E Huang wiped her tears in grievance, trying to excuse herself, “This servant was just too happy to see His Majesty waking up and wanted to inform Her Ladyship. This servant was too tired from all the running and didn’t have time to speak… Who would have thought that Her Ladyship would run away the moment she heard the beginning of my first sentence.”
Unfortunately, it was too late.
At the moment, I was rolling around the dragon bed in pain. The anxious Feng Zhao Wen was right next to me, ordering the Head of Imperial Physician to help me.
E Huang was ordered by the furious emperor to be taken outside to be hit twenty times. Despite my pain, I tried to stop him, but in the end, she still had to endure ten hits. When she came back in again to thank our grace, her face was full of tears. The smile on her face did not fade. Though she wobbled a lot, those ten hits were not light.
The Head of Imperial Physician had checked my pulse and immediately brewed some tonic to stabilize fetus. After I drank it, the pain subsided. Feng Zhao Wen rested his head against mine as we laid down on the dragon bed. He could not make big movements to avoid re-opening his wounds. Even a little bit of movement could cause his wounds to bleed again. He held my hand tight, as though he was about to break my bones. The expression on his face was calm, though.
“You….. When did you start feeling pain again?”
I didn’t think this was a question worth probing over. There was something really bothering me though. “When did you woke up, Your Majesty?”
“It should be around when you were about to return from the court.”
“Amitabha!” I gave my humble gratitude to the gods.
Feng Zhao Wen pinched my nose with his fingers, “When did you start getting involved with religion?”
I poked him in the lips, “The gods are up there, stop saying nonsense!” I had never been this religious before.
Ever since I found out that he had woken up, I inevitably embraced religion because only the gods could return my loved ones like this.
He laughed, not looking down on me at all.
I felt like the previous menacing man had changed skin. Once one got closer and closer to him, he would retract his claws.
Now that he had woken up, there were myriads of things that he needed to handle.
He rested for two days. Once he could get up, he summoned the ministers to Zhong Hua Palace. Maybe those people knew I was listening from behind a screen while resting on the dragon bed, or perhaps, they were taking into account of His Majesty’s deep love for me, they kept praising me in front of him.
I was pregnant with the dragon seed, I was brave and courageous, I was quick in making decisions, I was extraordinary, etc….. I had to admit, other than the ‘pregnant with the dragon seed’ part, everything else were blind lies.
They probably didn’t think this way when I was ordering them to be hit with planks. Now they had changed their tunes, praising me non-stop in front of His Majesty.
I buried my head under the silk blanket, laughing so hard that my entire body trembled. I had to restrain myself; I must not alarm those ministers who were praising me to the heavens.
For those old men who had been living for such a long time, it must have took a lot for them to be saying all that. If they heard me laughing at them, where would they hide their faces?
E Huang patted me in the back, gently coaxing me, “You had been facing a lot of grievance lately, Your Ladyship. His Majesty must have known that. Wait until His Majesty gets well, he will settle the score for you! Do not shed anymore tears, Your Ladyship. It will not be good for the little prince inside your stomach.”
……. Honestly, the ones who were facing house arrest and were forced to copy scriptures were the concubines, and the ones who had to endure beatings were the ministers, the one who had grievance was not me…..
With what eyes did she see that the one having the grievance was me?
I sat up, trying to hold in laughter. I waved her over and whispered to her ears, “His Majesty is too pitiful, people are not honest to him. It must have been hard for him, trying to distinguish the truths from the lies.”
Because I had fetal instability, His Majesty forbade me from leaving the dragon bed, my movements were really limited. However, I no longer feared him. Everytime things did not go my way, I would whine loudly, telling him that my entire body hurt. No matter how angry he was, his anger would immediately disappear after hearing that. He made imperial physicians looked after me, all day and all time. Because of that, the Head had to literally camp in his department, it had been a while since he last went home. He kept getting summoned to Zhong Hua Palace that his old, brittle legs almost broke.
One day, he took advantage of His Majesty going to court to plead to me, “Your Ladyship, can you please pity this old official? Can you stop complaining about pain?”
Honestly, feigning pain was a weapon that would make His Majesty concede to everything, how could I not take full advantage of it?
I kindly look at my teacher, “Do you want me to order people to make you caramelized pork hock in return of your hard work?”
He stroke his non-existent beard, before flinging his sleeves and walking away in a huff.
—— He would have never dared to do anything if it was in front of His Majesty….
People inside the palace, from the top to the bottom, treated different people differently.
It wasn’t only the Head, it also applied to Consort De.
Before His Majesty woke up, she kept threatening suicide. After the news of His Majesty waking up spread, all the concubines were sent to their respective palaces and no more could be heard from her.
I thought, she had given up on the idea of dying. Who would have thought that on the day General Hu Guo was prosecuted for treason, she would wordlessly hang herself in her palace…
As for how to deal with her funeral, it was up to the Department of Rites to deal with it. I could not even leave Zhong Hua Palace, there was nothing I could do.
At that time, I was still recuperating from my fetal instability, so I could not even leave the dragon bed. E Huang was next to me chattering her mouth off, “Consort De had always depended on General Hu Guo and the empress dowager. She ran rampant in the palace. Now that the empress dowager had gone to Bao Ji Temple and General Hu Guo prosecuted for conspiring against His Majesty, she had long lost her backing. His Majesty won’t even care for her, might as well die than to live.”
Reality dawned over me.
Had Father not raised me as a man, the best ending for me was most probably the one that Consort De had. A long white silk.
(TN: A long white silk to hang herself with.)
When His Majesty returned, I was crying on the dragon bed.
When he pushed aside the golden curtain and laid his eyes on me, he appeared really shocked and got really pale. He wanted to touch me but carefully retracted his hand, “Xiao Yi, where does it hurt?” He looked like he was scared of hurting me.
I buried myself against his chest before pouring my entire heart out with my tears.
E Huang was kneeling on the floor, repeatedly kowtowing, “This servant was talking about Consort De and then, Her Ladyship suddenly cries. This servant really did not mean to make Her Ladyship cry….”
…. You clearly made me cry! Own that up!
A fox crying over the rabbit’s death, this girl would never understand my complex emotion. She kept talking about Consort De’s pitiful predicament.
Even I did not know why I cried. Was it because of the bleak outlook of this troubled world, or was it because I had no power to change mine or other’s lives?
Feng Zhao Wen gently negotiated with me, “Why don’t we order E Huang to be hit ten times? Will Yi Er feel better?”
……… I did not really want her to get hit.
E Huang quickly kowtowed for mercy. She seemed really scared.
I gulped twice, my sobbing gradually becoming softer.
Feng Zhao Wen looked a little hesitant, “You have gotten used to E Huang. If we hit her ten more times, she might become disabled. We will need to change her.” His eyes fell on the four towering maids, looking even more hesitant, “Just… your body is not very convenient right now. If they serve you to change or to bath, my heart will not be at ease.”
……. I still remembered how those four jiejies bathed me back then. Back then, I could not feel pain, but now….
Their silhouettes were too scary, I shivered, my tears coming to a complete stop.
After thinking for a while, I unwillingly admitted, “This girl is my reliable confidante.”
His Majesty had been repaying old debts on my behalf, lately.
E Huang had told His Majesty about what happened while he was unconscious. He took care of the rebelling party first before suddenly asking, “Zhen remember hearing about Fan Wang’s rebellion while zhen was unconscious. Apparently, he had already surrounded the palace. What happened to that incident?”
My eyes lingered on Tian Bing Qing and E Huang, wanting to put the blame on them. The two of them took a step back before kneeling, “This servant was not the one who said that!”
His Majesty smiled brightly at me, waiting for my explanation.
I thickened my face before I made my way to him. I sat on his laps and made him wrap his arms around my waist before pointing an accusing finger at the two people, “Both of you said nonsense while His Majesty was unconscious. Although your intention was good, what is to become of the palace’s rules?”
He smiled before feigning a sigh to my ears, “Why can’t zhen detect any truth from your words? Why is Yi Er lying to zhen, just like those slippery old men from the court?”
His words were too familiar…. E Huang tried to hide behind Tian Bing Qing.
I suddenly remembered something. I glared at the traitor that was E Huang! I forgot that she was His Majesty’s spy.
It was all due to her simple and honest face. She kept showing her face in front of me. I started to become less vigilant and ended up telling her everything.
I decided to distance myself from her, in the future…
