Chapter 230: Ruthless Among the Ruthless
Emperor Chong Zhao hurried into Ci An Hall, just in time to hear the Empress Dowager smash a teacup.
The palace maids in the hall all lowered their heads and retreated to the corridor, leaving only Palace Aide Cui kneeling on the ground, wiping the tea stains on the gold bricks with a silk handkerchief.
“Mother, please calm down.” Emperor Chong Zhao strode forward, took the Empress Dowager’s trembling arm, and coaxed her gently.
“If your health is not good, you should rest peacefully. Why get so angry?”
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing leaned on the cushion, gasping for breath, her handkerchief covering her pale lips.
“Prince Duan actually imprisoned and accused Prince Wei. Such fratricide, how can I rest… When I go to the Yellow Springs, how will I explain myself to the ancestors…”
“Your son has already sent people to thoroughly investigate this matter, and there will be justice.”
“Justice?” The Empress Dowager stared at the vertical lines between Emperor Chong Zhao’s brows and suddenly let out a cold laugh.
“These years, one royal scandal after another, imperial princes fighting each other, princesses selling official positions, where is the justice? Ping Le colluded with powerful officials, making the imperial court a mess, and you still protect her everywhere, favoring and indulging her. Do you really think I’m blind?”
Seeing Emperor Chong Zhao’s embarrassed expression, she softened her voice.
“Whether Ping Le acts recklessly or amasses power and wealth, I don’t care how long you want to protect her. But if she dares to touch Prince Wei, I cannot stand by and do nothing…”
Emperor Chong Zhao looked at her face contorted with anger and remained silent.
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing suddenly trembled and grabbed his sleeve, tears welling up.
“Prince Wei has been lonely since childhood. Everyone in the court bullies him because his maternal clan has no support, and they never take him seriously. I have tolerated this for so many years, not expecting him to achieve great things, only wishing him a peaceful life. But this time, Ping An openly bullied him. Isn’t this slapping me in the face? I am still alive! And some people from his maternal clan are still alive!”
“Mother, please calm down…” Emperor Chong Zhao saw his elderly mother in a rage and immediately held her hand, bowing to apologize.
“Your son would never dare to be negligent. It’s just that there are still strange circumstances surrounding this matter. Once the truth is revealed, I will give Mother an explanation.”
“I don’t want to hear empty words. Prince Wei’s imperial mother passed away early, and I personally raised him. If Ping Le dares to use him as a scapegoat, she is trampling on my neck!”
Emperor Chong Zhao pursed his lips.
Before he could speak, Empress Dowager Cheng Qing suddenly snatched her hand back, coughed violently, and beat her chest, trembling all over, her eyes filled with turbid tears.
“Back then, to protect you, I served tea and water for the former Empress, worked like a horse, and raised you, enduring all sorts of hardships… If your maternal family hadn’t spent all their wealth and risked their lives, how could we have today…”
She cried until she could barely breathe.
“They all say Prince Wei’s maternal clan is weak, but why is he weak? Emperor! How can you forget that to ensure you ascended the throne, your maternal family’s men, sixteen loyal and brave sons, all went to battle and died on the battlefield!”
Emperor Chong Zhao frowned as he listened, his head aching.
The Empress Dowager had always maintained her dignity. If she hadn’t been pushed to her limit, she wouldn’t have easily brought up old grievances.
Everyone understood that the Empress Dowager was using past favors to pressure him, reminding him not to forget his roots and to not slight Prince Wei.
For years, Ping Le, relying on the Emperor’s favor, had acted arrogantly and imperiously. The Empress Dowager had seen it all and had been holding back her anger. But she had endured for years without a word, not rashly intervening and tearing down the royal family’s reputation.
Emperor Chong Zhao looked at his elderly mother’s tears and raised his hand to press his temples.
“Mother, please don’t worry. Prince Wei is also my son. How can I not care about him?”
At this point, Emperor Chong Zhao sighed.
“But he has truly gone too far this time. Not to mention that Xue Shi is Prince Duan’s consort, but his unauthorized entry into the Ministry of Justice prison is a grave offense of disregarding the law. If this is not handled impartially, it will be difficult to quell the public outcry…”
“Don’t try to suppress me with the imperial court system! These years, you haven’t spared any effort in covering up and indulging Ping Le, excusing her crimes.”
The Empress Dowager suddenly let out a cold laugh, pointed at his nose, and said sternly, “Consort Xiao just passed away, and she dared to keep male companions and indulge in debauchery in her residence. You, as her father, turned a blind eye, do you think I’m blind too?”
“Mother, Mother, my own mother.” Emperor Chong Zhao held the trembling Empress Dowager Cheng Qing and felt his temples throbbing. He had to appease her in a low voice.
“I promise you. Once this matter is clarified, I will severely punish her and seek justice for Prince Wei…”
The Empress Dowager sneered, “Then how will the Emperor punish her? I heard that Lu Jing and Lu Kefu jointly impeached him, committing more than ten major crimes… Emperor, if you still want to downplay the matter and cover it up, you will break the hearts of everyone under heaven…”
Emperor Chong Zhao frowned and said, “Mother, Ping Le is also your granddaughter. No matter how willful she is, how could she collude with the enemy and kill her mother…”
“I never said she colluded with the enemy and killed her mother!” The Empress Dowager suddenly stared at the 《Illustration of Teaching a Son》 hanging on the wall, snorted heavily, and her expression turned extremely grim. “It’s just that this princess has been spoiled by the Emperor. Today she can use Prince Wei as a shield for her own selfish desires. Who knows if she will attack the Emperor and me in the future…”
The 《Illustration of Teaching a Son》 on the wall was personally painted by the Former Emperor.
Emperor Chong Zhao was startled and immediately stood up, straightened his robes, and bowed respectfully.
“Your son understands Mother’s good intentions. I will reprimand Ping Le when I return today…”
“Emperor, oh Emperor!” Empress Dowager Cheng Qing sighed softly. “Do you know that I want to reprimand Ping Le, and even more so, I want to reprimand you—do not let the conflict between siblings destroy the foundation laid by our ancestors.”
“It is my son’s filial impiety… I cannot bring peace to the imperial family internally, nor can I stabilize the imperial court externally, and I still make Mother worry…”
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing’s throat choked slightly, and she suddenly took Emperor Chong Zhao’s hand.
“Emperor, I am old and do not want to see my grandchildren kill each other. You should not be foolish anymore.”
Emperor Chong Zhao lowered his head and saw the white hairs at the Empress Dowager’s temples.
“Mother’s teachings are correct. Your son will uphold justice and be impartial.”
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing shook her head with a sigh.
“Cut decisively! You must cut the Gordian knot with a swift knife and eliminate future troubles as soon as possible… Do not let the princes, who have been carefully cultivated, break their brotherhood for the sake of a woman…”
Emperor Chong Zhao looked up, somewhat unable to understand.
“What does Mother mean?”
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing glanced at him, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
“I know you are in a difficult position. You don’t need to act. As for Ping Le, I will send a disciplinary nanny tomorrow to educate her strictly. I believe she will restrain herself. The truly troublesome one now is that little Xue Shi…”
There was a long silence in the hall.
She suddenly narrowed her eyes and said meaningfully:
“Some say she came out of the Old Mausoleum Swamp carrying the resentment of two hundred thousand white bones. I didn’t believe it at first, but since she returned to the capital, has the court ever been peaceful? At the Hundred Flowers Banquet, the princess had hysteria, the Crown Prince was poisoned; at my birthday banquet, old cases were unearthed, and disputes were constant. At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, Consort Xiao died suddenly, Lu Shi was brutally murdered, and… the Crown Prince lost his composure in public for her, Prince Duan fought with his brothers for her, and now even Prince Wei has been dragged into it…”
Emperor Chong Zhao was stunned, “Mother means…”
“This little Xue Shi cannot be kept!” The Empress Dowager looked at him steadily, her expression grim.
“Whether she has any connection with the old people in the Old Mausoleum Swamp or not, she is a variable that disrupts the imperial harem. The longer this drags on, the more problems will arise. It’s better to get rid of her sooner. Moreover—”
She paused, her voice lowering, “Currently, scandals are frequent in the inner court. The cases of Consort Xiao and Lu Shi are still unresolved, causing widespread panic. If the public outcry is not quickly silenced, the imperial court will surely fall into chaos! Do you really want several imperial princes to kill each other for her, or for Princess Ping Le to bear the crime of matricide?”
A cool breeze suddenly swept through the hall, rustling the gauze curtains.
Emperor Chong Zhao looked at the Empress Dowager’s wrinkled face and nodded after a moment.
“What Mother said… is reasonable.”
“I am not heartless, but I am considering the empire and the state. Keeping this little Xue Shi is a disaster.”
The Empress Dowager sighed, her expression resolute.
“If we kill her by mistake, then she was born at the wrong time and her fate was to die! If the Bodhisattva punishes me for this, I will atone for my sins on the Yellow Springs Road!”
–
The next day, at Shen Shi.
The candlelight in the Eastern Palace Study flickered unstably, blown by the north wind.
It was only September, but the weather was so cold it made one’s bones ache. Li Zhao, draped in a dark sable cloak, sat solemnly by the stove where tea was being brewed. Tea splashed onto his sleeve cuff, but he was oblivious.
Mei Ruhui coughed lightly.
“Your Highness need not worry, Sixth Miss Xue is safe and sound.”
Li Zhao had originally intended to give this “credit” to Prince Duan and had not intervened in the rescue. He had only sent word to Prince Duan and then watched from the sidelines.
Without expending a single soldier, he had resolved the predicament, saving the person and weakening his opponent, thus reaping the benefits.
But the atmosphere in the Eastern Palace at this moment was as heavy as iron, and everyone was extremely tense.
Empress Dowager Cheng Qing was greatly enraged by Prince Wei’s imprisonment and had a huge tantrum in front of the Emperor. The matter had become known to everyone in the six palaces and beyond.
Royal scandals were always the most talked about.
While it was good for the Eastern Palace to watch the show from the sidelines, Ye Xiao had just come in to report an unusual event.
“This afternoon, the Empress Dowager summoned the former official of the Imperial Hospital, Wang Bo’an, to Ci An Hall. She dismissed everyone else and did not allow anyone to approach. They talked in the inner hall for a full hour.”
“Wang Bo’an?” Mei Ruhui stroked his beard, his brow furrowed.
“I recall this person was most skilled at preparing obscure and strange remedies. When the Empress Dowager was still Consort Liang to the Former Emperor, Wang Bo’an was still in charge of the Imperial Pharmacy… After His Majesty ascended the throne, he retired to his hometown. The Empress Dowager suddenly summoning him is rather strange…”
Li Zhao remained silent.
Ye Xiao nodded.
Mei Ruhui’s ancestors had been advisors for three generations. He was knowledgeable and experienced.
“This Imperial Physician Wang is skilled in medicine. He has a unique forbidden prescription called ‘Snow Withering.’ When it acts up, it is indistinguishable from a cold, but it can erode the heart and veins within seven days…”
Li Zhao suddenly looked up, his voice cold, “What is ‘Snow Withering’?”
Mei Ruhui shook his head, “This prescription is a forbidden court technique, not recorded in medical texts. I am also unaware of it, but I heard my father mention it in casual conversation years ago. A favored consort of the Former Emperor died suddenly overnight, her black hair turning white. Some suspected this prescription was involved…”
After speaking, he still looked suspicious, gazing at the Crown Prince, word by word.
“Could it be that the Empress Dowager is unwell?”
“No.” Li Zhao suddenly stood up and strode to the desk.
Spread on the desk was a layout map of the Ministry of Justice prison.
His chilling gaze was fixed on a small circle marked in cinnabar…
That was where Xue Sui was imprisoned.
Xue Sui: The older the ginger, the spicier it is…
Li Zhao: It’s okay, the younger ones are even tastier. Boiled, mixed, eaten sideways, eaten vertically…
Xue Sui: ???
