Ever since the Emperor and Empress had publicly spoken those words, the palace seemed to have returned to its former peaceful atmosphere. Everyone performed their duties, preparing for the investiture ceremony in an orderly manner without any more mistakes. Zhenzhen encountered no further dangers, and palace people were all courteous to her. Occasionally, some would even deliberately flatter her, clearly viewing her as a great favorite before the Emperor and Empress.
One day, after the Emperor finished dining in Jiaming Hall, he remained seated chatting idly with Zhenzhen when he suddenly heard that the Empress requested an audience. The Emperor hurriedly invited her in, smiling as he asked, “Why didn’t you come earlier to dine together?”
The Empress curtsied and said, “How would this subject dare to disturb Your Majesty’s meal without being summoned? I’ve come at this time because there’s a difficult problem involving the Eastern Palace. This subject doesn’t dare make decisions on her own, so I’ve come to request Your Majesty’s judgment.”
The Emperor invited her to sit down and speak slowly.
After the Empress was seated, Zhenzhen served her tea, but she didn’t bother to drink it, first carefully explaining the difficult problem: “Speaking of it, this is originally a domestic matter of the Eastern Palace… Among the Crown Princess’s accompanying maids, there’s one called Meng Yunxiu who is quite literate, skilled in poetry and painting, and has a fine voice. When she plays the qin and sings, listeners all say it sounds like heavenly music. The Crown Princess was much guided by her in her childhood studies and is very close to her. Therefore, the Qian family couldn’t bear to let her marry out and had her accompany the Crown Princess into the Eastern Palace. The Crown Princess intended to ask the Crown Prince to take her as a concubine, but this Meng Yunxiu is several years older than the Crown Prince – she’s thirty this year. Moreover, though the Crown Prince respects her greatly, he has no romantic feelings for her, so the Crown Prince has never agreed. The Crown Prince also has many palace servants who’ve attended him since childhood, including one called Yu Rui’er, who began accompanying the Crown Prince at play when she was eight. Now eighteen, she naturally also hopes to become the Crown Prince’s concubine someday. Seeing the Crown Princess recommend Meng Yunxiu to the Crown Prince, Yu Rui’er inevitably became jealous and repeatedly mocked and ridiculed Meng Yunxiu openly and secretly, saying this thirty-year-old old woman still dared to hope to become the Crown Prince’s favored concubine – how shameless. Meng Yunxiu has a gentle temperament and never argued with her. The day before yesterday was Meng Yunxiu’s thirtieth birthday. The Crown Princess wanted to hold a banquet to celebrate for her, but she didn’t want to trouble the Eastern Palace staff and politely declined. However, Yu Rui’er found out and publicly mocked her, saying she was trying to hide the fact that she had reached thirty, not knowing that everyone in the Eastern Palace understood she was already thirty years old withered wood and debris, that the Crown Prince also found her an eyesore, yet she still had the nerve to lift her old face and eagerly cling to him seeking favor…”
The Emperor couldn’t bear to listen to this and angrily said, “This Yu Rui’er has such a sharp tongue and is so vicious. Doesn’t the Crown Princess know to punish her?”
The Empress sighed, “The Crown Princess is too kind-hearted, and considering that Yu Rui’er is an old member of the Eastern Palace, she thought punishing her would offend the Crown Prince, so she’s been enduring it silently. The Crown Prince, at Your Majesty’s request, has been concentrating on learning statecraft and finds it difficult to be distracted by household matters. No one tells him about these quarrels… The day before yesterday, Yu Rui’er’s mocking words about Meng Yunxiu were particularly harsh, and she said them publicly. Meng Yunxiu couldn’t save face to argue with her, so she ran back to her room in tears and shut herself in. When the Crown Princess heard about it, she personally went to see her. The maids couldn’t open the door, so the Crown Princess had the eunuchs break it down, only to find Meng Yunxiu had hanged herself attempting suicide…”
The Emperor frowned and asked, “Was she rescued?”
The Empress said, “Fortunately, she was discovered early and saved, but her neck was terribly swollen. These past two days, Meng Yunxiu hasn’t been able to speak. The imperial physicians examined her and said her throat would definitely be damaged. Even if she can speak in the future, her voice will be hoarse and unpleasant. That beautiful voice of hers will probably never return.”
“This Yu Rui’er is no different from killing with her tongue – her heart deserves death!” the Emperor said angrily, then asked the Empress, “How did the Crown Princess and Crown Prince punish her?”
“This is where the difficulty lies,” the Empress sighed softly. “The Crown Princess has been watching over Meng Yunxiu these past two days, washing her face with tears. When others ask how to punish Yu Rui’er, she only says coldly: ‘Please let His Highness decide.’ But that Yu Rui’er has already run to the Crown Prince crying bitterly, repeatedly recounting her years of accompanying the Crown Prince, grasping his robe hem and begging pitifully. The Crown Prince has always been benevolent and soft-hearted. If he were to punish her severely, he couldn’t harden his heart, so he sent someone to deliver Yu Rui’er to Palace Administrator Wei, asking the Administrator to punish her. But Palace Administrator Wei is also very troubled – if the punishment is too light, he fears it won’t appease the Crown Princess’s resentment; if too heavy, he fears the Crown Prince’s displeasure. So he came to ask for my guidance…”
The Emperor understood: “Your concerns are the same as Palace Administrator Wei’s. Moreover, since it involves the Eastern Palace, you’re not in a position to make decisions.”
The Empress lowered her head in embarrassment: “This subject is incompetent, but I beseech Your Majesty’s sage judgment.”
The Emperor said, “For such matters, according to palace custom, Yu Rui’er should simply be expelled from the palace and ordered to become a Taoist nun.”
The Empress hesitated, remaining silent and not responding, clearly thinking this wasn’t a suitable solution.
Seeing this, Zhenzhen softly said to the Emperor, “Your Majesty, forgive this slave’s directness. This slave remembers that last time when Female Secretary Hao Jinyan framed Dian Shan Feng, the Palace Administrator wanted to expel Hao Jinyan and the others from the palace to become Taoist nuns, but the Crown Prince stopped him, saying expulsion from the palace was sufficient – there was no need to order them to become nuns and ruin their lives. The Crown Prince had no acquaintance with Hao Jinyan and the others, yet he couldn’t bear to see them become nuns. How much more so for a palace servant who has served him for ten years.”
The Empress also said, “Yes, if Your Majesty handles it this way, even if the Crown Prince doesn’t object, he will certainly feel uncomfortable and may harbor resentment.”
“Only expel her from the palace without making her become a nun?” The Emperor quickly rejected this plan angrily. “That would be letting her off too easily! No, no, that won’t do.”