Your Majesty is Poisonous – Chapter 145

The Empress Dowager Refuses

Emperor Ming Cheng could not believe what he was hearing. Furious, he raised his hand and slapped Feng Zhen hard across the face, snarling, “What leverage does Meng Delai hold over you? You would rather ruin your own reputation and cost someone their life than tell Us?”

This was the first time he had ever struck Feng Zhen. He himself had never known a father’s love from the Late Emperor, and after having children, he had tried his utmost to be a good father. The Late Emperor had been a stern man with many children; in his childhood, Ming Cheng had been either ignored or beaten. Not wanting his own children to suffer as he had, he had always treated them with leniency and warmth.

            

Who could have known he would turn out worse than the Late Emperor. Strict fathers produce filial sons, kind fathers produce spoiled children¹. This girl Feng Zhen’s mother had also died early, and with no one to guide her, she had become the girl standing before him now.

Feng Zhen sobbed, “Eunuch Meng said that if I did not do as he said, when the time came for me to depart for marriage², the Directorate of Ceremonial would never put forward a worthy match. Among Your Majesty’s own sisters, there were quite a few people whose lives were ruined by the previous Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. Zhen’er was truly afraid. And worse—if I offended Eunuch Meng, whether I would even live to see my wedding day was uncertain…”

“Utterly outrageous!” Emperor Ming Cheng’s fury shifted from Feng Zhen to the mastermind, Meng Delai. The Late Emperor had hardly been a good father—he had not even been a good emperor. The eunuch faction’s power in the previous reign had been far greater than it was now. Wan Bi’s maternal family had been destroyed by the eunuch faction, and it was indeed true that the Directorate of Ceremonial back then had taken bribes to let men of no virtue, no talent, and no looks marry a princess³. “Do you truly believe We would be like the Late Emperor, paying no heed to your marriage and believing whatever those slaves say?”

            

Feng Zhen shook her head, weeping bitterly. She did not know whether her Imperial Father still cared about her, or how much the false eunuch incident would affect her.

“Reflect on yourself. We will deal with you after We have handled Meng Delai!” Having said this, Emperor Ming Cheng looked at Yao Xi beside them and said to Wan Bi, “Your Highness, in this matter with Zhen’er, Yao Xi may have been wrongfully accused, but she raised a hand gun and threatened Us in public. We cannot let that go unpunished.”

Wan Bi shot Emperor Ming Cheng a cold glance. “She threatened His Majesty out of desperation. Was she supposed to stand there and wait to die when she knew she had been framed? Besides—which wounds Your Majesty’s pride more: that you were threatened, or that Princess Zhen was molested? Yao Xi fought with her life to give Your Majesty the truth and prove Feng Zhen’s innocence. You would punish her rather than reward her?”

            

Emperor Ming Cheng gazed at Yao Xi’s small, pitiful figure—even he felt pity seeing her⁴—and after a moment said, “Fine. Then you may reward her on Our behalf. We must go back and deal with that dog slave Meng Delai. We trouble you, Empress Dowager, to give Zhen’er a proper talking-to—she is a foolish girl.”

“Disciplining one’s daughter is the Emperor’s family business. How could this bereaved one, an outsider, presume to interfere?” Wan Bi gently took Yao Xi’s hand and said, “Meng Delai should be at Qianqing Palace by now, and Cao Yue is there as well. After you arrest him, do not be in a hurry to pass judgment. Come to this bereaved one’s palace first—there is something this bereaved one wishes to discuss with you.”

Emperor Ming Cheng knew Wan Bi was truly angry. He had nearly put her most devoted servant to death on a false charge—not to mention his remark that Wan Bi was, after all, not a Feng by blood. He knew in his heart how Wan Bi had treated him over the years; otherwise he could never have turned a blind eye to the things she did behind his back. But he had too much on his plate right now and was in no mood to placate her. He promised to call at her palace, then strode out the door toward Qianqing Palace.

            

Wan Bi could not be bothered to settle accounts with Feng Zhen just now—she only wanted to get Yao Xi back and treat the injuries on her arms. As for Feng Zhen, there would be plenty of time. Dealing with an ignorant young girl would be simple enough. Thank heaven Yao Xi had brought the hand gun today and been able to stall for time until Wan Bi arrived—otherwise the consequences would have been unthinkable.

“Were you frightened just now?” Wan Bi sat in the horse carriage, holding Yao Xi’s small hand with aching tenderness. She kept her eyes on Yao Xi the whole time she spoke—her girl, dressed as a young woman, was so beautiful it was impossible to look away.

Yao Xi shook her head. Back when she had first transferred from the Bureau of Imperial Gardens to Ning’an Palace, she had had no shortage of frightening days—after enough scares, her nerve had grown thick. “I’m not afraid of dying. I’m just afraid of dying before I could explain everything, afraid you’d think I really did something to Princess Zhen. If you were heartbroken and I wasn’t there, I couldn’t even comfort you.”

            

“If something happened to you, then this bereaved one would be heartbroken,” Wan Bi said, still shaken. “Don’t go outside the palace anymore. If you must go, this bereaved one will go with you.” After one incident after another, she could no longer bear to let Yao Xi out of her sight—not even with an escort.

Yao Xi nodded obediently. She remembered the Empress Dowager mentioning that the eunuch who had rushed back to report had been badly injured, and she guessed it must be Meng Li’an. She had assumed the Eastern Depot agents had seized the carriage while Meng Li’an was away buying things, never expecting he had actually fought them. “By the way, Your Highness—the eunuch who was injured but still hurried back to report, is he a short young fellow?”

“Mm.” Wan Bi saw the worry on Yao Xi’s face and reassured her. “Don’t worry, an imperial physician has already been summoned. What about you? Aside from your arms, are you hurt anywhere else?”

            

“No. The red marks on my arms aren’t injuries, just bruises from the ropes.” Yao Xi lifted her sleeve and dabbed the sweat from the Empress Dowager’s forehead, saying guiltily, “I’m sorry for making you worry again.”

Wan Bi caught Yao Xi’s hand and gently pulled her into an embrace. “Once we’re back, this bereaved one has something to tell you.”

Yao Xi saw the gravity in the Empress Dowager’s expression and could not help feeling anxious. What was it? Good news or bad?

            

After returning to the palace, Wan Bi first applied medicine to Yao Xi’s bruises, then led her to the study to sit and talk.

“After you told this bereaved one you were Sun Xibao, this bereaved one sent people to investigate the Sun family. Don’t be angry—this bereaved one did not doubt you, but wanted to understand you as fully as possible.” Wan Bi looked into Yao Xi’s eyes, her tone measured and calm.

She did not want to mention that Sun Ergou had been brought to the palace. However poorly Sun Ergou had treated Yao Xi, he had still lived under the same roof with her for over ten years—he was “family.” If Yao Xi learned that Wan Bi had killed him, she might be angry.

            

Yao Xi nodded understandingly. Her Highness was cautious by nature; wanting to look into her background was perfectly reasonable. She had hidden so many things from Her Highness at the start—her gender, her identity—and Her Highness had never been angry about any of it. She had been more than lenient.

“Dear girl. You were actually a child the Sun family took in over ten years ago. This bereaved one did not dare tell you until this bereaved one had found your biological parents.” Wan Bi watched Yao Xi’s expression carefully, afraid the child would not be able to accept it all at once. According to Sun Ergou, the Sun parents had treated Yao Xi well enough. The kindness of giving birth could not compare to the kindness of raising—Yao Xi surely regarded the elder Suns as her true parents in her heart.

“…” Yao Xi was at a loss for words. “Your Highness means—you’ve found my biological parents?” Strictly speaking, Sun Xibao’s biological parents—the mother and father who had given her life were hundreds of years in the future!

            

Wan Bi rose, took the paintings she had previously shown Yao Xi from the shelf, and handed them to her. “The house from your dreams truly exists. This bereaved one suspected the images in your dreams were childhood memories, and since the Sun family lived near the capital, this bereaved one had every household in the capital with a giant banyan tree recorded. In the end, nearly twenty houses and over two hundred paintings—even after this bereaved one shuffled their order, you still picked out the paintings of the same house by instinct at a glance.”

Yao Xi suddenly grew tense. When she had learned she was not the Suns’ biological child, she had not been particularly moved. The Sun parents were both gone—what did it matter whether she was their birth daughter or not? But Her Highness said she had found Sun Xibao’s biological parents… Was she going to have a family? In this time, in this world?

“That house is the ancestral home of Yao Hezheng. This bereaved one asked Jieyu Lan about it. Yao Xian had a twin sister who was kidnapped by a wicked servant of the household over ten years ago. That red mark on you—according to Jieyu Lan, it was from a burn when you were two years old, scalded by a careless maid adding hot water to your bath.”

            

Speaking of Yao Xi’s kidnapping, Wan Bi felt a pang of sorrow. That year, the servant’s family had met with misfortune and needed a large sum of silver, so he had begged Yao Hezheng for help. But Yao Hezheng was an honest official whose modest annual salary barely covered the household expenses—where would he have spare savings? Yao Hezheng had promised the servant he would try to find a way, but the servant assumed Yao Hezheng was simply stingy and refusing to save him. In a rage, he kidnapped the second young miss, Yao Shuangzhu. Of the three Yao children that year, Yao Shuanglan was in the palace serving as Longyi’s reading companion, and Yao Xian had already started his schooling at a private academy. The only one within reach was Yao Xi—this unlucky child.

“The Yao family?” Yao Xi murmured, stunned. When Jieyu Lan had mistaken her for Yao Xian and shown her every kindness, she had countless times wished for a sister like the Jieyu. But now that Her Highness was actually telling her she was a daughter of the Yao family, her shock far outweighed her joy.

Aside from Jieyu Lan, Lord Yao’s entire family was utterly unfamiliar to her. She was not truly Sun Xibao; she did not feel that blood-is-thicker-than-water bond with the Yao family. Most importantly, if she acknowledged her connection to the Yao family, would it affect her relationship with the Empress Dowager? Whether in court or among the common people, the Empress Dowager’s reputation was dreadful. She had heard that Lord Yao was an upright, honest official who served the nation and its people—would he truly not mind his daughter serving at the side of the Demon Empress, branded a “scourge upon the nation and its people”?

            

“Why so quiet?” Wan Bi was somewhat worried. Yao Xi did not seem happy after learning who her biological parents were.

“If. I mean, what if.” Yao Xi looked at the Empress Dowager. “What if Lord Yao, after learning I am his daughter, does not want me to stay by your side? A parent’s wishes cannot be defied…”

Wan Bi’s lips drooped. She had indeed worried that Yao Xi might leave her to reunite with her family, living at the Yao residence and only coming to the palace to visit now and then. She could not endure such a life—she could not bear to be apart from Yao Xi for even a moment.

            

“But if I were to defy my parents’ wishes and insist on staying in the palace, would you think me unfilial?” Yao Xi asked cautiously.

“You silly girl!” Wan Bi had been frightened half to death. Moved, she pulled Yao Xi into her arms and said, “No one will ever take you from this bereaved one’s side.”

A palace maid called from far outside the main hall: “Your Highness, His Majesty has arrived.”

            

Wan Bi straightened the hairpins in Yao Xi’s hair and said gently, “This bereaved one has matters to discuss with His Majesty. Go to Longyi’s side and keep your jiejie company for a chat. But don’t go far!”

“I want to go see that injured eunuch first. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have been hurt.” Yao Xi said guiltily.

“Go on! He’s in the duty room where you used to live.”

            

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