Pei You’an followed the footprints through the snowy ground in one breath all the way to the back mountain. Ahead, a black figure used the terrain to spring and climb a mountain wall more than a zhang high. The figure moved like a spider, extremely agile.
Beyond the mountain wall lay an old forest. If the figure escaped, it would be nearly impossible to track in such a snowy night.
Without pausing, Pei You’an fiercely threw his long sword forward. The sword sliced through the air like a snake, chasing the figure, stabbing into the person’s right shoulder just as he was about to climb over the wall. The figure faltered and fell to the ground.
A guard caught up and saw the person struggling to get up, still trying to escape, but was immediately subdued.
Pei You’an quickly approached, bent down, grabbed the man’s jaw, and applied force with his fingers. With a faint “crack,” the man screamed miserably, his jaw was dislocated, and a bitten wax pellet fell from his mouth.
...
In the rear chambers of the palace, Lady Zhou had not slept all night.
Today there was an early court session, and it was nearly the fifth watch, but the emperor still had not returned.
None of her people had sent any news back.
Since the night of the Crown Prince’s wedding, this was the second time Xiao Lie secretly left the palace late at night.
Lady Zhou was certain the place he went that night was the very spot in Ci’en Temple.
She could also infer that the emperor’s secret departure again tonight was most likely for the same place.
She knew well she had sent spies to watch the emperor’s movements, aware of the risk if discovered, but she could not suppress this desire.
The royal princesses and noble daughters from Goryeo and Annam would soon be brought into the imperial harem and established as consorts. Moreover, after the beginning of spring, the Ministry of Rites and the Office of Imperial Clan Affairs would hold the selection of palace maidens, further filling the harem.
Zhou Shi understood that this was no longer the Wuding Prince’s mansion. The situation of having her husband to herself alone for over twenty years would never return. Soon, there would be women by the emperor’s side younger and more beautiful than herself. From now on, even though she would still oversee the harem and hold a high status, only she herself would truly understand the bitter feelings hidden beneath.
But if it were only this much, it would be tolerable. Zhou Shi was not foolish enough to risk everything just because the emperor was expanding his harem.
For many years, her suspicious and troubled heart had sensed a subtle but dangerous abnormality in the emperor’s seemingly ordinary act of accepting more consorts.
First, the Crown Princess’s reckless words had caused an unexpected disaster. Although it was barely resolved, the Crown Princess and Crown Prince had since shown clear hostility toward Xiao Lie. Then, before one wave could subside, another began: her brother’s excessive methods to gain merit failed, bringing disgrace to the Zhou family and once again implicating the Crown Prince.
Actually, when Xiao Lie first ascended the throne, those idle ministers at the Ministry of Rites had already cited the classics to suggest that the emperor expand his harem. But at that time, Xiao Lie had refused, claiming state affairs were unsettled and he had no time for the harem.
For the emperor to now order the opening and expansion of the harem could never be as simple as it seemed.
If before he had only been somewhat dissatisfied, then now perhaps this was the true beginning of danger for the Crown Prince.
Xiao Lie was in his prime, with plenty of time ahead. If he changed his mind, who in this world could stop him?
Ever since the year he brought the sixteen-year-old Pei You’an to Wuding, perhaps out of a woman’s intuition, Zhou Shi had felt that Xiao Lie treated this so-called “old acquaintance’s” son with unusual favor.
And the root of all this might lie in that courtyard within Cien Temple.
Now, even for the sake of her own son, she had to uncover everything about the emperor.
To avoid any mishaps, she acted with extreme caution— not even the Crown Prince was informed. The person she sent was a guard she had secretly employed since Wuding; if things went wrong, he would poison himself on the spot, something she was very certain of.
Zhou Shi lay down clothed, eventually slipping into a hazy sleep, only to be suddenly awakened by a nightmare. She sat up in terror, seeing dawn had nearly broken. Hastily, she called for Lin Mama to inquire.
The palace servant obeyed and left, and after a moment, though Lin Mama had not returned, footsteps sounded outside the hall.
Those footsteps were heavy, each step striking the ground with increasing force, seemingly laced with anger, shaking her eardrums.
Who in this palace would walk like that?
Zhou Shi’s heart raced. She quickly leapt down from her phoenix bed, and had not gone many steps when she saw a crowd of palace servants kneeling on the floor in front of the hall. The drapes suddenly fluttered, and someone violently pulled them aside. Accompanied by the soft clatter of a golden hook falling to the ground, Xiao Lie’s figure appeared before her.
Zhou Shi abruptly halted, meeting the two dark and gloomy eyes the emperor cast at her. Her heart sank swiftly, but she steadied herself and forced a smile:
“Your Majesty did not attend the morning court. Is there something you wish to discuss here?”
Xiao Lie coldly said, “You have some nerve, daring to send someone to spy on me! From now on, you are to be moved out of Kunning Palace to the Northern Garden. Without my permission, you are not allowed to step outside even half a step!”
Having said that, he turned and strode away. Cui Yinshui led several burly eunuchs and bowed before Zhou Shi:
“Your Highness, His Majesty’s orders must be obeyed. Please prepare to leave the palace. We will escort you to the Northern Garden.”
The Northern Garden lay several hundred miles outside the imperial city, near the imperial ancestral tombs. It was originally built by the founding emperor Taizu. Though the grounds were vast, the palace buildings were simple. Each year during the ancestral rites, Taizu would lead the royal family to live there for a month of austerity to honor the ancestors. After Taizu’s death, this tradition gradually faded. The Northern Garden grew desolate. Over twenty years ago, Emperor Tianxi relocated there to avoid a plague sweeping the city and stayed almost a year. Now the Northern Garden was essentially a cold palace.
Zhou Shi’s hands and feet turned icy cold. Her face instantly drained of color as she watched the emperor’s departing back. Suddenly, she shouted loudly, pushed past Cui Yinshui, hurried after him, and grabbed his sleeve.
“Your Majesty, do you have proof of these accusations? I don’t know what mistake I’ve made! What do you mean by spying on Your Majesty’s whereabouts? I am being slandered! I am not afraid to confront this!”
Xiao Lie turned to glare at Zhou Shi, narrowing his eyes:
“Don’t say I’ve already found out; even without witnesses, who else in the palace besides you could know of my secret departure last night?”
He nodded and sneered coldly:
“Now in this vast harem, only you and the Eastern Palace wield power. If it isn’t you, then it must be the Eastern Palace’s doing. If you want to stay, stay by yourself. I will send for the Crown Prince for interrogation.”
Xiao Lie yanked his sleeve back and strode forward. Zhou Shi fell to the ground, reaching out again to grasp his leg, crying out:
“Your Majesty! This has nothing to do with the Crown Prince! The fault is mine! If I admit my mistakes, will you spare me? I shouldn’t have been so foolish and made such an error. I beg Your Majesty to look upon my over twenty years of service and spare me this once!”
The emperor gritted his teeth:
“For spying on the emperor’s movements alone, I could depose you as empress! I will not remove your title now, but from now on, you are to go and recuperate. We shall see each other no more!”
Xiao Lie pulled his leg free from her grasp, anger blazing as he tried to walk away again.
Zhou Shi shouted:
“Your Majesty! When the late emperor passed away, your eldest brother suspected you and locked you up in Wuding at the start of your reign. In the second year of Tianxi, you left the country without telling me where you were going and were gone for half a year. Had I not hidden everything for you, would you be where you are today?”
Xiao Lie roared: “You once protected the Crown Prince by fabricating witchcraft accusations and deceived me! Did you think I was an old fool, to be toyed with? I merely showed leniency for the sake of our twenty-year blood ties! Yet you do not restrain yourself! Today, only because of those old bonds do I give you some face and leave you as you are! Say no more, leave now! Never return to the palace again!”
With that, Xiao Lie strode away in long, decisive steps.
Zhou Shi lay on the ground, eyes fixed on the emperor’s retreating figure, tears streaming endlessly.
Cui Yinshui waited a moment, then gave a glance to the eunuchs. Two eunuchs stepped forward, one on each side, kneeling down and trying to help Zhou Shi up from the ground, saying, “Your Highness, please forgive us. We are only following orders. Please do not be angry. It’s better to go quickly to avoid the emperor’s wrath…”
Zhou Shi raised her hand, and with several loud smacks, each eunuch was slapped across the face. After slapping them, she propped herself up, slowly getting to her feet, wiping the tears from her face, then coldly glared at Cui Yinshui and said, “Even if I am at my worst, I am still the Empress of the Great Wei! I will walk by myself. How dare you lowly servants treat me like this?”
Cui Yinshui sighed, slapped herself on the cheek, bowed deeply, and said, “It’s my fault, I punish myself! How dare I disrespect Your Highness? It is good that Your Highness is willing to move palace by yourself. I am grateful.” Saying that, she straightened up, her face turning cold as she shouted outside, “Why are you still kneeling? The emperor has decreed: The Empress, moved by this year’s drought and the people’s suffering, volunteers to relocate to the Western Garden to protect the mausoleum and pray for blessings. Get up quickly, prepare for the Empress’s move!”
The palace servants on the ground rose up like people who had lost their parents. Zhou Shi’s face turned pale. She turned her head and looked back once at the palace she had not lived in for very long, then finally stepped forward.
She walked out of the Kunning Gate, where she saw the Crown Prince and Crown Princess kneeling by the roadside to send her off.
She fixed her gaze on the Crown Prince, staring intently. Though she could not speak aloud, at this moment, she believed her son would understand the unspoken words of her heart.
A single mistake had angered the emperor, and she was banished from the central palace to the Western Garden.
The emperor now was no longer the prince of Wuding’s cloud city. His imperial might was unfathomable, and he turned on others without mercy.
Just moments ago, when she heard the cruel words ordering her exile to the Western Garden come from his mouth, for a moment she almost could not hold back the resentment and unwillingness buried deep in her heart for over twenty years, ready to burst forth.
But in the end, she forced herself to swallow it back down. Everything was for the Crown Prince.
Now she wanted her son to be even more patient and restrained. At least, while he could not yet confront the ruler of this world, he must not lose his temper.
Back then, at the grand wedding of Emperor Tianxi, the young Xiao Lie had also, by imperial decree, married her and fathered a son with her. Over twenty years, though no other woman had been at his side, Zhou Shi knew clearly that this man was cold-hearted; he never loved her and would never be moved by her tears. Now that he sent her away, soon new concubines would enter the palace. Without her son, she might never return to the central palace again in this life.
Fortunately, there was still the Crown Prince.
One day, she would surely return, walk through the North Main Gate of the central palace, and take back everything that once belonged to her.
She thus stared at the Crown Prince, stepping past him slowly.
Unfortunately, fate often toys with people, giving hope only to deepen the pain of shattered dreams.
At this moment, Zhou Shi did not know this would indeed be the last time she would walk through Kunning Gate.
...
Xiao Yintang stared at his mother’s receding back, his eyes darkening. His shoulders moved slightly as he was about to rise from the ground but was held down by Zhang Fengtong’s hand.
“Don’t act rashly! Mother is no longer safe. Even if you go to the emperor and speak for her, he won’t listen and may even turn his anger on you. Fortunately, Mother still holds her title. The Crown Prince must now endure and wait for the right opportunity. I believe this is Mother’s wish as well.”
Zhang Fengtong spoke quickly in a low voice.
Xiao Yintang glared at her, withdrew his hand, stood up, and turned straight toward the Eastern Palace.
...
That day, the entire court of civil and military officials learned that the Empress was relocated to the Western Garden to pray for the people’s welfare, and all were shocked. The Ministry of Rites issued a formal decree. The ministers whispered secretly, and though they did not fully understand, they vaguely realized that after Zhou Jin, Empress Zhou was also completely out of favor with the emperor.
Outside the Zhou family gate, everyone avoided the place. The Zhang family, perhaps feeling sorrow for their kindred, had Zhang Lao claiming illness and staying indoors these days. Under the calm court, unseen undercurrents surged silently.
Meanwhile, the main branch of the Pei family had erupted in chaos these days.
Although the Empress’s move was said to be for praying for blessings, everyone knew the emperor could no longer tolerate her. Moving her was like humiliating the Crown Prince. It was rumored that new concubines would soon enter the palace, and the future was unpredictable.
Madam Xin regretted having her son marry Zhou Jiao’e, but since the marriage was done, it was water under the bridge. She no longer dared to show power over Zhou Jiao’e but was less tolerant than before. Her face was increasingly unpleasant. Pei Xiuzhi had lost patience completely; Zhou Jiao’e, carrying a child, tried to threaten him, but to no avail. The house was filled with crying and commotion day and night.
Eventually, Madam Xin, not wanting the second branch to ridicule them, ordered the courtyard gate closed under the pretext of pregnancy care, forbidding Zhou Jiao’e from leaving freely. Zhou Jiao’e seemed to realize her support had suddenly greatly diminished and began to restrain herself, focusing on pregnancy care. The household finally quieted down.
Thus, the year-end passed so hurriedly.
Entering spring, Jiafu began packing.
A few months ago, Meng Shi, who had returned to Quanzhou, sent a letter mentioning that Grandmother Hu had caught a cold-heat illness in late summer. Though she recovered, her health seemed weaker come autumn.
At the time, the Pei family’s old matriarch was also seriously ill. Jiafu, unable to be in two places at once, sent back a letter with some medicinal herbs as a token of filial piety.
Now after the New Year, Pei You’an was resting at home for mourning, and after the mourning ended, hearing of Hu Shi’s poor health, he voluntarily proposed to accompany Jiafu back to Quanzhou in early spring.
By March, Quanzhou city and outskirts would be filled with blooming coral trees, a sight rarely seen in the capital. Jiafu had a deep affection for the place that gave birth to her. Since last year’s end, she had longed to visit but had just finished mourning and seen Pei You’an’s frequent solitary presence in his study- reading, painting, or teaching her. Though he seemed to live a leisurely life, Jiafu sensed he had his own worries, never revealing them to her. She had kept it to herself until he surprisingly noticed and proposed to accompany her to Quanzhou.
Jiafu was overjoyed. She packed her things early, picked an auspicious day, and eagerly awaited the departure. Finally, the day arrived with clear skies and gentle winds. Alongside Pei You’an, she bid farewell to Madam Xinfu. Jiafu, accompanied by nanny Liu and the incense wood keeper, and Pei You’an with Yang Yun and several attendants, about a dozen people in all, arrived at the dock. They boarded a large ship, raised the sails, and headed southward, greeted by a mild southern breeze.
"Now the Northern Garden was essentially a cold palace."
ReplyDeleteNah most cold palaces are just really dilapidated places *in* the imperial harem. That is significantly worse than a cold palace.
By the way it changes from Northern to Western gardens midway through and Cui Yinshui is referred to as "she" a few times.
Also, would it be possible to check the previous chapters over? In particular the chapter talking about how Xiao Lie rebelled had a few really important paragraphs where almost none of the names were correct.