As Shaoshang had predicted, early the next morning, the Emperor spread the confessions and material evidence that Ling Buyi had collected across an entire table. After having several important ministers review them one by one, he sent Cen Anzhi bearing white silk and poisoned wine to the Cavalry General’s residence. Wang Xi begged the Empress to let her see her birth mother one last time. The Empress sighed helplessly, then had Shaoshang escort Wang Xi there.

Before leaving, Shaoshang casually picked up two plates of sugar flatbreads she had just baked from the kitchen, tucking them into a warming nest to take along.

This wasn’t Shaoshang’s first time entering the Cavalry General’s residence. Wang Chun enjoyed drinking and entertaining guests, so she had previously accompanied Ling Buyi on courtesy visits. Wang Chun and Wan Songbai shared very similar aesthetic tastes—both liked piling up gold, silver, pearls, and jade. However, Old Uncle Wan went for the nouveau riche style, wishing he could blind guests’ dog eyes, while Wang Chun at least knew to wrap a layer of thin gauze around the jade railings and golden pillars, making a token gesture toward subtlety.

But now the Wang residence was utterly transformed. The luxurious servants and beautiful maids who were normally ever-present had all gone who knows where. The ground was piled with muddy, dirty accumulated snow, and withered branches and fallen leaves were scattered everywhere. All along the way, Wang Xi looked at this scene of desolation and decline, overcome by another wave of irrepressible grief. Fortunately, Ling Buyi had enforced strict discipline—the women’s belongings and wealth had suffered no damage.

Arriving at the main residence guarded by heavy troops, Cen Anzhi smiled and cupped his hands toward Shaoshang: “Having heard that the two young ladies were coming, this servant has been waiting outside. After Lady Xi finishes speaking with Lady Wenxiu, this servant will then carry out His Majesty’s decree.”

Wang Xi shed tears as she thanked him: “Many thanks to Eunuch Cen for this accommodation. At this time, everyone avoids my family like snakes and scorpions. Eunuch Cen is truly a benevolent and magnanimous person.”

Cen Anzhi’s smile remained unchanged: “Not at all, not at all.”

Standing behind, Shaoshang bared her teeth at him in a grimace: You’re about to send someone’s biological mother on the road to the Yellow Springs, yet you’re putting on such a benevolent and noble demeanor—what excellent cultivation!

Cen Anzhi acted as if he saw nothing. As he led a group of young eunuchs past the two women, his personal attendant smilingly took the food basket containing the warming nest from Lian Fang’s hands.

Following Wang Xi into the room, Shaoshang saw the interior in complete disarray. The once exquisite and luxurious furnishings had all been smashed beyond recognition. Lady Wenxiu sat on the inner bed platform. All the ornaments on her person had been confiscated, and her hair was simply pulled into a plain bun. She cursed and swore, the specific content being nothing more than “Wang Chun, you ungrateful bastard, you actually dared to betray me” and so forth.

Wang Xi stepped forward with tears and knelt on both knees.

Lady Wenxiu didn’t rise from the bed platform. A venomous look flowed from her turbid eyes: “What are you here for? You’ve been close to your father since childhood—have you come rushing to mourn for me now! That Wang Chun—such an opportunistic, two-faced scoundrel. When Father Wang selected him as son-in-law and greatly promoted him, what immense grace and favor that was! Instead of being grateful and repaying it, he actually bowed and scraped before enemies. He simply deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!”

Wang Xi knelt rigidly on the ground, gazing at her birth mother in pain.

But Shaoshang wasn’t polite with her. She stepped forward and said: “Lady Wenxiu… oh no, His Majesty has already stripped you of your title, so this concubine will call you Lady Wang. Lady Wang, even if General Wang hadn’t married you, would he have starved to death or died in poverty? The Wang family was already a prominent and respectable household. Whether or not he married you, they were still a local elite clan, not lacking in food or drink!”

Lady Wenxiu suddenly glared over. Shaoshang wasn’t the least bit intimidated and continued her assault: “As for ‘greatly promoted,’ are you joking? Not one of the old officials who experienced those events doesn’t know that your father didn’t value General Wang at all. Even a minor lieutenant in the Prince’s Manor had more face than General Wang, this son-in-law. Is this called ‘grace and favor’? If we’re really going to discuss grace and favor based on importance and promotion, doesn’t His Majesty’s grace and favor toward General Wang amount to a hundred or thousand times more?!”

Lady Wenxiu shouted angrily: “Lowly servant, how dare you criticize my father! What a hero and outstanding figure Father was! When he swept across the realm, you common grass people didn’t even know where you were barely surviving!”

“Give it a rest! The most heroic and outstanding figure under heaven is currently sitting on the dragon throne.” Shaoshang didn’t even bother to lift her eyelids. “When His Majesty first started out, his family wealth wasn’t as great as your father’s, his troops and horses weren’t as numerous as your father’s—what’s the result now? Even those without eyes know it. I say, Lady Wang, bragging also needs to have limits—enough is enough. I think you’ve lived the good life long enough that your brain’s gone foggy. Go spend a couple of days living the hard life together with those sisters of yours who’ve been exiled to remote, desolate places, and your brain will clear right up!”

Lady Wenxiu trembled with rage all over. In terms of verbal combat, even if she dragged her biological father along with eighteen generations of ancestors out from under their coffin lids, she wouldn’t be Shaoshang’s match. So she could only vent her fury on her own daughter: “Wretched creature! Are you afraid I’m not dying fast enough, deliberately finding this lowly servant to anger me to death?!”

Wang Xi slowly wiped away her tears and said respectfully: “Mother carried and bore me for ten months. Mother is about to… how could your daughter not come to see you off? Moreover, your daughter also has a couple of questions she wishes to ask Mother.”

Lady Wenxiu snorted and turned her head away.

“Mother, were you deceived by Young Uncle and used without knowing it? This is a matter of family property confiscation and clan extermination!” Wang Xi grew more and more frightened as she thought about it.

Lady Wenxiu cursed angrily: “What ‘they’! The Qian’an Prince’s Manor is our root! Without the Qian’an Prince’s Manor, where would you, this wretched creature, be!”

Wang Xi cried unwillingly: “Mother, I’ve heard that when Grandfather was still alive, Young Uncle didn’t regard you at all and was often disrespectful toward you in daily life. Why must you destroy your own future for his sake!”

Lady Wenxiu stubbornly said: “This isn’t solely for your young uncle—it’s also to restore the Qian’an Prince’s Manor’s reputation! For your grandfather who died with eyes unclosed, I absolutely must help your young uncle! If it weren’t for your incompetent fool of a father always being unable to cover things up, once your young uncle succeeded, you would have had the Qian’an Prince’s Manor as your backing!”

A pain shot through Shaoshang’s palm. She opened her hand to look and saw that her pinky fingernail had snapped off. She slowly walked away a bit, partially turning her back on the mother and daughter, gently blowing air on her palm.

Wang Xi’s eyes widened with tears as she shrieked: “What backing or not! Forget that Young Uncle could never possibly succeed—even when Grandfather was alive, Mother never benefited from the Qian’an Prince’s Manor’s light, let alone me?!”

Lady Wenxiu pointed at her daughter and cursed furiously: “You spineless wretched creature—you’re truly the spawn of that incompetent fool father of yours!”

Wang Xi breathed rapidly, struggling to say: “Fine, let’s set that aside for now. I only ask Mother this: when you used Father’s name to gather money and grain for Uncle, if the matter came to light, forget that Father couldn’t escape death—my several brothers who’ve come of age would at the very lightest be exiled. Apart from Mother being able to escape punishment through the Empress, everyone in the Wang family would suffer calamity. Did Mother… not consider any of this at all?”

Lady Wenxiu fell silent. Even if she didn’t care about her husband’s life or death, her sons were after all born from her own body. After a moment, she said: “To achieve great things, some matters cannot be attended to…”

Shaoshang laughed coldly, feeling there were so many points to criticize but nowhere to begin. Wang Xi slowly stood up from the ground. At this moment, her face no longer showed grief—instead, she was strangely calm.

“Mother.” Wang Xi called gently. “Your daughter has finished asking what she wanted to ask. Now I wish to inform Mother of two matters, so Mother may depart in peace.”

Lady Wenxiu’s face showed hesitation: “What matters?”

Wang Xi said: “Yesterday, the Prince of Qian’an was detained and brought to the capital by His Majesty’s order. His Majesty questioned him about plotting rebellion, but who knew he would push everything onto Mother. Uncle said he neither knew this money and grain came from the traitor Peng, nor had he ever had any intention of rebellion. It was only because his fief was barren that he entreated Mother and requested wealth and goods so his concubines and children could live more comfortably.”

Lady Wenxiu was as if struck by a heavy blow, her form unsteady. After steadying herself, she forced a smile: “My brother speaking this way is also right. As long as green hills remain, one need not worry about firewood. One must first preserve one’s life.”

Wang Xi continued: “There is one more matter.”

Shaoshang glanced sideways and noticed her eyes revealing a venomous quality very similar to Lady Wenxiu’s from just moments ago.

Wang Xi said: “Everyone says Father is mediocre and incompetent, but that’s not entirely so. Even if Father is utterly incapable, at least he has one good quality—that is, knowing how to adapt to circumstances. Grandfather had over twenty daughters and more than ten sons-in-law. Why did His Majesty single out Father alone for high office and generous salary to pacify Grandfather’s remaining forces? Before the Empress married His Majesty, Mother and Her Majesty didn’t seem to have particularly deep sisterly feelings either.”

She spoke each word particularly slowly, as if wanting her birth mother to hear clearly.

This time it was Lady Wenxiu’s turn for rapid breathing. She vaguely sensed something.

Wang Xi continued: “Your daughter has come to tell Mother. This is because when Grandfather raised troops in rebellion, Father detected signs and secretly reported it to His Majesty. Although His Majesty was already prepared, he still acknowledged Father’s merit. Later Father privately told your daughter that although Grandfather’s forces far exceeded His Majesty’s in strength at the time, he believed His Majesty was the true Son of Heaven.”

Lady Wenxiu’s entire body began to tremble. Gurgling sounds came from her throat, her eyes bulged, her hatred unspeakable.

Wang Xi smiled slightly and added one more sentence: “Father also said that actually, among those generals under Grandfather’s command, more than just one or two had such thoughts. They all felt His Majesty was the world’s unparalleled true hero. Otherwise, how could Grandfather’s troops have not even moved before the momentum of defeat became unstoppable?”

Lady Wenxiu could finally move. She lunged forward like a madwoman. Shaoshang kicked the door open with one foot. The servants who had been guarding outside immediately rushed in and restrained Lady Wenxiu’s arms.

Wang Xi knelt down again, her voice calm and steady: “Your daughter takes her leave of Mother here. May Mother be well in the next life, free from disaster and trouble, with everything going smoothly.”

Lady Wenxiu’s arms were pinned behind her back, her hair disheveled, her appearance wretched. She screamed and shouted frantically: “Wang Chun, you beast worse than pigs and dogs, you actually dared to betray my father…” Then her mouth was gagged.

Wang Xi looked at her one last time, then followed Shaoshang out the door. Seeing the two women emerge, Cen Anzhi smiled like a sugar flatbread, then led the young eunuchs in great strides into the room, simultaneously closing the door behind him.

Wang Xi stared fixedly at the tightly closed door, her ten fingers clenched so hard her knuckles turned white. She said in a low voice: “Mother simply didn’t care about our lives or deaths. She would rather let us die than protect the Qian’an Prince’s Manor. Such a mother—I will never forgive!” She turned her head back and forced a smile at Shaoshang. “After returning, I presume to submit a letter to His Majesty. At that time, I’ll need to ask Her Majesty to present it on my behalf.”

Shaoshang said: “What do you want to say to His Majesty?”

Sounds of struggling and thrashing came from inside the room—clearly Lady Wenxiu was unwilling to commit suicide so peacefully.

Wang Xi acted as if she heard nothing, her face pale as she continued: “…Our Wang family is originally treasonous remnants of Qian’an, yet承蒙 His Majesty’s benevolence and loving kindness, magnanimity and generosity. Over these years, he has tolerated Father’s mediocrity and incompetence, granting our family glory and wealth. The Wang clan is endlessly grateful. With Mother having done such treasonous and unfilial things, His Majesty has already been extremely benevolent and righteous. However he chooses to punish the Wang family is entirely proper—the Wang family from top to bottom will have not half a word of complaint. For this young woman, His Majesty is not only the sovereign who governs the realm but also a kind elder. This young woman will pray day and night to Heaven to protect His Majesty’s eternal longevity, peace, and freedom from worry…”

At this moment, a painfully hoarse, shrill scream came from inside the room—it must have been the sound Lady Wenxiu made after taking the poisoned wine. Wang Xi could hold on no longer. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the ground, fainting dead away.

That very night Wang Xi developed a fever. Yet she still forced herself to finish writing the letter, then entrusted Shaoshang to pass it to the Empress. After the Empress read it, she handed it to the Emperor. Wang Xi’s calligraphy and literary talent weren’t particularly brilliant, but she succeeded in being sincere and earnest, respectful and humble, and… uh, extremely flattering. After reading it, the Emperor’s mood indeed improved considerably, and the punishment for the Wang family was lightened by another three parts.

Originally only thirty percent of the Wang family property was to be left—now it was changed to only confiscating thirty percent. The Wang father and sons were originally to be exiled to southern Fujian—now it was changed to exile in southern Jing. At the same time, the Emperor also granted Wang Xi a dowry and added a nominal honorary position for her future husband—Wang Xi was marrying into a prominent clan in Jiangxia of Jingzhou, and with a large family fortune besides, Old Brother Wang Chun clearly wouldn’t fare badly in the future.

Peng Zhen and all the followers who had joined his rebellion, as well as nephews from various families who had participated in the affair, were all convicted. Family properties were confiscated, adult males from each family exiled to the miasmic south, and the remaining women and children sent back to their native places—at the time, several ministers had expressed that the punishment was too light. For such a great crime as raising a rebel flag, there wasn’t even wholesale execution of entire families. The Emperor spoke up: must we learn from previous dynasties and perform clan exterminations at the drop of a hat?

For certain subtle reasons, the assembled ministers made no further objections.

On the contrary, the Prince of Qian’an, who had pushed all responsibility away completely, seemed to face the Emperor’s greatest disgust. He remained imprisoned in the Northern Army Prison with no one asking after him, and the advisors and close attendants around him had nearly all been killed.

Just when the storm seemed to have passed and Shaoshang thought the Crown Prince could finally stop worrying, something neither large nor small occurred in court. That Minister Han whom Shaoshang had noticed that day suddenly proposed, after the Emperor had pronounced judgment on Peng Zhen and Wang Chun, that a decree of censure should be issued to the Crown Prince, ordering the Crown Prince to reflect properly and be vigilant in the future, to better regulate those close to him.

The Emperor flew into a towering rage. Within two days he issued three decrees of condemnation, demanding Minister Han acknowledge his crime of “overstepping propriety.” This refined Minister Han also had spirit—without a word he acknowledged the crime, then committed suicide.

When the Emperor’s emotions calmed, he regretted it. He posthumously granted the Han family wealth and grain, consoled the family members, and had the relevant officials conduct Minister Han’s burial with great ceremony.

For a time, although no one in court dared censure the Crown Prince anymore, the Eastern Palace also became deserted.

Seeing the Empress melancholy and dispirited, Shaoshang could only go proactively to console the Crown Prince. When she found him, he was sitting on the steps outside a side hall of the Eastern Palace, with Ling Buyi standing beside him keeping him company.

As the sun set in the west, the empty stone steps were shrouded by the Crown Prince’s lonely shadow, while straight-standing Ling Buyi’s form cast a long and powerful dark line before him.

Seeing Shaoshang running so hard she was out of breath, Ling Buyi strode forward and pulled her over, pressing her to sit down on the steps, teasing: “You’re panting like a broken bellows.”

The Crown Prince also smiled: “Even if Mother Empress adds ten more learned scholars to teach you, you still won’t resemble a proper lady.”

For once, Shaoshang didn’t respond to these two’s teasing. She said loudly: “Your Highness, don’t pay attention to those people speaking ill of you—not one of them has good intentions!”

The Crown Prince’s expression darkened: “Actually, I’ve been in this Eastern Palace position all these years, and I’m truly utterly exhausted. From childhood, being constantly admonished to be respectful, cautious, and diligent, to have brotherly love and filial devotion, to always guard against people harming you, to constantly watch whether those you trust and employ are embezzling, breaking laws, or deceiving superiors while oppressing inferiors! If they are, I must ruthlessly strike them down and eliminate them without mercy! Sometimes I think, I truly wish I could, like Grandfather yielding family property, yield this heir apparent position…”

Before he could finish speaking, Shaoshang’s face filled with alarm: “Your Highness, you absolutely must not think such thoughts! Proclamation Lord could yield family property and still enjoy spring flowers and autumn moons, living freely and at ease, but you cannot! This concubine asks you just one question: from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors until now, has there been a deposed crown prince who survived?”

The Crown Prince froze.

“There have been.” Ling Buyi said. “If we count the Eastern Zhou states, at least there were…”

“Don’t cause trouble! I’m discussing serious matters here!” Shaoshang said in exasperation.

Ling Buyi smiled gently. He recalled the words the Emperor had complained to him earlier—”…Even with shortcomings, the Crown Prince is already the Crown Prince! Though his temperament is gentle and weak, he is magnanimous and generous. With him here, the younger brothers and sisters below can all be safe and secure. But if the Crown Prince is pulled down from the heir apparent position, would he have any path to survival?!”

Shaoshang continued expending saliva on the Crown Prince: “After Your Highness yields the heir apparent position, who would take over? According to age and legitimate birth, it should be the Second Prince. He wouldn’t be modest and decline—he’d be overjoyed, his joy written all over his face, crying tears of joy. Having him ascend would be worse than the Fifth Prince… Your Highness, do you really want to make the Second Prince the heir apparent? You’d be bringing calamity upon the common people under heaven!”

The Crown Prince was forced by the girl’s momentum to retreat repeatedly, placating with a smile: “Second Brother isn’t that bad. Ah, if there were a clever and capable younger brother with a good reputation, I truly would be willing…”

“Willing for what! I think none of the princes are as good as you!” Shaoshang shouted loudly, then turned her head: “Minister Ling, don’t just stand there—what exactly did you come here to do!”

Ling Buyi smiled slightly and said: “I came to relay His Majesty’s verbal decree. His Majesty tells the Crown Prince to be at peace, not to worry about slander or fear criticism, nor to bind hand and foot. Just be more cautious in the future.”

“His Majesty speaks well!” Shaoshang praised highly. “Your Highness, did you hear? His Majesty has confidence in you!”

The Crown Prince smiled bitterly and shook his head: “Father Emperor is afraid I won’t meet a good end and is comforting me out of concern.”

Shaoshang thought the Crown Prince wasn’t stupid—he guessed the truth at once. Just as she was about to offer a couple more words of persuasion, she suddenly heard Ling Buyi say: “Just now Your Highness spoke of ‘clever and capable with a good reputation.’ You should know that in former times, Zi Shouxin was also exceptionally clever and powerful enough to move mountains and rivers. What was the result? He ended with the reputation of a tyrannical ruler who lost his kingdom. Good reputation? In former times, everyone praised Yao Chonghua for his modesty. Yi Fangxun appreciated him, matched his daughter to him, and employed him with great effort. What was the result? He abdicated early…”

Shaoshang thought hard and said earnestly: “Who is Zi Shouxin? And who are these Yao Chonghua and Yi Fangxun? I feel like I know all these people, but I just can’t remember who they are at the moment.”

Both the Crown Prince and Ling Buyi simultaneously froze for several seconds. After a moment, Ling Buyi said: “Zi Shouxin is King Zhou. Yi Fangxun and Yao Chonghua are Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun.”

Shaoshang felt a bit embarrassed and laughed dryly: “I was wondering why they sounded so familiar—turns out it’s them… hehe, hehe…”

The Crown Prince pointed at the girl and burst out laughing, temporarily forgetting his worries.

…

Two days later, the Ling and Cheng pair went on the Crown Prince’s behalf to see off various members of the Wang family who were about to marry/be exiled.

Wang Xi appeared in good spirits and said to Shaoshang: “Thinking about it, it’s quite interesting. That day I hated Mother terribly, but in the future I’ll have to learn her ways—in Jingzhou I’ll do my utmost to protect my natal family. Fortunately my father and brothers, unlike Mother’s father and brothers, don’t have ‘great ambitions and lofty aspirations’—as long as they can eat, drink, and enjoy themselves, that’s enough.”

Shaoshang saw her trying to be friendly and smiled inwardly. Speaking of children being reflections of their parents, Wang Xi had perfectly inherited Lady Wenxiu’s decisiveness and Wang Chun’s ability to adapt to circumstances.

However, she didn’t dislike it.

How to put it? If He Zhaojun was a phoenix reborn struggling from a sea of blood, then Wang Xi was someone desperately grasping at straws when there was nowhere to dock. Just seeking to survive—nothing to criticize.

But the person she wanted to see today wasn’t Wang Xi, but Wang Chun.

In the carriage on the return journey, Shaoshang propped her elbows and tilted her head in distraction. Ling Buyi said two things to her but she didn’t take them in, continuing to give irrelevant answers.

Ling Buyi frowned and twisted her chin around: “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been in a daze ever since talking with Wang Chun earlier. What did Wang Chun say?”

Shaoshang moved her chin away, looked at Ling Buyi for a while, and smiled slightly: “There’s one matter that’s been vaguely lingering in my heart for a long time, but before, with a thousand threads and ten thousand concerns, endless troubles, I didn’t dare think much about it. Now that the situation is stable, I asked Wang Chun a couple of questions to resolve the doubt in my heart.”

“What doubt?” Ling Buyi’s heart felt like a muffled drum being struck.

“Lou Ben fabricating military achievements through deception at the city, Qian’an gathering money and grain—exactly when did you already know about all this?”