Novelas PaiPai - Capítulo 114
The Emperor has not revealed any further advice from the officials, but I suspect that Sima Guang and others must have offered new opinions to the Emperor regarding the Princess's words and actions. When I was granted permission to see the Emperor for the first time, he looked very melancholy, and his eyes were filled with worry as he looked at the Princess. His appearance could only be described as sorrowful.
His furrowed brow stemmed from another reason, one that officials like Sima Guang had repeatedly urged him to consider—the selection of an heir. The birth of five princesses within three years must have been a significant blow to him. In the sixth year of the Jiayou reign, Chancellor Fu Bi resigned due to the death of his mother. Before leaving, he submitted a memorial to the current emperor, implying that Heaven did not favor him, resulting in his lack of an heir, and strongly urging him to choose a member of the imperial clan as heir, saying, "Your Majesty was born to Heaven in the past. If Heaven's will was with Your Majesty, then the heir would already be established. Recently, I heard that four princesses were born in one year. If Heaven's will was with Your Majesty, then among them must be princes. This is Heaven's will; Your Majesty should understand."
Although the current emperor still firmly believes in not establishing an heir, he seems less enthusiastic about having a son now that he is getting old. He spends his days either talking with the Empress and Consort Miao or with Qiu He. Qiu He is plagued by illness and has long since become emaciated, no longer possessing her former beauty. According to her maidservants who spoke to Consort Miao, the emperor doesn't necessarily want her to serve him in bed; most of the time, he simply faces her silently or rests peacefully beside her with his eyes closed.
The Emperor's sorrow also affected Qiuhe. Once, when I visited her, I found her eyes still wet with tears, clearly she had just been crying. Upon seeing me enter, she immediately greeted me with a smile, deliberately concealing her tear stains. While we chatted, the Eleventh Princess woke from her afternoon nap and began to cry. Qiuhe hurried to comfort her, and I took this opportunity to ask Zhao Jichong, the Prefect of the Imperial Academy, why Qiuhe was crying. Zhao Jichong said that the Emperor had returned from the morning court session that day and sat here with Qiuhe for a while without saying a word, lost in thought for a long time. Qiuhe cautiously asked him why he was unhappy. He looked at her, sighed deeply, and said, "Qiuhe, why didn't we have a son?"
I immediately understood Qiuhe's feelings. The Emperor's words might simply be a lament about his bad luck, but Qiuhe would definitely blame herself for it, adding another knot in her heart, and her days ahead would be filled with more sorrow than joy.
“Huaiji, I have good news to tell you.” Qiuhe sat down in front of me with the Eleventh Princess in his arms and smiled. “I was worried that the Emperor would listen to the censors’ advice and separate you and the princess again. I talked to him about this yesterday, and he promised me that this time, the censors could not control him and he would definitely not banish you from the capital again.”
I wasn't particularly surprised, but I sincerely thanked Qiu He. She had gone to great lengths and used countless words to persuade the Emperor regarding my affair with the princess.
"Aren't you happy?" Qiuhe noticed something was off about my expression and gradually stopped smiling, but soon gave me a cheerful look that was also encouraging. "Don't worry, it's alright. You will live a peaceful and joyful life from now on, and no one can separate you."
I smiled at her, indicating that I accepted her kind blessing, but I didn't tell her that in this space we cannot escape, our lives will no longer have peace and joy, only temporary tranquility, whether long or short, just like hers.
After living in the palace for a month, the princess gradually got used to this deliberately sought-after single life and deliberately forgot that she still had a husband outside the palace. So when Li Wei came to take her back, it was as if the fear of the past had returned to her heart. She let out a scream and backed away while asking the people around her to drive Li Wei out.
Consort Miao hurriedly instructed Wang Wuzi to invite Li Wei out of the palace. The following day, at a family banquet in Shengping Tower, the Emperor mentioned Li Wei's purpose to the Princess: "The Commandant said that the Flower Festival is in two days, and the spring flowers in his garden are all in bloom, with some varieties rarely seen in the capital. They seem to be better than those elsewhere. Your Highness has always loved exotic flowers and rare plants, so why don't you go back and take a look... He's downstairs now. If you agree, I'll let him come up so you can talk. Let him rest in the palace tonight, and you can go back together tomorrow..."
Without a word, the princess suddenly stood up and rushed straight towards the vermilion pillar in the pavilion, crashing headfirst into it.
The incident happened suddenly, and no one was able to stop her in time. Fortunately, it was a wooden pillar, which was not very sturdy, and the princess was weak and powerless, so the impact was not fatal. Even so, she was still hit so hard that her forehead was split open and blood gushed out, and she immediately fainted.
When the princess awoke in Consort Xian's chambers, the first people she saw, besides Consort Xian and me, were her father. Li Wei, however, had already been banished from the palace by the grief-stricken Consort Xian after her suicide attempt.
The princess opened her eyes, and after groggily looking around at her surroundings, she said her first words to the emperor: "I don't want to see him."
The Emperor wiped his eyes with his sleeve and asked her sadly, "Does this marriage that your father arranged for you really cause you so much pain?"
The princess's gaze lingered on the emperor's face, searching for her father's eyes. After a long while, she slowly said to the emperor, "I can marry him by imperial decree, but I cannot love him by imperial decree."
Under the Emperor's frozen gaze, she turned her head with difficulty, tears streaming from her closed eyes: "I'm sorry, Father."
The emperor rose silently and left his daughter's hospital room with heavy steps.
The princess had a fever, and Consort Miao and I dared not leave her side. We stayed by her side the whole time. Consort Miao slept in the princess's room at night, while I sat in the next hall and dozed off. After midnight, the princess suddenly woke up, crying out for "sister" and "Huaiji". We rushed to her bedside immediately. Consort Miao hugged her tightly and patted her gently, comforting her until the princess gradually calmed down.
"Sister, am I still in the palace?" she asked her mother, sobbing.
Consort Miao gave her an affirmative answer. She nestled against her mother and began to recount her dream: "I think I saw Li Wei come in again... He pulled back my blanket, and his disgusting hands roamed over my body..."
Unable to continue speaking, she broke down in tears. Consort Miao embraced her tightly, offering words of comfort, but her own tears also streamed down her face.
The princess cried for a while, then said in a mournful voice, "I don't want to be with him anymore... Even just thinking about him panting and touching my body makes me want to die right now!"
"No!" Consort Miao lifted her chin from her daughter's shoulder, turned her face toward the light source, and two cold flames flickered in her tearful eyes with the candlelight. "Even if it costs me my life, I will protect you and will not give that wicked child another chance to bully you."
During the princess's illness, Consort Miao began her plan to save her. First, she tearfully begged the emperor to grant the princess a divorce from Li Wei so that she could marry another man. However, the emperor, whose hair had turned white with worry, could only sigh and say, "Since the founding of the dynasty, the princess has always been faithful to one man. There has never been a princess who divorced her husband and remarried."
Consort Miao discussed the matter with her close friend Consort Yu. Consort Yu's thoughts were similar to hers: "Since the princess was injured, the Emperor's attitude has clearly softened, and he has not been blindly protecting Li Wei. Now he is probably afraid that granting Li Wei a free pass without cause will give others something to say and allow the censors to gossip. But if Li Wei has made a mistake, he will have a reason to talk to the censors about the free pass."
They repeatedly questioned me and Wang Wuzi about whether Li Wei and I had ever done anything wrong. I did not say a bad word about Li Wei, and Wang Wuzi also said that Li Wei was always cautious and there was no evidence to accuse him of—and that things like breaking into the princess's boudoir could not be used as evidence to inform the censors.
For the next two days, Lady Miao and Lady Yu continued to discuss the princess's matter with Wang Wuzi, trying to find a solution. I did not participate in their discussions anymore, but simply stayed with the princess all day.
Since I can't see tomorrow, I can only make the most of today. Looking at the princess sleeping soundly, I often wonder if I'll still be by her side when the sun rises the next day.
On the day of the Flower Festival, the two ladies had a private discussion with Wang Wuzi in the afternoon, and then went to the Funing Palace to see the Emperor. They did not return for a long time. I served the princess her meal and medicine, and watched her close her eyes and fall asleep before leaving her room. I walked to the outside of the pavilion and looked in the direction of the Funing Palace, guessing what suggestions the two ladies might have made to the Emperor.
Later, someone came into the Funing Palace, but it was neither Consort Miao nor Consort Yu, but Deng Baoji, the Chief Attendant who served the current emperor.
"Where is the princess?" he asked me hurriedly as soon as he saw me, his tone filled with unusual anxiety.
"The princess rested in the pavilion after taking her medicine," I replied, then asked him, "Does everyone know you have something to discuss with the princess?" He hesitated for a moment, but quickly told me the reason: "Today, Lady Miao and Lady Yu went to see the Emperor and told him that since the princess and her husband have broken up so badly, there is absolutely no possibility of reconciliation. If the princess and her husband are allowed to live under the same roof again, she will definitely try to kill herself again. Moreover, there is no precedent in the dynasty for a princess to divorce her husband. The only way to get the princess out of her current situation is to make Li Wei disappear."
I was startled: "What do they mean?"
Deng Duzhi sighed, "Even the Emperor reacts the same way you do." Then Wang Wuzi stepped forward and said, "If Your Majesty issues an edict, I, Wuzi, can settle this matter with a cup of wine."
He was referring to giving Li Wei poisoned wine and then announcing to the public that Li Wei had died suddenly from an illness. This was a common method of murder used by imperial courts throughout history.
"The Emperor hasn't agreed, has he?" I asked Chief Deng. Recalling his anxious expression earlier, I realized I wasn't entirely sure about the matter.
Deng Duzhi said, "The Emperor glared at Wang Wuzi for a long time but didn't immediately express his opinion. Lady Miao then knelt before the Emperor, tearfully begging him to choose between his daughter and Li Wei, to see who should live. Lady Yu also knelt down and pleaded with her, recounting many stories of the princess's childhood, describing her innocent and lively appearance back then, which brought tears to the Emperor's eyes. Finally, he sighed deeply, said nothing, and headed towards Rouyi Palace, probably to consult with the Empress. The two ladies followed, and they are currently at Rouyi Palace; it's unknown whether they have made a decision yet."
I understood the purpose of his trip: "So you all came to find the princess, hoping to ask her to stop and save the prince consort?"
Deng Duzhi nodded: "After much thought, I believe that if the Empress also thinks the Prince Consort should be killed, then only the Princess can change their minds... The Prince Consort is an honest man, although a bit dull and not liked by the Princess, he is a good person. It would be too unjust for him to lose his life because of this!"
I believe that, as Deng Duzhi guessed, although the princess dislikes Li Wei, she doesn't think he deserves to die. If she knew that her parents intended to kill Li Wei because of her, she would probably stop them—but that would be if the princess were lucid and capable of making a sound judgment. Now, she has suffered a severe head injury and is sleeping in a daze due to a high fever. Even if I woke her up immediately, I couldn't guarantee that she would immediately understand the situation and rush to save Li Wei.
I made a quick decision and hurried toward Rouyi Palace, hoping to do my best to persuade them to abandon this cruel plan. But before I even reached the gates of Rouyi Palace, I could already see Consort Miao and Consort Yu coming out one after another, while Wang Wuzi was not behind them.
My heart skipped a beat, and I froze on the spot. Consort Miao saw me, quite surprised, and walked over to my side. She asked, "Huaiji, what are you doing here?"
I forced a smile, didn't answer the question, but instead asked her, "Where did Mr. Wang go?"
"He went to Prince Consort Li's garden," Consort Miao replied expressionlessly. "Today is the Flower Festival, and according to custom, the Emperor is supposed to bestow wine upon members of the imperial family and relatives..."
I didn't let her finish speaking; I turned and strode towards the palace gate.
The Lonely City (The Princess Who Fell in Love with a Eunuch) Long smoke and setting sun, the lonely city, my heart's desire