As Lan Zhilan regained her composure, she realized she was alone. She quickly wiped away her tears, fixed her makeup, and said with a smile, “I suddenly remembered something that made me sad. How much farther until we arrive?”
“We can’t go to the imperial tomb. We can only visit nearby Jiuchong Mountain, where you can pay respects from afar,” replied her attendant.
“Very well,” Lan Zhilan agreed, leaning back against the carriage wall to wait. Upon arrival, she gathered the offerings and exited the carriage. Turning to Fangrui with a smile, she said, “I’ll go up alone. You don’t need to follow.”
“But…” Fangrui frowned. “What if there are wild animals on the mountain? At least take two guards with you.”
“No need,” Lan Zhilan replied. “I’ve been here before.”
This was where she first met Emperor Mingde, posing as a lost commoner girl. It was an old trick that wouldn’t have worked on most, but for some reason, the normally clever emperor’s eyes flickered with interest when he saw her, allowing her an audience.
“What’s your name?” he had asked.
“This commoner is Lan Zhilan,” she had answered softly. “Abandoned on this mountain by my fiancé, I thought I’d surely perish. Thank you for saving me, Your Majesty.”
Everything began with lies. She had never told Emperor Mingde the truth, still harboring thoughts of Shen Zaiye at the time. She had invented a fiancé story.
Unexpectedly, this lie made everything fall into place. The emperor, moved by her encounter with such a heartless fiancé, climbed Jiuchong Mountain with her. He listened to her pour out her heart, finally smiling and saying, “I’ve never met a woman like you. Why don’t you return to the palace with me and try life in the imperial court?”
Lan Zhilan was surprised. Her handlers had arranged this mountain meeting as just the first step, to see if she caught the emperor’s eye. They hadn’t expected him to invite her to the palace after just one encounter.
Lan Zhilan nodded in stunned agreement, then looked at him puzzled. “This commoner’s heart may still hold shadows of her former fiancé. Does Your Majesty not mind?”
“That’s what makes it interesting,” Emperor Mingde laughed. “Don’t you know? Emperors love to conquer, be it territories or women.”
His words amused her. After a moment’s thought, she placed her hand in his.
She had assumed both were beginning without true feelings, expecting her life in the palace to be difficult. To her surprise, after she entered the palace, Emperor Mingde showered her with all his affection, doting on her and giving her whatever she desired.
Lan Zhilan could sense that initially, Emperor Mingde only wanted to conquer her. However, as time passed, he developed genuine feelings. He gradually lowered all his defenses, set aside his imperial airs, and tenderly embraced her, saying, “Tell me who your fiancé is. I’ll have him killed.”
She couldn’t help but laugh through her tears. She had to admit, being cherished felt wonderful, so much so that she gradually came to care for him too.
Before meeting Shen Zaiye again, she had been at peace. But after their encounter, she realized her heart still held resentment and couldn’t completely let go. Emperor Mingde’s tender affection hadn’t erased her obsession, leading to one misstep after another.
“You two are siblings?” When they met, Emperor Mingde let out a long sigh. “I could never uncover Lan’er’s background. If this is true, I can rest easy. Shen, with Lan’er between us, I will trust you even more.”
This was the goal they had wanted her to achieve. She had helped them accomplish it, but from then on, she lived torn between guilt towards Emperor Mingde and resentment towards Shen Zaiye, tossing and turning sleepless night after night.
Looking back now, she wished she had let go earlier and simply stayed contentedly by Emperor Mingde’s side. But even if she had wanted to, they likely wouldn’t have left her alone. The lives of her Lan family members were still in Shen Zaiye’s hands. Whenever he was displeased with her, he would use them as threats. Though she knew he was only bluffing, she also knew that even if Shen Zaiye wouldn’t act, Jiao Chang’an would.
She was just a pawn in their hands, unable to break free or escape.
Slowly climbing to the mountaintop, the wind whipped her clothes. Lan Zhilan let out a sigh, took out a wine jug from her bundle, took a sip, and then sat down cross-legged.
“I’ve done everything I was supposed to do,” she said, smiling as she gazed at Chongxian Mountain where the imperial tomb lay. “In this world, I haven’t wronged anyone except you.”
“I don’t deserve to be buried with you. You probably don’t even want to see me on the road to the underworld, so I won’t go there. I’ll stay here.”
She set up an incense table, lit three sticks of incense, and placed them in the center, then took out two cups and a medicine bottle.
“Was that last cup of tea delicious?” She lowered her eyes. “If you had been more wary of me, had someone checked the tea before drinking, things wouldn’t have come to this. You’re an emperor, how could you be so foolish?”
Opening the medicine bottle, she poured the Xiaoyao powder into a teacup. Lan Zhilan chuckled softly, murmuring, “You must have drunk the soup of oblivion by now. If I go after you now, the timing should be just right. This time, I’ve let go of everything. There will be no one else in my heart. When I catch up to you, I’ll surely tell you the truth.”
“This commoner Lan Zhilan sincerely loves and admires Your Majesty. I only ask to remain by your side, devoted for life, never to leave you.”
Fangrui and the others finally sensed something was wrong and hurried up the mountain. But by the time they arrived, Lan Zhilan had already tilted her head back, elegantly holding the teacup with her slender fingers. Her red lips parted slightly as she drained the cup in one gulp.
The autumn wind blew fiercely, causing her skirt and long sleeves to flutter ceaselessly. Fangrui let out a cry as she saw her mistress turn back with an alluring smile, her lips red and teeth white, eyes glimmering. Then she slowly collapsed.
Xiaoyao powder, to wander free, relieving worldly troubles and mortal sufferings. If they couldn’t be buried on the same mountain, at least they could share the same poison.
Fangrui was stunned. She stumbled over, cradled her mistress’s body, and checked for breath. She remained in shock for a long while.
Jiuchong Mountain and Chongxian Mountain were so far apart. How could she bear to die here?
“Mistress…” Her throat was tight with grief, Fangrui held the corpse and broke into loud sobs.
She had always been by her mistress’s side. Only she knew of her mistress’s struggles and pain, her reluctance and helplessness. She had thought her mistress could live out her days peacefully. Wasn’t she supposed to vie for the Marquis? Wasn’t she not going to join Emperor Mingde in death? Why… why did she choose this path?
Shen Zaiye was inexplicably startled awake from his slumber. He sat up, looking around in confusion with furrowed brows.
Taohua rolled over, also waking up, her eyes full of sorrow. “Did something happen outside?”
“What?” Shen Zaiye raised an eyebrow. “You can sense trouble even while asleep?”
Slowly sitting up, her hair disheveled, Taohua frowned and said, “I suddenly felt a pang in my heart. I don’t know if it was a dream or something else, but it feels like someone is crying.”
Shen Zaiye paused, listening carefully to the sounds outside.
Indeed, someone was crying.
Fangrui returned weeping, kneeling outside Zhengchun Pavilion and crying out, “Marquis!”
His heart skipped a beat. Shen Zaiye quickly got out of bed, threw on an outer robe, and opened the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Mistress… Mistress is on Jiuchong Mountain,” Fangrui said between sobs and kowtows. “Please go see her. This servant can’t bring her back.”
Jiuchong Mountain? Shen Zaiye frowned and immediately ordered Zhanlu to prepare a carriage. Zhanlu complied, while Taohua in the room quickly got up, casually tying up her hair and dressing before following Shen Zaiye out.
“What do you mean you can’t bring her back?” Shen Zaiye asked, puzzled, as they sat in the carriage. “Does she want to live on the mountain?”
Taohua frowned, inexplicably feeling a heaviness in her heart. Fangrui cried the whole way, refusing to answer any questions, only urging them to hurry.
Shen Zaiye thought that at worst, Lan Zhilan was throwing a drunken tantrum and refusing to leave. He could always knock her unconscious and carry her back if needed. But he never imagined that what he would find on Jiuchong Mountain was Lan Zhilan’s corpse.
Her face was pale, her body stiff, but Lan Zhilan’s expression was serene as if she were merely sleeping. But when he reached out to touch her, the icy chill of her body penetrated to the bone.
Taohua stared in disbelief, stunned. “How did this happen? Who did this?”
Shen Zaiye’s face darkened. He picked up the nearby teacup, examined it, and then noticed the three burnt-out incense sticks. He couldn’t help but close his eyes.
“She took her own life.”
Taohua pressed her lips together, kneeling beside the body with a frown. “I thought she had let go of Emperor Mingde.”
“Yes,” Shen Zaiye said, covering her face with a handkerchief. “I thought she had let go too.”
It turned out that their long entanglement wasn’t just for her to find closure, but also to lower his guard. He had always been wary of her committing suicide, but thinking she had moved on, he had stopped having her watched. Who would have thought…
When did Lan Zhilan become so clever?
His heart heavy, Shen Zaiye reached out to lift her, intending to at least give her a proper resting place. To his surprise, her body was so heavy he couldn’t move it an inch.
“What’s going on?” Shen Zaiye frowned, turning to Fangrui. “What did you do?”
Fangrui shook her head, choking back sobs. “We didn’t do anything. Even when we called guards to carry her, it was the same. No matter what, we couldn’t move Mistress… That’s why I came to ask for your help.”
A corpse should only weigh as much as a person. Why was it so heavy? Shen Zaiye frowned, his gaze deep as he looked at Lan Zhilan on the ground. He asked in a low voice, “You don’t want to leave this place? What’s so good about it? It’s far from the imperial tomb and not even a place with good feng shui.”
Jiang Taohua’s eyes reddened. After looking at her for a while, she asked Shen Zaiye, “My lord, have you heard the story of He Manzi?”
(End of Chapter)