Chapter 658
In the empty hall, Lady Qiu’s low sobs resonated. The Emperor gazed at Lady Qiu’s tearful eyes full of concern. He ultimately couldn’t bear it, gently patting Lady Qiu’s hand to comfort her: “Alright, don’t cry anymore… I will protect you.”
Soon, Gao Demao, who was ordered to deliver the white silk to the Empress, stepped into the hall with small steps. After respectfully saluting the Emperor, he cautiously reported: “Your Majesty, I have taken the Imperial Physician and the white silk to the Empress’s palace as ordered. Before the physician could examine her, the Empress admitted to her fake pregnancy. Clad in her ceremonial phoenix robe, she requested poison for a dignified death, stating that as the Empress, she should not hang from the rafters, leaving unsightly marks on her neck.”
Upon hearing this, the Emperor’s chest heaved violently, and his breath became labored.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty, calm down!” Lady Qiu hurried to soothe him, “Your health is paramount!”
“Dignity?! She still dares to ask for dignity from me!” The Emperor furiously overturned the spittoon at the bedside table. “Allowing her a complete corpse is already a great dignity! She dares to ask for more!”
The eunuchs and palace maids in the hall trembled and knelt, and even Lady Qiu hastily knelt and kowtowed.
The Emperor’s skeletal hands trembled as he supported himself, his face filled with venomous anger: “Go and tell that venomous woman! If she doesn’t end her life, I will have her strangled to death! Go!”
Gao Demao quickly acknowledged and hurried to the Empress’s palace with the white silk.
The night was deep, and the Empress sat serenely on the phoenix throne, gazing at the faint palace lanterns before the hall’s door.
Inside the hall were the sorrowful cries of her nanny and palace maids, kneeling and begging her to plead for forgiveness from the Emperor.
The wind blew, and the palace lanterns flickered, dimmed for a moment, then brightened again.
The Empress heard the approaching footsteps of the guards, the sound of their armor and swords growing louder. She straightened up and placed her hand on the armrest of the phoenix chair.
Gao Demao, accompanied by the eunuch guards, entered the hall once more. After respectfully saluting the Empress, he said, “Empress Dowager, the Emperor commands… if you do not end your life, he will have someone do it for you! Please…”
The Empress lightly placed a hand on her abdomen, a cold smile forming at the corner of her lips: “I thought the Emperor would at least give me poison for the sake of our years together. If he is unwilling, then so be it…”
Raising her head arrogantly, the Empress called, “Gao Demao!”
Gao Demao stepped forward and bowed, “What are your orders, Empress Dowager?”
The Empress’s voice carried a slight tremor, “How does the Emperor plan to handle the body of my son, King Xin?”
“Your Majesty has not yet issued a decree, but the merciful Crown Prince has already ordered King Xin’s body to be sent back to his residence,” Gao Demao replied, eyes lowered.
Hearing the words ’merciful Crown Prince,’ the Empress sneered, her hand gently caressing her abdomen. Softly, she said, “Child, it’s mother’s fault. We have come to this point. Staying in this world alone would only bring you scorn! Better to join your brother. We three will never be separated again!”
Gao Demao’s head shot up at these words. He saw the Empress grab a hairpin and stab her neck fiercely…
His mind went blank. The Empress, a sinister smile on her blood-stained lips, with a mouthful of blood spraying out, looked grotesque and terrifying.
Biting down hard, the Empress pulled out the hairpin that had pierced through her neck. Blood gushed out as she fell limply to the ground, her hand tightly clutching her abdomen.
Could it be the Empress’s fake pregnancy was a lie? Was she doing all this to make the Emperor realize her pregnancy after her death, to cause him pain?!
Gao Demao’s throat tightened. He knew the Emperor well enough to understand that even if he knew the Empress was truly pregnant, her suicide would not make him grieve for long, at most a single night…
When the Empress finally breathed her last, the hall echoed with crying. Her elderly nanny held her tightly, whispering for the Empress to wait for her as she would follow soon after arranging her body.
Gao Demao stepped out of the palace and made a hand gesture. The guards immediately sealed the palace doors.
The Emperor’s decree was that the Empress’s palace would catch fire tonight, with no survivors…
On October 15th, in the fifteenth year of Xuanjia’s reign, King Xin, who had been demoted to commoner status, led the imperial guard in rebellion. They broke through Wude Gate and approached the Emperor’s bedchamber. The Crown Prince led the Patrol Camp into the palace to rescue the Emperor. Shortly after, King Xian, under the pretense of rescue, led the Nandu army into the palace, killed King Xin, and pursued the Emperor’s bedchamber, aiming to usurp the throne. The Princess of Zhen, Fu Ruoxi, led twenty thousand Anping Army troops to quell the rebellion, ending the uprising of the two kings in what became known as the Incident at Wude Gate. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Five days had passed since the Incident at Wude Gate, and Dadu City had already returned to its former bustling state.
Empress Zhong perished in the fire, her natal family imprisoned, all nine clans annihilated.
King Liang remained imprisoned for his part, crying daily to see the Emperor and Crown Prince. However, the Emperor and Crown Prince seemed to have forgotten him, neither releasing him nor issuing any punishment, seemingly content to let him die in captivity.
The harem was now managed by Consort Yu, the Crown Prince’s birth mother. While everyone anticipated Lady Qiu’s downfall due to her association with King Liang’s residence, she was instead promoted, becoming an imperial consort, serving the Emperor daily.
Those who had contributed to quelling the Incident at Wude Gate were rewarded. Bai Qingyan, already a Princess of Zhen, received numerous treasures and elixirs from the Emperor.
Though Bai Qingyan’s old wounds had yet to heal and she had sustained new ones, rumors suggested she wouldn’t live beyond three years.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess Consort personally visited her, delivering the Emperor’s gifts and various precious medicines. Nobles from all around also came bearing lavish gifts to visit, though Bai Qingyan’s second mother, Mrs. Liu, excused visitors on the grounds of her ill health, ensuring they were well-treated and then sent away.
The news of Bai Qingyan’s severe injuries reached Shuoyang despite attempts to conceal it by the Princess of Zhen’s residence.
Bai Jinzhi, upon hearing the news, rushed to Dadu City without pause, neither eating nor drinking.
When Bai Jinzhi burst into the main room of Qinghui Courtyard and saw her elder sister, her long black hair like crow feathers draping over her shoulders, dressed in a white undergarment, with a brocaded lotus-patterned quilt over her legs, leaning against a bolster reading an ancient bamboo slip…
The morning light streamed in through the carved windows, casting a warm glow on her elder sister’s pale and delicate features, serene and tranquil like a painting.