4.
As the end of the year drew near, the empress's illness showed no signs of improvement.
So the task of preparing the New Year’s banquet was once again assigned to Consort Yu, who suddenly found herself in a position of great favor.
Around this time, another major event occurred.
On the eighth day of the twelfth month, Noble Lady Liu gave birth to a princess.
Just after the little princess was born, the heavy snowfall that had lasted for days finally let up. Even the plum trees in the Plum Blossom Garden burst into bloom overnight.
Not long before, the officials of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had been worried that if the heavy snow continued, avalanches might strike the northern cities of Qi.
The little princess's birth seemed like an auspicious blessing from Heaven.
The emperor was overjoyed and immediately bestowed the title of Princess Thụy Chiêu upon the little princess.
When Tạ Thừa Ý learned that he had a new little sister, he nagged me about it every day. “Your Highness, I have five red flowers now. When can I go see my little sister?”
To encourage Tạ Thừa Ý to study hard, I had been using a reward-and-punishment system from my days as a preschool teacher: red flowers.
“Princess Thụy Chiêu isn’t even a month old yet. She can’t be exposed to the wind. I’ll take you to see her once she’s a month old,” I said perfunctorily.
In fact, we could have visited before she turned a month old, but Noble Lady Liu lived in Consort Mai’s palace.
And Consort Mai was on Consort Yu’s side. I really didn’t want to get tangled up in all that palace intrigue. I could put it off one day at a time.
But before the little princess even turned a month old, word suddenly spread that Noble Lady Liu had died under suspicious circumstances.
By rights, Consort Yu was currently in charge of the Six Palaces, so this matter should have had nothing to do with the empress.
But that night, Noble Lady Liu’s close-serving maid carried the not-yet-one-month-old Princess Thụy Chiêu and knelt outside the empress’s Kunning Palace.
“Your Majesty, please save the little princess! Please give my mistress justice!”
I had just finished helping the empress get to bed.
The maid’s hair was disheveled. She looked as though she’d sneaked out when no one was watching.
The moment she saw the empress, she dropped to her knees with a thud. “Your Majesty, please save the little princess!”
The little princess in her arms was crying nonstop. I stepped forward and said softly, “Give her to me.”
Only after I took the little princess from her did the empress ask, “What exactly happened?”
The maid replied, “Your servant is Cẩm Tú, a maid Noble Lady Liu brought with her from her family home. My mistress had always been in good health, and recovered very well after giving birth to the little princess. Even the Imperial Physicians said she had an unusually robust constitution and the look of someone destined for a long life. There’s no way she could have died suddenly.”
“Before my mistress’s accident, Her Ladyship Consort Mai sent someone with tonic, saying it would help her recover. But not long after my mistress took it, she developed terrible stomach pains. I went to summon an imperial physician, only to discover that everyone in the Imperial Medical Bureau had been summoned to Consort Yu’s palace. No physician came in time to treat her, and in the end, my mistress was in so much pain that she died.”
“My elder sister went to Consort Yu’s palace to ask her to have the tonic Her Ladyship Consort Mai had sent examined. But Her Ladyship Consort Mai accused my sister of slandering her and ordered her beaten to death.”
Cẩm Tú’s face crumpled with grief. “My mistress and my elder sister have both died, one after the other. I fear the little princess will be next. Your Majesty is merciful—please save the little princess!”
“I understand.” The empress instructed the matron beside her, “Summon Consort Yu and Consort Mai.”
After a pause, she added, “And summon His Majesty as well.”
5.
After she spoke, the empress coughed.
Her body was already at the end of its strength.
By the time Consort Yu and Consort Mai arrived at their leisure, I had already soothed the little princess to sleep.
After handing her to the wet nurse, I stood beside the empress.
Consort Yu was still respectfully paying her respects when Consort Mai began speaking sarcastically. “Your Majesty, you summoned the two of us sisters in the middle of the night. What is it you wish to tell us? I only just attended His Majesty last night, and I’m exhausted.”
Consort Mai was haughty and extremely arrogant.
It would have been better if she’d kept her mouth shut. The moment she opened it, even I thought she was an idiot.
Fortunately, the empress paid her no mind.
Before long, the emperor arrived as well.
He must have just gotten out of some consort’s bed; his expression was grim.
Once everyone had arrived, the empress said to Cẩm Tú, “Tell them again what you told me earlier.”
Cẩm Tú recounted in detail everything Consort Mai had done.
But before she could finish, one of Consort Mai’s maids suddenly stepped forward and slapped her. “You insolent bitch! How dare you slander our mistress! Our mistress kindly gave your mistress tonic, and she was too weak to benefit from it, yet you still blame our mistress!”
That maid’s words were Consort Mai’s words.
Cẩm Tú covered her face and wept. “Every word I’ve said is true. If Her Ladyship is truly innocent, why not summon an imperial physician to examine the tonic?”
The maid looked ready to strike her again, but the empress spoke up. “I didn’t realize Consort Mai’s maid had become her mistress.”
Her voice was soft, yet carried an authority that brooked no defiance.
Only then did Consort Mai realize something was wrong. She hurriedly knelt. “Your Majesty, please forgive her. She was only trying to protect me and lost her temper for a moment.”
“Take her away and beat her to death,” the empress said calmly.
As soon as she spoke, everyone in the hall was stunned.
It wasn’t until the maid was dragged outside, wailing in despair, that Consort Mai came to her senses. She turned to the emperor and wiped away her tears. “Your Majesty…”
To her surprise, the emperor’s expression grew even colder. “You were disrespectful to the empress. If you plead for her, then you can be beaten to death alongside her.”
I was taken aback and couldn’t help sneaking a look at the emperor.
I’d only met the emperor a handful of times, so I didn’t know him well.
The empress was ill, and the emperor had never once visited Kunning Palace. I’d always assumed he’d long since lost the affection he’d felt for her when they were young. Seeing him defend her like this now left me somewhat bewildered…
Just then, Consort Yu suddenly spoke up to take the blame.
“This was my fault. I beg Your Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress to punish me. This afternoon, Thừa Trạch suddenly came down with a high fever, and none of the imperial physicians could determine the cause. I panicked and, in my confusion, summoned every physician from the Imperial Medical Bureau to Anle Palace. I never expected that I would delay treatment for Noble Lady Liu…”
Thừa Trạch was the eldest prince’s name.
6.
At that, the emperor’s expression softened too. “How is Thừa Trạch now?”
“He’s much better now. Just before I left, he mentioned that if I saw Your Majesty, I should pass along his request. He has a few essays on the classics he doesn’t understand and would like Your Majesty to instruct him.”
Seeing that the emperor’s attention was about to be led away by Consort Yu, I gave a quiet cough and spoke up in time. “Then what Consort Mai and her maid Cẩm Tú said doesn’t match. Why not have the imperial physicians examine Noble Lady Liu’s body and the tonic?”
Only then did the emperor notice I was there.
“Then examine them,” the emperor said.
Before long, two imperial physicians arrived from the Imperial Medical Bureau.
One examined the body, while the other tested the tonic.
But the results weren’t what I’d expected.
The tonic wasn’t poisoned.
Noble Lady Liu hadn’t died from poisoning, either.
When she heard the results, Cẩm Tú murmured, “That can’t be… My mistress only started having stomach pains after taking the tonic…”
An imperial physician beside her explained, “Noble Lady Liu was weakened after giving birth, and it was the middle of winter. She must have caught a chill while in confinement, suffered a sudden attack of illness, and died unexpectedly.”
“No!” Cẩm Tú suddenly sprang up and grabbed the physician. “You were the one who examined my mistress before and said she was perfectly well! You clearly said she was in good health and would live a long life…”
Seeing Cẩm Tú lose control, the eunuchs immediately stepped forward to restrain her.
Consort Mai was more confident now. Weeping, she said, “Your Majesty, surely you believe me now. I truly was framed!”
The whole farce finally ended with Cẩm Tú being sentenced to death and Consort Mai confined to her palace for ten days.
After everyone had left, the empress asked me, “What do you think?”
I remembered how a guilty look had briefly crossed the physician’s face when Cẩm Tú questioned him earlier.
“What I think doesn’t matter,” I said. “What matters is what His Majesty thinks.”
The empress coughed again, so hard that tears fell from her eyes. She spoke to me softly. “This harem will devour you. I’m relieved you can see that. If I’m gone someday, just be careful with what you say and do, and life won’t be too hard for you.”
With Noble Lady Liu’s case settled, what to do with Princess Thụy Chiêu became the next problem.
It wasn’t like before, when no one wanted to take in Tạ Thừa Ý.
When it came to Princess Thụy Chiêu, every consort in the palace with any influence wanted to fight for custody of her.
After all, Princess Thụy Chiêu was the most beloved child in the entire palace, born beneath an auspicious sign.
The empress asked me why I wasn’t competing for her, like the other consorts.
At the time, Tạ Thừa Ý and Tạ Thừa Càn had me caught up in a snowball fight.
With snow all over my head, I said helplessly, “Your Majesty, these two are already more than enough trouble.”
She rarely smiled. “I’m afraid you won’t get your wish.”
The empress’s words came true.
In less than two days, someone brought Princess Thụy Chiêu, who had just turned one month old, to my palace.