Chapter 27

Chapter 27

[Prince Consort, the Princess Has Been Beaten to Death – 26]

Two strong manor guards lifted Gao Yanyan and dragged her outside. Before long, the dull thud of boards striking flesh carried into the room.

The worst outcome Madam Lü had imagined was no more than disposing of Gao Yanyan and having herself and her son pay some token penalty. But Princess Qinghe’s methods had proven so incisive and cold that she plainly had no intention of allowing the affair to end lightly. Madam Lü’s heart immediately began leaping and sinking with unease.

She dared display no further pride. Humbling herself, she said softly, “The Lü Family was discourteous, and Xiuzhen behaved improperly. I apologize to the princess here. Now that Lady Gao has been dealt with, please do not remain angry. When Xiuzhen returns, I will make him salute and apologize to you…”

As she spoke, Madam Lü adjusted her robes and performed a solemn obeisance.

Princess Qinghe watched coldly and sneered. “Have him salute and apologize? Madam, if salutes and apologies were enough, would the Da’an Law contain a Crime of Great Disrespect?”

Madam Lü’s face instantly turned deathly pale. After stammering for a long while, she finally said, “The Lü Family was indeed at fault. I ask the princess to show magnanimity…”

“A generous heart should open itself to those worthy of forgiveness. You are not worthy, and neither is Lü Xiuzhen.”

With that, Princess Qinghe no longer remained in the courtyard. She entered the inner hall. The manor guards and servants automatically stood watch outside. Difficulty showed on Madam Lü’s face. After hesitating several moments, she ultimately followed obediently.

On Princess Qinghe’s previous visits to the Lü Family, she respected the Lü husband and wife as her elders and would sit only in a lower seat. Today, she observed no such courtesy. She took the seat of honor beside her younger sister and said calmly, “Madam Lü, do you know what the Prince Consort and I have done in the four months since our marriage? Did he dare tell you every one of his deeds?”

Madam Lü heard the deeper meaning in her words and froze. Her lips moved, tugging painfully at her cheeks, still swollen from the slaps.

She sucked in a breath and asked quietly, “What does the princess mean?”

Princess Qinghe sneered. “When you visited my Princess Manor, you said only that he and I had never consummated the marriage. Did you know that initially, it was not I who refused him? He resisted and avoided me and would not remain with me.”

Madam Lü was genuinely astonished. She stammered, “How-how could that be?”

“Why could it not?” Princess Qinghe scoffed. “Many years ago, Gao Yanyan and I passed Mount Xiao. At its foot, I rescued a blind young man. Gao Yanyan said his origins were unknown and that he could not be trusted. She tried her utmost to dissuade me from helping him. But I saw that he was a slight young man, refined and courteous in speech, and did not seem some great villain. In the end, I saved him.”

Lü Xiuzhen had long told Madam Lü that Gao Yanyan was the woman who rescued him in his hour of peril. Now, hearing Princess Qinghe recount those old events, each account confirming the other, Madam Lü was shocked, amazed, and filled with regret. “So that was the truth?!”

Princess Qinghe ignored her and continued. “The young man was deeply grateful. Before we parted, he specially gave me the jade pendant he carried. Several months ago, Father selected husbands for my sister and me. When we went together to view the candidates for Prince Consort, I recognized him at a glance. I believed it a bond from a former life, never imagining we would become enemies. On our wedding night, he claimed exhaustion and refused to consummate the marriage. I believed him and naturally did not force the matter. When I visited the Lü Family the next day, he drank himself insensible, making consummation impossible again. On the third day, he caught a chill, and the marriage bed was postponed time after time. I sensed something was wrong but assumed the inconveniences of living in the Princess Manor troubled him. I even offered to leave the capital and take an outside post with him so that we might live freely as husband and wife. Then I mentioned what had happened years ago…”

This was a completely different version from the one Madam Lü had heard.

If Princess Qinghe spoke the truth, and it was her own son who delayed consummating the marriage for the first month, then…

Madam Lü’s heart filled with horror. Bitterness and fear surged together. “What-what happened afterward?”

“Afterward? Does Madam not know everything that followed?”

Princess Qinghe took a sip of tea and said as lightly as a cloud, “When the Prince Consort realized matters were going badly, he decided he wanted to consummate the marriage. By then, I did not. When I refused, he dared use force. I rewarded him with two slaps, and only then did he behave. Several months passed, and Madam arrived at my door. Who knows what spoiled thing you ate, but your courage proved greater than your brains: you opened your mouth and dared propose that the Prince Consort take a concubine. I have not even found myself several male favorites. How could it possibly be his turn to take a concubine? Court Lady Du suspected something was wrong, so I ordered an investigation. This is more than wrong-it is the greatest absurdity beneath heaven!”

She set down her teacup, her eyes half amused and half cold. “Married for only four months, a Prince Consort who married a princess dared take a convicted official’s daughter as his concubine, and that concubine is nearly three months pregnant. Faced with such an affair, Madam Lü not only failed to deal with it impartially but lost her senses and helped conceal it, letting the concubine live in her own courtyard. Is this the conduct of a thousand-year-old great family descended from Tai Gong? You have truly broadened my horizons!”

After hearing the entire story, how could Madam Lü fail to understand what her son had concealed from her? Her mouth tasted bitter and fear filled her heart. Her lips worked for a long while before she finally whispered, “Xiuzhen-Xiuzhen certainly did not intend…”

“That is right!” At this point, she seemed to recover some courage. With the grievance of a victim, the fury of one deceived, and the righteous indignation of someone shifting blame, she declared, “Princess, Gao Yanyan deceived all of us! She said she was Xiuzhen’s savior. How could Xiuzhen abandon her? How could the Lü Family repay kindness with betrayal? That wretch deceived us all. Otherwise, how would we ever dare slight the princess this way?!”

Princess Qinghe rested her chin upon one hand and quietly watched her for a long while. Then she suddenly laughed.

“Madam Lü,” she said.

Madam Lü’s humility now held a trace of hope. She asked eagerly, “What are the princess’s instructions?”
Princess Qinghe asked softly, “Do I look like a fool to you?”

Madam Lü went blank. Not understanding, she said, “What?”

Princess Qinghe smiled with biting mockery. “Gao Yanyan said she was the Prince Consort’s savior. I said I was the Prince Consort’s savior. But there could be only one. Should the Prince Consort’s first response not have been to question us carefully, examine the evidence, and determine who spoke truth and who lied? How did he decide immediately that I was false and Gao Yanyan genuine?”

Madam Lü was rendered speechless. After stammering for some time, she forced out a defense. “Gao Yanyan must have deceived Xiuzhen with her glib tongue and wild lies! That wretch was far too cunning!”

Princess Qinghe nodded. “If so, what did the rest of you do? Gao Yanyan was the Prince Consort’s savior and had shown kindness to the Lü Family, so you made her his concubine? You kept her in the Lü Family without name or status, living every day in fear, until I might discover her and have her dragged out and beaten to death with clubs. Is that how you repaid her?”

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Madam Lü’s forehead, and her expression grew exceptionally awkward. “This-this was all her own choice. The princess heard her just now. You know how shameless that wretch is!”

Before Princess Qinghe could respond, Princess Zhaoyang burst out, “You still have the nerve to call Gao Yanyan shameless? As I see it, you and your son are hardly any better. You are jackals from the same lair, and not one of you is worth anything!”

Madam Lü smiled awkwardly and said nothing. She only gazed pleadingly at Princess Qinghe, plainly hoping the princess would show mercy and end the affair here.

Princess Qinghe ignored her. After several moments of quiet thought, she asked, “Does Lord Lü know of this?”

Madam Lü remembered her husband’s advice, then his heartbroken words that night. A turmoil of emotions filled her, and regret came too late. “He does not. I concealed everything from him. He always told Xiuzhen and me to treat the princess well and not repeat our mistakes. At the time, I paid none of it any heed…”

Princess Qinghe nodded slightly. “Lord Lü is indeed an upright gentleman. It is unfortunate that he married an unworthy wife and brought calamity upon three generations.”

Madam Lü felt as though another slap had struck her face, leaving it hot and burning. She forced several laughs but dared not answer.

Just then, a manor guard came to report from outside. Through the hanging curtain, he said respectfully, “Princess, Lady Gao has stopped breathing.”

Princess Qinghe merely nodded. Then she asked, “Where is the Prince Consort? Did Jiaojiao not send someone to summon him? Why has he not returned?”

Madam Lü shuddered violently.

The servant outside replied, “We dared not disobey the princess’s command and went to his office long ago. But His Majesty has recently been preparing every matter for the Western Expedition and often summons court officials into the palace. The Prince Consort was among them today. If we pursue him there, we fear we will alarm the Emperor and Empress. We therefore came to ask the princess whether we should continue searching for him.”

Princess Qinghe remembered her father’s thinner face when she returned to the palace several days ago. Concern filled her, and she did not wish to disturb him. “There is no need. Wait outside the palace gates and have the Prince Consort return when he leaves. That will serve just as well.”

Seeing that she did not wish to alarm the Emperor and Empress, Madam Lü assumed there was still room to resolve the affair and released a great sigh of relief.

Princess Qinghe noticed and could not suppress a laugh. “Madam Lü?”

Madam Lü hurriedly dragged a smile onto her face. “Yes?”

Princess Qinghe said, “I do not wish to disturb Imperial Father and Imperial Mother because I know they are burdened with countless affairs and I do not wish to cause them worry. Besides, I have no desire to use an ox cleaver to kill a chicken. That does not mean I intend to remain entangled with the Lü Family-with you and Lü Xiuzhen. Do you understand?”

Madam Lü’s unease returned. “Princess…”

“Surely you do not imagine I will continue tolerating this?”

Princess Qinghe looked at her in astonishment. “I am a Daughter of the Emperor, a precious branch of the Imperial House. The greatest hardship I have encountered in my entire life was marrying into the Lü Family. Would I have to lose my mind before willingly enduring more of this stifling humiliation?”

What did this mean? Did she intend to separate from her son, or would the affair inevitably reach the palace in the end?

Surely not. Given the Reigning Emperor’s temper, would their family have any good outcome then?

Madam Lü’s heart burned with anxiety, and she tried to speak. Princess Zhaoyang had lost patience. “Shut your mouth. Why do you have so much to say?! You may not be tired of talking, but I am tired of listening!”

The servants had already brought her whip. Princess Zhaoyang rolled up her sleeves and sent it cracking toward Madam Lü. “You keep calling Gao Yanyan shameless, but this old woman is even more shameless than she was!”

It was early spring, and their clothing was thin. Wherever the whip struck, every inch of Madam Lü’s skin shrieked with pain. She screamed and fell to the floor.

“You feel wronged, do you? You are angry? You think your son lowered himself by marrying my sister?! Go fuck your mother!”

Still unsatisfied, Princess Zhaoyang stepped forward and lashed her several more times before snapping, “If your pride is so high, you should never have submitted his name as a candidate for Prince Consort! You were the ones staring greedily at the Imperial House’s wealth and honor, and you are also the ones who despise its princesses! How marvelous. In your minds, you should have received a princess who obeyed your every command, sought benefits from her natal family for you, and helped the Prince Consort take concubines and little wives on the side! Why do you not sprout wings and fly, damn it?!”

Madam Lü had never suffered such pain. Screaming, she writhed across the floor like a caterpillar. Princess Qinghe covered her forehead with one hand, then rose and caught her younger sister. She laughed helplessly. “Leaving the rest aside, are such vulgarities words a proper lady should say? You only just promised to improve your temper, yet now you have forgotten it all.”

Princess Zhaoyang huffed, “She is too disgusting. I could not hold back!”

Princess Qinghe could not suppress a smile. She knew her sister had acted out of fierce protectiveness and said nothing more. Looking at Madam Lü, who trembled as she slowly rose with the table for support, she said softly, “I do not wish to remain any longer in the Lü Family home and will return to the Princess Manor at once. But do not celebrate too early. This affair is not over. Since Lü Xiuzhen entered the palace, he may escape for the moment. But one may hide on the first day and not the fifteenth. Send someone to watch outside the palace gates. When he emerges, tell him every detail of what happened today. Tomorrow, he is to present himself at the Princess Manor and plead guilty. I will decide his punishment.”
Bitterness filled Madam Lü’s heart, but she could only assent.

Princess Qinghe took her younger sister’s hand and headed outside. Halfway there, she turned back. “Madam Lü, allow me to offer a warning in advance. Do not attempt any crooked scheme, such as helping Lü Xiuzhen flee or spreading some ridiculous rumor. All beneath heaven is the sovereign’s soil, and all within its shores are the sovereign’s subjects. If I wish it, I can drag him back from the ends of the earth. Besides, so many people belong to the Lü Family, and your natal family is an enormous establishment as well. Before you do anything, you ought to think more carefully about your kin. Is that not reasonable?”

Madam Lü’s smile looked uglier than tears.

Princess Qinghe smiled faintly, then turned and left.

After they boarded the carriage, Princess Zhaoyang’s anger remained unabated. “That bastard Lü Xiuzhen truly has not disgraced the bastard blood he inherited from his mother. In my view, we should enter the palace, denounce him before Imperial Father, and have his head chopped off!”

Seeing her sister’s cheeks flushed red with fury, Princess Qinghe laughed instead. She took cooling balm from a nearby box, dabbed some onto one finger, and spread it over Princess Zhaoyang’s forehead. “I am not entering the palace, and you must say nothing either. It is not that my heart has softened or that I mean to spare him. We can handle the matter ourselves, so why trouble Father and Mother? You saw how busy Father is with the Western Expedition. He takes only a few hurried bites at meals before leaving to deliberate state affairs…”

She lightly patted the back of her sister’s hand. “Once I have dealt with Lü Xiuzhen and his mother, we can enter the palace and tell them. We are no longer children. We cannot make our parents worry over everything.”

Princess Zhaoyang wrapped her arms around her sister’s waist, affectionate and heartbroken at once. “How did someone as good as my sister encounter a bastard like Lü Xiuzhen? There are tens of thousands of good men beneath heaven. Once he is gone, you must not soften!”

“How could I?” Princess Qinghe laughed. “He has humiliated me so greatly, and I am no fool. Even for the dignity of the imperial family and the sake of my younger sisters, I would never spare him.”

Princess Qinghe had made her decision and knew Lü Xiuzhen could never escape, so she felt no anxiety. She returned to the Princess Manor with Princess Zhaoyang. The sisters drank and talked together until night began to fall.

She could not be bothered to wonder whether Lü Xiuzhen had left the palace or whether he had learned the truth. Why waste thought on an insignificant man who had sought his own death?

After seeing Princess Zhaoyang off, Princess Qinghe washed, changed, and went to bed. Her thoughts drifted in sleep, and her consciousness entered another world that seemed both real and illusory.

In the dream, there was likewise a princess named Luan Jingrou, but she held no title as Princess Qinghe. She and her birth mother were as inconspicuous as weeds growing throughout the imperial garden. Upon reaching adulthood, she was betrothed to Lü Xiuzhen, the son of a distinguished family. She did not even receive a Princess Manor, but instead entered the Lü Family home and lived with them.

By then, the Empress had been deposed, and the emperor doted upon the Noble Consort. He cared little for his eldest daughter. Madam Lü fawned upon the powerful and trampled the weak, bullying her in countless ways. Not only did Lü Xiuzhen fail to stop his mother, he encouraged her. Three days after the wedding, he took Gao Yanyan as a concubine and allowed her to humiliate Luan Jingrou. Whenever conflict arose, he always sided with Gao Yanyan.

In the dream, Luan Jingrou and the Prince Consort never consummated their marriage. Lü Xiuzhen showered Gao Yanyan with affection but cast Luan Jingrou aside like a worn shoe. She explained that she was the person who had saved him years ago. Lü Xiuzhen scoffed, called her a hateful liar, and even beat her several times.

Luan Jingrou’s heart went cold. She placed no further hope in the Prince Consort and stopped defending herself. Lü Xiuzhen forced her from the principal courtyard and moved Gao Yanyan into it. Luan Jingrou took up residence in a side courtyard, where she remained each day, burning incense and praying before the Buddha, never again stepping outside. Yet even then, disaster came looking for her.

Gao Yanyan miscarried.

She wept bitterly in Lü Xiuzhen’s arms and claimed Luan Jingrou had harmed her.

Heaven bear witness: one woman was deeply favored and lived in the principal courtyard, while the other dwelled alone in a side room beneath a solitary lamp. How could Luan Jingrou possibly have harmed her?

She defended herself, but Lü Xiuzhen did not believe her. Holding the tearful Gao Yanyan, he ordered Luan Jingrou seized and beaten to death…

Heavy rain fell that day, as though heaven itself pitied the innocent Luan Jingrou’s wrongful death. Blood sprayed, and running water turned crimson. The scene was too terrible to behold.

Princess Qinghe woke with a start and sat bolt upright, gasping for breath, cold sweat pouring from her forehead.

What she had seen was terrifying and filled her with raging fury.

The servants outside heard the noise and hurriedly asked, “What are the princess’s orders?”

Princess Qinghe stared blankly for several moments before returning to herself. She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and answered hoarsely, “Nothing.”

She lay down again.

So angry.

She could not sleep.

Still could not sleep.

Her rage burned hotter and hotter.

What kind of rotten nonsense was this?!

That damned Gao Yanyan!

That damned Lü Xiuzhen!

Those two dogs deserved to be sliced apart ten thousand times!

Princess Qinghe rolled over and forced herself to sleep as quickly as possible.

The more she thought, the angrier she became.

She rolled over again.

Do not be angry, do not be angry. If anger makes you ill, no one else will suffer in your place.

…

Half an hour passed.

Princess Qinghe sat up violently.

“Fuck!” She shook the bell beside her bed and ordered furiously, “Go to the Lü Family and drag that wretch Lü Xiuzhen here!”