Schlimme Dinge passieren oft

Kapitel 37

Empress Dowager Gao walked to Hao, who was standing blankly in front of Xu, and pulled him to wipe away his tears, saying, "Hao'er, why don't you kneel down and beg for forgiveness from your brother!"

Hao sighed deeply, knelt down, his eyes slightly red, and said to Xu, "State affairs can be discussed together. I have no ulterior motives, so why such suspicion?"

Xu abruptly swept the cups and goblets off the table beside him, the shattering sound amplifying the eerie silence of the already terrified palace. Then he rose, flicked his sleeve, and strode away.

Back in the Funing Palace, Emperor Xu, still deeply resentful, ordered the immediate summons of Han Wei, the Hanlin Academician. A moment later, Han Wei arrived breathless, knelt, and asked, "Your Majesty, what decree summons you so late at night that requires an imperial edict?"

Xu told him calmly, "I trouble you to draft an edict for me, the gist of which is that Prince Qi has slandered the new laws, made reckless remarks attacking the government, disobeyed the emperor, and harbored disloyal intentions. He shall be stripped of all his official positions and titles and confined to his quarters to await punishment."

Han Wei wondered if he had misheard, and asked softly, "Your Majesty is referring to His Highness Prince Qi?"

“Yes!” Xu bowed slightly and moved a little closer: “Prince Qi, Hao. My second younger brother, Prince Qi, Hao!”

"Why...why?" Han Wei was very confused. Prince Qi had always been wise and respectful to the emperor. Perhaps he was dissatisfied with the new laws, but how could he be rebellious and disobedient, harboring ulterior motives?

Emperor Xu slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Didn't I already tell you the reason? Why aren't you drafting the decree yet!"

"Yes! Yes!" Han Wei obediently withdrew and obeyed the imperial decree to draft it, but he couldn't help but sigh repeatedly as he wrote.

After finishing writing, he picked up the imperial edict and presented it to the emperor. Unexpectedly, someone came up from behind and took it from him, saying, "Scholar Han, what new article have you written? Let me take a look first."

Han Wei turned around and immediately bowed, saying, "Long live the Empress Dowager!"

The Empress Dowager said to him with a kind smile, "His Majesty has summoned you so late; you must be very tired. Please go back and rest."

Han Wei agreed verbally, but dared not move, and looked up at the emperor on the throne with an inquiring gaze.

Zhao Xu waved his hand impatiently, and Han Wei breathed a sigh of relief, taking his leave as if he had been granted a pardon.

The Empress Dowager coldly surveyed the surrounding palace maids and eunuchs, then commanded, "You may all leave."

Everyone obeyed and took their leave.

The Empress Dowager glanced at the edict in her hand, walked up to Xu, threw it on his desk, and asked, "What does this mean?"

Xu Leng replied, "The imperial edict punishing Hao."

Why punish him?

"He made irresponsible remarks about state affairs and disobeyed his superiors."

"He was merely presenting facts and offering reasoned advice, aiming to make you face up to and correct your mistakes in order to maintain and consolidate your rule. What crime has he committed? How can it be said that he was making irresponsible remarks about state affairs and disobeying his superiors?"

"What wrong have I done that he has the right to criticize me? What right does he have to lecture and instruct me?" Xu stood up angrily and said, "He can't even take care of his own wife, which led to Wanji's suicide. What right does he have to presume to comment on my policies for governing the country?"

The Empress Dowager raised her hand and slapped Xu hard across the face.

"Wanji! How dare you mention Wanji!" Her anger surpassed his: "You know better than anyone how she died!"

Yu Yun

Xu immediately fell silent. For a moment, the air and his thoughts seemed to freeze, then the nerves in his face began to throb with pain, causing him to blush. His consciousness began to stir again, attempting to open a door to memories he had deliberately sealed away, but he knew the deep-seated past within would frighten and torment him, so he resentfully suppressed this attempt, just as he always had.

"On the day Wanji died, she came to Qingshou Palace to see me. But the night before, I dreamt of Emperor Renzong, and I woke up feeling very uneasy. So, early the next morning, I took the palace maids and eunuchs to his mausoleum to offer sacrifices. I had already left when Wanji arrived, so she didn't see me at all that day." The Empress Dowager stared intently at Xu and said, "But she saw you!"

Xu was startled by her sharp words. Then the memories were unsealed, surging forth like a tidal wave. He stood there, feeling dizzy. He bit his lower lip, trying to calm himself, but a hot, metallic liquid slowly seeped out, soaking between his lips and teeth.

"She saw you..." The Empress Dowager continued to stare at him intently: "And then, what did you say to her? What did you do? Have you really forgotten?"

What did I say to her? What did I do? Have I really forgotten? Xu pondered in confusion. He felt the scene before him gradually float up, or perhaps, his soul was struggling to escape from his heart and lungs, which were about to tear apart, but it looked around blankly, not knowing where to go.

Finally, he slumped weakly into the dragon throne. Before he could bury his face, which was ashamed before the Empress Dowager, with his arms crossed and head bowed, he felt a drop of water quietly fall from his left eye.

Yes, he met Wan Ji that day.

That afternoon, he went alone to Qingshou Palace to pay his respects to his grandmother. When he arrived at the palace gate, the two old eunuchs who had stayed behind to guard the gate told him that the Empress Dowager had made a last-minute decision to go to Emperor Renzong's mausoleum, and that there was no one in the palace at the moment.

No one was there? Good. He went in anyway and went straight to the room where Wanji had lived before she got married. He knew that Wanji often came here to rest and sit after she got married. The room was filled with a fragrance that he had been familiar with since childhood, and there were traces of its owner everywhere. His gaze and fingers lingered on every item that Wanji had used, and he felt a cool joy.

I don't know how much time passed. Suddenly, I heard the tinkling of jade pendants, and a light and graceful figure gradually moved closer.

Wanji. She entered her boudoir, and the two of them unexpectedly discovered each other, both surprised and slightly flustered.

The four palace maids following behind her knelt down to pay their respects to him, and she, as if suddenly awakened, also curtsied.

He tried his best to maintain the noble and solemn demeanor of an emperor, telling them to rise, and then explained in a way that only made things more complicated: "I came to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager, but I didn't expect her to be absent, so... so..."

So what? So you're just wandering around? Caught off guard, her four maids couldn't help but stifle their laughter. Having served Consort Wan since childhood, they knew of their past relationship and understood everything at a glance.

Perhaps they felt some sympathy for their forced separation. One of them excused herself, saying, "We servants will wait outside." She then pulled the other sisters out, kindly closing the door behind her, wanting to give them some time alone.

He gazed at her, finding her even more beautiful than before. She had once been as delicate as a willow swaying in the breeze, but now she was much fuller-figured. The sorrow in her eyes had lessened considerably, and there was even a hint of joy, for reasons unknown, adding a radiant glow to her. Under his undisguised gaze, she lowered her head, avoiding his eyes, which only enhanced her captivating charm.

He walked over and couldn't help but take her hand: "Wan'er..."

She stepped aside and bowed, saying, "Please show some respect, Your Majesty."

Xu frowned. Before he could grasp the distant meaning behind her actions, what displeased him first was her way of addressing him. "Your Majesty?" He disliked Wanji addressing him that way; it felt unfamiliar and deliberately emphasized his status.

“Call me Xu, just like before,” he said softly, almost reluctant to use a commanding tone.

She shook her head: "Your Majesty is the Emperor, so naturally you should address him that way. Or, I can address you as Your Majesty or Your Majesty, like Hao does."

He was displeased: "Why bring up Hao out of the blue?"

She smiled calmly: "It's natural for a wife to talk about her husband."

“Wan’er!” He grabbed her shoulder. “Now it’s just the two of us here. You don’t need to worry or hide your feelings. I hope we can talk like we used to.”

She broke free: "It's different now! Things are completely different now than before. How can we speak in the same way and with the same attitude as before?"

He was taken aback, then finally remembered the moral and ethical principles that stood between them, and then let out a cold laugh.

She seemed to soften slightly, sighed, and said, "I'm sorry, Xu."

Hearing her call him that again, he looked at her with delight, and a strange hope began to burn within him once more.

However, when she looked up at him, there was a helpless indifference in her eyes. In a soft but clear voice, she told him, "This is the last time I will call you Xu. You should know that I have married Hao and am now the Princess of Qi, and..." She paused, then continued, "And, I am already carrying his child."

What?! Xu's ears rang, her mind went blank. She was pregnant with Hao's child?!

"I am pregnant with Hao's child." She added, "Therefore, we must never meet again like this. Let us forget everything that happened before, and I hope Your Majesty will have mercy on the person before you..."

No wonder she looked so full and radiant; she's pregnant with Hao's child. But why is there a look of joy in her eyes and brows? Doesn't she love me? Why is she so happy to be pregnant with Hao's child?

This thought enraged Xu. He grabbed Wanji's shoulders again, shaking her violently and demanding, "Why did you get pregnant with his child? Why would you be willing to bear his child?"

“He is my husband!” Wanji struggled to say, “And he loves me!”

"But the person you love is me!" Ignoring her struggles, Xu pulled her tightly into his arms. "I love you too! I love you more than Hao! Don't you know that? How could you not know! The person who shares your bed should be me, and the person who bears your children should also be me!"

"No! Xu!" She struggled desperately, trying to push him away. But this action strangely aroused his desire, a desire for revenge deep in his heart and an instinctive desire that was gradually igniting in his body.

He picked her up and threw her onto the bed. She screamed in terror. The palace maids guarding the door were alarmed by the sound, but dared not come in. They could only ask the princess what was wrong from the outside.

He shouted angrily outside, "Anyone who dares to come in will be killed without mercy!" Immediately, silence fell outside.

He turned around and easily grabbed her resisting hands, pinning them to the headboard. Then he bent down to kiss her lips, cheeks, neck, and the skin below.

She struggled and resisted anxiously, even begging him, but he ignored her and continued his abusive behavior.

Suddenly, she struggled to free one hand and slammed it into his neck, her fingernails scratching a wound on his neck from which blood immediately seeped out.

She was stunned for a moment, then fell silent.

He supported himself with his hands, looking down at her, his eyes burning with a mixture of anger and love. The drops of blood coalesced into a single, slow trickle, and he caught it between his fingers, examining its glistening crimson color before wiping it onto her lower lip.

She remained motionless as if under a spell, staring blankly at him above her.

He lowered his head again and kissed her blood-stained lips.

A deep, lingering kiss, passionate and tender. He kissed her delicate lips and tongue with a mixture of passion and gentleness, exploring and teasing her with kisses that were both caresses and provocations. At first, she passively accepted his advances, but gradually she began to respond, and he sensed her returning his kisses.

So he happily unbuttoned her clothes.

She tried to stop him in a panic, but her disobedience was, of course, an easy problem for him to solve.

When he finally broke through her last line of defense, she gave up all resistance, but two lines of clear tears slid down her cheeks.

For Xu, this experience in itself was a wonderful one, one he had never known before. He felt the bliss born from the fusion of love and physical pleasure. Did Wan Ji feel the same way? He guessed she did, because she later embraced and kissed him, but she was constantly in tears, and her skin remained unusually cold.

When he finally let go of her, she silently got up, dressed, and then sat down in front of the dressing mirror to carefully do her makeup.

He lay in bed, languidly watching her comb her hair, finding it exquisitely beautiful. This was a scene he had dreamed of for many years; it should be like this: when he opened his eyes, he would see her waiting in his room, gracefully and calmly doing her hair.

He suddenly realized that if he was willing, if he worked hard, if he found a way, they could achieve such a life.

He then asked her, "How about I take you back from Hao?"

As if she had been suddenly burned by the comb, her hand trembled, and the comb fell to the ground.

She remained silent.

He figured she probably needed time to think it over, so he stopped asking.

She picked up the comb and continued combing her hair. She combed it perfectly, then lightly applied powder and lightly brushed her eyebrows. When she finished, she looked exactly the same as when she came in.

Before getting up to leave, she turned to look at him, smiled, and said, "Xu, I'm leaving now."

He smiled and nodded. Then she opened the door, went out, and disappeared from his sight.

That night, she drowned herself.

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Wanxi

"You drove her to her death."

To Xu, the Empress Dowager's words sounded like the final verdict in a long-standing case. He seemed to hear a voice in his chest uttering a heart-wrenching lament. Shock. A pain that felt like his internal organs were being torn apart.

"After her death, you couldn't face the fact that you had driven her to her death, nor could you forgive yourself or bear the pangs of conscience. So, you chose to deceive yourself, deliberately forgetting the despicable things you had done to her. Then, you shifted the blame onto Hao. You often convinced yourself that Wanji had argued with Hao after returning home and, unable to bear Hao's scolding, committed suicide by drowning. Over time, you became more and more convinced of the lies you had fabricated, and thus you grew increasingly resentful of your younger brother Hao!"

Xu was speechless, overwhelmed with shame and remorse. He knew the Empress Dowager was telling the truth; he had indeed thought and acted accordingly. How could he have driven Wanji to her death? He was clearly the one who loved her most in the world. And this was the truth, a piercing, excruciating pain for him. Therefore, he needed to distract himself from this agony and deep self-reproach. He repeatedly told himself that Wanji had left him peacefully, showing no signs of wanting to die. Therefore, it was likely that Hao had discovered clues after she returned, scolded her, or even beaten her, leading her to attempt suicide. Thus, he began to habitually imagine the unpleasant events that occurred between her and Hao after her return, using this to lessen and escape the pain and shadow cast by his own wrongdoing. The result was that his innocent younger brother, Hao, became his victim. In reality, the resentment and anger he vented on Hao were things he should have directed at himself.

She continued, "After this happened, she might still have a chance to live because of the child in her womb. But what did you say to her next? Did you say you would try to take her away from Hao? How could you expect her to live? To live so that you could hurt Hao, or even kill Hao, and then enjoy your 'happy' life after you reunited through such means?"

“She still loved Hao more after all,” Xu said sadly. “I didn’t expect it. I really didn’t know she would love Hao to the point of being willing to die for him. I thought she always loved me and only me, but she just didn’t want to admit it. I never thought she would commit suicide because of this.”