Chapter 130 "Your Majesty, I thought you were joking with us..."
Whether it was because he hadn't put on his cloak when he left the palace and caught a chill from the cold winter wind, or because of the injury on his forehead, Emperor Xianping suddenly developed a high fever in the middle of the night. Eunuch Xue quickly sent someone to fetch the imperial physician and also wanted to send a message to Empress Xie and the Crown Prince, but Emperor Xianping shook his head, feeling dizzy and disoriented.
He would not summon Empress Xie again unless she took the initiative to apologize to him.
The imperial physician arrived and prepared medicine for Emperor Xianping. In the middle of the night, Emperor Xianping broke out in a sweat. When he woke up the next day, although he was weak and powerless, at least his fever had subsided. He was to continue to recuperate according to the prescription given by the imperial physician.
It just so happens that there is a court assembly today. Emperor Xianping summoned Eunuch Xue, saying that he was not feeling well, and asked the two prime ministers to preside over the assembly.
When the news spread, the Crown Prince arrived at the Qian Yuan Palace. As he stood outside waiting, Consort Li also arrived and gave him a perfunctory bow.
The crown prince said, "No need for formalities," and then looked at her again.
A moment later, Eunuch Xue invited the two of them in at the same time. He noticed a red swelling on Emperor Xianping's forehead and a two-inch-long bloody wound in the middle. The Crown Prince's expression changed drastically, while Consort Li rushed over crying: "Your Majesty, how did you get hurt?"
Consort Li was only twenty-eight years old this year, still considered young and beautiful. Emperor Xianping knew that she was not well-educated and that she liked to compete with Empress Xie for his affections. However, seeing the tears that Consort Li kept shedding because she felt sorry for him, Emperor Xianping once again felt a tenderness that Empress Xie had never given him. It was ridiculous that he thought Empress Xie was naturally cold and had made excuses for her for more than twenty years.
"It's alright, don't cry, people will laugh at you." Emperor Xianping gently held Consort Li's hand.
Consort Li glanced back at the Crown Prince, then obediently sat to the side, her beautiful eyes filled with tears as she looked at Emperor Xianping.
Emperor Xianping then looked at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince restrained himself from noticing his father and Consort Li's clasped hands, and asked about his father's injuries.
Emperor Xianping did not want to mention it, and only told the Crown Prince not to worry.
Unable to get an answer, the Crown Prince took his leave and went to the Empress's Palace. As soon as he entered the courtyard, Lanxi invited him aside and listened to Lanxi crying as she recounted how the Emperor had questioned them about their mother's past with Wei Heng the previous afternoon, how she had punished Huicao by sending her to the laundry department, and how the Emperor had torn up their mother's most cherished painting that night, which had caused the Empress to push him down and cut his forehead.
The Crown Prince found it absurd. His mother had married his father when she was fifteen. Even if she and Wei Heng had some childhood sweetheart relationship, that relationship had long since ended. Over the years, his mother had raised his two children for his father and fulfilled her filial duties to his grandmother. Even when his father favored other concubines, his mother was virtuous, generous, and never complained. What was his father so concerned about?
The prince remembered his mother's painting. When he was a child, every Mid-Autumn Festival and New Year's Eve, his mother would take out the painting to show him and his sister, so that they could recognize the two kind old people who had raised their mother. His maternal grandparents had both passed away early, and for his mother, the two old people in the painting were her most respected elders.
Father's forehead was bleeding, but his physical wounds will heal. When will Mother's heart wound heal after losing that painting?
The crown prince strode into the inner palace.
Empress Xie had already pasted up the painting and was now copying a new one, but she couldn't calm her mind and couldn't hold the brush steady. She always had to change the paper after only a few strokes.
"Mother, please rest first. You can paint another day, or I can do it for you." The Crown Prince grasped his mother's wrist and forcibly led her to sit down beside him.
Empress Xie looked at her son, who was about to come of age, and slowly let go of the obsession that had lasted all night. However, the wound in her heart was still bleeding, making it impossible for her to face her son's concerned eyes.
The Crown Prince came to remind his mother that his father was ill and injured. However, knowing what his father had done the previous day, he knew that Consort Li was still by his side, so he didn't want to trouble his mother to visit him. If it was a visit, he would have to apologize upon seeing his father's injury. But what crime had his mother committed? It was clearly his father who had acted unreasonably and madly, injuring his mother.
The Crown Prince didn't want to talk about it. Empress Xie had actually received the news, but she didn't go immediately because she harbored resentment towards Emperor Xianping. However, after seeing her son, Empress Xie was willing to let go of her resentment from the previous night.
Not long after the Crown Prince left, Empress Xie set off for the Qian Yuan Palace.
Upon hearing from Eunuch Xue that the Empress was requesting an audience, Emperor Xianping glanced at Consort Li beside him, paused for a moment, and then ordered Consort Li to leave.
He was willing to give Empress Xie another chance.
Consort Li left reluctantly. After Empress Xie entered, she glanced at Emperor Xianping's injury, knelt down and begged for forgiveness, saying, "Last night, I accidentally injured Your Majesty. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
Emperor Xianping stared intently at Empress Xie, but saw no concern in her face or eyes, only a half-hearted apology.
She was indeed a person as aloof as the moon, a proud and talented woman who dared to belittle his favored ministers to his face, and even kneeling to beg for forgiveness could not hide her pride.
"Besides apologizing, do you have anything else to say to me?" Emperor Xianping asked cryptically.
Upon hearing this, Empress Xie raised her eyes to look at the emperor lying on the dragon bed, and explained one last time: "My relationship with Wei Heng is completely innocent, and heaven and earth can bear witness."
Emperor Xianping clenched his right fist: "I have never questioned the purity of your body. I am asking about your heart. I know you disdain to lie. So dare you say that you have been in love with me for the past twenty-five years? When I left the capital to launch the northern expedition, did you miss me as much as Lady Xiao Yu missed him?"
Empress Xie fell silent, and finally lowered her eyes: "Apart from my grandparents, I have never missed anyone so much."
Emperor Xianping closed his eyes, his chest heaving. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly sat up, pointed outside, and roared, "Get out! I never want to see you again!"
Wei Heng is unworthy of her longing; how is he, a dignified emperor, unworthy of her?
If Emperor Xianping had not favored Empress Xie for twenty-five years, he might not have minded her indifference. But he did, and for those twenty-five years, whenever he encountered something interesting, a good poem, or a beautiful painting, his first thought was to tell Empress Xie and make her laugh. Now, this woman is saying with a straight face that she has never loved him.
Emperor Xianping could not accept it; he could not accept that the woman had never cared for the honor of being an empress that he had given her.
This made his life a joke.
Since Xie doesn't care, he will withdraw this favor.
Having not slept all night, when dawn broke again that day, Emperor Xianping summoned two prime ministers, six ministers, and his maternal uncle, Duke Gao Kun of Yingguo, to the Qianyuan Hall. He hesitated for a long time, but finally added the name of the Grand Censor Xiao Yu. In any case, even if his name wasn't Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu would come to see him after receiving the message, so he might as well make things clear in one go.
Xiao Yu and other civil officials were all inside the imperial city and arrived quickly. Duke Gao Kun of Yingguo was seventy-three years old. Although he still held the official position of commander of the Western Camp, he had long since resigned due to illness and was recuperating at home. On such a cold day, the emperor's nephew insisted that he come to the palace, so Gao Kun had no choice but to be helped in by someone with a cane.
He was the last to arrive. When he came in, he was startled to see the glaring wound on the emperor's nephew's forehead. He glanced at the group of civil officials and finally fixed his gaze on Xiao Yu's face, wondering if this audacious person had injured the emperor.
Xiao Yu: "..."
He was also unaware of it!
Leaning listlessly against the headboard, Emperor Xianping offered his uncle a seat. The two inquired about each other's health, and Emperor Xianping, no longer keeping them in suspense, said with his eyes lowered, "The night before last, I had a dispute with the Empress. It was nothing serious, but the Empress injured me so badly. Such treason is unacceptable to me. I can no longer tolerate her, so I have decided to depose her. I have summoned you here today to discuss this matter."
Gao Kun couldn't catch his breath and choked several times.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! The Empress was the late Emperor's chosen wife for you. Her virtuous reputation and talent are known throughout the land. Although she may have been wrong to accidentally injure Your Majesty, her crime does not warrant the removal of her from the throne. I urge Your Majesty to reconsider!"
After Yang Sheng's demotion, Liu Baoxiu, who had gradually risen to the position of Left Chancellor, usually dared not disobey Emperor Xianping's wishes, but at this moment he was the first to kneel down in opposition. At the same time, Right Chancellor Xu Lian, as well as six other ministers including Pei Xingshu and Chen Ruliang, also knelt down, while Xiao Yu and the old imperial brother-in-law remained standing and sitting, respectively.
Emperor Xianping looked at Xiao Yu in surprise. Although he knew that Xiao Yu certainly did not mean to support him, he still asked in confusion, "Why isn't Yuanzhi saying anything?"
When the relationship between the emperor and his ministers was harmonious, Emperor Xianping always preferred to address Xiao Yu by his courtesy name.
Xiao Yu glanced at Emperor Xianping and said, "Depose the Empress? I think Your Majesty is joking with us, so there is no need to say more."
Emperor Xianping: "..."
With a few slight twitches at the corner of his eye, Emperor Xianping said with a stern face, "I will not treat the removal of the empress as a joke. You have all seen my injuries. The empress has committed treason. It is too lenient for me to only remove her from the position of empress!"
The Emperor's brother-in-law, Gao Kun, finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, there is a saying among the people that it is better to tear down a temple than to break up a marriage. Your Majesty and the Empress have been married for more than 20 years and have grandchildren. You are an old married couple. It is only natural for you to have some minor quarrels. You will make up after a while. If you were to depose the Empress and announce it to the world, it would probably cause controversy."
Emperor Xianping: "I have tolerated the Empress enough. This time, she has hurt me so badly that I could no longer tolerate it. Moreover, her deceiving the emperor and committing treason is no small matter!"
Xiao Yu: "Forgive my bluntness, but the late Emperor and Empress Dowager both praised the Empress for her dignified and virtuous character. I would like to know why the Empress would suddenly attack the Emperor. If the Empress was indeed intentionally deceiving the Emperor, then we will not plead for her."
The civil officials and high-ranking ministers, kneeling in two rows, all looked toward Emperor Xianping.
Emperor Xianping: "...What, do you mean that as long as the concubines in the harem feel they are in the right, they can all bully and harm me, and disregard the majesty of Heaven and the law?"
Xiao Yu: "Of course not. It's just that the Censorate requires evidence in its trials. Although the Emperor's injury is real, there is still a lack of evidence for the Emperor's accusation that the Empress is rebellious and deceiving the Emperor. Therefore, I must ask for clarification."
Emperor Xianping: "Evidence, evidence! Is it possible that even if I were pushed to my death by the Empress, the Censorate would not pursue the crime of regicide because the Empress only accidentally killed me?"
Xiao Yu wanted to say more, but Emperor Xianping suddenly coughed heavily. When Eunuch Xue helped him up and massaged his chest, Emperor Xianping was still staring at the circle of ministers in front of him: "My current injuries and illnesses are all caused by the Empress. If any of you try to dissuade me from deposing the Empress, and I really die from this illness one day, anyone who pleads for the Empress will become an accomplice to the Empress's regicide!"
The high-ranking officials present were not imperial physicians, and given that the emperor had been ill in recent years, who could guarantee that Emperor Xianping would be able to fully recover this time?
The wound on Emperor Xianping's forehead was certainly not fatal, but what if Empress Xie was unlucky enough to be struck by it...?
Upon seeing this, Emperor Xianping clutched his forehead and cried out in pain. Zhao Yi quickly invited a group of important officials outside the palace and allowed the imperial physicians to enter and treat the emperor.
The first proposal by Emperor Xianping to depose the empress thus came to an end, with a decision to be made at a later date.
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Author's note: Don't be angry, don't be angry. Destroying that painting is the only way the second generation can torment Empress Xie. I don't care about other families. The key is that the second generation definitely won't be ruined either.
100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow!
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