He will eventually have to take responsibility for the blood on his hands, and when that happens, she will go to hell with him.
The next morning, they went out together again. Yu Yichen escorted Zhenshu to the East Market before leaving. Zhenshu took off her silk robe and gave it to him, and once again instructed him: "If that day really comes, no matter where you are or what the circumstances are, you must remember to send someone to find me. I will definitely come to deliver it to you and get the hairpin."
Yu Yichen said, "Okay."
He was still wearing his red eunuch robe with black trim, over which he wore an ivory fur-lined robe. He watched Zhenshu enter and close the door, then stood there with his hands behind his back and head held high for a long, long time, until Sun Yuan urged him twice before he finally got into the carriage. Mei Xun walked alongside the carriage, speaking in a low voice that only Yu Yichen could hear, "I think Miss Song still sides with you, Eunuch. Why didn't we make a decision sooner and find a way out?"
Yu Yichen didn't lift the curtain, but smiled silently from inside. He always liked to hear people mention Zhenshu, especially if they said Zhenshu liked him. Although he was certain in his heart, he wanted others to know and be sure too.
A crescent moon hung in the sky, the scene at the beginning of winter. He had proposed to her about two months ago, when she was already secretly pregnant, though she herself was unaware. Back then, his love for her was selfish; he wanted her to go with him, to escape with a glimmer of hope.
But so much has happened in these two months, from learning that she was pregnant, to Tong Qisheng openly arresting her and humiliating her at the Ministry of War, and then his furious punishment of Wang Zhen and his entire family.
As Wang Zhen said, the previous tripartite balance was broken, and the situation quietly changed. Prince Ping did not come for the sake of court affairs; he only wanted to take back his mother and leave. But Du Wu was different. Du Wu had been secretly plotting against the Empress, making secret contact with her, and persuading her to cut off his escape route.
The Empress kept it a secret, eliminating his eunuchs in Yanfu Palace one by one over the past few months. He only learned of her and Du Wu's schemes during this time. It was a dead end. He dealt with the Privy Councilor's faction when the situation was unclear. She may have harbored resentment, but she still appeared obedient and docile, secretly siding with Du Wu and then poisoning her own husband, the Emperor. She deceived him with her usual naivety and dependence, making him believe she was still that obedient, weak, and easily manipulated woman.
He still doesn't know when she got involved with Du Wu. He hadn't been on guard from the beginning, and now that they've formed an alliance, it's too late to be cautious. One wants to be an empress dowager ruling from behind the curtain, the other a duke wanting to regency the court. With Prince Ping gone, if Li Xuzhe dies, he'll have no way out.
So the only reason he was finally willing to let go was because he could no longer control the direction of the situation.
He will still accompany the former Crown Prince on her journey to the throne, solely out of gratitude for the kindness shown to him in the past. He also wants to see her happy, married, have children, and find her final resting place. As for what happens after his death, he is already a eunuch for all time, a disgraced official for eternity. What does it matter if his head is hung up or exposed at the city gate? Perhaps when he transcends this, he can laugh at himself. The only thing he cannot let go of is her sincerity and his grief.
The carriage drove into Donghua Gate and continued inwards, with several eunuchs jogging alongside to keep up. Yu Yichen lifted the curtain and beckoned one of them, asking, "Mei Fu, where will His Majesty stay?"
Mei Fu ran up and answered, "The Chui Gong Hall."
Yu Yichen asked again, "Are you awake?"
Mei Fu also shook his head: "No."
The emperor had been in a coma for three days without any apparent cause. More than a dozen high-ranking officials in the palace, along with the Empress Dowager and the imperial concubines, were investigated. Ultimately, they discovered that the Empress was responsible. Following this lead, they discovered that the Empress had long ago allied with Du Wu.
The Empress was the niece of the Privy Councilor and the daughter of Wang Han, the former Grand Secretary. Seven years after entering the Eastern Palace, the sixteen-year-old youth had blossomed into a beautiful young woman. She was always a model of propriety and decorum, dignified, elegant, and noble, though perhaps lacking in romantic flair. However, an Empress serves the Emperor with virtue, not beauty. Back in the Eastern Palace, the late Emperor had praised her several times, and now the Empress Dowager had entrusted her with absolute power, relying on her for everything.
In Yu Yichen's heart, until yesterday, she was still that somewhat naive young girl who, upon first entering the Eastern Palace, would throw a tantrum and secretly cry in the palace grounds when Li Xuzhe occasionally visited another concubine's chambers. He was the one who patiently taught her how to be a Crown Princess, how to win the Emperor Chengfeng's approval, the Empress's favor, and the Crown Prince's true heart. He taught her how to manage the harem. In these seven years, he single-handedly elevated her to the position of Empress, teaching her to be a model woman for all, the Empress of the nation.
When he took his anger out on the entire Wang family because of Zhenshu's humiliation, she remained calm and indifferent, letting him punish the Wang family as he pleased. Then she turned to Du Wu, cutting off his last escape route with Li Xuzhe.
"Mei Fu, go to the Chui Gong Hall and wait there. Tell the ministers attending court that His Majesty is unwell and unable to attend. Mei Xing, take some men and move His Majesty to the Funing Hall." After giving instructions for the morning court, Yu Yichen said to Mei Xun, "Go to the Yanfu Palace."
This was his first visit to Yanfu Palace since he sent congratulatory gifts after the Empress gave birth. Everything has a beginning and an end, and he should go and ask her for an explanation.
☆、119|Sage
The carriage arrived outside Yanfu Palace, and Yu Yichen alighted. Despite being wrapped in a fur coat, he still felt cold in the winter chill, so he clutched a hand warmer to his chest as he entered the Empress's bedchamber. It was already dawn; usually, the Empress would be up long ago, probably applying makeup in front of the mirror. But tonight, the bedchamber was still eerily quiet in the darkness of dawn. The palace maids serving inside, seeing Yu Yichen arrive, rushed out to greet him in hushed tones, "We greet Eunuch Yu."
Yu Yichen raised his hand to stop her and asked, "Has the Empress not gotten up yet?"
The group bowed their heads and replied, "Yes."
Yu Yichen lifted the curtain and entered. The fragrant palace was filled with warmth. One curtain after another was lifted, and the dim candlelight illuminated the simple palace. The interior was devoid of the tassels and curtains that women usually liked. When he reached the door of her bedroom, a young palace maid bowed and asked softly, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Yu has arrived."
"Let him in." It was the Empress's voice, perhaps still half asleep, lacking her usual dignified and majestic air, instead revealing a hint of languor.
Yu Yichen personally opened the doors on both sides and entered the room, after which the palace maids silently closed the doors behind him. Sure enough, the Empress was still lying in bed; she was very thin, the brocade quilt barely supporting the curves of her body. A silver incense burner hung high in front of the bed, and a faint candlelight flickered on the wall.
Yu Yichen sat down on the edge of the bed, reached out and took her hand, and asked, "Why aren't you getting up?"
The sage smiled and withdrew his hand, saying, "I'm a little tired. Your hands are really cold."
Yu Yichen also smiled: "It must be cold in the winter month."
The Sage helped him sit up, his plain satin nightgown sliding down his back. She gazed at Yu Yichen for a long time before asking, "How long has it been since you last visited Yanfu Palace?"
Yu Yichen said, "About a year and a half."
The emperor lowered his eyes and said, "Indeed, if His Majesty had not suddenly fallen into a coma, I'm afraid you would not have set foot here."
Yu Yichen smiled gently and said, "Now that you have given birth to a prince, you should stay here and raise him with heartfelt care. Besides, we often meet in the Funing Palace, so there is no need for you to come in person."
He took a pillow and placed it behind her back, then asked, "Are you comfortable?"
The sage said, "Comfortable."
Finally, Yu Yichen asked first, "Why did you do that?"
The sage smiled wryly: "If I said it was for you, would you believe me?"
Yu Yichen shook his head: "I don't believe it."
The sage smiled wryly and said, "I knew you wouldn't believe me."
Yu Yichen gently advised, "His Majesty is a good man and respects you very much. Although he is somewhat stern, you now have a prince, and ultimately this harem is your domain. Even the Empress Dowager has to give way to him, so why should you suffer?"
The Empress sat up and stretched her arms. Yu Yichen took a plain silk robe and helped her put it on, then gently tied the sash. He then took embroidered shoes for her to wear, helped her out of bed, and left the bedroom. Outside, palace maids who had prepared hot soup rushed in. The maid who usually served her by washing and smoothing her face stepped forward to wring out the handkerchief, when the Empress said, "Tell Yu Yichen to do it."
Yu Yichen reached into the gilded basin, wrung out a handkerchief, and knelt before her to wash her face, gently wiping from her forehead to between her brows. The Sage closed her eyes; in the warm yellow lamplight, two deep lines marked her brow, lines etched from years of feigning authority, giving her a bitter expression. Only after Yu Yichen finished washing her face did she open her eyes and wave her hand, saying, "All of you, step back."
She got up, sat down in front of the dressing table, turned around and smiled, "Do my hair for me."
Yu Yichen took a comb and gently loosened the knots in her hair that had accidentally gotten tangled. Her hair was now somewhat dry and yellow, and it tended to get tangled as soon as she woke up. Several palace maids who were skilled at combing hair had been punished with caning for pulling on her scalp, but Yu Yichen, with his soft fingers and light touch, made combing her hair a pleasure.
After combing and tying up her long hair, the Sage asked Yu Yichen, "When you're out, do you also comb her hair like this?"
Yu Yichen glanced at the sage in the bronze mirror and chuckled, "No, she doesn't like me fussing over these things."
For a sage, this was a rare indulgence. But for Zhenshu, it was nothing out of the ordinary; she even found it somewhat strange that a man would enjoy playing with a woman's hair.
The sage closed her eyes and asked him to draw her eyebrows, apply powder and rouge, before opening her eyes and looking at her brightly colored reflection in the mirror. She said, "Whether you believe it or not, I did this because of you. If you could still have pity on me instead of falling for someone else, I could endure the loneliness of this deep palace. But I cannot bear the thought of you falling in love with a woman outside the palace, a vulgar and ill-mannered girl from a poor family, and using the same methods you used on me on her."
Yu Yichen ignored her complaints and stared at her face in the bronze mirror, saying, "Du Wu is a wolf in sheep's clothing, not a man you can control. You want to rule from behind the curtain, he wants to be regent, or one day he will take over the country. What will become of you and that child then?"
The sage said, “I am but a shallow woman, and all these years I have only been able to maintain this dignity because of your support. Now that you have abandoned me, why can’t you find another patron?”
Yu Yichen said, "I have not abandoned you. I am still willing to maintain your dignity, but you should not have harmed His Majesty. Now that his life is hanging by a thread, have you ever thought about how you would conduct yourself if Du Wu abandoned you and supported Prince Ping to ascend the throne?"
The sage said, "He will not support Prince Ping. If Prince Ping could be manipulated by him, he would not have asked to leave the capital at such a young age."
Yu Yichen helped her to the soft couch, propped up her shoulders and back, gently massaged her knees, and asked, "Does it still hurt?"
The sage shook his head: "No. It's just that my knees are a little sore, it's an old problem."
From Crown Princess to Empress, she personally oversaw numerous sacrificial ceremonies throughout the year. When Emperor Chengfeng departed, it was the height of spring, and she, dressed in mourning clothes and kneeling outside the palace for several hours, caught a cold; her knees still ached. Yu Yichen gently massaged her knees, saying, "If His Majesty awakens, let's let this matter rest. You are still the Emperor; I will handle the rest of the situation, shall we?"
The emperor shook his head and said, “No. The reason I don’t have His Majesty’s favor is that he has too much and is used to taking. I don’t have the ability to make him devote himself to me alone. But you are different. You love me, and all your tenderness should be given to me alone. If you no longer look at me, what is the point of me guarding this lonely palace?”
Yu Yichen continued to gently massage her knees, speaking softly, "A man's love is inherently about taking. He treats women as a faith, seeking answers from them. Once the faith is gone, he goes looking for a new one. A woman's love, however, is like a tsunami, nourishing the very essence of the world. Men are nourished by women, seeking fresh blood. If you seek male love, you won't find it here. I've lost my manhood, I'm not a complete man, and therefore I've lost the motivation and drive to seek faith. That's why I pity women's tenderness. But for you, this pity is quite different from same-sex affection. You're just too high up and too lonely to let go of this obsession, do you understand?"
What I can give you, every eunuch can give you; it's just that you haven't learned to accept it.
The sage shook his head and said, “No. I don’t like those eunuchs touching me. Their faces are worldly and their bodies are vulgar. In their hands, I am like a piece of vulgar gold. But you are different. In your hands, I feel like a rare and precious treasure.”
Yu Yichen laughed and said, "You were always my treasure. I chose you from among three thousand embroiderers and made you the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace. You rose all the way to the position of the Emperor. You were a piece of rough jade that needed to be polished to shine. Now you are shining brightly and in charge of the harem. His Majesty is the fertile ground for your growth, but you have tried to harm him."
The sage sneered: "If I am your treasure, what is she? I sent someone to see her from afar, and she is nothing more than a vulgar countrywoman. I heard that she once publicly declared in the East Market that she wanted to marry you and kicked a man in the groin. You actually love such a vulgar countrywoman?"
Yu Yichen said, "She is the only faith I have found after my body was crippled. She can also nourish me, so I love her."
The sage sighed and said, "I thought you loved me. But according to you, you have never loved me."
Yu Yichen said, "Now that you are in this position, you should no longer seek a shallow, mind-blowing love."
The Emperor closed his eyes, two tears rolling down his long eyelashes: "You shouldn't have provoked me in the first place, you shouldn't have chosen me to enter the Eastern Palace, you shouldn't have made me Empress. You provoked me, and now you want to abandon me, how can I grant your wish?"
Ultimately, her reason for siding with Du Wu was simply to make Yu Yichen look at her differently, to instill fear in him, and to sever all ties with the outside world so that he would devote himself solely to her. He had single-handedly placed her in this position, and today she would personally cut off his escape route, leaving him with nowhere to retreat.
Yu Yichen stood up and said, "I'll help you to have breakfast."
The sage knew he was about to leave and said resentfully, "Today in the Hall of State Affairs, Du Wu and the other ministers are discussing removing you from your position as Inspector General of the Censorate. Aren't you curious? Don't you want to go and see?"
Yu Yichen said, "I need to go to Fuji Palace first to see the results of the imperial physicians' consultation. If you could tell me what medicine you gave His Majesty to make him fall into a coma, it would be even better if you could give me a direction to treat the symptoms."
Therefore, the reason he hadn't set foot in Yanfu Palace for over a year, and came to say so many kind words, was actually to save Li Xuzhe.
The sage could not bear it and said softly, "I heard that King Ping is already on his way. If you still want to escape with a sliver of hope, you should make good use of the title of General Mighty."
Although she had surrendered to Du Wu, she still hoped that he could have a chance to survive, or at least escape.
Yu Yichen turned back and said with a gentle smile, "Although the title of General Weiwu sounds impressive, he is just a military supervisor. I'm afraid that Du Wu will also have to remove the title of General Weiwu today. His Majesty is still breathing, so I cannot abandon him. You should also go and have some breakfast. You should know that even if you really want to kill me, you need to eat your fill first to have the strength to make plans."
☆、120|Duke
After speaking, he bowed and left.
Even knowing she had cut off his escape route and driven him to the brink of despair, he still uttered no harsh words, remaining gentle and tender. The emperor chased after him all the way to the palace gate, where he saw him gesture for someone to put on a fur coat and stride away. He then followed him far beyond Yanfu Palace, watching his tall and elegant figure gradually disappear into the distance before finally standing there, stunned, for an unknown amount of time.
By this time, it was already dawn. He strode out of Yanfu Palace and walked along the high palace wall. In less than a quarter of an hour, he arrived at Funing Palace. As soon as he entered the palace, Meide came out to greet him and bowed, saying, "Eunuch Yu, His Majesty has not yet woken up."
Yu Yichen asked, "What did the imperial physicians say?"
Mede followed closely behind, saying, "They're all still in the palace. Would Eunuch Yu like to inquire personally?"
Yu Yichen nodded and went directly into the dormitory to check on Li Xuzhe. Li Xuzhe was lying on his back, his eyebrows were a little dark, and there were some marks around his lips. He did not move even when he lifted his eyelids, and he was obviously in a deep coma.
Yu Yichen stepped out and saw the imperial physicians sitting outside discussing the patient's condition. He sat down in the head chair and asked, "Have you been able to diagnose the cause?"
The imperial physicians looked at each other in bewilderment, and after a long while, one of them finally said, "Is it a stroke caused by overwork?"
Yu Yichen frowned and shook his head, saying, "If you cannot wake His Majesty, you will all die tomorrow, and I will send a new batch."
When he said he was going to die, he really meant it. Although there were rumors that Du Wu was currently in the Hall of State Affairs discussing how to treat Yu Yichen with the ministers, the lives of everyone in the palace were still in his hands. Seeing this, the imperial physicians said one after another, "Let us examine him again."
This year, the Winter Solstice falls on the seventh day of the eleventh lunar month. Du Yu, on his way home from his official duties, stopped at the market and bought a string of pork belly. He carried it to the door of a mounting shop, but finding no Zhen Shu inside, he knocked on the door of the small building behind it. When Wang Ma opened the door and saw Du Yu, she smiled and called out to Zhen Shu, "The Inspector is here again."
Zhenshu was making dumplings in the inner room when she noticed that Du Yu's clothes looked a little different today, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She asked, "What are you doing with that hanging meat?"
Seeing that Zhenshu had already filled a large table with dumplings, and was about to throw one out with both hands, Du Yu chuckled and said, "I was originally going to cut a piece of pork to make dumplings for you."
Zhenshu shook her head without saying a word, got up, and started rolling out the dough with a rolling pin. Just as Du Yu was about to pinch the dough, Zhenshu glared at him and said, "Wash your hands first."
After washing his hands, Du Yu came out and sat down next to Zhen Shu, saying, "Prince Ping has arrived in the capital."
Zhenshu's heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her voice to ask, "So?"
Du Yu said, "His Majesty was ill for a few days a while ago, and the court officials discussed removing Yu Yichen from his positions as Inspector and Grand General. Although His Majesty has recovered somewhat, he is still unable to speak. And once Prince Ping arrives in the capital, I'm afraid they will start investigating Yu Yichen."
Zhenshu didn't want to hear any of that, so she changed the subject and asked, "How's the case I asked you to investigate going?"
Du Yu then remembered the matter he had come to discuss today, and opened the dossier in his hand, pointing to it and saying, "This is the record of the investigation conducted by Yingtian Prefecture at brothels and money shops. Judging from this, after your sister withdrew the silver from the original money shop, she deposited it in another money shop. Now, the banknotes are probably still hidden in her possession. In fact, now that Prince Ping has arrived in the capital, he will probably bring up the matter of the silver after meeting with the Dowager Consort. At that time, when investigating the lost silver, as long as the Dowager Consort in the palace shows the seal to the money shop and asks Yingtian Prefecture to cooperate in the investigation, the silver will be confiscated from the current money shop as stolen money, and the banknotes hidden by your sister will be declared invalid. I estimate that Prince Ping will handle this matter soon, after all, Liangzhou is poor and money is tight, and he is also a poor man who loves some silver."