CH 87.1

The Empress sat down desolately for half a shichen when she heard the Crown Prince was reprimanded by the Emperor, but all she did in the end was sighing in helplessness. She did not go to plead at the Great Moon Palace, neither did she bring it up in front of the Emperor.

Until she heard that Ban Heng had come to the Palace, she let both Ban Heng and the Crown Prince brought up to her. She couldn’t resist smiling to see Ban Heng’s pleasant face, “Heard you come to the Palace to thank someone, what is it for?”

T/N – A shichen = 2 hours.

“Weichen has met Empress niangniang,” Ban Heng was full of smiles as he saluted, “A few days ago His Highness the Crown Prince ordered palace attendants brought us a lot of gifts. Weichen is here to thank His Highness. Weichen should have come earlier, but Father has not been well these two days, hence the delay.”

“What is it to thank in the family.” The Empress smiled and turned, but the question on the Crown Prince’s face made her felt something was not right. “Crown Prince, what have you gifted to Duke Jingting that the child comes all smiling?”

“Erchen…..” The Crown Prince dared not meet her eyes, “It’s nothing special.”

The Empress’ eyes swept over him, then she smiled at Ban Heng, “You’ve heard what he said. Nothing special, it’s not worth you coming here to say thank you. If you are still so polite, I’ll be angry next time.”

Ban Heng gave her an embarrassed smile, “We have troubled the Crown Prince for Father’s sake, and it also comes to…..” He peered at the Crown Prince, swallowed awkwardly, “Had we known it would be this big, weichen would have persuaded the family.”

“What is there to persuade?” The Empress shot a glance at the Crown Prince, her voice was a little cold, “An offense  should be met with punishment. Your family are relatives, if impudent people playing dirty are not curbed, one day they will try to play tricks against His Majesty and bengong too.”

The Crown Prince’s face became a little unnatural but the Empress seemed not to notice, she continued, “In the future, don’t you speak like this, or I will be angry.”

Ban Heng was not good at anything else, but being around his mother and sister for long, he was an expert at making women happy. In just a short time, the Empress was smiling and laughing again as if the Crown Prince had not still been there.

The Crown Prince was gentle in nature, instead of resenting the treatment, he tried to think of what had possibly made his mother unhappy.

He had gone to plead on behalf of Shi family after listening to the Crown Princess because she made him feel that they were innocent.

However after a few days of shutting himself in the study in order to carefully ponder over it, he came to think that Shi family being wrongly accused was a possibility, but that they had lied was also another possibility. The Crown Princess had described her younger sister as a weak woman who only knew poetry and paintings, but people he sent to enquire had came back with a different result.

She had dallied with multiple men, including having an ambiguous relationship with Hua Hua’s second fiance. She was also rumoured to fancy Ban Hua’s current fiance, Count Cheng’an. The Crown Prince could not help but suspected that Second Miss Shi had an unscrupulous heart, and that Ban Hua had been set as a target. So many young men in the Capital, why was she always drawn to the men Ban Hua was engaged to?

Most significant was, his second brother was meeting her on his grand wedding day. What kind of charm she possessed to make Second Brother neglected his bride for her? Second Brother kept clashing with Ban Hua to the point of bullying, could that be the result of him listening to Shi Feixian?

Human brain was a strange thing, once it latched itself on an idea, any senseless plot holes would suddenly vanish and the whole thing became credible.

The Crown Princess’ recent behaviour had been making him unhappy, but being a gentle and soft person who cherished past feelings, he had been tightly surpressing all the discontent in the heart, so tightly that he was oblivious to it. However, after being reprimanded by Imperial Father, he had suddenly came to his senses. A lot of things he did and decisions he made had Shi family’s shadow behind them. So much so that he found it was already a habit to seek his father-in-law’s advice on everything, then based his decisions on the advice.

But a father-in-law was still just a father-in-law, a father-in-law was not the father. The country belonged to surnamed Jiang, it did not belong to surnamed Shi. Small wonder that Imperial Father was so disappointed in him.

With this realisation, the guilt in his heart could not be contained anymore. Even if the Empress had not been cold to him in front of Ban Heng, even if Ban Heng suddenly scolded him now, he would not have resisted.

Less that half a shichen later, Ban Heng got up to leave. It was not proper for him as a man to be in the rear courtyard for too long. The Empress could not made him stay so she sent some high status palace attendants to see him out.

After Ban Heng left, the Empress’ face darkened.

“Crown Prince.”

“Muhou,” The Crown Prince stood before her with a face full of guilt.

The Empress felt both anger and heartaches to see her son that way. “You ah, you.”

“Erchen has made Muhou disappointed, erchen understands.” The Crown Prince held the Empress’ hand, “Erchen only hopes Muhou is not too upset that it affects the health.”

* Muhou 母后 = Empress Mother. Erchen 儿臣 = This Son

“This temperament of yours has to be changed.” The Empress patted his hand and sighed, “You are the crown prince, the future emperor. How come you incapable to manage even your own rear courtyard. The gifts to the Ban family, was it yours, or was it the Crown Princess using your name?”

“It’s…. the Crown Princess.”

“It’s Muhou’s fault. That time I saw this surnamed Shi looked dignified, impressive and virtuous. I thought she was the best candidate for a crown princess, who knows she is this muddle-headed…..” The Empress kept sighing, “This should not spread outside. More importantly noone is to know this is the Crown Princess’ doing. The gifts were sent by you, it could only be your gifts, understand?”

“Erchen takes note.”

“None of you gives me peace.” The Empress rubbed her forehead, “You go back first.”

“Muhou, erchen sees you don’t look very well, how if we call imperial doctors to check your pulse?” The Crown Prince saw her exhausted, the guilt in his heart deepened, “Otherwise erchen will not be at ease.”

“It’s fine, this is just an old problem.” The Empress shook her head lightly, “You and your younger brother should stop making me angry, only then I will be well.”

“Yes.”

—

When the Crown Prince returned to the Eastern Palace, he saw the Crown Princess with her eunuch standing at the door of the study. Recalling what his mother said, the Crown Prince’s face darkened, “Arrest that snooping little eunuch, ten strokes with a cane.”

“Your Highness, that’s Crown Princess’ …..”

“Gu‘s words mean nothing to you?”

“Yes!”

The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess have been married for years. Even though the Crown Princess has born no child, the Crown Prince had never embarrassed her, nonetheless this time the Crown Princess’ face couldn’t be saved anymore.

A disgraced Crown Princess was still a crown princess, but palace servants like them had no choice but to do as they were told.

* gu 孤  = I, We (referring to self, used by a crown prince or a regent — like emperors’ use of ‘zhen’).

—

Articles accusing Shi Chonghai soon emerged at the Court, members of Shi party scrambled to look for a way out. Was this not similar to last year when Yan family was losing power? Pity they did not learn the lesson, instead of keeping a low profile, after Yan Hui crashed, they had been more complacent and more rampant, that it led to today’s trouble.

Shi Chonghai would not admit the attempted murder of a royal duke, so both sides kept on fighting. Life had became difficult for Shi family, both Shi Chonghai and Shi Jin took leave to ‘recuperate’.

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—

In Dalisi prison, Shi Feixian was not in much trouble apart from lacking freedom and some inconveniences in bathing and washing. The guards were polite to her, her meals were not exquisite but still clean and palatable, people from the estate were not barred from visiting her. She could be said was the most privileged resident of the prison.

This was quite different from what Shi Feixian had expected, she thought Rong Xia would deliberately make it difficult for her for Ban Hua’s sake. Now she realised that she had been too narrow-minded. Had Rong Xia been a little more cruel, things would have been harder for her. He only never appeared again, he was treating her like all other prisoners, that she just did not deserve his time.

“Miss Shi,” The prison head came over, saluted politely, “Your mother has come to visit.”

“Mother?” Shi Feixian raised her head, stood up in excitement to see Shi-furen, “Mother!”

“Child,” Shi-furen had a heartache at the sight of her haggard daughter, she grabbed Shi Feixian’s hands through the bars, “Child, you have suffered.”

Mother and daughter linked their hands in tears. After a good cry together, Shi-furen began to talk about the trivial matters at home. Also about how the Crown Princess was being scorned by the Emperor, about how Minister Shi was struggling at the Court to the point that he had to rest at home, about how aggressive the imperial censors had been, and of how duplicitous Shi party members were that only a handful of them were still useful, and so on.

Shi Feixian listened to her mother’s complaints. She gazed at her hands and arms that had became lacklustre for missing treatment for a period of time. The excitement of her mother’s visit has gradually diminished little by little.

“Is Mother here to talk about these?” Her voice trembled slightly, the grip on her mother’s wrist loosened.

“Child…….” Shi-furen looked at her daughter, churned the words a few times, but in the end she was still unable to say it.

“Is Mother trying to say that I should carry the blame alone?” Shi Feixian’s pair of eyes were brimming with tears, but a mocking smile appeared on her lips, “That my reputation is destroyed anyway. Even if I can get out, I can only get a useless man to marry inside, and I still may incriminate the family. It’s better that I take up this crime myself, so I won’t drag Father, Elder Sister and Elder Brother into this. Isn’t it?”

Shi-furen covered her mouth, shook her head while crying in pain, did not know what to say.

“But I didn’t do it. Shouldn’t my family seek justice for me?” Shi Feixian’s voice turned sharp, “Like what Duke Jingting’s family did back then, smashing the doors of whoever picked on their daughter. Even if a daughter has bad reputation, shouldn’t the family protect her, keeping her away from suffering. This is what parents and family should do, isn’t it?”

Shi-furen slumped on the prison bars, crying uncontrollably, gasping for air. She had no courage, and was too ashamed, to face her daughter.

“I understand,” At Shi-furen who was crying bitterly without stopping, Shi Feixian rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, “Go.”

“Child ……”

“Don’t worry, this blame… I will take it.” Shi Feixian turned way. Her back facing Shi-furen, her voice trembled, “Consider it as Daughter repaying Father and Mother’s great kindness.”

“I don’t want this either, I don’t want it.” Shi-furen cried out as she pounded her own chest, “I am a useless mother, I can’t protect you.”

Shi Feixian stared at the dirt on the wall that has accumulated over the years. Her body shook as she wept, but she refused to turn back.

T/N – I think the Second Prince’s meeting with Shi Feixian on his wedding day was shocking to the Crown Prince because he has been thinking of his in-law family was his party by default, then suddenly he heard his wife’s sister had a relationship with his rival, maybe it made him questioned their (and his wife’s) loyalty to him.

T/N – A man marrying into the wife’s family 入赘 was looked down on. Men willing to do this generally were not the most ideal ones.