Aoyama

Your Majesty is resting.

The Empress stood in the moonlight of Kunning Palace, looking up at the distant night, and chuckled teasingly: "He's resting quite early tonight... Just like back then, he hides away whenever he does something wrong, always keeping his hands clean while letting others shed blood for him."

Wu Xiu's expression changed drastically. He gave her a sharp look, and the Jie Fan Guards and palace servants retreated like a tide, leaving only four of his most trusted Jie Fan Guards by his side.

"That man of his," the Empress's voice floated in the empty hall, as soft as if she were telling a story unrelated to herself, "suspicious, willful, jealous, cowardly... When he fell out with the Empress Dowager, he hid in the side waiting for Prince Jing to stand up for him. That year, the four of them secretly went to the Lantern Festival to admire the lanterns. He clearly wanted to know my name, but he had Prince Jing talk to me instead... Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed."

Consort Xue, growing impatient, covered her face with her embroidered handkerchief and coldly reminded her, "Your Majesty, now is not the time to dwell on the past. No secrets stay hidden forever. The discovery of an uncastrated man in your palace—such a disgraceful affair—will lead to officials remonstrating to the death before noon tomorrow, and a silent vigil outside the Meridian Gate before late afternoon… This disgrace to the imperial dignity and violation of ancestral laws will likely leave even Grand Secretary Hu unable to protect you. Most importantly, what will become of Prince Fu?"

The Empress ignored her and continued, "Back then, he would diligently practice archery and horsemanship, and when he was drunk, he would raise his arms and shout, 'When the rich and powerful are fighting cockfights in the brothel, we should turn our backs on them and march north.' Back then, when he was drunk, he would hug his brother and cry, saying that the world had betrayed him. Back then, he would also secretly look at me."

Consort Xue said indifferently, "What Your Majesty is saying is all ancient history. Everything in this world changes."

Looking at the moonlight, the Empress sighed, "Yes, everything has changed. I remember when I first entered the palace, my face was completely wrinkle-free, but now I have crow's feet. I remember when you first entered the palace, you were innocent and carefree, holding a butterfly jar in the West Garden, your eyes crinkling when you smiled, but now your eyes are filled with venom, and you've become vicious and mean."

Consort Xue's expression changed.

Before she could refute, the Empress said with a smile, "Sister Xue, some people say that an emperor's sword will be stained with blood three times in his life: the blood of his enemies, the blood of his friends, and the blood of his lover... Now, he is finally a true emperor."

Consort Xue was stunned.

"Sister Xue is always competing with me," the Empress turned to look at Consort Xue, "You think you can use every means to make him devote his heart to you, but unfortunately, the hearts of men in this world are only for the world, not for anyone else, not even for themselves. His heart is not on me, nor will it be on you."

Consort Xue was about to say something.

The Empress slowly straightened her back, regaining her aloof and dignified demeanor as the mother of the nation. Her expression haughty, she said, “Step down. This matter is none of your concern. I will give the world an explanation. There’s no need to trouble His Majesty; his unwillingness to see me means he knows what I will do. As for you… that person… in his youth, he was burdened by the concepts of filial piety and brotherly love for so many years, which is why he erected a monument of filial piety and brotherly love in front of Renshou Palace, constantly reminding himself that relatives of the empress cannot be trusted. Your Xue family must be very careful.”

Consort Xue's expression changed several times, but she finally performed a curtsy and said, "Your Majesty, please take care. This concubine will take her leave."

The Empress looked at Bai Li again, her expression softening. She pulled Bai Li into her arms and whispered, "I am in dire straits myself, and I need the man from Wuxiang County to rescue you. He is very capable and more patient than I am. I believe he will definitely get you out of here..."

Bai Li said urgently, "I can use divination blocks to ask the Taoist ancestor to manifest his power and prove the Empress's innocence!"

The Empress smiled and said, "No need, that person's mind is made up."

Having said that, she pushed Bai Li out of the threshold of Kunning Palace, with Wu Xiu's bodyguards following closely behind.

But just as they were about to seize Bai Li, they saw Bai Li clench his fist with one hand and draw the swords from the waists of four Jie Fan Weis from a distance.

Jie Fanwei's expression changed drastically. He quickly pressed down on the hilt of the sword before it was drawn and forcefully pushed the long sword back into its sheath.

One of them strode forward and struck Bai Li on the neck with a chop. Bai Li fainted and fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face, which then turned into wisps of white smoke and drifted into the night.

Wu Xiu glanced at the white carp on the ground: "Please have the maid of Kunning Palace go and send this woman back to Jingyang Palace."

Aunt Yuan Jin summoned a maid to carry the white carp on her back. Wu Xiu bowed to the Empress and said, "Your Majesty, please take care. This humble servant takes his leave."

The empress wearily waved her sleeve: "Go."

The doors of Kunning Palace slowly closed, and all fell silent.

……

……

The closed palace gates blocked the cold moonlight of August 16th, the thirty-second year of the Jia Ning era.

Inside Kunning Palace, only the candlelight flickered faintly. Aunt Yuan Jin said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, as soon as the palace gates open tomorrow morning, I will send someone to inform the Master and ask him to come to the palace to meet the Emperor. There must still be a way."

The Empress bent down and picked up the dark cloud from the ground, gently stroking its back fur: "Aunt Yuanjin, there's no need. The more the Hu family causes trouble, the more wary that person will become."

Aunt Yuan Jin said solemnly, "Your Majesty, you value your reputation above all else. Why have you stood by and watched them frame you? Our Hu family has endured this for far too long..."

The Empress smiled and said, "Aunt Yuanjin, you are mistaken. What I care about most is not my reputation, but Little Stone. What will he do if this matter becomes known throughout the world?"

Aunt Yuan Jin stood there stunned. Little Stone was the nickname of Prince Fu. Since he was conferred the title of Prince Fu, few people had called him that. Only Prince Fu's closest elderly attendants and the Empress would address him by that name.

The Empress looked at the food on the table, which had gone cold: "Little Stone and I have been separated since he was little. He even gave up the throne for his mother. Last time he came to Kunning Palace, he cried for half an hour. He said he dreamed that I was wearing a white dress and standing in a very high place, with the wind blowing my sleeves as if they were about to fly up... He is such a grown man and he still sheds tears."

She carried Wuyun to the West Warm Pavilion, walked to the dressing table, and opened the bottom drawer. Inside were not jewels, but a few faded little clothes, a worn-down wooden sword, and a stack of crooked calligraphy practice sheets.

The Empress was stunned for a long time, then said softly to Aunt Yuan Jin, "Aunt Yuan Jin, please help me grind the ink. I want to write a letter to Little Stone."

Aunt Yuanjin agreed.

The Empress stood before the table, pondering for a long time. She picked up her brush and wrote a letter. Just as she wrote "My son, seeing this letter is like seeing you again," a drop of water suddenly fell onto the ink, blurring the words.

She crumpled the paper into a ball and replaced it with a new one.

She wrote about how he held onto her jade pendant tightly when he was 100 days old, how he fell and got covered in mud while chasing butterflies in the Imperial Garden when he was five, and how he cooked a bowl of burnt lotus seed soup for her for the first time when he was twelve.

As she finished writing, her hand trembled slightly: "Little Stone, you and I should be an ordinary mother and son in the alleys. I will sew you little clothes and make you a little wooden sword. We will count the stars together on summer nights."

The Empress folded the letter and handed it to Aunt Yuan Jin: "Don't use the post stations, send it to Jinling via the old trade routes of our family."

After saying that, she carried Wuyun and walked towards the East Warm Pavilion.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion, a screen wall with a gilded double happiness character comes into view. In front of the screen wall is a table with two red candlesticks and an incense burner on it.

In the northwest corner is the dragon and phoenix wedding bed, draped with a colorful gauze canopy embroidered with a hundred children motif, and covered with a red satin dragon and phoenix quilt. The East Warm Pavilion was where the emperor and empress got married, and its furnishings remained unchanged thereafter for the emperor and empress to sleep together.

Twenty-six years later, everything seems to have changed, but this place still retains the appearance it had when the wedding took place, red with a festive yet somber tone.

The Empress arrived at the screen wall, where the phoenix coronet and wedding robes she wore on her wedding day were hanging on a wooden frame; they were somewhat worn.

She hugged Wuyun and tiptoed to touch the pearl on the phoenix crown: "Even the pearl has dimmed. I remember clearly that when this phoenix crown was made, the Ministry of Rites said it should have nine dragons and four phoenixes, but he insisted on twelve dragons and nine phoenixes; and this sideburn, the Ministry of Rites said it could only have six panels, but he insisted on adding eight; and this shawl, the Ministry of Rites said it could only be embroidered with dragon patterns, but he insisted on embroidering dragon and phoenix patterns... I have never seen him so meticulous before, even caring about such small things."

Aunt Yuan Jin's expression was complicated: "Miss, you should have made it clear to His Majesty long ago that your feelings for Prince Jing are only admiration for your brother, and your heart still belongs to His Majesty."

The Empress avoided answering, but smiled and said, "Aunt Yuanjin, it's been a long time since you called me that. I remember you always called me that when I was little. Girl, stop climbing the tree. Girl, it's time to eat. Girl, why did you make the teacher so angry again... You were so nice back then, but after entering the palace, you've become so rigid."

Aunt Yuan Jin was speechless.

The Empress gently stroked the brocade, her back to her, and sighed softly, "How many women dream of the phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, yet cannot obtain them... Aunt Yuanjin, please fetch me pen and ink, I need to write an imperial edict."

Aunt Yuan Jin refused to leave the Empress's side for even a moment, and turned to the outside of the East Warm Pavilion, calling out loudly, "Bring me pen, ink, paper, and inkstone."

A moment later, a maid carried over a table. The Queen put Wuyun down and patted its head: "Good Wuyun, go out and play. Chuntao, take it to have some snacks. It only ate one piece of fish tonight, so it must not be full."

After Chun Tao left, the Empress stood before the table, pondering for a long time, before finally picking up her pen and writing an imperial edict. Every stroke was written carefully, and the handwriting was dignified and elegant.

After finishing the last stroke, she said to Aunt Yuanjin, "Aunt Yuanjin, bring me my seal."

Aunt Yuan Jin hesitated, unwilling to leave.

The Empress smiled and said, "It's just a few steps, are you worried that something might happen to me? You can't keep a close watch on me every day, can you?"

Aunt Yuan Jin gritted her teeth, turned around and left. She was in charge of keeping the Empress's seal; no one else knew where it was.

She rushed to the inner palace, retrieved the Empress's seal from a hidden compartment under the bed, and then hurried back. But when she returned to the main hall, she saw the Empress tilting her head back and drinking something from afar.

"Miss!" Aunt Yuan Jin was suddenly startled.

The next moment, the Empress gracefully fell to the ground, lying on the gleaming blue-gold bricks. Her hair was spread out like a fan, and a white porcelain vase lay scattered around her, making a crisp clinking sound on the blue-gold bricks.

Aunt Yuan Jin shouted loudly, "Summon the imperial physician! Summon the imperial physician quickly!"

She darted to the Empress's side, picked up the porcelain bottle, sniffed it, and exclaimed urgently, "Miss, who gave you this? How come you have poison in your hand?"

"Don't bother, it can't be cured," the Empress said calmly, looking quietly at the roof of the East Warm Pavilion. "Aunt Yuanjin, when you leave the palace, remember what I said: find a way to bury Princess Yongchun and her Zhou Zhuoyuan together."

Aunt Yuan Jin said sadly, "At a time like this, you're still thinking about other people?"

The Empress smiled and said, "Also, tell my father that I don't want to be buried in the imperial mausoleum in Changping. I want to be buried in a place with mountains, sea, sunrise, and sunset... Let him think of a way, and then I'll trouble you to take me to see it."

Aunt Yuan Jin burst into tears, crying out, "Where is the imperial physician? Why hasn't the imperial physician come yet!"

The Empress wanted to raise her hand to touch the wrinkles on Aunt Yuan Jin's face, but she could no longer lift it. She looked at the gilded double happiness character on the screen wall of the East Warm Pavilion and slowly closed her eyes: "To my dearest husband and wife, to my most distant emperor and empress... we will never meet again in the next life."

Aunt Yuan Jin cried out in anguish, "Girl!"

At this moment, the dark cloud followed the sound and stopped in its tracks outside the threshold of the East Warm Pavilion. It walked closer step by step, lowered its head and touched the Empress's nose, its eyes full of sorrow.

Footsteps sounded outside Kunning Palace. Four imperial physicians on night duty rushed in carrying medicine chests. Even the Jiefan Guards rushed in and took control of all the female servants in Kunning Palace.

The chaotic footsteps of the crowd forced the dark cloud to dodge left and right. It watched as the empress was surrounded by the crowd, then silently left the East Warm Pavilion, turning back every few steps.

Finally, it took one last look at the Empress's face through the gaps in the crowd, then turned and left the main hall, jumped onto the wall, and disappeared into the night on the glazed golden tiles.

The vast Forbidden City was in chaos until late at night.

The lights in Kunning Palace were not extinguished until the eunuch who was striking the drum announced the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) in a low voice.

Wu Xiu hurriedly arrived outside Renshou Palace with a sheet of Xuan paper in her hands. There were no lights on, and she could only vaguely see Emperor Ning sitting behind a gauze curtain, meditating with his eyes closed, by the moonlight.

Wu Xiu strode across the threshold, knelt before the throne, and held up the sheet of paper with both hands, whispering, "Your Majesty, the Empress has passed away. Apart from Aunt Yuan Jin, all those who knew about this have been beaten to death by the palace eunuchs. Consort Xue is under house arrest in Yikun Palace, so the outside world will not know what happened."

Behind the gauze curtain, the emperor on his throne did not respond.

Wu Xiu continued, "Tomorrow, the eunuch will have someone secretly hand over the evidence of the Xue family's crimes to the Hu family to vent his anger... The imperial edict for promoting Wang Xun, the Vice Minister of War whom the Hu family values, to the position of Left Vice Minister of War has also been drafted."

Emperor Ning did not respond; only the gauze curtain swayed gently.

After waiting for a long time, Wu Xiu said again, "Her Majesty the Empress also left behind an imperial edict."

Emperor Ning finally spoke slowly: "Read it."

Wu Xiu lowered his head and, by the moonlight, recited: "On the wedding day of any man in my Ning Dynasty, regardless of whether he is a scholar, a craftsman, or a farmer, he may borrow the ninth-rank court robes, wear a black gauze hat, and a leather belt, thus becoming the groom. On the wedding day of any woman in my Ning Dynasty, regardless of whether she is a daughter of a duke or a commoner, she may wear a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe..."

As he said this, he quietly looked up. The Emperor Ning behind the gauze curtain was like a god in the sky, and his emotions were not discernible.

This imperial edict made no attempt to seek redress, nor did it offer any complaints. It made no mention of the future, nor of the past, nor of the emperor himself, nor of Emperor Ning.

After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Ning said hoarsely, "Granted." (End of Chapter)