The Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly, and a flash of irritation crossed his features. The moment he learned that Xiao Liu had forced his way into the palace, he had decided to take his life — to use it as a warning to the restless Third and Fourth Princes that he was not yet dead, and there was no need for them to be in such a hurry.
But with the thought of Consort Zhen, the murderous intent in his heart receded, almost without his noticing. It was in the fifth year of his reign. Order had been established both at court and beyond, and he had been able to relax at last. He recalled that in that year he had not opened the rear palace widely, but had merely instructed officials of the fourth rank and above to send daughters of marriageable age into the palace. Consort Zhen had not, in fact, been among them. The Sun Family had only one daughter; whether she married out or brought a husband in would both have been perfectly reasonable.
Yet she had entered the palace. It was said she had proposed it herself — because the Sun Family had once had ties with his imperial elder brother, and Sun Qi controlled several hundred thousand troops guarding Shouya Pass, which was of the utmost importance to Daqing. He could hardly have been without his own thoughts on the matter.
And so Consort Zhen had sent herself into the palace. This amounted to a pledge of allegiance from the Sun Family. Moreover, the Sun Family had never adopted an heir to this day; Sun Qi rarely even returned to the capital, guarding Shouya Pass year after year. Since Consort Zhen’s death, the main line of the Sun Family had effectively died out.
Consort Zhen had sacrificed herself to protect Sun Qi, to protect the Sun Family.
She had been a clever woman. She never sought the limelight. She went along with the current — competing for the Emperor’s affections when other women did, growing jealous when other women did, asking for rewards when other women did. On the surface she seemed no different from any ordinary consort, yet those who had truly spent time with her knew otherwise. Consort Zhen’s Shuangyun Palace had been the place he most wished to visit in those years. He had cherished and treated her with care, and had even restrained himself from going too often for fear of making her a target of jealousy.
Yes — she had made a request of him before her death as well. She had asked him to promise that if Xiao Liu grew up and wished to leave the capital, he would grant his blessing. He had agreed at the time…
Closing his eyes briefly, the Emperor looked again at Xiao Liu. “In consideration of Consort Zhen, We pardon you of your capital offense. Yet a living punishment cannot be escaped.”
Just as he was about to pronounce the sentence, a commotion sounded from outside the doors. He frowned and looked toward it. In a moment, Hua Zhi stepped into his line of sight.
Whatever trace of tenderness had remained in his heart vanished in an instant. The Emperor flicked his sleeve and burst into furious laughter. “The eldest daughter of the Hua Family truly has some nerve, to come and go through the deep inner palace as she pleases — though leaving may be another matter entirely.”
Hua Zhi walked to Xiao Liu’s side and knelt down. After paying her respects properly, she replied: “Whether I came or not, I was never going to escape death. I wished to die as someone who understood what happened.”
“At least you have some self-awareness.” The Emperor settled back into his seat. “Very well. We shall let you die knowing the truth. Hua Zhi, you are indeed clever. Had someone not pointed it out, We would never have noticed that in a mere two years you had woven a network of remarkable power. Several of Our key court officials are all caught within that web. Your interests are tied together; you support and elevate one another. Given a few more years, this country might well end up taking your surname of Hua.”
The Emperor let out a cold snort. “You had it all perfectly planned — beguiling Xiao Liu into following your every word while lending him your own resources to use. A neat arrangement of mutual benefit, and in such a short time you secured the support of so many people for Xiao Liu. We ask you: do you deserve to die?”
“By your standards, yes, I deserve to die.” Hua Zhi raised her head. “Since all of this is my crime and Xiao Liu was merely deceived and manipulated by me, what is his offense?”
The Emperor felt a trickle of sweat on his back. He tugged at his collar, and his growing agitation made his demeanor all the more hostile. “In certain matters, the process is irrelevant — only the result matters. Now you feel tenderness for him? Had you known it would come to this, why did you push him onto the road to death in the first place!”
“Was it not you who pushed him onto the road to death?” Hua Zhi’s lips curved into a sardonic smile. It was as though, knowing she had little time left to live, she was beyond fear. “When he had no power to protect himself, he was targeted by his brothers one after another — did you ever shield him? Where were you when he nearly lost his life? The other princes have their mothers’ families to rely on; he could not even visit his maternal grandfather’s household too often for fear of incurring your displeasure. Day after day he lived among the keepsakes his mother left behind. Where were you? You call yourself Imperial Father — ‘father’ comes before ’emperor.’ To him, have you ever truly been a father?”
“Silence! Silence!” The Emperor leapt to his feet and strode over, kicking Hua Zhi to the ground, then staggered back two steps himself. Fu Gang rushed to steady him, but Xiao Liu reached Hua Zhi first, crawling forward on his knees to help her up and quietly positioning himself to shield her.
Seeing this, the Emperor was incensed to the point of nearly losing his balance. He shoved Fu Gang aside and came forward again, aiming another kick at Hua Zhi. Xiao Liu threw himself in front of her and took the full force of the blow.
“Drag him away, drag him away!” the Emperor bellowed. Unconsciously he tugged at his collar again, and raised his foot to kick at Hua Zhi once more.
“Your Majesty…”
The Empress Dowager had only just spoken when the Emperor bared his teeth in a vicious grin. “What? Does the Empress Dowager also wish to stop Us?”
“Aijia is worried about your health.”
“Many thanks for the Empress Dowager’s concern. Your son is in excellent health.” The Emperor raised his foot again and pressed it heavily down on Hua Zhi’s shoulder, his smile twisted and strange. “Empress Dowager, do you see — is your son not in excellent health?”
The Empress Dowager’s heart sank with dread. The Emperor’s lips had turned the color of charcoal — there was nothing excellent about him at all. She could not afford to hesitate any longer. She called out at once: “Send for the imperial physicians! Quickly!”
“Who dares!” The Emperor’s smile fell away. He turned a dangerous gaze upon his own mother. “Who dares send for the imperial physicians!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Someone come — support the Empress Dowager! Bring Us Our whip!”
The palace attendants looked at one another helplessly; no one dared step forward. Hao Yue glanced sidelong at her lady’s maid. The maid understood at once, signaling to several others nearby with her eyes. Together they stepped forward and reached out to offer their support. The Empress Dowager fixed them all with a cold, sharp gaze, and every one of them froze — unable to advance, unable to retreat.
Yet the Empress Dowager made no further move either. The Emperor did not trust her; he would only assume she was calling for the physicians in order to treat Hua Zhi. He had no idea what he himself looked like at this moment.
Watching the Emperor’s condition, Hao Yue was growing anxious herself. She had calculated the timing carefully. Even if the Sixth Prince had, against all expectations, spent a full hour kneeling before entering, the Emperor should by no means have reached this state so soon. All she could do now was hope that things would come to a conclusion quickly, so she could find an excuse to persuade the Emperor to retire to the inner chambers and rest.
A palace attendant brought the long whip over. The Emperor took it and cracked it through the air several times — the sharp snapping sounds gave him evident satisfaction.
He looked down at Hua Zhi, his gaze as though regarding an insect. “Right now Yanxi is not in the capital. Hua Zhi, no one can save you!”
Hua Zhi endured the pain from every part of her body and knelt upright on the floor. Her voice rang clear and resolute: “If your heart held even half a measure of care for Yanxi, you would not have refused to see Chen Qing after he returned from Jinyang. You would not have deliberately laid your trap, intent on catching us all in one net. You want a Seven Lodges Division chief who obeys your every command as he once did — yet you spare not a single thought for whether he is hurt or whether he comes back alive when he fights to the death against the Zhaoli clansmen…”
Crack!
A blow from the left shoulder to the right abdomen, grazing past her jaw as it went. Hua Zhi’s body shuddered with the pain, yet her voice did not stop: “I hope he does not come back alive — for only then will he be spared the heartbreak of discovering that the great-uncle he served as a father never once regarded him as a true family member!”