Chapter 77
Chapter 77
After hearing the whole story, Zhu Yin understood the empress perfectly–and refused.
Just look at how exhausted the empress had become. Zhu Yin wanted no part of that.
The empress sighed helplessly. “I suspected you would be unwilling.”
But she did not know whom else she could entrust with palace affairs.
Zhu Yin stroked the kitten’s silky, bushy tail and asked, “Why not let the empress dowager handle them for a while?”
The empress dowager?
Someone else in the harem also wished to see her.
That person was Dignified Consort Jiang, who was dressing in all her finery before seeking an audience with the empress dowager.
Life had been difficult for the consorts lately.
In the past, although His Majesty cherished the empress, he would occasionally visit the palaces of his other consorts.
Ever since learning how serious the empress’s condition was, the emperor went to Qingzheng Hall whenever he had a spare moment. Occasionally, he visited Chengyi Hall–or rather, Ruyi Hall, as it was now called.
That made life agonizing for the other palace consorts, especially the newcomers. Most of them had not even served him in bed yet.
Dignified Consort Jiang thought this was unacceptable.
She dared not approach the emperor or empress. She had visited Ruyi Hall to seek out Zhu Yin, but Zhu Yin ignored her.
When she went to the Pure Consort, the woman demonstrated her response by fainting on the spot.
After thinking it over again and again, Dignified Consort Jiang decided to seek out the empress dowager and hint at the matter under the pretext of paying her respects.
The empress dowager was a devout follower of Daoism. Since the new emperor’s accession, she had withdrawn deep into the palace to cultivate the Dao and no longer involved herself in worldly affairs.
She had renamed her residence Bixiao Palace. All her palace maids dressed as Daoist priestesses, and even the emperor seldom saw her.
Though she did not like seeing her son, she was very fond of her three grandchildren.
She often summoned the eldest prince and the two princesses to keep her company at Bixiao Palace. At that very moment, all three imperial grandchildren were there.
That was why Dignified Consort Jiang felt confident the empress dowager would receive her.
Sure enough, on account of the second princess, she successfully gained an audience.
Dressed in Daoist robes with the air of an immortal, the empress dowager asked, “Why were you in such a hurry to see me?”
Dignified Consort Jiang hastily replied, “This consort merely realized that it had been a long time since I last paid my respects. I have missed Your Majesty greatly.”
The empress dowager said flatly, “If that is truly your only reason, you have seen me now. Go back.”
Dignified Consort Jiang: “…”
She knew the empress dowager’s temperament and dared not drag matters out. She quickly mentioned that His Majesty had not visited the harem for a long time.
Looking troubled, she said, “Several of the young ladies newly admitted to the palace have come to plead with this consort. Your Majesty, this matter…”
The empress dowager asked, “Do you know why she holds the rank of Pure Consort, while you are only a Dignified Consort?”
Dignified Consort Jiang was puzzled. “Because the Pure Consort gave birth to the eldest prince.” He was His Majesty’s only son.
The empress dowager glanced at her, and Dignified Consort Jiang was certain she saw disdain in that gaze. “No. It is because she is cleverer than you.”
The empress dowager said coldly, “The empress naturally manages the affairs of the inner palace. The emperor already has a son and daughters. As for the women in his harem, he may enjoy them if he likes, or leave them alone if he does not. What right do you have to interfere?”
After being rebuked, Dignified Consort Jiang anxiously rose to defend herself, but the empress dowager would not listen.
“Withdraw. You are a creature of the mundane world, steeped in its impurities. Do not sully the peace of my Bixiao Palace.”
Full of grievance, Dignified Consort Jiang left.
That afternoon, the empress’s phoenix carriage arrived at Bixiao Palace.
The empress dowager treated this daughter-in-law reasonably well and received her in the main hall.
When she heard the empress’s request, she did not refuse at once, but asked for the reason.
The empress sighed and explained the condition of her health.
The empress dowager was clearly surprised, but soon nodded. “Your health is indeed more important. These mundane affairs should be set aside when necessary.”
Then she asked, “Can that Radiant Consort Yu not share your burdens?”
The empress smiled helplessly. “Radiant Consort Yu is… indolent by nature. She has no patience for such things.”
Her answer was brief, but the empress dowager heard the protectiveness and affection in her tone.
She gave the empress a surprised look. Although she lived in seclusion at Bixiao Palace, there were naturally people who brought her news from elsewhere in the palace.
Before, she had only known that the empress liked the newly arrived Radiant Consort Yu. It was only now, hearing the empress speak of her, that she realized the extent of that partiality.
For once, she grew a little curious.
News soon spread that the empress had temporarily relinquished management of the inner palace and the empress dowager had resumed command of the six palaces.
On her very first day back, the empress dowager summoned Radiant Consort Yu.
Dignified Consort Jiang was both surprised and delighted, believing the empress dowager intended to put Zhu Yin in her place. Many other consorts thought the same.
Only the empress reassured her. “Do not be afraid. The empress dowager is not that sort of person. She is… quite unusual. You will understand once you meet her.”
The empress dowager remained at Bixiao Palace. She had no use for mundane formalities and dispensed with the imperial rituals of greeting.
An ordinary consort might have been left anxious and unsettled by that series of arrangements, wondering wildly if the empress dowager was displeased with her.
But it suited Zhu Yin perfectly. With the formalities waived, she did not have to humble herself.
The empress dowager was dressed like a Daoist priest. Zhu Yin glanced at her without showing any surprise.
When told to sit, she sat.
When the empress dowager said nothing, neither did she. She simply savored her tea at her leisure, perfectly at ease.
After quite some time, a faint smile appeared on the empress dowager’s face. She praised, “You are very good.”
Studying Zhu Yin, she continued approvingly, “Your bearing has the unworldly grace of one who has transcended mortal concerns. Confining you within this inner palace is truly a waste.”
She asked, “Would you be interested in cultivating the Dao with me?”
The emperor had heard that his venerable ancestor was summoned by his mother and came in some concern. The moment he stepped through the door, he heard this brazen attempt to poach her.
He paused, then strode inside.
When he entered, the empress dowager’s expression did not change. She repeated herself. “Your Majesty, I like her. I want her to cultivate the Dao with me.”
To her surprise, her son neither agreed nor objected. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Zhu Yin.
The emperor was asking Radiant Consort Yu’s opinion.
The empress dowager stared thoughtfully at Zhu Yin.
Zhu Yin immediately shook her head, refusing with equal bluntness. “Thank you for your high regard, but I have no interest in cultivating the Dao.”
The emperor was about to speak when he heard his mother ask with a smile, “What if I have taken a liking to you and insist on bringing you into my Daoist order?”
The emperor: ?
He knew his mother was not that kind of person. Why was she saying this deliberately?
Without thinking, Zhu Yin replied, “A melon plucked by force is never sweet. Think twice. I fear you will regret it.”
The empress dowager burst out laughing.
She waved a hand, signaling for Zhu Yin to leave.
Only after Zhu Yin departed did she turn her gaze upon her son. “Tell me. Who is she?”
She refused to believe that Zhu Yin was merely an ordinary consort.
The emperor had never told the empress dowager Zhu Yin’s identity. It was not because he distrusted his mother, but because she cultivated the Dao.
Those who cultivated the Dao already believed firmly in immortals, the Dao, ghosts, and gods.
If the empress dowager learned that an ancestor from two hundred years ago was truly standing alive before her, who knew what she might do?
But now that she had asked, he could no longer conceal the truth.