the ground, her hands trembling as she pointed at Jia Yunqi and said, "Qi'er, you... why didn't you listen to my desperate advice? If you go there rashly, it will definitely jeopardize your position as crown prince!"
"Mother, I am guilty! I cannot bear to see my beloved die like this!! You would never understand, Mother!"
"My beloved! Haha, my beloved? Do you even know what love is? And how do you know that your mother doesn't understand love?"
Shangguan Yun lowered her head, wiping away tears, seemingly lost in thought: "I've loved others, I've loved others too, but he didn't love me. He abandoned me and married someone else. What's the use of loving him anymore? Rather than humbly hoping he'd turn back and look at me, I'd rather be second only to the emperor and have him look up to me! Do you know how many things your mother did against her own will to climb to this position? Have you ever understood my feelings?! You are my only son, all my hopes are pinned on you! You were about to have everything! How can you ruin your future for such petty sentimentality?!"
Shangguan Yun screamed hoarsely, tears streaming down his face.
Jia Yunqi simply stared at Shangguan Yun, remaining silent for a very long time.
This once gentle prince, whose eyebrows always held a smile, now had no trace of laughter in his eyes... like two stagnant pools of water, unable to stir any ripples, so calm it was unsettling.
Finally, he stepped forward, knelt before Shangguan Yun, presented the crown from his hair, and said, word by word:
"Mother, please forgive your unfilial son. For the past twenty years, I have been considerate of your good intentions and tried my best to play the role of the Crown Prince in your mind. But today, I want to be myself!"
After speaking, Jia Yunqi solemnly placed the Dongzhu Crown, representing the position of Crown Prince, in front of Shangguan Yun, kowtowed again, stood up, and walked resolutely out of the palace.
"Qi'er! Qi'er! Come back here! It's not worth sacrificing your position to protect someone like him, it's really not worth it!!" Shangguan Yun struggled to get up and tried to stop him, but was frozen in place by Jia Yunqi's words as he turned around.
He turned around and smiled at her:
“Mother, the camphor tree is my heart. If this heart is gone, I am no longer the Crown Prince, but just a walking corpse.”
The chrysanthemums outside Wangyun Palace are about to bloom, their slender petals curling up to cover the stamens, as if they are weeping.
Shangguan Yun sat alone in the palace. The sky had darkened, and her world had lost all its color.
Jia Yunqi rushed into the stable, leaping over the servant's astonishment, and spurred his horse out of the palace, galloping rapidly towards the direction of the Prince Zhang's residence.
Brother Zhang, wait for me, I'll take you away right now! You must wait for me!!
A note from the author:
----------------------
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com