“Why are you following me?” After walking two steps, Qun Qing discovered that Zhu Su was actually following behind her.
Zhu Su pushed Juan Su, and Juan Su also pushed Zhu Su. With no other choice, Zhu Su spoke: “The Chief Clerk said these days may not be peaceful. Juan Su and I now count as the lady’s people, at your command.”
Having reached this point, Qun Qing had no particular thoughts about the marriage decree.
Even if she had thoughts, she could not change Emperor Chenming’s edict.
Regarding things she could not change, she had only one reaction—forcefully kicking the pebble at her feet into the lake, then walking toward the Eastern Palace.
She had to preserve her official position in the inner palace.
This was necessary for avenging Father and moving about the palace. Only this way would there be a possibility of seeing Mother again in the future.
Inexplicably bound to Prince Yan’s mansion, she owed Li Xuan some kind of explanation.
Li Xuan, wearing a great cloak and sitting with his back to the light behind mountains of memorials, showed no expression: “You already know?”
Qun Qing knew he was referring to the marriage decree.
Saying this, Li Xuan still raised his eyes, his phoenix gaze turning toward Qun Qing: “Are you willing?”
Qun Qing looked up at him. Though her face had gained more healthy color than when they first met, her body possessed a quality of solitary excellence, like polished jade, such that he could not imagine her as a married woman.
Qun Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly knelt: “This subject wishes to emulate Former Dynasty’s Xu Zhaoyi, who married Wang Fushan only to help Princess Changping eliminate the Wang family.”
She had expressed her loyalty to Li Xuan. As for whether he believed it—that was his matter.
Li Xuan sneered coldly: “This palace is not Princess Changping. When has this palace ever needed a young lady to compromise herself to others for help?”
But Qun Qing performed a grand bow. Li Xuan could not see her expression, only see her black, thick-haired crown: “This subject requests punishment. If trapped within Prince Yan’s mansion’s inner quarters, I fear it will be inconvenient to meet Your Highness in the future.”
Hearing this, a drop of ink fell on the paper and spread. Li Xuan immediately crumpled the paper.
“You need not concern yourself with this matter,” Li Xuan said. “Continue your duties as before in the future. No one in Prince Yan’s mansion will dare obstruct you.”
With his promise, Qun Qing’s heart returned to her belly. But she heard Li Xuan say: “This palace recalls a childhood matter.”
“When first demoted to Huaiyuan, this palace brought along a white Longke bird from my bedchamber. Do you know what a Longke is? It’s a bird that can imitate human speech. My mother found it from our maternal Father’s home to amuse me.”
“I brought it along. One day, the Longke accidentally fell from a gap in the carriage curtain onto the snowy ground. I instinctively wanted to rush down from the carriage to retrieve it, but the Grand Tutor stopped me. He said there were Princess Changping’s people in the convoy. If they saw my actions, they would surely report that I still longed for Chang’an and would make an issue of it for the Li family. So this palace could not move, watching helplessly as the Longke was buried in the snow. Afterward, this palace always dreamed of it, but in dreams, I too seemed like a bound puppet in fine clothing, unable to move.”
After listening, Qun Qing said: “White Longke birds cannot endure cold. Even if it had gone to Huaiyuan, it wouldn’t have lived long.”
“Lady Qing, if it were you, would you have jumped from the carriage to save it?”
“Yes,” Qun Qing said. “If one cannot even save the things one likes, what meaning is there in living?”
Li Xuan wiped his lips with a cloth, coughing. Glancing at the dots of red plum blossoms on the cloth, his lips actually curved with mocking laughter. He surveyed the mountains of memorials piled on his desk: “To be sovereign and father to all under heaven, there is always a price. This palace has too many things to do. Since the carriage has already traveled this far, one cannot look back and must reach the destination.”
Having said this, he spoke no more: “Qun Qing, there is a memorial in Prince Yan’s mansion. Fetch it for this palace.”
“What memorial?” Qun Qing asked calmly.
“Someone has impeached Yunzhou Provincial Governor Liu Sijun for corruption,” Li Xuan said. “Since Third Prince and Lu Huating insist on striking at this palace, how can this palace sit and await death?”
The Yunzhou Provincial Governor… this person was Meng Guangshen’s student and also a member of the Crown Prince’s faction.
Exiting the Eastern Palace, Qun Qing came face to face with Meng Baoshu.
She wore the sixth-rank female official’s ceremonial dress, her eyes and nose slightly red—she appeared to have just been crying.
Seeing Qun Qing, Baoshu immediately stared at her fixedly, wishing she could devour her flesh. This hatred ultimately transformed into cold laughter: “My elder brother is dying—you must be quite pleased. You won’t have good days ahead. Still want to support those lowly slaves from the Yeting Palace? Dream on. Just wait and see—the birthday banquet will be your death date.”
Shouxing came over to console Baoshu, but she had already turned back first, straightening her spine as she entered the hall to find the Crown Prince. Yet Qun Qing felt that cold, chilling gaze still resting on her.
After returning to Chongjing Hall, Ruo Chan came over saying: “I heard Meng Guanlou suddenly contracted a fatal epidemic illness in the Court of Judicial Review. The Meng family has even hung out the white mourning banners.”
Qun Qing stood on tiptoe counting the firecrackers and candles for ceremonial use in the storehouse, pausing at these words.
She understood all too well what Meng Guanlou’s “epidemic illness” really was.
What surprised her was that to prevent news of Meng Guanlou’s powder consumption from spreading, Meng Guangshen had actually chosen to directly sacrifice this son, such that Baoshu went to Li Xuan seeking rescue.
“Did Prime Minister Meng not go to the prison to see him?” she couldn’t help asking.
Ruo Chan said sadly: “According to Sister Lan Yue, Prime Minister Meng had someone deliver a stack of blank paper inside.”
“Blank paper?”
“It should have been for Meng Guanlou to write something. Meng Guanlou was already gravely ill. After seeing that stack of blank paper, he alternated between crying and laughing, frightening all the jailers. He tore the paper to shreds and only left letters for His Highness the Crown Prince and Baoshu.”
Meng Guanlou’s imprisonment had Qun Qing’s handiwork in it—no wonder Baoshu hated her so.
However, since the other party had made threats, Qun Qing had to inspect everything again.
Soon Qun Qing discovered the discrepancy. Ruo Chan also cried out—dozens of flower rockets meant for the banquet from the storehouse were missing.
This cart of flower rockets had somehow ended up in the courtyard bushes. After two days of continuous rain, the red cloth covering the rockets had long been soaked through, rendering them duds.
Several female officials gathered around, not knowing what to do. Senior Official Zhu saw this and became angry: “In our Bureau of Palace Attendants, what we fear most is hosting great banquets. My eyes won’t close at night. Of course, it happens during your watch, Qun Qing—always causing problems! Hurry and go outside the palace to buy some to replace them.”
Qun Qing thought for a moment and said: “But flower rockets purchased from the common folk cannot compare to those verified by the Ministry of War. If something goes wrong, our Bureau of Palace Attendants cannot bear the responsibility.”
Senior Official Zhu hesitated: “But Empress Yuan’s memorial birthday, according to regulations, has ritual requirements that cannot easily be changed. Even last month for Consort Han’s birthday there were flower rockets. If this element is missing and the Sage assigns blame…”
“This subject will find a way to resolve it,” Qun Qing lowered her long lashes. “I hear Prince Zhao has also prepared fireworks that promise to be quite impressive. Whether our Bureau of Palace Attendants has rockets or not won’t be so noticeable.”
Senior Official Zhu’s expression eased slightly, but she was quite surprised how Qun Qing knew such information.
This was naturally intelligence Qun Qing’s deployed operatives had gathered.
She also knew that Li Pan was dressing in women’s clothing and arduously practicing dancing behind screens, wanting to use this face that so resembled Empress Yuan’s to gain Emperor Chenming’s guilt and forgiveness.
Li Pan was truly willing to go all out.
But Qun Qing also understood that parental love for children was the most difficult to sever. If she could not bring down Li Pan this time, he would live until the fourth year of Shenglin. Even unto her death in the previous life, he could still be living freely in his fief, embracing concubines.
Thinking of this, Qun Qing gave a whistle. Within moments, Juan Su appeared before her with an innocent expression.
Qun Qing unfolded paper painted with fish lanterns to show him: “Go buy me thirty-three lanterns like this.”
“Thirty-three?” Juan Su thought he had heard wrong. “Small lanterns of this specification—any one stall only hangs one or two. I’d probably have to run all over the city. My lady, do you have a grudge against me?”
“I know you’ll have to run all over the city,” Qun Qing looked calmly at him and Zhu Su. “Go on. Deliver them to me before midnight.”
Juan Su and Zhu Su exchanged glances. Two figures disappeared into the darkness.
On the eve of every great banquet, the Bureau of Palace Attendants’ female officials had to work night duty.
The scattered lanterns under the eaves decorated the Daming Palace magnificently. Female officials carried lanterns climbing wooden frames, checking whether the colored lanterns at high places and the flowers and offerings beneath Buddha statues were intact.
“Lady Qing, your information is truly well-informed—Prince Zhao really did prepare fireworks.” Another Dianyi nudged Qun Qing with her elbow, indicating she should look in the distance where garrison soldiers pushed small carts, neatly arranging several carts of fireworks in the distance.
News from the Bureau of Palace Attendants also reached Prince Zhao’s mansion: “Our people are already waiting outside, but Dianyi Qun has not gone out to buy rockets.”
Li Pan was tired from practicing dance, his face painted with powder and pigment, slightly furrowing his brows. But he quickly smoothed them: “Continue the music.”
His mother empress’s memorial birthday would be his stage. Serving in the palace, any error could be a death warrant. If this particular fault didn’t exist, other faults could always be found.
On this side, Qun Qing carried a lantern and slipped into the side hall.
“Slipped” because inside this Liangyi Hall side chamber hung countless painted scrolls. Short pieces hung high up, while long scroll pieces hung down, winding across desks and chairs.
She nimbly slipped between the paintings. The lady outside the paintings locked eyes with the lady in the paintings by the faint light.
The woman in the portrait had a gentle and dignified appearance, only her brows slightly furrowed with some sorrow—this was precisely Emperor Chenming’s Empress Yuan.
Qun Qing gently touched Empress Yuan’s gentle eyes and brows in the painting. She couldn’t help thinking of her own mother, her heart rising with shallow bitterness, while simultaneously apologizing in her heart to the Empress Yuan she had never met.
Because she was about to strike at Prince Zhao, she prayed for forgiveness from his mother.
Suddenly encountering someone—it was Princess Danyang. Qun Qing calmly withdrew her hand and raised the lantern: “Why is Princess Danyang still not resting so late?”
“I can’t sleep,” Danyang squeezed over, bringing a fragrant scent. Since the last time she gifted lanterns, she had grown much closer to Qun Qing. “Recently the Sage has again raised the matter of arranging my marriage—it’s extremely vexing.”
“Which family’s son?”
“Chu Huaiyao, son of the Vice Minister of Justice, and also Liu Dan. During this Empress Yuan birthday celebration, arrangements will be made for me to meet with these people. Unfortunately, I don’t like any of them. But Imperial Uncle’s intention is firm—only after I’m married will he consent to let me and my Prince Consort return to our fief.”
Listening carefully, Qun Qing noted that both these men belonged to Prime Minister Meng’s faction. Who wanted to win over Princess Danyang and who wanted to control the military power in Danyang’s hands was self-evident.
But Princess Danyang had deep affection for Emperor Chenming. Her exterior was cheerful while her interior was sensitive. In the previous life, she had ultimately complied with the Sage’s wishes and married, only to become even more unhappy in the palace, resorting to daily drinking and merrymaking as an outlet.
“Why does it feel like Empress Yuan in the portrait seems to carry sorrow?” Qun Qing said.
“Empress Yuan’s original name was Yang Zhenniang. You should know she was born of the old Chu imperial family. Because Princess Changping was wary of the Li family, she could only gradually sever ties with the imperial family, exhausting herself daily, then going to that bitter cold place of Huaiyuan. Not enjoying a single good day, she then perished at Flying Fox Pass.” Princess Danyang waved her fan.
“If the Princess wishes to test whether those two are worth entrusting yourself to, this subject has a method,” Qun Qing thought for a moment, turned to her, whispered in her ear, then said, “In this subject’s heart, Princess Danyang is an excellent lady. This subject hopes Your Highness can truly be happy.”
The next day at the third quarter of the hour of the Dog, drum sounds rang out. Though night had completely darkened, the hall was magnificently illuminated by lanterns high and low.
Twenty monks struck wooden fish with ethereal sounds, chanting scriptures. Emperor Chenming and Empress Ma sat in the main seats, their expressions solemn and grave. Li Xuan and Li Huan, dressed in snow-white garments, offered three sticks of incense to Empress Yuan’s memorial tablet.
Thinking of something, Emperor Chenming couldn’t help showing a sorrowful expression.
The inner attendant announced, reading the birthday gifts献上 by the various palace consorts. These gifts were received by female officials and placed on the offering table.
“Noble Consort Lü presents a statue of Guanyin, Holy Mother of Mercy.”
The female official beside her retrieved the heavy Guanyin statue from its box, manipulated it briefly, then handed it to Qun Qing. Qun Qing held it with both hands and walked toward the offering table. Just as she was placing the Guanyin statue on the table, the statue suddenly broke in two at the waist, the upper half of Guanyin rolling down.
Before it could smash on the ground, Qun Qing caught it with her hands. However, silence had already fallen around her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Emperor Chenming’s cold, desolate gaze turn toward her.