Chapter 11 Yuwen Che's Reminder
Yuwen Che, holding Su Luoxue's hand, left the oppressive Fengyi Palace and walked along the palace path leading to the Sizheng Hall. The warm spring sunshine shone down, a stark contrast to the chill in the hall just moments before.
Su Luoxue was still deeply troubled by what had happened that day. She secretly glanced at the man beside her; his profile was cold and hard, his jaw taut, as if he was still angry.
Suddenly, Yuwen Che slowed his pace, turned to look at her, and spoke in his usual calm tone, but with a hint of barely perceptible concern: "Luoxue, from now on, in the palace, do not give the First Prince food indiscriminately."
Su Luoxue was taken aback, blinking in confusion: "Why? Hao'er... he looks so cute, and he really was starving just now." She recalled the way the child wolfed down his food, and her heart was filled with tenderness.
Looking into her clear, unguarded eyes, Yuwen Che sighed inwardly. His Xue'er was too innocent and kind, completely unaware of the dangers lurking within the palace. He patiently explained, "I believe you are kind-hearted. However, one must always be wary. The pastries today may be harmless, but if someone with malicious intent uses you as a front to tamper with them, and you personally handed the pastries to Hao'er, then if anything happens to Hao'er, the charge of plotting against the imperial heir will be pinned on you. At that time, public opinion will be overwhelming, and slander will be devastating. Even if I wanted to protect you, it would become extremely difficult."
He paused, then raised his voice: "To murder an imperial heir is an unforgivable crime. Once proven, even I cannot openly show favoritism."
Upon hearing this, Su Luoxue felt a chill run down her spine, instantly understanding the danger involved. At the time, she had only felt sorry for the child, completely oblivious to the conspiracy. Now, with Yuwen Che's revelation, she was filled with dread, her small hand instinctively gripping Yuwen Che's hand tightly, her voice trembling slightly: "A-Che... I... I didn't think that much... I just..."
"I know." Yuwen Che sensed her fear, took her cold little hand in his own, and squeezed it reassuringly. "Just be more careful in the future. With me here, I won't let anyone harm you easily. But you must also learn to protect yourself."
Su Luoxue nodded heavily, taking his words to heart. This palace was indeed a place where every step felt like walking on thin ice. Only then did Yuwen Che lead her by the hand toward the Hall of Reflection.
However, things were not so peaceful at Fengyi Palace. After the emperor and empress left, the concubines looked at each other, none of them daring to stay any longer. They all found excuses to bid farewell to the empress, who was still sitting on the ground, looking lost and distraught, and practically fled this place of trouble.
The vast palace was soon left with only the Empress and a few of her trusted maids and nannies.
"Your Majesty, please get up, the ground is cold." The Empress's wet nurse stepped forward with concern, wanting to help her up.
The Empress abruptly brushed her hand away, raised her head, her face already streaked with tears, her eyes filled with despair and madness: "Get up? What's the use of getting up?! Didn't you hear what His Majesty just said? He asked me if I was still worthy of this position! He's going to depose me! He really is going to depose me!"
The old woman tried to comfort her: "Your Highness, don't scare yourself. His Majesty may have just said it in anger. You still have the Shen family behind you, and the Empress Dowager. His Majesty has to consider everything..."
"Concern?" The Empress interrupted shrilly as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. "If Yuwen Che really cared about my Shen family and listened to Mother, how could he... how could he not have touched me at all for so many years?! What am I to him? What is the Shen family to him?! Have you forgotten how he dealt with those aristocratic families back then? He confiscated their property without hesitation, and exiled them without a second thought!"
The old woman was speechless, her face turning pale. Yes, this Emperor was not one of those weak rulers who relied on the power of powerful families. From the very beginning of his reign, he swiftly rectified the court, eradicating several deeply entrenched families without hesitation. His decisiveness was chilling. In his eyes, perhaps there truly was nothing that couldn't be touched.
As if grasping at a last straw, the Empress scrambled to her feet, ignoring her disheveled appearance, and stumbled out, shouting, "I must see my aunt! I must see the Empress Dowager! My aunt will definitely help me! She can't just stand by and watch Yuwen Che treat me like this!"
She no longer cared about her image and practically ran into the Cining Palace.
The Empress Dowager was chanting sutras before the Buddha when she saw the Empress burst in in such a disheveled state. She frowned slightly and said, "Empress, what has caused such a panic? What kind of behavior is this!"
The Empress knelt down before the Empress Dowager with a thud, grabbed the Empress Dowager's legs, and burst into tears: "Aunt! Aunt, you must do justice for your niece! His Majesty... His Majesty has been bewitched by that vixen!"
She embellished and tearfully recounted Yuwen Che's seemingly impending words to depose her.
"...Aunt, His Majesty only has eyes for that Su Luoxue now! He welcomed her into the palace with the respect due to a principal wife, exempting her from kneeling, and today...he even humiliated my niece like this in front of all the concubines! Aunt, His Majesty is afraid...I'm afraid he has already decided to depose the Empress! If you don't stop him, this harem...this harem will belong to the Su family!"
"And...and His Majesty stayed at Guanju Palace last night, and the nanny said...the nanny said...His Majesty was completely unrestrained..."
The Empress Dowager listened to the Empress's tearful lament, her fingers, which had been moving the prayer beads, paused slightly. Looking at her niece kneeling at her feet, weeping bitterly, and recalling her son's recent outrageous behavior, she understood. This time, Che'er was likely serious. However, deposing the Empress… this was a matter of great importance, concerning the balance of power in the court and the harem; it was not something to be done so easily.
She spoke slowly, her voice still steady: "Get up first. What kind of behavior is this, crying and sobbing like this?"
The Empress Dowager's words, "With me here, what are you so anxious about?" failed to truly appease the Empress. The Empress continued to weep uncontrollably, as if she had suffered a tremendous injustice.
However, in the Empress Dowager's eyes, weathered by time and insightful into the ways of the world, lay not only reassurance, but also a barely concealed murderous intent. The Yuwen family… truly produces philanderers. The late Emperor nearly jeopardized the foundations of the nation for a concubine who died young. Unexpectedly, her son, usually so cold and heartless, had followed in his footsteps, and with such a dramatic turn of events, he nearly turned the entire harem upside down.
"Enough," the Empress Dowager's tone hardened, carrying an undeniable authority, "You are the Empress, yet you lose your composure in the face of adversity. How can you be a model mother to the nation? Will crying solve anything?"
The Empress was intimidated by the Empress Dowager's majesty, and her crying gradually subsided, but she was still sobbing, her face full of resentment and fear.
The Empress Dowager gestured for the palace maids to help the Empress up and offered her a seat. After a moment of contemplation, she turned to her trusted old nanny, who was also the head nanny of Cining Palace, and said in a deep voice, "Nanny Qin, go and investigate carefully. How much of what the Empress said just now was true and how much was false? Especially last night... at Guanju Palace, did His Majesty really..." The Empress Dowager paused, then found a more tactful way to say it, "...was he really so unrestrained that he missed this morning's greetings? And everything that happened at Fengyi Palace today, investigate it all for me, without any omissions or exaggerations."
"Yes, Your Majesty, this old servant understands." Granny Qin bowed and accepted the order. Having served the Empress Dowager for many years, she was extremely shrewd and capable, and naturally understood the Empress Dowager's meaning. The Empress's words were certainly embellished, but even baseless rumors might not be without cause. His Majesty's recent actions were indeed far too unusual.
After Qin Mama withdrew, the Empress Dowager turned to the still anxious Empress, her tone softening slightly but still carrying a hint of reprimand: "You are my own niece, so naturally I'm on your side. But you must also remember that you are the Empress, and you must have the demeanor and methods of an Empress. Knowing only to cry and complain when things go wrong is the lowest form of behavior. That Su woman is nothing more than a merchant's daughter. Even if she has some beauty and His Majesty is only interested in her for a few days, what can she do? Without the support of a powerful maternal family, she's like a rootless duckweed in this deep palace; how much trouble can she cause?"
The Empress opened her mouth, wanting to retort that the Emperor's favor had far exceeded the scope of "a few days of novelty" and might even shake her foundation, but looking at the Empress Dowager's seemingly calm but unfathomable eyes, she swallowed her words and whispered, "Yes, Aunt is right, I know I was wrong."
"It's good that you know you were wrong." The Empress Dowager picked up her teacup and gently stirred the foam. "Go back and rest well, freshen up, and don't lose your composure. We'll discuss everything after Granny Qin has investigated thoroughly."
The Empress had no choice but to rise, bow, and take her leave. Stepping out of the Cining Palace, a gust of wind sent a shiver down her spine. Her aunt's attitude, seemingly reassuring, was actually ambiguous. Would she truly stop the Emperor for her sake? Or… did her aunt harbor her own considerations?
Qin Mama was extremely efficient. She first went to the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Household Department to review the records from the previous night—although His Majesty had not summoned her according to the rules, the hot water used in Guanju Palace and the bedding changed were all on record. The quantity far exceeded the standards for ordinary concubines receiving the Emperor's favor.
Then, she "accidentally" encountered several eunuchs and maids who had been serving outside Guanju Palace that morning and had been sent away by Li Dehai. After some coercion and enticement, and more enticement than coercion, although no one dared to describe the situation inside the palace in detail, the vague phrases such as "the commotion was very loud," "the Empress cried and begged for a long time," "His Majesty... seemed very... agitated," and "it only quieted down near dawn" were enough to piece together a scene that made one blush and tremble with fear.
Finally, regarding what happened at Fengyi Palace, although the concubines and palace servants present at the time remained tight-lipped, Granny Qin had her own channels and managed to find out quite a bit about how His Majesty blocked the attack and how he uttered those earth-shattering words.
As evening fell, Granny Qin returned to Cining Palace, dismissed her attendants, and reported to the Empress Dowager in detail what she had discovered, without any subjective assumptions.
The Empress Dowager listened quietly, her face expressionless, but she moved the sandalwood prayer beads in her hand, which had been with her for many years, faster and faster.
When Qin Mama mentioned that Yuwen Che had personally said, "You don't need to kneel to anyone except the Empress Dowager," and questioned whether the Empress was "worthy of this position," the Empress Dowager's fingers suddenly stopped, and the prayer beads made a slight clinking sound.
After a long silence, the Empress Dowager finally spoke, her voice devoid of emotion, yet carrying a chilling coldness:
"It seems that the Empress did not exaggerate this time. Che'er... really cares about this Su woman."
Moreover, this level of attention exceeded everyone's expectations. This was no longer a simple favor; it was almost a declaration and possession. The Empress Dowager's hidden murderous intent resurfaced. A woman who could make the emperor so out of control, and who might even shake the balance of the harem and the court, could not be allowed to live. At the very least, she could not be allowed to have such a smooth and successful reign.
However, taking action requires the right timing, and even more importantly... she mustn't let her son discover that it was her doing. A calculating glint flashed in the Empress Dowager's cloudy yet shrewd eyes. Perhaps, she wouldn't even need to personally intervene; the open and covert attacks within the harem would be enough to make it impossible for the powerless Su Luoxue to move an inch.
"Granny Qin," the Empress Dowager said calmly, "transmit my imperial decree: Consort Chen is new to the palace and may be unaccustomed to it. Bestow some brocade and jewelry upon her as a gesture of appeasement. Also... tell the Empress to behave herself and not to cause any trouble in the near future. I have my own plans."
"Yes, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager." Qin Mama understood and bowed as she withdrew. The Empress Dowager's reward was merely a superficial appeasement, while the real undercurrents were already beginning to stir.
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