Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 110
by Little PandaThe Empress Dowager Refuses
“Others can’t run away from her fast enough, yet here you are, throwing yourself at her without a care for your own life.” Princess Longyi rubbed her temples in exhaustion and said to Sun Yan, “You wanted to see the Empress Dowager, and now you have. Pack your things tomorrow and head back to your fiefdom1!”
The Empress Dowager had just commanded her to attend an audience tonight. Although she didn’t know what it was about, it certainly wouldn’t be anything good.
Sun Yan sat obediently in her chair, letting the scolding go in one ear and out the other. She even retorted, “From what I can see, the Empress Dowager isn’t as wicked as you make her out to be, Cousin. Hasn’t she never made things difficult for you all these years?”
Hearing Sun Yan speak like this, Princess Longyi couldn’t help but recall her ten years of coexistence with Wan Bi. Wan Bi indeed had rarely made things difficult for her. Even during their recent clash in Ning’an Palace in front of the Emperor, Wan Bi had been the one to back down in the end. Furthermore, Wan Bi had poured everything into preparing her dowry, practically emptying her personal treasury, yet still worried it wouldn’t be enough, even throwing in her newly received Dragon Boat Festival gifts2.
Though she had no use for the dowry, the sentiment behind it was absolutely genuine.
Yet, the moment she accepted Wan Bi’s gifts, she turned around and smuggled Yao Xi out of the palace…
She didn’t think Wan Bi was all that evil now, but when it came to matters of life and death, she still couldn’t bring herself to trust her easily. “There’s nothing fun to do in the palace anyway. Just stay for a couple of days and then go back.”
“What about you?” Sun Yan didn’t want to go back alone.
“I still have some matters to attend to.”
As the cousins were talking inside the hall, a maid called from outside the door, “Princess, Jieyu Lan has arrived.”
“Yao-jiejie?” Sun Yan sprang from her chair. She’d always wanted to meet her cousin’s sweetheart, but by some twist of fate, their paths had never crossed over the years.
Sun Yan rushed out of the hall ahead of Princess Longyi. At a glance, she saw Yao Shuanglan standing in the courtyard. Dressed in pale, watery blue, she looked as clean and bright as the moon. Behind her stood several palace maids carrying two large chests of luggage.
“Hello, Yao-jiejie! Let me help you bring those in!” Sun Yan was uncharacteristically bashful. Smiling, she stepped forward and grabbed the brass latches of the chests. Lifting one heavy chest in each hand, she marched into the main hall with effortless, flying strides.
Yao Shuanglan didn’t recognize Sun Yan, but the moment she saw the girl’s divine strength, she knew she must be the cousin Princess Longyi had mentioned. She followed her inside, leaving Ying’er, Fu’er, and even Yunxiang—whom the Empress Dowager had assigned to her—waiting outside the doors.
Princess Longyi had just reached the threshold. Seeing that Yao Shuanglan had already come in, she retreated into the hall, closed the doors, and asked in a low voice, “Why did you bring so many things?”
“I’m going to live here from now on. If I don’t bring my things, what will I use?” Yao Shuanglan answered with a smile. She had monumental, joyous news she wanted to tell Longyi, but since Longyi’s cousin was putting away the luggage nearby, she didn’t dare say anything.
Princess Longyi was dumbfounded. Just as she was about to press for details, Sun Yan, having set down the chests, sidled over to join them at the worst possible moment.
Yao Shuanglan smiled and greeted Sun Yan. “You must be Dali, right? Princess Longyi told me before that she had a cousin blessed with divine strength from birth. I didn’t believe her then, but seeing you today, your reputation is thoroughly deserved.”
Sun Yan clutched Princess Longyi’s arm tightly, hiding shyly behind her shoulder. She wasn’t one to shy away from strangers, but meeting the lover her cousin had spoken of for so many years made her heart race with excitement. Moreover, Yao-jiejie and Eunuch Yao were clearly siblings; they looked remarkably alike, both in appearance and aura.
“What do you mean, you’re living here from now on? Did you have a fight with Imperial Brother?” Princess Longyi cared only about this.
Yao Shuanglan glanced at Sun Yan, hesitating. Princess Longyi poked Sun Yan’s head and said to Yao Shuanglan, “There’s no harm in speaking in front of this wench. She knows everything.” Whether it was the matter of Yao Xi or her relationship with Jieyu Lan, Sun Yan was fully in the loop.
“The Emperor has agreed to strip me of my title as Jieyu and restore my freedom.” Even with her naturally placid temperament, Yao Shuanglan couldn’t contain her agitation. “Longyi! Once the Yao family’s case is resolved, I can leave the palace!!!”
Hearing this, Princess Longyi was struck speechless with joy.
She’d believed she’d never see this day before she died. From the very day her Imperial Brother issued the decree summoning Shuanglan into the palace, she hadn’t held much hope, only gritting her teeth and persevering because she couldn’t bear to give up.
Princess Longyi’s joy was beyond words. She wanted nothing more than to rush forward and throw her arms around Yao Shuanglan. Unfortunately, her arm was held in a death grip by that wretched child Sun Dali, and she couldn’t break free.
“Then won’t Yao-jiejie be able to be with you, Cousin?” Fearing she would be heard by those outside, Sun Yan kept her voice very low, but she couldn’t contain her sheer ecstasy. Holding tight to Princess Longyi’s arm, she gave an excited, bouncing hop.
Crack—
The smile on Princess Longyi’s face froze. She turned her head to look at her left arm, which swung limply now that Sun Yan had let go. “Sun Dali!” she roared. “What the hell are you getting so excited for?!”
“I’ll have someone call an imperial physician immediately.” Seeing that Princess Longyi’s arm was dislocated, Yao Shuanglan’s face filled with horror.
“No need.” Princess Longyi instantly softened her tone to her usual gentle manner when speaking to Yao Shuanglan. Fearing that Yao Shuanglan would worry, she even forced a painful smile. “When it comes to resetting bones, the imperial physicians can’t hold a candle to this wench Dali. This isn’t the first time she’s accidentally injured me anyway. It’s no big deal.”
In truth, Sun Yan had improved a great deal as she grew up, and could generally control her strength to avoid hurting people. When she was a child, she truly hadn’t known her own strength. For instance, when there were banquets at noble estates where many children gathered, the children loved to play pranks, sneaking up from behind to clap someone on the shoulder and frighten them.
When other little girls delicately patted someone’s shoulder with their dainty hands, the victim would turn around with an understanding smile. When their family’s Dali patted someone’s shoulder, it was accompanied by the sound of a shoulder popping out of its socket, and the victim would wail at the top of their lungs, sobbing to their parents before they even turned around: “Father! Mother! Dali’s hitting people again!”
Sometimes, when the children were playing wild outside and couldn’t find a doctor right away, Dali had gradually developed a remarkable hand at resetting bones just to treat her playmates on the spot.
After speaking to Yao Shuanglan, Princess Longyi turned her fierce expression back to Sun Yan, who was biting her thumbnail in terror. “What are you still standing there in a daze for? Tomorrow morning, you’re going straight back to your fiefdom!”
Sun Yan stepped forward. Pressing one hand firmly against Princess Longyi’s shoulder, she grabbed the princess’s arm with the other, and with an effortless twist—
Crack!
The dislocated arm popped back into place. Sun Yan carefully rotated Princess Longyi’s arm and asked with concern, “Cousin, does it still hurt?”
Between the dislocation and the resetting, Princess Longyi was already in too much pain to speak.
“Think of it as your cousin begging you—just go home tomorrow morning, all right?” Princess Longyi wiped away the tears squeezed out by the pain and said to Sun Yan.
“Okay.” Like a child who had done something wrong, Sun Yan stepped aside obediently with her hands behind her back. She’d originally wanted to stay in the palace for a few more days, but not only was the Emperor a lecher3, but Yao-jiejie had also moved in to live with her cousin. The young couple had suffered for so many years to finally be together, and they’d surely be in deep, sweet intimacy. Standing between them would make her an incredibly awkward third wheel. “Once you’ve finished up with your palace business, hurry up and take Yao-jiejie home too.”
Yao Shuanglan blushed and exchanged a smile with Princess Longyi.
Once the pain in her arm subsided, Princess Longyi suddenly remembered she still didn’t know what had happened at Qianqing Palace. Why would her Imperial Brother suddenly make such a move? “Shuanglan, why did Imperial Brother suddenly restore your freedom?” She worried there might be a catch.
What if the Empress Dowager had told her Imperial Brother about her and Shuanglan, and he was deliberately setting a trap to test their relationship? Wouldn’t Shuanglan’s suggestion of moving into her palace play right into his hands, proving that the Empress Dowager’s claims weren’t entirely without foundation?
“The Emperor found the owner of the handkerchief,” Yao Shuanglan said with a faint smile. “He said he ran into the girl who helped him when they were children…” As she spoke, her expression suddenly shifted. The owner of the handkerchief the Emperor met today—Princess Longyi’s cousin had also entered the palace today, and years ago, that girl had falsely claimed to be Princess Longyi’s reading companion4!
“Dali-meimei?” The smile vanished from Yao Shuanglan’s face. Believing that “Sun Dali” was Sun Yan’s given name, she addressed her as such.
Princess Longyi also turned a shocked gaze toward Sun Yan. “The girl who helped Imperial Brother when they were little… it couldn’t have been you, could it?”
Had Sun Yan ever entered the palace as a child? She didn’t remember it at all.
Princess Longyi only remembered that her mother’s relationship with her maternal aunt had been terrible. The two sisters had never reconciled, even up to their deaths. Thus, even though she and Sun Yan both lived in the capital during their childhood, they rarely interacted, only meeting occasionally at their grandfather’s estate during festivals. Even then, their mothers maintained an awkward standoff—if one went, the other wouldn’t, and vice versa.
During her childhood visits to her grandfather’s house, she was always accompanied by palace maids and eunuchs, never by her imperial father or mother.
“Yeah. Why?” Sun Yan nodded.
Princess Longyi felt a massive headache coming on. The person her Imperial Brother had yearned for all these years was actually her cousin…
No wonder her Imperial Brother hadn’t been angry after being thrashed by this wench; he’d even thoughtfully sent over so many gifts. He clearly harbored ulterior motives!
“Go to bed early tonight. The moment the palace gates open tomorrow, get yourself home.” Being an imperial consort was no easy task. Princess Longyi looked with an aching heart at her incredibly luckless cousin and said,
Her Imperial Brother was a decent man—not only was he exceptionally handsome, but he was also gentle and magnanimous. Unfortunately, a man who held the position of the Son of Heaven was truly unfit to be a husband, especially since Dali was a wild girl who couldn’t be tied down.
Sun Yan kept pressing for answers, but neither Princess Longyi nor Yao Shuanglan had the heart to break this grim news to the child.
In Kunning Palace, Chun Yang wiped her tears and said, “Why did you have to do that, Your Highness?” To protect her maid’s life, the Empress had taken the blame for the assassination attempt on the Empress Dowager right in front of the Emperor. “It’s nothing if this slave-girl dies, but what if the Emperor pursues this and it harms you, Your Highness?”
Empress Zhu replied with a calm face, “That child Xin’er isn’t close to me. In this palace, you’re the only one this palace can truly speak to from the heart. If you die, this palace’s days will only be harder to bear.” Anyway, she didn’t have any hopes left for the Emperor. Rumors regarding Xin’er’s parentage were running rampant among the commoners, so the position of Heir Apparent would never go to Xin’er. If Chun Yang took the blame for assassinating the Empress Dowager, death was certain; but if the Empress admitted to it, there might still be a sliver of hope.
The Emperor was a sentimental and soft-hearted man. Even when Consort Shu had carried on with a fake eunuch, the Emperor hadn’t been able to bring himself to execute her; it was the Empress Dowager who had finally ordered Consort Shu’s death. Attempting to assassinate the Empress Dowager was indeed a capital crime, but she felt that no matter how submissive the Emperor appeared to the Empress Dowager on ordinary days, they weren’t mother and son by blood. The Emperor would punish her for the Empress Dowager’s sake, but he wouldn’t go so far as to kill her.
Between a stepmother and a first wife, who was closer? Naturally, the first wife.
“Stop crying. Do you think Kunning Palace isn’t cursed enough as it is?” Empress Zhu pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Chun Yang. “Even if we escape this ordeal, our life in the palace from now on will never compare to before. And if we can’t, it’s nothing. It’s all fate.”
Just then, a maid entered and announced, “Your Highness, the Empress Dowager has arrived.”
The corners of Empress Zhu’s mouth twitched. The Emperor might not have the heart to kill her, but the Empress Dowager certainly did. She had never been a thorough thinker; in her desperation to save Chun Yang earlier, she’d completely forgotten that the Emperor didn’t have the final say in this inner palace.
The Empress Dowager never visited Kunning Palace. In the past, if she had a matter to discuss, she’d send someone to summon her to Ning’an Palace. To come here in person today—what could it be for other than her life? Since she was going to die anyway, she didn’t even bother to go out to welcome her.
Wan Bi walked straight in with her entourage. Seeing the Empress sitting as still as a mountain on her chair, with not the slightest intention of bowing, she couldn’t help but chuckle. “So, you’ve decided to throw caution to the wind?”
“Would the Empress Dowager actually spare me?” Empress Zhu’s heart was already like cold ashes. If she died, so be it. Once she was gone, perhaps the Emperor would see how pitiful Xin’er was to lose his mother and treat the child better.
“If this bereaved one had truly wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have made this trip in person,” Wan Bi said, smiling as she looked at her. The position of Empress was much more reassuring to her if it was occupied by a simple-minded, foolish child like Empress Zhu. “You sent assassins to murder this bereaved one for the sake of the Lord State Uncle, didn’t you?”
Empress Zhu remained silent. She didn’t dare believe the Empress Dowager’s claim that she intended to spare her. She and her father had attempted to assassinate the Empress Dowager twice in succession; no human being could possibly let that go without retaliation.
“As for you, simply keep your place as Empress and stop seeking death. When Lord State Uncle Zhu eventually comes out of prison, he’ll have plenty of times when he needs your support, and that child Feng Xin can’t do without a mother. Everyone has moments of folly; this bereaved one will let you off this once.” Wan Bi picked up a teacup, peered at her reflection in the tea, and set it down without drinking.
Chun Yang gently nudged the Empress, signaling her mistress to quickly thank the Empress Dowager.
Empress Zhu wasn’t someone who didn’t fear death either. Seeing that the Empress Dowager’s words were both reasonable and sincere, she quickly knelt to offer her gratitude. “This subject-concubine knows her wrongs. Thank you, Empress Dowager, for sparing this subject-concubine’s life.”
Wan Bi glanced at the kneeling Empress and said indifferently, “This bereaved one won’t settle accounts with you for now, but that might not hold true in the future. Mind your actions! Just don’t force this bereaved one to dig up old scores.”
“This subject-concubine will keep Your Highness’s teachings engraved in her heart.” Empress Zhu kowtowed deeply to Wan Bi. Previously, when she paid respects to the Empress Dowager, she’d done so begrudgingly, with outward compliance but inward defiance. At this moment, however, her gratitude was genuine. When the Emperor came this morning to demand answers, he’d told her that her father, Lord State Uncle Zhu, hadn’t been severely punished because of the Empress Dowager’s decree. After she confessed, the Emperor was so furious he cursed her for returning kindness with enmity.
Empress Zhu pressed her forehead tight against the floor, shedding two streams of remorseful tears.
Wan Bi didn’t want to linger in Kunning Palace. After leaving her warnings with the Empress, she departed with her attendants. She might overlook the Empress’s attempt on her life for the sake of long-term interests, but it was impossible for her not to hold a grudge. She wasn’t that big-hearted.
Advising the Emperor to send Feng Xin to the Southern Frontier5, separating mother and son, was her retaliation against Empress Zhu.
Yet, she’d only been away from her palace for a short while, and she was already starting to miss Yao Xi.
She just wondered what the wench had painted her like. With Yao Xi’s love of fawning, she’d surely paint her with exaggerated beauty! Wan Bi lowered her head and smiled sweetly.
Footnotes
- A 'fèngdì' (封地) is a fiefdom or estate granted to members of the imperial family or nobility, providing them with independent revenue and a private residence outside the capital.
- The 'Duānwǔ jiélǐ' (端午节礼) refers to gifts exchanged during the Dragon Boat Festival, celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month with zongzi and boat races.
- A 'sèpēizi' (色胚子) is a derogatory Chinese colloquial term for a lecher, pervert, or lustful scoundrel, combining 'color/lust' with 'embryo/unformed person'.
- A 'bàndú' (伴读) was a reading companion or study partner, typically chosen from noble families to study alongside imperial princes or princesses.
- The 'Nánjiāng' (南疆), or Southern Frontier, is a rugged and remote border region controlled by Prince Xiu, often used as a place of exile for disgraced officials.
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