Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn

Chapter 173

That day, Consort Li was already in a bad mood, and Su Su's bump only made her angrier. She ordered her head maid, Mei Lan, to whip Su Su. Seeing the large, grimy whip in Mei Lan's hand terrified me; how could Su Su's small body possibly endure it? Su Su trembled with fear at the sight of the whip, biting her lip and saying nothing, watching helplessly as the whip struck her again and again. It was clear she was in great pain; she had even bitten her lip until it bled.

Consort Li asked curiously, "Why don't you cry out? Perhaps I will spare you."

Su Su said softly, "This servant did something wrong and deserves to be punished. How can I beg Your Highness for forgiveness?"

Hearing Su Su's words, Consort Li was slightly moved and ordered Mei Lan to stop, then left with her entourage. As soon as Consort Li left, His Highness immediately had medicine brought and personally cleaned Su Su's wounds, carefully applying the medicine. I had never seen His Highness with such a pained and self-reproachful expression. He said, "Su Su, why don't you cry? Why don't you let me plead for you?"

Su Su said, "Your Highness, Su Su is usually ignorant of etiquette, and you have already been very tolerant of Su Su. How can I make things difficult for you and your mother now? Besides, no matter how ignorant Su Su is, Su Su has heard about Your Highness's difficult situation in the palace, so I will not cause Your Highness any more trouble."

I only knew that Su Su was usually very mischievous and often made His Highness laugh, so I thought she was just trying to win His Highness's favor. But today it seems that she genuinely cares about His Highness. In this deep palace, how can you not cherish someone who thinks of you so much?

Time flies, and the princes grow up day by day. In addition to the open and covert struggles among the concubines in the harem, the struggle among the princes also becomes increasingly fierce. In the princes' battle for power, my father was implicated, dismissed from his post and imprisoned. He soon died of illness in prison, and my mother also died of depression.

Thanks to His Highness's strong recommendation, I was able to escape safely and have remained by His Highness's side ever since. His Highness often said to me when no one was around, "Anqi, I am sorry for your family. They wanted to target me, but knowing that you and I are close, they attacked your family first."

I sat quietly to the side without saying a word. Haven't we seen enough of this kind of tactic over the years?

In this cruel palace, in this treacherous court, to keep what you want, you must have more power than others. If Your Highness and I cannot achieve final victory in this struggle, we will probably only end up with nothing but bones.

His Highness has reached the age for marriage, and the Empress has actually betrothed her niece to him as his principal wife. This is undoubtedly a great help to His Highness. Upon hearing this news, Su Su cried, "His Highness is going to marry someone else."

Hearing Su Su's words, my heart ached terribly. I knew they were very close, but I never felt anything amiss. However, seeing Su Su cry over His Highness marrying someone else, I felt even more pained than she was. Having been by their side for so many years, I so wished someone could treat me like that. Su Su, why can't you see His Highness and not me?

His Highness finally got married, taking the Empress's niece, Lady Zeng. In His Highness's new residence, Su Su ran to a secluded corner and cried her heart out. I stood not far from her watching, wondering to myself, "From now on, will you ever see me again?"

Lady Zeng had been married into the family for two years but had yet to bear a child. With the Empress holding him back, His Highness couldn't freely take concubines, let alone establish any secondary consorts. Eventually, the Emperor, unable to bear it any longer, personally appointed two daughters of high-ranking officials as secondary consorts for His Highness. Before taking them, he also sent several women of respectable backgrounds as maids. The Empress, of course, couldn't say anything more about the Emperor's decree. Watching other women enter the household one after another, the one who suffered the most was probably not the Princess Consort or the others, but Su Su.

In the past two years, I've changed my ways and often take better care of Su Su, and she's been much warmer towards me than before. But in her heart, there's still only His Highness. His Highness's new concubine, Lady Zhao, became pregnant after only three months in the household. His Highness was overjoyed and drank quite a bit of wine, while Su Su served him, her expression sorrowful. I couldn't bear to watch, so I quietly went outside.

Not long after, Su Su's sobs could be heard from inside, along with His Highness's gentle voice of comfort: "Believe me, none of these women are the ones I love; they are all just tools to me. In my heart, there will always only be you, Su Su. I am not strong enough now, and if I were to marry you, I could not guarantee your safety. Once I seize the throne, I will present you with the most noble and glorious things in the world and make you my Empress."

Is this what Your Highness has always said to Su Su? No wonder she has never given me a proper look.

In order to help His Highness fight for the throne, we also did many things that others had done to my father, constantly weakening the power of the other princes. At this time, His Highness's biggest opponent was only the Fifth Prince.

Later, the emperor fell seriously ill, and the power struggle among the princes gradually came to the forefront. Just as everyone was locked in a fierce battle, news that I found utterly infuriating arrived from His Highness's residence: Su Su was pregnant. For so many years, I knew His Highness had feelings for Su Su, but I couldn't truly gauge the depth of those feelings. His Highness had so many women, yet he had never touched Su Su, let alone taken her into his household; she had always remained by his side as a maid. When did this happen between them?

The news of Su Su's pregnancy had barely spread when news arrived that another concubine surnamed Ning was also pregnant. Since Su Su was already pregnant, His Highness had no choice but to place her alongside the concubine surnamed Ning.

A few days later, the Empress secretly summoned His Highness and said that if His Highness wanted her help to obtain the throne, he must guarantee that after ascending the throne, he would make her niece his empress, and that all future empresses must be members of the Zeng clan, and that the Zeng clan would be guaranteed future wealth and honor.

Empress Zeng had no children, and to ensure the well-being of the Zeng family, she could only choose the prince, who had also married a woman from the Zeng clan. Although the empress had no offspring, her influence both inside and outside the palace was considerable, and the prince readily agreed. However, the empress later added a condition: Su Su and her unborn child must be executed. The empress explained that she knew Su Su was the prince's most beloved woman, and without Su Su's death, it was difficult to guarantee that the prince would honor his promise to make Zeng empress after his ascension to the throne.

His Highness hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed and signed the agreement with the Empress.

Su Su, is this the man you love? This time, you won't even be able to save your life, let alone become empress.

His Highness found me and said he wanted to give Su Su a new identity, have her pretend to marry me, and then find a maid to die in Su Su's place.

I smiled and agreed. I don't know how I felt about the things His Highness had arranged. There was heartache, but it wasn't nearly as painful as before. Instead, I was more like watching a play, waiting for things to unfold.

Soon, I married Su Su, along with the child in her womb. Su Su from His Highness's residence had already been removed from the register.

The Emperor's condition worsened, rendering him unable to even attend court. The Empress controlled the palace, even moving her own belongings into the Emperor's bedchamber and remaining by his side day and night, forbidding anyone else from visiting him. The court officials and princes were largely dissatisfied, but the palace guards only obeyed the Emperor and Empress, so despite their grievances, they could not force their way in. Only His Highness seemed pleased with this situation.

This dragged on for half a month until the emperor passed away. On his deathbed, the empress finally allowed everyone to enter the palace and read the edict of succession to the ministers in front of the emperor's bedside: the throne was to be passed to the second prince, Shen Xiuhe.

The imperial edict caused an uproar in the hall, with many expressing doubt about its authenticity. Indeed, the emperor's favorite was the Fifth Prince, who was even given the best fiefdom. Without joining forces with the Zeng family, it would be difficult for the prince to seize the throne, and the emperor would most likely pass the throne to the Fifth Prince.

However, the edict in the empress's handwriting was indeed the emperor's, with the imperial seal neatly stamped in the lower left corner. It must have been an edict issued by the emperor.

The atmosphere in the hall was somewhat tense. At this moment, the emperor coughed a few times and woke up. Xie Yuan, a junior official of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward, kowtowed, and asked, "Your Majesty, are you really going to pass the throne to the Second Prince?"

Upon hearing this, the emperor became agitated, coughed several times, and glared angrily at the empress with trembling fingers. In the end, he passed away without saying a word. Before the officials could even kneel down, Xie Yuan took out a piece of yellow silk from his robes and said, "Two months ago, His Majesty entrusted me to draft the edict of succession, passing the throne to the Fifth Prince. It also bears His Majesty's personal annotations in vermilion ink."

Xie Yuan handed the yellow silk to Minister Wei, who examined it carefully before passing it on to the next official. The Empress, clearly unprepared for this turn of events, turned pale and took a while to recover. After the officials had finished reading it, Xie Yuan took the silk back and angrily rebuked the Empress: "This wicked Empress has held His Majesty hostage during his illness and forged an edict, disrupting the foundation of our nation. Her crimes deserve death!"

Many ministers immediately echoed this, vehemently denouncing the Empress. Some ministers argued that it was not unacceptable for the Emperor to amend the edict before a formal decree was issued, and that the final official edict should prevail. The two groups thus began to argue before the Emperor's body, while the Prince and the Fifth Prince, the parties involved, simply knelt quietly before the Emperor's bed, seemingly deaf to the arguments of their supporters.

Ultimately, under the Empress's iron-fisted suppression, most of the court officials accepted the edict in her hand and supported His Highness as Emperor. The Fifth Prince remained silent throughout, and after all the officials had kowtowed at His Highness's feet, he slowly knelt down as well.

His Highness ascended the throne and changed the era name to Tianxuan. Empress Zeng was honored as Empress Dowager Dezhuang, and His Highness's birth mother, the deceased Consort Li, was posthumously honored as Empress Dowager Zhenshun. Xie Yuan and several other officials who led the opposition against His Highness were executed along with their entire families. At this point, I should also address His Highness as Your Majesty.

His Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Marquis of Qiyun, with my fiefdom in the southwest. It lies across the Zuochun River from the Jinque Kingdom. Though a remote border region, it boasts beautiful scenery and fertile land, and has maintained friendly relations with the Jinque Kingdom for many years, resulting in minimal warfare. His Majesty's primary purpose in sending me to such a remote place is to ensure I take Susu there, to avoid encountering acquaintances. If the Empress Dowager were to discover that Susu is still alive, the trouble would be immense.

Although His Majesty had already ascended the throne, the court was very unstable, divided, and filled with dissent. Moreover, the Empress Dowager held most of the power in the palace, making it extremely difficult for the new emperor to take his position. However, I had already gone to the southwest, commanding 200,000 naval troops and 100,000 imperial guards, who, together with the court's other 200,000 garrison troops, guarded the southwest, making me a regional hegemon. The affairs of the court seemed somewhat distant to me.

In June, Su Su gave birth to a baby boy. I submitted a memorial to His Majesty, who already had the eldest son, Shen Yuxuan, born to Consort Zhao. Therefore, His Majesty named Su Su's child Shen Tingxuan. I took the character "Ting" and named him Mu Shaoting, as his name in the Marquis's residence.

After Su Su gave birth to Ting'er, I ordered people to search everywhere for women who looked like Su Su and bring them into the Marquis's mansion as concubines. At first, Su Su didn't pay attention, but later, I think it was because she heard the servants talking about which concubine had eyes like hers and which concubine had noses like hers, that she gradually became a little uncomfortable when she was with me.

Have you finally understood how I feel?

Not long after Ting'er turned one year old, His Majesty summoned me back to the capital, requesting that I take Susu and Ting'er with me. I delayed until September, citing the heat of the journey. On one hand, I genuinely cared for the mother and child, not wanting them to suffer from the heat on the road; on the other hand, I selfishly didn't want His Majesty to see them so soon.

Back in the capital, we moved into my father's old house, which had been uninhabited for a long time and was somewhat dilapidated. Su Su glanced at the house but said nothing, leading her wet nurse and Ting'er inside. That evening, His Majesty came from the palace to see Su Su and her son. However, with so many eyes and ears in the capital, His Majesty couldn't show them any special favor, so he only gave them a brief greeting before leaving. He then spoke to me about various matters in the capital. I was far away in the southwest; I knew some things, but not others, or by the time I learned them, they were already in the past and no longer relevant.

"The fifth prince has proposed marriage to the Mo family," His Majesty said, a hint of worry in his eyes.

I thought for a moment before I remembered: "Could it be the Mo family, the richest family in the capital, rumored to be incredibly wealthy?"

His Majesty nodded slightly, and I understood his concerns. The country was at war with Xuan Ying almost every year, leaving the treasury nearly empty. If Prince Qing were to marry into the Mo family, the Mo family's wealth and power, combined with Prince Qing's influence in court, would pose a significant threat to His Majesty.

"Did the Mo family agree?" I asked.

"The eldest daughter of the Mo family and the fifth son have known each other for a long time, so the Mo family has naturally agreed, but the date is yet to be set."

In that case, since they can't touch Prince Qing, they'll have no choice but to eliminate the Mo family and prevent them from forming a marriage alliance.