CH 10

The emperor stayed in Liuli Palace for a long time and also had dinner with Consort Yun.

After dinner, Consort Yun played the guqin, and Emperor Qingyuan looked through the memorials sitting by her side but didn’t pay much attention to the documents. He often raised his head to look at Consort Yun with a smile at the corner of his mouth.

“We (he uses ‘zhèn’, imperial ‘we’) remember, you used to play the qin in the courtyard. The sound of the qin was so nice. The birds didn’t chirp in the trees, only listening to the sound of your qin,” he said. “Now the qin of Beloved Consort is getting better and better.”

Consort Yun lowered her head and smiled, but didn’t answer. Her fair neck looked very beautiful under the gentle light, so lovely you couldn’t take your eyes off it.

Emperor Qingyuan felt a little emotional, put down the memorial, walked up to her, covered her hand and asked, “Why are your hands so cold?”

“It’s snowing today,” Consort Yun smiled and turned to her personal palace maid, “Caiyan, go to the Ninth Prince’s house and tell the eunuchs over there to add more charcoal so as the Ninth Prince doesn’t catch a cold.”

Emperor Qingyuan also added: “Xiao Jiu is recovering from a serious illness, you all need to serve him carefully. I will have the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department come and take a look tomorrow and add some things around.”

After speaking, he swept Consort Yun over and asked in a low voice; “How is Xiao Jiu’s health lately?”

“His body is almost completely healed, but…” Consort Yun sighed, “Now this concubine has nothing else to ask for, it is a great thing that Zhiyu is safe.”

Emperor Qingyuan hugged her tightly, sighed and said, “Xiao Jiu is our child, we have… always regarded him differently. Now…”

Before he finished speaking, the eunuch outside announced in a shrill voice: “Ninth Prince requests an audience.”

“Tell him to come in,” Emperor Qingyuan said quickly, “It’s cold outside, don’t let him freeze.”

Fu Zhiyu came in and was told to sit down by Emperor Qingyuan as soon as he saluted.

“You look a little better,” Emperor QingYuan looked at him, “you still need to recuperate more.”

Fu Zhiyu lowered his head and smiled, then said, “It is because Dr. Chen has put a lot of effort during this time. Today, he arranged with the kitchen to make a medicinal meal, which is much better than the medicinal soup.”

“He’s making up for his mistakes,” Emperor Qingyuan said, “He didn’t pay attention before, so he let our son suffer so much.”

“It’s not Dr. Chen’s fault…”

“It was our oversight,“ Emperor Qingyuan sighed for a long time and clenched Consort Yun’s hand. “The investigation hasn’t found anything yet. These people in the Imperial Court of Judicial Review are really getting more and more useless.”

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After hearing this, Fu Zhiyu got up from his chair, knelt in front of Emperor Qingyuan, looked up at him and said, “I came to Father Emperor today to talk about this matter.

The investigation has been going on for so long now and no results have been found. On the contrary, because of me, everyone in the palace is in danger. Today, Crown Prince Brother took time out of his busy schedule to visit me, for fear that I might have suffered some grievances. 

It was my fault for being unfilial, for causing trouble that bothered Crown Prince Brother, Mother Consort and even Father Emperor. It was my fault for tossing this palace for so long. Therefore, I come to beg Father Emperor to stop and let this matter pass.”

“Xiao Jiu, you…” Emperor Qingyuan was speechless for a while, then looked at Consort Yun and asked, “Do you think so too?”

Consort Yun remained silent for just the right period of time, only lowering her head and shedding tears, burying her head in the chest of Emperor Qingyuan.

She really looked like a kind and sad mother.

“Xiao Jiu, don’t you really want to know who tried to kill you?”

“At first I did, but now I don’t dwell on it anymore,” Fu Zhiyu showed his saintly smile, the same expression he had used for the Crown Prince, as if copy pasting it, “Before leaving Longquan Temple, I went to visit the abbot and asked if there was any sin on me, otherwise why should I suffer this calamity?

The abbot said that everything starts with fate, and nothing is left to chance. Suffering is just a passing shadow, and only when you let go of it can you be at ease. 

After I returned to the palace, I felt that I had walked through the Gate of the Ghosts once, and that my mind had changed and my heart had been opened. I am grateful to Father Emperor for caring about his son and ordering people to strictly investigate this matter. But now I already let it go, so I boldly ask Father Emperor to let it go as well.”

Fu Zhiyu talked nonsense with his eyes wide open but Emperor Qingyuan listened to him.

Fu Zhiyu chose this time to say these words not because the Crown Prince had come today, but because he felt that the time was ripe and he needed to find a way for Emperor Qingyuan to step down gracefully.

The Imperial Court of Judicial Review received the imperial order and searched vigorously for so long, turning the Imperial Hospital upside down, as well as the courtyards of some concubines. The people in the palace were not only horrified but also aggrieved, yet there was no tangible evidence and it was really impossible to convict anyone.

Fu Zhiyu estimated that if this continued, the Imperial Court of Judicial Review would have to find a random person to take the blame, not only for the emperor, but for the entire palace. This was not what Fu Zhiyu wanted to see.

Now that some time had passed, Emperor Qingyuan’s anger had also passed. He actually knew in his heart that the clues had been cleaned up and there was no point in pursuing it any further. There were not many people in the palace who could do such a thing under his nose. The harem part interlinked with the previous dynasty was certainly involved, but although he knew that in his mind, there was no evidence in his hand, so there was really no way to convict these people.

If a scapegoat were to be found, Emperor Qingyuan would probably feel uneasy in his heart. The court had also been quiet during this period and the certain part of the harem had been docile, so no matter how you put it, Emperor Qingyuan was not without gain. All he needed was a good reason to end it all, and it was the right time for Fu Zhiyu to speak up, to give the emperor an excuse, to give him an outlet to vent his anger, and to save the emperor’s face.

“Xiao Jiu, get up quickly,” Emperor Qingyuan’s face softened and he personally came over to help Fu Zhiyu up. “Every time, Liuli Palace understands my heart best. Don’t worry, I will never treat you mother and son badly.”

Fu Zhiyu pretended not to understand what he meant but just lowered his head with a well-behaved smile.

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The next day, the emperor issued a decree, saying that the Ninth Prince had a benevolent heart and Consort Yun was generous and courteous, kind and virtuous. With that, the matter was considered to be over.

However, along with this decree, there were two other decrees. One named Consort Yun as the Imperial Noble Consort, and the other bestowed the title of Wang upon Fu Zhiyu(1). He was rewarded with a generous estate and the name “Zhao” (zhāo = bright, clear).

“…This is double happiness. You will be Wang Zhao from now on,” the eunuch who announced the decrees smiled like a chrysanthemum, “It’s just that Wang Zhao’s residence has not been repaired yet. His Majesty specially ordered that the best house in the capital was selected to be worthy of the identity of Wang Zhao. The house has not been occupied for a while, though, and the craftsmen will have to repair it. Apologies for asking Wang Zhao to live in the palace for a while longer.”

“It’s fine, I also happen to enjoy staying with Mother Consort.” Fu Zhiyu smiled and rewarded the old eunuch with some gold.

The old eunuch led the people away. Fu Zhiyu looked at the two imperial decrees and said nothing for a long time.

Emperor Qingyuan had many descendants, but they had never been given the title of Wang. Even the Third Prince who was already intervening in some political affairs with the emperor’s acquiescence and even had a mansion outside had never been named a Wang. Fu Zhiyu was still the first.

Although there was no fief for the Wang now, the identity of the Wang was very different from that of a simple prince.

Emperor Qingyuan was actually a bit like the Crown Prince in being very suspicious. While cultivating these princes to choose a satisfactory successor from them, he didn’t dare to delegate too much power, fearing that the struggle between the princes would be too great and he would not be able to control it and end up harming himself.

He had been maintaining a delicate balance and didn’t want to break it. Just like in his previous life, when Fu Zhiyu relied on the Eighth Prince’s actions to take down the two princes of the Xue family, the Crown Prince was not the only one who helped. The emperor also had that intention. The Xue family became increasingly powerful, both in the court and in the harem. The emperor used his power to suppress it and return the balance to the position he wanted.

Therefore, no matter how much Emperor Qingyuan liked Consort Yun, he didn’t easily promote her. In his previous life, it was when Fu Zhiyu was temporarily overpowered by the Crown Prince that Emperor Qingyuan found a reason to promote Consort Yun to become the Imperial Noble Consort, and also used the empress’s ill health as an excuse to let Consort Yun take charge of the affairs of the harem. But at that time, he was also less sincere and more utilitarian.

But now it was different. Fu Zhiyu’s brain was damaged. Whether others believed it or not, the emperor believed it.

He had lost a smart prince. It was sad, yes, but it didn’t matter. The last thing the emperor lacked was a smart child. There were enough smart children in the palace.

Emperor Qingyuan had just discovered something that made him happier. He could finally pamper his favourite woman in the palace unscrupulously, without worrying about the balance tilting.

Consort Yun’s family was not prominent, her father being just a third-rank imperial envoy. Fu Zhiyu’s brain was no longer good, and he was kind but not intelligent enough.

He was like a tiger cub, degenerated into a beautiful cat that would never grow the claws and teeth to hurt anyone.

Fu Zhiyu hadn’t expected this when he first started planning, but now that it happened, he knew very well in his heart that the matter of being named the Wang didn’t actually have too much to do with whether he was stupid or not. Even if others were eight hundred times as stupid, they woulddn’t have this treatment. In the entire palace, only his mother consort could make Emperor Qingyuan go this far.