T/N: The first major character in the novel to get a lunchbox. Sorrows, sorrows, prayers.
Gu Jiu was like a lost child, unable to find her way home, frightened and helpless. Faced with Fang shaojian’s furious outburst, she instinctively stepped back.
But Fang shaojian seized her hand, yanking her toward the bed, dragging her before the Empress herself. “Gu Jiu, if you have the guts, repeat what you just said in front of niangniang!”
A vicious gleam flickered in Fang shaojian’s eyes.
The Empress opened her eyes, fixing them on Gu Jiu.
Gu Jiu’s heart skipped a beat; she quickly lowered her gaze. Her wrist throbbed where Fang shaojian had grabbed her. It would surely bruise. The pain was unbearable.
Under the Empress’s sharp stare, Gu Jiu carefully said, “Chennü, chennü truly knew nothing of this Gongzi Zhao when she was in the northwest.”
The Empress gave a cold, dismissive snort. “Ungrateful. Someone, beat her until she tells the truth.”
“Niangniang, spare me! I really don’t know anything about Gongzi Zhao! I swear I am telling the truth!”
Gu Jiu collapsed at the bedside, clutching the Empress’s hand. The woman’s pulse and pallor were clear, she had taken medicine as fierce as tiger and wolf, and her life was hanging by a thread.
Palace maids rushed in to drag Gu Jiu away.
At that moment, Gu Jiu hesitated no longer. Hidden within her sleeve, she pressed hard against the Empress’s acupoints.
All the while, she cried out, “Niangniang, every word chennü spoke is true! Do you mean to torture me into a false confession? Chennü will not yield! I will go before His Majesty himself and lay this grievance! I will say it is the Empress who plotted against Ning wang and Gongzi Zhao, and now seeks to frame me. This is nothing but a living injustice!”
“Impudent!” The Empress, enraged beyond endurance, suddenly found the strength to fling Gu Jiu’s hand away.
Gu Jiu pressed once more on the acupoint, then let the force of that push send her tumbling backwards.
The palace maids lunged at her, ready to pin her down and beat her. She struggled desperately; she could not, would not, submit. She dreaded pain above all things. She would never accept being flogged.
Suddenly, pff!
At the critical moment, the Empress spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering Gu Jiu’s face, neck, and the bedcovers.
“Niangniang!”
Fang shaojian and the palace maids all cried out in shock.
They released Gu Jiu at once, rushing to the Empress’s side. A maid supported her upright and hurriedly wiped the blood from her lips.
The Empress’s breath was faint, her voice barely a whisper, yet more blood poured from her mouth.
Now, everyone was terrified.
“Quickly! Fetch the taiyi, now!”
Cold sweat beaded on Fang shaojian’s forehead. The Empress could no longer even speak. A terrible dread filled him.
“Niangniang, hold on! The taiyi are on their way!”
Blood still trickled from the Empress’s lips; her eyes dimmed, the light within them fading.
Seeing this, Fang shaojian cried, “Niangniang, the Crown Prince still needs you! You must endure!”
The words rekindled a faint spark in her eyes. She forced herself to hold on, to wait for the doctors.
The taiyi had been stationed nearby in Weiyang Palace. On hearing of the Empress’s collapse, they rushed to the bedchamber.
“Save niangniang at all costs,” Fang shaojian barked, “no matter what it takes!”
The taiyi braced themselves and hurried to feel her pulse, apply needles, and administer medicine.
Gu Jiu shrank into a corner, trying to make herself invisible. She prayed that everyone would forget her, that this nightmare would end here.
But Fang shaojian had not forgotten.
He suddenly wheeled around and spotted her in the shadows. He strode toward her.
Her back against the wall, Gu Jiu had nowhere left to retreat. She had to face him.
Fang shaojian loomed close, his voice low and venomous. “If niangniang dies, I’ll see you pay with your life.”
Tears welled in Gu Jiu’s eyes. “I’m innocent, you cannot frame me.”
He sneered coldly. “There’s no need to frame you. All I have to do is tell His Majesty you angered the Empress to death. Do you think you’ll ever leave this palace alive?”
Gu Jiu trembled, then suddenly snapped back with steel in her voice: “Then I will tell His Majesty that you showed no loyalty to niangniang, that even while she struggled for her life, you were already waiting for her death. That you are nothing but a treacherous wolf. Perhaps her illness was even your doing!”
“You dare spout such nonsense!” Fang shaojian seized her wrist again, painfully tight.
Gu Jiu cried out, “Let me go!”
His face twisted in malice. “You’d better shut your mouth. If you dare to talk wildly, I’ll make sure you die with no grave to be buried in.”
Though aggrieved, Gu Jiu did not back down. “Then kill me now, before His Majesty arrives. Don’t wait.”
“You think I won’t?”
Gu Jiu met his cruelty without fear. “I know you will, but you cannot afford the consequences. I may only be a lowly official’s daughter, but I am also the fiancée of Gongzi Zhao. Until he is condemned, you dare not touch me.
“If you truly want me dead, you’d better pray niangniang survives, because that will be the quicker way.”
Fang shaojian gave a cold laugh. “I truly underestimated you before. Even with death at your doorstep, your tongue remains sharp. Just based on your audacity, this eunuch dares to conclude that you lied in the matter of Gongzi Zhao. To spew lies before niangniang the Empress, what crime should that be?”
Gu Jiu’s wrist hurt so badly that tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to show weakness. “You say I am guilty, then show your proof. I am not some lowly maid who can be condemned and executed on your word alone. Fang shaojian, you would do well to remember this: even if I die, I will drag you down with me as my burial companion.”
“You dare!”
Gu Jiu’s voice was cold. “I have always been timid. But if someone pushes me to the edge, I dare kill.”
Fang shaojian: Heh!
“Very good. Very good. Gu guniang, you had best pray niangniang recovers, or your death is certain.”
Fang shaojian suddenly flung Gu Jiu’s hand aside and returned to the bedside, watching the taiyi struggle.
Gu Jiu leaned against the wall, clutching her aching wrist. Sure enough, several dark bruises in the shape of fingerprints had appeared. The pain drew tears from her eyes.
What an undeserved calamity. And the real culprit was that bastard Liu Zhao.
Gu Jiu hated Liu Zhao to the bone. For a mere thousand taels, he dared to say things like “bengongzi will support you.” Shameless! Did he have no face at all?
Palace maids bustled in and out, each one tense as if facing a dire enemy.
Gu Jiu hid in a corner, not daring to approach.
The Empress now hung by her very last breath, one that could slip away at any moment.
Originally, with strong medicinal tonics, her life could have been prolonged for two or three more days. But after Gu Jiu’s secret intervention, the Empress had almost no time left.
Still, the Empress’s death absolutely could not be laid at her feet. Her frail little body could never bear the weight of such a crime.
She prayed for something, anything, to happen. A distraction, an accident, or someone else’s arrival. Thoughts tumbled in her mind. Hurry, let something happen. Let someone come.
“His Highness has arrived!”
A maid cried out, and the next moment, the Crown Prince strode in.
It was Gu Jiu’s first time seeing the Crown Prince: a man in his early forties, slightly plump, with a kindly face.
Full of worry, he rushed in. “Muhou! Muhou, are you alright? Taiyi, how is muhou?”
“Your Highness, we are doing our utmost. Please be patient,” said Wang taiyi, though his heart quaked. He knew the Empress was beyond saving; what they were keeping alive was nothing but a flickering breath. But he dared not say so aloud.
All they could do was prolong her life with acupuncture, since even medicine could no longer be swallowed.
Wang taiyi shot Fang shaojian a glance. Fang shaojian’s heart clenched. The Empress was on the brink.
His eyes darkened as he looked toward Gu Jiu cowering in the corner.
Gu Jiu only put on an innocent expression.
Gritting his teeth, Fang shaojian leaned down and asked, “Niangniang, is there anything you wish to entrust before you go?”
The Empress suddenly opened her eyes, and her gaze blazed bright as the stars.
Fang shaojian’s heart leapt. Was niangniang pulling through?
He looked to Wang taiyi, who subtly shook his head. This was but the final flare before death.
The Empress stretched out a trembling hand, mustering all her remaining strength to clutch the Crown Prince’s hand tightly.
“Muhou!”
The Crown Prince was grief-stricken. “Muhou, you’ll be fine. You will live to a hundred.”
“Bengong will not last. Shut your mouth and don’t waste my time.”
The Crown Prince choked up, caught between crying and holding back.
The Empress had no energy for comfort. She only wished to leave her last instructions. “When bengong is gone, you will mourn in peace. Observe the full three years of mourning. You are not to interfere in state affairs at all.”
The Crown Prince was stunned. “Muhou?”
Her eyes flashed with sharpness. “Do you want to live? If you wish to live, then obey bengong. No matter the struggles in court, you must never step forward. To anyone who comes, answer only with the word ‘mourning.’
“If you cannot decide on something, seek your cousin, Zhen guogong’s counsel. In the palace, Fang shaojian will assist you.
“As for the Eastern Palace officials, punish them when they err, strike them when needed. Do not be soft-hearted.
“You clearly know. What your fuhuang despised most in you was your softness, your lack of a ruler’s bearing. A sovereign must balance strictness and grace… Pfft, ”
She coughed up blood again.
“Muhou! Please, don’t leave me! If you go, how can erchen live on?”
The Crown Prince panicked, sobbing uncontrollably.
The Empress’s breath grew faint. “You, you are the Crown Prince. Yet you cry and wail like this. Do you mean to anger bengong to death? Seeing you like this, how can bengong rest in peace? Do you want bengong to die with my eyes wide open, unable to close them?”
“Muhou!” The Crown Prince cried out, his wailing growing more and more heart-rending.
The Empress opened her eyes wide, but then moved no more. The light in them dimmed away.
Fang shaojian and Wang taiyi both instantly felt something was terribly wrong.
Wang taiyi stepped forward, took her pulse, tested her breath, and his heart jolted. He said: “The Empress niangniang… has passed!”
“Ah… muhou…” The Crown Prince threw himself onto the Empress’s body. “Muhou, erchen has been unfilial, erchen has left you to die with regrets. Erchen deserves death, erchen deserves death…”
“Cough, cough, Your Highness, please mind your words. Niangniang’s time had come, there was nothing to be done.”
Fang shaojian hurried to remind the Crown Prince, he must not take the blame for the Empress’s passing upon himself. Such words could ruin him.
If people truly believed that the Empress died with grievances because of the Crown Prince, then His Highness would be branded as unfilial. If so, the Empress’s wish for him to observe three years of mourning would become a bitter joke.
The Crown Prince, belatedly realising, forced himself to lower his cries and said: “Muhou is gone… in this world, I’m left alone. From now on, I am nothing but a motherless child.”
Those words drew tears and broke hearts.
Fang shaojian said with feeling: “Your Highness, please restrain your grief.”
The Crown Prince nodded, wiped away his tears, and ordered: “Announce her passing.”
Fang shaojian bowed. “Yes.”
He withdrew from the bedchamber, but at the same time shot Gu Jiu a look, signalling her to follow him.
Gu Jiu hesitated for only a second, then resolutely left. Otherwise, when crowds rushed in later and saw her here, she would never be able to explain herself.
She certainly couldn’t tell the Emperor that she was present because the Empress had summoned her to ask whether she had seen Gongzi Zhao in the Northwest.
Gu Jiu slipped silently out of the palace hall.
At this moment, all of Weiyang Palace was drowned in grief over the Empress’s death, the entire place in turmoil and fear. No one paid her any attention.
Thus, she managed to leave smoothly.
Outside the palace gates, she spotted Fang shaojian. He had indeed been waiting for her.
Gu Jiu drew a deep breath, steadied herself, and stepped forward. “Greetings to Fang shaojian.”
His gaze was shadowed as he lowered his voice: “I won’t hold you accountable, but you will keep your mouth shut. In this palace, you should know very well what can and cannot be spoken.”
Gu Jiu kept her face calm. “Does Fang shaojian fear that I’ll say His Highness angered the Empress niangniang to death?”
“Shut up! Do you have a death wish?”
Gu Jiu gave a quiet laugh. “Rest assured, Fang shaojian. As long as I leave the palace today, I swear not a word will escape my lips. No one will know His Highness spoke rashly and said something improper.”
Fang shaojian gave a cold snort. “Good. I knew you were sensible.”
Gu Jiu took the chance to flatter the late Empress. “Niangniang truly had foresight, to think of having the Crown Prince observe three years of mourning to ward off calamity.”
Fang shaojian narrowed his eyes slightly. “What are you trying to say?”
Gu Jiu looked him up and down. “With niangniang gone and the Crown Prince in mourning, I fear life in the palace will no longer be easy for you.”
Fang shaojian let out a cold laugh. “My affairs are not for you to meddle in.”
“Although you’ve thought about silencing me, I am not one to hold grudges. I prefer mutual benefit. If, in the future, Fang shaojian should face trouble and need help, come find me. If I can help, I won’t be stingy.”
“What is your aim?”
Gu Jiu smiled faintly. “Please don’t assume the worst of everyone. More friends mean more paths, don’t you agree?”
Fang shaojian sneered. “Whatever schemes you harbour, don’t think you can trick me.”
He waved his hand, and a young eunuch slipped out from the shadows.
“Escort Gu guniang back,” Fang shaojian instructed. “Ensure her safety.”
Gu Jiu curtsied. “Thank you, Fang shaojian. And do remember, make sure I leave the palace today.”
Fang shaojian’s expression sank with displeasure.
If the Crown Prince hadn’t been so foolish as to speak of the Empress dying with grievances in front of everyone, Fang shaojian would never have needed to treat Gu Jiu with such courtesy.
And now she dared to act triumphant, even trying to rope him in? Ridiculous.
He, a Grand Attendant, second only to a handful yet above thousands in the palace hierarchy, how could he possibly be recruited by some little girl? Utter farce.
Gu Jiu clearly had no grasp of her own limits.
Simply absurd.
…
Gu Jiu followed the young eunuch back to her quarters, slipped him a pouch of silver to send him off, and quickly shut the door.
She collapsed onto the bed, nearly weeping.
Alive, she was still alive. She had somehow survived this deadly ordeal. How hard it had been!
Biting the quilt, she felt this had been the hardest day of her two lifetimes. She had nearly died in that palace hall, buried as a companion to the Empress.
Wu wu…
Even recalling it made her shiver with terror.
One single misstep, and she would never have walked out of Weiyang Palace. Fang shaojian would have made sure she was silenced.
Her heart was still pounding wildly, so fast she thought she might drop dead of a heart attack.
Qing Mei rushed in, throwing open the door. “Guniang, you’re finally back!”
The maid burst into tears. “Nubi was scared to death!”
T/N:
With this, the curtain falls on Volume 2.
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