Yu Zi Heng
CHAPTER 10:
53
The day after the fire at Shuyue Residence, the Emperor didn't come to visit me. He only sent a eunuch with a few boxes of gifts to comfort me, lifted my house arrest, and ordered me to temporarily move to a nearby palace while Shuyue Residence was being repaired.
The lead eunuch, carrying several boxes of rewards, was stopped by Fu Bao outside Shuyue Residence.
“Yí Fēi, you are defying the Emperor's decree.”
“I should have gone to the Emperor myself, but I was choked by smoke last night and my body is not well. It is not suitable for me to see the Emperor.”
The eunuch looked at me in disbelief.
“Yí Fēi, the palace maid who started the fire, was apprehended and executed last night.”
“I am asking about the punishment of the person in charge of the palace!”
The eunuch dared not answer.
“If the Emperor cannot judge right and wrong, the chaos will not be limited to the palace. Without the Emperor's judgment, I will not take a single step out of Shuyue Residence, nor will I eat a single grain of rice or drink a single drop of water!”
I turned and went back to Shuyue Residence.
That day, the Emperor must have been furious. He repeatedly sent five or six eunuchs to Shuyue Residence to reprimand me.
They said I was ‘unvirtuous, immoral, jealous, and petty,’ just the same old lines, utterly boring.
That day, the Emperor also had a banquet with Jìn Guìfēi, seemingly completely unaffected by me.
But Jìn Guìfēi invited Shū Fēi, Xián Fēi, and Shú Pín, high-ranking concubines, but none of them went.
The Emperor was angry and sent people to invite them.
Shū Fēi and Shú Pín excused themselves, claiming they were unwell.
Xián Fēi arrived at the banquet in plain clothes, removing all her hair ornaments and performing a grand bow to the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am unwilling to share a table with someone who is causing chaos in the palace.”
Xián Fēi had endured for many years, and finally, she directly confronted the Emperor.
54
The Emperor must have felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
Overnight, the Board of Censors submitted numerous memorials, cursing Jìn Guìfēi, the Marquis of Jingyang, and Princess Xiankang—indirectly blaming the Emperor in various ways.
Xián Fēi and I fasted together.
Jìn Guìfēi dared not continue her extravagance, hastily ending the banquet and returning to the palace to cry to the Emperor while holding her child.
After the Board of Censors condemned the noble families, they followed up with more criticisms—what, is your Jìn Guìfēi a treasure while our daughters are just grass? Yí Fēi hails from a family of loyal generals. Her father sacrificed himself for the country, dying without a complete body, and now after being burned, there's not even a semblance of justice?
Such is the cruelty of life!
Among them, the Han family was particularly vocal, with Old Master Han cursing so vehemently that he nearly fainted. But they couldn't let him faint; knowing the Han family's constitution, fainting could easily lead to death, and if he died, the Emperor would be forever branded as an incompetent ruler.
At this time, my uncle put on a grand performance: “This matter cannot be blamed on the Emperor! The Emperor is a good Emperor! There were never such incidents before; isn't that right, everyone? We must believe that the Emperor will handle things fairly!”
The Emperor… expressed that he was unwell and took a three-day break from court.
Just as he returned to the palace, another major incident occurred.
The Grand Princess was killed by her own maid.
One wave had yet to settle when another rose.
55
When the Grand Princess was born, Shū Fēi was of low status (concubine rank), and since the Empress had no children, she directly took the Grand Princess to raise. The late Empress raised both the Grand Princess and Chen Yuan. Chen Yuan turned out quite normal, but the Grand Princess developed a rebellious temperament.
By the time the late Empress passed away and Shū Fēi took the Grand Princess back, the Grand Princess had already become unmanageable.
The Grand Princess would hit and scold the palace maids, and her cruel methods were well-known throughout the palace. However, because she was the Emperor's eldest daughter, everyone turned a blind eye.
After Jìn Guìfēi took charge of the palace, she reduced expenses everywhere, including for the Grand Princess. The number of palace maids was cut down, and the standard of food decreased. The best clothing and jewelry were chosen by Jìn Guìfēi before being given to others.
The Grand Princess was furious but, unable to confront Jìn Guìfēi directly, took her anger out on the palace maids.
Previously, she could have several maids serving her in rotation, so even if she hit one, it would be a change. Now, there were only two maids left, and the Grand Princess would bully one of them, who was somewhat slow-witted, every day.
The maids were raised by their parents too; being beaten hurt, and injuries would scar over time.
Months later, while her face remained relatively unharmed, the maid's body was covered in bruises.
That night, Shū Fēi was distressed over the fasting she and Xián Fēi had undertaken, unsure whether to make a statement. She had no time to accompany her daughter for dinner, and the Second Princess had a fever, leaving the Grand Princess to dine alone.
The more she ate, the angrier she became; the food sent from the Imperial Kitchen was a complete mess.
The Grand Princess threw the food all over the maid, punishing her to kneel in the snow, drenched in broth.
Typically, such kneeling would last all night.
Taking advantage of the fewer guards on night duty, the maid sneaked into the Grand Princess's room and picked up the brass incense burner by the bed, smashing it down onto the Grand Princess's face.
Once…
Twice…
Three times…
It is said that when she was discovered, she was still smashing it down onto the puddle of blood and flesh.
Shū Fēi nearly shattered at the sight of the Grand Princess's corpse, unable to utter a sound.
How could a maid dare to kill a princess?
Why hadn’t such things happened during Yí Fēi's time in charge of the palace?!
The eldest daughter of the Dà Yè dynasty, how noble she was, yet she had fallen to the point of having only two maids serving her. What a farce!
Shū Fēi took off her luxurious garments, donning a plain white robe.
“As long as the Jìn Guìfēi does not perish, I, Jiang Wan'er, will not eat!”
56
After the incident with the Grand Princess, the Emperor suddenly went to the late Empress's Qiwudian, a move no one in the harem could have anticipated.
At the same time, Ying Man arrived at Shuyue Residence.
Ying Man was the head eunuch from the late Empress's Qiwudian Palace. After the late Empress passed away, he was reassigned to the Cold Palace as the chief eunuch.
“My Lady, I have repaired the Cold Palace and have come to take on my duties here.”
I hadn't expected that, in such a delicate situation, Ying Man, who had managed to escape unscathed from the late Empress's affairs, would choose to take a side.
The death of the late Empress was quite absurd.
She and the Emperor had grown up together, sharing a deep bond, and her noble background made her suitable to be Empress. However, after four years of marriage, they had no children.
The Emperor openly declared that the children of the harem were all to be considered as the late Empress's, from which she could choose to raise them.
The late Empress selected Shū Fēi's Grand Princess and Chen Yuan, with Chen Yuan's birth mother being just a palace maid, making him the most fitting to be raised as the Empress's son.
But later, the late Empress suddenly became pregnant, and Chen Yuan was sent back to his birth mother.
A few months later, she miscarried and immediately wanted to bring Chen Yuan back.
His mother, having longed for her son to the point of madness, would not allow anyone to take him away when he finally returned.
In the scuffle, a eunuch's whisk accidentally cut her face, but Chen Yuan was still taken away. It is said that the cries of despair echoed throughout the entire harem that night.
Ironically, six months later, the late Empress became pregnant again.
This time, she was clever; she decided to give birth before sending Chen Yuan away.
Unfortunately, she miscarried again. It seemed she and the Emperor were destined to be childless.
In a state of extreme mental collapse, the late Empress came to believe that Chen Yuan was the cause of her misfortunes. If it hadn't been for him blocking her path, how could her son have died?
She attempted to harm Chen Yuan several times but he managed to evade her. However, he couldn't leave Qiwudian, as neither the Empress nor the Emperor permitted it.
Ultimately, the Empress discovered Chen Yuan talking with his birth mother beside Qiwudian. In a fit of rage, she lunged at him with a dagger gifted by the Emperor. Chen Yuan and his mother managed to dodge, but the dagger ended up piercing her own chest as she fell to the ground.
The mother of a nation, slain by her own dagger.
To maintain the royal family's reputation, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager claimed the late Empress had died of illness. To quell the anger of her family, they banished Chen Yuan's birth mother to the Cold Palace.
Ying Man and other palace servants gradually found themselves sent to the fringes of the harem, one by one disappearing without a trace.
I asked Ying Man why he had come to seek refuge with me at this time.
He replied, “Because servants have their ranks, and I, like Niangniang, served only the late Empress.”
I rubbed my growling stomach, thinking it was time to take action.
57
I sent a letter out of the palace, but it wasn't to my uncle or to my father's friends from his studies.
The letter reached the Marquis of Jingyang’s residence.
After reading the letter, the Marquis immediately summoned his subordinates. A few hours later, he took off his official hat and personally went to the Imperial Study to apologize.
The Emperor had just returned from Qiwudian when Jin Zhun informed him that his daughter was of poor character and unworthy of being a noble consort, requesting the Emperor to depose her as a warning to others.
The Emperor was stunned; he had been rallying his ministers to elevate Jìn Guìfēi to Empress, only to be stabbed in the back by his future father-in-law.
The Emperor said, “Marquis Jingyang need not be alarmed. If anyone threatens you, I can certainly protect you.”
But the Marquis did not believe him.
You see, this is where it gets interesting. When the Emperor himself broke the rules, even those who were aligned with him no longer dared to trust him.
In the letter I sent to Jin Zhun, there were no threatening words; I only wrote one sentence: “The Emperor will never make mistakes.”
The Emperor will never make mistakes. If he does something wrong, it must be due to the influence of petty individuals who lead him astray, deceive him, and blind him.
Thus, the goal is to clear out the court’s underlings.
As long as those surrounding the Emperor are removed, won't he still be the good Emperor?
I just wanted Jin Zhun to think carefully. If the Jin family continued to stir up conflicts in the harem, and the Emperor continued to be muddled, who would ultimately bear the consequences?
Would it be the Jin family?
Or Jin Zhun?
Or perhaps the entire Marquis of Jingyang’s residence?
Unfortunately, while the Jin family had the audacity to vie for the position of Empress, Jin Zhun had grown increasingly timid with age, coming to undermine his own daughter.
All I did was write a letter.
58
After the Marquis of Jingyang, Jin Zhun, pleaded guilty, the Emperor flew into a rage. He cursed the court officials for being a clique of treacherous villains, wielding power to suppress the Emperor, persecuting loyal ministers, and then respectfully sent his father-in-law away.
Jin Zhun was close to tears: “My lords, please hear me out! I am innocent! I never wanted my daughter to be Empress!”
The court officials: “Who's speaking? We didn't hear anything, we didn't see anything. We don't play with bad kids.”
The Censors diligently wrote at home, sending snow-like memorials to the palace.
At this point, if Jìn Guìfēi wanted to hold another banquet, no one in the harem would attend.
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