Feng Yuheng roughly described the Fourth Prince Xuan Tianyi’s romance of disciple pursuing Master to Imperial Concubine Yun, causing her to feel anxious. She felt that if she did not act soon, this daughter-in-law she took a liking to would get snatched away by Old Fourth, so she hit a board on the spot and told Xuan Tianming: “After this New Year, we will manage Hua-er’s marriage matters.”
Xuan Tianming felt really troubled, he asked Imperial Concubine Yun: “You’re not worried about Seventh Brother being unhappy about it?”
Imperial Concubine Yun dismissed him with a wave of her hand: “If he was unhappy about it, he would not have hugged her. When you were growing up, have you seen your Seventh Brother hugging any lady?” After she said this, she even glanced at Feng Yuheng, scaring her into shaking her head fervently to express that she had never been hugged. Only then did Imperial Concubine Yun say: “So, since Third young girl is the first woman Hua-er was willing to hug, this means that there is some hope.”
Xuan Tianming still felt it was unreliable, then once he thought that Feng Xiangrong was a shriveled up girl, he shook his head and saying: “Using the term woman, she is only a child, not even of marriageable age!”
“Hey!” Imperial Concubine Yun rolled her eyes, “Only at this time did you know that she is a child? The Third young miss is already 14 years old. Thinking about when Ah Heng was only 12 years old, who boldly sent over the dowry to Feng Manor after just returning from the great Northwest? Who searched the stores of Winter Moon Palace and took all my five treasure cloth away to gain favour with his wife? Now you’re saying that the Third young girl is a child, do you have any shame?”
Feng Yuheng facepalmed, of course that much high quality cloth was taken from Winter Moon Palace. She had always wondered, as a man, for what purpose did Xuan Tianming store so much five treasure cloth for?
Xuan Tianming also felt he was in the wrong, it was true that Xiangrong was not young anymore. She would be of marriageable age in a year, settling her engagement early was also important. But he felt that girl did not match Xuan Tianhua at all!
Just on this matter, the three of them discussed until the middle of the night and were unable to reach a conclusion, and when they were simply too tired, they went to their respective rooms and fell asleep.
Xuan Tianming also felt that he had received a loss. He had prepared to “eat meat”, but his Imperial Concubine Mother insisted on pulling the two out of their beds to spy on Old Seventh’s secret matters, causing his wife to be sleepy and tired, collapsing on the bed after returning and slept, unable to be woken up at all. This caused his New Year Eve’s feast which he had been thinking about for a long time to be cancelled. It was truly a miscalculation! A miscalculation!
The first day of the New Year, the Emperor who was sick for the night, woke up when the sky was brightening. Not only was he awake, his condition had improved greatly, as if the cold damage which came suddenly last night had never happened. He looked invigorated and had a healthy glow. Even the imperial physician who stood guard during the night at Zhao He Hall exclaimed when he came in to examine his pulse, saying that the Emperor truly lived 10,000 years!
But Zhang Yuan, who also stayed over with the Emperor, felt that the Emperor’s energetic appearance was a little worrying. He felt that the Emperor’s illness went away too quickly and did not follow common sense. However, he was unable to say such a thing. After all the Emperor recovering from illness was a happy event, what was he doing if he threw cold water on that? Therefore, he held in his suspicions and worry, getting up from the floor and taking the Emperor’s clothes, preparing to serve him in changing clothes.
There was still a need to hold a morning court session on the first day of the New Year, but this morning court session was different form normal. The Emperor had already put the palace on lock-down before the New Year, so on the first day of New Year, a group of ministers entered the place to offer auspicious words. It was a sort of worship with nice words being said, no political matters were discussed. Even the dragon robe the Emperor wore was different from normal, it was not noble yellow, but dark red.
Zhang Yuan offered the dragon robe and had just spread it open. Without having the chance to speak to let the Emperor change, he saw the Emperor shoot him a fierce look, frowning, then blurting out: “Zhang Yuan? Why are you here? Didn’t We send you to the Department of Guilty Servants some time ago?”
Zhang Yuan’s heart fell with a “thunk”, and he had an especially bad feeling. Could it be that the old Emperor slept half a night and forgot what happened last night?
As expected, the Emperor saw that he was stunned and silent, and only grew angrier, he even swung his arm and swept the dragon robe on the floor, shouting angrily: “You stopped Imperial Concubine Shu’s carriage and almost caused Imperial Concubine Shu to die a horrible death. We did not behead you and only sent you to the Department of Guilty Servants, and you did not repent and even dared to come back on your own, are the palace rules decided by you?”
Zhang Yuan knelt down quickly, bowing until his head touched the floor: “Your Majesty, please judge fairly, This Servant returned because of Your Majesty’s summons! If Your Majesty did not say anything, how can This Servant take a step out of the Department of Guilty Servants?”
“We summoned you back?” The Emperor’s face was filled with anger, shouting loudly: “Nonsense! You almost caused Imperial Concubine Shu to die a horrible death, We hated that We could not behead you, how could We summon you back? If not for Imperial Concubine Shu being magnanimous, your life would have been forfeit!”
“Your Majesty.” Zhang Yuan raised his head with an aggrieved expression, “Your Majesty truly forgot everything again after sleeping one night? Forgot about chatting to This Servant without stopping last night? Forgot about feeling heartache over This Servant’s hands? As he spoke, he held out his hands which were covered in wounds, “Your Majesty, This Servant is your Xiao Yuan Zhi! How can you forget This Servant?”
Zhang Yuan’s words caused the Emperor to be deep in thought. He looked at this Eunuch in front of him, pondering over then authenticity of his words. But no matter how he pondered, he could not understand why he would feel pained over a servant’s hands after eating his fill? The Emperor felt that this matter was ridiculous and wanted to order for Zhang Yuan to be dragged out and beheaded, but he finally remembered today was the first day of New Year and it was not good to spill blood, so he went for the second best option, shouting: “Someone! Send this servant back to the Department of Guilty Servants!”
As these words came out, outside the Hall, the Head Chief Eunuch Wu Ying quickly jogged over, his expression showing some happiness which could not be hidden. He commanded the two Eunuchs following him and with one of each side, they dragged Zhang Yuan out. At this moment, they suddenly heard the Empress’ voice transmitted from outside the Hall, saying: “Stop!”
Everyone looked outside, but they saw the Empress wearing court robes, walking over with the aura of the mother of a nation. Those steps were steady and her expression was dignified and even her gaze contained the impression that she did not allow anyone to ignore her. Wu Ying lowered his head on reflex and he had to acknowledge it. The dignity of the nation’s mother was not something the insignificant Imperial Concubine Shu could reach. Even if Imperial Concubine Shu climbed to a high position one day, she would be unable to emit this kind of dignified aura.
“What is Your Majesty doing?” The Empress finally stopped and stood in front of the Emperor, glancing at Zhang Yuan, then saying: “It is the first day of New Year today, even the commoners know that being harmonious should be prioritised, why is Your Majesty losing your temper so early in the morning? It is only a servant, how can this be compared to the lifeblood of Da Shun? Rules cannot be broken because of a servant, ruining the fortune of Da Shun.”
What she said caused the Emperor to feel angry, yet he did not know how to retort. He felt that this Empress was really too bold to talk to him like this, yet he felt that the Empress was right. It was true that Da Shun’s fortune was more important. He then looked at Zhang Yuan as well, then asked the Empress: “Then tell Us, how shall this servant be handled? We cannot have him at Our side.”
“Then bestow him to This Wife!” The Empress said, “A servant who served at Your Majesty’s side in the past, his manners should be exceptionally good. Since Your Majesty does not want him, then bestow him to This Wife. It just happens that This Wife is lacking capable people. Most important, there should be harmony during the first day of New Year, do not allow this servant to ruin the nation’s fortune for the year.”
The Emperor nodded and did not reject it, only saying: “Then the Empress can handle it!” After saying this, he swung his sleeves and left the hall with large steps.
The Empress gave a look with Fang Yi, then raised her feet, hurrying out of the Hall after the Emperor. Fang Yi supported Zhang Yuan onto his feet and said softly: “I will send you back to Jing Ci Palace first, we will slowly discuss what happens next. Preserving your life should come first.”
Zhang Yuan nodded and did not say anything else, but inside his heart, he was feeling relieved. If he was sent back to the Department of Guilty Servants like this, his life would really be handed over there. He got out after much difficulty, if he went back again, this meant his master had abandoned him completely. The people there would think of everything to multiply his torment until he died.
In front of the Heavenly Hall, the Emperor and Empress walked down the steps. The two walked down while holding hands, and in the eyes of the ministers, this looked like a beautifully harmonious picture. The Emperor and Empress who had not appeared together in such a long time looked like they still got along very well. This meant in the next one year, Da Shun would experience good times and prosperity.
However, no one knew that at this moment, the Emperor was speaking softly to the Empress: “For Zhang Yuan’s matter today, We have given you some face and also some mercy. But you should know, how long you can keep this face and this mercy is unknown. You have sat in the back seat for so many years and should understand how to contribute to Da Shun. The person We are waiting for should be appearing soon, right?”
The Empress’ feet paused. The onlookers could not tell, but she herself knew. Her legs have gone weak and the hand being held by the Emperor was trembling slightly, but she still said determinedly: “I already knew that Your Majesty knows everything clearly, and This Wife did not think of truly hiding it from Your Majesty. It’s just that after so many years in the Imperial Palace, even if there were not contributions, there was still the many years of toiling. Your Majesty does not care about the feelings between husband and wife but should still keep the many years of partnership in mind. Your Majesty knows this very well, This Wife is just a chess piece and is harmless to Da Shun. Even if he comes, This Wife will definitely not work with him to do anything which would harm Da Shun. This Wife is just waiting in the palace, waiting for him to come, then allowing Your Majesty to apprehend him. When this is done, this Empress seat, This Wife would have truly reached the end of being on that seat. However……” She paused, then spoke again: “The day This Wife is on the seat is the day this Wife is Empress, even if Your Majesty is acting, the act must be done thoroughly.”
“Hmph!” The Emperor scoffed, and no longer said anything.
The Emperor and Empress took their seats and the many scholar and military officials started to give their greetings for the first day of New Year. It was grand, but everyone’s hearts harboured different thoughts and the target of those thoughts was the Emperor. Regardless of which faction, all of them were observing. Not only were they observing the old Emperor’s emotions, most importantly, they were observing the old Emperor’s healthy complexion. They heard that he caught cold damage again last night, but they did not know if he had truly recovered right now or was it just a forced act. If it was a forced act, then how long could this old Emperor keep that this act?
Outside the Imperial Palace, Feng Yuheng had already got up when Xuan Tianming went to morning court, leaving Chun Palace to return to Yu Palace. Since there was a palace banquet tonight, she still had to return to her palace to change, clean up and put on makeup. At the same time, it was the first day of New Year, she had to accept the greetings from the servants in the palace and distribute red packets. Xiangrong arranged with her to meet up at the palace gates in the evening. When she thought about what she discussed with Imperial Concubine Yun last night, she did not know whether she should be happy or worried for this young girl.
Would Xiangrong truly be happy marrying the Seventh Prince?
(Translator’s Note: The section below is a note written by the author.)
(The entire series has entered the second half, and most of the plot is directed at the bigger picture. Everyone’s fate will slowly take shape after this, so there will occasionally be slightly painful and very painful plots. However, the ending would definitely be good, the pain is only temporary and would turn back not long after. When the Emperor recovers, that would be the time of bad luck for Old Eight and Imperial Concubine Yuan Shu, that will not be allowed to have good endings. In addition, the situation with Xiangrong and the Seventh Prince would definitely not be like what is seen currently, there will be many twists in the future plot. The plot of the second half will be complex and everything will be revealed in the finale)
