The smile on Empress Lu’s face diminished slightly, but she wasn’t angry. She knew of the connection between Prince Gong and Elder Du. Though the woman was worried for herself, she was also genuinely concerned about her own son. Empress Lu glanced left and right, and Xie Siyi consciously led everyone out in an orderly file.
Madam Du understood the signal. She leaned sideways toward Empress Lu and lowered her voice: “His Highness has been ill all the way from Langfang to the capital. I wonder if it’s serious? An imperial physician should examine him. After all, the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and this subject’s wife has noticed that both Prince Lu’s and Prince Su’s manor have begun preparations.”
Empress Lu understood her meaning. After a brief moment of contemplation, she stopped beating around the bush: “He’s been ill for quite some days, and I’ve been very worried too. Just now, Master Hu came to the palace to report that there seem to be signs of improvement.”
Madam Du’s neck stretched considerably longer. Unable to concern herself with propriety, her eyes brightened as she looked at Empress Lu: “Then he’ll surely be fully recovered before the Mid-Autumn Festival? The Princess Consort and the young prince returned to the capital together as well, didn’t they? They’ll be able to enter the palace together to pay respects to Your Majesty. Calculating the time, it’s been so many years since Prince Gong was enfeoffed—he really should gather with you.”
Empress Lu glanced at her, and her next words mercilessly shattered these hopes: “Yes, it’s been many years since I’ve seen him. After seeing him this time, who knows when the next time will be—there was never actually a rule that princes should come to court once every three years. This just happened to coincide with His Majesty’s birthday celebration. His Majesty missed his sons and wanted to strengthen father-son bonds. After this time, there won’t be a next time.”
These words seemed somewhat disconnected, but Madam Du understood the meaning. Her face paled as she looked at Empress Lu, her voice dropping very low: “But His Highness is your own son after all. And now with the Crown Prince in such a state…”
She had originally thought the same way, but thinking it was one thing—whether she could actually accomplish anything was another. How could she possibly intervene now? Prince Gong had committed such acts and violated Emperor Jianzhang’s taboos. Now that Emperor Jianzhang had decided not to bring matters into the open, it preserved everyone’s dignity and even planned to spare Prince Gong’s life. Keeping Prince Gong’s legitimate eldest son in the capital prince’s manor was already an unexpected blessing for Empress Lu. She herself felt guilty—if she hadn’t indulged and yielded to her two sons repeatedly, they wouldn’t have fought like cocks with blackened eyes, eventually reaching this desperate state. Since it was all her fault, she dared not plead on their behalf anymore. Zhou Weizhao was right—this was already the best possible outcome.
She released the pent-up resentment in her heart: “Enough. Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. We cannot worry for them.”
This was clearly an attitude of resignation to fate. Madam Du wanted to persuade her more, to cajole her, but didn’t know how to go about it. After staying a while longer, her heart felt as bitter as if it had been soaked in coptis root, and she took her leave.
However, Empress Lu called out to stop her: “If you have nothing else to do, bring your young lady more often. She writes beautifully. When the Bodhisattva’s birthday arrives, I need to offer a Buddhist scripture, and I’d like her to copy it for me.”
She wouldn’t intervene in Prince Gong’s matter, but was showing concern for their granddaughter instead. Madam Du carried a belly full of questions but naturally agreed profusely on the spot. When she returned, she consulted with Elder Du: “What does Her Majesty mean by this? Our Fangxi never received such favor from Her Majesty as that girl from the Chen family did.”
Empress Lu had all but explicitly stated that Prince Gong faced no great danger—only that his legitimate eldest son would remain in the capital as a hostage and that he would never enter the capital again. Elder Du stroked his beard, somewhat troubled. Indeed, just as he had suspected, even if Emperor Jianzhang didn’t want Prince Gong’s life, he would sever Prince Gong’s aspirations.
Years of careful planning, lost in a single morning—this melancholy truly couldn’t be expressed in words. Even someone as shrewd and experienced as Elder Du felt genuinely dejected. He had once harbored such lofty ambitions, yet now they had been washed away by a single decision from Prince Gong. How could he be reconciled?
It was that girl from the Song family. Elder Du’s eyes darkened, an indescribable irritation rising in his heart. That Song family girl’s path had been far too smooth. How was it that everything connected to her never yielded any benefits to others?
Others might not be clear about it, but he could see the machinations behind the Chen family affair quite clearly. Not to mention that this time, both Prince Gong and the Crown Prince could be said to have fallen into her hands—he had already investigated. At the time, the Grand Prince had already been injured and was carried back to Prince Zhennan’s manor by the Prince Consort first. Instead, it was Song the Sixth who entered the palace first.
It was also after she entered the palace that word spread from within of the Crown Prince’s worsening condition. Immediately following that, the Imperial Guard and the Ministry of Justice made a great show of posting proclamations saying that the Grand Prince had also been attacked, all by remnants of Ma Yuantong’s faction.
This kind of capability wasn’t something just anyone possessed. How could it not be terrifying? Elder Du’s face twitched: “It’s not as if there are no methods left to consider.”
When asked about the east, he answered about the west, but Madam Du showed not a trace of impatience and immediately pressed: “At this point, what methods are left to consider?”
Elder Du reached out to take Madam Du’s hand and wrote a few characters on her palm.
Madam Du’s eyes widened in disbelief. After a long moment, she finally reacted, gaping in astonishment: “Though they were childhood sweethearts back then, they’ve each established their own households now. Moreover, this time Prince Gong nearly took the Grand Prince’s life. Her Majesty the Empress can still be appealed to—after all, it’s between son and grandson, and both the palm and back of the hand are flesh. But as for the Crown Princess…”
How could she possibly broach such a topic? Even if she did broach it, how could the Crown Princess possibly agree?
“We must still try. All these years, everyone has tacitly understood how the Crown Prince has treated Mingcui Palace, haven’t they?” Elder Du was dismissive: “The Crown Princess has been indifferent toward him as well. With the husband and wife estranged to such a degree, what affection could there be? On the other hand, His Highness and she were childhood sweethearts after all, with feelings from their youth. As long as she’s willing to speak a word to the Grand Prince, and the Grand Prince then appeals to His Majesty, this major matter can become minor and the minor matter can be dissolved to nothing.”
Madam Du felt this was somewhat fantastical: “That may be what you say, but this is extremely difficult to broach. Since Prince Gong’s life isn’t in danger, then…”
She couldn’t speak the words “never mind.” Elder Du’s gaze fixed heavily on her: “But we’ve schemed for so many years, relied on His Highness for so many years—and it all ends like this in one morning? Moreover, His Highness is His Majesty’s son, so His Majesty will leave him a way out. But what about us?”
That one sentence left Madam Du speechless. This was exactly what she feared—if in the future Emperor Jianzhang and the Grand Prince wanted to find someone to take the blame, wouldn’t it be these foot soldiers who would suffer disaster?
She could only respond weakly: “If that’s the case, then let’s try?”