When Fu Tingyun worshipped Buddha, Yu Wei would serve by her side with incense and candles.
No matter how strong she was, she was still just a seventeen-year-old girl.
As time passed, she couldn’t help asking Fu Tingyun: “Miss, the Ninth Lord will succeed, won’t he?”
This way, the Fifth Master would certainly no longer oppose the Ninth Miss’s marriage!
Fu Tingyun felt very uncertain in her heart.
Even if they broke into the capital, what use would it be? As Zhao Ling himself had said, it wasn’t about changing dynasties; being able to secure the realm was most important. The west and south maintained silence, but there was still Liaodong and Jiangnan—Liaodong had a garrison of 100,000 strong troops, and two-thirds of the court’s tax revenue came from Jiangnan.
Moreover, Prince Mu was fighting under the banner of “executing Hong and Shi, and clearing away evil ministers from the Emperor’s side.” If the Emperor handed over the heads of Hong and Shi to Prince Mu, would Prince Mu then withdraw his troops?
If Prince Mu didn’t withdraw, what justification would he have?
How could the realm support him then?
Fu Tingyun tossed and turned, unable to see a bright prospect no matter how she looked at it.
Manager Ye, however, came running over with enthusiasm.
“Success, success,” he said excitedly. “Prince Mu has succeeded!”
Fu Tingyun didn’t understand.
Manager Ye, with animated eyebrows, said: “I heard that Princess Imperial Ruyang has gone to the imperial temple on Yuquan Mountain to escort the Grand Empress Dowager back to the palace. The whole city is discussing this matter now.”
The Grand Empress Dowager?
The Emperor’s grandmother? The late Emperor’s mother?
The late Emperor had reigned for forty-one years…
Fu Tingyun was so shocked she lost her voice: “How old is she then?”
Manager Ye laughed heartily: “The Grand Empress Dowager is not the birth mother of the late Emperor. They say she’s not much older than the late Emperor.” He then added with a smile: “However, the Grand Empress Dowager is Prince Mu’s direct grandmother!”
Fu Tingyun’s spirits lifted upon hearing this.
What Prince Mu lacked now was legitimacy.
Since the Grand Empress Dowager was Prince Mu’s direct grandmother, how could a grandmother not help her grandson rather than an outsider?
Her face brightened as she eagerly urged Manager Ye: “Please tell me, what exactly is going on?”
Perhaps because good news lifts the spirits, Manager Ye showed less restraint and more lightness, speaking much more freely: “Emperor Wuzong had three empresses in succession. The late Emperor was the eldest legitimate son born to Empress Yuan, and from birth, great hopes were placed on him. He was established as Crown Prince at five and began learning governance by Emperor Wuzong’s side at ten. Perhaps because of this, the late Emperor acted quite imperiously.”
“It’s said that once, Prince Qing, the ninth prince born to Consort Liu, angered the late Emperor by failing to observe proper etiquette in the palace hall. The late Emperor handed him over to the Tengji Guard for punishment. If Consort Liu hadn’t promptly gone to Emperor Wuzong to plead for mercy, Prince Qing might not have survived.”
“Because of this incident, the imperial consorts and princes all feared the late Emperor.”
“Not only that, the late Emperor had strong opinions from a young age. On matters like military campaigns in the northwest and taxes in Jiangnan, he held views contrary to Emperor Wuzong’s, gradually creating a rift between father and son. Additionally, when Emperor Wuzong’s second empress passed away from illness, he established Wang, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Wuding, as his successive empress. Empress Wang gave birth to a prince who was much loved by Emperor Wuzong. Emperor Wuzong bestowed his former princely title ‘Ning’ upon the prince born to Empress Wang, further straining the relationship between the late Emperor and Emperor Wuzong.”
“During a cabinet meeting, Emperor Wuzong even accused the late Emperor of being ‘cold-hearted by nature, not a benevolent ruler.’ For a time, rumors circulated in the capital that Emperor Wuzong intended to depose the elder and establish the younger…”
Such imperial secrets were ones that Fu Tingyun had never had the chance to hear before, even if she had wanted to.
She listened with rapt attention and asked: “This Prince Ning is Prince Mu’s father, right?”
“Correct!” Manager Ye nodded and said, “The Grand Empress Dowager is the former Empress Wang.”
Fu Tingyun couldn’t help but frown: “In that case, after the late Emperor ascended the throne, Prince Ning must have had a very difficult time.”
“More than difficult!” Manager Ye sighed. “When Emperor Wuzong passed away, Prince Ning was only eight years old. To preserve Prince Ning’s life, the Grand Empress Dowager requested permission to retire to an imperial temple for spiritual cultivation and never set foot in Cining Palace. At that time, the late Emperor had just ascended to the throne, and the Marquis of Wuding interceded for Prince Ning, who was then granted the title of Prince Mu and sent to Jingzhou in Huguang. Despite this, he still died from illness before reaching thirty.” As he spoke, he lamented, “And the Marquis of Wuding didn’t fare well either. In the twelfth year of the Xiping era, a censor impeached the Marquis of Wuding for privately raising war horses. The late Emperor then stripped him of his title, reduced him to commoner status, and exiled him three thousand li. He died on the journey.”
Fu Tingyun felt very uncomfortable hearing this.
Manager Ye smiled, “Think about it—the Grand Empress Dowager has been living in the temple for decades. Princess Imperial Ruyang didn’t go to fetch her earlier or later, so why now? It’s evident that the imperial clan has made a decision and is just waiting for an opportunity for the Grand Empress Dowager to stand up for Prince Mu.”
Fu Tingyun thought so too.
“Until the final moment, no one knows what will happen.” Has any deposed emperor ever lived a good life? At such a critical juncture, the Emperor might not surrender without a fight. She still felt somewhat uneasy. “We’d better be careful.”
Then she thought of the Marquis of Yingchuan and Duke Fu’s mansion.
There seemed to be no movement from either of them.
“Logically speaking, however bad the late Emperor was, that was his business. Even if Emperor Wuzong wanted Prince Ning to be Emperor, that was in the past,” she hesitated. “Why does it seem like the imperial clan doesn’t even favor the current Emperor?”
“Emperor Wuzong had twenty-two sons. Do you know what happened to these royal relatives?” Manager Ye asked.
Fu Tingyun truly didn’t know.
“If they weren’t forced to commit suicide, they died from fright, or they were demoted to commoner status by the late Emperor,” Manager Ye said. “Even the late Emperor’s brother, Prince Shu, couldn’t escape this fate. The only ones still alive are Prince Rong, who resides in Xinyang, and Prince Xuan, who resides in Daning. The former stutters and can’t express himself properly—he’s known as the simpleton prince; the latter broke his back from a horse-riding accident in his early years and has been bedridden for over a decade, barely clinging to life… The late Emperor truly lived up to Emperor Wuzong’s description of being ‘cold-hearted by nature’!”
Fu Tingyun’s mind stirred as she listened.
Xinyang belonged to Henan.
Daning belonged to Liaodong.
It was said that the Liaodong Military Commission had cavalry that could travel two hundred li in a night. Prince Mu had besieged the capital for half a month, yet the troops from the Liaodong Military Commission still hadn’t arrived!
Perhaps things weren’t as bad as she had imagined.
The thought flashed through her mind.
Manager Ye was now talking about the current Emperor: “Leaving aside whether he was involved in Prince Qin’s death and whether he colluded with Hong Du, just considering how he treated the Marquis of Yingchuan in earlier years makes people shudder.”
“The Marquis of Yingchuan?” Fu Tingyun was startled.
“Yes!” Manager Ye said. “Duke Fu has six sons, with the Marquis of Yingchuan being the third. From a young age, he showed ordinary aptitude with no outstanding qualities. He was engaged to the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Yichun, the Lady Shao, from childhood. When Lady Shao was thirteen, she accompanied her mother to Princess Imperial Yongjia’s mansion to offer birthday wishes. There she encountered the current Emperor. Seeing that Lady Shao was incomparably beautiful, the Emperor instigated his birth mother, Consort Hong, to request an imperial decree of marriage from the late Emperor. The Marquis of Yichun, currying favor, denied the engagement with the Marquis of Yingchuan, and the marriage between the two families was called off. Because of this incident, Duke Fu sent him to serve under General Han Tao, who was suppressing rebels in Huguang. The Marquis of Yingchuan thus earned Han Tao’s appreciation, who not only betrothed his niece, Lady Mei, to him but also took him on three campaigns against the Miao Li, establishing illustrious military achievements and becoming a renowned young general north of the Yangtze River.”
Fu Tingyun listened in astonishment.
She hadn’t expected that the Marquis of Yingchuan and the current Emperor had such a complicated history.
At that time, the Marquis of Yingchuan was serving in Huguang. Could it be that he and Prince Mu became acquainted then?
She pondered, then anxiously asked Manager Ye: “Then what happened? How did the Marquis of Yingchuan and the current Emperor become brothers-in-law?”
“Later, the Crown Prince passed away,” Manager Ye said. “The current Emperor and Prince Qin competed for the position of heir. Duke Fu was a founding meritorious minister, highly respected and virtuous. The Marquis of Yingchuan was skilled in warfare, an elite in the military… The current Emperor took the initiative to show goodwill toward the Marquis of Yingchuan.”
“Many years had passed, and the Marquis of Yingchuan was no longer the novice he once was. Also, if the Yichun Marquis’s family had resisted the imperial decree at that time, the current Emperor might not have married Lady Shao. The Marquis of Yingchuan didn’t embarrass the current Emperor and would send greeting cards during festivals and new year celebrations.”
“However, the current Emperor felt insecure. He proposed sending Lady Shao’s half-sister to be the Marquis of Yingchuan’s concubine.”
“The Marquis of Yingchuan and Lady Mei had a deep marital bond. Even if he were to take a concubine, he wouldn’t accept a Shao woman as one, so he politely declined.”
“Unexpectedly, the next day, Consort Shao invited Lady Mei to her residence for a conversation. Lady Mei thought it was about the concubine matter and had prepared excuses before going. However, upon returning to her mansion, she experienced severe abdominal pain. When a doctor was called, he only said she had eaten something unclean. Before the medicine could even be prepared, Lady Mei passed away.”
“Ah!” Fu Tingyun’s face turned deathly pale, her heart pounding like a drum.
She had thought that being drugged was already an outrageous experience, but she hadn’t imagined there could be a fate like Lady Mei’s.
“What happened afterward?”
“Afterward,” Manager Ye’s expression became somewhat melancholic, “afterward, the current Emperor proposed marrying Consort Shao’s sister to the Marquis of Yingchuan as his second wife. Duke Fu didn’t agree, but the Marquis of Yingchuan did, and then the Marquis of Yingchuan went to Zhangye…”
Was it possible that the seeds of hatred were planted at that time?
Fu Tingyun couldn’t help but inquire about the Marquis of Yingchuan’s two children: “When did this happen?”
“Seven years ago.”
The Marquis of Yingchuan’s younger son should be seven years old now.
This meant that both children were born to Lady Mei.
For some reason, Fu Tingyun breathed a long sigh of relief.
Manager Ye said: “Such secretive matters are now known to everyone in the capital, especially the story of Emperor Wuzong wanting to establish Prince Ning as the Crown Prince, which is being spread with vivid details. This shows that someone is fanning the flames, and Prince Mu should be able to enter the capital soon.” He smiled with great optimism.
Fu Tingyun recalled how Zheng San had overheard Duke Fu’s steward spreading rumors while seeing off guests, and she silently pondered: Perhaps these words were spread by Duke Fu’s mansion, or by the Marquis of Yingchuan himself!
Zheng San rushed in anxiously: “Miss, Miss, the Commander of the Five Cities Military and Cavalry Bureau, Li Hui, has opened the Zhengyang Gate.”
“What did you say?” Fu Tingyun and Manager Ye stood up simultaneously, looking at Zheng San with disbelief.
Zheng San swallowed and quickly said: “Li Hui opened the Zhengyang Gate and welcomed Prince Mu’s troops into the city. Now the city is in chaos…”