After taking the pulse of Imperial Consort Tan, Zhu Qingyu quickly and silently retreated to the side, wishing she could become invisible to everyone present.
Here was the situation: a pregnant imperial consort, while the emperor was gravely ill and there were no princes in the palace, was desperately hiding the fact of her pregnancy.
No matter how you looked at it, this could not be a good thing.
Zhu Qingyu cursed her luck inwardly. What kind of terrible fortune was this?
She must have failed to check the almanac before leaving home. In less than twelve hours of being in the palace, she had first stumbled upon a plot to poison the emperor, and now she had accidentally uncovered what seemed to be a scandalous secret of the imperial family.
Being a royal physician was truly a high-risk occupation. Would the Empress Dowager have her killed to silence her?
She was going to go mad!
As Zhu Qingyu quietly edged backward, the Empress Dowager spoke, her voice calm:
“Whose is it?”
Those light words struck Zhu Qingyu like a thunderbolt, and her inner curses grew fiercer. This was deadly!
The Empress Dowager asked this question without even bothering to avoid her presence. Did that mean she was already considered a dead woman who needed to be silenced?
While Zhu Qingyu, an outsider, trembled in fear, the parties directly involved remained exceptionally composed.
Imperial Consort Tan lowered her head, dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, and when she looked up again, the terror in her gaze had vanished completely. Her face was filled with innocence and shock as she stared at the Empress Dowager:
“It is naturally His Majesty’s child, Your Grace. What does the Empress Dowager mean by this? If such words were to spread, how could I bear the shame? And where would His Majesty’s dignity stand?”
The Empress Dowager sat firmly in place, her tone seemingly without emotion:
“If it is His Majesty’s, why did you hide when the pulse was taken just now? Shall I have someone retrieve the bedchamber records and calculate the dates with you?”
Imperial Consort Tan straightened herself, lifted her head, and replied:
“His Majesty vowed to observe filial mourning for the late emperor for two years. The mourning period has not yet ended, yet I have conceived. If this were to spread, it would harm His Majesty’s reputation. Everything I have done has been for the sake of His Majesty’s honor. As for the bedchamber records, they may not be complete. If the Empress Dowager does not believe me, why not wait until His Majesty awakens and simply ask him? Then my innocence will be proven.”
As she spoke, Imperial Consort Tan took the robe from the tray and held it in her hands:
“As for this robe, I made it myself. Since the Empress Dowager has commanded it, I will wear it today and pray before the Buddha for His Majesty’s recovery, hoping to help dispel his illness and misfortune. Or does the Empress Dowager intend to take advantage of His Majesty’s severe illness, use a fabricated crime to dispose of me privately, and thus cut off His Majesty’s only bloodline?”
The Empress Dowager sat still, looking down at Imperial Consort Tan.
Imperial Consort Tan knelt upright, looking up at the Empress Dowager.
For a moment, no one spoke. The bedchamber was utterly silent.
Zhu Qingyu struggled to control her breathing, lest the sound of her own breaths disturb the confrontation between the two women at the pinnacle of power.
Finally, the Empress Dowager spoke:
“Imperial Consort Tan spoke recklessly and insulted her elder. As punishment, she is confined to her palace under house arrest for one year. Qiu Ping, escort Imperial Consort Tan back.”
Imperial Consort Tan had broken her leg earlier and had been helped into the chamber.
At the Empress Dowager’s command, Eunuch Qiu hurried over to support her.
Imperial Consort Tan pushed away his outstretched hand, struggled to her feet on her own, and with her broken leg dragging, limped out of the room.
Eunuch Qiu followed closely behind, stopping only at the doorway.
At the threshold, Imperial Consort Tan seemed exhausted. She gripped the doorframe to rest for a moment, then turned back and said:
“Yes, this concubine takes her leave.”
After speaking, she glanced at the unconscious emperor on the bed, then her gaze naturally swept over Zhu Qingyu, who had retreated to the side. She turned and continued walking out of the hall with difficulty.
Though their eyes met for less than a second, Zhu Qingyu’s hair stood on end.
In that brief gaze, the look in Imperial Consort Tan’s eyes was one of overwhelming hatred.
Zhu Qingyu had never in her life been stared at with such venom. She could not tell whether that hatred was directed at the unconscious emperor, or at her, whom Imperial Consort Tan had only seen for the first time.
She had misjudged the woman based on appearance. This was absolutely not the look of a delicate, tearful beauty.
After Imperial Consort Tan left, the Empress Dowager summoned Shen Xu and said:
“All the people in Chenqian Palace, except for Imperial Consort Tan, are to be interrogated strictly. Life or death is of no concern. I want to know who Imperial Consort Tan has been involved with. Focus on checking her movements from three months ago.”
As Shen Xu was about to leave with his orders, the Empress Dowager called him back:
“Commander Han was previously reprimanded by the emperor for submitting a memorial in favor of the Tan family and has been under house arrest for self-reflection. Arrest and interrogate him as well. The official charge against him will be his involvement in the military supplies counterfeit case, not matters of the inner court. Do you understand?”
Shen Xu acknowledged the order. As he pushed open the door to leave, the Empress Dowager noticed someone outside and instructed Eunuch Gui:
“Go and see. If it is Shouming, let him in.”
Eunuch Gui led Gu Zhao inside. The Empress Dowager seemed somewhat weary and gestured to Gu Zhao:
“Come closer. Step forward.”
Gu Zhao approached and performed a bow:
“Empress Dowager.”
The Empress Dowager said:
“Closer. Kneel.”
Without asking a single question, Gu Zhao knelt on the spot.
The Empress Dowager raised her hand and slapped Gu Zhao across the face.
The sharp sound of the slap rang through the hall. Zhu Qingyu, standing nearby diagonally to the Empress Dowager, saw the entire scene clearly. Watching a vivid palm print appear on Gu Zhao’s face, she was stunned.
Why had the Empress Dowager suddenly struck him?
It couldn’t be that the person involved with Imperial Consort Tan was Gu Zhao, could it?!
After being struck, Gu Zhao immediately prostrated himself in apology:
“Please calm your anger, Your Grace.”
The Empress Dowager asked:
“Do you know why your aunt struck you?”
The Empress Dowager referred to herself as “aunt.” Though still kneeling, Gu Zhao straightened up and replied:
“I have behaved disgracefully. My aunt striking me is only right and proper.”
The Empress Dowager’s voice could not hide her exhaustion:
“So you know you have been disgraceful? In the past, I was too softhearted, and Rui’er and I suffered because of it. I felt I owed you two, so no matter what you did, as long as it wasn’t a matter of life and death, I turned a blind eye and let you have your way.”
Gu Zhao answered:
“My aunt has always shown us great kindness and never let us endure hardship. It is we who were too young and weak to share my aunt’s burdens, and instead caused my aunt to endure many grievances on our behalf.”
The Empress Dowager gave a cold laugh, her tone brimming with anger:
“Kindness? I call it indulgence. I spoiled you two cousins so much that all your book learning went to waste. You abandoned all sense of ethics and human decency. There are so many women in this world—whatever type you wanted, you could have had. But no. Both of you, worthless wretches, had to fixate on someone else’s woman. In the end, you’ll lose your lives over some romantic entanglement. Your aunt asks you: can you change this disgraceful behavior or not?”
Witnessing the Empress Dowager reprimanding Gu Zhao, Zhu Qingyu, standing off to the side, felt unbearably awkward. She wished she could simply vanish.
Especially since the Empress Dowager’s words seemed to carry pointed insinuations that might include her.
No wonder that woman had become Empress Dowager. Zhu Qingyu had indeed entertained thoughts before, like if a divorce couldn’t be arranged, perhaps widowhood would do, but she had only thought it in her heart. And yet it seemed to match—how terrifying!
Despite the Empress Dowager’s fury, Gu Zhao, who had just been slapped, seemed almost mad. Not only did he fail to calm her anger, but he deliberately fanned the flames.
Gu Zhao raised his head defiantly and suddenly turned his gaze toward Zhu Qingyu, saying:
Aunt, please forgive me, but I cannot change—there is no one else for me but her.
