chapter 7
The imperial couple named the Eighth Prince Qin Yuancheng and the Ninth Princess Jingyi.
The princess was healthy, but the prince, who had been born first, was frail. Publicly, of course, the palace announced that both twins were strong and well.
The bastard Emperor sat at the Empress’s bedside, his usually severe eyes overflowing with tenderness.
“Empress, We will name our Yuancheng Crown Prince.”
The investiture was scheduled for after the twins’ full-month celebration.
With the New Year approaching, auspicious snow fell from the sky. Affairs of state kept the Emperor occupied, while childbirth had badly depleted the Empress’s health.
In the end, the task of assisting with the Six Palaces and arranging the twins’ celebration fell to Noble Consort Yan.
When Lizhi heard, she was indignant. “Your Majesty, how can the Noble Consort be allowed to arrange it? She once—”
The Empress was dangling the tassel of her mother-of-pearl fan over the little princess’s cradle. Without looking up, she said, “What happened then was not her fault.
“Now we both have children of our own.
“Let the past remain in the past.”
I did not understand what they meant. I simply inventoried the gifts from every palace and stored them safely away.
Amid the bustle, I looked at the Empress’s pale but radiant face and felt suddenly, deeply content.
This must have been what people meant by peaceful days.
For the full-month celebration, Noble Consort Yan brought a troupe of acrobats and opera performers into the palace.
Then one member of the troupe came down with smallpox.
The imperial physicians isolated the patient as quickly as they could, but the newborn twins were infected.
Noble Consort Yan removed her hair ornaments in penitence and knelt barefaced outside Yangxin Palace day after day.
The Emperor paid her no attention.
The Empress had fallen ill.
Childbirth had already emptied her strength. Before she could recover, she began caring for two sick infants day and night without rest.
She wasted away with terrifying speed.
Despite everything the Emperor, Empress, and physicians did, the Eighth Prince died one day before his full-month celebration.
When the news came, the Empress lost focus for a long moment.
Wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, Lizhi urged softly, “Your Majesty, the physician said you must not grieve too deeply.
“If only for the little princess, you must endure…”
The Empress sat motionless for a long time before slowly nodding.
The snow fell harder.
That night, I was on watch outside her bedchamber. In the hours before dawn, the weight of the snow snapped a stalk of green bamboo beyond the window with a sharp crack.
The sound woke me.
Beneath the howl of the blizzard, I could faintly hear muffled, agonized sobs from inside.