Chapter 115
Chapter 115
[After Five of the Prince’s Wives Died – 3]
Pan Zhenghe and his wife talked for a while. Before long, the personnel he had summoned arrived. He bid his wife farewell and left with them to investigate the Prince of Chu’s residence.
Meanwhile, word that the Imperial Guards had surrounded the residence spread through the capital. What truly caused an uproar, however, was the shocking news that five of the Prince of Chu’s Princess Consorts had died within a single year.
“How could something so horrifying happen?”
“Anyone can tell there must be something sinister behind it! When the imperial family selects a Princess Consort, they send an Imperial Physician to examine her before the marriage is granted. They reject women whose families have histories of serious illness, women of frail health, and women with conditions that could prevent them from bearing heirs. Five Princess Consorts were chosen with the greatest care and married into the residence, yet every one of them was dead before the year was out. Who would believe there was nothing suspicious about that?”
“Then what really happened? How did the five Princess Consorts die?”
“Someone must have murdered them!”
“Nonsense. What sort of place do you think the Prince of Chu’s residence is? How could petty criminals possibly slip inside? If they truly were murdered, the culprit must have been someone within the residence!”
“The more you say, the more terrifying it sounds. Surely His Highness the Prince of Chu did not kill all five of his new wives?”
“If the five Princess Consorts were not murdered, then the truth is even more frightening, isn’t it? Think carefully. Am I wrong?”
“You’re right!”
Had someone been standing in the sky above the imperial capital at that moment, they would have seen a thin golden mist of fate dispersing. The curse that had once shackled everyone’s thoughts quietly dissolved. One person after another began to recognize how unnatural the violent deaths of the Prince of Chu’s five successive Princess Consorts were-and their numbers continued to grow.
Half furious and half aggrieved, Talented Lady Wang stormed all the way to the Empress Dowager’s palace.
After a palace maid announced her arrival and led her inside, tears spilled from her eyes the moment she saw the Empress Dowager. “Aunt, if you do not help us, my son and I may not live much longer!”
The Empress Dowager was advanced in years and now spent her days in the palace enjoying the company of her grandchildren. Her brows immediately drew together at Talented Lady Wang’s words. “What sort of behavior is all this weeping? With your aunt here, who would dare kill you or Mingde?”
She ordered the attendants to bring a seat, then added, “You are a Noble Consort, at any rate. Your clothes are far too plain today.”
At those words, the tears Talented Lady Wang had barely managed to suppress burst forth again. After a few choking sobs, she lost all control, sank to her knees, and wailed.
The Empress Dowager was both startled and distressed. She looked questioningly at the attendants. Talented Lady Wang’s personal palace maid wiped her own tears and reported in a low voice, “His Majesty issued a decree moments ago. He abolished our lady’s rank as Noble Consort and demoted her to Talented Lady.”
Talented Lady Wang was the Empress Dowager’s niece from her maiden family and had given her such a precious imperial grandson. After so many years together, it would not have been an exaggeration to say that the Empress Dowager regarded her as a daughter. Her expression immediately changed. Suppressing her anger, she demanded, “What happened? Did you do something wrong?”
Talented Lady Wang covered her face and wept. “Aunt, don’t you know what sort of person I am? Today, His Majesty suddenly ordered Mingde confined to his residence. In my panic, I sent someone out to learn what was happening. He never even made it back-the Imperial Guards killed him on the spot. Before I could apologize to His Majesty, the decree rebuking me and stripping me of my rank arrived!”
By the end, she was sobbing too hard to speak.
Her personal maid hurried forward to explain the sequence of events, then cried, “Empress Dowager, our lady has suffered a terrible injustice! What mother would not worry about her son? How can that be wrong?”
By the time the Empress Dowager had heard the full story, Talented Lady Wang’s face was drenched in tears. The Empress Dowager’s heart ached for her. She ordered the attendants to help her up and take her to the rear hall to compose herself, then sent someone to summon the Emperor so that he could explain what had happened.
Talented Lady Wang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She also knew it would be best not to remain nearby while the Empress Dowager spoke privately with her son. She respectfully kowtowed, thanked her aunt profusely, and withdrew to the rear hall.
When Ying Zheng heard that the Empress Dowager had summoned him, his heart gave a sudden jolt. He did not hesitate, however. He set aside his work, rose, and headed for the Palace of Benevolent Peace.
The emperors in the System space were still debating the matter.
“Could she be Zhao Ji?”
Liu Che said, “I bet a packet of spicy strips that she is!”
Zhu Yuanzhang said, “Then you’re finished. She’ll definitely favor her own niece, twist the truth, and make an endless, life-or-death fuss. Zhao Ji couldn’t behave herself in her last life. You expect her to be reasonable in this one? I don’t believe it!”
Emperor Gaozu and Li Shimin also thought the situation looked ominous.
Only Ying Zheng was completely relaxed.
One simply had to learn to take such things lightly.
Or perhaps, once a person had experienced the absolute lowest point any particular matter could reach, everything else became easy to accept so long as it did not sink all the way to that same abyss.
He was merely about to meet the mother from his previous life. What was so remarkable about that?
The Empress Dowager might distort right and wrong and blindly favor Talented Lady Wang. What was so remarkable about that?
So what if the Empress Dowager doted on her grandson and was determined to rescue him, shower him with wealth and honor, and find him another wife? What was so remarkable about that?
As long as the Empress Dowager did not have a lover hidden in the palace, had not borne that lover a son, and did not intend for that son to replace him, everything else was trivial!
Even if she had a lover in the palace and had given him eight or ten sons, it would still be a trivial matter so long as her mind remained clear and she did not try to put one of them on his throne!
Was a man’s lower limit not meant to be lowered?
Ying Zheng was perfectly calm. He even felt like having a cup of tea.
…
Before the Emperor arrived, the Empress Dowager had accumulated a bellyful of anger. When Ying Zheng entered the Hall of Benevolent Peace, he found an old woman whose features bore a strong resemblance to those of his birth mother, Zhao Ji. Dressed in magnificent robes, she sat in the seat of honor with fury written across her face and refused to utter a word. She was clearly waiting for the Emperor to bow his head first and ask what was wrong.
When had Ying Zheng ever bowed his head to anyone?
Never mind an Empress Dowager who merely resembled Zhao Ji. After the rebellion of Lao Ai, he had never again spoken heart-to-heart with Zhao Ji herself.
As for welcoming her back to the Qin palace so mother and son could cling to each other and weep…
It had been nothing more than political theater. Only a fool would take it seriously.
Ying Zheng waved for the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall to withdraw. He picked up the teapot on the table, poured the Empress Dowager a cup, then poured one for himself.
“Within a single year, five Princess Consorts of Chu died violent deaths in succession.”
“Either a shocking crime is concealed behind those deaths, or the Prince of Chu is an ill-omened man cursed by fate.”
“If the former is true, then the Prince of Chu is an utter fool. His principal wives died one after another, yet he failed to discern the truth. Such a man cannot be entrusted with great responsibility. If the latter is true, then he is an inauspicious creature whom Heaven and Earth cannot tolerate, and We cannot allow him to live.”
“We have already sent men to investigate the deaths of the five Princess Consorts of Chu. There should be results soon. Imperial Mother, why not wait with Us a few days?”
“Is anything We have said incorrect?”
Ying Zheng continued, “Consider this, Imperial Mother. If a woman married five times in one year, and all five husbands were strong and healthy before the wedding only to die suddenly one after another afterward, would that not be strange? Did the woman murder her husbands, or was she born inauspicious and cursed by fate?”
No, it was not merely a little strange. It was extraordinarily strange!
Why had she never thought so before?
She could not understand it…
Forget it. What was the point of dwelling on the past?
The Empress Dowager was deeply conflicted. On the one hand, she loved the Prince of Chu dearly. On the other, the fate that had caused five wives to die made her instinctively recoil from him.
After struggling with the dilemma for some time, she simply set it aside. “The Emperor has already sent men to investigate the case?”
Ying Zheng nodded. “There should be results soon.”
The Empress Dowager hesitated. “If they truly died for no apparent reason…”
Ying Zheng answered without hesitation, “The imperial family cannot tolerate such an inauspicious son, and neither can We!”
He was still the grandson she had cherished for years. The Empress Dowager could not bear it. “Emperor, he is your son-and the Noble Consort’s very life!”
“She is not a Noble Consort. She is a Talented Lady.”
Ying Zheng calmly corrected her, then continued, “If those Princess Consorts truly died for no apparent reason, then this son is plainly inauspicious. Wang gave birth to such a cursed creature. We have already shown extraordinary mercy by not executing her. There is even less need to speak of restoring her rank, whether as Noble Consort or Talented Lady!”
The Empress Dowager’s heart quailed. She wanted to persuade him, but on second thought, the entire matter was far too strange and suspicious.
Her grandson was precious to her, and her niece was almost like her own daughter. Yet her son was still her own flesh and blood, and all the wealth and honor of her remaining years depended on him. The Empress Dowager understood very well whom she should support when fundamental interests were at stake.
She said nothing more. Mother and son sat opposite each other for a while before Ying Zheng rose and took his leave. The Empress Dowager did not try to stop him.
Not long afterward, Talented Lady Wang emerged from the rear hall. Hope shone in her expression, and her steps were light as she hurried over. “Aunt!”
Anticipation filled her eyes. Taking the Empress Dowager by the hand, she asked eagerly, “What did His Majesty say? Did he agree to release Mingde? And what about selecting another Princess Consort? Mingde is only twenty this year. How awful would it sound if people called him a widower?”
The Empress Dowager had grown more superstitious with age. After hearing everything her son had said, she could not help feeling uneasy. She unobtrusively pulled her hand free from her niece’s grasp. “Mingde has already married five women in a single year. Would that sound any better if word spread? Let us wait for now.”
Talented Lady Wang replied with perfect confidence, “They simply weren’t blessed enough to endure such great fortune! What did any of it have to do with Mingde?”
The Empress Dowager recalled the young women who had entered the palace with her grandson to pay their respects after each grand wedding. Their faces had already blurred in her memory. She only remembered that every one of them had been sweet-tempered.
Because they were marrying into the imperial family, their birth, appearance, speech, and conduct all had to pass the strictest scrutiny. Such fine young women, and yet they had withered away one after another in the space of a single year. It truly was pitiful.
Talented Lady Wang’s words chilled her heart. “They are already dead. What is the point of saying such things now? When a man takes a wife, he is supposed to build a life with her. After what happened to the first five-each dying an unexplained death-who would still dare marry a perfectly good daughter into that residence? If it were you, would you agree?”
“I don’t have a daughter!” Talented Lady Wang muttered. “Besides, if His Majesty grants the marriage by imperial decree, who would dare defy him? Do they have a death wish?”
For the first time, the Empress Dowager found the niece before her utterly unfamiliar. She thought back over everything that had happened during the past year, then compared it with what her son had just said. A sudden chill crept down her spine.
She waved a hand and dismissed Talented Lady Wang. “We are tired. You should return.”
Talented Lady Wang lingered. “Aunt, did His Majesty say when he would release Mingde and restore my rank?”
Suppressing her impatience, the Empress Dowager answered perfunctorily, “Once this period has passed. It will not be long…”
Talented Lady Wang saw that the Empress Dowager truly was tired, her fatigue evident between her brows. Only then did she reluctantly bow and leave the Palace of Benevolent Peace with her attendants.
The moment she was gone, the Empress Dowager instructed her palace maids, “If Talented Lady Wang comes again, do not announce her. We intend to cultivate a tranquil heart and devote Ourselves to the Buddha. From now on, We will not receive the imperial consorts.”
The attendants exchanged cautious glances, then respectfully answered, “Yes.”
…
Pan Zhenghe led his investigators to the Prince of Chu’s residence to search for any clues that might remain. He also visited the natal families of the five Princess Consorts in turn.
Although he was acting on imperial orders, he still had to inform the families before digging up their daughters’ graves and opening the coffins for examination.
With the Emperor’s decree behind the investigation and their daughters having died unexplained deaths, how could the families object?
And as for the Prince of Chu-what was so formidable about him?
He had set his eye on their families in the first place because he wanted powerful fathers-in-law to support him. Now that their daughters were dead, the Prince of Chu had better be prepared for trouble from his wives’ families!
Talented Lady Wang had been discerning in her selections. She had chosen only legitimate daughters from families of distinguished nobles. With the five victims’ families now united, they could tear into the Prince of Chu even if he became Crown Prince!
Once Pan Zhenghe secured the consent of all five families, he no longer hesitated. Each family selected members to accompany him, and they promptly went to exhume the coffins and examine the bodies.
All five young women had married into the Prince of Chu’s residence, so their tombs naturally stood close to one another. Their parents did not attend the exhumations-not because they were heartless, but because they feared the sight would reopen their grief.
Only the Princess Consorts’ elder brothers and sisters went. The moment they saw the gravestones, tears streamed uncontrollably down their faces. The sound of their weeping filled every heart with sorrow.
Pan Zhenghe ordered his men to set up an incense altar. Once the offerings had been made, the digging began. Half an hour later, all five coffins had been raised. The coroners covered their mouths and noses, opened the coffins, and examined the bodies.
When the exhumations were first proposed, some members of the women’s families had objected. They felt that propriety between men and women forbade such treatment. In the end, however, they had given their consent.
Pan Zhenghe had asked them whether the supposed chastity of the dead mattered more, or whether it mattered more to restore the truth to her and bring the person who had harmed her to justice.
His words had brought many of them to tears. In the end, they had agreed to the examinations while weeping.
In truth, once the coffins were opened, there was no need for any particularly specialized or intimate examination. Pan Zhenghe had tried countless cases and seen more than a hundred victims of unnatural death. One glance was enough for him to determine that the Princess Consorts had been poisoned.
The coffins had been sealed well. Moreover, because the dead women were royal Princess Consorts, exceptional precautions had been taken to preserve their bodies. There was no obvious decay. Even so, their blackened complexions and the dried traces of white foam beyond their lips remained plainly visible.
Their appearances must have been carefully arranged before burial, especially in such a conspicuous place as the face. There was no reason for white foam to remain at their lips without anyone noticing.
If only one Princess Consort had displayed such traces, it might have been a coincidence. When all five did, coincidence was no longer possible.
There was only one explanation: the white foam had seeped from their mouths after the bodies were placed inside the coffins.
That was also one of the signs of death by poisoning.
All five Princess Consorts had been poisoned to death. Could the Prince of Chu, the master of the residence, truly be innocent?
That seemed unlikely!
Pan Zhenghe recalled what the Emperor had said during their audience that afternoon. A sudden, exhilarating realization dawned on him.
The Prince of Chu was finished!