Chapter 73: Awareness
For days on end, the Empress Dowager had not enjoyed a single good night’s sleep.
The Emperor’s injuries already had her worried sick, and after Linchuan was taken away, she lost half her spirit. Having been an Empress and then Empress Dowager for so many years, her life had been smooth sailing; rarely had she faced such despair.
Her heart felt terribly oppressed. Looking at the seasonal pastries served by the palace attendants, she had no appetite whatsoever. Leaning listlessly against the couch, she frowned and asked, “The osmanthus cake Aijia ordered—was it delivered?”
Though she didn’t name names, Matron Song knew perfectly well that the Empress Dowager was referring to Grand Princess Linchuan.
Delivered?
When His Majesty ordered someone to be guarded, even if the Empress Dowager went in person, she would only be met with a closed door.
How could it be delivered?
Yet, Matron Song smiled and said, “It was delivered. The Princess even sent word back saying she liked it very much.” As she spoke, she took the silver chopsticks from a maid behind her, picked up a piece of chestnut cake, and held it to the Empress Dowager’s lips. “Your Highness didn’t eat much for the noon meal, and it’s still a while before evening cuisine. Why not have a few pieces of chestnut cake to satisfy your craving?”
The Empress Dowager’s brow gradually smoothed, and the gloom in her eyes dissipated. She took a bite of the chestnut cake from Matron Song’s hand and nodded gently. “Not bad. Send another portion to her tomorrow.”
The attendants on both sides wore varying expressions, but Matron Song smiled as usual. “Alright. As a mother, Your Highness naturally worries about your own child.”
The Empress Dowager furrowed her brows, a hint of dissatisfaction appearing. She sighed lightly, “What mother doesn’t love her children? The Emperor cannot tolerate her; suspicion has grown in his heart. But… the palms and the backs of the hands are both flesh; both are dear to me!”
At this point, the Empress Dowager suddenly couldn’t continue.
The scene from a few days ago, when Linchuan was being taken away, flashed before her eyes—standing in the courtyard before the hall, screaming “Mother” at the top of her lungs, heart-wrenching and lung-splitting.
The servants had blocked the Empress Dowager inside the bedchamber, preventing them from meeting.
Although she couldn’t see her, hearing those desperate cries, each louder than the last, felt like a knife twisting in her heart.
She had raised that child from a tiny infant into a graceful young woman. How could she not be her child, as the Emperor claimed?
The Empress Dowager’s heart ached like it was being cut. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. That day after Linchuan fell into the water, she shouldn’t have summoned the Empress to demand an explanation. If not for that incident, the Emperor wouldn’t have fabricated these lies to deceive her. Perhaps, even now, everything would still be fine.
“Her relationship with the Emperor has always been ordinary. Aijia told her so many times to build a good relationship with her Imperial Brother, but the child just wouldn’t listen…”
As the Empress Dowager rambled on, Matron Song sat quietly by the side listening, occasionally feeding her a bite of pastry.
As she spoke, the Empress Dowager recalled the Emperor’s cold gaze from that day. His voice, like shattered jade and cold ice, had told her mercilessly, “Linchuan is not Mother’s biological daughter, nor is she Zhen’s sister. She was brought from who knows where to impersonate her!”
“Birthmarks can fade, appearances can change, but how does a mole disappear?”
Sentence after sentence struck her heart like heavy hammers, leaving her breathless.
With a dazed look in her eyes, the Empress Dowager looked uneasily at Matron Song and asked in a deep voice, ” Ah Mu, can a mole disappear on its own?”
Matron Song lowered her eyes halfway and whispered, “It is difficult, unless one actively finds a way to remove it.”
After a long silence, the Empress Dowager’s heart raced, and she gradually lost her appetite again, pushing Matron Song’s hand aside.
Suddenly, a servant reported from outside the hall that He Taifei was requesting an audience, asking if the Empress Dowager would see her.
The Empress Dowager was stunned. She hadn’t expected He Taifei to be released today. Amidst her shock, she hurriedly ordered for her to be invited in.
After months of not seeing her, He Taifei looked haggard, no longer possessing her former noble and outstanding appearance. She was flanked by what looked like a crowd of attendants, but in reality, they were there to monitor her every move.
The path from the palace gates to the table seemed exceptionally long. She walked slowly, then bowed down before the Empress Dowager. ” Ah Jie…”
The Empress Dowager ordered a seat to be bestowed. After exchanging a few words, the Empress Dowager naturally brought up the matter of Linchuan.
“The Emperor insists that Linchuan is not Aijia’s daughter. Tell me, if she isn’t Aijia’s daughter, whose could she be?” The Empress Dowager said indignantly. “The Emperor… he is truly becoming more and more outrageous!”
Glancing at the surroundings, He Taifei whispered, ” Ah Jie, could you ask them to leave first? I have something to say to you.”
The Empress Dowager hesitated for a moment, instinctively turning to look at Matron Song.
Matron Song intended to advise against it, but the words reached her lips only to be swallowed back down.
“You all withdraw for now,” the Empress Dowager said indifferently, sweeping a glance around.
The servants of Wan Chun Palace responded and left, but the group of people who came with He Taifei stood there like poles of green bamboo, refusing to move an inch.
The Empress Dowager’s brow darkened, and she ordered, “You withdraw as well.”
The attendants shook their heads in fear and abruptly knelt on the ground to beg for mercy. “Empress Dowager, His Majesty ordered that this slave and the others cannot leave the Taifei for even a moment. We hope Your Highness will forgive us.”
So, they were the Emperor’s people.
A layer of faint anger accumulated in the Empress Dowager’s eyes as she feigned hardness. “Even Aijia’s orders won’t do?”
The attendants lowered their heads in unison, remaining silent.
Amidst the tense atmosphere, He Taifei suddenly straightened her upper body. Kneeling tall before the table, she clasped her hands and bowed, whispering, ” Ah Jie, forgive me. Ah Yu she… is indeed not Ah Jie’s daughter. She is my daughter.”
The soft voice echoed in the inner hall, silencing the entire palace.
The Empress Dowager stared at her with lifeless eyes. After an unknown amount of time, she asked dazedly, “What?”
” Ah Jie, I said, Ah Yu is the one I…”
Her collar was suddenly yanked up. A face loomed close to hers, written with disbelief and a layer of surging rage. “What did you say?”
“I said Ah Yu…”
Before she could finish, she was shaken violently by the collar, shaken until her internal organs felt wretched.
The Empress Dowager gripped her, her eyes gradually stained scarlet. “Who told you to say these things? Who sent you here?”
“How could Ah Yu be your daughter? How could she be? Isn’t your Little Eight long gone?”
Approaching evening, the light in the hall carried a dim yellow hue. That dusky light reflected on He Taifei’s face, adding a touch of softness to her pale countenance.
It looked much more comfortable.
But the Empress Dowager found it piercing to the eyes.
He Taifei was not in a hurry; the time for urgency had passed. She simply lowered her eyes slightly to avoid the Empress Dowager’s gaze and repeated warmly, “Ah Yu is my daughter. Back then, I was jealous of Ah Jie, so I swapped Ah Yu for Sister’s child and told people the child’s marks had grown out.”
“You are talking nonsense!” The Empress Dowager’s eyes nearly split open as she stared deathly at her.
He Taifei continued to reply, ” Ah Jie, back then, I wronged you. I deserve ten thousand deaths.”
She repeated it over and over, causing the last shred of hope in the Empress Dowager to fade. Her body swayed, and she asked with red eyes, “You say Ah Yu is your daughter, then what about mine? What about mine?!”
“As His Majesty said, the Second Miss Zhao might be Ah Jie’s child,” He Taifei replied softly.
The Empress Dowager’s hand gripping the collar suddenly lost its strength. Her hand loosened, the fabric slipping through her fingers, and her whole body tipped backward, nearly collapsing.
“Niangniang!”
The servants exclaimed, rushing forward to support the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager’s lips moved slightly. She looked up at He Taifei, anger and disbelief flowing faintly in her eyes.
She grabbed a teacup and hurled it at He Taifei, shouting angrily, ” Aijia trusted you so much! Even when the news came from the Emperor yesterday that you were responsible for the arson at Jiao Fang Palace, Aijia refused to believe it easily. How could you… how could you do this to Aijia?!”
No wonder Linchuan’s brows and eyes looked somewhat like her.
The reason she didn’t believe it was precisely because Linchuan looked like her (He Taifei).
But thinking about it now, shouldn’t she look like her?
“The moment you entered the palace, you were a Jieyu. You said the place was too small and you weren’t used to it, so Aijia designated a separate hall for you. Whenever you had conflicts with other concubines, did Aijia not side with you? You said Seventh Prince was still young and needed to study in the palace, that it was inconvenient for him to move out, so Aijia let you continue living in the palace. Even Aijia’s Wan Chun Palace was open for you to come and go as you pleased. Aijia treated you with sincerity, and this is how you repay Aijia?”
“Eldest Brother was right. You people are white-eyed wolves that can never be fed!”
Speaking to the point of emotional agitation, the Empress Dowager couldn’t help but voice the assessment He Mingshou had made years ago. It was almost a roar, the anger nearly piercing the clouds.
He Taifei, however, grabbed the Empress Dowager’s hand, no longer calm and indifferent. Disregarding the attendants behind her, she said with a trembling voice, ” Ah Jie, I deserve ten thousand deaths, but Ah Yu… Ah Yu is innocent!”
At this point, Matron Song understood clearly. She had come for Grand Princess Linchuan.
Her brow darkened, and she opened her mouth to scold, but the Empress Dowager took over directly: “You still have the face to mention Ah Yu!”
A child she had raised for years—even if she learned overnight that she wasn’t her own, how could the feelings be fake?
The Empress Dowager felt unbearable heartache, staring at He Taifei with an ashen face.
” Ah Jie, everything is my fault.” He Taifei wept profusely, tears rolling down like pearls. “His Majesty doesn’t like Ah Yu, and she has such a conflict with Second Miss Zhao. Her only reliance is Ah Jie!”
The Empress Dowager kept a cold face and didn’t reply.
Twilight was fading, the sky growing darker, gradually shrouded by the evening dusk.
Before leaving, He Taifei begged one last time, “As long as Seventh Prince and Ah Yu can live, I will be willing.”
“Niangniang.” Matron Song looked slightly dissatisfied. She gently supported the Empress Dowager, who had collapsed on the floor, and said warmly, “She has always harbored evil intentions. She was never peaceful even when she was a young lady back home. It was Niangniang’s soft heart that allowed her to have today.”
The Empress Dowager took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, ” Ah Mu, let Aijia think for a moment. Aijia is a little tired.”
In late autumn, it suddenly turned cold; it was the easiest time to catch a wind-chill.
Because of the great fire at Jiao Fang Palace, involving the Emperor and Empress, and dragging out an old secret of the Imperial family, the entire court and public were in an uproar. Even the palace was rife with rumors.
Everyone debated the matter day and night, with diverse opinions and conflicting views.
Zhao Yiyi looked at the falling paulownia leaves outside the window and chuckled lightly. “Fortunately, Your Majesty hasn’t been able to attend court these days; otherwise, wouldn’t you be annoyed to death by them?”
Gu Zhen laughed brightly and said warmly, “It’s precisely because they haven’t brought the noise before Zhen that I can’t be bothered to deal with them. If Zhen were attending court, I would certainly punish a few as a warning to the others.”
Zhao Yiyi withdrew her gaze from the window, looked back at him through the curtain, and curled her lips. “Your Majesty is quite good at planning.”
She casually picked up a tangerine to peel.
The Emperor loved honey tangerines. Although he couldn’t eat them easily now due to his condition, the Palace Domestic Service still sent them according to the old custom.
Even if he couldn’t eat them, smelling them was good.
The honey tangerine was quickly peeled. She carefully removed the pith, took half the tangerine, and put it into her mouth.
The clear, sweet taste spread, making every part of her feel comfortable.
Zhao Yiyi took the other half, but suddenly heard him ask, “Yiyi, the rumors outside regarding Linchuan and the others—you ordered people to spread them, didn’t you?”
Her fingertips holding the tangerine segment paused abruptly. After a long while, she replied as if nothing had happened, “What did Your Majesty say?”
Gu Zhen sighed lightly, changed the subject helplessly, and asked, “Has Mother come to seek you these past few days?”
His people were everywhere in the palace; asking this was knowing the answer.
“Mn. Duanduan is still feeling unwell, so this consort didn’t let Mother see her.”
The Empress Dowager had come several times, saying she wanted to see Duanduan.
She had declined directly and tactfully.
“If you don’t want to see her, then don’t,” he said softly. “No one can make you wrong yourself.”
A sigh suddenly came from inside the tent. Zhao Yiyi continued to look down and eat the tangerine, asking in passing, “Does Your Majesty want some?”
Gu Zhen said, ” Zhen cannot partake.”
When the honey tangerine was finished, Gu Zhen said gently, “Whatever you want, just tell Zhen directly. There’s no need to go to such lengths to do these things, nor is there a need to think so much.”
Zhao Yiyi fiddled with the hem of her sleeve, listening listlessly.
“What does Yiyi want?” he asked, softening his voice.
Zhao Yiyi threw the peel aside, smoothed her skirt, and smiled. “What does Your Majesty think?”
She threw the question back.
Her voice was as clear and moist as cold jade.
Gu Zhen naturally knew what she wanted; otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone to such trouble to spread the news.
A tenderness appeared in his eyes, and he smiled helplessly. “Regarding the investiture, Zhen originally thought to plan it after recovering a bit and letting things settle. Since you want it, let us settle it earlier.”
After speaking, a trace of sourness couldn’t help but spread through his heart.
They were clearly husband and wife, the closest people in the world, yet she ranked Zhao Duanduan ahead of him.
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