The palace was exceptionally lively tonight.
Yet the Empress wanted no part of this liveliness.
The Dowager Marchioness had submitted a name card to enter the palace, seeking an audience through her, the mistress of the inner court. Naturally, she had no reason to refuse. When they met, the Dowager Marchioness dispensed with pleasantries and asked to be taken to see His Majesty.
And at this moment, the only one who could take her to the Hall of Peaceful Dwelling was the Empress herself.
The Empress had no choice but to escort the Dowager Marchioness to the Hall of Peaceful Dwelling. Fortunately, as the nominal mother and the maternal grandmother of the Seventh Prince, a late-night visit here could just barely be considered appropriate.
Emperor Chongzhao emerged from his bedchamber and received them in a side hall.
He politely invited the Dowager Marchioness to take a seat.
This was not only because she was the birth mother of Consort Yun, but also out of respect for the mutual support between her and the Sword-Holding Marquis, who was still far away on the northern frontier.
The Dowager Marchioness, however, did not overstep in the slightest. She first performed the proper courtesies before sitting in a lower seat, her posture upright.
The Empress stood by the Emperor's side and poured him a cup of water.
Emperor Chongzhao pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mother-in-law, what brings you here?"
The utterance of these two words, 'mother-in-law,' no different from those used in ordinary households, seemed to signify that this Dowager Marchioness, the birth mother of Consort Yun, was not like the maternal families of other consorts in the inner court.
This was actually somewhat against protocol, especially in front of the Empress. The Empress merely glanced away, pretending not to have heard.
The Dowager Marchioness stood up and bowed deeply.
Emperor Chongzhao: "What are you doing?"
Dowager Marchioness: "Your Majesty, this humble subject knows of the fate decreed for the Seventh Prince by the Astrological Bureau, and I have learned of your intention to send the child to the detached palace."
"If it were within the palace walls, I would not utter half a word of objection. But the detached palace is remote, and it is the bitter cold of deep winter. If the servants are even slightly negligent in their care, the child will not survive. He is the child my only daughter risked her life to bring into this world. When Yueqing passed away, a white-haired person sending off a black-haired one, I nearly followed her. It was only the thought of my grandson that kept me clinging to life, wanting to see for her how this child would grow up."
She performed a grand bow.
"Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince is a royal son, I know. But I beg you, for the sake of Yueqing and the Marquis, do not send that child to the detached palace—"
"Mother-in-law, please rise." Emperor Chongzhao's temples throbbed with pain as he personally helped her up.
Having learned that the Seventh Prince had already been found, the Dowager Marchioness had calmed considerably. Her every word and action was measured perfectly—not so forceful as to make the Emperor feel pressured and displeased, yet enough to let him sense her sincerity.
Emperor Chongzhao: "We..."
Eunuch Yu hurried in from the main bedchamber, his expression urgent and panicked.
The Dowager Marchioness's unspoken words were cut off, and Emperor Chongzhao was interrupted as well, feeling somewhat displeased. "What is it?"
Eunuch Yu: "Your Majesty! The young prince... he's taken a turn for the worse!"
"What?!"
The Dowager Marchioness, who had maintained composure moments before, lost her composure and quickly stepped forward, gripping Eunuch Yu's arm tightly. "My grand... what happened to the Seventh Prince?"
"Come with Us to see first." Emperor Chongzhao's face was taut as he strode ahead.
Eunuch Yu followed behind them, quickly recounting what had just happened.
A few minutes earlier.
The imperial physician had brought two bowls of medicine into the bedchamber. The one on the left was brewed from the current prescription, the one on the right from the previous one.
Eunuch Yu: "Which of these two should he drink?"
"This humble official has smelled them. The herbs in both bowls are correct; they are prescriptions to reduce fever. However, the former is milder, while the latter has stronger medicinal properties."
"Both are acceptable?"
"Yes."
Ye Xiaoyuan: "Your Highness?"
Qu Dubian, of course, chose to drink the one on the right. He leaned toward Ye Xiaoyuan's hand, only pretending to take the slightest sip, then spitting out each mouthful.
It seemed like he was drinking, but in fact, he had spat almost all of it out.
By the time the bowl was finally finished, not only was Ye Xiaoyuan sweating profusely, but Eunuch Yu had also inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.
Qu Dubian, however, activated his simulator.
[Host has selected: Drug Overdose. Simulation beginning.]
[Host has selected: Duration, one day.]
[Simulation starting. We wish you a pleasant experience!]
What does a drug overdose feel like? It feels terrible.
His whole body began to tremble, his vision darkening.
Qu Dubian only experienced it for a few seconds before immediately turning the realism setting down to zero.
He closed his eyes completely, gave Ye Xiaoyuan's palm a slight squeeze—after this was over, he must properly comfort his Ye-companion for the fright—and then let his body tremble and grow cold, sinking himself into a half-sleep.
"Your Highness?"
"YOUR HIGHNESS!!!"
The bedchamber erupted in cries of alarm.
Eunuch Yu, realizing something was gravely wrong, scrambled over to report to Emperor Chongzhao.
-
The moment Emperor Chongzhao entered, he saw his young son trembling all over, curled up in the blankets like a dying, sick kitten.
His expression darkened. He strode over, sat on the edge of the bed, and took the little one's hand.
It was soft and burning hot.
Instantly, it overlapped perfectly with the scene from his dream where the child gradually fell silent in his arms.
The imperial physicians knelt in a row.
Emperor Chongzhao took a deep breath, his palm clenching gently, and roared, "What exactly happened? He just took medicine!"
The physician who had delivered the medicine broke out in a cold sweat. After Imperial Physician Qiu and another physician took turns checking the pulse, they arrived at a hesitant conclusion: "Po... poisoning...?"
Emperor Chongzhao: "Poisoning?"
This physician kowtowed repeatedly. "Your Majesty, the young prince's pulse is strange. It resembles poisoning, yet not quite..."
Emperor Chongzhao kicked him aside. "Summon another physician."
The physicians took turns checking the pulse. Some tested the dregs of the medicine bowl for poison, but found no reaction. Suddenly, one made a sound of surprise and asked, "Eunuch Ye, do you still have the medicinal packet used to brew the young prince's medicine?"
Ye Xiaoyuan: "Yes!"
He had received that packet from the Imperial Pharmacy. At the time, he had been surprised by their generosity and, worried the prince might fall ill again in the future, had happily hidden it away.
He still had it to this day.
He immediately fetched all the medicinal packets he had hidden, unwrapping them one by one for the imperial physicians to examine.
"Judging solely by the types of herbs, the prescription is absolutely correct. It's a proper fever-reducing formula. However..." Imperial Physician Yang, who had first suggested examining the packets, frowned. "Was this entire packet boiled at once?"
Ye Xiaoyuan: "Yes. When I received the herbs, I was told to use one packet per dose, boiling it until the decoction was strong and concentrated for His Highness."
Imperial Physician Yang was astonished. "The entire packet?"
Ye Xiaoyuan said nervously, "That's right. I never dare to be careless with matters concerning His Highness. I asked several times, and that was indeed the instruction. Is there something wrong with the herbs? But back then, the young attendant Xiaochun in the hall also had a fever, and he recovered after drinking this medicine."
Imperial Physician Yang bowed toward Emperor Chongzhao and said, "For an older person, drinking this medicine would naturally be fine. But His Highness—the young prince is not yet three years old. An overdose of medicine, further concentrated, ceases to be medicine and becomes poison."
"If he had drunk two or three doses, the young prince would have long since lost his life!"
As his words fell, Ye Xiaoyuan's face turned deathly pale.
"Someone... someone is trying to harm the young prince..." He suddenly realized and said to Emperor Chongzhao, "Your Majesty! Someone is trying to harm the young prince! If not for the young prince finding the medicine too bitter and refusing to drink it properly, you might not have seen him today!"
Ye Xiaoyuan didn't even care about avoiding taboos anymore: "Ever since then, it was only after much difficulty that Your Majesty showed the young prince some compassion, and then rumors started to spread—"
"Ahem!" Chief Eunuch Yu interrupted him.
But the words were already spoken, and there was no taking them back.
Emperor Chongzhao's face was as cold as frost, though not directed at Ye Xiaoyuan.
He enunciated each word clearly: "Investigate the Imperial Hospital thoroughly! Find out for me without fail who prescribed this medicine!!"
Emperor Chongzhao lowered his head, looking at his young son's thin, small face. His palm finally gently touched it. No matter what, this child should not have been harmed.
The imperial physicians immediately became busy, preparing new medicine, applying cool, water-soaked cloths to the child's forehead.
Some induced vomiting, others applied acupuncture.
After quite some commotion, the Seventh Prince finally showed some reaction, which was to keep crying softly.
Emperor Chongzhao's furrowed brow could crush a fly: "What's the matter now?"
Imperial Physician Yang said, "The vomiting has been induced; he should improve shortly. However, the young prince seems to have been in a state of delirium since earlier. He only calms down a bit when held by Eunuch Ye or Chief Eunuch Yu. Eunuch Ye's soothing is most effective, but the young prince still cries softly like this."
Ye Xiaoyuan was the personal eunuch who had grown up with the Seventh Prince since childhood, so it was natural for the child to feel comforted by his familiar scent. But Yu Decai...?
Emperor Chongzhao looked at Chief Eunuch Yu.
Was this old fellow naturally gifted at calming children?
Chief Eunuch Yu smiled awkwardly, "This servant has been thinking, it's probably because earlier, in the main kitchen, I punished the villain right in front of the young prince, so he might feel a bit... special towards me." The young prince had even given him a hug then.
Emperor Chongzhao: "Didn't you tell him it was on my orders?"
Chief Eunuch Yu: "Didn't Your Majesty instruct this servant not to reveal it was your command?"
So the young prince saw him, who drove off the bad guys, as a hero, with a bit of admiration. That had nothing to do with him; it was all Your Majesty's doing!
Emperor Chongzhao felt inexplicably irritated.
Imperial Physician Yang withdrew the needles and clasped his hands: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the prince's condition has slightly improved, but his emotions remain unstable. Right now, whoever can calm the young prince down is needed."
"If he continues weeping at night and remains unsettled, with pent-up energy and internal heat toxins unable to disperse, another convulsion leading to high fever would truly be difficult to manage."
Chief Eunuch Yu: "What should we do? Even Eunuch Ye can't soothe him."
Emperor Chongzhao looked around. The physicians made way, and his gaze unexpectedly fell on the Dowager Marchioness, who had been anxiously waiting on the periphery.
"Would you... like to hold him?"
The Dowager Marchioness, who had entered with them, had been kept on the outskirts by the physicians.
Since entering, the scent of medicine had lingered at her nose. When the weak, kitten-like cries reached her ears earlier, she had immediately clenched her sleeves.
Now that those blocking her view moved aside, she saw her grandson's appearance at once.
Just one glance—that face so resembling her daughter's in childhood—made her freeze on the spot, tears streaming down. Poor child, why was he so small? Even his mother wasn't this frail as a baby.
The Dowager Marchioness forcefully suppressed the impulse to rush over and hold her grandson, because she could see the emperor's hesitation.
The emperor himself hadn't realized it, but he actually also wanted to go hold the child. A person's life is but fifty or sixty short years; how much longer could she and the old marquis live? Once they were gone, her grandson would still have to rely on the emperor.
If the emperor held not a shred of pity or care for this child, she wouldn't have hesitated for a moment and would have gone to hold him directly.
But from the looks of it now, the child still held some place in the emperor's heart.
For the long term, she couldn't waste the emperor's bit of compassion for her own selfish desires.
The Dowager Marchioness said, "Your Majesty is his father. You should go hold him."
Emperor Chongzhao remembered earlier and said hesitantly, "I... I can't. He won't let me hold him."
Chief Eunuch Yu: "Your Majesty, try again. If it doesn't work, then let the Dowager Marchioness try."
Only then did Emperor Chongzhao go to the bedside, replacing Ye Xiaoyuan. He half-held Qu Dubian, patting him awkwardly with his other hand to soothe him.
The softly sobbing Seventh Prince actually gradually stopped crying. His face was hot and damp, showing unease. His eyelashes were wet with tears, sticking together in clumps, looking utterly pitiful.
A small hand emerged from the blanket, gently grasping Emperor Chongzhao's large hand.
The child nestled against it, lightly rubbing his cheek against it, and his breathing gradually steadied.
Chief Eunuch Yu marveled: "The young prince and Your Majesty are truly connected by blood. As soon as you went over, the prince stopped crying... Earlier, the prince was just throwing a tantrum with you."
Emperor Chongzhao was silent. Perhaps there really was some intangible connection; otherwise, he wouldn't have dreamed of this child having a fever.
Imperial Physician Yang breathed a sigh of relief: "He should be stabilized now."
The Seventh Prince's condition was stabilized, but there were still matters unresolved.
Emperor Chongzhao waved his hand. Chief Eunuch Yu immediately cleared out the imperial physicians present, along with the attending palace servants, leaving only a few necessary ones.
"Prepare a seat for the Dowager Marchioness."
Chief Eunuch Yu was very understanding, bringing two stools. Emperor Chongzhao glanced and said, "The Empress may also sit."
The stools were placed not too close, not too far, just the right distance for discussing matters.
"What happened today is due to my failure to govern the palace strictly."
Emperor Chongzhao was referring to the earlier incident where an excessive dose of medicine turned poisonous. Since the Dowager Marchioness had witnessed such underhanded, filthy tactics, an explanation was necessary.
The Empress said, "It is this consort's fault for not noticing in time."
The Dowager Marchioness said slowly, "Then has Your Majesty considered what to do from now on? Since such an incident has occurred, the Residence of Peaceful Dwelling can no longer be his home. He must be moved elsewhere."
Moved elsewhere? Moved to where?
Chief Eunuch Yu couldn't help but prick up his ears upon hearing "moved elsewhere."
After all, some time ago, the Astrological Bureau had said the young prince's residence couldn't be too close to His Majesty. The Residence of Peaceful Dwelling was the farthest location. Now, if he's moved, where would the emperor agree to?
It was practically posing a difficult problem.
The Dowager Marchioness: "Since Your Majesty intends to send the Seventh Prince to a traveling palace, why not entrust him to our marquis's household to raise? This subject's wife will take him far away, as far from the palace as possible. At least the negative forces won't disturb this place anymore."
Qu Dubian pricked up his ears, listening to his never-before-seen maternal grandmother's words, feeling slightly amazed. This was a tactic of retreating in order to advance. Regardless of family ties, the Marquess of the Sword was, by propriety, still an external official. He was a prince, and the emperor was still alive. What would it look like for a subject to raise him? Wouldn't it be utterly disgraceful if word got out?
Sure enough, the Empress said, "Dowager Marchioness, what are you saying?"
She pondered for a moment and proactively said, "This consort can take the Seventh Prince to the Phoenix Roost Palace, where I will personally watch over him. Your Majesty, you may send people to assist in his care."
Seeing Emperor Chongzhao remain silent, she added, "If the Phoenix Roost Palace is unsuitable, there are other slightly farther palaces. At the very least, there are the residences for grown princes within the palace grounds, but those aren't fully prepared yet..."
Emperor Chongzhao: "No need."
The Empress sighed. She had done her best; if the emperor didn't agree, there was nothing to be done.
Emperor Chongzhao looked at the Dowager Marchioness for a few seconds and said, "Let him stay with me in the Purple Aurora Hall for a few days."
The Empress's eyes widened slightly.
Everyone present, including Chief Eunuch Yu, exchanged uncertain glances, not daring to speak for a long moment.
Only the Dowager Marchioness Hou was unsurprised.
Emperor Chongzhao instructed, "Yu Decai, go and make the preparations."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
With a few brief words, the matter was settled.
Chief Eunuch Yu shot Ye Xiaoyuan a meaningful look, who then followed him outside. Only once they were out did they dare speak in normal tones.
He handed Ye Xiaoyuan his own waist token. "Go and prepare. Gather all the items His Young Highness uses daily; they'll be taken along later. Use whomever you need; this token will grant you convenience. I must return to the Purple Aurora Hall to await. Ensure all belongings are fully prepared."
Ye Xiaoyuan took the token. "Understood. Thank you, Chief Eunuch Yu."
Chief Eunuch Yu patted his shoulder.
"Things will get better from now on."
After he left, Ye Xiaoyuan went to pack. He first went to the rear hall of the Ju'an Palace. No one was there. After waiting a moment, faint footsteps sounded.
Through an unguarded side door, a slender figure slipped in.
Ye Xiaoyuan said, "I reckoned you should be back by now."
Wen Xiaochun paused, turning his head to look.
"You knew?"
Ye Xiaoyuan: "I guessed when the news arrived."
Wen Xiaochun: "His Highness has been found. How is he?"
Ye Xiaoyuan fell silent for a moment. "His Highness's situation... it's hard to explain briefly. His Majesty is having His Highness moved to reside in the Purple Aurora Hall. We'll discuss everything once he's settled."
He sniffed near Wen Xiaochun and frowned slightly. "Why isn't the smell fully dealt with?"
Wen Xiaochun had to suppress his urge to go see Qu Dubian and explained plainly, "Didn't have time yet. I took the stuff from the main kitchen and left right after. After dealing with the night soil cart, I haven't changed my clothes."
"Was the cleanup at the main kitchen thorough?"
"Mostly. But some oil is missing. If someone investigates carefully, they might notice something."
"In that case, change your clothes and come with me to the main kitchen," Ye Xiaoyuan raised the waist token given by Chief Eunuch Yu. "We'll say we're preparing some dishes His Young Highness likes to eat. I'll wait there while you go to the storeroom and make up the missing oil by taking small amounts from several different places."
Wen Xiaochun nodded.
The two proceeded according to plan. Tonight's events had thrown the entire palace into an uproar. With Chief Eunuch Yu's token and the Emperor's authority behind them, the main kitchen quickly began preparing the dishes Ye Xiaoyuan requested.
Wen Xiaochun swiftly went to the storeroom, patched the discrepancy, and left no trace behind.
Only after confirming the missing oil couldn't be traced back to him did the two hurry back with the food boxes and pack Qu Dubian's belongings.
By the time they finished, Chief Eunuch Yu had also sent someone to say the Purple Aurora Hall was ready.
Emperor Chongzhao carried his young son, bundled up tightly, out the door.
The Dowager Marchioness Hou, following beside the Empress, also stepped out.
The Emperor ahead suddenly stopped, slightly turning his head to ask, "My Lady Mother-in-law entered the palace with such haste. Did you not have time to consider the proposal regarding your late husband's second brother adopting an heir?"
The Dowager Marchioness replied, "Our clan ties have long grown distant, with no contact. And I am already old."
Emperor Chongzhao shook his head. "You and the old Marquis were always too stubborn."
With that, he said no more, carrying Qu Dubian onto the palanquin.
The Dowager Marchioness stood in place. The Empress glanced at her. "Dowager Marchioness Hou, you look rather pale."
The Dowager Marchioness curtseyed. "The deep winter night is simply a bit cold, that's all."
Palace attendants lifted the palanquin, and the procession set off grandly.
Ye Xiaoyuan and Wen Xiaochun both instinctively looked back at the Ju'an Palace, now swallowed by darkness, then gazed at the silent palace paths and towering halls around them.
The palace was deep, the wind cold, the snow remnants lingering.
They bowed their heads and followed the imperial procession.
