Chapter 983: Chapter 979: The End (23)
The Eldest Prince was startled and secretly glared at Nanny Mao. Why hadn’t she made way just now? He cupped his hands and bowed as he replied, "Because she slacked off and fooled me, Your Son was too angry and kicked her once." He paused, then hurried to explain, "But I didn’t kick her hard. She’s delicate, so she couldn’t take it."
The Emperor’s brows furrowed tightly, disgust flashing in his eyes. "Hmph!" He snorted coldly and no longer looked at the Eldest Prince. As he walked past him, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Come to the Imperial Study Room tonight and copy the Hundred Family Surnames ten times. I want you to remember: this world is not filled with only the Zhu clan. As a Prince, you are not one whit nobler than others. Do you understand?"
"Your Son understands." The Eldest Prince answered with his head lowered, then pointed toward the inner room. "Father Emperor, Mother Empress just fainted."
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed. He no longer looked at him but turned and entered the inner room. On the bed, the Empress lay with her eyes closed, yet she could hear the conversation between father and son outside. Thinking of how her own son was now maimed, and this father not only failed to comfort and care for him but heaped more blame upon him, the fire in her heart flared up fiercely. She wanted to open her eyes, but Old Madam Shen coughed once and moved to salute the Emperor.
The Emperor’s cold, gloomy gaze turned and settled on Old Madam Shen. "Aunt is already advanced in years. From now on, if there is nothing urgent, don’t come out so often. Just stay in the mansion and enjoy your old age in peace."
Old Madam Shen started, lifting her head in surprise to look at the Emperor. The Emperor continued, "I once said that I would respect you as I did my own mother. Now, I have not changed my original intention... From today on, Aunt will remain in Shen Mansion, to nurture her years in tranquility, savor the sweetness of grandchildren, and live out the leisurely days of an ordinary woman’s old age." She was to be confined.
This was already, for the Eldest Prince’s sake, a light punishment on the Shen. Otherwise, with their crimes, even stripping them to commoner status and punishing the entire clan would be no more than they deserved. But the Shen were, after all, the Eldest Prince’s maternal family, and Old Madam Shen had once given him her full support when he ascended the throne. Not only that, she was also his aunt. In meting out punishment, he had no choice but to take the fear of public opinion into account.
Old Madam Shen was stunned for a long time. Though she understood in her heart, having been used to standing above others for a lifetime, now to be made to withdraw and hide herself away in the mansion, she still found it hard to accept for the moment.
"Many thanks for the Emperor’s benevolence. Since Shen Ji passed away, this old body has felt weaker by the day. I indeed need to properly recuperate." Old Madam Shen withdrew her startled gaze and nodded in acceptance. "Only, Her Majesty’s health is not good. I beg the Emperor to assign more attendants to look after her."
The Emperor’s expression was indifferent. "She is My proper wife. I will naturally look after her." When he finished, his gaze fell upon the Empress, who had already opened her eyes and was staring at him unwillingly. "The Empress is awake? Are you gravely harmed?" The Emperor stood with his hands clasped behind his back, with no trace of concern on his face.
The Empress could no longer conceal the anger in her tone. If not for the Shen’s assistance back then, how would he have his present glory? Yet what of him? Once the court stabilized, he indulged Fourth Master Xiao in taking the Shen apart step by step. They say an Emperor is heartless; only now did she truly see it clear and bright!
Her heart was dead. When the Empress looked again at the man before her, all she felt was disgust. She did not wish to see him another moment.
She closed her eyes, and tears slid from the corners. But then—what about her Yan’er? A Prince with a crippled arm... if he had no mother to care for him in the palace, one could well imagine how hard his days to come would be.
In a blink, she regained her composure, looking sorrowfully at the Emperor. "The Emperor shows mercy to my mother, for which this concubine is endlessly grateful." After speaking, she turned to the Eldest Prince. "Yan’er, hurry and pour tea for your Father Emperor."
The Eldest Prince responded quickly and withdrew with Nanny Mao. The Empress smiled and said, "This concubine is unwell and begs the Emperor’s pardon for being unable to rise and welcome Your Majesty."
The Emperor cast the Empress a deep look and said blandly, "Since you are unwell, palace affairs can be handled by Consort Le. When Consort Wen’s injuries are healed, she can assist her as well. You may rest at ease."
"Thank you for the Emperor’s kindness." The Empress replied with a smile, but the palm hidden beneath the quilt was almost torn to shreds by her own fingernails.
The Emperor did not wish to linger. He inclined his head. "I have other important matters these days. If something happens, go to Chief Chang." The unspoken meaning: do not come looking for him, whether for something or for nothing.
"Your Majesty." The Empress tried one last time. "This concubine truly did not send anyone to assassinate Xiao Huaimin. I still say this: he is but a bastard son of Xiao Mansion. What reason would I have to kill him?"
The Emperor’s steps halted. He turned to look at her, his eyes unfamiliar and distant. Just as he was about to speak, from outside, Chief Chang called through the door, "Your Majesty, this slave has something to report."
"Come in." The Emperor watched as Chief Chang entered and asked, "What is it?"
Chief Chang saluted the Empress and Old Madam Shen, then bent at the waist, looking somewhat hesitant. The Emperor said, "Speak!"
"It is Lord Shi." Chief Chang’s face held a hint of joy. "Someone just reported back that Lord Shi has found, among the common folk, the Prince who has been missing for many years. He will return to the Capital before long."
The Emperor’s brows lifted, joy appearing on his face as he nodded. "Good, good! I will await his return."
Old Madam Shen swayed and had to clutch the bed edge before she could barely stand steady. What had Chief Chang just said? They’d found the late Empress’s posthumous child? How could that be? Xiao Huaimin was that child, was he not already dead outside the border? How could he still be found by Shi Shengjie?
She shook her head in disbelief, her face full of terror. Could it be that even this last bit of victory she thought she held had long been within someone else’s calculations?
The Empress suddenly sat up, narrowed her eyes, and glared at the Emperor. "What did you say? Whom are you waiting for to return?"
The Emperor turned his head and looked at the Empress. "I am waiting for My eldest son. Will the Empress not rejoice for Me?"
"Impossible." The Empress blurted out. "Wasn’t he already dead?" As soon as the words fell, realizing she had misspoken, she hurried to amend, "Did he not pass away back then in Your Majesty’s residence along with the late Empress?"
The Emperor looked at her coldly, his eyes filled with utter chill and contempt. "How could My royal son be dead? He is, of course, very much alive."
Outside the door came a crisp crack—the sound of porcelain shattering upon the floor. The Eldest Prince stared toward the inner room in terror... The late Empress’s posthumous son had returned? Would that not make him the rightful Eldest Prince of Great Zhou? Then what was he himself?
The Emperor flung his sleeves and turned. "Empress, rest well." Without looking back, he left the room, leaving the Eldest Prince standing dumbly at the door, Old Madam Shen by the bed, and the Empress whose soul seemed to have flown from her body within.
They finally understood that perhaps everything Fourth Master Xiao had done had been tacitly permitted by the Emperor. Thus, he was the most venomous one.
From then on, Ren Zong’s second Empress—recorded in history as Empress Shen Junior, so as to distinguish her from the late Empress—was cast into the Cold Palace. Her title remained, but Fengwu Palace was turned into the Cold Palace on the spot. Old Madam Shen was confined in her mansion, forbidden to take a single step beyond its gates for the rest of her life. Until the day she died, she never saw her daughter again.
The storm was quietly quelled, leaving no ripples on the surface.
On the day Shen Ji’s coffin was brought back to the Capital, the summer sun blazed bright. The whole city was steeped in the news that the late Empress’s posthumous child—Great Zhou’s true Eldest Prince—would return to the Capital in a month. The carriage carrying the Imperial Uncle’s ashes rolled slowly into the city along the boiling, bustling street, yet no one paid it any heed, and no one came to welcome it. The sight was unspeakably desolate.
