Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Deceiving the Emperor Xiao Heng endured it again and again, but in the end, he truly could not suppress the pounding in his heart. While Xue Shaoyin was transcribing for him as usual, he could not help saying softly, “Today… I went near Lanyue Pavilion and happened to see… you and Xiao Yu…” Xiao Heng could hardly bear the yearning in his heart. It was like a new sprout breaking through the soil, desperately in need of sunlight and rain. Yet he did not know that the Xue Shaoyin of today felt as though she were trapped in a swamp, mired in mud day after day. She did not wish to show any kindness to the enemy of her family, yet she had no choice but to feign gentleness. She did not wish to follow her Aunt’s plan, offer herself to her enemy in exchange for the position of Empress, and even involve an innocent child. Yet it seemed that aside from the path Aunt had pointed out, she had no other road to take. The pressure, heavy as a thousand jun, weighed on Shaoyin’s heart every day as though a range of mountains were pressing down upon her. In front of others—especially in front of Xiao Heng—she could not reveal the slightest trace of her true feelings. She could only endure. She could only pretend. Her heart was utterly at odds with the calm expression on her face, tense every moment as though entangled by hatred, yet also trapped by profound confusion with nowhere to go. At that moment, when she suddenly heard Xiao Heng say those words, the string that had been pulled taut around Shaoyin’s heart day after day seemed to snap beneath the strain. It was as though a single spark had suddenly set an entire sea of flames ablaze. The turmoil of hatred and confusion surged into Shaoyin’s heart all at once, making it utterly impossible for her to restrain herself. She actually threw down the brush in her hand. As though she could not bear to continue this false civility or face Xiao Heng for even another moment, Shaoyin left with a cold expression. She did not care that she was before the emperor, nor about all the burdens she ought to have been carrying. At that moment, she only wanted to leave. Cheng An was attending in the hall not far away. He had seen that His Majesty and County Princess Yongning had been getting along perfectly well, sitting close together as usual—one dictating and the other transcribing—with an air of peaceful domesticity. Yet he suddenly heard the sound of a brush being thrown down and saw County Princess Yongning turn on His Majesty and leave for no apparent reason. “...Your... Your Majesty...” Cheng An was both utterly confused and terrified. He watched County Princess Yongning’s figure depart without hesitation, then cautiously turned to look at His Majesty’s expression. His Majesty was also sitting there in a daze, seemingly unaware of why County Princess Yongning had suddenly become angry and left. “...Perhaps... perhaps the County Princess has some other trouble weighing on her mind... Your Majesty, please don’t take it to heart. Don’t be angry...” Cheng An carefully urged His Majesty not to lose his temper. Yet as he continued speaking, he suddenly heard His Majesty laugh. Thinking he must have misheard, Cheng An looked up in astonishment, only to see that His Majesty was truly smiling. His brows were filled with lighthearted mirth. His Majesty watched with a smile as County Princess Yongning’s figure grew farther and farther away. Not only was he not angry, but his eyes shone with clear amusement. He even had the leisure to ask Cheng An with a laugh, “Don’t you think she’s acting much as she did in the past?” Cheng An paused for a moment before understanding what His Majesty meant. Indeed, it was like the past. The County Princess Yongning of former days had not been as gentle and composed as she was now. She had been more like a prickly rose that could easily draw blood. Whenever she and His Majesty disagreed, she would often throw something down before turning around and leaving in a huff. This outburst from County Princess Yongning really did resemble the way she had been before. No wonder His Majesty was not angry at all. He had simply thought of the former Miss Xue, unrestrained and willful in temperament. The County Princess Yongning of today had a gentle disposition, but she was so gentle and quiet that at times, people could not help feeling a little sad. Sometimes, although County Princess Yongning was clearly smiling, those watching her would feel that her smile was somehow insubstantial, never reaching her eyes or her heart. Cheng An thought that since His Majesty treasured County Princess Yongning, he naturally wished for her to be truly happy. He hoped she would no longer be bound by the sorrowful events of the past and could live as freely and uninhibitedly as before. Perhaps because of His Majesty’s deliberate indulgence, and perhaps because County Princess Yongning herself was gradually no longer forcing herself to maintain such a rigid composure or always acting respectful and obedient before His Majesty, her temper slowly began to resemble what it had been in the past. After returning from Shuobei, she had always been gentle and compliant whenever she faced His Majesty. Now, however, she would sometimes become angry without warning, not offering him even the slightest smile. And His Majesty seemed to relish it. He appeared delighted to see County Princess Yongning open her heart and freely display her joy and anger before him. Rather than treating him as a ruler whose heavenly authority could not be offended, His Majesty seemed even more pleased when County Princess Yongning treated him as an ordinary man. Although Cheng An sometimes watched from the side with his heart in his throat, His Majesty appeared to take great pleasure in it. It was a happiness he had never experienced in all these years. Naturally, Cheng An was happy to see it as well. He never wanted to experience another night like the one the previous year, when His Majesty had stood alone in the snow and wind at the edge of the cliff. However, the happiness in Zichen Palace clearly could not reach the other parts of the palace. As rumors spread, anxiety and unease filled the Imperial Harem more intensely with each passing day. Finally, on this day, Consort Shu—who, in Cheng An’s eyes, should have been the most capable of remaining calm—took the initiative to come to Zichen Palace and request an audience with His Majesty. “There are some things I wish to discuss with Your Majesty in private.” Consort Shu said this in the Imperial Study. It was a request for the chief steward before the emperor and all the other palace servants to withdraw. Cheng An remained silent and glanced toward His Majesty seated above. Only after seeing His Majesty give a slight nod did he lead the other palace servants in bowing and withdrawing from the Imperial Study. Xiao Heng more or less knew why Jiang Ningyan had come. Yet after Jiang Ningyan performed the customary rites before him, she did not immediately say what she had come to say. Instead, she slowly took a wrapped handkerchief from her sleeve. “Does Your Majesty still remember what this is?” Jiang Ningyan unfolded the handkerchief in her hands. Resting in her palm were several pieces of crystal sugar. They had clearly passed the point at which they could be eaten. The sugar, which should have been white and translucent, had long since become cloudy and yellowed. When Xiao Heng failed to recognize them at once, Jiang Ningyan’s gaze dimmed. His reaction did not seem to surprise her, but even though she had not been surprised, she could not conceal her sorrow and self-mockery. “These are the sweets Your Majesty brought me when you came to see me in the Palace of the Abandoned all those years ago.” Jiang Ningyan said, “At the time, I only ate one piece. After that one piece, I could never bear to eat the rest while I was in the Palace of the Abandoned. I always kept them close to my body. Even after I left the Palace of the Abandoned, went to the Eastern Palace, and returned to the Jiang family, I continued to keep them. Even after the sugar could no longer be eaten, I could not bear to throw it away.” “Keeping them was like keeping Cousin’s feelings for me.” Tears unconsciously glimmered in Jiang Ningyan’s eyes. She seemed to have returned to the time when she had been taken into the Palace of the Abandoned as a child. At the moment of her greatest despair, her older male cousin had secretly come to see her there and pressed a packet of sweets into her hands, telling her to hold on and promising that he would find a way to get her out. At that time, she had eaten one piece of crystal sugar. The sweetness melting on her tongue had instantly washed away the despair and bitterness in her heart. Because of that promise from Cousin, she could endure anything. Even when the hands that had once learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting spent every day doing hard labor such as washing clothes and sweeping floors, she never uttered a word of complaint. From then on, she had hope in her heart. She secretly treasured that packet of sugar, believing without question that Cousin would one day come to take her out of the Palace of the Abandoned. Cousin had not deceived her. After becoming Crown Prince, he had taken her to his side whenever he found the opportunity and personally looked after her. Those years in the Eastern Palace seemed to have been the most peaceful period of her entire life. Feeling Cousin’s care and partiality toward her, she had believed that she and Cousin shared one heart, and that their hearts would remain together for the rest of their lives. Jiang Ningyan could not help shedding tears. With so many things to say, she had barely spoken a few sentences before she was already sobbing too hard to continue. From the imperial throne, Xiao Heng looked at his Cousin’s tear-filled eyes, yet did not know what to say. As far as Jiang Ningyan was concerned, he had only ever possessed the identity of an older male cousin. All the care he had shown Jiang Ningyan in the past had merely been for the sake of allowing his mother, in the underworld, to rest in peace. Before his mother’s death, the people she had been most unable to put out of her mind, besides him, were the members of the Jiang family exiled to the border and Jiang Ningyan, who had been taken into the Palace of the Abandoned. As she lay dying, his mother had clutched his hand tightly and begged him to find a way to rescue the Jiang family and to take good care of her poor young niece. For the sake of his mother’s final wishes, after Xiao Heng had just become Crown Prince and left Empress Xue’s palace, he brought Jiang Ningyan out of the Palace of the Abandoned and had her remain in the Eastern Palace as a palace maid, where he personally looked after her. Later, once his influence had grown and he had established a certain amount of power at court, Xiao Heng persuaded Imperial Father to pardon the Jiang family, allowing Jiang Ningyan to leave the palace and return home, once again becoming a young lady of a noble family. Although Xue Shaoyin had mistakenly believed for many years that he was in love with Jiang Ningyan, the truth was not so. As far as Jiang Ningyan was concerned, he had merely fulfilled his duty as an older male cousin for the sake of his mother’s final wish. Originally, after Jiang Ningyan left the Eastern Palace and returned to the Jiang family, he and Jiang Ningyan would not have had much further contact. But when Imperial Father was gravely ill, he issued an edict personally selecting several consorts for the Eastern Palace, and Jiang Ningyan was among them. Thus, under Imperial Father’s decree, Jiang Ningyan became his Senior Palace Consort. Later, when he ascended the throne, he bestowed titles upon the Imperial Harem. Out of consideration for his maternal family, he made Jiang Ningyan the highest-ranking of the Four Consorts. Whatever care and honor he could give his maternal family, he had already given. Xiao Heng looked at Jiang Ningyan’s tears and said calmly, “I have already given you everything I could. You should be content.” Hearing His Majesty’s indifferent words, Jiang Ningyan felt as though ten thousand arrows had pierced her heart. Although she had long anticipated this truth, when she finally heard His Majesty say it aloud, Jiang Ningyan’s heart still ached as though it were being twisted apart. Deep self-mockery reverberated through her mind. Looking back on her life, the moment when she had been closest to Cousin had actually been the time she had accidentally sprained her ankle. That year in the Eastern Palace, she had been retrieving some books for Cousin when she accidentally twisted her foot. Just as she was about to lose her balance and fall, Cousin had reached out and caught her in time. That scene happened to be witnessed by Xue Shaoyin, who had arrived in high spirits. When Xue Shaoyin expressed her displeasure, Cousin remained as cold toward her as ever. Furious, Xue Shaoyin had turned pale, dropped the food container she was carrying, and run away. At the time, Jiang Ningyan had been delighted by Cousin’s coldness toward Xue Shaoyin, delighted by the care and favoritism he showed her. How could she have known that Xue Shaoyin was the one who truly occupied Cousin’s heart, while toward her, he had been genuinely indifferent and heartless? Under His Majesty’s indifferent gaze, Jiang Ningyan slowly gathered the tears in her eyes. She held back her sobs and stopped saying anything pointless. She also put away the packet of crystal sugar that only she herself had treasured, then solemnly performed a great courtesy before His Majesty and said, word by word, “I requested an audience with Your Majesty today because there is something I wish to report. County Princess Yongning may harbor ill intentions toward Your Majesty, be deceiving the emperor, and even be plotting to harm you.”