Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The Third Prince and the Ninth Prince looked over.
Both of their mothers had passed away, and they were being cared for by trusted palace nannies.
It was not necessarily true that they wanted me to become their mother.
They simply did not want to be disliked by me.
I smiled gently.
“That is not the case. The Third Prince and the Ninth Prince are both fine young men, and I like them both very much.”
“It is only that I am not many years older than they are. Once sons are grown, even mother and child must observe proper boundaries. It would be best for us to avoid any cause for gossip.”
“Besides, I know my own learning is shallow and my experience lacking. I have nothing of worth to teach them. If I forced them to stay with me, I would only hold them back.”
I looked toward the doorway.
There, the Thirteenth Princess was clinging to the doorframe, poking her head inside with a curious look on her face.
I pointed at her and said warmly,
“Your Majesty, I feel a greater affinity with the Thirteenth Princess.”
“The Thirteenth Princess is still young, and she is a girl. I can teach her a few things girls ought to know.”
The Thirteenth Princess wore her hair in two little buns, tied with red ribbons. Her large, watery eyes blinked at us.
I beckoned, motioning for her to come in.
She glanced back outside. An elderly palace nanny stood there.
The old nanny kept her gaze lowered and her expression still, looking neither left nor right.
Receiving no hint from her, the Thirteenth Princess thought for a moment, then walked in and obediently gave me a perfectly proper salute.
“Greetings to Her Majesty the Empress.”
She was my eldest sister’s daughter, and she had my eldest sister’s grace.
My heart stirred. I suppressed the joy rising in me and slowly walked up to her, extending my hand.
“Thirteenth Princess, are you willing to let me be your mother?”
The Thirteenth Princess blinked. After looking at me for a while, she gently placed her hand in my palm and said in a soft, sweet voice,
“Her Majesty the Empress, this child is willing.”
The instant her small hand rested in my palm, I saw two futures concerning her.
In the first future, she had her throat cut open with a single stroke of the Third Prince’s sword while he wore the crown of an emperor.
Before she died, she cursed him in a shrill voice, “You ungrateful wretch! You murdered your mother and your teacher! You will die a horrible death!”
In the second future, she was dressed in bridal red and forced onto a carriage bound for a political marriage.
She looked at the Ninth Prince, who was dressed in an emperor’s informal robes, and cursed him fiercely.
“You defy all decency and force your mother to become your consort. Retribution will come for you!”
The emperor answered her with only a cold, mocking laugh.
My heart pounded in fright, and heat gathered in my eyes.
I knew I had chosen correctly.
In both of those futures, this child stood on my side.
The Thirteenth Princess looked up in confusion and reached out to touch my cheek.
“Mother Empress, what is wrong?”
I gently gathered her into my arms. My cheek brushed against her soft, jet-black hair, and warmth flowed through my heart.
“Mother Empress is simply so happy at the thought of having such a wonderful daughter as you.”
Zhao Ye was not satisfied with my choice.
His brows drew together slightly, as though he could not understand.
“If you want a young child, there are other princes…”
The court was waiting for a legitimate son of the central palace.
Zhao Ye did not wish to have a child with me, so he might as well hand me one directly to stop the court’s mouths, lest Consort Lan be cursed as a demon consort again.
Because of my sister’s death, Consort Lan’s reputation among the common people was terrible.
Zhao Ye truly did think of everything for Consort Lan.
I lowered my eyes. My tone was gentle, but firm.
“Your Majesty, I only want the Thirteenth Princess. She is my eldest sister’s child. Having her alone is enough for me.”
Zhao Ye’s eyes darkened. He looked at me deeply, but in the end, he said nothing more.
He left indifferently with the two princes.
The Thirteenth Princess said in a small voice, “Mother Empress, Father Emperor is unhappy. He does not like people mentioning Mother.”
My heart stirred. “Why?”
The Thirteenth Princess blinked, and tears suddenly gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“Mother was very ill, but Father Emperor sent all the imperial physicians to treat Consort Lan.”
“Father Emperor said Mother was only pretending to be sick. He reached out to pull Mother up, and Mother fell from the bed just like that…”
She sobbed miserably.
The nanny who cared for her took the Thirteenth Princess into her arms and softly coaxed her.
Only after the Thirteenth Princess fell asleep did she tell me in a low voice.
After Zhao Ye dragged my eldest sister down from the bed, he saw the livor mortis that had appeared on her wrist.
It frightened him.
From then on, my eldest sister became his taboo.
Even the Thirteenth Princess was no longer favored by him.
My eldest sister had predicted correctly.
Zhao Ye truly was about to follow in the footsteps of Emperor Wu of the previous dynasty.
My eldest sister had been a woman who accompanied him for twelve years.
She was virtuous, wise, and benevolent. She had never taken a single wrong step, yet she still ended up like this.
A chill crept through my heart. Threads of hatred spread through every limb and bone.
I did not have much contact with my eldest sister, but what I did have was warm.
Each time I entered the palace, she would stroke my hair with pity and affection, hoping I would grow up safe and live a smooth life in the future.
“Mingtang, with me here to support you, you can be yourself in the future.”
Sadly, she herself died early, at the age of thirty.
I rewarded the nanny.
“You did very well today, bringing the Thirteenth Princess here.”
From the very beginning, I had not wanted to choose any of the princes Zhao Ye brought with him.
An unfavored Empress, forced to raise a child she had not given birth to-and an older prince at that.
Not only would I be unable to build any real bond with him, I would also be dragged against my will into the struggle for succession.
The risks were extremely high, and the rewards vanishingly small.
No matter how I calculated it, this was a losing bargain. I would never take it.
That was why I had sent my personal maid, the one I had brought from home, to pass along a message asking the nanny to bring the Thirteenth Princess to my palace to play.
The nanny was clever. One hint was all she needed.
Only then was I able to reunite with the Thirteenth Princess.
I rubbed my aching temples and said calmly,
“Tell me about Consort Lan.”