Chapter 92
The Emperor did not need Grand Secretary Feng to answer, nor did he give him a chance to defend himself. “Take him out and give him twenty strokes.”
The instant the Emperor’s words fell, two Qilin Guards waiting beneath the corridor entered and hauled Grand Secretary Feng away. The exchange was so swift that several of the grand secretaries, Grand Secretary Feng included, had no time to react.
No one knew what those two Qilin Guards had done, but Grand Secretary Feng did not even manage to utter a sound.
Even Grand Secretaries Shen, Zheng, and Yao, though none of them saw eye to eye with Chief Minister Li, were stunned by the Emperor’s lethal move.
Before long, the muffled thuds of the staff striking flesh rang out beyond the hall. Grand Secretary Feng did not make a single sound. Were they keeping him alive, or not? Each blow landed with a horrifying finality.
A deathly silence settled over Yan Hua Hall, inside and out. Even the palace attendants walked on tiptoe.
After an agonizing wait, the beating stopped. The Emperor flicked a finger. Without saying a word, Buyan went outside to deliver the order.
“Send Grand Secretary Feng home to recuperate.”
The Emperor had spared Grand Secretary Feng’s life; he had not ordered them to beat him to death. Only then did the three grand secretaries in the West Cabinet finally release the breath they had been holding.
The Emperor reiterated, “My family affairs are not for any of you to discuss.”
First Grand Secretary Han, and now Grand Secretary Feng—the three remaining grand secretaries had gained an especially profound understanding of the fact that the Emperor’s family affairs were his forbidden ground. He would never tolerate court officials pointing fingers or commenting on them.
They would all remember from now on that Second Miss Cui was family in the Emperor’s eyes.
The entire imperial palace was the Emperor’s household. If he wished to move elsewhere, then relocating the palace was likewise his own private family matter. That morning, they had all sworn they would not rest until they persuaded the Emperor to return. Now, however, not one of them dared to mention it.
Only yesterday, they had been eagerly speculating about who Second Miss Cui’s lover was. Today, every one of them had fallen silent.
Grand Secretary Shen inwardly sighed. Chief Minister Li had lost another round. He had already learned that Chief Minister Li had intended for Grand Secretary Feng, once his remonstrance failed, to gather a group of officials and kneel outside Heavenly Mandate Gate, creating the appearance of pleading with the Emperor at the cost of their lives.
Now, before he could even make the first move, the Emperor had snuffed it out.
Grand Secretary Shen gradually came to understand that the Emperor seemed to have no interest in being a wise or virtuous ruler. He simply refused to follow the usual path. The experience and methods that had worked before were useless against him.
And the Emperor possessed such a frighteningly sharp mind. To this day, no matter how many memorials he received, anything that passed before his eyes was never forgotten.
Not only did he remember everything, but many times he even bypassed the Cabinet’s proposed comments and issued an appropriate response himself. If this continued, the Cabinet would return to its original role of advising the Emperor, rather than retaining the authority it wielded now.
Grand Secretary Shen had already made peace with that. Cabinet ministers also held important posts in the Six Ministries and various government offices. They would still have plenty of room to exercise their abilities.
Chief Minister Li was the only one who would never willingly step down. He was accustomed to being second to one and above all others, commanding every official under Heaven.
The Emperor had first invoked the rule that court officials could not interfere in his private affairs and replaced Grand Secretary Han with Grand Secretary Yao. With officials educated at the Yao clan academy facing off against Chief Minister Li’s faction, he had diverted Chief Minister Li’s attention.
He had then arranged for Second Miss Cui to lead people around to collect levies from various places, undermining Chief Minister Li’s long-standing claim that “wealth should be hidden among the people.” By placing the merchant-tax revenue into his private treasury, he had caught Chief Minister Li off guard.
Changing the color of his dragon robes and moving his residence to Yan Hua Hall had further diminished Chief Minister Li’s prestige. Then, once again using the principle that court officials could not interfere in his private affairs, the Emperor had brought down Grand Secretary Feng. In a single stroke, he had removed two grand secretaries and cut away both of Chief Minister Li’s strongest supports.
For now, it was clear that the Emperor had the upper hand. But the Li family and Grand Empress Dowager Li had spent two generations cultivating their influence around the emperors. Their power could no longer be described merely as deeply rooted. It was still far too soon to speak of victory or defeat.
It remained to be seen how Chief Minister Li would respond to the Emperor’s next move.
After breakfast, Cui Lanyin was just preparing to go to the front halls to accompany Grand Empress Dowager Chen when Grand Empress Dowager Chen instead came to Tanyue Residence.
“During the first three months, you must be especially careful.” Grand Empress Dowager Chen took her hand and sat with her on the luohan couch. “You need not rise to greet anyone who comes.”
“I feel perfectly well,” Cui Lanyin replied with a smile. “Director Cao also said that taking some walks would actually do me good.”
Seeing that she was no longer as upset as she had been the day before, Grand Empress Dowager Chen nodded inwardly. She turned to Aunt Xia and Aunt Gao and said, “The two of you go keep watch beneath the eaves. I have some private matters to discuss with Yin.”
Aunt Xia and Aunt Gao then ushered Aiye and Sangzhi outside with them. The two older women stationed themselves outside the doors of the central room and beneath the windows of the living quarters. Neither of them spoke, and they would not allow Aiye or the other attendants to come near.
A faint unease stirred in Cui Lanyin’s heart. She let her smile fade and waited quietly.
Grand Empress Dowager Chen sighed softly. “You and the Emperor are in that stage where honey seems to flow between you. You are the Emperor’s first woman, and you possess such rare beauty. He must be devoted to you and unable to bear letting you suffer.
“You need not ask for anything; he has placed everything before you himself. He has promised you the position of Empress, and he has even promised that there will be no children by another woman. As long as you bear him a son, that son will be the future Emperor.
“At your age, you naturally treasure and yearn for love above all else. With the Emperor treating you so well, it would be difficult not to fall deeply for him, believing that the two of you could remain loving each other forever.
“But I have come to pour a basin of cold water over you. Do not think that what the Emperor has done for you is unique. In the beginning, Emperor Gaozong treated me no less generously. You are carrying a child now; back then, I went three years without one, yet Emperor Gaozong still kept only me by his side. But what happened in the end?
“I was naive then. I thought that the one from the western lands had gained the advantage only because I had borne no child. Every day, I either brooded over it or thought of ways to quarrel with Emperor Gaozong. I failed to notice that I no longer had anyone behind me to rely on. I was able to retain my position as Empress only because Emperor Gaozong still remembered that he owed me. After that, as you saw, my circumstances deteriorated step by step. If Emperor Gaozong had not recalled my past kindnesses before his death and left me the Hidden Qilin Guards, I might have remained unable to leave the imperial residence until the day I died.
“It was only after I went to the imperial residence that I understood. Even if I had borne a prince, Emperor Gaozong and I would still have gradually drifted apart. A man’s affection rarely lasts more than a few years. And there are always countless factions scheming to send beautiful women to the Emperor. Sooner or later, one of them will move him.
“I had borne the eldest legitimate son, yet I did not know how to build a power base of my own. Once the Emperor had a woman and children he loved more, even if my son had already been made Crown Prince, what awaited the two of us would still have been erasure.”
“Grand Empress Dowager…” Cui Lanyin turned and leaned against Grand Empress Dowager Chen. “You truly have worried yourself sick over me.”
“You did so much for me first. I remember all of it.” Grand Empress Dowager Chen gently patted her back. “Do you understand what I mean?”
“After my uncle left this morning, I couldn’t sleep. I have been thinking about all this ever since.” Since Grand Empress Dowager Chen was showing her such wholehearted concern, Cui Lanyin naturally concealed nothing. “Actually, I have never been able to see through my uncle’s true thoughts. His schemes run too deep. He is unlike other emperors; the things other emperors value are precisely the things he does not care about.
“I knew from the beginning that if I chose to stay, he would grant me the position of Empress for the sake of the affection between us as uncle and niece.
“But it isn’t because he likes me as much as you think. It is because, all along, I have been the only woman who could approach him. I know how to indulge him while maintaining the proper boundaries, but I am not meek all the time. If I am angry, I say so. Even when I lose my temper, I do it only to a point. He does not need to coax me; once we talk things through, I recover on my own.
Someone who could put his mind at ease in his spare moments without requiring much effort was someone who suited his heart. I had merely encountered him by chance and appeared before him at precisely the right time.
My uncle has always lived according to his own wishes and never cared much for worldly possessions. So long as I continued to suit his heart, he would likely be generous enough to give me anything within his power.
“But if one day I…” She did not continue.
Seeing how clear-headed Cui Lanyin was, Grand Empress Dowager Chen felt both relieved and heartbroken.
“What do you intend to do from now on?”
“So long as Uncle remains unchanged, I’ll devote myself to building a good life with him and be the empress who understands him, doing my best to make sure he can’t bear to be without me.” Cui Lanyin spoke slowly. “But I can’t place everything in his hands either. People’s hearts are fickle, and even more so when that person is the emperor. Uncle has only been on the throne for a short while, yet I can already feel how much he has changed.
“I don’t care what happens to me, but I can’t let my children passively accept whatever fate others arrange for them. If it’s a girl, that’s one thing. As Uncle said, an eldest son who cannot inherit the throne will find it difficult to survive, while an heir apparent or the emperor’s eldest legitimate son who cannot succeed has only one path left—death.
“So I must gather more leverage for myself and my children. If that day truly comes, we’ll at least be able to fight for ourselves instead of simply accepting whatever others decide.”
Grand Empress Dowager Chen’s eyes were filled with admiration. “You’re stronger than I ever was. Don’t forget that you’re not alone. You still have me.”
Cui Lanyin felt somewhat guilty. “You could have been enjoying your retirement, Grand Empress Dowager, yet I’ve dragged you into this.”
“It isn’t entirely for your sake. I’m like this, and so is Empress Dowager Xu. I very much want to see if there is anyone who can break free of this pattern. I hope the ending can be rewritten with you.”
After saying this, Grand Empress Dowager Chen ultimately could not bear to see the emperor wronged either. After all, she had watched him grow up herself, so she added, “The emperor hasn’t changed yet. You mustn’t treat him differently because of these thoughts.”
Cui Lanyin shook her head. “I can’t even count all the kindness Uncle has shown me. Without him, I might be living in utter misery now. To turn against him over something that hasn’t happened yet—how heartless would I have to be?
“Please rest assured, Grand Empress Dowager. Even if we can no longer remain of one heart in the future, he will still be my uncle. I’ll do my duty as his niece.”
Grand Empress Dowager Chen had nothing more to say. “You’re a good child.” Then she added, “I don’t know how the emperor will handle this. This is not like changing the color of his robes or moving the palace. The position of empress involves a struggle between various factions, and the officials will not compromise easily. With the relationship between uncle and niece, and the fact that you already became pregnant first, all sorts of ugly things will be said. You must be prepared.”
“I understand. A mother becomes strong for her children. I won’t back down.”
Grand Empress Dowager Chen stayed at Danyue Residence for lunch before leaving. After taking an afternoon nap, Cui Lanyin awoke to find the emperor sitting on the edge of her bed. She was quite unaccustomed to seeing him in broad daylight like this.
“Why are you back at this hour?”
The emperor helped her sit up. “Aren’t we going to your family’s home later? You’ll need time to get ready.”
Cui Lanyin was very uneasy about letting the emperor go alone. “Why don’t I come with you?”
The emperor brought over her shoes and put them on her, then embraced her as he led her to sit in the outer room. “I overlooked this matter. I calculated everything, but I never expected something to go wrong with Grayfeather. It was already unfair to you that you had to bear the reputation of being pregnant before marriage. If I make you explain everything to your family on your own as well, then what use am I?”
She could be shameless about other matters, but becoming involved with her uncle and having his child was truly difficult to speak of. Cui Lanyin was indeed apprehensive about facing her family at home.
The emperor, however, was the one in power, while her family had always been the way they were. With the two sides sitting together, she truly had no idea what might happen.
She found the emperor a jade-colored everyday robe and helped him change into it, trying her best to make him appear more approachable.
Then she called Buyan inside. “Uncle doesn’t say much. If there’s anything he fails to explain, you must make it clear for him.”
Buyan agreed readily. “Second Miss Cui, please rest assured. His Majesty has already made all the arrangements.”
Before they left, the emperor discussed something with her. “Since I’ve handled this in a way that satisfies you, may I enter the inner chamber tonight?”
The previous night, she had ultimately been unable to drive the emperor back to Yan hua Hall, but she had refused to let him sleep in the inner chamber, so he had spent the night on the luohan couch in the outer room.
“Physician Cao said we’re supposed to sleep separately.”
“I summoned Physician Cao again to ask him. He said that as long as we don’t do that for the first three months, there’s no harm in sleeping together.”
Cui Lanyin could only reply, “We’ll discuss it after you return.”
The emperor did not press her. He took Buyan with him to meet up with Qian He, and the group left the palace for the Cui family’s main residence.
By yesterday evening, all the prominent families of Yingcheng had already learned that Second Miss Cui was pregnant.
After getting over their shock, the Cui family’s main branch, just like Grand Empress Dowager Chen, felt that Cui Lanyin ought to marry the child’s father first.
They called in Geng Dayou and questioned him, but he knew nothing at all. They sent him to the former imperial residence to ask the chief steward, but the chief steward did not know who the man was either.
They had assumed Cui Lanyin would return home during the day to explain everything, so Cui Sheng and Cui Su had both taken leave from court.
But they waited from morning until the sun had begun to slant westward, and there was still no sign of her.
The family finally made up their minds and prepared for Lady Jiang and Cui Lanzhi to request an audience at the palace the following day.
Suddenly, Granny Sun came running in, panic-stricken. “Master, Madam, His Majesty is here.”
At first, they thought they had misheard her. Only after Granny Sun repeated herself did they believe it. In a flurry, the entire family hurried to the entrance to welcome the emperor.
Second Miss Cui is about to get an upgrade. [Wicked grin]
