Dantai Ji frowned and left the room where the mother and daughter had been resting. He went to the main hall and fixed his icy gaze on Daoxiang.
“What is it?”
Daoxiang said, “I beg Your Majesty not to blame my mistress! My mistress was merely angry with Your Majesty. She was not being willful or disrespectful to you. It is only that she truly hates Commoner Chen and naturally cannot accept raising Princess Shengping by her side. Commoner Chen not only betrayed her mistress, but also repeatedly tried to take the lives of my mistress and the princess!”
Dantai Ji’s eyes sharpened. “What did you say?”
Seeing the emperor’s reaction, Daoxiang froze for a moment. Then she clenched her hands and spoke urgently. “Commoner Chen joined forces with Zhu Wangbei to deceive my mistress. She also sent people to poison my mistress and the princess. Thankfully, they were blessed with great fortune and managed to escape death. Not only that, Lord Cui’s promotion and Eldest Master Cui’s examinations were both… Even before my mistress entered the palace, Commoner Chen once sent people to set fire to the house in an attempt to burn my mistress and the princess alive.”
With every word Daoxiang spoke, Dantai Ji’s expression grew colder, his face as dark as frost.
After Daoxiang finished, Dantai Ji did not say a word. He strode out of Changle Palace.
He returned to Wenyuan Pavilion.
“Wang Zhong! Why did you fail to report to me everything Consort Chen did to harm Consort Cui and her daughter?” Dantai Ji sat on the imperial throne, his face black as ink. He stared at Wang Zhong, who was kneeling before him, killing intent already visible in his eyes.
Wang Zhong trembled all over and hurriedly knocked his head against the floor. “Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! It was—It was the Empress Dowager! Her Majesty ordered this servant to conceal the matter for the time being.”
Dantai Ji closed his eyes and let out a mocking laugh. “Mother.”
Wang Zhong said, “The Empress Dowager feared that Your Majesty would kill Commoner Chen in a fit of rage. If Second Princess and the Third Prince learned of it, the bond between father and children would be broken.”
Dantai Ji clenched his hand. “Tell me everything Commoner Chen has done.”
“Yes!”
Wang Zhong’s voice trembled. “Commoner Chen did indeed send people to assassinate Consort Cui and Princess Fuxi several times. Fortunately, Consort Cui and Princess Fuxi were blessed with great fortune and escaped each time… As for Zhu Wangbei, the reason he was able to deceive Consort Cui was because Commoner Chen secretly joined forces with him and revealed Consort Cui’s secret to him… The woman who poisoned her, Concubine Liu, was once Commoner Chen’s trusted palace maid. This servant also discovered that before every imperial examination, Commoner Chen sent people to obstruct Eldest Master Cui from coming to the capital to sit for the exam. Lord Cui’s delayed promotion was also secretly blocked by Commoner Chen. Furthermore, before Consort Cui entered the palace, Commoner Chen repeatedly sent people…”
Dantai Ji’s eyes were filled with murderous fury, and his hand was gripping the arm of the imperial throne so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Wang Zhong said a great deal, yet he still did not dare breathe too loudly. “Your Majesty, you see…”
The emperor suddenly rose to his feet.
“Prepare the imperial carriage. We are going to Qiuling Palace.”
“Yes!”
…
Qiuling Palace.
Chen Yunxiang lay prostrate on the floor, trembling from head to toe.
“I didn’t want Consort Cui and her daughter to come to the capital! I did everything I could to stop them, but everything I did was for Yuer and Chang’er! Although I was bewitched by greed back then and took Cui Huaiyin’s place, I never tried to exterminate them. I had feelings for Cui Huaiyin!”
Dantai Ji looked down at Chen Yunxiang with icy eyes.
“Feelings? You call murdering them feelings?”
Tears spilled from Chen Yunxiang’s eyes and clung to her face together with her disheveled hair.
“I—I had no choice! I didn’t want them to enter the palace, but they insisted on coming! What else could I do? For Yuer and Chang’er, I could only harden my heart! The two of them couldn’t be without a mother!”
“What a fine mother.” Dantai Ji uttered the words coldly. His chilling gaze fell upon Chen Yunxiang’s terrified eyes. “What kind of sorcery did you use to make me see you as Huaiyin?”
Chen Yunxiang’s pupils widened. Then she abruptly lowered her head, clasping her hands over her chest as she shook her head violently.
“I don’t understand. I don’t understand what Your Majesty means.”
Dantai Ji looked down at her from above.
“Wang Zhong, send Commoner Chen to the Ministry of Justice’s prison outside the palace. Keep her under strict guard and interrogate her with severe torture.”
Wang Zhong’s eyes flew open. But when he saw the emperor’s expression, his entire body began to tremble.
The Ministry of Justice’s tortures were notorious. The sight of those instruments alone was enough to keep a person awake for several nights. This was worse than death.
Dantai Ji said, “For every day you refuse to speak, you will suffer for another day.”
“No! I don’t want this! Don’t touch me, don’t touch me! Your Majesty, I am Consort Chen! I bore your children! I only deceived you—I never harmed you! You cannot treat me like this! You cannot!”
Dantai Ji said, “You deceived me and repeatedly tried to kill my wife and daughter! Do you truly believe that the dignity the Empress Dowager speaks of is enough to restrain me and guarantee your safety?”
Chen Yunxiang desperately backed away, wrapping both arms around herself as though she could escape from him.
Dantai Ji had no patience left for this struggle.
“Wang Zhong, take her away. Use the severe punishments until she talks.”
Wang Zhong replied in a trembling voice, “Yes!”
Dantai Ji walked out of the bleak and gloomy Qiuling Palace, the bone-deep coldness still lingering in his eyes.
Chen Yunxiang could not die yet.
He had to uncover the secret she was hiding.
…
The story soon spread throughout the palace that Commoner Chen had offended the emperor, been sent out of the palace, and taken to an unknown place. No one knew whether she was alive or dead.
Three days later, Consort Cui, who had been gravely ill, recovered. The emperor then issued another decree, conferring upon her the title of Noble Consort Cui.
To rise from Jieyu to Noble Consort in less than a month was unprecedented throughout history.
During those days, everyone in the inner palace was either discussing Noble Consort Cui’s favor or speculating about whether Commoner Chen was alive or dead.
Before long, however, the palace consorts began discussing matters that concerned them personally.
The emperor issued an edict announcing that Princess Shengping and the Third Prince would each be given a maternal consort to raise them until they came of age.
Any consort in the palace who wished to raise Princess Shengping or the Third Prince could petition the emperor.
For a time, many of the consorts began to stir with anticipation.
Even the empress submitted a petition, requesting to raise Princess Shengping.
There was no movement from Noble Consort Cui.
Consort Liu, who already had a son, did not participate either.
Lady Yin, who had a daughter, surprisingly petitioned to raise the Third Prince.
Lady Ma and Lady Lü also submitted petitions, declaring that whether it was the Second Princess or the Third Prince, if the child were entrusted to them, they would treat the child as their own.
Since so many consorts had petitioned to raise the prince and princess, the emperor and the Empress Dowager decided to let Princess Shengping and the Third Prince choose for themselves.
Today, at the Empress Dowager’s Shoukang Palace, the Empress Dowager sat in the principal seat, while the emperor occupied the seat beside hers. The empress and Noble Consort Cui sat next, followed by the consorts, who took their places according to rank.
Princess Shengping and the Third Prince stood in the center of the hall, holding hands.
Each of the consorts who wished to raise them wore a gentle, benevolent smile.
The Empress Dowager summoned Princess Shengping and the Third Prince to her side. She patted them lovingly on the head and asked in a tender voice, “Yuer, Chang’er, is there a consort you prefer?”
