The Perilous Palace Dream - Chapter 111
Chapter 111
She always felt that this “flood dragon” looked much more agreeable when his fierce eyes were closed.
His thick dark brows, straight bridge of his nose, and long curling lashes provided a sense of peace that allowed her to gaze at him freely.
During the previous times she had shared a bed with the Grand Tutor, she would always wake up early like this.
Held tightly in his arms, she would slightly tilt her head to watch this domineering man who controlled her destiny through the morning light filtering through the heavy bed curtains.
When the Grand Tutor finally stirred his brows and opened his eyes, he found the delicate beauty in his arms gazing at him with half open eyes.
A faint smile appeared on his thin lips as he lowered his head to kiss those lively, large eyes.
Having drunk too much wine the night before, he felt a bit lazy and reluctant to get out of bed, so he used the stubble on his chin to rub against Guo’er’s snowy skin.
How could the Princess’s tender skin endure the rubbing of those steel needles? After only two strokes, it turned slightly red.
That crimson hue made one want to ravage every inch of the fragrant, snowy skin hidden beneath the brocade quilt even more.
Unfortunately, the time for the morning court session had arrived.
Even officials who had become dead drunk on deer blood wine the night previous had to wash their faces with cold water and take their sedans to handle the great affairs of the state.
He gave the beauty several more fierce kisses and restlessly rubbed the smooth fragrance beneath the quilt with his hand before gritting his teeth and getting up for the morning assembly.
Since the powerful official had gone to manage the government, the little faint-hearted ruler could naturally slack off and roll around in bed a few more times.
In the early morning hours, Nie Qinglin finally rose languidly. Just after finishing breakfast, she heard Nanny Shan report that Haitang, the personal maid of the Empress from Ganquan Palace, requested an audience.
Nie Qinglin assumed that Empress Shen had sent Haitang over for some matter and ordered the maid to be brought in.
As soon as Haitang entered, she knelt on the ground and began to cry.
Nie Qinglin was greatly startled and hurriedly asked, “Why are you crying? Has something happened to the Empress?”
Haitang sobbed while saying, “Princess Yong’an, please save the servants of Ganquan Palace. The Empress… the Empress is gone!”
These nonsensical words were confusing.
Nie Qinglin frowned slightly and asked, “What did you say?”
It turned out that after drinking the deer blood the previous night, the Empress felt a bit dizzy and returned to her bedchamber early.
Usually, the Empress slept early, but for some reason, she could not fall asleep last night.
Consequently, she got up to go for a night swim in the Great Lake within the Imperial Garden.
Empress Shen was not afraid of water.
Before entering the palace, she often went for secret swims in the wild.
Otherwise, she would not have stumbled upon the Grand Tutor’s scandalous business by the lake outside the traveling palace and been captured into the palace in the first place.
After entering the palace, her movements were restricted and she lost much of her freedom.
When she felt depressed, she would secretly go into the Imperial Garden at night to swim a few laps in the lake.
Even the maids of Ganquan Palace knew of the Empress’s habit.
Even if the Empress did not allow them to follow, they had grown accustomed to it.
However, after this particular night, the Empress never returned.
The people in the palace finally panicked and worried.
They searched the lakeside and the Imperial Garden several times last night but found nothing.
It was highly likely she had drowned.
Thinking that the Grand Tutor might take their heads if he laid blame, Haitang remembered the Princess who had always been on good terms with the Empress.
She ran all the way here to report the reason, hoping the merciful Princess would spare their lives.
Nie Qinglin felt anxious and asked, “Why was I not informed last night instead of waiting until now?”
Haitang only wailed without answering.
When the Empress disappeared, Haitang thought she was just staying somewhere and had not returned.
Although anxious, she did not dare tell anyone else.
If word reached Eunuch Ruan or the Grand Tutor, she did not know what consequences it would bring to the Empress or herself.
She could only search by herself at night, hoping to find her.
By the second day, she still had not found her, so she lost her nerve and came to report to the Princess.
Nie Qinglin was flustered when she first heard the news, but upon careful thought, she felt it was strange.
This was the Imperial Palace with eunuchs and maids everywhere and no outsiders.
Even if the Empress lacked influence, no one would dare harm her without the Grand Tutor’s orders. After a moment of thought, she asked, “Did the Empress often go to the Great Lake to play?”
“Yes… the Empress… the Empress likes swimming. Sometimes she would go to the lake in the middle of the night when no one was around, and she usually forbade the servants from following.”
Nie Qinglin was surprised again.
She truly had not expected the disciplined and ritual-abiding Empress Shen to have such a free-spirited side.
To go into the water during such a cold season showed a real lack of care for her own body.
While feeling anxious, she immediately sent for Eunuch Ruan and told him about the disappearance.
Eunuch Ruan immediately fell to his knees, trembling as he said, “This servant deserves ten thousand deaths for failing to look after the Empress.”
Eunuch Ruan had to be afraid.
The Empress was the mother of the nation and the face of the Wei Dynasty.
If anything went wrong in the palace, the Grand Tutor would surely punish him as the Chief Internal Steward to silence rumors.
At that time, not only would he die, but his relatives would also suffer.
Thinking of this, he broke into a cold sweat.
People disappearing in the palace had happened before, but usually it was because they blocked someone’s path or offended a noble.
Which well in the palace did not hold a few wronged ghosts? He kept chanting prayers to Buddha, desperately hoping the Empress was just being playful and had not been executed by the Grand Tutor’s men.
Initially, Nie Qinglin also worried that the Grand Tutor had acted against her.
However, she felt that such a proud man would only strike openly and would not act stealthily against a woman who posed no threat to him.
“Enough. You must gather many people immediately and search every corner of the five palaces. You must find the Empress.”
For the next half day, Nie Qinglin went to the Imperial Garden.
Eunuch Ruan gathered many eunuchs and maids to search every single spot carefully.
They focused especially on the large lake where the Empress secretly swam.
Four large nets were cast to dredge the water, which stirred up the silt and ruined the scenery of the remaining lotuses.
After an hour, they finally discovered Empress Shen in a cave within a rockery.
When Nie Qinglin arrived, the Empress was still crying in the cave.
Her clothes were torn by the rocks, and her beautiful eyes were swollen like peaches.
Nie Qinglin gently draped a feather cloak over the Empress and patted her shoulder, saying, “Empress, why did you not return to your chambers last night? It is cold at night, you must not let yourself freeze.”
Empress Shen shared the same temperament as Haitang, merely sobbing without speaking a word.
Nie Qinglin hurriedly recalled the details of yesterday’s banquet, remembering only that the Empress had embroidered another sachet with mandarin ducks for her.
It made a perfect pair with the one the Empress kept for herself and looked quite beautiful when worn.
After that, Nie Qinglin had downed that entire pot of premium deer blood wine with a firm determination not to let such a precious thing go to waste.
This Empress Shen had lost both her parents at a young age and lived in the homes of relatives.
Coupled with the rigid upbringing provided by her aunt, she had lost much of the romance of a young girl.
Her heart was extremely fragile, and even years ago when she was mocked, she would only hide away and cry.
Nie Qinglin could not get a clear answer from her, so she assumed the Empress was simply reacting to the sycophantic behavior of the noble ladies who had ignored her at the banquet.
Believing she was just having a sentimental moment and hiding away to nurse her sulking pride, Nie Qinglin suspected nothing else.
She comforted the Empress and escorted her back to her sleeping quarters.
Upon entering Ganquan Palace, the observant Nie Qinglin noticed a bloodstain on the back of the Empress’s skirt.
Fearing that pointing it out would cause the Empress further embarrassment, she simply instructed Haitang to serve her mistress well and then departed.
A short while later, she sent a maid to inquire about the situation.
The report came back that the Empress had washed thoroughly, eaten some breakfast, and fallen fast asleep on her bed.
Eunuch Ruan felt his heart settle only after seeing that the Empress was safe and sound.
He turned around and fiercely commanded the junior eunuchs, “From now on, you must pay close attention to the Empress’s every move. You must never let this happen again.”
He only cared that the Empress remained out of trouble so as not to cause him any headaches.
As for why she had not returned to the palace the night before, he possessed not a shred of interest in the details.
However, Nie Qinglin felt a lingering sense of worry, though she could not put her finger on exactly what troubled her.
Over the following days, she went to visit the Empress again but never managed to see her.
The excuse given was always that her body felt unwell and she was too listless to rise for guests, requesting that the Princess return for the time being to avoid catching any illness.
One month later, the physicians from the Imperial Medicine entered the palace according to custom to check the pulses of the various ladies.
Because Nie Qinglin was concerned about the Empress, she specifically instructed Eunuch Ruan to send a physician to examine her.
The Imperial Medicine had always been a place that treated people according to their status.
Seeing that the patient was the Empress, they arranged for a junior physician who had recently joined the academy to perform the check.
After feeling her pulse, the young physician’s face lit up with joy.
He came out and said to Eunuch Ruan, “Chief Eunuch, it is a cause for grand celebration! The Empress is pregnant.”
To his surprise, Eunuch Ruan did not look happy at all upon hearing this.
Instead, he looked absolutely terrified.
This young physician did not understand the chaotic state of the palace where genders were blurred, and he still thought this was wonderful news.
In reality, the sky was about to fall.
Eunuch Ruan asked the physician repeatedly if he was certain.
Upon receiving a positive confirmation, he stood there stunned.
He already knew that the Emperor was actually Princess Yong’an.
Therefore, a massive problem arose.
How could the Empress be pregnant? Whose child was in her belly? In the palace, there were only maids and eunuchs.
The Emperor herself lacked the necessary parts for fatherhood.
Thus, the only man around who possessed those parts was the Grand Tutor.
At this thought, Eunuch Ruan was struck with horror.
He thought to himself, “Marquis of Dingguo, just how much of a grudge do you hold against the Nie family? Do you intend to sleep your way through the entire Great Wei palace?”
After some thought, he did not dare hide the matter and got up to find the Grand Tutor.
Meanwhile, the old physician who had actually performed the pulse reading felt indignant as he walked away.
He thought to himself, “My family has practiced medicine for generations. I have been an imperial physician for over thirty years and have treated three generations of emperors without ever making a mistake. Yet Eunuch Ruan did not trust me and questioned me repeatedly. It is truly insulting.”
Looking up, he saw the Emperor wearing the dragon robes slowly walking out of the Imperial Garden toward him.
Wanting to be the first to claim credit and receive a reward, he hurried several steps toward the Emperor, bowed deeply, and said, “Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Empress is with child.”
