The Emperor gave a couple of dry coughs, no longer daring to laugh, and changed the subject: “Why did you think it was Chengqian? What foolishness has that boy done now?”
The Empress hadn’t fully explained to her husband about the blood-jade thumb ring. Wei Shubin, however, understood the circumstances. She held her knees and held her breath, listening to how the Empress would respond. After a long while, the woman’s gentle voice slowly said:
“A few days ago, I already mentioned that I had given Chengqian that jade thumb ring you gave me in Hedong during the Wude years. Early this year, when Big Brother’s eldest daughter Wanxi tragically died at her wedding, that jade ring appeared in her chambers, discovered by Fourteenth Brother and Yingniang during their investigation…”
“What?” The Emperor’s tone was surprised. “You gave it to Chengqian, but he gave it to his cousin? What does that mean… what do you think?”
The Empress gave a soft laugh: “What does it mean? Like father, like son – where do you think my thoughts would go? Though Yi Niang was plain in appearance, her special background aroused sympathy… Later when I questioned Chengqian directly, he swore up and down in denial, and when Yingniang and the others investigated, they also said it didn’t seem like the siblings had anything improper between them. Just then, Fourth Brother’s wife and daughter suddenly disappeared, so I began to suspect A-Yang instead…”
“You suspected Chengqian and his fourth aunt had an affair that Yi Niang discovered, so they silenced her.” The Emperor plainly stated his wife’s thoughts, his tone rather casual. “Well, that wasn’t the truth either, so our son took the blame for his father – what do you plan to do now?”
From his tone, one might think it was Empress Zhangsun who had taken a lover and produced an illegitimate child… Wei Shubin couldn’t help rolling her eyes behind the curtain wall. At the curtain’s front, the Empress let out a long breath, snorting:
“What do I plan to do? I wrongly suspected Chengqian, and now the truth is clear – I just need to comfort him somewhat. Do you expect me, as his mother, to apologize to my son? Besides, from how he responded, that child still seems to have something on his mind that he won’t say directly. Ah, I don’t know what he’s thinking…”
“Chengqian is fine, he’s doing well.” The Emperor said somewhat impatiently. “Yi Niang’s case still hasn’t been cleared up, and now you’re being implicated – I’m unhappy just thinking about it. That old ram-nosed Wei Zheng is infuriating, refusing to continue the investigation no matter what. I even promised him thirty thousand bolts of silk for a betrothal gift, but he stubbornly refused, preferring to sell his daughter! These poor Shandong scholars, what kind of hearts do they have? It’s maddening!”
Suddenly hearing the Emperor mention her father and herself, Wei Shubin’s heart pounded. The Emperor’s words seemed sympathetic to her, and she felt deeply grateful, but… why did she feel these words were somewhat perfunctory, that the Emperor’s mind wasn’t really on these matters?
The Empress didn’t pick up his thread of conversation, not even giving a perfunctory response, as if she hadn’t heard at all. The Emperor muttered a few more words before finally bringing up what he wanted to say, somewhat sheepishly:
“Also, that… Yang and her mother are now at Cihe Temple, and her letter mentions she’s about to give birth… It’s troublesome, hopefully, it’ll be a girl, don’t you think?”
The Empress still didn’t respond. Her husband laughed, “You know I’ve never had the patience to deal with these women’s entanglements. Right now we’re observing national mourning, there’s the northwestern campaign, frontier states, trade routes, peace marriages – a huge pile of military and political matters waiting to be handled. How could I have leisure for back palace trivialities? You’ve always managed these things anyway. For so many years, you’ve never let me worry about domestic affairs. Why are you angry today, truly wanting to let go and cause me trouble? Is that like my wife’s character? I’m certain you won’t have the heart to do so.”
“Didn’t I just request instructions?” The Empress’s voice showed fatigue again. “Your Majesty must first set out some guidelines for how to handle this before I can proceed.”
So after all this heart-to-heart conversation between husband and wife, they were back where they started.
The Emperor scratched his head again, chuckling, “What guidelines do I have? Just handle it as you see fit, however, you want – I absolutely won’t interfere. It’s just like warfare: trust the one you use, don’t use the one you doubt. Once a general is sent out, he’s in the field and some imperial orders may not be followed. If everything is restricted and commands are given blindly from afar, defeat is certain—”
With a “bang,” the Empress seemed to strike the bed, interrupting her husband’s nonsense – it was such obvious nonsense that even Wei Shubin could hardly bear to listen anymore.
“Ah come on, is it worth all this?” The Emperor began persuading his wife earnestly, “It’s nothing, don’t take it to heart. How about this – if you feel wronged, we can settle it once and for all! It’s just a matter of sending someone to deliver an oral command, and we’ll never have to mention it again, alright…”
This meant… sending an oral command to have Princess Yang and her family put to death.
The Empress suddenly began coughing violently, sounding as if anger had caused a breath to catch in her throat. The Emperor quickly embraced his wife, patting her chest and back to help her breathe. After a while, the Empress managed to choke out a few words between coughs:
“…evil… against heaven and reason… want it counted to my account…”
“How could that be?” The Emperor was startled. “Of course, it would be my fault. Even if bad luck leads to this leaking out someday, people would only criticize me – what would it have to do with you? — You can set your mind completely at ease.”
Your Majesty, couldn’t you have swallowed that last sentence… Sure enough, while the previous sentences were acceptable before the final phrase was even finished, the Empress began coughing violently again, so much that Wei Shubin worried she might cough up blood and die on the spot.
The Emperor was also frightened, holding his wife while calling repeatedly for people. Palace maids and serving women immediately poured in, surrounding the Empress to fan her, give her water, and press her philtrum.
After a bout of commotion, suddenly the Emperor was heard asking, “What? What did you say?”
The Empress’s voice was weak and breathless, mumbling something Wei Shubin couldn’t make out at all. She could only hear the Emperor comforting his wife: “Of course, don’t worry, I won’t act rashly. Don’t think about it anymore – wait until you’re feeling better and have more energy, then we can slowly deal with these matters…”
Deal with them later… Your Majesty, have you made up your mind not to rest until you’ve worn out your lawful wife with these troublesome matters?
The Empress didn’t speak again, seeming to have no strength left to deal with her husband. The Emperor ordered the palace servants to “bring the palanquin to the door,” then personally carried his wife in his arms to leave, with the attending servants flowing out in their wake. Once again, only Wei Shubin remained near the bed.
Wei Shubin carefully peeked out from behind the bed first, confirming no one was visible in her field of view, then crawled out using both hands and feet. There was still quite a bit of dust behind the bed, leaving obvious black stains on her white hemp plain clothes. As she patted herself off, her eyes unconsciously drifted toward the large bed.
The bed was empty, with only that brocade pouch embroidered with a swaying hairpin left by the pillow – neither the Emperor nor Empress had taken it. Wei Shubin couldn’t help stepping forward to pick up the pouch, bringing it closer to look. She could see the brocade surface was already showing wear, not newly made, perhaps fashioned from an old handkerchief. The pouch was slightly bulging, and when squeezed, there was the rustle of stiff paper inside.
The letter Yang had written to the Emperor seemed to still be inside… Wei Shubin boldly opened the pouch and took out the roll of fine paper, not daring to unfold it to read, quickly tucking it into her bosom before closing the pouch and returning it to its original place.
From eavesdropping on the Emperor’s conversation earlier, she felt the Emperor still maintained interest and expectations regarding “investigating the truth of Yi Niang’s death,” and she secretly hoped to use this to negotiate with the Emperor, obtain the fifty thousand bolts of silk to buy back her freedom, and help Li Yuanji break free from his constraints.
Yang Buyao’s letter might help her investigate this case further. That beautiful woman was too closely connected to the County Princess of Linfen’s death – even if she wasn’t the murderer, she surely knew many related secrets…
While calculating this, Wei Shubin tiptoed toward the tent’s entrance. She figured the Emperor and his palace servants should be busy escorting the Empress back to Lizheng Hall to rest, making a clean departure, and the miscellaneous servants here at Yong’an Palace couldn’t come in to clean up immediately – this was a window of opportunity when she should be able to slip away.
Outside the raised tent flap, the sunlight was dazzling and all was quiet, just as she had expected. Having stayed in the dim tent for so long, she felt dizzy and disoriented when first approaching the outside. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, intending to quickly descend the steps to return to Zixu Temple, but as she turned and hurried out of the tent, she crashed solidly into someone’s back.
It was a man, tall and broad-shouldered with a solid build. Wei Shubin was bounced backward to the ground, falling flat on her back, while shouts from guards quickly rang out around her.
For a moment, she thought she had run into Li Yuanji, as the build and features were somewhat similar… but she immediately realized her mistake.
The one looking down at her small face with slightly furrowed sword-like eyebrows was Li Yuanji’s second brother, Tang Emperor Li Shimin.