LF Chapter 62
by VolareMid-February, the willow catkins brushed against the face with a gentle breeze, not cold at all. The capital’s beauties could not surpass the delicate beauty of the spring rain.
Due to the despair and anger of being coerced and schemed against by her own family, Jiang Yinghua momentarily felt as if she had been reborn, truly developing a heart of stone.
She thought she had figured it out and stopped tormenting herself. After calmly staying on the bed for a short while, she softly called back the little maid who had been scolded away. She stared at the bitter medicine for a long time before reaching out to take it.
“The medicine is cold, this servant will get you a fresh bowl.” The little maid said with a trembling voice, fearing to anger this unpredictable sovereign confined in this place again.
“No need.” Jiang Yinghua responded coolly, took the bowl, held her breath, and drank it all in one gulp. The rich bitterness spread throughout her mouth, strongly assaulting the taste buds on her throat and tongue. If it were normal circumstances, she would definitely frown from the bitterness, eagerly looking for some sweet snacks to eat.
But today, for some reason, the bitterness in her mouth actually made her feel comfortable. Circumstances really can change a person, can’t they…
She had been deceived and brought back to the Tai Zhang Palace for several days. Besides the attendants who swarmed around her like flies, never leaving her side, no one else came to disturb her. This made Jiang Yinghua feel a little better. Thinking of the farce last month, Jiang Yinghua was certain that as long as Your Majesty did not take her life, Yan Wanzhi in the Imperial Prison should also be safe.
In the current situation, everyone having their own fate was already a reassuring ending.
After drinking the medicine, her body was still weak and tired, as if her energy had been drained. She slightly raised her sore and numb legs, thinking to herself: with such a weak body, there was no need for people to watch her; even if she were allowed to run, she probably wouldn’t be able to get out of the long palace corridors, let alone reach the palace gate.
“Serve the meal.” She ordered lightly, and everyone around her was overjoyed. Several people ran out in a flurry after hearing this. She had to get better quickly and regain her strength so that she could deal with those two great Buddhas. Now, she was completely in the dark, relying entirely on guessing, and this feeling was really too bad.
Jiang Yinghua’s every move in the Guangyuan Hall was reported back and forth between the Empress Dowager’s Palace and Your Majesty’s palace. The two of them had discussed it clearly, and to prevent Jiang Yinghua from doing anything outrageous again due to excitement, they simply waited quietly, waiting for her to calm down before planning anything else.
Hearing that this person had woken up from her coma, and was both taking medicine and ordering meals, taking care of herself properly, the Empress Dowager thought naively that Jiang Yinghua was still childish, having acted impulsively and vented her feelings. Now that she had caused enough trouble, she should have dissipated her anger.
Because she had taken medicine, the meals had to be light. The palace servants laid out a table full of bland vegetarian dishes. The main dish was white porridge mixed with a little mutton mince. The spleen and stomach were most easily affected by emotions. In fact, Jiang Yinghua did not feel hungry at the moment, nor did she have much appetite.
She glanced at the food, and forced herself to scoop up two spoons of soup, only to feel nauseous in her stomach. She no longer had the desire to eat anything, so she had to wave her hand and ask the servants to take the food away.
It was so difficult to emerge from a slump, really so difficult. Jiang Yinghua was somewhat annoyed with her unworthy body. A mere trifle, far less than the bloody battles on the battlefield, how could it be so decadent and unbearable? She couldn’t even swallow a bowl of plain porridge, so how would she swallow the stuffiness of being manipulated by others in the future, force a smile, and go to Your Majesty to plead and act out a bitter drama?
Weary drowsiness filled her mind. She was lost in her thoughts, leaning against the chair and falling asleep. The furrows between her eyebrows were still there, and the rolling eyes under her eyelids didn’t stop, allowing people to see at a glance that even in her dreams, she was not sleeping peacefully.
No one dared to step forward to disturb her. Only two maids carried a thin brocade quilt and carefully and gently draped it over her.
She woke up at an awkward time, and the meal was served in the afternoon. All the dishes were rushed to be made by the kitchens for her. She slept for a long time, until dusk, when the Empress Dowager entered the palace and had people bring a lot of food, that she was awakened.
The Empress Dowager came here without daring to ask people to announce her. She quietly pushed the door open and entered, and saw Jiang Yinghua weakly slumped in the chair, covered with a small quilt, her head drooping powerlessly. Clearly, her sleeping face came with eight parts melancholy. “How are you serving her, letting her sleep like this?” The Empress Dowager was annoyed when she saw this, suppressing her voice to reprimand, “Help her to the bed.”
Hearing this, the palace servants dared not disobey, and several eunuchs stepped forward, trembling, to lift her from the chair. Before they reached the bed, Jiang Yinghua woke up faintly, her blurred eyes half-open, her consciousness still dizzy, not quite awake.
“Awake? I brought some food, would you like to wake up and have some? They are all dishes you liked when you were young.” The Empress Dowager’s keen gaze fell on her, her voice extremely gentle. The eunuchs placed her on the bed to sit down, and the Empress Dowager also walked two steps and sat down by the bed, raising her hand to beckon her attendants to pull a small square table over and fiddle with the food box.
The Empress Dowager’s warm tone fell into Jiang Yinghua’s ears, but it made her shiver. Waking up from an uneasy dream and seeing a mother pretending to be extremely kind was simply a great shock.
The palace servants fussed over the food boxes, taking out a lot of food: exquisite crystal shrimp dumplings, osmanthus crisps, red oil green bamboo shoots, cherry meat, braised shark fin, stir-fried mushrooms, bird’s nest soup… Jiang Yinghua watched coldly, her little preferences were being used as a means of manipulation. It was difficult for this person to remember, the dishes were truly prepared to Jiang Yinghua’s heart’s content. But now, all she saw were plates of sarcasm.
The Empress Dowager saw that she was silent and didn’t move her chopsticks, so she took the chopsticks from the palace servant’s hand, picked up a shrimp dumpling, placed it in the bowl, held it out and handed it over, softly saying: “Taste it? Mother hasn’t made it for many years, I don’t know if it’s still the same taste as before.”
Hearing this, Jiang Yinghua’s tightly pursed lips couldn’t help but tremble. The Empress Dowager cooked herself? Looking at the crystal clear dumplings in the bowl, Jiang Yinghua’s vision gradually blurred. She couldn’t help it after all. Subconsciously, she always looked forward to her mother’s love, but this show of goodwill was too utilitarian and too late.
Unwilling to let people see her embarrassment, she suddenly stood up, quickly left the bed, stood in front of the closed window for a long time, suppressed the tears that were about to burst out, and then said: “Since the Empress Dowager is sick, it is important to take care of your health. If you have something to say, just say it directly, I’m listening.”
There was a brief moment of disappointment in the Empress Dowager’s eyes, but it was instantly restored to its original state. She put down the bowl, stood up, looked at Jiang Yinghua’s back, and said faintly: “Hua’er, there should be a limit to being willful. With your identity, you shouldn’t act recklessly in everything. When you’ve caused enough trouble, come over and sit down. Taking good care of your body is the most important thing.”
After a long silence, Jiang Yinghua turned around, bowed her head slightly, and bowed, “If the Empress Dowager has no instructions, please return to the palace.”
With the words spoken to this point, the Empress Dowager’s forced gentleness completely collapsed. Her face showed displeasure, and she waved her hand to dismiss the palace servants. After only the two of them were left in the huge hall, the Empress Dowager ordered coldly: “Come over and sit down! Don’t make me repeat myself!”
Jiang Yinghua gave a bitter smile, the drama of tenderness had come to an end, and responded coldly: “The Empress Dowager is angry? It’s not worth it for me. I’m already confined here, what else are you dissatisfied with?”
One Empress Dowager after another, directly poking the old mother’s lungs. The Empress Dowager stood by the table with her hands behind her back, suppressing her anger, and rebuked: “Jiang Yinghua, don’t be too presumptuous. You drew your sword in front of Your Majesty, which is enough to be executed on the spot according to the law. I and the Emperor indulge you, not to let you cause trouble, you better put yourself in the right position. If you dare to act recklessly again, don’t blame me for not thinking about our relationship!”
“Not think about our relationship? In that case, I should kowtow and thank the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty for your kindness, sparing my life, be grateful and vow to serve you with all my heart? You might as well let Your Majesty sentence me for the crime of treason and kill me with one knife!” Jiang Yinghua was so angered by the Empress Dowager’s words that her blood vessels swelled, her breathing became rapid, and her cheeks were flushed red.
“You wretch! The more you live, the more muddled you become. The life I gave you after ten months of pregnancy is for you to threaten the ruler and your parents, huh? You’re willing to die for a courtier, all the books and principles you’ve learned have been wasted!” The Empress Dowager slammed the table in anger, causing the bowls and plates on the table to hum.
“Don’t use Yan Wanzhi as an excuse, you and Your Majesty know better than me why you locked me up! You tell so many grand lies, do you still know which sentence is true and which is false? You not only gave me life, but you’ve also taken care of my whole life. You’ve never considered my feelings in your arrangements, big or small. I’m just a puppet on a string. Instead of being manipulated and living without freedom, I might as well go crazy once and at least control myself.”
Jiang Yinghua took a step forward, picked up a piece of broken porcelain that had fallen to the ground, and simply pressed it against her neck.
The Empress Dowager had learned about Jiang Yinghua’s madness and also felt the embarrassment and panic of Your Majesty that day. This person had really lost her mind, wanting to die at every turn. In the Empress Dowager’s eyes, it was just acting spoiled and unreasonable under protection.
The Empress Dowager left in a fit of anger, presuming that she wouldn’t really want to kill herself. She went outside the hall, and then said in a deep voice about the situation in the hall, ordering the guards outside the hall to quietly enter the hall and take the sharp blade from Jiang Yinghua’s hand.
Sure enough, seeing people leave, Jiang Yinghua slumped powerlessly on the ground, her arms drooping, propped on the ground, and then sobbing again unpromisingly. The guards watched from the outside, found the right time and rushed to grab it. In the chaos, Jiang Yinghua’s palm was cut by the porcelain shards, but fortunately it was not a major problem.
The Empress Dowager returned and said to the room full of attendants who poured into the hall: “Clear out all the sharp objects in the hall, and wrap the edges carefully. From today onwards, you will guard her every step of the way. If Prince Zhao has half a mishap, you don’t need to keep your lives. If she dares to make trouble, force-feed her if she goes on a hunger strike, tie her up if she throws a tantrum, do you all understand?”
The dark crowd of attendants bowed and knelt on the ground, answering in low voices. The Empress Dowager walked up to Jiang Yinghua, who was being restrained by the guards, and said coldly: “Take care of yourself, repent quietly.” After saying that, she left with a disappointed look.
Jiang Yinghua’s disobedience to the Empress Dowager naturally couldn’t escape Your Majesty’s ears. Your Majesty was also overwhelmed when she heard the whole story. The Empress Dowager’s temper was exactly the same as hers. Right now, it was better for the two of them not to meet, lest the situation become unmanageable. Jiang Yinghua had been trapped in the deep palace for a long time, and the East Sea envoys had repeatedly asked to see Prince Zhao, but Your Majesty had rejected them, saying only that Jiang Yinghua’s illness had not healed and that she needed to rest peacefully so that she could successfully marry the Prince of Yun’an on the third day of March.
At the court assembly on the twentieth day of February, the Ministry of Rites announced the Prince Zhao’s wedding ceremony approved by Your Majesty. To everyone’s surprise, Prince Zhao’s wedding ceremony was not to be held in the Prince Zhao Manor, but in the Taihe Hall of the Tai Zhang Palace.
The Taihe Hall was the palace where the late Emperor and the Empress Dowager held their wedding ceremony, and it was also where the late Crown Prince married the Crown Princess. After the court was dismissed, all the civil officials whispered to each other, wondering what Your Majesty meant by this.
At noon on the third day of March, Your Majesty, whom she hadn’t seen for two months, arrived at the Guangyuan Hall. Stepping into the hall, she saw Jiang Yinghua, haggard, disheveled, and dressed untidily, sitting in the hall in a daze. She was truly unconcerned. Even if she could hear the announcement, she didn’t move her body or her eyes at all, and her whole person was like she had lost her soul.
The palace servants behind Your Majesty brought the auspicious wedding clothes and headdress forward, and Your Majesty said softly: “Hua’er, I ordered people to tell you about the wedding ceremony some time ago. Today is the big day, go with the servants to change your clothes. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime wedding, cheer up.”
Jiang Yinghua acted as if she hadn’t heard anything. Her eyes were dull and her eyes were expressionless.
Your Majesty waited patiently for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and then spoke again: “If you listen and get married, I will grant you a favor, you can make the conditions.”
Jiang Yinghua slandered in her heart that Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager were truly mother and daughter with the same thoughts, and even the routines were the same, with no novelty at all. She sat indifferently, without any waves. Half a month had passed, and she hadn’t spoken for a long time. To be precise, she had been like this since the Empress Dowager left, letting the palace servants mistreat her. The pitiful desire to survive and fighting spirit that had sprouted in her heart were crushed by the Empress Dowager’s few words, leaving only sadness.
Your Majesty simply pulled up a chair and sat down. Today’s only important thing was to let Jiang Yinghua get married honestly. The King of the East Sea and the Queen had already entered the palace, and the envoys of the two countries were all there. The matter involved the face of the two countries, and there was no room for change.
The hourglass rustled, and half an hour passed in a flash. The little palace servant’s hand holding the heavy auspicious clothes was already sore. Your Majesty’s patience was also running out. She poured herself a cup of tea and slowly said in a very light tone: “You can’t lose your life, you can’t avoid the wedding, Yan Wanzhi may not survive, just wait.”
After saying this, Your Majesty glanced at her with the corner of her eye, but her expression, like wood, did not change in the slightest. It seemed that the prediction was not fierce enough. Your Majesty lowered her eyes and tasted the tea, and after a while, she quietly ordered the close attendant:
“Every moment Prince Zhao delays, cut off two of Yan Wanzhi’s fingers; if she doesn’t move when the time comes, strangle her to death. Go and issue the order now, and tell the people in the Heavenly Prison to do so.”
The eunuch accepted the order and hurried out of the hall. Seeing that people had really left, Jiang Yinghua was flustered and uneasy in her heart, her throat felt like another heart was hanging down. The waves in her heart could no longer be suppressed. She finally resigned herself to her fate and said softly in a hoarse voice: “I’ll marry, I’ll marry… Change clothes.”
The ethereal timbre of her fleeting breath reached Your Majesty’s ears, Jiang Jingche’s lips curled up slightly, but were quickly blocked by the teacup. In fact, she felt very bitter in her heart. The Supreme of the Ninety-Five, or even blood relatives, were not as important as Yan Wanzhi, an outsider, in Jiang Yinghua’s heart.
The auspicious clothes were complicated, and the phoenix crown was heavy. The size of this dress was made according to the previous measurements, and it was a bit too big for Jiang Yinghua, who had lost a circle of weight. The little man, who was hanging on by soup, was pale. The palace servants applied rouge and powder for a long time before she looked a little more human. The tightly pursed corners of her lips were forcibly pulled up a little by the maid with lipstick, so that she would not look so serious.
From beginning to end, Jiang Yinghua did not look in the mirror once. Being forced to marry, without her beloved by her side, beauty, ugliness, joy, and sorrow were all false. She didn’t look at all, and she didn’t care to notice the extra patterns on the dress she was wearing. The palace servants helped her out. Your Majesty got up and stared for a long time. This dress was very good, but Jiang Yinghua’s expression lacked some joy, which was a pity.
The palace servant handed over the jade tablet, Jiang Yinghua took it casually, stroking the patterns on the jade tablet with her palm, and asked faintly: “Can Your Majesty’s promise just now still count?”
Seeing that she took the initiative to open her mouth, Your Majesty quickly responded, “Of course, a ruler’s words are gold.”
“Today, I am ordered to complete the wedding. I remember the rituals of the country, the marriage of a prince can be given grace at the discretion. I boldly ask Your Majesty for heavenly grace to grant amnesty, bless the people, and in the future, if Your Majesty has any orders, I will not disobey.” Jiang Yinghua knelt on the ground, her voice sincere.
Jiang Yinghua was asking for a general amnesty, and Your Majesty naturally understood that she was asking for Yan Wanzhi. If this decree was issued, Yan Wanzhi would be innocent and could walk freely in the world.
Your Majesty thought for a moment, helped her up from the ground, pulled her over forcefully, leaned in her ear, and whispered: “If you complete the wedding smoothly and don’t cause trouble, I will agree to you, ensuring her safety and allowing her to fly away.”
Jiang Yinghua forced out a smile, brushed away Your Majesty’s hand, and walked resolutely to the Taihe Hall. Outside the hall, hundreds of officials were solemn, the music was clear, the colored flags were flying, it was truly a scene of peace and joy.
Not far away on the steps, Ying Feng stood there waiting in his robes and crown. The Ministry of Rites official saw Jiang Yinghua approaching, and entered the hall to report. At dusk, under the guidance of the ceremony officer, the two completed the ceremony flawlessly. Jiang Yinghua was sent back to the Guangyuan Hall to rest again.
The palace road back to the hall was decorated with lanterns. Jiang Yinghua vaguely heard the sound of a cuckoo: “Cuckoo, cuckoo; cuckoo, cuckoo…” A trace of hope rose in her lifeless eyes, and suddenly she murmured, but she was imitating the sound of a cuckoo: “Cuckoo… cuckoo…”
The palace servants beside her were shocked, fearing that Prince Zhao was being forced too hard and had lost her mind. Fortunately, she was quieted down after calling out twice, letting them breathe a sigh of relief.