Chapter 4
Chapter 4
[Prince Consort, the Princess Has Been Beaten to Death – 3]
When the porter first heard Emperor Gaozu introduce himself, he assumed the man was merely an old acquaintance of Liao Yuanyan’s. He had never imagined the visitor was the reigning Son of Heaven. His legs gave way, and he dropped to the ground.
Emperor Gaozu helped him up and said kindly, “The fault is Mine. I gave you a fright.”
The old porter’s face flushed scarlet. Overwhelmed by the honor, he stammered, “For this commoner to behold the imperial countenance, it is truly…”
Liao Yuanyan wiped away his tears. Seeing the porter flustered beyond speech, he could not help laughing. He sent the man to prepare tea and led the Son of Heaven inside to talk.
Since Emperor Gaozu had come as an old friend, he naturally did not stand on his imperial dignity. Once host and guest were seated, he thanked Liao Yuanyan again from the heart. “After you left the palace, I turned matters over and over in My mind, and My guilt was profound. Yuanyan has assisted Me for more than ten years, remonstrating honestly and speaking without fear. You are a pillar of the throne. The Empress has accompanied Me for twenty years and borne Me three children. Both of you have long since become like My own limbs and sinews. If I estrange and rebuke even you, who trustworthy remains at My side?”
Hearing the sincerity in his words, Liao Yuanyan began to weep again and spoke from the depths of his heart. “This subject’s offensive words angered Your Majesty. That was truly improper. Yet Empress Miao accompanied you for many years. She was innocent, but she was rebuked and forced to live outside the palace. Is she not pitiable? However excellent the palace consorts may be, they attached themselves to you only after you became emperor. The Empress alone suffered hardship and weathered every storm beside you without ever abandoning you!”
“This subject deserves ten thousand deaths.” He bowed his head to the floor. “If the mountains and rivers collapsed today and the realm shattered, who would remain beside Your Majesty afterward? Noble Consort Qin? Some other palace consort? No. Only the Empress!”
His heartfelt words moved Emperor Gaozu deeply. He helped the minister to his feet. “That is the counsel of an upright and loyal man. I understand your intentions. I came today because I want Yuanyan to accompany Me to the Miao Residence. We shall apologize to the Empress and escort her back to the palace.”
Liao Yuanyan was overjoyed. He bowed again. “Your Majesty is wise!”
Seeing the delight on his face, Emperor Gaozu laughed and firmly pulled him upright. “I sincerely repent. Now that matters have come this far, does Yuanyan still intend to leave Me?”
Liao Yuanyan sighed and laughed at once. “I won’t leave. I won’t. Now that Your Majesty has spoken so plainly, if this subject still wished to depart the capital, I would truly wound the friendship we have shared for so many years.”
The porter brought tea, but Emperor Gaozu had no time to drink. He gave the man a smile, ordered horses prepared, and set out for the Miao Residence with Liao Yuanyan.
“Now that Your Majesty has truly come to your senses, this subject can rest easy.” Ruler and minister rode side by side, with Liao Yuanyan half a length behind. He lowered his voice. “The Empress is the wife who shared your poverty. Are the generals not likewise brothers from the old days? If Your Majesty distances yourself from the Empress and falls out with your old companions, then in time the court ministers will lose heart and your closest followers will know no peace. That is this subject’s fear.”
The emperors in the White Mist Space nodded as they listened to his earnest remonstrance. “He truly is a pillar of the throne, a man who can be entrusted with great affairs.”
Li Shimin said, “If Wei Zheng had possessed even half Liao Yuanyan’s tact, We would not have wanted to kill that bumpkin so many times.”
“You wanted to kill him but didn’t get the chance, surely,” Liu Che said, exposing his history without mercy. “Didn’t you later have someone smash his gravestone? You even canceled the marriage arranged between your children.”
Li Shimin sneered. “Who told him to feed material to the court historians? He used Us as a stepping stone to secure his own glorious reputation. Only he could devise such a thing! Miserable bumpkin. Even if he had still been alive then, We would have killed him!”
The emperors argued boisterously in the White Mist Space. At last, the System they had dragged along in their escape from the Underworld regained consciousness. After looking around for a full minute, it burst into tears. “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?”
The emperors inside the space could not hear it, but Emperor Gaozu could. He chuckled. “You are the System. You are in a place called the Great An Dynasty. At present, you exist within Our consciousness, and We are on the road to the Miao Residence.”
The System recalled the emperors it had seen before losing consciousness and immediately felt the urge to faint again. It drooped in utter despair. “Which Son of Heaven are you?”
Emperor Gaozu smiled. “Guess.”
The System found this sovereign quite genial and remarkably patient in conversation. After some thought, it ventured, “Emperor Gaozu?”
Emperor Gaozu laughed. “It is Us.”
Since it was already here, it might as well accept matters. Escape was clearly impossible. The System could only resign itself obediently to its fate.
The System reviewed the outline of this world and sent a copy to Emperor Gaozu. His brows drew together as he read, and when he finished, he passed it on to the emperors in the White Mist Space.
“The world outline? What is that?”
Thoroughly confused, the emperors crowded together to read it. Several lines were written there:
Qin Rao possessed beauty beyond compare and seduction in her very bones. Delicate and soft, she had no choice but to enter the palace as a consort for the glory of her clan.
For all its splendor, the imperial palace was a cage from which she could never escape. What did it matter that she was Noble Consort? She was not even as fortunate as a peasant woman, who at least could remain her husband’s only wife for life, the two of them keeping faith with each other.
She had grown weary. She was exhausted. She locked her tender heart away.
Ying Zheng: “…”
Liu Che: “…”
Li Shimin: “…”
Zhu Yuanzhang: “…”
Silence filled the White Mist Space.
Most of a day seemed to pass before Liu Che asked faintly, “That is the world outline? That?”
Li Shimin wet his lips, his tone uncertain. “That.”
Ying Zheng frowned. “How can the words ‘seduction in her bones’ be used to describe a respectable woman? That anyone could write such a thing beggars belief.”
Zhu Yuanzhang looked surrounded by question marks. “She entered the palace to become someone’s young concubine. If anyone is going to be husband and wife alone together for life, it should be the man and his first wife. What does that have to do with her?”
Liu Che said, “It mentions no political causes. We know nothing of the realm’s development and nothing of its foreign wars. Judging by what is written here, is this not a third-rate tale about a man abandoning his wife and children to dote upon a young concubine?”
Li Shimin said, “Apparently it still ends quite happily.”
Zhu Yuanzhang said, “Any man who abandons the wife who shared his poverty is filth. Nothing beats an old wife, grown sons, and a warm brick bed!”
Ying Zheng delivered the final verdict. “What a sordid story!”
Emperor Gaozu shook his head with a laugh as he listened to their lively discussion. Liao Yuanyan was a scholar. Although he knew how to ride, he was no skilled horseman, so Emperor Gaozu merely held the reins and proceeded at a slow pace rather than galloping along the road.
Empress Miao’s younger brother was named Miao Yu. When the boy reached adulthood, Luan Zhenghuan gave him the courtesy name Xiangping. Now thirty years old, he was a fierce general personally trained by Luan Zhenghuan. When honors were distributed after the founding of the dynasty, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Zheng and enjoyed tremendous prestige. But after Empress Miao was driven from the palace to live apart, Miao Yu also fell out of favor. Although he continued to associate with his former colleagues, his gates were no longer as crowded as they once had been.
All beneath Heaven bustled in pursuit of profit; all beneath Heaven scattered in pursuit of gain. So it had always been.
Although Empress Miao had left the palace, she remained the Empress. None of the ceremonial forms or household rules could be relaxed. Her household feared that any stain upon her name would reach the palace and be seized upon by the consorts watching hungrily for an opening, who would gladly throw more filth upon her.
Empress Miao herself was so disheartened that she might no longer care. But she still had children and absolutely could not let such a matter bring them further harm.
…
Miao Xiangping waited outside the courtyard with several maids. Before long, his wife, Lady Miao, née Wan, emerged. The worry covering her husband’s face made her heart ache even more. She shook her head gently and drew him farther away before speaking.
Urgency filled Miao Xiangping’s face. “Well? What did the Imperial Physician say?”
“Only the same words as before.” Lady Miao, née Wan, wiped her tears with a handkerchief, her expression sorrowful. “Elder Sister’s illness lies in her heart, not in her body. How could ordinary medicine cure it?”
No one else was nearby. Resentment appeared on her face. “His Majesty is far too heartless. Elder Sister accompanied him for twenty full years. Even if she earned no merit, she endured great hardship. If she had truly done something wrong, that would be one thing. But he expelled her from the palace over a baseless accusation… Even an ordinary woman’s reputation would be shattered if her husband drove her from their home for no reason. Elder Sister is the Empress, mother of the realm, with sons and daughters of her own. Is he trying to drive her to her death?!”
Lady Miao, née Wan, shared no blood with Empress Miao, yet even she was chilled and heartsick. How much worse must it be for Miao Xiangping, the younger brother Empress Miao had practically raised herself, almost as though he were half her son?
“Mr. Liao entered the palace to remonstrate today, but His Majesty drove him out. His Majesty no longer listens to his ministers.” Miao Xiangping’s expression was bitter, his eyes distant. “He was not like this before. After sitting upon the throne, he became another man. I no longer dare call him Brother-in-Law. I can address him only as Your Majesty…”
These words all touched upon forbidden matters. Husband and wife did not say more. They looked at each other and sighed, just as a servant came hurrying toward them, overjoyed.
“My lord Duke, my lady! His Majesty and Mr. Liao have arrived. They say they have come to escort Her Majesty back to the palace!”
Miao Xiangping froze and instinctively exchanged a look with Lady Miao, née Wan. “Where is His Majesty now?” he asked urgently.
The servant said, “His Majesty had already entered the gates when this servant left. By now, he has probably passed the second gate.”
Miao Xiangping had no time to change clothes. He and his wife went out to welcome the visitors. The moment he saw Emperor Gaozu, he hurried forward, made a deeply respectful obeisance, and cried, “Long live Your Majesty!”
Emperor Gaozu personally helped him up. “Call Me Brother-in-Law,” he said apologetically.
At those words, an enormous weight lifted from Miao Xiangping’s heart. When he looked up again, tears already shone in his eyes.
Luan Zhenghuan had devoted great effort to training this younger brother of his wife. Emperor Gaozu therefore spoke with complete sincerity. “I was muddleheaded. Wine and women clouded My mind, and I committed a great many foolish acts. I wounded your sister and caused you pain. I am sorry.”
For a man of his position to say such words was exceedingly difficult.
Grief crossed Miao Xiangping’s face, mingling emotion with sorrow. “Brother-in-Law, the person who deserves your apology is not me. It is my sister!”
Emperor Gaozu looked ashamed. “Where is the Empress?”
Lady Miao, née Wan, bent her knees in a respectful curtsy. “No one in the Miao Residence dares enter or leave the Empress’s quarters without permission. Your Majesty, please follow me.”
She led the way, and Emperor Gaozu followed. They walked along the covered corridors for the time it took to drink a cup of tea before finally stopping outside a courtyard.
“Her Majesty is resting inside,” said Lady Miao, née Wan. She then led him to the door of the main room.
The palace attendants serving Empress Miao stood guard outside. When they saw Emperor Gaozu, they were both shocked and delighted and hurried inside to announce him.
Empress Miao lay upon the bed, her sickly face wan and exhausted. When the attendant reported the visitor, she asked weakly, “Why has he come?”
The attendant lowered her voice, though she could not hide her joy. “They say His Majesty apologized to your brother in the front courtyard. He has come to escort Your Majesty back to the palace.”
“If he knew it would come to this, why did he act so cruelly then?” The memory of that day’s humiliation pierced Empress Miao’s heart like a blade, leaving pain beyond words. Tears spilled from her eyes. “The day he ordered me driven from the palace, the bond between us as husband and wife was severed!”