The Perilous Palace Dream - Chapter 112
Chapter 112
Nie Qinglin was scheduled to receive foreign envoys from the Great Shi Nation today.
To avoid the hassle of explaining the complexities of domestic politics, she had changed into her dragon robes.
Since she had stepped out early and wanted to stretch her legs, she declined her imperial carriage.
Taking advantage of the morning air, she visited the flower greenhouse the Grand Tutor had built for her to admire the new blooms.
She picked a large basket of the loveliest flowers, personally dusted them with water, and instructed her maids to deliver them to the young Empress Xiao Shen.
She worried the woman might feel stifled staying indoors so long, and thought looking at vibrant flowers while sitting by the charcoal brazier in winter might brighten her mood.
Unexpectedly, just as she left the greenhouse and took a shortcut through the Imperial Garden in high spirits, she was stopped abruptly by a young physician from the Imperial Physician’s Court eager to claim credit.
His news hit like a sudden blow.
Nie Qinglin froze, her brow furrowing as she asked: “What did you say?”
“This humble servant was sent by the Imperial Physician’s Court to check the Empress’s pulse. Just now, I discovered that Her Majesty is carrying the dragon seed. The pregnancy pulse is unmistakable!”
This revelation struck Nie Qinglin like a bolt from the blue.
She pressed further: “And… how long has she been pregnant?”
“To answer Your Majesty, it has been over a month. However, the Empress seems to have some stagnation of qi. I hope Your Majesty…”
The young physician continued to ramble about medical theory, but Nie Qinglin’s mind raced back to the incident a month ago when Empress Xiao Shen had vanished without explanation.
Thinking back, why would someone who usually followed palace rules disappear for no reason? The slightly disheveled clothing, the loose hair, and the eyes swollen from crying all had an explanation now.
Specifically, that bloodstain on her clothes; at the time, Nie Qinglin assumed it was simply her monthly cycle, never imagining it might actually be the proof of a young woman’s lost innocence.
But who was the man bold enough to engage in such acts with the Empress in the Imperial Garden?
Suddenly, Nie Qinglin was afraid to follow that train of thought.
No matter how she looked at it, the only person in the palace capable of this was… No, it was impossible.
She forced a smile to herself.
If their passion had faded, he might seek out something new for amusement, but right now their love was at its peak.
Every night, his whispers were so fervent they made her heart melt.
How could he possibly go to that Empress Xiao Shen?
Nanny Shan stood behind her, clearly seeing the color drain from Nie Qinglin’s face.
Her straightforward nature, forged in the military camps, had been bent into many curves by the two master tacticians in this palace.
Seeing that Nie Qinglin looked unwell, she immediately barked at the talkative young physician: “Silence! Who sent you? You clearly don’t know the palace rules, blocking the Emperor’s path for no reason. You had better learn some discipline!”
Hearing this, the young physician fell to his knees in terror.
The Emperor suddenly spoke: “Lock him up for now. Do not let him return to the Imperial Physician’s Court.”
With those words, her beautiful face turned calm and mask like as she continued toward the Great Hall.
The guards nearby immediately seized the stunned physician and dragged him away.
Until the truth was clear, she could not let the physician go and risk unnecessary rumors leaking out.
However, as she walked forward, her feet lost their lightness.
They felt as heavy as lead.
Meanwhile, the Grand Tutor was also busy.
Having just finished the morning court session, he was in his study discussing matters with the ministers.
Due to a disagreement over land distribution and excessive taxes, the officials in the room had split into two factions.
The intensity of their debate was comparable to a brawl in a marketplace.
Each man looked as though he wanted to grow sharp teeth and bite his opponent’s throat.
The Grand Tutor was always one to reap the benefits of others’ work.
He let the two sides cling to their opinions and argue incessantly.
Only when both sides were nearly foaming at the mouth and their voices were hoarse did he slowly step in to mediate.
Eunuch Ruan did not dare to interrupt, standing silently to the side.
Finally, the argument in the study reached a lull.
The Grand Tutor instructed the ministers to go to the adjacent guest room to rest, have some tea and snacks, and calm their boiling brains so they could gather the strength to keep arguing later.
Sensing they had lost their composure, the ministers attempted to mend their professional relationships with small talk and occasional forced laughter.
Seeing the Grand Tutor return to the inner study to lie on a soft couch and drink tea, Eunuch Ruan finally approached and whispered: “Just now, a physician from the Imperial Physician’s Court entered the palace to check the pulse. He said… he says the Empress has a pregnancy pulse…”
Just then, another burst of deliberate laughter drifted in from the outer room.
Eunuch Ruan’s mosquito like whisper reached the Grand Tutor’s ears, but a few syllables were misheard.
The Grand Tutor’s large hand holding the teacup paused.
The Emperor has a pregnancy pulse?
Joy surged in his heart, and he sat up abruptly.
Fearing the ministers outside might hear, he lowered his voice and asked: “Is that physician… certain it is a pregnancy pulse?”
Hearing this, Eunuch Ruan replied with a troubled face: “Indeed! This servant couldn’t believe his ears either and asked him to check again and again, but that young physician was absolutely positive. He insisted… insisted it was a pregnancy pulse.”
After saying this, he looked up to see the Grand Tutor actually looking joyful.
Eunuch Ruan immediately felt a sense of relief.
It seemed the person responsible for the Empress’s condition was indeed the Grand Tutor, and he intended to acknowledge it.
Eunuch Ruan was relieved that he wouldn’t be the sacrificial lamb to take the blame.
Originally, he had intended to ask if he should send some abortive medicine to Ganquan Palace.
Seeing the Grand Tutor beaming with delight, he quickly changed his tune.
Fearing the ministers might catch wind, he whispered: “Should we send over some supplements to protect the pregnancy?”
The Grand Tutor was already radiant with joy, his phoenix eyes shimmering with excitement: “That goes without saying. Instruct the imperial kitchen to be extra careful with the food. Do not serve anything that might harm the fetal qi. She has always been greedy for cold treats; she cannot be allowed to have her way from now on.”
Eunuch Ruan looked at the time and realized the meal would be served soon.
Since the Grand Tutor was willing to take responsibility, Empress Xiao Shen would effectively be another master in the palace.
He naturally had to be twice as careful and hurried out to make arrangements.
The Grand Tutor got off the couch and paced the study excitedly.
That Divine Physician Wei had claimed her body was difficult to impregnate, but in the end, she had been thoroughly conquered by his own vigorous essence.
However, now that she was pregnant, the grand wedding ceremony he had planned would have to be simplified.
If his delicate Guo’er and the child in her womb were exhausted by the festivities, it would be a great misfortune indeed!
At this thought, the Grand Tutor no longer had the patience to listen to a bunch of old geezers bickering.
Leaving them with a brief “we shall discuss this another day,” he enthusiastically left the study and headed toward Fengchu Palace.
Upon arriving at Fengchu Palace, he found that the Dragon pearl was not in.
After questioning the young maid on duty, he learned that after meeting the foreign envoys, the Emperor had returned to change her clothes and had gone to Ganquan Palace to see the Empress.
The Grand Tutor figured that since lunchtime was approaching, the Princess would likely return to the palace to dine with him.
He sat down and waited contentedly, tapping his fingers on the tea table.
However, after a short while, a young eunuch sent to Ganquan Palace returned to report that the Princess would not be coming back as she intended to eat at Ganquan Palace instead.
Hearing this, he couldn’t help but frown.
He rose, boarded his sedan chair, and made his way toward Ganquan Palace as well.
Before he even reached the gates of Ganquan Palace, he saw palace servants carrying boxes of medicinal supplements into the palace in a continuous stream.
The Grand Tutor rarely paid attention to such trivial palace matters, so he assumed these were simply the Empress’s monthly imperial allotments.
Without asking further, he entered Ganquan Palace.
He had never spared a thought for that bothersome Empress Xiao Shen.
Why should he respect an ant he could crush between his fingers? Thus, the taboo of a courtier entering the Empress’s private quarters did not cross his mind at all.
Although it was time for lunch, neither the “Emperor” nor the Empress in the palace had any appetite.
After hearing the young physician’s report, Nie Qinglin felt as if a lead weight were hanging in her heart.
She had absentmindedly gone through the motions of meeting the envoys before hurrying to see Empress Xiao Shen.
Empress Xiao Shen’s maid, Haitang, tried to make excuses to turn her away, but this time Princess Yong’an did not stop at the palace gates.
With a slight smile, she allowed Nanny Shan to push Haitang aside as they entered.
Once inside the inner chambers, Nie Qinglin was shocked to see that the young girl she hadn’t seen for over a month had become haggard beyond recognition.
She stepped forward quickly and took the girl’s hand, saying: “We have only been apart for a few days, why have you let yourself fall into such a state?”
Ever since that night, Empress Xiao Shen had shut herself away in the palace.
With no one to confide in, her bitterness had fermented in her heart, causing her to lose a noticeable amount of weight.
Seeing Princess Yong’an again and looking into those bright, concerned eyes, she could no longer hold back. she threw herself into the Princess’s arms and began to wail.
“Princess, what should I do? That physician said that I… am with child…”
Nie Qinglin knew that Empress Xiao Shen had a very strict upbringing.
Furthermore, because her marriage into the palace had not followed the normal procedures, there had been no training matrons to explain the matters of the bedchamber to her.
Nie Qinglin gently patted her back and said: “There is no one else here. Whatever the Empress has to say, simply say it. Everything will be handled by Yong’an on your behalf. Empress, is there a man in this palace for whom you hold affection?”
Empress Xiao Shen shook her head.
Nie Qinglin already knew that this Lady Shen had always been focused solely on the path of pleasing the late Emperor; she certainly wouldn’t be having an illicit affair with a palace guard. But if that were the case…
“Then, have you been intimate with any man?”
At this question, Empress Xiao Shen’s frail body trembled.
Tears welled up in her eyes again as she spoke: “On the day of the Winter Solstice, after I returned to the palace, my body felt strangely hot. I planned to swim a few laps in the garden lake to dissipate the heat. But who knew… he… he was also in the lake, completely naked. He suddenly… grabbed me and used his mouth recklessly… I was so scared I wanted to scream, but I don’t know what sorcery he used, for I lost all my strength. I let him carry me into the rockery. Who knew he would… act in such a way. It hurt so much that I tried to push him away, but he was like a small mountain pressing down on me. No matter how much I scratched or clawed, he wouldn’t get off. Could it be that such a shameful and lowly act is what caused me to become pregnant?”
If this were a moment of leisure, Princess Yong’an would have been happy to bring out her collection of rare erotic histories to educate Empress Xiao Shen.
But right now, the thing that troubled her most was who exactly the “he” in the Empress’s mouth was.
Just then, someone came from outside to ask a question, saying that the Grand Tutor was waiting at Fengchu Palace to dine with the Princess.
She replied that she would not be returning yet.
However, as she turned back, she saw that upon hearing the messenger’s words, Empress Xiao Shen bit her lip so hard it bled out of pure resentment.
Nie Qinglin’s heart sank.
She reached out to touch the girl’s lip and said: “You are angry, but must you take it out on your own body?”
At that moment, Eunuch Ruan came to seek an audience with the Empress.
He entered with a joyful expression, calling out “Congratulations to the Empress…” But when he saw Nie Qinglin was also there, his old face looked slightly embarrassed.
He thought to himself that even if the Grand Tutor was a romantic, he shouldn’t be sleeping his way through the Nie family tree like this.
Such a violation of the natural order made it difficult for servants like them to know how to act! His job in the palace was truly becoming harder and harder to manage.
However, seeing that Princess Yong’an remained composed and sat intimately with the Empress, he felt slightly relieved and continued: “The Grand Tutor heard that the Empress is with child and specifically instructed me to deliver these tonics to stabilize the pregnancy and nourish your qi. He hopes the Empress will take care of her phoenix body and ensure the pregnancy is secure.”
With that single sentence, Empress Xiao Shen no longer needed to offer a hesitant explanation.
The color completely drained from Nie Qinglin’s face.
The details of that night when the Grand Tutor had been gone for so long finally clicked into place.
The Grand Tutor truly had incredible methods! He actually… slept with Nie Qinglin’s legal wife.
Could it be that the various concubines in his own manor had lost their appeal, and he had to seek excitement in the palace instead?
She had thought that because she had lived in the palace for so long and was used to seeing the fickle men of the world surrounded by beauties, she would be able to face the cycle of new and old with a smile.
But when it actually happened to her, it was this unbearably painful! The man who had just been making vows of eternal love to her had turned around to hold another woman, doing the same things he did when he was intimate with her at night… and had even gotten her pregnant.
It was no wonder the Grand Tutor was so excited and hurried Eunuch Ruan to deliver supplements.
He was getting older, and despite their many nights together, she had never conceived.
But this Lady Shen was capable; she had become pregnant in one go, solving the problem of the Wei family’s lack of an heir!
When a courtier’s household had such joyful news, she, as the “Sovereign,” should share in the joy.
Yet Lord Wei Lenghou was so lacking in character that he would force a beastly desire upon an unwilling girl?
Empress Xiao Shen’s face was also deathly pale.
She had originally suspected that she might have misidentified the man in the dark, which was why she had kept her silence for so long.
But hearing Eunuch Ruan’s words today, the resentment she had harbored for so long surged up all at once: That thief Wei is shameless!
She had known before that the thief Wei entered the Princess’s chambers, but she hadn’t thought deeply about what happened inside.
But after that night of storm and rain, she finally understood how a man could torment a woman in such an unthinkable way.
Then the Princess… had she been trampled upon for so long? How did she endure it?
Originally, she had only been grieving for her own tragic fate, but when she thought of the gentle and kind person she had always kept in her heart suffering the same plight, they became allies against a common enemy.
The loyal heart that always sought to protect the “Emperor” immediately snapped into place.
Right then, the Grand Tutor, whose legs were mostly recovered, walked in steadily with a look of joy as usual.
The magnificent appearance that dazzled the six palaces entered the eyes of the “husband and wife” pair in the room, but to them, he looked like nothing more than a beast in human clothing!
Empress Xiao Shen suddenly stood up, grabbed the jade ruyi scepter by her pillow, and threw it straight at the Grand Tutor: “You beast! You dare to show your face! What a fine plan you have! Don’t you dare think I will give birth to your bastard child!”
The Grand Tutor was agile and easily dodged it with a slight tilt, but his expression darkened: What kind of madness has this stupid woman fallen into? Guo’er is right next to this crazy woman; what if she gets scratched or hurt?
Eunuch Ruan, standing by, also sighed and shook his head.
Although the late Emperor had been a foolish ruler, his methods for managing his harem had always been masterful.
While concubines might secretly trip each other or push one another into wells every few days, this kind of jealous behavior—throwing things at a man’s head—was rare even in ordinary official households!
It seemed the Grand Tutor had a long way to go and needed to learn much from the late Emperor.
If he wanted to sleep his way through the harem without losing his dignity, he would have to practice the art of balancing and mediating between beauties much more!
The Grand Tutor was apparently enraged by this shrewish behavior. Disregarding the child in her womb, he said coldly: “Someone, come! Slap the Empress’s mouth to teach her the rules!”
Seeing the palace servants coming forward to seize Empress Xiao Shen, Nie Qinglin slowly used the bedpost for support to stand up.
She stood by Empress Xiao Shen’s side and said in a soft but resolute voice: “Whoever wants to teach the Empress the rules, you must seize me first!”
Hearing this, the servants stood to the side, not daring to act.
Hearing the Princess defend her like this, the Grand Tutor suppressed his anger and said: “This Lady Shen is without virtue and acting like a lunatic. Princess, your situation is different than before. Please follow this official back to Fengchu Palace first. I shall spare her this once.”
Nie Qinglin felt a wave of icy coldness wash through her heart upon hearing those words: Is the Grand Tutor’s heart truly cast from iron and stone? Now that you have caused the Empress to lose her purity and carry a child, you still use such thunderous methods to protect your reputation. I ask the Grand Tutor to show some pity for the fair and refrain from harming the Empress or the unborn child in her womb.
As she spoke, Nie Qinglin found it difficult even to breathe.
She feared that if she stayed in the presence of this imposing and handsome man for a moment longer, she too would become like Empress Xiao Shen and commit some unthinkable, shrewish act, wailing and questioning how he could be so hypocritical and filthy!
Thus, her face remained expressionless, looking as though it were carved from jade.
She walked coldly past the Grand Tutor and left the heartbreaking Ganquan Palace.
The Grand Tutor had been completely bewildered since the moment he entered.
Hearing the Princess’s string of accusations, he finally began to discern the truth.
Ignoring the weeping Empress Xiao Shen, he turned his face and glared at Eunuch Ruan, asking: You old pickled filth! Did you not say the Emperor was with child?
Eunuch Ruan felt his knees go weak at the questioning.
He knelt on the ground and said with a miserable face: This servant said the Empress was with child. Even if I had eaten the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard, how would I dare offend the dragon countenance and claim the Emperor was with child?
The Grand Tutor stood silently on the spot.
He felt as though his brain were being trampled by ten thousand Xiongnu warhorses, crushed into a muddy mess.
After a moment of silence, he gestured to the two palace servants standing nearby: Reward this old pickled filth with one hundred strokes of the board, lest his speech remain unclear in the future!
Well then! It seemed he was going to refuse to acknowledge the debt again! This Empress Xiao Shen was also to blame; it was clearly a perfect opportunity to rise in status, yet she simply did not know how to please a man! Eunuch Ruan thanked the Grand Tutor with a mournful face and went out to receive his punishment.
Just then, the Grand Tutor turned his face.
With a sinister expression that had once shattered the courage of countless enemies, he spoke through gritted teeth to Empress Xiao Shen: You had better tell me, exactly whose bastard child are you carrying!
Empress Xiao Shen, however, was not afraid. She stared back with tearful eyes, her heart becoming more certain by the second: It was you, you beast!
