His eyes flickering slightly, Yuwen Jie asked, “Why does Mother think this?”
“Intuition.” The Empress Dowager furrowed her brow. “The moment Madam Wan died, this old one could clearly sense hostility from her toward this old one, even though she did nothing at all.”
Her intuition was quite accurate — Hua Chun let out a muffled grunt under the blanket.
“What was that sound?” The Empress Dowager was startled.
The emperor looked utterly blank. “I didn’t hear anything.”
The Empress Dowager pressed her lips together and sighed, continuing. “Actually, regarding the matter of Madam Wan, this old one had some selfish motives involved, which is why I lost my composure.”
“The matter of the Hua family?” the emperor interrupted. “It’s been so long already, Mother needn’t bring it up again.”
“No…” Waving her hand, the Empress Dowager’s face showed a pained expression. “This old one sent everyone away because I wanted to speak my mind. Otherwise, sitting alone with this, I can’t eat or sleep in peace. This old one knows you don’t like hearing these things, but…”
Yuwen Jie frowned, unconsciously glancing toward the neatly squared-off blanket beside him.
The Empress Dowager said in a low voice, “This old one always feels that if that person knew, she would come scold me.”
Hua Chun raised an eyebrow, her curiosity fully piqued. The late emperor had already passed away — who else would dare scold the current Empress Dowager? And what was this selfish motive she spoke of?
The emperor, propped up on his elbow, glanced sideways, as if he could see countless question marks floating out from under the blanket.
Well, he shook his head, deciding not to hide it any longer. “If speaking of it will bring you some comfort, then Mother, go ahead and speak.”
Her eyes slightly moist, the Empress Dowager looked deeply at him. “You and Xi’er both already know what happened back then, don’t you?”
Yuwen Jie neither confirmed nor denied it.
Letting out a light breath, the Empress Dowager gave a faint laugh. “This old one knew it. Given how thoroughly you and Xi’er get to the bottom of things, nothing could be concealed from you. Yet you’ve never once put me in an awkward position over it — I suppose that counts as filial restraint on your part. Now that the late emperor is gone, the Hua family destroyed, Madam Wan dead, and Hua Zhengrong’s whereabouts unknown, this old one feels as if all the old grudges have finally dissolved.”
Hua Chun frowned.
“Back then…” The Empress Dowager’s voice grew wistful as she began reminiscing about the past. “This old one thought I would marry an ordinary man and live an unremarkable life.”
It all began when the Empress Dowager was still a young girl. Ning family’s daughter, given name Qiusui, had been betrothed since childhood to Hua Zhengrong, the two having grown up together. Hua Zhengrong was single-mindedly devoted to his studies, determined to earn an official title through the imperial examinations, and Ning Qiusui, unwilling to hold him back, agreed to wait until he achieved success before marrying.
As it happened, by the time Ning Qiusui turned sixteen, the emperor’s back palace was short of women, and beauties began being selected from across the country to be sent in. The capital was no exception. Ning Qiusui’s father felt that waiting for Hua Zhengrong was truly wasting his daughter’s youth, and so forcibly sent Ning Qiusui into the palace.
Hua Zhengrong panicked and did everything he could to get word smuggled into the palace, asking Ning Qiusui to wait for him, that he would find a way to get her out. Ning Qiusui believed him and deliberately performed poorly in the selection, becoming merely a palace maid. But after waiting a full year for Hua Zhengrong, not only had he found no way to save her, he had even taken several concubines of his own.
After such bitter waiting resulted in this outcome, Ning Qiusui was naturally furious and resentful, and began scheming her way upward, vowing to become someone of status, to make Hua Zhengrong regret it.
The power of hatred is a formidable thing — Ning Qiusui transformed from a naive, innocent girl into a master of scheming and maneuvering, stepping on others to climb higher and higher. After several years, she finally rose all the way to the position of Empress.
She was delighted, and deliberately invited officials’ households to attend a palace banquet. She knew he would come, and she wanted to humiliate him thoroughly, to avenge the wrong he’d done her.
Eight years had passed by the time she saw Hua Zhengrong again. Yet the man remained just as he had been — only with sharper features, thinner. Upon seeing her, many emotions flickered through his eyes — relief, nostalgia, heartache — but notably, no surprise at all. He bowed deeply.
“This humble one pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress.”
In that instant, Ning Qiusui found herself almost laughing at her own foolishness. She had lived eight years fueled by hatred for this man, yet with just one look at him, she forgave everything.
Hua Zhengrong had come with his wife — that was the Empress Dowager’s first encounter with Madam Wan, and it left no good impression whatsoever. Madam Wan was arrogant and overbearing; in the Empress Dowager’s heart, she was utterly unworthy of Hua Zhengrong.
This prejudice, born of love, deepened after Madam Wan bore Hua Zhengrong a son, and grew heavier still through the years they spent together, weathering life side by side.
The Empress Dowager was very fond of Hua Jinghua, precisely because he was Hua Zhengrong’s son, able to fulfill the dream his father never completed. But the Empress Dowager despised Madam Wan, even though she was Hua Jinghua’s birth mother.
So, even after so long since the Hua family’s ruin, when suspicion arose that Madam Wan had been cursing palace consorts, she chose without the slightest hesitation to kick her while she was down, to refuse to help her in her time of need, even personally sending her to her death.
More than twenty years had now passed, and the Empress Dowager found that the obsession in her heart hadn’t diminished in the slightest — she still felt jealousy, jealousy of another woman who had spent so many years by his side, sharing life’s hardships together with him.
“This old one thought that once Madam Wan died, this old one’s heart would finally be able to let go completely, to find release.” Wiping her tears, the Empress Dowager said in a hoarse voice, “But it hasn’t. This old one feels guilty, yet also feels I did nothing wrong. But… in the end, it’s still a human life.”
The emperor frowned, his eyes on his mother, while his hand quietly reached under the blanket and took hold of Hua Chun’s hand.
Her hand was ice-cold, which made him frown.
“If Mother has thoughts of remorse, then Madam Wan’s spirit in heaven should be able to rest in peace.”
The Empress Dowager was stunned, and after a long moment of thought, dabbed beneath her eyes with a handkerchief. “It’s not regret. If given another chance, this old one might still choose to beat her to death — after all, Noble Consort De still needs to continue serving by your side, and her identity cannot be allowed to give anyone a handle to use against her. This old one doesn’t even know what exactly I feel guilty about. In any case, I don’t regret it.”
The heart that had just softened slightly refilled with hatred at these words from the Empress Dowager. Hua Chun opened her eyes and, with nearly all her strength, dug her fingers into the emperor’s hand.
So according to the Empress Dowager, was it she herself who had actually caused Madam Wan’s death? Hua Chun laughed silently and coldly, shaking her head lightly. No matter what reasoning was used, Madam Wan had died by the Empress Dowager’s order — that was fact, a fact she would never forgive in this lifetime. Beneath the Empress Dowager’s false facade of benevolence lay her own jealousy and unwillingness to let go; it was the demon in her heart that killed Madam Wan, and it could be blamed on no one else!
“Mother.” The emperor’s hand was being pinched hard, but his expression didn’t change; he only said in a low voice, “You should go back and rest now too.”
“Yes, it’s time to head back.” The Empress Dowager paused, composed her expression, and after a moment of hesitation looked at the emperor again. “If possible, this old one hopes you’ll raise Noble Concubine Wu to empress.”
“Why?” The emperor frowned. “Simply because Noble Consort De harbors resentment toward you?”
About to say something, the Empress Dowager stopped and shook her head instead. “This old one wouldn’t harm you. If she were a man, the Hua clan would truly possess the talent to serve as a chief minister. But as a woman, unable to be content within the household, yet harboring ambitions to grasp at court power — such a person should not sit in a position of high standing.”
“Your son has his own judgment on this matter.” the emperor said, displeased. “You should go back now.”
The Empress Dowager pressed her lips together, gave him a worried glance, and could only shake her head helplessly, rising and walking out.
Emotion led people astray, made them unable to judge right from wrong correctly, straying down the wrong path without even realizing it. She understood this feeling, but right now, she truly didn’t want her son to walk the wrong path.
The door opened and closed again. The atmosphere inside the inner hall grew somewhat awkward. Hua Chun threw off the blanket and let out a couple of breaths.
“That was thrilling.”
His gaze deep and distant, Yuwen Jie said, “Some things, it’s best you don’t take to heart.”
“Which things?” Hua Chun wiped her face and withdrew her hand. “The part where she said she doesn’t regret killing my mother, or the part where she said I’m not fit to be empress?”
“Both.”
Hua Chun shook her head honestly. “I can’t do that. The Empress Dowager was right — I’m petty and vindictive by nature. Whoever owes me, whoever has wronged me, I remember it all clearly, and I will absolutely settle every score, one by one.”
The emperor frowned. “That’s my mother.”
See, here comes the world-class classic question, right? Hua Chun curved her lips, turning her body to look at him. “If your mother and I both fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?”
Startled slightly, Yuwen Jie frowned. “I’d save Mother — she can’t swim.”
Truly the most unimaginative answer an ancient man could give. Somewhat disappointed at heart, Hua Chun pursed her lips. “And if I can’t swim either, then what?”
The emperor was put in a difficult spot, his expression growing very unpleasant, the hostility around him growing heavier by the moment.
“Alright, I was just joking.” Hua Chun waved a hand. “You don’t need to take it too seriously.”
“I’ll do my best to save you both.” Cutting off her words, Yuwen Jie said, “If I can’t save you… I will posthumously grant you the title of empress, and take no other empress for the rest of my life.”
She’d thought he was going to say he’d die alongside her. Hua Chun gave a light laugh — an emperor was an emperor after all; the greatest honor he could give a woman was a posthumous title as empress.
Unfortunately, she felt this would ultimately be of no use.
“This concubine understands. Good night, Your Majesty.”
“You’re not happy?” he asked.
Hua Chun rolled her eyes. “Should this concubine thank you for your boundless imperial grace?”
No woman would be happy receiving such an answer, especially with the mother-in-law relationship having thoroughly broken down. She even found herself a little surprised — she’d thought the bond between the emperor and the Empress Dowager wasn’t particularly deep, that the emperor should even harbor some resentment toward her, yet he still hadn’t hesitated for a moment in saying he’d save her.
She’d thought she held the winning hand, but instead had only asked a foolish question that brought discomfort upon herself.
Turning to face inward, Hua Chun sank into a sullen mood and fell asleep.
The emperor, brow slightly furrowed, gazed at her for a long while before finally, wearily, closing his own eyes as well.
In her dreams, Hua Chun kept swearing she would give the emperor the cold shoulder for a few days — even if it was unreasonable of her, being unhappy was simply being unhappy, no need to force a smile for him. Best to make him uncomfortable too, let him stew alongside her, that would at least achieve some psychological balance.
But when she absentmindedly reached out and touched the person beside her, Hua Chun jolted awake.
“Your Majesty?”
His body was scorching hot, as if on fire — he must have developed a high fever from an infected wound.
Gasping in a cold breath, Hua Chun immediately called for someone to come in, threw on clothes, and followed a palace maid to fetch cold water, coming back to wring out a towel and place it on his forehead.
Zichen Hall was thrown into chaos in an instant.