Chapter 6

The young eunuch silently took his order, carried out the old teacup, and left the room.

13

Gu Yunshu became more and more unrestrained in the harem.

Ever since she had managed the Mid-Autumn rewards on the Emperor’s behalf, she had truly begun to think of herself as mistress of the Six Palaces.

Though Pei Yan had scolded her and sent her away from the side courtyard that time, she relied on the supposed imperial heir in her womb and remained convinced she could never lose favor.

The Imperial Medical Bureau even secretly let it slip that the child was likely a boy.

Though Pei Yan had grown cold toward her, he could only turn a blind eye.

Over the next few months, she grew more ruthless about skimming the palace allotments.

Consort De and Consort Xian could still manage, but some of the lower-ranking consorts couldn’t even scrape together enough money to buy medicine for a cold.

The palace ledgers grew thicker and thicker. Every page recorded another debt she had left behind by abusing her favor.

A few days earlier, a newly arrived Lady Changzai had run into her palanquin in the imperial garden. Gu Yunshu made her kneel for a long time beneath the scorching sun. After she fainted, she died that very night.

The Lady Changzai’s father was a censor at court.

When the news reached the court, the anger that had been accumulating for so long erupted at once.

The ministers who already resented the Gu family joined forces to denounce them. At last, the grievances of the harem made it beyond the palace walls.

Pei Shuo’s informant reported that Pei Yan had been cornered at court and could not find a way out. An elderly minister had even threatened to dash his head against a pillar unless the Emperor severely punished the Consort.

I only gave a cold laugh.

I knew Pei Yan too well.

Whenever he was pressured, he only protected Gu Yunshu more fiercely, using his favoritism to prop up imperial authority.

He didn’t know that the more tightly a fire was smothered, the more fiercely it would burn.

That suited Pei Shuo—and it suited me.

I stood beneath the eaves, watching the heavy, overcast sky above Zhaohua Palace.

The wind had begun to rise.

14

At the year-end palace banquet, the atmosphere in the hall was so stifling it was hard to breathe.

The families of several consorts joined with senior officials and publicly exposed Gu Yunshu’s crimes since taking charge of the palace: privately keeping tribute silk, abusing the palace servants, and one offense after another. For every charge, there were ledgers and witnesses.

At last, Gu Yunshu panicked. She clutched Pei Yan’s sleeve and wept. “Your Majesty, I’ve been framed…”

Her fingertips were white from gripping his sleeve so tightly, but her tears could no longer win the favoritism they once had.

This time, Pei Yan did not immediately comfort her.

Below the dais, the officials knelt in a dark mass. His eyes grew gloomy. He clearly still wanted to find a palace maid to take the blame.

At that moment, an unfamiliar palace maid rushed out from the crowd and kowtowed hard. “I beg Your Majesty to investigate! The Consort was not only harsh with the other palaces—when the Empress miscarried and no physician could be found, she was the one who plotted it herself!”

The entire hall fell silent.

The maid lay prostrate, trembling from head to toe. “That day, when the Consort fell into the water, she jumped into the lake herself. She knew the Empress had suffered a threatened miscarriage, so she deliberately lured His Majesty away and had all the physicians stationed at Zhaohua Palace, delaying them until the Empress’s child could no longer be saved!”

She continued, “This servant used to clean at Zhaohua Palace. I heard the Consort say with my own ears that if she could delay things for one shichen, the Empress’s pregnancy would be lost…”

Pei Yan shot to his feet and knocked over his wine cup. “How dare you!”

He stared at Gu Yunshu. First there was shock in his eyes, then suspicion and fury surged up, impossible to suppress.

Elder Sister cried and threw herself at his legs. “Your Majesty, I never did that! I’m innocent!”

Pei Yan looked toward her swollen belly—the imperial heir he had long hoped for.

His fists clenched several times. In the end, he still pushed her away.

He issued an order in a cold voice. “The Court of Judicial Review and the Imperial Household Department will investigate this matter thoroughly at once.”

Then he pointed at Gu Yunshu. “Until the truth is established, Consort Gu is confined to Zhaohua Palace to rest during her pregnancy. No one may visit without my decree.”

For the sake of the unborn child, he still left her one final way out.

15

Late that night, an informant slipped into the side courtyard and brought Pei Shuo’s message: “There may be something wrong with Gu Yunshu’s pregnancy. She changes the medicine she takes to stabilize it too often, and the Imperial Medical Bureau is hiding the news.”

I rolled a Buddhist bead between my fingers and ordered, “Find out the truth. Is she taking medicine to force a false pregnancy and damage her body, or was she never pregnant at all?”

Two days later, the answer came back: she truly wasn’t pregnant. She had bribed an imperial physician and taken medicine every day to create the illusion.

Before I had even made a move, Zhaohua Palace sent someone to summon me, saying Consort Gu had suddenly fallen ill and asking the Empress to come over.

I knew she had been driven to the end of her rope and had resorted to another self-sacrificial act.

She had won too many times with the same trick. When cornered, she still knew only how to turn the blade on herself.

When I entered Zhaohua Palace, she was alone in the room.