Chapter 4
Chapter 4
After listening to my eldest sister-in-law nag at home for two days until my ears nearly grew calluses, I finally endured until my leave ended and returned to the palace. I never expected Consort Cui to pick up right where she left off, muttering beside my ear:
“That old witch is stirring up trouble again. Now she even wants to meddle in the Crown Prince’s marriage. What sort of people does her maiden family think they are? They actually dare dream of producing the Crown Princess. Tsk, tsk. Let’s see if the Empress can still swallow this one.”
My niece, Consort Cui, had borne the most children of all the Emperor’s consorts: the brilliant Second Prince Zheng Ying and Third Princess Zheng Xian. By all rights, no mother-in-law should dislike a daughter-in-law like that. But the Grand Empress Dowager did. In fact, one could even say that of all the women under heaven, the woman the Grand Empress Dowager hated most was Consort Cui.
Because Consort Cui had married three times.
Her first husband died of illness not long after their wedding. Her second husband also died of illness not long after their wedding. Her third husband was the current Emperor. What was especially worth mentioning was that Consort Cui’s second husband had been the late emperor-in simpler terms, my niece Consort Cui first married the elder brother, then married the younger brother.
When the elder brother died, the younger brother inherited. The current Emperor inherited not only the throne, but also the woman. The Grand Empress Dowager found this absurd and always referred to Consort Cui as an “enchantress.”
And what kind of strong-willed person was Consort Cui? She returned the favor by bestowing the Grand Empress Dowager with a little “nickname” of her own-old witch.
Hearing Consort Cui commit yet another public act of defiance and filial impiety, I hurriedly looked around. Only after confirming that everyone nearby was one of ours did I relax.
“The Crown Prince’s marriage is for the Emperor and Empress to worry about. Let’s just pretend we know nothing.”
“Do I need you to teach me that? I’m just furious…”
Consort Cui beckoned to me. Understanding at once, I leaned in, and she whispered by my ear, “Some rumors have been spreading from the Eastern Palace lately, saying the Crown Prince is involved with a musician. We still don’t know whom they’re aimed at. Have you heard about it?”
I shook my head. “I only just returned to the palace. I haven’t heard any of this yet.”
“Then investigate it quietly. For something like this to come out at a time like this, it seems more like someone is trying to ruin the Crown Prince’s reputation and sabotage his marriage. I’m afraid someone will throw dirty water on us.”
The Imperial Consort’s concern was entirely reasonable. The Crown Prince was the eldest legitimate son born of the central palace, the rightful and proper heir to the throne. From the outer court to the inner palace, no one had ever disputed that point. Our Cui Family had absolutely no ambition to support our own Imperial Consort’s prince as emperor. But others did not think that way.
In outsiders’ eyes, Consort Cui was of just as noble a birth as the Empress. The Cui Family and the Hang Family were both great clans. The Second Prince was less than eight years younger than the Crown Prince, and Consort Cui had a poor relationship with the Empress in daily life. Surely she must harbor ambitions in the succession struggle!
So from childhood to adulthood, whenever anything happened to the Crown Prince, the first ones suspected were always Consort Cui and the Cui Family. It was truly an outrageous injustice.
As a result, Consort Cui had become somewhat jumpy at shadows. Whenever the Crown Prince might run into trouble, she grew even more nervous than if something had happened to the Second Prince.
The reason things had turned out this way was actually not the Empress’s fault at all. Though Consort Cui and the Empress could not get along, the Empress was not someone who randomly bit at others. Besides, the Crown Prince had never been raised at the Empress’s side in the first place-because the palace coup back then had been far too dangerous, Empress Hang entrusted the Crown Prince to the then Empress Dowager, thinking that even if the coup failed, the Crown Prince would at least keep his life under his grandmother’s protection. Who could have expected that once the Empress Dowager got the child, she refused to let go? From then on, she never returned the Crown Prince to the Empress. Empress Hang had no many more chances to see the Crown Prince than Consort Cui did.
Only after I entered the palace did I learn that all the rumors about “Consort Cui persecuting the Crown Prince” had spread from the Grand Empress Dowager’s palace.
To torment both daughters-in-law into such a state-Consort Cui truly did not wrong her by calling her an old witch.
I nodded to Consort Cui and told her I would start making discreet inquiries once I returned. Then I suddenly remembered something else. “There haven’t been any rumors about me in the palace lately, have there?”
Consort Cui widened her eyes. “I haven’t heard any. What trouble have you caused this time?”
“None. I was only asking casually.”
When I returned to the Ceremonial Bureau, Yan Sizan was teaching the newly promoted female officials the rules. In a daze, I remembered when she and I had first entered the palace and were ostracized by the other female officials. They refused to teach us anything and let us make fools of ourselves.
When I entered the palace, I had only been a seventh-rank female scribe. Now I had worked my way up to become a Fifth-rank Shangyi female official. It was true that my family’s influence had shielded me along the way, but I myself had never slacked off for even half a day.
I could not let Hang Lanque destroy everything I had painstakingly built.
“Cui Shangyi, why did you return to the palace early? Minister Hu is celebrating his birthday. I thought you would go with the Cui Family to offer birthday congratulations before coming back.”
“There have been too many affairs lately. I couldn’t get away. By the way, if any of these newcomers prove useful, assign one to me.”
The moment the words left my mouth, the female officials in blue-green palace attire began exchanging panicked looks. The smiles on their faces stiffened, and one after another they lowered their heads deeply, terrified that I might take a liking to them and pick them to work for me.
Was there really such a big difference between me and Yan Sizan? Why did everyone like working under her?
During the evening meal, I dragged Yan Sizan into a corner and asked, “Do I look that frightening? The young palace servants don’t even dare come near me.”
“Who told you to scold people all the time?”
“You scold people too!”
Yan Sizan laughed. “That day, you shouted at Young General Hang’s pet and scared the little beast so badly its legs trembled. That alone shows how fierce you are. At most, the young palace servants have only ever seen stern instruction mamas. When have they ever encountered a villain like you? It’s perfectly normal for them to be afraid.”
“Word got out about what happened that day?”
“Of course. Since when are there secrets in the palace?”
“What are they saying about me?”
“Do you really want to hear it? Never mind. You’ll only get angry.”
“Say it.”
“Black Fiend Lady Ghost-Bane-she makes even mountain goblins quake.”
Oh, wonderful! They were gossiping about me behind my back, and they even made it rhyme!
Yan Sizan reached across the desk and patted the back of my hand to soothe me. “All right, all right. You said you wouldn’t get angry.”
“It must have been those people from the Palace Service Bureau who made it up!”
The Palace Service Bureau was directly managed by the Empress, while the Ceremonial Bureau was managed by the Imperial Consort. Since the Empress and the Imperial Consort were cool toward each other, those of us beneath them naturally couldn’t stand the sight of one another either.
“Don’t make wild accusations. They’re busy with the Crown Prince right now. How would they have the time to make up slander about you?”
Since she mentioned the Crown Prince, I took the opportunity to ask about something serious. “By the way, have there been any rumors in the Eastern Palace these past few days? You need to be careful. These days, if the Eastern Palace so much as eats one bite less at dinner, they’ll blame it on the Imperial Consort.”
“You know we’re not allowed to discuss such things here. It’s just that yesterday, a few young palace servants from Cloud Shadow Hall were gossiping about their masters. I had them punished and sent back.”
“Were they talking about the Crown Prince?”
Yan Sizan pressed her lips together and gave a slight nod.
Consort Hu of Cloud Shadow Hall was a beauty Minister Hu had presented to the Emperor, and she was currently at the height of his favor. No one wanted to provoke her. At most, those servants could be punished, and even then, out of regard for Consort Hu, they had to be sent back to her. As for how she dealt with them afterward, that was beyond our control.
Yan Sizan always had the habit of never saying too much, just as she conducted herself in life. So if she had brought up the young palace servants of Cloud Shadow Hall now, then they must have been spreading rumors about the Crown Prince.
I asked again, “Did you find the source?”
“Cui Shangyi, nothing serious has happened yet. If we investigate as if this were a grave matter, it would look more like we were deliberately spreading it.”
When it came to the Eastern Palace, our position was indeed awkward. We couldn’t ignore it, but we also couldn’t appear too eager or concerned. We had to guard against giving others leverage at every moment. One step required seeing a dozen steps ahead. It was like walking on thin ice.
During my previous day off, I had pushed many matters onto Yan Sizan. Now it wouldn’t be right to make her worry about this too, and she shouldn’t be dragged into it anyway. So I said, “You’ve considered this very thoroughly. Leave this matter alone from now on. Hand the rest over to me.”
“All right.”
I had only just found a thread to follow when trouble broke out in the Eastern Palace first.
The guards on duty at the Eastern Palace discovered that one of the musicians leaving the palace did not match the entry-and-exit token. After a careful inspection, they realized that the Crown Prince had tried to sneak out of the palace with a pipa player.
The pipa player was called Li Yan, a seventeen-year-old youth with red lips and white teeth. When he was found, he was still wearing the Crown Prince’s jeweled sachet. The two were far too intimate; anyone could see it at a glance.
Now the rumor that the Crown Prince was entangled with a musician had been all but confirmed.
That night, the Empress and Consort Cui summoned all female officials and eunuchs of the fifth rank and above to deliver a lecture. We were ordered to seal off the information and forbid anyone from leaking even half a word. If anyone was discovered doing so, they would be beaten to death on the spot.
We all answered in assent, but in our hearts, we knew perfectly well that keeping it secret was impossible. Once something was defined as a secret, its future was to be leaked.
At most, we could ensure the news did not leave the outskirts of the capital before dawn.
Next, Her Majesty the Empress spoke of the specific handling of the matter-how this incident should be defined. Should it be said that a musician had been audacious enough to abduct the Crown Prince, or that the Crown Prince had left the palace without permission? The difference between the two was enormous, and no one dared make that judgment lightly.
None of us dared speak first. With a few words, the Empress and Consort Cui settled the matter-the one who had left the palace was not the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince’s personal attendant. That attendant was to be expelled from the palace at once.
At critical moments, everyone became very skilled at lying through their teeth.
Just then, the Emperor’s chief eunuch, Xue Shiqing, arrived.
Eunuch Xue was a kindly uncle of medium build with a long face. Usually, no matter which palace servant he saw, he greeted them with a smile. But tonight, there was no smile on his face. With a cold expression, he delivered the imperial decree: “The palace servant who caused this disorder is to be beaten to death on the spot. Drag the body to the mass grave and throw it away. Cui Yuanci of the Ceremonial Bureau is ordered to rectify palace discipline. Such chaos must never happen again.”
He himself did not dare show displeasure to the Empress or the Imperial Consort. Naturally, this expression of his was meant to convey the Emperor’s attitude.
He was telling us with his face that the Emperor was furious.
I did not dare think too much. I quickly knelt to receive the decree.
“This subject accepts the decree.”
I saw the Imperial Consort kneeling ahead of me tighten her grip on the handkerchief in her hand. As I looked at her, she seemed to sense it as well and turned her head slightly, sweeping a glance at me from the corner of her eye.
We both understood. The Emperor and the Empress meant the same thing: news that the Crown Prince favored men could not be allowed to spread, so the palace servant made to take the blame had to be beaten to death immediately. At the same time, however, the Emperor had thrown the hot potato of rectifying palace discipline to the Imperial Consort’s people-in other words, to me. Clearly, he had also grown displeased with the Crown Prince.
But how was I supposed to rectify it? To what extent? The Emperor had said nothing, so we could only rely on our own understanding.
More importantly, I did not know whether he actually wanted me to investigate this incident and the previous rumors.
Should I investigate in secret, or should I boldly investigate under the pretext of rectifying palace discipline?
Ordinarily, when faced with a situation like this, I would ask Consort Cui. But when even Consort Cui did not understand, I chose to ask the Emperor directly.
After all, no matter how exalted his status or how awe-inspiring his power over the world, he was still my niece’s husband.