Chapter 15
Edward Quan ·
An elderly minister immediately stepped forward.
“Your Majesty! This is improper. Consort Shen was a consort of the late emperor. By custom, she may only become a Dowager Consort. Naming her Empress Dowager violates ritual!”
Heng looked at him.
“Minister Li, when I was driven to Jingsi Courtyard and no one cared for me, where were those rules?”
Li opened his mouth. Nothing came out.
Another minister stepped forward.
“Your Majesty, she is not your birth mother. If you name her Empress Dowager, what will the late emperor’s other consorts think?”
“Minister Zhang,” Heng addressed him directly, “in the winter when I was twelve, on a night of heavy snow, I was driven from Jingsi Courtyard wearing only a thin coat. My whole body turned purple with cold.”
The hall fell so quiet that breathing could be heard.
“She pulled me inside. She gave me hot porridge and medicine.”
He paused, surveying the faces below.
“Which consort cared whether I lived or died? Which official spoke a word in my defense?”
“To give birth is a kindness. To raise a child is a kindness, too. I will remember those who treated me well for the rest of my life.”
He turned to me, his eyes slightly red, his voice unwavering.
“Before this entire court, I declare it plainly: from this day forward, Lady Shen is my Empress Dowager.”
He waited.
No one dared speak or move.
“Good. Then it is settled.”
After court, he came to Ci’an Palace.
The moment he entered, he dropped onto the couch and let out a long breath.
“Mother, my palms were drenched in sweat.”
I poured him hot tea.
“I could tell.”
“But I don’t regret it.”
He took the cup, sipped, then suddenly laughed.
“Do you remember when I first called you Mother?”
“Of course. You were thirteen, just recovered from a chill, sitting on the bed.”
“I’d wanted to call you that long before.”
He lowered his eyes to the tea, his ears slightly pink.
“I just didn’t dare.”
Beyond the window, snow fell silently.
The years of plots, persecution, and brushes with death were finally behind us.
The hands that had reached out on that snowy night had weathered every storm together.
At last, we could taste the sweetness that belonged to us.
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