Chapter 91
Chapter 91
[Li Erfeng Becomes Wanyan Gou – 11]
Times had changed. The Great Song of today was no longer the Great Song of Emperors Qinzong and Huizong!
A vicious light flashed through the Jin envoy’s eyes. He glanced at the Song troops watching from nearby, ready to pounce, but ultimately said nothing more. Forcibly suppressing his fury, he waved for the others to take down the Third Prince and his companions and hurried to find physicians to examine them.
Li Gang sneered once more.
Of the hundred thousand officials and commoners who had followed the Two Sovereigns north, only a little over eighty thousand remained. Returning to their homeland after endless torment, they wept without cease, their cries shaking Heaven.
Li Gang’s heart ached at the sound. The accompanying soldiers could not bear to listen either and turned away one after another to wipe their tears.
The Jin had no desire to linger. Once they received Zongfu and the other two, they set sail and headed directly for Zonghan’s forces in Hebei.
Among those returning south, Huizong’s Empress Zheng held the highest status. As she and Noble Consort Cui stepped upon the soil of their mother country, tears soaked their robes. The surrounding princesses, imperial clanswomen, and princess consorts also huddled together and wept.
Li Gang saw several colleagues who had been captured and taken north. Reuniting after their separation inevitably filled him with sorrowful emotion. Before long, they went together to pay respects to Empress Zheng. Even a man as unyielding as Li Gang could not keep a sob from entering his voice.
“This subject, Li Gang, Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, has come by His Majesty’s command to welcome the Empress Dowager and the Noble Ladies south and escort them back to the capital…”
Empress Zheng had hurriedly dressed that morning and changed her clothes, trying to appear as presentable as possible. Even so, her robes hung loosely upon her frail body. Her face was gaunt, more than half her black hair had turned white, and her entire person bore the frost and wind of the northern land.
The others were the same. Their former elegance and splendor had long vanished, leaving only faces marked by separation and loss.
Yet seeing loyal officials of their homeland still brought joy to their hearts. Tears ruined the makeup they had barely managed to apply that morning, and the smiles on their faces were faint, but every one was sincere.
“Ultimately, it was His Majesty’s wisdom and martial might in recovering Dongjing that made today’s reunion possible…”
Approval filled Empress Zheng’s face as she nodded. “It was also the result of the court officials’ meritorious assistance.”
Li Gang hurriedly said he did not dare claim such credit.
The Emperor, Empress, and court officials were still waiting in Dongjing. Li Gang therefore did not delay. After reporting to Empress Zheng, he immediately ordered the party to depart south for Dongjing. He also instructed palace attendants to present the phoenix coronets and ceremonial pheasant robes brought for the journey, so Empress Zheng and the others could redo their hair and change clothes.
After the Jingkang Incident ended, everyone had followed the Two Sovereigns north at the end of the fourth month and returned south in the ninth. Five months lay between. All the torment and tragedy accumulated over that time was enough to transform a person completely.
As Empress Zheng’s female officials dressed her, they eventually began to weep. Li Gang had commissioned the ceremonial robe according to her measurements before she went north, but it now hung enormously loose. The sash could barely be tightened around her waist. Almost all her hair was white, and even the phoenix coronet could not conceal it.
Noble Consort Cui had once won favor in her youth for her long, glossy black hair. Now most of it had fallen out, while what remained was streaked with white. It formed such a small handful that it could scarcely hold a hairpin.
The female physicians traveling with them took the women’s pulses and found that all had suffered severe depletion of blood and vital energy. Some had stopped menstruating shortly after turning thirty. Others had been forced to miscarry or sterilized and would never bear children again.
The palace attendants wept softly in grief. Empress Zheng herself had taken a broader view and comforted them. “At least we are still alive and able to return. What cause have we for dissatisfaction? Were there not imperial princesses who returned in coffins? After the Jingkang Incident, did only a few Song people die?”
Noble Consort Cui also urged, “Being alive is the greatest blessing. Since we can return to Dongjing, this is a joyous occasion.”
At dusk that evening, as the sun sank westward, the party safely reached the gates of Dongjing. Li Shimin personally led the court officials out to receive them. Empress Dowager Meng, Empress Wei, and Princess Yongfu stood at his side.
Many craftsmen and civilian women had also been abducted north that day. Outside Dongjing, the common people who heard the news filled the road, hoping with all their hearts to reunite with relatives long separated from them.
Li Gang rode at the front. Seeing the Imperial Guards clearing the road from afar, his spirits rose. He dismounted, passed his reins to an attendant, and strode forward to kneel. “This subject has not failed Your Majesty’s trust. I have brought back Empress Dowager Zheng, the Consorts Dowager, and all those abducted north after the Jingkang Incident. The dead also return in coffins to rest in their native soil. Not one person has been left behind!”
The instant he finished, weeping gradually rose. The returning officials descended from their carriages. At the sight of Dongjing’s gates and the Great Song Son of Heaven’s ceremonial procession, they immediately prostrated themselves and cried in overwhelming grief.
Li Shimin ordered Li Gang to rise and offered several warm words of praise. Then the curtain of the foremost carriage lifted. Supported by a palace attendant’s arm, Empress Zheng slowly descended. Noble Consort Cui followed her, then several of Huizong’s most senior palace consorts.
In Li Shimin’s memories, Empress Zheng had possessed a full face and kindly expression, while Noble Consort Cui retained a mature beauty and a face like the full moon. Seeing them now, he felt they had truly become old women. Were it not for their fine clothing, they would have looked no different from sixty-year-old crones.
He sighed inwardly and went forward with Empress Wei to salute Empress Zheng. Just as they began to bow, Empress Zheng supported them before they could complete the movement. She said solemnly, “Your Majesty has rendered such great service to the state, supporting a mansion on the verge of collapse and displaying our national might throughout the realm. We fled in panic. Without Your Majesty’s enlightened rule, we would likely remain trapped in the Supreme Capital, unable to return south. How could we have the face to accept such a great salute from Your Majesty? Please rise at once!”
Li Shimin and Empress Wei insisted on completing the salute, but Empress Zheng firmly refused. After several rounds of dispute, they ultimately followed her wishes.
Princess Yongfu reunited with her mother, Noble Consort Cui, and both were filled with countless emotions. Empress Zheng stepped forward to salute Empress Dowager Meng and addressed her as Elder Sister.
Empress Dowager Meng declined. “I was once a deposed Empress. How could I still deserve such a form of address from you?”
Empress Zheng smiled. “After everything that has happened, what remains that we cannot see clearly? Moreover, you are the Retired Emperor’s first and principal wife, and before the Jingkang Incident, he intended to welcome you back into the palace. By both affection and reason, I should be the one to salute you.”
Li Shimin and Empress Wei also urged her, and only then did Empress Dowager Meng accept.
After exchanging several pleasantries, Li Shimin asked about the Two Sovereigns still in the north. Tears streamed down his face, and his grief was overwhelming. “Though I remain in Dongjing, I constantly think of the Two Sovereigns suffering in the enemy camp. Food has lost its taste, and I cannot sleep at night. The single word suffering cannot begin to describe it. When Imperial Mother came south, did Imperial Father leave any instructions? Did he have any words for the officials?”
After Emperors Qinzong and Huizong were captured and taken north, the Jin separated them from the officials and their children. Only Empress Zheng, Noble Consort Cui, Noble Consort Qiao, and several other older palace consorts remained with them. During that time, they never saw anyone else.
Hearing the new emperor’s question, Empress Zheng immediately shed tears. She swept her gaze around and choked out, “When the Retired Emperor heard that Prince Kang had ascended the throne, he was greatly delighted. He kept saying his son need not worry about his father and elder brother and should focus only on killing the enemy. He also said that although he was in the north and could not personally witness Your Majesty ascend the throne and sweep aside the Jin, his heart rejoiced. He said Your Majesty bears the spirit of Emperor Taizu and is the worthy, renowned ruler Heaven bestowed upon Great Song…”
Li Shimin thought that if Emperor Huizong could actually say such words, even the sun rising from the west would not be shocking enough. It would have to crawl out from underground before anyone could recover.
He did not know why Empress Zheng was saying all this, but there was no harm in accepting such a favorable gift.
Thus, Li Shimin shed empathetic tears and began sobbing once more over the suffering of his father and elder brother after their abduction north. The court officials shared his grief and also wept without cease.
Empress Zheng let everyone cry and release their emotions. Once the sobbing gradually subsided, she wiped her tears and said, “After the Jin carried the Retired Emperor north and Dongjing vanished from his sight, he lamented endlessly. On the journey, he watched loyal ministers shed their blood and the people suffer devastation. His remorse deepened, and he blamed himself bitterly. He said the ancestors entrusted the realm to his hands, yet first, he failed to keep the court clear and was deceived by treacherous ministers; second, he failed to defend home and country or protect the ancestral temples, and was humiliated by the Jin; third, cowardice filled his heart, leaving him afraid to fight the Jin. He repeatedly bent his knee, surrendered our rights, and disgraced the nation. Even after his death, he must cover his face with his hair, for he would have no face to meet the ancestors!”
Li Shimin: “…”
If Duke Hunde could say such things, the question was no longer where the sun had emerged. The sun itself would have to explode!
Everyone else, however, was deeply moved. Their emotions surged, and they continued crying and lamenting.
After all, from an ordinary person’s perspective, the state and family had been shattered and the imperial house horribly humiliated. Faced with such catastrophe, even the most shameless person ought to feel something. It was hardly strange for him to utter words showing such profound righteousness.
After speaking, Empress Zheng wept again. Once the officials gradually regained control of their emotions, she continued, “After reaching the Jin state, the Retired Emperor washed his face with tears every day and regretted his actions bitterly. He said the realm’s collapse was entirely caused by the foolishness of himself and his eldest son. We women listened in terror and repeatedly tried to persuade him, but he merely shook his head and wept. He said that if he had not distrusted the loyal and worthy and feared battle, the Jin would never have become so arrogant, ravaging Song territory, killing our subjects, and humiliating our people…”
At this point, she could no longer continue. Noble Consort Cui took over through her tears. “After we entered the Jin state, the Jin forced us to worship at Wanyan Aguda’s temple. Empress Zhu preferred death to obedience. She first tried to hang herself, and after she was rescued, she drowned herself. The Retired Emperor and His Majesty were deeply affected and resolved to kill themselves for the state. Unexpectedly, the Jin threatened them with the lives of the captured officials and commoners. Out of concern for their family and people, the Two Sovereigns had no choice but to yield reluctantly. Afterward, they repeatedly attempted suicide, refusing to bow and serve the Jin!”
Li Shimin: “…”
He believed Empress Zhu had killed herself, but Qinzong and Huizong attempting suicide-damned suicide for the state, no less-was utter nonsense, wasn’t it?!
Old Zhu had told him plenty about the Two Sovereigns’ astonishing deeds inside the space. Naturally, he did not believe a single sentence spoken by Empress Zheng and Noble Consort Cui. The court officials, however, knew none of that. They assumed the Two Sovereigns had thoroughly repented after the catastrophe of state and family, developing shame and remorse. Moreover, these claims came from Empress Zheng and Noble Consort Cui, who had been imprisoned with them from beginning to end, so no one suspected deception.
As soon as those words fell, clamor erupted around them. The officials’ expressions changed. They furiously denounced the Jin’s unparalleled shamelessness and cursed them without end.
Li Shimin also covered his mouth in surprise and arranged his features into an expression that said, “Heavens, how could such a thing happen!”
Noble Consort Cui choked out, “Before we departed, the Retired Emperor and His Majesty summoned several of us. They said Your Majesty was wise, mighty, and martial and had exchanged for our return. Now that the women and commoners could go south, they would have no further worries. We heard ominous intent in the Retired Emperor’s words and hurriedly tried to persuade him. But he bit off his own finger, placed it in a handkerchief, and ordered me to bring it to Your Majesty. He said he would never meet Your Majesty again in this life, and could leave only one finger to offer some small comfort for Your Majesty’s longing for his father!”
With that, she burst into tears, took a handkerchief from her robe, opened it, and presented it to Li Shimin with both hands.
Empress Zheng and Noble Consort Qiao cried until they could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground. They bowed north, their grief enough to break the hearts of all who saw or heard them.
Hands trembling, Li Shimin accepted the handkerchief and looked inside. He arranged his face into an expression of unbearable agony. Seeing Empress Zheng and Noble Consort Qiao in such a state, despair entered his features. “Could Imperial Father and Imperial Elder Brother already have…”
Empress Zheng clutched her chest and wailed. Supported by their daughters, Noble Consort Qiao and Noble Consort Cui knelt and bowed toward the distant north.
Li Shimin staggered and dropped to his knees, weeping soundlessly.
Empress Zheng’s face was covered in tears. “Before our departure, the Retired Emperor spoke only two words and asked me to bring them to Your Majesty!”
Li Shimin hurriedly asked, “What were they?”
Empress Zheng clenched her fists, hatred in her voice. “Nothing else: avenge our humiliation!”