Facing the many doubtful gazes from below, the Empress Dowager continued languidly, “The late Emperor’s decree was entrusted to me when he fell gravely ill, and it’s still safely kept in my chambers, available for inspection at any time… When and where did the old Prime Minister obtain his copy of the decree?”
The old Prime Minister spat, “Enough of your act! You’re just trying to send someone out to spread the news, aren’t you? Don’t even think about it!”
The Empress Dowager, visibly annoyed, scolded, “For years, you’ve been making things difficult for me. I’ve overlooked it out of respect for your status as a senior official from the previous reign and your advanced age and great merits. But you’ve gone too far, openly slandering me in court! If you can’t produce evidence for today’s accusations, I won’t let you off lightly!”
“Evidence?” The old Prime Minister sneered. “Even if I had evidence, you’d find a way to turn things around, wouldn’t you?” He turned to address all the court officials, asking loudly, “Do my colleagues remember what news came from the palace before the late Emperor passed away?”
A small commotion arose among the officials. After a while, someone answered in a low voice, “It was that the Second Prince withdrew from the succession, wasn’t it?”
“Correct!” The old Prime Minister nodded. “The then-Second Prince, now King of Zhenna, suddenly announced he would no longer contend for the position of heir. The late Emperor had intended to name the King of Zhenna as crown prince. After this news broke, the Emperor urgently summoned the King of Zhenna but could not ascertain the reason for his withdrawal. At dusk, he called me and four other court officials into the palace for a secret council. In the end, the Emperor still decided to name the King of Zhenna as heir and ordered me to draft an edict immediately to announce it to the world!”
“After the next day’s court session, I presented the draft to the Emperor. He made a few modifications and proposed to dispatch all other princes to various regions as guardians. So, I revised the document in the Emperor’s study, personally transcribed it onto the imperial decree, and the Emperor affixed his seal,” the old Prime Minister paused, breathing heavily. “We planned to announce it at the following day’s court session. Unexpectedly, news came at dawn that the Emperor had fallen gravely ill. When I arrived, the Emperor could no longer speak but still managed to entrust the decree to me. By then, the Empress – our current Empress Dowager – was already outside the hall, announcing to the officials that by the Emperor’s verbal order, the Fifth Prince, who wasn’t particularly outstanding at the time, was to be named heir and temporarily manage state affairs.”
The court erupted in an uproar.
Amidst the buzzing discussions, the Emperor’s Consort seemed at a loss, looking alternately at the officials and the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager maintained her inscrutable expression and said slowly, “The late Emperor always had high hopes for the Second Prince, but he was too disappointing. It’s only natural that the Emperor fell ill in a fit of anger. To make such a grand story out of this – as expected of the old Prime Minister. But I can understand your feelings. If I remember correctly, weren’t you the Second Prince’s enlightening tutor?”
“Shameless witch!” the old Prime Minister cursed bitterly. “I won’t argue about the verbal order, but answer me this: when the Emperor was on his deathbed, barely conscious and breathing his last, how was the final edict written?”
“The old Prime Minister’s age is showing in his poor memory. Have you forgotten that during the Emperor’s illness, I was the one who attended to him day and night by his bedside?” the Empress Dowager replied calmly. “The edict was naturally dictated by the Emperor during a moment of clarity before his passing, with me transcribing his words. But the seal was pressed by the Emperor’s hand, which is why the impression is so light – you can see this clearly from the seal mark.”
“That edict, apart from swapping the names of the Second and Fifth Princes, was identical to what I had drafted. How do you explain that?”
“Explain?” The Empress Dowager’s lips curled into a playful smile. “When the edict was announced, its contents became known to all under heaven. Now you claim it was written by you – who can prove that?”
At these words, several officials known to be friendly with the Empress Dowager chimed in, “The Empress Dowager speaks truly. How can mere words be taken as fact?”
The old Prime Minister trembled with anger, glaring at those officials. He pulled out a yellowed scroll from his sleeve and held it up, declaring loudly, “I still have the draft of the decree…”
Before he could finish, he was interrupted by loud laughter. One of the officials who had supported the Empress Dowager stepped forward, pointing at his nose arrogantly. “Old Prime Minister, if I were to go home, copy the late Emperor’s edict onto an old piece of paper, and bring it here to show everyone, wouldn’t that make the late Emperor’s edict my writing too? Haha…”
His laughter was cut short as the old Prime Minister slowly unrolled the paper.
On the yellowed edges of the paper, besides the black ink, there were clear vermilion annotations in the imperial hand – a string of characters unmistakably in the late Emperor’s handwriting!
The Empress Dowager’s face instantly turned as white as paper.
Before anyone could react, several senior officials rushed forward to examine the document. They passed it around with solemn expressions, and the court fell so silent that even the rustling of the paper could be heard clearly.
“It is the late Emperor’s handwriting…” one old official took the paper and couldn’t help but burst into tears. “It is…”
More and more eyes began to focus on the Empress Dowager’s face high above, filled with suspicion, hatred, anger, and fear.
“How can there be a woman as vicious as you in this world!” the old Prime Minister pointed at her indignantly. “You killed the late Emperor, then burned Concubine Xuan to death in her chambers at night, falsely claiming she had immolated herself out of grief. Do you know that before the palace gates closed, Concubine Xuan, worried about the Second Prince, had sent someone to my residence with a message, asking me to meet her in the palace after dawn… You are ruthless…”
The Empress Dowager stood frozen for a moment, gradually regaining her composure. Suddenly, she raised her head proudly and declared, “These are all baseless speculations and accusations. With the Emperor absent, do you think you can turn the world upside down?”
The previously quiet court gradually grew noisy again. The officials quickly divided into factions – some siding with the Prime Minister, others supporting the Empress Dowager, and still others proposing to recall Emperor Sheng and the King of Zhenna before deciding on a course of action. As emotions ran high, some officials began to push and shove, and the entire hall descended into chaos.
The Empress Dowager smiled coldly and gave a signal to the Emperor’s Consort, who nodded in understanding and began to retreat quietly.
“Where does the Emperor’s Consort think she’s going?” Suddenly, a loud voice boomed, silencing the noisy hall. It was the armored Guardian General. He strode forward, climbing the jade steps without pause, and commanded loudly, “No more nonsense. Seize them first!” Several young commanders responded, quickly following in his footsteps.
The Empress Dowager turned pale, frozen in place.
The court ladies and palace servants on the platform trembled as they moved forward to block the advancing military officers. The Emperor’s Consort, leaning weakly against a golden jade screen, managed to shout, “Are you rebelling?” Meanwhile, voices from below cried out, “You can’t! What if…”
“There are no what-ifs!” the Guardian General roared. “If anything goes wrong, I’ll bear all the blame myself!”