7.
The one who delivered the edict was still Eunuch Liu, who served at the emperor’s side. After placing the imperial decree in my hands, he smiled so broadly his eyes disappeared. “Congratulations, Consort Jiang. You have no idea how many consorts would love to raise Princess Thụy Chiêu. This is a blessing unlike any other.”
I looked at the child in the arms of the wet nurse beside me, still sucking on her fingers, and let out a sigh.
What kind of blessing was this?
Princess Thụy Chiêu was to be raised under my name, and no one in the entire harem was happy about it.
Now everyone avoided Lâm Nguyệt Palace as if it were crawling with snakes and scorpions.
Perhaps the happiest of all were Tạ Thừa Ý and Tạ Thừa Càn.
The two of them wanted to take their little sister everywhere—even to the bathroom.
After Thụy Chiêu came to live in my palace, the emperor began visiting Lâm Nguyệt Palace more often.
Though each time he only stayed a little while, teasing Thụy Chiêu.
But that was enough to make certain people resentful.
Every three days, Consort Mai summoned me to her palace and found fault with me.
Being made to kneel and copy texts had become as routine as eating.
The empress told me that when the consorts had vied to raise Princess Thụy Chiêu, Consort Mai had fought hardest of all.
As the mother of the eldest princess, Consort Mai had used both persuasion and threats to make quite a few consorts back down.
Who would have thought I’d be the one to take her away in the end?
Of course she wouldn’t accept it.
“Just stay away from her,” the empress told me.
The empress’s illness grew worse by the day. Seeming to know her time was near, she began teaching me how to handle the affairs of the harem.
One day, after finishing the household affairs the empress had assigned me, I remembered teaching Tạ Thừa Ý poetry. When we reached the line, “Spring stirs beneath the wax; the plum tests its delicate beauty against the cold,” he had asked me what plum blossoms looked like.
So I asked the most senior palace maid in the empress’s service, “Are there plum blossoms in the palace?”
The maid thought for a moment. “There are, but they grow in the Cold Palace. If Your Highness wishes, I can pick a few branches for you this afternoon.”
“No need. I can go myself.”
Just as the maid had said, plum blossoms grew everywhere in the Cold Palace. I took A Dung with me, casually picked a few branches, and prepared to return to Lâm Nguyệt Palace.
But as we passed a deserted little courtyard, we suddenly heard a child crying.
A Dung trembled with fear and stammered, “Your Highness, let’s hurry back. The old palace hands all say the Cold Palace is haunted.”
But the child’s cries sounded familiar. I said to A Dung, “If you’re scared, wait here. I’ll go take a look. It wouldn’t do if a princess or prince had gotten lost.”
After handing her the plum branches, I went alone toward the sound of the crying.
Just as I’d expected.
The eldest princess, Tạ Thanh Uyển, was sitting in the courtyard, crying.
She was Consort Mai’s daughter, after all.
8.
Consort Mai had been making things difficult for me every day lately, and I hadn’t wanted to get involved in anyone else’s affairs.
But seeing how heartbreakingly the girl was crying, I couldn’t help going over to ask, “Your Highness, why are you alone in this desolate place?”
Tạ Thanh Uyển was holding a kitten that was barely alive.
The kitten was beautiful, with a pair of bright blue eyes.
But those lovely eyes were dull and lifeless now, as if the kitten were on the verge of death.
I’d seen this cat in Consort Mai’s palace before, when she made me kneel as punishment.
The cat had been presented from Persia not long ago, along with many other cats with beautiful coats. The emperor had distributed them among the consorts, and Consort Mai had received this white one.
“Snow… Snowball bothered Mother Consort, so she kicked it and even wanted to kill it,” Tạ Thanh Uyển sobbed.
“So you secretly brought it out to hide it?”
She nodded sadly. “Mother Consort doesn’t like it, and she doesn’t like me either. Maybe one day she’ll abandon me just like she did it.”
I froze, never expecting the girl to say something like that.
In other people’s eyes, Consort Mai doted on Tạ Thanh Uyển. Nine times out of ten, she praised the girl as exceptionally clever, beyond compare.
I thought it over, then said carefully, “If Your Highness trusts me, I’ll help you save Snowball.”
At my words, the hope that had been absent from Tạ Thanh Uyển’s eyes suddenly flickered back to life. “R-really?”
I nodded. “If I manage to save Snowball, I’ll keep it in my palace for now. Once Your Highness has a palace of her own, you can come and take Snowball back. Until then, you can sneak over to my palace to visit it.”
“But… but my mother consort treats you so badly. Aren’t you angry with me?” Tạ Thanh Uyển was so agitated she could barely get the words out.
She was ten years old this year and knew that Consort Mai and I were at odds.
I reassured her, “None of that has anything to do with you. What you need to decide now is whether you trust me.”
In the end, Tạ Thanh Uyển chose to trust me.
As she handed Snowball to me, Tạ Thanh Uyển said earnestly, “If there’s ever anything I can do for Your Highness, I’ll do everything in my power to help.”
I affectionately patted her head. “All right.”
9.
Back at Lâm Nguyệt Palace, I told A Dung to secretly go to the Imperial Medical Bureau and fetch a physician to treat Snowball.
Consort Mai’s kick had been forceful, but fortunately it hadn’t hit a vital spot.
While Snowball recovered, Tạ Thanh Uyển would occasionally sneak over to my palace to visit it.
Before this, Tạ Thừa Ý and Tạ Thừa Càn had rarely spent time with the eldest princess.
But after they met, the three of them got along wonderfully.
But good times never last. Whether or not Consort Mai found out, Tạ Thanh Uyển gradually stopped coming to Lâm Nguyệt Palace.
Sometimes we’d run into each other on the road. I’d try to talk to her, but she would even avoid me.
Tạ Thừa Càn once secretly told me he’d seen a wound on Tạ Thanh Uyển’s hand, as if someone had beaten her.
I was a little worried, but because I didn’t want to offend Consort Mai, I didn’t dare ask about it.
It wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that the maid serving Tạ Thanh Uyển suddenly came to find me and said Tạ Thanh Uyển had asked me to meet her in the imperial garden.
Worried about Tạ Thanh Uyển, I followed her without a second thought.
But when I arrived at the imperial garden, I saw Tạ Thanh Uyển struggling in the water.
The pond water was freezing. Without a moment to think, I jumped in to save her.
But just as I pulled Tạ Thanh Uyển onto the bank—
Consort Mai appeared in the imperial garden with a crowd of people.
Seeing Tạ Thanh Uyển and me drenched, Consort Mai rushed forward without a second thought and slapped me hard.
“How dare you, Consort Jiang! If you have a problem, take it up with me. Why lay a hand on my daughter?”
The slap left me reeling.
It took me a moment to realize that I’d been set up.
I never imagined Consort Mai would risk Tạ Thanh Uyển’s life just to frame me.
The people who had come with Consort Mai included not only a crowd of imperial consorts, but the emperor as well.
It was the New Year’s banquet, and they had all rushed over from the festivities.
Consort Mai snatched Tạ Thanh Uyển from my arms and wept, “Your Majesty, you must give Uyển’er and me justice! Consort Jiang is so vicious—she pushed Uyển’er into the water!”
Tạ Thanh Uyển lay in her arms, her face pale and her eyes closed.
I had no time to explain. I hurriedly said, “Could you summon the imperial physician first? The princess swallowed quite a bit of water, and the pond was freezing. If the cold gets into her body, her life could be in danger!”
“Don’t you dare put on an act!” Consort Mai shouted at me, then turned to the emperor. “Your Majesty, this wicked woman has harmed our daughter again…”
“Enough!” the emperor roared. “Is making accusations more important than Thanh Uyển?”
“Guards, summon the imperial physician!”
10.
Fortunately, I’d saved her in time, and Tạ Thanh Uyển hadn’t swallowed too much water.
By the time Tạ Thanh Uyển came to, night had fallen.
I was still in my soaking-wet clothes, kneeling in Consort Mai’s palace.
Seeing that the emperor still showed no sign of punishing me, Consort Mai prompted him again. “Your Majesty, Uyển’er has woken up. How should we deal with this wicked woman?”
Consort Yu added fuel to the fire. “I questioned the palace maids and eunuchs who passed by. They all said… they all saw Consort Jiang push the princess into the water with their own eyes.”
This time, Consort Mai and Consort Yu seemed determined to have me put to death.
“Consort Jiang and the princess have no quarrel. Why would she push the princess into the water?” the empress said coldly.
When she heard that something had happened to me that afternoon, the empress came rushing over at once, despite being ill.
She was also the one who insisted on waiting for Tạ Thanh Uyển to wake up so she could tell us herself what had really happened.
“Uyển’er, tell us. Did Consort Jiang push you into the water?” Consort Mai asked.
Tạ Thanh Uyển had only just woken and was still weak. She didn’t answer her.
Consort Mai urged her impatiently again. “Tell us. Your father and mother are both here. We’ll make sure you get justice!”