Chapter 68: The Empress’s Questioning
Morning light shone brightly.
The Emperor’s Chief Eunuch stood on the steps outside the hall, his usually joyful face carrying a hint of solemnity.
Palace maids and eunuchs came and went behind him, the warm aroma of the meal wafting from inside, dispelling some of the early winter chill.
“Marquis, have a bowl of soup first.”
“Mm, the taste of this soup is just like at home.”
“The same is good, the same is good. Earlier A Feng was concerned about you two elders and had the family send over your food recipes. I remember this dish was among them. I just instructed the imperial kitchen to make it accordingly.”
“Sigh, I wanted to come to His Majesty here for something fresh. At home, being watched, I’ve gotten tired of the food.”
The conversation inside the hall between the Emperor, the Empress, and Marquis Yichun sounded very relaxed, but the Chief Eunuch standing outside showed no relaxation on his face.
“Father! You didn’t come here just to eat a fresh meal.”
The Empress’s voice rose sharply.
“Back then at our marriage you deceived me, and now what are you deceiving me about again?”
The Chief Eunuch’s face grew even more grave. He signaled the surrounding eunuchs and palace maids to move farther away, then descended the steps himself, guarding all around tightly.
Inside the hall, the Emperor wanted to stand, but Marquis Yichun raised his hand to stop him.
“Your Majesty, you are no longer who you were back then. You must not lose the distinction between ruler and subject!” he said. “If you grovel to A Feng, then I can only prostrate myself fully before you in worship.”
The Emperor’s figure stiffened, somewhat helplessly: “Father-in-law, you…”
Marquis Yichun then looked at the Empress: “We deceived you? Then let me ask you, if back then we had told the truth that he had already married in the countryside, and your grandfather told you to marry, would you have married or not?”
The Empress looked at him, gritting her teeth: “Of course I wouldn’t…”
“You wouldn’t marry?” Marquis Yichun interrupted her, chuckling lightly. “What qualification do you have to say you wouldn’t marry? As the daughter of the Chai Clan, raised in fine clothes and luxuries, wanting for nothing—even amid the chaos and displacement outside, your greatest worry was merely whether the camellias in the backyard would bloom on time. How about it? When it was your turn to form a good marriage for the Chai Clan in these chaotic times, to unite our two families, you feel aggrieved?”
The Empress’s face flushed white then green: “Being born into that family wasn’t my choice…”
“Since you know you had no choice, think less about your dissatisfactions and more about what you’ve gained.” Marquis Yichun interrupted her again, picked up the bowl before him, took a sip, then looked at the Empress. “Empress, one must be content and grateful.”
The Empress sat stiffly, hearing her father call her “Empress.” She gave a self-mocking smile: “Yes, now I am the Empress whom even Father and Mother must bow to. The sisters who once competed with me for clothes and jewelry dare not look me in the eye. I no longer worry if the camellias are well tended—countless artisans devote themselves to my preferences. I have become the foremost noblewoman under Heaven, living the best life under Heaven, yet I am still not content and nitpick over whether others have deceived me.”
The Emperor still stood up and walked to the Empress, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“A Feng, the reason you nitpick isn’t others—it’s your husband.” He sighed. “Back then, it was my fault. Though I informed Grandfather and Father-in-law, when facing you, I kept my selfish heart silent and didn’t tell the truth. Indeed, I deceived you.”
At this point, he stopped Marquis Yichun who wanted to speak.
“The Marquis came indeed for the matter of Duke Ding’an’s family. Not letting you hear is because I knew you would be angry. Don’t speak of your anger—even I will be angry.”
“Earlier his daughter lacked knowledge and couldn’t pass the exam, so he begged. This time his family’s daughter has decent knowledge, but poor conduct—she stole someone else’s identity to take the companion reader selection exam and has now been exposed by the main family and come knocking.”
Hearing this, the Empress forgot her anger and looked at the Emperor in surprise: “Stole someone else’s identity?” Then she frowned. “Which daughter? Besides Yang Hui, the daughters from concubines are all still young.”
“A younger sister from Second Uncle’s family,” the Emperor said. She was someone he knew well, but the Empress did not, so he quickly added, “Yang Shiduan’s second daughter. I remember her childhood name was Zan Niang. She married early and passed away not long after Yang Family’s ennoblement, leaving behind one daughter.”
He even remembered the name of a daughter from the Yang Family’s second branch. The Empress drifted off again, then heard the Emperor’s voice continue.
“That child ran away from home because the marriage arrangement didn’t suit her, and once in the Capital City, she was bold enough to steal someone else’s identity. Only after the matter was exposed did she tell Duke Ding’an. The Liu Family elders wanted to report to the officials, so Duke Ding’an came begging to the Marquis.”
“Their family failed to discipline their child, did something outrageous, and now troubles the Marquis again and again.”
At this point, the Emperor let out a long sigh.
“A Feng, you say you’re not content, but actually Duke Ding’an is the one not content.”
At this, he chuckled scornfully.
“Not content and even threatening—back then it was my doing, not a debt the Chai Clan owes him. Father-in-law, you don’t need to handle this matter anymore. I…”
Hearing this, Marquis Yichun spoke: “Your Majesty need not step in. In the end, it’s just mischievous children, and it involves the princesses’ dignity. My willingness to intervene is also selfish—who doesn’t ache for their own daughter? Pingcheng has always been proud and arrogant. She just entered the National Academy to read as wished. If this blows up, it will bring her bad luck. Whether Duke Ding’an’s family’s daughter cries or is heartbroken, I don’t care. I won’t be threatened by him, but I cannot let my child be heartbroken.”
At this, he glanced at the Empress.
“I was just about to ask His Majesty. Since you insist on knowing, listen together.”
“This is just a small matter. Precedent has already been set, so for fairness, select one lady-in-waiting each for Princess Wuyang and Princess Nangong too. Let this real young lady and real Liu Chan go read. No need to directly expose that fake Liu Chan’s maidservant.”
The Emperor said with a stern face: “Reading is no small matter. How can we tolerate someone of such corrupt conduct continuing at the National Academy, by the princesses’ sides?”
Marquis Yichun smiled: “Naturally not. At month’s end, arrange an exam. Advise out the lowest scorers.”
That made sense. Duke Ding’an’s family’s daughters—one couldn’t even pass the initial exam, the other didn’t even take the exam. Letting a maidservant who had read books, committed a crime, and become a slave pass shows their conduct and knowledge are both lacking. As for the Liu Family’s young lady, handing her own letter to another—whether coerced or deceived—her conduct and intellect are both unworthy.
One exam was enough to kick them all out. After thinking, the Emperor nodded.
“No need to tell Libationer Wang for now.” He sighed again. “With Wang Zaitian’s temper, once he knows, even if I persuade him, he definitely won’t keep such people at the academy to read.”
Wait until after the exam, remove such people, then inform.
Marquis Yichun said no more, set down the soup he had never finished, and looked at the Empress: “Do you have anything else to ask? If not, withdraw.” Shaking his head, “The Emperor and I are ruler and subject. For you, a rear palace Empress, to come while we speak is overstepping bounds and violating protocol.”
Though her father spoke so bluntly, the Empress was not as angry as before. She pursed her lips and said: “Father, finish this medicinal meal and I’ll go.”
The Emperor laughed beside them and persuaded: “Father-in-law, don’t delay anymore. If you don’t drink now, A Feng will have the eunuchs tell Mother-in-law, and you’ll have to drink at home anyway.”
Marquis Yichun looked helpless, sighed, “I’m old, to be managed by children and wife.” He picked up the soup bowl and drank it down.
The Emperor handed a pair of chopsticks to the Empress and said softly: “A Feng, eat.”
The Empress no longer refused, reached out to take them, then suddenly looked up at the Emperor.
“I’m also angry at myself,” she said. “Before marriage, it wasn’t that I hadn’t seen you, but I never asked if you were married. I too had selfish thoughts and didn’t dare ask.”
Fearing that asking would lose her beloved.
A smile spread in the Emperor’s eyes.
Marquis Yichun coughed lightly: “Alright, an elder is still present.” Shaking his head at the Emperor and Empress, “You two are no longer young.”
The Emperor laughed heartily and picked up his bowl to eat heartily first.
Though Marquis Yichun had drunk the medicinal soup, when leaving the palace, the Empress still had her own chief eunuch personally see him off.
“Marquis, not telling the Empress the truth?”
The eunuch asked softly.
Marquis Yichun’s trusted aide had already told him the truth earlier.
The eunuch’s expression was complicated, brows furrowed.
“That child didn’t actually die and has entered the Capital City. Hiding from His Majesty is proper, but shouldn’t we at least warn Her Ladyship, prepare defenses?”
“Her Ladyship’s temper is strong. So much time has passed, and she still occasionally quarrels with His Majesty.”
“If she knew this child had come…”
Marquis Yichun smiled: “She knows nothing, so no matter how she quarrels, it’s fine. Instead, it will make His Majesty feel more guilty.” Stroking his beard, “If she truly learned something and quarreled with His Majesty again, then His Majesty would have no pity left, no guilt.”
With that, he looked at the eunuch.
“Watch closely. Don’t let irrelevant matters reach her ears.”
“What she needs to do is be a good wife, a good Empress.”
“As for other matters, we have it.”
