CH 53: Prisoners in Cishun Palace

A large group of eunuchs and servant-girls had been imprisoned in the palace. As a result, extra personnel had to be brought in from outside, which was how Bu Hengru and the others were able to enter the palace. The attendants of the Grand Consort did not recognize them, and they watched as their master walked past them and towards those men. It was like watching one’s beloved pet dog suddenly run off towards strangers, wagging its tail and barking in excitement, even more affectionate towards the strangers than its former owner.

But the Grand Consort was not a “pet dog”. She represented political interests of practical significance. Some of the eunuchs and servant-girls in Cining Palace were old servants who had been with her since her time at the Crown Prince’s manor. They could scarcely believe what they were seeing. One of them stepped forward boldly and asked, “Grand Consort, these people…”

The Grand Consort turned around and said to her old attendants, “The heavens have brought calamities and the earth has quaked. The Chu Empire is unstable. I am acting on behalf of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. There is no need for you to panic. Stay in Cining Palace and await further orders. Anyone who dares to leave without permission will be put to death.”

The Grand Consort left with the Emperor and Prince Donghai, followed by more than twenty new eunuchs who had appeared from nowhere. They closed the palace gate from outside and left four people standing in the courtyard. They lifted their clothes and revealed the short knives hidden on their legs. The knives were not yet drawn, but they were already intimidating.

Dozens of eunuchs and servant-girls in the courtyard retreated, their hearts filled with greater fear than during the earthquake.

The young eunuch Zhang Youcai ran to the palace maiden Dong Qing E and whispered, “I think it’s time.”

“But the Emperor hasn’t given the signal yet,” Dong Qing E said, feeling her legs go weak.

“The Emperor signalled with his eyes. Didn’t you see it?” Zhang Youcai replied.

Ever since the earthquake, Dong Qing E had been feeling restless and uncertain, unsure if the Emperor had even seen her.

Indeed, Han Ruzi had signaled to Dong Qing E with his eyes, but before he could speak, Bu Hengru and the others had taken him away, carrying him off so quickly that he had no chance to speak.

Leaving Cining Palace, the Grand Consort halted and asked, “Are all the gates to the inner palace guarded?”

Bu Hengru nodded, “There are people guarding the South, North, and West gates, but we need to obtain the Empress Dowager’s explicit edict as soon as possible to avoid suspicion.”

“Good,” said the Grand Consort as she headed towards the Empress Dowager’s Cishun Palace.

Prince Donghai followed closely behind her. “How did Han Ruzi know about our plan? Who leaked the secret?”

“It was your dear cousin, of course. She thinks of herself as a true Empress and would naturally side with the Emperor,” the Grand Consort replied without hesitation.

“Hmph, that little brat never listened to me back home and now that she’s married, she’s already turning her back on me. I’ll teach her a lesson later,” Prince Donghai said, feeling a little worried. “But will this cause trouble? If even he knows, would the Empress Dowager…”

“No, she wouldn’t,” the Grand Consort said with certainty.

Donghai was somewhat relieved and took a look at the Emperor, who was being held by the eunuchs. “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Han Ruzi had been silent the entire journey and had not even tried to resist. He obediently followed the Grand Consort, and even the eunuch holding his arm had let go. “There’s nothing to say,” he said, not looking at Prince Donghai.

“I told you earlier to learn how to curry favor with me…” Donghai shut up as they arrived at Cishun Palace, where a group of eunuchs stood guard, at least fifteen of them.

Standing in the middle was the eunuch Zuo Ji.

Han Ruzi felt slightly relieved. At least he had alerted someone by the Empress Dowager’s side. The group came to a halt, and the Grand Consort locked eyes with Zuo Ji for a moment before speaking. “Does Lord Zuo have any questions?”

Zuo Ji’s gaze swept over the new eunuchs and servant-girls in front of and behind the Grand Consort. He stepped aside and said, “The Grand Consort may enter Cishun Palace. We will guard the gate.”

The Grand Consort strode forward, and Han Ruzi was genuinely surprised this time. He stared at Zuo Ji, who was also looking at him with a mocking smile. Zuo Ji lifted his hand to cover the scar on his face.

“Did you also win over Zuo Ji?” Prince Donghai whispered excitedly. He soon grew annoyed and added, “You should have told me earlier.”

“You have to be adaptable to change. I can’t tell you everything,” the Grand Consort replied.

Han Ruzi suddenly understood. It was he who had caused the Grand Consort to start the plan early. He had tried to incite conflict between Zuo Ji and the Grand Consort. But it had backfired, and Zuo Ji had chosen to join forces with the Grand Consort instead. Zuo Ji must have harbored great hatred due to the humiliation he had suffered at the Hall of Diligent Administration. He had even turned against the Empress Dowager because of it.

Perhaps this was part of the Empress Dowager’s plan. Han Ruzi had held onto a glimmer of hope until he entered the inner courtyard of Cishun Palace, where that hope was shattered.

There was no one in the courtyard, and the main doors to the palace were open. The Empress Dowager stood at the entrance with only two attendants by her side, one of whom was Maiden Wang.

Han Ruzi stepped forward and called out, “Mother.”

Bu Hengru held the Emperor back, and Han Ruzi shook his arm off. But he stopped resisting and nodded towards his mother, while Maiden Wang also nodded towards her son and gave a faint smile without saying anything.

Most of the eunuchs who had followed Bu Hengru stayed outside the palace, with only four of them following him inside. Prince Donghai stood to the side with a cold smile, watching the scene unfold without rushing to speak. He wanted to see a good show.

The two Shang-guan sisters looked at each other.

The Grand Consort spoke first, “When did you find out?”

“Just now,” the Empress Dowager’s voice was calm, as if she had expected this, “Zuo Ji took away the people by my side, saying that he needed them for a ritual to ward off disaster. I thought about it and realized that you are the only one in the palace who could carry this off.”

Prince Donghai sneered to himself. Many of the things that the Grand Consort had done were his ideas, and she was just the executor.

“Thank you for your high opinion,” the Grand Consort’s voice also became flat, “Then, I don’t have much to say. Please draft a few edicts.”

Han Ruzi thought that the Empress Dowager would react in some way, even if she didn’t shout in anger or outrage. But she didn’t. She nodded slightly, turned around, and seemed as though she was really going to draft the edicts.

It was Prince Donghai, Bu Hengru, and the others who were surprised.

Only the Grand Consort showed no surprise and said to Han Ruzi, “Your Majesty, please. Later, we will ask Your Majesty to draft an imperial edict as well.”

In the Empress Dowager’s bedchamber, the lone remaining servant-girl was trembling in fear. She found it difficult even to spread paper, let alone grind ink. Maiden Wang took over and prepared everything. The Empress Dowager nodded her thanks to her.

Bu Hengru took out several sheets of paper from his pocket, all of which had edicts already written on them. He stepped forward to offer them to the Empress Dowager, but was met with a stern and uncompromising gaze. He hesitated for a moment before retreating to his original position, then handing the papers to the Grand Consort.

Maiden Wang walked over and took the paper from the Grand Consort’s hand, placing it on the table. She did not even glance at her son, who was so close by.

The Empress Dowager looked at the paper on the table and didn’t reach for a pen, turning her head to ask, “What exactly did I do to harm you? I cannot think of anything.”

“You killed my son,” the Grand Consort said coldly.

“But don’t you remember? You took the abortion medicine voluntarily,” the Empress Dowager countered.

“I don’t mean the unborn child — I mean the Thoughtful Emperor, whom I raised from childhood. I am his true mother, and you are not worthy,” the Grand Consort retorted.

The Empress Dowager’s eyebrows slowly rose, “I carried him for nine months, not you. And I did not kill him. Why would I kill my own child and make someone else the Emperor?”

“Because the Thoughtful Emperor discovered your secret.”

“That was our secret. Even so, I could not have killed him,” the Empress Dowager’s voice finally showed some agitation.

Prince Donghai interjected, “These are all things from the past, and we cannot resolve them. Let’s draft the edicts first. The Empress Dowager still needs to meet with the ministers in the Hall of Diligent Administration later.”

The Empress Dowager’s gaze was still fixed on her sister. “The Cui clan is the root of all troubles. You know it very well, but you still sided with that bitch.”

“Are you talking about my mother?” Prince Donghai glared, “Empress Dowager, for your own good, it would be better to be more polite to my mother from now on.”

“Enough. It’s pointless to say more. Please draft the edicts,” the Grand Consort did not want to argue anymore.

With a soft sigh, the Empress Dowager picked up the pen and wrote the edicts based on the content provided by the eunuchs. She temporarily granted the power to listen over affairs of state in the Hall of Diligent Administration to the Grand Consort, while she herself would stay in the palace to fast and pray to the gods.

Prince Donghai tried to sound relaxed as he said, “This earthquake couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s much better than our original plan to set fire. Bu Hengru, are you not a fate seer? How come you didn’t predict the earthquake beforehand?”

Bu Hengru laughed and replied, “The Heavenly Secrets cannot be revealed. My master made a decisive decision last night to rise up in rebellion ahead of schedule. Was that not a prediction?”

Prince Donghai laughed as well.

When Han Ruzi heard the words “fate seer,” he thought of a person and could not help but ask, “Are you a disciple of Chunya Xiao from the Princedom of Qi?”

Bu Hengru smiled and nodded, “That’s right. Even Your Majesty knows my Master’s name.”

Prince Donghai corrected coldly, “He will soon no longer be ‘Your Majesty’.”

The Empress Dowager finished writing several edicts, threw down the pen-brush, turned around, and walked to the side. Maiden Wang followed closely, not leaving her side.

Han Ruzi felt that this was his mother’s hint to him: it was better to stand with the Empress Dowager than to surrender to the Grand Consort and the Cui clan.

It was now his turn to write the imperial edict. Bu Hengru took out a pre-written paper and placed it on the table. He also took the edicts from the Empress Dowager and read them over, satisfied with their contents before handing them to the Grand Consort.

Han Ruzi quickly skimmed over the written text. It was a self-condemnation decree, indicating that the Emperor was responsible for the earthquake and would fast for ten consecutive days to reflect on his actions. If there were more calamities, he would be ashamed in front of his ancestors, so on and so forth. This was foreshadowing that the Emperor might abdicate due to divine punishment.

The Empress Dowager did not resist, so it was not necessary for him to do so. He drafted the decree as instructed.

The Grand Consort now had all the necessary imperial edicts, and the Empress Dowager’s seal was in her hand. Only the Emperor’s imperial edict needed to be stamped with the seal in Jing Yao’s hands. “I will go to the Hall of Diligent Administration. You all stay here.”

Prince Donghai was a little uneasy. “Wait, let me check one more thing. Is everything okay on Jing Yao’s end?”

“There is no problem. He has been won over and the only request he has is to eliminate Yang Feng after our plot succeeds,” Bu Hengru replied. He was the one responsible for many things.

“What about the high-level martial experts around the Empress Dowager, especially the Meng siblings? They must be eliminated as soon as possible.”

“They have been led out of the Capital by my Master and will not survive the night,” Bu Hengru said confidently.

Prince Donghai thought for a moment, “Within three days, my uncle should be able to return to the Capital. By then… everyone, please work hard. We will remember your contributions.”

Prince Donghai had begun to use the royal ‘We’. However, the Grand Consort and Bu Hengru did not kneel down and perform the usual kowtow rites. They only gave a slight bow.

After the Grand Consort left, Bu Hengru and the other three stood guard outside the door. Prince Donghai found a place to sit down and his gaze swept over the “prisoners”. Finally, he looked at the Empress Dowager and said, “Honestly, I was quite worried. I thought there would be some resistance, but even the Heavens have helped me. Haha, you are not as formidable as I thought.”

The Empress Dowager sat on the central throne and replied coldly, “It would have been more unusual for there to be armed resistance here.”

Prince Donghai laughed, “Do you think the ministers in the Hall of Diligent Administration would help you? They do not care who the Empress Dowager is. In fact, they would not even know what has happened in the Imperial Palace.”

Although he spoke confidently, Prince Donghai was still a little uneasy. He turned to Bu Hengru at the door and said, “Do these three know martial arts? They can stay behind. You go to the Hall of Diligent Administration and help the Grand Consort.”

To Prince Donghai’s surprise, Bu Hengru shook his head, “No, my duty is to stay and guard the Cishun Palace.”

“What is your duty?” Prince Donghai could not believe his ears. “My command is your duty!”

Bu Hengru remained unmoved, and Han Ruzi, who had been standing in front of the table, finally spoke up. “Prince Donghai, don’t you understand yet? You are a prisoner, just like us.”