Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Li Yi came to see me that evening.
He had probably just finished dealing with state affairs and was still wearing his imperial dragon robe. The brilliant yellow brocade made him look tall and elegant. His birth mother, Empress Xiaoyi, had been renowned throughout Dayi for both her beauty and talent even before her marriage, while the Late Emperor had also been strikingly handsome. Li Yi had inherited the finest qualities of both his parents. With his commanding features, sharp brows, and bright eyes, he was exceptionally handsome.
The years had only added to his appeal. After so long in a position of supreme authority, he possessed a quiet, restrained dignity as well. Thus, when the latest group of palace candidates first saw him, every one of them stared in astonishment before lowering their heads, cheeks flushed with bashful delight.
Women had always adored him-not because of his rank or status, but simply because he was who he was. I had known that from the moment I married him.
We had married young. I had only come of age a year before our wedding, and I had later endured the chaos of the rebellion at his side. We had weathered storms together and shared both hardship and fortune.
He respected me, just as any ordinary man would respect the wife who had stood by him since the beginning.
He must have already eaten, but he still joined me for some of the congee my private kitchen had prepared.
Looking over the table of bland, delicate dishes, he frowned. “You’ve been ill for over a month. Why haven’t you recovered yet? Those useless parasites at the Imperial Academy of Medicine grow more incompetent by the day.”
I placed some food in his bowl and replied evenly, “This illness simply takes time and careful nursing. It has little to do with them.”
He paused with his chopsticks in hand, frowning as he looked me up and down. “Haven’t you lost even more weight? How are you supposed to recover when you eat nothing but food this bland every day?”
I gave him a gentle smile. “I simply have no appetite.”
At that, he fell silent.
He stayed and ate with me, coaxing me into finishing another half bowl of congee. Only after watching me drink the last mouthful did he seem to relax. He reached out and took my hand, his voice heavy with emotion.
“Wanning, you must take good care of yourself. Back then…” The melancholy and fleeting sorrow on his face did not seem feigned. “Of all those who once stood beside me, you’re the only one left.”
I smiled tenderly at him, then gently covered the back of his hand with mine in silent comfort.
This was my usual considerate manner, the temperament Li Yi liked best.
Everyone in the palace knew I had the mildest disposition. I was virtuous, benevolent, and kind to others. Of course, kindness did not mean I was weak or easily bullied, nor did it mean I allowed the servants to deceive me. I simply seldom made an issue of things-whether a consort arrived late to the morning greeting, committed some breach of etiquette in the imperial presence, or secretly had a letter sent home.
The palace was a place where people trampled those below them and flattered those above, but I personally kept watch over the treatment of every unfavored consort to ensure the servants did not mistreat them.
When palace servants came to me for help, I helped whenever circumstances allowed. Though I was ill, I still kept the inner palace in impeccable order. As a result, I had won the hearts of everyone in the palace.
That was also why Li Yi had always respected me.
Everyone thought me a merciful, saintly bodhisattva.
I rested my hand on the back of Li Yi’s, the very picture of meek and gentle reassurance. No one saw how, when I lowered my lashes and bowed my head, the tender curve of my lips slowly vanished, leaving my face utterly expressionless.
The next morning, I rose to help Li Yi dress.
He looked at me and said, “Why are you up? There are servants to attend me. You should sleep a little longer.”
Standing before him, I lowered my head and fastened the yellow sash around his waist. “It is my duty.”
His expression shifted. Taking my hand, he let the severity in his eyes gradually soften.
With a sigh, he said, “Your greatest duty is to keep yourself healthy.”
Then, as if something had occurred to him, his brows drew together and displeasure crossed his face. “You were already in poor health, yet the few women in this inner palace still insist on causing you trouble. Not one of them knows enough to spare you worry while you’re ill, and they even dare come to me asking for justice. They have no sense of propriety.”
I smiled without answering.
Not once before he finished breakfast and left did he mention Concubine Zhen. I watched his figure disappear at the far end of the covered walkway, surrounded by his retinue, before withdrawing my gaze and taking my seat again.
Chunlan stood beside me in attendance. Somewhat puzzled, she asked in a low voice, “Her Ladyship, why didn’t The Emperor mention Concubine Zhen? This servant thought… thought The Emperor had come to plead on her behalf.”
I laughed and looked at the vase of peonies on the table. The Imperial Household Department had cut and delivered them early that morning, and fresh dew still clung to their opulent petals. I brushed a fingertip over one of the blossoms.
“She’s nothing more than a plaything. Back then, he loved Li Lingshu so deeply that he endured and schemed for her sake, yet when power was at stake, he abandoned her all the same. Concubine Zhen is merely a substitute. Why would she be any different? She has only been sentenced to three months of kneeling. Even if I ordered her beaten to death, Li Yi wouldn’t say a single word in her defense.”
I gazed at the Yaohuang blooming before me, its flower as large as a bowl, and lost myself in thought. I left the rest unsaid, but after serving at my side for so many years, Chunlan surely understood.
Besides, Li Yi would never upset me over a mere plaything like her.
In Li Yi’s heart, every woman in his inner palace carried a different weight and had her own proper place.
Concubine Zhen was merely a plaything through whom he reminisced about someone from his past. No matter how favored she became, she was still nothing more than an insignificant pet, one that countless others could replace. Jiang Wanyi had been the ladder he climbed on his way to power. Li Lingshu was the cinnabar mark upon his heart, aching whenever it was touched…
And I was the virtuous, benevolent first wife he had married to manage his inner palace.
I came from a prestigious clan. I was gentle and tolerant toward every one of his consorts, magnanimous and emotionally composed. My interests were bound to his, and I always stood in his place when considering any matter. Better yet, my family knew its place. In the second year after he ascended the throne, they surrendered every shred of military authority, refusing to become imperial in-laws who monopolized power or meddled in government.
Most importantly, I had no children.
In his eyes, there could be no more suitable Empress.
I neither raged nor resented. I was neither greedy nor arrogant. I had molded myself into one of the solemn, majestic statues enshrined in Buddhist temples, devoid of all selfish desire. Only then, in Li Yi’s eyes, was I harmless and perfect.
That was why Li Yi did not know that even someone like me harbored a secret.
A treasonous secret wicked enough to condemn all nine branches of my clan to death.
But I merely smiled with my usual gentleness.
I would never let anyone know.