Chapter 75
Chapter 75
When Zhu Yin learned why the emperor had come, she gave a quiet, amused snort. “I am thirsty.”
The emperor eagerly poured her a cup of tea himself.
When the empress arrived after an attendant’s report, she found Zhu Yin sitting at ease while the emperor stood to one side.
A consort was seated while the emperor stood. Anyone else who saw such a scene might think the sky was falling, but the empress found nothing wrong with it.
She was already well practiced. Before entering, she ordered the attendants to wait outside and not come in unless summoned.
After studying their expressions, she smiled and asked, “What happened? Did His Majesty upset you?”
Zhu Yin treated her far more kindly than she did the emperor.
She beckoned the empress over to sit and said leisurely, “Someone was impatient. I gave him something good, and he dismissed it. Now he has finally learned its value.”
The empress sat down and tugged at the emperor’s sleeve, questioning him with her eyes.
The emperor said helplessly, “Great-Grandmother, I was wrong. I should not have judged a noble heart by my own petty standards. I have poured you tea to apologize.”
He knew Zhu Yin did not actually care that he had disturbed her rest. What she took offense at was his earlier suspicion that she had ulterior motives for producing those pills.
According to Chief Physician Zhang, those pills were miraculous medicine of surpassing sophistication.
Chief Physician Zhang had cut one open with a small knife. After carefully analyzing it, he discovered that the formula itself was extremely crude. Its true wonder most likely lay in one particular ingredient.
That ingredient, which even he could not identify, might be capable of resolving the empress’s health problems.
With the empress’s health at stake, the emperor’s apology this time was exceptionally sincere.
Zhu Yin had intended to tell him from the beginning. She had made her point, so she did not plan to make things any more difficult for him.
Before speaking, however, she glanced at the empress.
The emperor understood what she meant and hesitated.
The emperor and empress had been together since their youth and could understand each other’s thoughts from a single look. Considerately, the empress asked, “Is it a secret I cannot hear?”
She was already rising as she spoke.
She trusted the emperor, and she trusted Zhu Yin. She did not think they were deliberately excluding her.
“No.” The emperor quickly made his decision and caught her hand. “Stay and listen with me.”
Then he looked at Zhu Yin. “Great-Grandmother, please help me persuade her in a moment.”
He had noticed by now that Zhu Yin’s words sometimes carried even more weight than his own.
The emperor had been quietly jealous for days.
Unfortunately, neither woman cared about his feelings, so he could only nurse his jealousy in silence, one grievance at a time.
The emperor sat down with the empress and softly explained Zhu Yin’s warning and the truth about her condition.
The empress stared blankly for a moment before saying, “So that is why Your Majesty suddenly summoned Chief Physician Zhang and the others to take my pulse.”
When she noticed her husband’s frown, she chuckled. “Did Chief Physician Zhang not say that with proper care, I may still live out my natural span?”
Her hand was gripped tightly.
Holding his emotions in check, the emperor said, “Empress, you and I are husband and wife, two halves of one whole. I am two years older than you. We forbid you from leaving before Us.”
The empress fell silent.
She had always been perceptive and eloquent, but at that moment, she did not know what to say.
Zhu Yin watched the young imperial couple reveal their sincere feelings with great interest. Then she suddenly cleared her throat, startling them both.
“Have you forgotten that this old woman is still here?” The “old woman,” delighted by the success of her prank, smiled as she watched both their ears turn red.
The entertainment improved her mood as well, and she said lightly, “It is hardly a serious matter. Did I not tell you before that the empress’s illness can be cured?”
She pointed at the medicine vial in the emperor’s hand. “Do you know who gave me that?”
Of course the emperor did not.
From Zhu Yin’s lips, he heard a wholly unexpected name. “Attendant Su.”
It even took the emperor a moment to remember who Attendant Su was.
The empress remembered more clearly than he did and exclaimed, “Attendant Su? I recall that she is the daughter of Vice Minister Su from the Ministry of Revenue. Is anyone in the Su family… a physician?”
Zhu Yin told them only, “Attendant Su said these pills were made from a secret formula passed down through her family. They nourish the skin and enhance one’s beauty.”
The emperor could send his own people to investigate the rest.
Once the Black-Robed Guards took action, a complete account of three generations of Vice Minister Su’s family lay on the emperor’s desk in less than four hours.
They had even uncovered an illegitimate son of Vice Minister Su’s elder brother whose existence the man himself did not know about.
Naturally, the investigation found nothing.
No one in Vice Minister Su’s entire clan–including his maternal relatives and relatives by marriage through his wives and concubines–practiced medicine. Nor had there ever been the slightest trace of anything connected to these pills.
They did, however, uncover a few clues concerning Su Yiwan herself.
Several months earlier, Su Yiwan had accidentally struck her head at home. When she woke, her personality had changed drastically, and she had secretly bought a large quantity of medicinal herbs.
She had been reasonably discreet, but a sheltered young lady was bound to leave traces when doing such things, especially when the Black-Robed Guards were conducting a thorough investigation.
A blow to the head, a drastic change in personality, and behavior completely different from before.
It sounded rather familiar.
The emperor and empress silently turned to look at Zhu Yin in perfect unison.
Suppressing his shock, the emperor asked cautiously, “Great-Grandmother, did you perhaps have a subordinate skilled in medicine back then?”
Did he suspect that someone had “returned to life” along with her?
Zhu Yin: …For a moment, she almost admired their imaginations.
She replied blandly, “I do not know her.”
The emperor asked, “Then why did she seek you out and present you with such important medicine?”
As soon as the words fell, Zhu Yin gave him a faintly mocking glance.
The emperor instinctively sensed trouble, but he did not dare interrupt her now. Every word she said might contain an essential clue.
The empress’s condition weighed heavily on his heart.
“Because of you, of course,” Zhu Yin said, sparing him no dignity. “So many new women have entered your harem, and Attendant Su stands out in neither family background nor looks. She was afraid she would be overlooked, so she gave me these precious beauty pills and asked me to put in a few good words for her in front of you.”
The emperor: …
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that such important medicine would surface for a reason like this.
He cast an awkward glance at the empress.
The empress smiled faintly. “Then this consort has been very fortunate indeed, to encounter such miraculous medicine.”
The emperor still had doubts about Attendant Su’s identity. “How could an ordinary sheltered young woman suddenly come to possess an object of such miraculous power?”
Zhu Yin was only responsible for telling him enough to catch his interest. She was not responsible for reasoning it all out.
She rose briskly. “I do not know. Investigate it yourself, Your Majesty. It is getting late. I should return to my palace.”
The empress stood as well. “Would you like to stay and have dinner at Qingzheng Hall before you leave?”
Zhu Yin replied, “No. You young couple must have plenty to discuss tonight.”
She had no intention of becoming an inconvenient old chaperone.
Before leaving, she remembered something. “By the way, I heard the envoys from Cheluo brought a tribute of exceptionally rare animals?”
The emperor said, “They did.”
Zhu Yin said, “I want to choose one as a pet.”
He was already calling her Great-Grandmother. Never mind a mere pet–even if Zhu Yin wanted one of Cheluo’s envoys, the emperor would find a way to detain the person for her.
He agreed at once. “No problem.”