As the primary daughter of the Chief Grand Secretary, I entered the palace not to compete for favor, but to become the most virtuous consort in the imperial harem.
In my previous life, I never competed or fought for anything. I was as detached as a chrysanthemum.
The consorts all trusted me. Whenever they lost in the harem, they would entrust their children to me.
And me? Well, I really was a good person with a soft heart.
Besides, teaching was already my profession, so I was well suited to the task.
“Everyone sit up straight. Today I’m going to teach you something very important—the most important lessons in government!”
“Let me see anyone whose eyes aren’t on Mother!”
“Mm. As long as the children behave, they’re sure to become pillars of the state—outstanding men among men!”
And so my Diên Hi Cung became a civil-service exam prep center in the imperial harem. The group grew from one child to nine.
I raised every one of them to be outstanding. Pick any one, and he could have rivaled Qin Shi Huang or Emperor Wu of Han.
Then came the problem: there were too many talented candidates, and not enough throne to go around.
2.
Leaning against the door, I had only to close my eyes to see Fifth Prince standing there, drenched in blood, sword in hand.
He had slaughtered all his brothers, then walked barefoot, one step at a time, toward me.
“Mother, please forgive your son.”
How could I forgive him?
I had watched them tear each other apart, fighting to the death for the throne.
I hadn’t given birth to them, but I’d raised them for thirty years. Even plants have feelings, let alone people.
Unable to accept that ending, I resolutely chose to start over by hanging myself with a strip of white silk.
But I didn’t travel back in time. Instead, I was reborn.
Thục Phi had just died suddenly, and the emperor stood outside the gates of Diên Hi Cung with the First Prince, who was wailing for food.
“Đức Phi, do as I say.”
The emperor bestowed the character ‘Virtue’ on me. Its meaning hardly needs explaining.
Ever since entering the palace, I had been dutiful and obedient, never once going against his wishes.
But I truly couldn’t go through it again. The sight of Fifth Prince harming his brothers haunted me whenever I closed my eyes.
The overpowering stench of blood made my chest feel as though it were stuffed with rags.
“I won’t raise him!”
3.
My family background was exceptional. The emperor respected my father, the Chief Grand Secretary, and when he saw how adamant I was, he stopped trying to force me.
But how could the emperor change his mind once he’d made it up? He stopped trying to persuade me himself and sent someone else to talk me into it: the late Thục Phi.
The emperor and I stood before Thục Phi’s memorial tablet.
Thục Phi and I had grown up together. She was gentle by nature, but her ambitions reached higher than the heavens.
When you marry, of course you marry the best man.
When you enter the palace, of course you compete for favor.
And if you compete for favor, of course you aim to be the most favored.
“The tallest tree catches the wind. Thục Phi didn’t even know whose hand she died by.”
“Before she died, Thục Phi had only one thing to say.”
The emperor wasn’t young anymore. He was past thirty, with his hands clasped behind his back and the steady air of an experienced man.
He kept his emotions off his face and always spoke in an even, unhurried tone.
He and I weren’t close, but he was reasonably courteous to me.
“She hoped the First Prince would come to Diên Hi Cung.”
The emperor turned his head, and I saw a few tears in his eyes.
The emperor was still a handsome man. A beautiful man’s tears could always stir a woman’s sympathy.
“She didn’t even leave me a single word.”
“Perhaps she didn’t trust me, either. Đức Phi, can you bear to let her down?”
4.
The emperor was skilled at winning hearts. He really was detestable.
Because of that one remark, as I went to fetch the Eldest Prince, I grumbled to myself.
But when something like this happens once, it happens again. Palace affairs were never mine to decide.
The consorts kept fighting, and they all treated my Diên Hi Cung like Jerusalem in the Forbidden City.
Before long, all nine children had gathered. Their heads were gleaming bald, so at night there was no need to light a lamp.
I looked into their clear, innocent eyes and let out a sigh.
Fate really was beyond my control. With no other option, I thought and thought, then absentmindedly smoked two pipes of water pipe tobacco before I finally came up with a plan.
Rather than raise nine little dragons who would slaughter one another, I might as well enjoy the good life myself and make them all wait on me.
As for the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, the art of ruling, moral education, and military and political analysis, this old lady wasn’t going to teach them a single word this time.
“Eldest, come here. Make Mother a bowl of lotus seed soup. You must fan the fire yourself and simmer it over low heat. Understand?”
The First Prince looked a little confused, still clutching The Great Learning in his hands.
I angrily tore the book to shreds and threw it into the stove.
“A gentleman with no talents is a man of virtue.”
“No… Mother… It should be ‘a woman’…”
“Are you questioning your mother?”
“A gentleman belongs near the kitchen. You need to be a man who knows how to cook, understand? If the food doesn’t taste good, Mother won’t love you anymore.”
I slowly brainwashed the Eldest Prince. He lowered his head and sighed.
“Mother, if I cook well, will you love me?”
“I will. But there’s one thing: no matter what, don’t tell anyone what Mother says to you. Especially not your father, the emperor.”
The Eldest Prince didn’t understand. He stared at me with wide, round eyes and asked why.
As if! I was obviously afraid the emperor would have my head.
“Because Mother loves you best and wants to raise you in secret.”
I held out my pinky. “Will you make a pinky promise with Mother?”
When the Eldest Prince heard that, he was so happy his eyes all but disappeared.
“Pinky promise, cross my heart, a hundred years without breaking it.”
5.
The plan worked like a charm. The Eldest Prince devoted himself to cooking.
Soon, the Second Prince was old enough to start learning, so I told him to take up farming.
“As a prince, you must understand the hardships of the common people. Tell me, what are the roots of our Great Qing?”
The Second Prince shook his head, then answered with an air of certainty. “The people of Great Qing, of course.”
“Two days ago, on the second day of the second month, when the dragon raises its head, what did your father do?”
“He held the ceremony where he personally plowed the fields.”
“That’s right. Your father knows that the people of our country value farming above all else. So you must learn from him, too, if you want to become his most outstanding prince.”
The Second Prince was a little more calculating than the Eldest. He was the son of An Thường Tại, who lived nearby.
An Thường Tại held a low rank and was rather sensitive by nature. He was exactly like his mother.
“Mother, why are you suddenly telling me this? The tutor says studying is the most important thing.”
I smiled and kissed the Second Prince on the cheek. “You silly boy, whose maternal uncle is the tutor?”
“Fourth Younger Brother’s.”
“Exactly. Can he truly have your best interests at heart? Only Mother treats you like her own son. No one else is as dear to me as you are.”
The Second Prince’s eyes grew damp. His brothers had always looked down on him because of his birth, and at my words, his little face flushed red.
He threw his arms around me. He was only six, but already so strong.
Excellent! He’s good at plowing and farming—and even stronger than Little Ying’s ox!
“Since Mother says so, I’ll be sure to honor you in the future!”
“Then will you farm?”
“I will!”
6.
And so, I had nine children in my palace: some cooked, some farmed, some raised chickens, and some embroidered. I had truly turned them into a living Lanxiang Technical Institute.
As for their studies, whenever they brought them up, I scolded them. Before long, the children took pride in not studying.
The emperor had been quite busy these past few years, so he naturally hadn’t noticed.
Five years later, the Eldest Prince was ten, and his cooking skills had reached perfection.
I was lying in bed when I rang the bell. The Third Prince came running over like a flatterer and helped rub my back and massage my legs.
“The emperor has arrived!”
Why was he here!
I hurriedly got out of bed in surprise. The emperor looked furious, and he held a stack of papers, which he threw down in front of me.
“Your Majesty, what’s the matter?”
“The First Prince’s essay is utterly unreadable.”
The emperor frowned. “Just what have you been teaching them all this time?”
As soon as he finished speaking, we heard the Eldest Prince call out, “The chicken soup is here!”
The emperor and I both turned to look. The empire’s once-noble eldest son now wore a flower-embroidered apron and held a bowl of fragrant chicken soup. His face was rosy, and he wore a fawning smile.
When the Eldest Prince saw the emperor was here too, his voice started to tremble.
“Father, the emperor… Y-Your Majesty, why are you here?”
The emperor was quick to catch on and turned to look at me.
“Explain.”
7.
The air was tense, but the chicken soup’s aroma kept wafting under my nose.
Damn mouth, stop making me swallow!
“Your Majesty, food is heaven to the people. If he’s to be a good prince, how can he fail to understand the everyday lives of ordinary people?”
I racked my brains for an explanation, cold sweat breaking out down my back.
The emperor gave a cold laugh. The light glinted off the royal jade ring on his slender index finger and into my panicked eyes.
He tapped the table slowly. The light kept flickering, like I was trapped in a dark room at the yamen—more oppressive than being struck by a bright lamp.
At the most critical moment, my stomach growled.
The emperor gave a faint, crooked smile.
“Consort Đức Phi, you certainly went to a great deal of trouble.”