I'll take you away.
The two drunken men inside the bed curtains remained fast asleep, oblivious to the commotion inside the palace, and unaware that their deaths were imminent.
Yan Zhongyou slashed the bed curtains with his sword, tearing them to shreds. The Consort Xian, wearing only a bodice, buried her head in Shi Hai's arms, feeling the blinding light. Shi Hai, sensing her closeness, naturally embraced her in return. Yan Zhongyou, witnessing this, was enraged. Such natural behavior couldn't be the first time; how long had he been deceived by this adulterous couple?
Everyone in the hall was extremely surprised to see a man on Consort Xian's bed. Yuanxiu knew that Consort Xian and Fu'an's affair had been exposed and that she was afraid she would not survive. Her legs went weak and she fell to the ground.
The sword in Yan Zhongyou's hand gleamed with a chilling light. With a swift movement, blood splattered on the pomegranate-patterned bed canopy, and the two people on the bed embraced each other as they departed this world.
Throwing away the sword, Yan Zhongyou turned and walked away. A drop of blood landed on the eye of his nine-clawed dragon robe, and more blood splattered on his face.
As he passed Miched, he ordered in a deep voice, "All those around Consort Xian shall be executed."
Upon exiting Yichun Hall, he saw the Dragon Feather Guards waiting at the entrance. He walked up to Wei Qiao and said coldly, "Kill Zhang Pin first."
The next day, an imperial edict arrived from the imperial palace, announcing that Consort Xian had suddenly fallen ill and died, and all the consorts were to return to the capital immediately.
Inside the Yuanhe Hall, Yan Zhongyou listened to Michide's report.
"Your Majesty, all the palace servants in Jingcui Palace have been cleared out, but..."
"But what?" Yan Zhongyou put down his teacup and looked at Michide.
Miched looked at him, troubled: "What about Princess Linglong's situation?"
Upon hearing him mention the daughter born to Consort Xian, Yan Zhongyou waved his hand, knocking the teacup to the ground, and said sternly, "That lowly woman's child should be executed along with her. What is there to hesitate about?"
The emperor had only two daughters. Knowing his difficulty in having children, Miched couldn't bear to see him kill his own flesh and blood in a fit of anger.
At that moment, a beautiful figure in bright yellow gracefully entered from outside the palace gate.
"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress!" The palace servants at the door greeted the Empress in unison.
When Miched saw that the Queen was relieved, he knew that with her encouragement, Princess Linglong should be able to survive.
Yan Zhongyou glanced up at the Empress, frowned, and asked, "Why is Zitong here?"
The Empress lifted her skirt, walked around the broken teacups on the ground, and went to Yan Zhongyou's side. She said gently, "Your Majesty, the eldest princess will be married next year. I will be without a son. Please let me raise Linglong."
Yan Zhongyou pursed his lips and shook his head in disapproval. He took the Empress's hand and looked at her, saying, "We are husband and wife, and I will not hide it from you. That Consort Xian is having an affair with the fake eunuch in her palace. Linglong is probably not my child."
"Your Majesty, it is easy to verify whether Linglong is of royal blood. We can simply follow the ancient method of blood kinship testing to find out whether Linglong is Your Majesty's daughter."
Yan Zhongyou understood the Empress's good intentions. Now that he had calmed down, he also felt that he should not have wrongly killed Linglong. Linglong was born after he took Zhang Tianshi's elixir, so there should be no mistake.
Seeing that he acquiesced, the Empress instructed her maid, Lianwei, to bring out the utensils she had prepared.
Yan Zhongyou saw that the Empress had already made all the preparations, smiled and glanced at her, then said to Michide, "Go and bring the Second Princess here."
Yan Zhongyou pricked his own finger with a dagger, letting a drop of blood fall. Then, he carefully pricked the Second Princess's delicate finger with the same dagger, letting a drop of blood fall into the same white jade bowl. Everyone present stared intently at the two drops of blood in the bowl. Yan Zhongyou's hands clenched involuntarily, the Empress held the Second Princess, her heart pounding wildly, and Michide's forehead was beaded with cold sweat.
Two drops of blood playfully circled in the bowl, instantly making everyone's hearts leap into their throats. Yan Zhongyou, fearing the outcome wouldn't be what he wanted, frowned and returned to sit on the couch.
He had barely sat down when he heard Michid shout excitedly:
"It's settled! It's settled!"
Miched walked up to Yan Zhongyou and knelt down, saying happily, "Your Majesty, the Second Princess is indeed of royal blood."
Yan Zhongyou burst into laughter, immediately went to the table to look at the jade bowl, and when he saw the blood that had congealed into an indistinguishable mass, two tears welled up in his eyes. He took the Second Princess from the Empress and held her in his arms, looking at his daughter's little face, overwhelmed with emotion.
In Yonghe Palace, the Empress held Linglong in her arms and teased her. Watching Linglong giggle, she felt her whole heart melt.
After dismissing the palace servants, Lianwei walked up to the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, I have already given Lord Wei the reward."
"Good, we owe Linglong this matter to Wei Qiao's idea." The Empress said to Lianwei, her eyes still fixed on Linglong in her arms.
Lianwei stared wide-eyed at Princess Linglong in the Empress's arms. She looked her over carefully, finding the princess's appearance unlike the Emperor's, though her nose did resemble that of the eunuch Fu'an, with whom Consort Xian had an affair. As a trusted servant who had served the Empress since childhood, she hesitated for a long time before finally voicing her doubts: "Your Majesty, this water contains alum, which can cause anyone's blood to coagulate. Is the princess truly the Emperor's daughter?"
The Empress looked up at her and smiled slightly, touching Linglong's little face, saying, "With so many women around, how could Your Majesty understand the suffering of us women trapped in the deep palace? Without children, life is like a stagnant pool. I am fortunate to have the eldest princess by my side, which is why I have been able to endure so many years. I don't care whose daughter Linglong is. From today onwards, she is only my daughter."
The death of Consort Xian and the subsequent downfall of her father, Zhang Pinxian, shocked the court and the public, and rumors about the Second Princess's parentage spread like wildfire. Yan Zhongyou witnessed the results of the blood test and paid no heed to the rumors. Not long after Consort Xian's death, several senior officials in the court jointly petitioned him to select a child of suitable age from among the imperial relatives and raise him under their own name.
King Cheng and King Jin both had sons, but he had none. He worked hard in the harem but could not produce a son. Yan Zhongyou was both angry and annoyed.
That night, Yan Zhongyou summoned five concubines to the Yuanhe Hall. The next day, with dark circles under his eyes, he forced himself to attend the morning court session, and his steps were unsteady as he returned to the palace. Michide inwardly resented his lack of care for his health, but also knew that he was worried about the matter of having offspring.
Wei Qiao came to Yuanhe Hall and presented him with a painting of Minshan by Mr. Kong Ke, which he had recently acquired during the Wangchao era.
Yan Zhongyou was in dire straits, unable even to muster the energy to appreciate his beloved paintings. He looked at the radiant Wei Qiao before him with envy. He pulled Wei Qiao to sit on the daybed, and after drinking a whole cup of ginseng tea, he felt a bit more refreshed.
After Michid had Perrin remove the teacups, he waved for anyone not involved in the room to leave, leaving only the three of them inside.
Yan Zhongyou pinched his brow, sighed deeply, and then said to Wei Qiao, "Wei Qiao, the two pills that Zhang Tianshi presented last time were very good, but I am not someone who can abstain from women. Go and find out if there are any new methods. I must give birth to a son."
Wei Qiao respectfully accepted the order. Inwardly, however, he felt a deep sense of mockery towards his uncle. The first elixir Wei Qiao had offered him had already rendered him childless; all his efforts were destined to be in vain. Fortunately, his request allowed him to conveniently rescue Xi Chun.
Nine days later, Wei Qiao brought Zhang Tianshi's handwritten letter. After reading it, Yan Zhongyou fell into deep thought. The letter instructed that a woman he loved should be burned in flames while still a virgin, and her body buried under a red lotus. The seeds from the first year's red lotus should be collected and mixed with Zhang Tianshi's secret medicinal powder to make pills. If taken for nine days, the woman would conceive a son in one birth.
He had many women he liked, but very few in his harem met the criteria for Zhang Tianshi.
Yan Zhongyou turned his head to look at Miched, who knew him best, and asked, "My lord, who do you think should be chosen?"
“This…” Choosing someone means sending them to their death, and Miched’s words remained unspoken.
Seeing him hesitate, Yan Zhongyou glanced at Wei Qiao again, "Minister Wei, what do you say?"
Wei Qiao clasped his hands and bowed his head, "I dare not speak presumptuously about the affairs of Your Majesty's harem, but according to what Master Zhang said, this person must be deeply favored by Your Majesty."
Yan Zhongyou pondered Wei Qiao's words, his gaze unconsciously drifting towards the imperial study. The woman he had loved most over the years had long since left him, though her daughter remained in his harem. He sighed, unable to bring himself to use her daughter as a sacrifice.
Seeing Yan Zhongyou's expression, Michal knew what he was thinking. The Emperor's problem of having no heir had intensified in recent years, with court officials attacking and criticizing him for his lack of a son. The Emperor's health was also deteriorating; if he didn't produce a prince soon, the empire he had painstakingly built would ultimately be handed over to someone else. Xichun was a good girl, and he couldn't bear to send her to her death, but faced with the greater cause of the empire, he had no choice but to abandon her.
Seeing that the master and servant could not decide on a candidate, Wei Qiao was about to say a few more words to guide them when he heard Michide speak up.
"Your Majesty, this old servant believes that Consort An of Qianfu Palace is the most suitable candidate."
Upon hearing this, Yan Zhongyou looked up at him and saw the resolute look in Michide's eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded as well.
“Minister Wei, I will leave this matter to you,” Yan Zhong said, turning to Wei Qiao.
Wei Qiao walked out of Yuanhe Hall with light steps and a happy expression. The next morning, Xi Chun received an imperial edict in Qianfu Palace, instructing her to go to Chuyun Temple in the suburbs of the capital to pray for the Empress Dowager.
Pingting packed her things with dissatisfaction, muttering, "There are so many people in the palace, yet the Emperor chose you, Mistress. You'll be gone for half a month, and who knows what the palace will be like when you return." Pingting grew angrier the more she thought about it. She regretted wasting her hard-earned money on Xichun's neglected job. She found an excuse to dump her work on the tailor and Qinshui, and went to sit in the small garden of Qianfu Palace to enjoy the breeze.
Xi Chun didn't know why the Emperor had chosen her, but she felt very happy to be able to leave the palace.
The scenery at Chuyun Temple was beautiful. After finishing her morning prayers with the monks, Xichun would stroll around the temple with several maids in the afternoon. Without the high walls of the palace blocking her way, life in the temple was truly comfortable for her.
Time flies, and on the fourteenth day, the monks in the temple suddenly asked her to go alone to a small shrine in the backyard to light lamps and pray for the Empress Dowager.
The tailor, worried that she would be alone and without anyone to serve her, said, "Your Highness, I will go with you."
"No need, the Taoist priest told me to go alone. I'm returning to the palace tomorrow, so you should all get some rest."
Still worried, Caiyi carried a lantern and escorted Xichun to the entrance of the nunnery. Before, Caiyi had been constantly scolded and beaten by the head of the needlework department, but after entering Qianfu Palace, Consort An never reprimanded her and often shared snacks from the imperial kitchen with them. Caiyi felt that her days in Qianfu Palace were the most comfortable she had experienced since entering the palace, and therefore she served Xichun with exceptional care.
After explaining the steps of lighting the lamps to Xichun, Daoist Miaohui left the temple. Xichun devoutly followed the Daoist's instructions, adding oil and wicks to each lamp. After lighting all one hundred lamps, Xichun knelt on the prayer mat to pray for blessings. She had never met the Empress Dowager, and her prayers for her were merely verbal. In her heart, however, she truly wanted to pray for him; she hoped Wei Qiao would live a peaceful and prosperous life.
Wei Qiao entered through the back door of the nunnery and saw Xi Chun kneeling before the statue, praying devoutly. She wore her hair in simple double buns, with a white jade hairpin on each side. A hundred lamps were placed before her, illuminating her beautiful face. He stopped by the melon-shaped pillar inside the room and quietly watched her murmur a prayer.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in through an open window in the nunnery, extinguishing several lamps placed nearby. Xichun got up to relight the lamps, and as she turned around, she caught a glimpse of Wei Qiao standing by the melon-shaped pillar. Thinking it was her imagination, she took two steps forward and then turned her head to look in the direction of the pillar.
It really is him!
He stood beside the melon pillar, tall and elegant, his dark robe accentuating his strikingly handsome features. His bright black eyes gazed at her with a smile, overflowing with tenderness as he moved closer to Xichun.
Xichun was immediately overwhelmed with joy. She lifted her skirt, walked around the burning lamp on the ground, and ran to him with a smile.
"You... how did you get here?" Xi Chun's face flushed with joy at seeing him, her tone both shy and excited.
Looking at Xi Chun, who was as beautiful as a peach blossom in March, Wei Qiao stepped forward, took her hand, and said gently, "I'll take you away."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
