Chapter 14

“Xiao Heng! You bastard! You dare march into the palace? This is rebellion! You’ll die horribly!”

Kneeling, Yu trembled all over, yet still shouted.

“Father’s body isn’t cold, and you can’t wait to steal his throne! A brat with no mother to teach him!”

“Silence.”

Heng glanced at him.

He could scarcely be bothered with them. He waved his sleeve.

“Take them away.”

The guards dragged them out. The Noble Consort kept cursing.

“You’ll die horribly! Both you and that wretched woman!”

Yu still struggled.

“Father should have left the throne to me! I’m his legitimate son! What are you? The vile spawn of a criminal slave!”

Heng stood with his back to them and never turned.

Three days later, the palace was settled.

For altering the final decree, throwing the inner palace into turmoil, and attempting to murder a prince, the Noble Consort was sentenced to immediate execution.

At the Meridian Gate, her hair hanging loose, she still cursed.

The executioner’s blade fell. Her head dropped, and the curses stopped.

Yu, who had helped his mother and joined her treason, received the same sentence.

He knelt at the execution ground, his legs too weak to stand. The executioner held his neck and severed it with one stroke.

Her relatives and faction were arrested and questioned. Ringleaders were beheaded, accomplices exiled. None escaped.

That day, carriage wheels sounded outside the estate.

Countless guards escorted a magnificent imperial carriage to the gate.

Heng, his armor removed, came personally in plain clothes.

Only a few months apart, thousands of miles between us, death brushing past us several times.

His steps stopped. His eyes reddened instantly.

He hurried forward and knelt before me in front of every guard and attendant.

“Mother! I’m home!”

My tears fell uncontrollably. I reached for his arms.

“My good boy. You’re home. That’s all that matters.”

“When I received the decree, I learned you’d risked your life to steal it and escape, with the whole country searching for you. Every day, I feared news that something had happened.”

He looked up, tears running down his cheeks.

“I swear you’ll never face danger again. For the rest of your life, let me protect you.”

“I know.”

I wiped his tears.

“As long as you’re safe, every hardship was worth it.”

I helped him rise.

“Chuntao has been rescued,” he said. “Her injuries are severe. She’s in a separate palace residence, and the imperial physicians are doing everything they can.”

“Is she all right?”

“She’s alive. The physicians say she’ll recover with a few months’ rest.”

Only then did the last weight leave my heart.

“Let’s go home.”

I stepped into the splendid carriage. The great ceremonial procession slowly moved toward the palace.

### Part 18

As we entered the palace gates, the Imperial Guards stood solemnly in lines along the road.

The surroundings were unchanged. The people were not.

Qinghui Courtyard, where I’d been confined, still stood, but its old life was gone.

Before attending to state affairs, Heng accompanied me to see Chuntao.

She lay covered in wounds, her face pale.

Seeing me, she burst into tears.

“My lady! You’ve come back safely!”

I sat beside her and took her injured hand.

“You suffered so much to help me escape. From now on, neither of us will have to live in fear.”

“As long as you’re safe, it was worth it.”

I told the physicians to restore her health with the greatest care. She would live peacefully afterward, without having to toil in anyone’s service.

Once she was settled, Heng began the enthronement ceremony.

In the Golden Throne Hall, every civil and military official attended. Ceremonial music rose, bells and drums sounded.

Wearing imperial dragon robes, he walked step by step to the throne and completed the rites.

Standing to one side, I watched him take the highest seat. My thoughts drifted to that snowy night years ago.

Purple-lipped with cold, he had stood outside my door and timidly asked to shelter under the eaves.

At last, the clouds had cleared.

When the ceremony ended, a eunuch announced the rewards.

He opened an imperial-yellow scroll and read shrilly.

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the emperor decrees.”

“Upon my accession, I honor Lady Shen as Empress Dowager. She shall reside in Ci’an Palace and enjoy all the honors and ceremonial privileges of that office. Let it be obeyed!”

The hall erupted.