The emperor flicked his sleeve. “You investigated that quickly.”
He neither denied nor admitted it. He even raised an eyebrow and reached for his tea, so I knocked the cup from his hand.
“Consort Đức Phi, are you angry?”
The emperor chuckled softly, looking at me as if he were teasing a little sparrow.
“How rare. In twenty years, this is the first time I’ve seen you angry.”
“Why do you insist on making the brothers slaughter one another?”
“Nine sons fighting for the throne—doesn’t that make for quite a spectacle?”
The emperor raised an eyebrow, leaned back, and spread his arms toward me.
“My dynasty needs a true genius at governing to be its next ruler. Under your tutelage, they’ve all become exceptional. Let them fight among themselves; only the strongest deserves to inherit my throne.”
He’d laid his cards on the table. No more pretending.
“I hope you die a horrible death.”
“Well, I’ll lay my cards on the table, too. What do I have to fear?”
“Nonsense. Have you gone mad?”
The emperor frowned and narrowed his eyes as he looked me up and down.
“Everything I said is true.”
I scoffed, turned around, and yanked out my hairpin. I’d had enough.
“I help you raise your children, and you use me, then destroy my reputation. I’m done. I’m going on strike. The worst you can do is kill me.”
“Don’t forget, you still have a family.”
“Then kill them, too. I don’t care.”
The emperor and I stared each other down. He was the one with the smaller eyes.
I knew perfectly well he wouldn’t kill me, let alone my father.
At most, he’d claim I was mentally unstable and confine me to the palace.
The emperor swept out, and, just as I’d expected, ordered me confined.
As soon as he left, I shouted, “A Ngôn, bring me some cold water! This tea’s burning me to death!”
17.
Being confined to the harem was only the first step in my plan.
As soon as I was punished, the children ran to Qianqing Palace and knelt down.
The emperor flew into a rage with them, saying something about how a woman’s softhearted notions were useless.
But the nine children refused to listen. They formed three rows and knelt outside the entrance, even blocking the officials from coming in to attend court.
They knelt for three whole days until they were all completely exhausted.
The emperor was old. Where was he supposed to find time to father more sons?
If all nine of them were disinherited, there’d be no one to inherit his throne.
With no other choice, the emperor relented and ordered that they be allowed to visit me.
But I was absolutely forbidden to leave.
I waited at the entrance as they came toward me, helping one another along. A Ngôn couldn’t help sighing softly.
“Your Highness, that was far too dangerous. If even one of the nine princes wasn’t sincere… I’m afraid…”
I shook my head. “No.”
No matter how much the brothers fought among themselves, I could be certain they loved me.
What child doesn’t love their mother?
The children all burst into tears when they saw me.
The eldest was already sixteen, yet he was still crying like a little boy.
I smiled, took their hands, and, just as I used to when they were little, tapped each of them lightly on the forehead.
“I hear you haven’t eaten or drunk anything for days, and you kept at it for three whole days?”
“Mother, as long as we could see you, we wouldn’t mind starving to death.”
The Fifth Prince wiped his tears as he cried. He was the boldest of them all, and it had been his idea to come plead with the emperor this time.
“Mother doesn’t want you to die.”
I gestured for A Ngôn to close the door, then led the children into the room.
They all looked at me expectantly. The Crown Prince spoke up.
“Mother, why did you suddenly quarrel with Father, the emperor?”
“Because your father, the emperor, isn’t human.”
As soon as I said that, all nine of them held their breath, afraid to speak.
“He was behind Changzai An’s death. He also withheld the letter I sent my father asking him not to interfere. He wants you to slaughter one another.”
18.
I’d taught them many things, but there was one lesson I’d never touched on: the world.
This dynasty was vast, but on the other side of the globe, the seeds of industry had quietly begun to sprout.
Revolution was gradually ushering the West into the modern age.
On the very same timeline, here they were still fighting over imperial power in a struggle among nine sons, while on the other side of the world, people were already looking far beyond their borders and colonizing everywhere.
“What I’m about to tell you isn’t some wild tale. It’s what’s happening right now.”
In a way, the emperor was like a frog at the bottom of a well, staring up at the sky.
I didn’t want these gifted young men to be consumed by this rotten political system. I hoped they would unite and venture beyond it together, redeeming a hundred years of humiliating modern history.
I spoke for three shichen, passing on everything I knew to them.
At first they were astonished, but soon every face was alight with lofty ambition.
“Monarchy is outdated.”
I spoke softly. Saying something like that could get your entire clan exterminated.
“There can be only one emperor, but a dynasty doesn’t have to be governed by only one person. Each of you nine has different strengths. I don’t want you slaughtering one another.”
I sighed softly, then set down my brush.
“Think carefully about what I’ve said today. If you decide it’s the bewitching words of a demon, then don’t call me Mother anymore.”
They looked at one another. I could see conflict and fear on their faces, along with a spark of curiosity about the unknown.
I didn’t know what their answer would be, but at least I’d done what a teacher and a mother should.
19.
A Ngôn helped me tidy away the paper and brushes, then shook her head with a worried look.
“Your Highness, I feel like we ought to start preparing our coffins.”
“No.”
Spring passed and autumn came; outside, the persimmon trees were fragrant.
I waited in Diên Hi Cung for ten years. I received no good news, but nothing bad happened either.
The emperor cut off all my channels of information, so all I could do each day was eat, sleep, and write books.
I wrote down all my experience raising the princes, working in such a rush mainly because I feared that the next morning I might have to choose between a strip of white silk and poisoned wine.
As a result, I developed severe frozen shoulder. Add my age to that, and I was also becoming farsighted.
In the modern world, forty-seven might still be young; you’d have to work another twenty years before retiring. But here, it was already very old.
A Ngôn grew more talkative. At first she complained that the children were ungrateful, then she started reminiscing about how adorable they’d been.
“It’s better when the place is lively.”
“I wonder if the Fifth Prince has been eating persimmon cakes lately. They used to be his favorite.”
A Ngôn toyed with the persimmon cake in her hand. It was beautifully coated in white sugar; just looking at it, you could tell it was sweet.
“If he won’t eat it, I will.”
I rubbed my aching shoulders and reached out to take it, but then I heard the door open outside.
“Your Highness, it’s time to go.”
The emperor’s chief eunuch stood there with blood all over his face, holding a strip of white silk in one hand and a cup of poisoned wine in the other.
“Which one kills faster?”
A Ngôn sighed.
“Eunuch, how are the children?”
“That has nothing to do with Your Highness.”
I poured the poisoned wine into the middle of the persimmon cake, eating and laughing as I went.
Just before I died, I thought I heard firecrackers going off outside, though perhaps it was only an illusion.
Oh, well. At worst, I’d just have to start over.
20.
A tiny bee buzzed, and the blurry scene before my eyes suddenly came into focus, as if a lens were being cleaned and slowly sharpening the image.
Below me were row upon row of young faces, all looking at me.
“Miss, why did you stop teaching?”
I’m back?
I collected myself and instinctively looked at the book beside me.
I clearly remembered stopping at the section on modern history quizzes, but the book in front of me had nothing about modern history. Instead, it was titled “The Nine Emperors of Huaxia.”
My eyes filled with tears as I flipped through the book again and again.
The humiliating history of modern times had vanished completely, replaced by the story of the nine sons who overthrew the feudal monarchy, learned Western techniques to fight the West, and successfully secured their place among the great powers.
The world map was practically covered in red dots, each one marking the footsteps of the last nine emperors of Huaxia.
“Miss, we already studied this chapter. Why did you suddenly start crying?”
I stared blankly as I raised my head, only then realizing that I was in tears.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
I turned away and wiped my tears with a tissue.
“Then let’s study something else today. What are you interested in?”
“We are! The Nine Emperors were clearly princes, so how did they suddenly come to their senses? The book says they wrote in their own accounts that a consort named Đức Phi taught them. She was just a woman in the inner palace—how could she have such progressive ideas?”
For a moment, I didn’t know how to answer. I just lowered my head and smiled faintly.
“I don’t know the answer either. But if they say it happened, then it must have. Just imagine: if there really was a woman who traveled through time, teaching nine children one by one and setting them on the right path, that would be quite romantic.”