“This case… I think we should end it here. No further investigation.”
These words drifting softly from the Empress’s carriage startled Wei Shubin greatly, making her doubt her ears for a moment. Looking up, she saw Li Yuangui standing in the light snow, equally speechless as he stared at the carriage window curtain.
“I too initially felt that Yiniang’s death was suspicious and unjust. As the head of the inner palace, I should naturally investigate to clear her name,” Empress Zhangsun spoke quietly but with unwavering determination. “However, now that this ring has been found among her possessions, it concerns her maiden reputation. Further investigation would only cause her soul more unrest in the underworld. It’s better to conclude this as a suicide due to temporary insanity and spare everyone the trouble.”
“But… whether this jade ring was a token from a man, whether it truly compromises her reputation – nothing is certain,” Li Yuangui questioned. “If we hastily close the case this way, wouldn’t it instead confirm suspicions about Yiniang having an illicit relationship?”
Chai Yinglu, standing by the carriage window, bent down to advise: “Your Majesty, please reconsider. That day, you and His Majesty spent considerable effort appointing Minister Wei to investigate this case, primarily because it concerns your reputation. Your Majesty is known for being virtuous and kind, arranging a generous marriage for a former palace orphan, only to face unfair accusations. We are deeply pained by this and vow to work tirelessly to uncover the truth. Now that the investigation has begun, suddenly closing it might invite even more malicious gossip…”
On Yiniang’s wedding night, many high officials and their wives were at Ganye Temple – her death could not be kept secret. Wei Zheng and others had spent a day questioning people at the temple, and the Chai family needed to transport Yiniang’s coffin back to their residence for mourning according to the customs for a principal wife. The matter would only grow bigger. If they stopped the investigation now, it would be tantamount to the Empress admitting guilt for driving her niece to death – was she willing to bear that burden?
“Yiniang’s death is indeed not unrelated to me,” the Empress spoke slowly. “It was due to my poor management of the inner palace, my negligence towards the widows and orphaned daughters at Ganye Temple. Taking responsibility for being unkind is not unreasonable. Death is paramount, and your father is generous enough to agree to give Yiniang a proper burial in the Chai family’s ancestral tomb. This is all I can do for my niece now. As for malicious gossip and rumors, which dynasty and era haven’t had them? Having taken this position, one must have the capacity to endure such things.”
Such noble and touching imperial words… why didn’t Wei Shubin believe a single word?
Looking at the Empress’s blurred silhouette behind the snowy carriage curtain, she thought of this daughter of the former Sui dynasty’s famous general Zhangsun Sheng, who lost her father early, and as an orphaned child with her widowed mother was driven back to her maternal uncle’s home by her half-brother An Ye. She lived as a dependent until age thirteen when she married the second son of the then Duke of Tang. Perhaps because of the bullying she suffered in her youth, she was known for her strong self-esteem and perfectionism, never willing to face criticism—
In the first year of Zhenguan, Zhangsun An Ye, who had previously mistreated her and her mother, had already been promoted to Right Gate Commander General due to his in-law status, yet he conspired in treason. When evidence was found, he should have been executed. The Empress repeatedly wept and pleaded with the Emperor, saying “Everyone knows An Ye was once unkind to me, if he faces execution now, people will say I’m taking personal revenge, which might tarnish the holy court’s reputation.” With this reasoning, she saved her half-brother’s life, reducing his sentence from death to exile.
Yet towards her full brother Zhangsun Wuji, who had grown up depending on each other, the Empress was consistently restrictive to avoid suspicion of favoritism. In the first year of Zhenguan when Wuji was appointed Vice Director of the Right, the Empress strongly petitioned that “Your Majesty’s heavy reliance on relatives by marriage might invite accusations of nepotism, and my family also fears excess favor.” She also had her brother earnestly decline. Though the Emperor was displeased, he ultimately followed the siblings’ wishes, relieving Wuji of his ministerial position and reassigning him to an honorary sinecure.
Lenient to enemies, and strict with relatives – people praised Empress Zhangsun for her righteousness and motherly virtue befitting of an empress. But in private discussions, many said she was simply doing everything possible to maintain her reputation as a virtuous empress – now for a young niece’s reputation, she was willing to humble herself and tacitly admit to “driving Yiniang to death”?
If the Empress truly didn’t want to investigate this case further, it certainly wasn’t for Yiniang’s sake.
Things or people that could make her willingly bear public criticism and slander were truly rare in this world.
Thinking about it, for her, it must be something even more important than her full brother, something worth protecting at the cost of her reputation and dignity…
Wei Shubin suddenly felt her heart trembling.
The Empress recognized Yiniang’s jade ring, knew who it originally belonged to, and had a close relationship with the man who gave the ring to Yiniang.
The Empress had kept the ring, and it was still in her carriage, likely never leaving her possession. Wei Shubin also recalled her last visit to the Lizheng Palace’s living quarters, where she saw the Empress keeping the noose that hanged Yiniang and Yiniang’s suicide note on her desk, showing no aversion to these ominous items. How determined she had been then to solve the case and capture the true culprit!
Yet now she firmly ordered: close the case as a suicide.
“Fourteenth Brother,” Empress Zhangsun spoke to Li Yuangui through the window, “I see your demeanor and temperament are quite similar to your Second Imperial Brother. He – His Majesty is also like this, always forthright and unable to tolerate underhanded dealings. Such heroic spirits are well-suited for external conquest and governance; but the inner palace is deep with hidden resentment, mostly inhabited by women and petty people – trying to investigate everything is neither possible nor beneficial. Years ago when your mother passed, unfortunately, ah, you should have learned something from that…”
Li Yuangui lowered his head in silence. The Empress’s voice grew even softer:
“Your mother suffered injustice and still cannot rest in peace – I feel deep remorse about this too. Fourteenth Brother, please be patient for a while longer. When the Emperor Emeritus’s condition improves, this matter will surely be addressed, and the funeral rites and posthumous honors will be generously arranged. Leave this to me, you can rest assured.”
Li Yuangui knelt and kowtowed in gratitude. Wei Shubin watched from the side, feeling that the Empress was using his mother’s funeral arrangements as a bargaining chip to secure his agreement to close the case, but her words were so considerate and comforting that even outsiders felt warmth in their hearts. The Empress had just protected the Seventeenth Princess last night, and from any angle, Li Yuangui couldn’t defy her wishes.
“Your subject obeys the Empress’s command,” the young prince replied while kneeling before the carriage. “However, the chief investigator appointed by His Majesty is Minister Wei…”
“I will naturally speak with His Majesty and Minister Wei. Fourteenth Brother need not worry about this.”
With these words, there was nothing more to discuss. The Empress ordered the carriage to return to the palace, and Chai Yinglu bowed by the carriage:
“Earlier when I touched Your Majesty’s left wrist, your pulse was smooth but slow, with stagnant qi and blood – acupuncture is needed urgently to guide and disperse the liver qi. I request to accompany Your Majesty back to Lizheng Palace to attend to you.”
“That would be good, thank you for your trouble,” the Empress agreed from inside the carriage, then added: “Young Lady Wei should come too, I have some words to tell you.”
The Empress hadn’t acknowledged Wei Shubin at all today, and she had thought she wasn’t noticed among the crowd… but then again, who could escape Empress Zhangsun’s eyes?
She and Chai Yinglu had ridden horses from Zixu Temple early in the morning wearing veiled hats, and now they retrieved their mounts to follow beside the Empress’s carriage, entering Taiji Palace through Jiayou Gate and winding their way toward Lizheng Palace.
The snow fell intermittently. In this late winter and early spring, the ice near the shore of the palace lake had begun to melt, and the willows showed hints of green, but this spring snow froze everything again, making it appear desolate and gloomy. The north wind blew but couldn’t disperse the heavy fog of doubts in Wei Shubin’s mind.
Thinking back to when she fled her arranged marriage and mistakenly entered Ganye Temple, the series of strange events that followed seemed all connected, just as the Empress said:
That night, they discovered the bride Li Wanxi had hanged herself, and Li Yuangui determined at the scene it was murder; her parents broke into Yiniang’s room to take her home, but Chai Yinglu and others helped her resist;
The next morning, she and Li Yuangui found what appeared to be a man’s token at the crime scene, but it was swallowed by Yiniang’s devoted nanny; the Emperor and Empress summoned them to the palace, ordered her father Wei Zheng to take charge of the case, and they spent the whole day questioning and investigating at Ganye Temple; meanwhile, the Emperor went to Da’an Palace to see the Emperor Emeritus, had a dispute with Consort Yin, leading to Yin mistreating the Seventeenth Princess;
The third morning, she and Chai Yinglu discovered what appeared to be palace-style romantic poetry copied by Yiniang in her former residence at Ganye Temple, suggesting this young bride wasn’t the “pure and tranquil maiden” her nanny claimed; Li Yuangui burst in, asking Chai Yinglu to help save his sister; probably shortly after they left Ganye Temple, Princess Hailing Yang, and her daughter quietly left too; that evening, Chai Yinglu and Li Yuangui sent the Seventeenth Princess to stay with the Empress, and almost simultaneously someone sneaked into the forbidden garden and set fire to Ganye Temple…
Then this was the fourth morning – Ganye Temple was destroyed, Consort Yang and her daughter were missing, the jade ring swallowed by the nanny had reappeared in the Empress’s hands, and the Empress immediately ordered the case closed as suicide.
Riding on her horse, Wei Shubin shook her head, vaguely sensing a very thin, cunning snake silently crawling, stringing these incidents together like a rope, but she couldn’t see through the mystery.
Lost in thought along the way, they arrived at the gates of the Lizheng Palace courtyard, where a servant girl came to report: “The Crown Prince and Crown Princess came early to pay their respects and are still waiting inside.”
Chai Yinglu immediately reined in her horse, and Wei Shubin followed suit, thinking of her former close friend Su Lingyu who was just inside the hall, feeling a bit excited, but since she was with her husband Crown Prince Li Chengqian… it wouldn’t be appropriate to meet.
“Mm,” the Empress’s voice from inside the carriage was even weaker than in the forbidden garden, “Wait… let me… rest a moment…”
The bumpy journey seemed to have worsened her condition. Chai Yinglu’s expression changed as she dismounted and went to the carriage door, called “Your Majesty” and climbed inside.
At this time, a man and woman also came out from the hall to greet them, their purple robes and jade belts marking them as the Crown Prince couple. Wei Shubin didn’t dare look closely, dismounting and bowing low, retreating into the line of palace servants. She only heard a young man’s voice calling “Mother” and asking about her health. Amid the small commotion, Chai Yinglu’s voice rang out:
“The Empress is exhausted, bring the sedan chair over. Your Highness, please excuse me, come help over here…”
Two strong servant women brought out a sedan chair, and Chai Yinglu and the young man in purple robes supported the Empress on either side as she got down from the carriage and sat directly in the sedan chair. The Empress seemed too weak to even sit up straight, leaning against the Daoist priestess’s arm. A large group of palace maids bustled around them, holding umbrellas against the snow as they entered the Lizheng Palace courtyard, with Wei Shubin mixed among them, only able to worry anxiously.
The small sedan chair carried the Empress into the east warm chamber of the main hall, where Chai Yinglu and others hurriedly helped her lie down on the bed, some helping her remove her robes and shoes and cover her with blankets, while Chai Yinglu gave orders: “Light those candlesticks and bring them over here… pour me water to wash my hands…”
She took out a leather pouch from her robes, washed her hands, and unwrapped several layers of cloth to reveal over ten fine gold needles. After sterilizing each one in the candlelight, the Daoist priestess took the Empress’s left hand and gently inserted needles into acupoints like “Neiguan” on her wrist and “Shaoshu” and “Hegu” on her palm, rotating them gently. Led by the Crown Prince couple, a large group knelt before the bed, watching intently as Chai Yinglu performed acupuncture on the Empress. Though the room was full of people, only the Empress’s heavy breathing could be heard.
Empress Zhangsun’s face was as yellow as paper, her eyes closed, her breathing very rapid, as if something was stuck in her chest. After Chai Yinglu finished with the needles in her left hand and massaged her palm for a moment, she moved to the right side, but the Empress’s right hand was clenched in a fist, unwilling to open.
“Your Majesty… Aunt.”
Chai Yinglu called softly, and the Empress opened her eyes to look at her, as if just returning to reality, gave a bitter smile, and opened her right hand.
In her palm, she still clutched that blood-jade ring.
Wei Shubin heard Crown Prince Li Chengqian make a loud intake of breath as he knelt before the bed. The Empress turned to look at her son, her lips curving in what seemed both angry and heartbroken, raising her hand to give him the ring:
“Keep your…”
Before finishing this sentence, the Empress raised her eyes and saw the many people kneeling in the room, so she stopped and said weakly: “All of you go out… Su’er doesn’t need to stay here either, take… Young Lady Wei to… wait in my study for a while…”
Wei Shubin, both shocked and confused, rose with the others and walked toward the door, but couldn’t help looking back one more time. She saw that the Crown Prince had taken the jade ring but remained silent, still kneeling before the bed, looking from his mother to Chai Yinglu who sat by the bed performing acupuncture, perhaps hoping this elder cousin would speak up for him.
A hand gently touched her arm.
Wei Shubin turned to see the all-too-familiar face of her old friend, Crown Princess Su Lingyu, but the look in her eyes was like that of a stranger.
Vol 1 – Chapter 23 Note:
In the early Tang Dynasty, noble women riding horses would normally wear a “mili” or “weimao” (veiled hat). This type of concealing garment originated from the Western Regions and was originally used to protect against wind and sand. In Central Plains, its main purpose was to prevent outsiders from peering at them and to maintain their dignified status. However, in this chapter, when Chai and Wei rode horses in the snow within the palace grounds, they wore veiled hats primarily to protect against the snow. In the murals of Concubine Yan’s tomb at Zhaoling, there is a depiction of a palace maid holding a long silk-netted veiled hat.
[Note: This historical note provides context about the wearing of veiled hats (帷帽) by noble women in the Tang Dynasty, explaining both their practical and social functions, with specific reference to their use by the characters Chai Yinglu and Wei Shubin in the snowy palace scene.]