In the days that followed, the Emperor seemed to have forgotten about the bold palace maid from Qifeng Pavilion. He didn’t set foot in Qifeng Pavilion for a full half month. Others might have grown impatient and sought out the Emperor on their own, but Jiang Lingye was not like others. She was extraordinarily patient. Instead of seeking the Emperor’s attention, she remained diligent and conscientious in her duties. This apparent obedience once again put Consort Xian’s mind at ease.
However, what Consort Xian didn’t know was that Jiang Lingye wasn’t being obedient—she was waiting for the next opportunity.
From her experience of seducing the Emperor, Jiang Lingye keenly observed that this handsome young Emperor, who had ascended the throne at a young age, was extremely intelligent and possessed an intense desire for control. He despised being treated as prey to be hunted, so he reversed their roles. He didn’t believe that a maid bold enough to seduce him would tremble in fear, so after seeing through her, he mercilessly treated her as a plaything. If she hadn’t adjusted her seduction strategy in time, she would likely have left no impression on him, just like all the other palace maids who had tried to seduce him before.
But unlike other maids who had seduced him, when faced with his toying fingertip, the palace maid whom the Emperor considered base opened her mouth not to take it in and continue her seduction, but to bite him hard. This must have been unexpected for him, and to make such an extremely intelligent man experience something unexpected was to make him remember.
His not seeking her out was perhaps a test—to see if she was like all those other foolish, shallow palace maids who wanted to climb into the dragon bed, with nothing but a pretty face and a bit of courage.
One day, as Jiang Lingye was serving tea, Consort Xian was in a foul mood and violently knocked over the scalding tea, splashing it onto Jiang Lingye’s hand. Her hand immediately turned red. Consort Xian berated her: “Fool! You can’t even serve tea properly. Get out!”
Jiang Lingye was accustomed to this. She calmly cleaned up the pieces of the jade teacup, then kowtowed and left the inner chamber. From a distance, she could still hear Consort Xian scolding other servants.
When Yu Wan rushed over with medicine, several blisters had already formed on Jiang Lingye’s hand. Yu Wan sympathetically applied the medicine for her, complaining: “Just because His Majesty doesn’t like her, she takes her anger out on us every day.”
Jiang Lingye didn’t join in her complaints. Yu Wan sighed: “I told you before not to serve Consort Xian, but you insisted. See? Now you’re beaten or scolded by her every day. Lingye, oh Lingye, do you regret it now?”
Jiang Lingye smiled: “This was my choice. There’s nothing to regret.”
“I know you thought serving in the inner chamber would bring more salary to support your family, but what good is money if you don’t live to spend it?” Yu Wan remembered the servants Consort Xian had beaten to death, and her eyes reddened. “Sigh, Consort Xian is so tyrannical, yet no one dares to control her. Who made her call Empress Dowager Xue ‘aunt’? Who made the court affairs fall under Empress Dowager Xue’s control?”
Hearing this, Jiang Lingye looked up: “Yu Wan, have you learned anything about what I asked you to investigate?”
Yu Wan was taken aback: “Yes, but why do you want to know about this?”
“Don’t worry about it. I have my reasons.”
“Fine.” Yu Wan gave in. She knew her friend, though cautious on the outside, was very clever. Whatever Jiang Lingye asked her to do, she would do it. Yu Wan looked around to ensure no one was eavesdropping, then whispered to Jiang Lingye: “I asked an old eunuch from Shenlong Hall. Indeed, the current Emperor is not Empress Dowager Xue’s biological son. His birth mother was the late Emperor’s Consort Liu. Empress Dowager Xue, who was then a Noble Consort, couldn’t bear children, so she falsely accused Consort Liu of practicing witchcraft and had her beaten to death. When Consort Liu was buried, her face was covered with her hair, and she had rice husks in her mouth—a most miserable death.”
“When Consort Liu died, the Emperor was still an infant. Empress Dowager Xue took him and raised him as her son. Later, Empress Dowager Xue outmaneuvered all the consorts in the palace and placed the Emperor on the throne. However, there are no walls that wind cannot penetrate. Many in the palace know about Empress Dowager Xue killing the mother and keeping the son, but the Emperor doesn’t know—no one dares tell him.”
Jiang Lingye appeared thoughtful. “Are you sure the Emperor doesn’t know?”
“Of course he doesn’t. Otherwise, who would maintain a loving mother-son relationship with their mother’s murderer? The Emperor listens to Empress Dowager Xue so well. Whomever she wants him to take as a consort, he takes. That’s why Empress Dowager Xue is very satisfied with him.”
Jiang Lingye recalled the day she seduced the young Emperor—his deep gaze, his enigmatic smile, the burning heat of his fingertip against her lips. Though only nineteen, he remained unmoved by beauty and could easily see through women trying to seduce him. He was undoubtedly a young man with profound depths. Would such a young man truly be unaware of something known throughout the palace?
Jiang Lingye didn’t believe it.
Yu Wan continued applying the cooling medicine to her hand. After she finished, Jiang Lingye emerged from her contemplation. She took out the jade cup fragments wrapped in a handkerchief, opened it, and said: “This is the cup Consort Xian broke. It’s made of fine jade, and even broken, it’s worth a good sum. Yu Wan, can you help me sell it?”
Yu Wan took it but remained worried: “Won’t Consort Xian find out?”
“She won’t.”
Consort Xian’s entire attention was focused on her young and handsome husband. How would she care about a broken teacup?
“But isn’t this risky?” Yu Wan said. “Your salary is enough to support your parents and help your elder sister a bit. What do you need so much money for?”
“I have my reasons.”
Seeing that she couldn’t persuade her, Yu Wan sighed: “Alright, but if Consort Xian found out you were selling her broken teacups, vases, and other items, she would be furious.”
Hearing this, Jiang Lingye smiled slightly. If Consort Xian knew what she was doing with the money from selling these items, she would be even more furious.
The ninth day of the ninth month—the Double Ninth Festival.
The Double Ninth Festival was a time for remembering relatives, so a grand banquet was held at Daming Palace. The Emperor, his consorts, the Empress Dowager, and princes all gathered together. Jiang Lingye, at Qifeng Pavilion, could hear the music from Linde Hall. Consort Xian didn’t bring her to Linde Hall, but it didn’t matter—if there was no opportunity, she would create one.
Jiang Lingye went to the Hibiscus Forest outside Linde Hall. In the forest, the hibiscus flowers were blooming brilliantly. Outside the forest, it seemed Linde Hall was hosting a variety performance—Jiang Lingye could hear the laughter of the nobles. She wasn’t anxious but waited quietly in the Hibiscus Forest. Finally, a figure in imperial yellow, supported by eunuchs, came staggering over.
The Emperor seemed very drunk. He had vomited several times, with eunuchs attending him. When he had nothing left to vomit, the Emperor waved his hand, signaling the eunuchs to withdraw. One eunuch uneasily asked: “Your Majesty, aren’t you returning to Linde Hall?”
The Emperor reprimanded him: “That’s not for a slave like you to be concerned with!”
The eunuch hurriedly apologized, and the eunuchs quietly retreated, keeping their distance from the Emperor.
Suddenly, only the Emperor remained in the Hibiscus Forest. He coughed a few times and slumped cross-legged on the ground. Under the moonlight, the silhouette of this ruler of ten thousand people appeared extremely solitary.
Just a short distance away in Linde Hall were his stepmother, his wife, his concubines, his brothers—all supposedly his closest relatives in the world. Yet, he was unwilling to return.
He raised his head, gazing at the crescent moon. In a daze, he seemed to see a beautiful figure in the moon.
But he couldn’t make out her face.
Indeed, he had no idea what she looked like.
On the ninth day of the ninth month, the Double Ninth Festival, a day for remembering relatives, the nineteen-year-old Emperor whispered two words in a voice only he could hear: “Mother.”
The Emperor lowered his gaze, and a tear fell to the ground, disappearing.
Suddenly, the Emperor heard the sound of a footstep breaking a twig. Startled, he looked up, all traces of melancholy gone from his eyes, replaced by coldness and fierceness. He stood and demanded: “Who’s there?”
A beautiful palace maid slowly emerged from behind a tree. She knelt and prostrated herself: “This servant greets Your Majesty.”
The figure was very familiar. The Emperor commanded: “Raise your head.”
Jiang Lingye raised her head. The Emperor gasped, then sneered: “It’s you.”
He drawled: “What are you doing here? Don’t tell us you ‘accidentally’ appeared in this Hibiscus Forest?”
The calmer the Emperor’s voice, the greater his anger. Jiang Lingye showed no fear but said, “This servant didn’t come by accident but has been waiting here specifically for Your Majesty.”
Her frank admission surprised the Emperor. He quickly regained his composure: “Well, which of our eunuchs did you bribe to be so bold as to bring us to this Hibiscus Forest?”
Jiang Lingye replied: “All responsibility lies with this servant alone. It is this servant who, dissatisfied with her current status, is willing to gamble her life for a better future. It has nothing to do with anyone else. If Your Majesty wishes to kill someone, kill this servant alone.”
She laid her ambition bare before the Emperor. The Emperor narrowed his eyes, staring at her for a long while before slowly walking toward her: “Stand up.”
Jiang Lingye stood. The Emperor was very tall—she only reached his shoulder. The Emperor leisurely said, “Look up.”
Jiang Lingye raised her head again. Her eyes, beautiful as the new moon, carried her ambition and desire as she looked directly at the Emperor.
This was the ambition and desire she had never shown in front of others during her year in the palace. She was gambling that the Emperor disliked being schemed against but appreciated straightforward ambition and desire.
Her stake in this gamble was the various pieces of information she had collected over the past year, as well as her judgment of the Emperor after seducing him at Consort Xian’s bedside.
The Emperor gripped her chin, forcing her to look up. He sneered: “So eager to become our woman?”
Jiang Lingye smiled: “Yes.”
The Emperor caressed her face, then suddenly pushed her against a hibiscus tree trunk. He whispered in her ear: “Very well, we shall grant your wish—right here, right now.”
The Emperor’s alcohol-laden breath fell on her neck as he, without a trace of tenderness, undid her belt, penetrated her, and possessed her. Jiang Lingye frowned, biting her lip and enduring the young Emperor’s violent thrusts. The Emperor had no intention of being gentle. He glanced at the brightly lit Linde Hall, gripped her slender waist, and nibbled her small earlobe, asking indistinctly: “Do you know why we’re doing this here?”
Jiang Lingye bit her lower lip hard to prevent any moans from escaping. The Emperor chuckled: “Because you’re base.”
“Do you see Linde Hall? All our consorts are there. Each one is ten thousand times more noble than you by birth. The Empress, Consort Xian, Consort De—they all want to please Us, to have Us favor them. But we don’t want to favor them. Instead, we favor a base palace maid right here.”
Hearing these insulting words, Jiang Lingye laughed. She raised her head, her delicate arms encircling the Emperor’s neck, and said: “Because they were chosen by the Empress Dowager, weren’t they?”
The Emperor froze.
Jiang Lingye’s body trembled, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat. Despite her wretched state, she still smiled at the Emperor: “But this servant was chosen by Your Majesty.”
“This servant can be trusted by Your Majesty because this servant has nothing only Your Majesty.”
“This servant can become someone useful to Your Majesty.”
The Emperor stared at her, seemingly disbelieving: “You? Based on what?”
“Based on the fact that this servant, born of merchants and impoverished, could be chosen by the Bird and Flower Official; based on the fact that this servant, assigned to Qifeng Pavilion, could serve in the inner chamber; based on the fact that this servant, with just one meeting, could make Your Majesty remember her face; based on the fact that this servant, a mere palace maid, could bribe eunuchs and receive Your Majesty’s favor here in the Hibiscus Forest…”
Jiang Lingye bit her lip, her arms around the Emperor’s neck, her back against the rough hibiscus tree trunk, sweat constantly sliding down. She smiled: “If Your Majesty is willing to drop a cloud ladder for this servant, she can ascend to the heavens.”
The Emperor’s expression finally changed. He asked in a deep voice: “What exactly do you want?”
What did she want?
A trace of distraction flashed in Jiang Lingye’s eyes.
After a while, she murmured: “I want to change my fate.”
She didn’t want to be like her mother—married to a merchant, giving birth to two daughters who would marry merchants and bear more merchants, forever living at the bottom of the Great Zhou society, not having enough to eat, unable to afford shoes, endlessly cycling, repeating without end.
The Emperor’s fingers tightened on her waist, leaving red marks on her skin: “By seducing Us? By being favored like a prostitute in the open air? This will change your fate?”
“Paths are made by walking. How can one know if they’ll succeed without trying?” Jiang Lingye’s hair was disheveled. Biting her lip, she smiled weakly: “As for where and how I am favored, what does it matter as long as I can rise? When one has nothing, even the body can become a weapon. The word ‘chastity’ cannot confine me, Jiang Lingye.”
The Emperor stared at her steadily. Afterward, he finally withdrew from her body, his hands no longer constraining her waist. Losing her support, Jiang Lingye leaned against the tree, her legs trembling, in a wretched state.
The Emperor gave a light laugh, slowly adjusted his clothes, and turned to leave. Before departing, he tossed back a sentence: “Jiang Lingye, is it? We’ll remember.”