Gao Yuexing sat up abruptly. “You know about the Xiaonan Pavilion?”
Fu Yun fell into deep confusion, muttering to herself, “…How could something happen to the Xiaonan Pavilion?”
Gao Yuexing anxiously grabbed her arm. “What exactly happened?”
Caught off guard, Fu Yun was pulled and fell onto the bed.
Seeing her dazed expression, Gao Yuexing fanned her and handed her water, calling her name over and over until she finally snapped out of it.
Fu Yun said, “Miss Gao…”
Gao Yuexing pressed her small hand to Fu Yun’s forehead. “What’s wrong with you?”
Fu Yun let out a breath and spoke slowly, “Miss Gao…” Each word seemed especially difficult to utter. “The matter of the Xiaonan Pavilion… you’d best not inquire about it.”
Another taboo.
No one was willing to speak, nor did anyone dare to.
Gao Yuexing knew that pressing too hard now wouldn’t work; she needed to proceed gently, coaxing her bit by bit.
So, she spoke innocently, “I didn’t mean to pry, but tonight something did happen over at the Xiaonan Pavilion. I heard it from the eunuchs in the outer hall.”
Fu Yun spat disdainfully, “Those careless fools, always running their mouths without restraint—they’ll suffer for it sooner or later!”
Feigning ignorance, Gao Yuexing asked, “It can’t be mentioned?”
Fu Yun replied, “It’s best not to.”
Gao Yuexing said nothing further, simply staring silently at Fu Yun.
Fu Yun grew uncomfortable under her gaze and turned her face away.
Gao Yuexing said, “Before entering the palace, my mother repeatedly warned me that the palace is nothing like our home. Once inside, you are but a servant. Serving your master well is of utmost importance, and every word and action must be carefully considered. Should I anger His Majesty, my entire family could be implicated… But I hurriedly packed my belongings and entered the palace, only to find I have no one to share my thoughts with.”
Fu Yun said, “Miss Gao…”
Gao Yuexing felt the timing was just about right.
What would move Fu Yun was not her situation, but her youth.
Gao Yuexing continued, “I often have a dream where I’m standing on top of a high city wall. I close my eyes and take a step forward, but I step into thin air and wake up in shock… Sister Fu, I actually really hope my mother can come and take me home.”
Fu Yun was a kind-hearted person; no one knew this better than Gao Yuexing. She was the perfect target for such appeals.
Sure enough, as Fu Yun listened, her eyes began to well up involuntarily.
Gao Yuexing shrank closer to her.
Fu Yun instinctively raised her hand to stroke her hair. “Don’t be afraid, don’t feel sad. I’m here. Since I’ve come to your side, I’ll be sure to protect you.”
Gao Yuexing closed her eyes.
This time, it was Fu Yun who brought up the subject. “But as for the matter of the Xiaonan Pavilion… those who gossip behind closed doors will meet a bad end. Our emperor is benevolent, but he has one reverse scale. I’ll tell you the whole story, but after hearing it, you must never provoke His Majesty’s wrath.”
Gao Yuexing had no reason not to agree and nodded vigorously like a little chick pecking at grains.
Fu Yun wrapped an arm around her shoulder and began to speak slowly: “I used to be a servant in the Xiaonan Pavilion, responsible for sweeping the courtyard and doing menial chores. I wasn’t allowed inside the main rooms… At that time, the one living in the Xiaonan Pavilion was Consort Mei. Consort Mei… how should I put this?”
Fu Yun clicked her tongue as if deliberating.
Gao Yuexing asked, “Is it something hard to talk about?”
Fu Yun replied, “Not exactly. It’s no secret in the palace, but saying it aloud is enough to dirty one’s ears. Sigh, I’ll just say it plainly. Back then, Consort Mei committed adultery with a guard and gave birth to a bastard child that confused the royal bloodline.”
Gao Yuexing: “…”
She hadn’t expected something like this could happen in the palace and was stunned into silence, unable to regain her composure for a long time.
Fu Yun continued, “His Majesty has always been devoted solely to Noble Consort Zheng and rarely favored other concubines. Consort Mei was somewhat clever. After becoming visibly pregnant, she stayed confined indoors, never stepping out. She managed to hide it until the day she gave birth, when everything came to light.” Fu Yun gave a bitter smile. “I was naive back then. All I cared about was my chores, eating, sleeping, and basking in the sun. I didn’t even notice Consort Mei’s absence for half a year. His Majesty was furious. Consort Mei gave birth and then took her own life out of guilt, but as for the father of the child, to this day, no one knows who he was.”
Ridiculous. The child had been born, yet the identity of the father remained a mystery.
How could the emperor’s heart be at ease?
No wonder it had become an unspeakable taboo. Consort Mei was truly a cunning woman.
As Gao Yuexing slowly processed her shock, a new suspicion crept into her mind.
The Xiaonan Pavilion had been Consort Mei’s former residence, yet now Li Fuxiang was imprisoned there.
In a voice filled with horror, Gao Yuexing asked, “The child Consort Mei gave birth to?”
Fu Yun sighed. “When His Majesty entered the room, he happened to hear the child’s first cry and even saw him once. Perhaps it was that brief encounter—or perhaps it was a moment of mercy—that made His Majesty refrain from killing the child on the spot. Instead, he imprisoned him in the Xiaonan Pavilion. It’s been more than ten years now.”
So, Li Fuxiang wasn’t the current emperor’s bloodline?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Gao Yuexing frustratedly dismissed her own speculation. If Li Fuxiang weren’t the emperor’s biological child, there was no reason for the emperor to care for him so much, let alone appoint him as heir to the Eastern Palace.
So where did the issue lie?
Fu Yun refused to say more, helping her lie down and tucking the quilt around her. “It’s late, Miss Gao. You should get some sleep. You have to attend classes tomorrow.”
How could Gao Yuexing possibly sleep?
She had just started to piece things together.
Consort Mei was truly an extraordinary woman. The emperor dared to neglect her, and she dared to cuckold him. In this game between the emperor and Consort Mei, it was clear that Consort Mei had the upper hand. The child was born, the lover escaped, and she took her own life in guilt. With her death, no matter how much the emperor hated her, he could do nothing but endure it.
For someone as cunning and capable as Consort Mei, who could manipulate the emperor so thoroughly, how could she not fear the wrath of an enraged monarch falling upon her child?
In his fury, how could the emperor possibly allow the child to live?
She had poured her heart and soul into giving birth to this child. Could she truly have been willing to let him die in infancy or live a life of imprisonment?
It doesn’t make sense.
If Consort Mei had the ability to protect her lover, she must have had a way to protect her child as well.
Gao Yuexing suddenly pounded the bed and sat up.
Fu Yun immediately asked, “Miss Gao? What’s wrong?”
Her voice was clear, showing she wasn’t sleepy either.
Gao Yuexing shook her head and said it was nothing.
She pushed aside the downy bed curtain and glanced toward the window. Through the translucent window paper, she could faintly see that the candles in the eastern side hall opposite were still burning.
She wasn’t the only one unable to sleep tonight.
Similarly, the Qianqing Palace was bustling deep into the night.
The emperor, his face dark, asked the guards below, “Have you caught the assassin?”
The head guard didn’t dare to lift his head. “It is my incompetence, Your Majesty. We searched every corner of Rouqi Pavilion but found no suspicious traces.”
The emperor turned the jade ring on his finger. “It’s not your incompetence. It’s that someone in the palace is acting up again.”
The guards below responded, “The imperial city is under lockdown. We are doing everything we can to protect Your Majesty’s safety… However, there is one strange matter that requires Your Majesty’s judgment.”
“Speak.”
“According to the night patrol guards, they discovered a child wandering around recklessly in the palace alley near the Xiaonan Pavilion.”
“A child?” The emperor let out a cold laugh. “Was the child caught?”
“It is my incompetence,” the guard replied, bowing his head even lower. A group of burly men failing to catch a child the size of a radish was indeed disgraceful, and the guard himself felt humiliated.
However, the emperor didn’t seem inclined to blame them. “There are only so many children in the palace, few enough to count on one hand. Who would dare to wander near the Xiaonan Pavilion at night with nothing better to do?”
The guards remained silent.
The emperor understood the situation clearly. “It’s been ten years. The one in the Xiaonan Pavilion should have grown up by now, right?”
The guards promptly reported, “The Xiaonan Pavilion is dilapidated and rarely visited. A few bricks have indeed become loose.”
“Loose bricks…” The emperor mused. “I remember assigning a palace maid to look after him back then.”
“It was a mute servant, arranged by Noble Consort Xian for Your Majesty.”
“Noble Consort Xian understands me.”
Ten years ago, on that stormy night, he stormed into the Xiaonan Pavilion in a rage, only to be caught off guard by the first cry of a newborn. The decisive emperor had hesitated at that moment, his resolve faltering at an inopportune time.
The emperor had neither the will to keep him nor the heart to kill him.
Noble Consort Xian, skilled at gauging imperial intentions, made the decision for him. If the emperor couldn’t make up his mind, she found a middle ground—allowing the child to live, but stripping him of his wings from the root. Even if he survived, his life would be one of insignificance.
The guard added, “Two years ago, the mute servant reached the end of her service. Noble Consort Xian, with Your Majesty’s approval, permitted her to leave the palace. Currently, there is no one else in the Xiaonan Pavilion.”
As the candlelight neared its end, it flickered slightly.
A eunuch immediately stepped forward and silently lit a new lamp.
The emperor closed his eyes and said, “Tell me, keeping him locked away in that sunless place for ten years, living like a pig or a dog—isn’t that worse than letting him die quickly?”
Cold sweat dripped from the head guard’s forehead, trailing down his hand.
He didn’t dare to respond.
The emperor slammed his hand heavily on the desk, finally making up his mind. “Tomorrow, instruct the craftsmen to reseal the outer walls of the Xiaonan Pavilion with mortar. Seal the door as well while they’re at it. In my lifetime, I will never reopen the Xiaonan Pavilion.”
The guard bowed deeply, his head knocking against the ground. “I obey, Your Majesty.”
In the dead of night, a sudden clap of thunder roared across the sky for no apparent reason.
The emperor stood beneath the eaves as cold rain slanted in, soaking his dragon robe.
The head guard, gripping his sword, led his men away in an orderly fashion.
Descending the steps of Qianqing Palace, the guard finally dared to stretch his aching shoulders. It was only then he realized his inner garments were soaked through with layer upon layer of cold sweat.
A young attendant, perceptive and quick to act, handed him a water flask he had carried with him.
The head guard unscrewed the lid, and the sharp fragrance of liquor hit his nose. Smiling wryly, he broke his usual rule and took a swig. The fiery, mellow taste burned down his throat and into his stomach, finally warming his chilled body.
The young attendant cautiously asked, “Chief, His Majesty didn’t hold us accountable, did he?”
The head guard turned his face into the biting wind and rain. “No, we weren’t blamed this time. Tomorrow, find a few reliable masons for the job. Make sure they’re our own people.”
The attendant clicked his tongue, looking troubled.
The head guard frowned. “What is it?”
The attendant hesitated. “Chief, did you forget? The Third Prince’s birthday is coming up. Most of our reliable people have already been reassigned, per His Majesty’s orders, to make clay figurines for him.”
The Third Prince’s birthday was a major event; no one dared to treat it lightly.
Nearly all the dependable members of the Imperial Guards had been mobilized for the occasion, leaving behind a ragtag group of untested recruits. The head guard mulled over the situation for a long time but didn’t have the nerve to entrust the emperor’s orders to such unreliable hands.
Forget it. It’s just sealing a wall.
It doesn’t have to be masons, right?
The head guard’s thoughts wandered back to the extravagant preparations for the Third Prince’s birthday, and he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly—what a life!