Chapter 3
When I grew a little older, I learned that Mother Consort and her entire maternal clan had been killed through someone else’s scheming.
Noble Consort Yao believed Mother Consort meant to compete with her for the position of empress. Ah Xiong was also cleverer than the eldest prince she had borne. So she joined forces with her natal family and falsely accused my maternal grandfather’s clan of plotting rebellion.
She succeeded. Baojun Palace fell, she was promoted to Noble Consort, and her son became the Crown Prince.
I did not dare ask Ah Jie or Ah Xiong what we would do. Instead, I secretly went to ask Xu Cong.
Xu Cong patted my head. “Your Highness must always remain this innocent. No matter how much you learn from Elder Zhang, you must always remain this innocent.”
I did not quite understand, but I intended to obey. After all, he was Xu Cong—the clever Xu Cong whom even Mother Consort had once praised.
The year I turned thirteen, Ah Xiong was eighteen. I wanted to find him a present, so I begged Xu Cong to take me out of the palace.
Xu Cong did not refuse. He merely offered a trade. “Call me Brother-in-law, and I’ll take you out.”
I pressed my lips together and said nothing. If Ah Jie had not acknowledged him, neither would I.
He sneered. “Very well. Drink nothing but brown-rice gruel for a month, and I’ll still take you.”
I pouted. “Fine. I’ll drink it.”
Ah Jie forbade Xu Cong from seeing me alone, so Auntie Tao stood beside us. She found our exchange amusing.
A month later, thin-faced from hunger and dressed as a palace maid, I followed a young eunuch quietly along the road leading out of the palace.
When we reached the Imperial Garden, I saw Imperial Father. He had aged a little.
In the past, he had loved setting me on his shoulders. No matter how Mother Consort warned that it diminished imperial dignity, he insisted on lifting me high.
At least half my spoiled, overbearing foolishness was his doing.
So when a guard drew his sword and lunged at him, I threw myself in front of the blade without thinking.
By the time I woke, several days had passed. I lay in a side hall of Qianhua Palace, on the bed reserved for Imperial Father alone. The imperial physician said that had the blade landed a fraction farther to the side, I would never have woken again.
Imperial Father’s eyes reddened as he looked at me. “My Baoqiong has grown so much. Your father can scarcely recognize you.”
I turned my head away from the hand he raised to stroke me. “Imperial Father didn’t want Baoqiong anymore. You wouldn’t even give Baoqiong enough to eat. So Baoqiong doesn’t want you either.”
Imperial Father’s face darkened. “Who? Who dared deny my Baoqiong food? Liu Quansheng, find out which eunuch under you has been causing trouble!”
Grand Eunuch Liu had served at Imperial Father’s side for years. Smiling, he answered, “The princess is only acting spoiled with Your Majesty. If she truly wanted nothing to do with you, how could she have taken that blade for you? Such a long blade went straight into her—aiyo, even this old servant hurt at the sight.”
The mention of my taking the blade softened Imperial Father’s expression further. He stroked my cheek, and this time I did not move away.
“You have grown thin,” he said in distress. “You used to be a chubby little thing. Now your small face is sallow.”
As he spoke, Noble Consort Yao entered. Taking a bowl of soup from a maid, she said attentively, “Indeed, the princess has grown terribly thin. Why not let her live in my palace? I promise to make her fair and plump again.”
She was still as beautiful as she had been five years ago. If Mother Consort were here, she would surely have been even more beautiful.
But Mother Consort was gone.
I stared at Noble Consort Yao coldly and knocked aside the soup she offered me. Shouting like the thirteen-year-old child I was, I cried, “You’re wicked! You killed my mother consort. I won’t drink your soup!”
She was so delighted she nearly lost control of her smile. She immediately exclaimed, “Oh dear, the little princess still resents what happened to her mother consort. But you were too young to understand. Your mother consort was the one who did wrong first. You cannot blame His Majesty.”
She placed particular emphasis on His Majesty.
As if to remind me that Imperial Father had ultimately been the one to kill Mother Consort.
Imperial Father looked at me with cold eyes. “Baoqiong, do you hate your father?”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Ah Xiong and Ah Jie say Imperial Father was muddleheaded. It was clearly Noble Consort Yao who framed Mother Consort. They said they would find proof one day and make you regret everything.”
His gaze softened again. “Do the three of you truly want nothing more than to make Us regret it?”
I turned my face away. “Unless you kill Noble Consort Yao, we will never forgive you.”
Noble Consort Yao left with a bloodless face. I drank my medicine and began to snore softly.
Night fell. I heard Imperial Father ask Grand Eunuch Liu, “Baoqiong said they do not hate Us. Do you believe her?”
Grand Eunuch Liu lowered his voice. “This servant thinks the Sixth Princess is as straightforward as ever. If she truly meant to deceive Your Majesty, she would have treated the Noble Consort politely. When you asked whether she hated you, no matter what she thought, she would simply have said she did not. Instead, she showed you her resentment. She does that only because she sees you as her father.”
Imperial Father chuckled. “Yes. Only Little Six says whatever is in her heart and cannot hide a single thought. She truly is the same child as before. Tomorrow, let us visit Baojun Palace.”
Grand Eunuch Liu understood Imperial Father better than anyone. He was not speaking in my defense. He was merely saying what Imperial Father wished to hear.
Auntie Tao had said Imperial Father still thought of us. Xu Cong had said I should always remain innocent.
Neither of them had been wrong.
Ah Jie and Ah Xiong were both cleverer than I. The day after Imperial Father’s visit, the seals were removed from Baojun Palace, and all the privileges due princes and princesses were restored to us.
Like me, they showed Imperial Father their grievances and Noble Consort Yao their naked hatred.
Imperial Father was accustomed to the harem’s vicious struggles. As long as we did not hate him, we were still his good children.
The finest actor among us turned out to be Elder Zhang. He savaged the deliberately shallow essay Ah Xiong submitted, as though he had never secretly taught us at all.
Ah Xiong’s eyes reddened before everyone. He protested, “I merely lost five years of study. Just wait. In time, I will make you see me in a new light!”
When Imperial Father heard, he personally summoned Ah Xiong to the imperial study to console him. Ah Xiong looked pleased yet awkward, and finally blurted, “You praised my cleverness from childhood. I will not disgrace you or Mother Consort.”
They said that after he left, Imperial Father sat in the imperial study for a long time. I wondered whether he was remembering the years when Baojun Palace had known a loving father and devoted children.
Everything was wonderful, except that Ah Jie refused to speak to me.
The day we returned home, she merely cast me a cool glance. “Since you’re now capable enough to join an outsider in deceiving your own family, don’t call me your sister anymore. Go call Xu Cong your brother instead.”
She knew that the bargain Xu Cong and I had performed in front of Auntie Tao was an act. We simply needed a reason for me to leave the palace without arousing Ah Jie’s suspicion—and to grow thin enough for our plan.
Risking her life to save Imperial Father and make him remember us had originally been Ah Jie’s plan.
But Xu Cong and I agreed that, whether one considered age or temperament, I had the best chance of succeeding.
Look at the result. Noble Consort Tao searched everywhere for leverage against us, yet all she could uncover was that the young eunuch who took me out had once received Mother Consort’s kindness and had therefore agreed to help me. Imperial Father sighed and even rewarded that young eunuch.
But I knew why Ah Jie was angry. She loved me.
No matter how successful our plan had been, I could only hold my breath in her presence and coax her whenever an opportunity arose.
We were her blood relatives and still suffered like this. Xu Cong had it far worse.