Chapter 1693: Chapter 1693: Clemency

Aunt Wu was relieved when she heard this, and nodded. "Rest assured, Doctor Shao, I will give the Empress her medicine every day."

The Empress, however, asked about the war in the Northwest. "Has the Northwest been held? No more cities lost?"

Doctor Shao nodded and smiled. "In answer to Your Ladyship, our Great Chu has produced a gifted general, who took the head of the Rong bandits’ great commander and held Xing’an Prefecture. Now our army is confronting the Rong bandits’ Heavenly Khan in Long’an Prefecture. Not only has the Heavenly Khan failed to gain any advantage, he has been beaten quite badly by us."

These words, too, were spoken at Emperor Jingyuan’s behest... Doctor Shao thought the Emperor surely wished more than anyone to share the joy of victory with the Empress.

He then pointed at the medicine chest. "This Insect Attractant was made by that hero’s wife, and Hero Qin and his wife are newly married—husband and wife went together to the Northwest to serve the court with loyalty."

"So they’re a truly extraordinary couple." A faint smile of longing actually appeared on the Empress’s pale face. "Advancing hand in hand, never abandoning each other—that is truly wonderful."

Princess Consort Yi was stunned. This was the first time since she entered the palace that she had seen the Empress smile... On that pallid, sickly face, because of that one smile, a radiance appeared. One could imagine what a figure of bright grace and clear virtue the Empress must have been in her youth.

Rumble!

It was summer, the weather fickle. Just before, the sky had been clear; now sudden thunder boomed, and the whole sky darkened.

"Waa—uuuh, Liang-qin, save me!" The Eighth Prince was scared into bawling by the crash of thunder and hurriedly dashed toward the guest hall.

He was extremely clever. While playing in the courtyard he had seen Princess Consort Yi and the others enter this guest hall; now he ran straight in, quickly found her, and flung himself at her. "Monster monster, want eat Daddy."

"Brother Dun, don’t be afraid, it’s only thunder, there are no monsters, they won’t eat you." Princess Consort Yi soothed the Eighth Prince, then hurried to look at the Empress.

Seeing the Empress staring at the Eighth Prince with a look of surprise, her brows knit into the character "川," she was frightened and hastily knelt. "Please quell your anger, Your Ladyship. There is a poisonous insect disease raging in the Capital, and this concubine could not rest easy about the Eighth Prince, so I took the liberty of bringing him here... Originally I left him in the courtyard to play, but I did not foresee meeting thunder and rain. I beg the Empress’s forgiveness."

The Eighth Prince was still crying loudly. "Uuuh uuuh, want eat Daddy!"

His voice was as loud as the thunder. Princess Consort Yi hurried to comfort him again, saw the Empress’s face dark as she watched, and kept apologizing. "Please forgive me, Your Ladyship. It is this concubine’s fault, letting the Eighth Prince disturb Your Ladyship’s peace."

The Empress suddenly laughed. "Since when did my reputation in the palace become so frightening?"

Princess Consort Yi quickly said, "Your Ladyship has always been kind and benevolent—it is this concubine who does not know how to speak..."

It was not the Empress she feared; it was Emperor Jingyuan!

Though Emperor Jingyuan treated the Empress coldly, he would not allow anyone else to bully her. The Empress was already ill—if, because of the commotion caused by mother and son, her condition worsened, Emperor Jingyuan would certainly fly into a rage.

Everyone said she was favored, that in the palace she could still live out a normal husband-and-wife life with Emperor Jingyuan. But Princess Consort Yi knew very clearly—the person in Emperor Jingyuan’s heart was the Empress, and had always been the Empress... In his nightmares, he would call out "Shaohua."

At first she did not understand; only later did she know that Shaohua was the Empress’s childhood name.

"Liang, Liang, hold me, uuuh uuuh!" The Eighth Prince, seeing Princess Consort Yi busy talking to the Empress instead of comforting him, cried even harder.

The Empress’s head ached from his crying. "Go and soothe him first."

"Yes." Princess Consort Yi started for a moment, then quickly took the Eighth Prince in her arms and coaxed him.

But outside the thunder kept rolling. The Eighth Prince was badly frightened; nothing could calm him.

There was no choice but to carry him to a side hall and soothe him there. In the end, he cried himself out and fell asleep.

Because of the heavy rain, Princess Consort Yi and her party were trapped in the Empress’s palace. By the time the Eighth Prince woke, the downpour still had not stopped.

"Splash splash, splash splash!" The Eighth Prince was excited at the sight of the heavy rain, shook off the palace maid’s restraining hand, and wanted to run out to play in it, but with another crash of thunder he was terrified and hurriedly ran back toward the hall.

In his panic, he ran straight into the Empress’s bedchamber.

He saw the Empress half-reclining on the soft couch, covered with a fur blanket, widened his eyes, pointed at her, and said, "Bad bad!"

The Empress had a moment of daze. Back when Brother Yuan was this age, he also could not speak clearly, and then the two of them, husband and wife, had taught him again and again: "You really are full of spirit~"

"Raa raa raa!" The Eighth Prince thought she was a bad person, making Princess Consort Yi kneel to her all the time, and he shouted at her in anger, putting on a ferocious look.

"Brother Dun, hold your tongue. You must not be disrespectful to the Empress." Princess Consort Yi came searching with the palace maids, and was badly frightened by what she saw.

"Bad bad!" The Eighth Prince pointed at the Empress and shouted to Princess Consort Yi, which made her so angry she rushed over and gave his bottom a few swats. But fearing he would cry loudly and disturb the Empress, the hand she had raised high did not dare to fall.

The Empress said, "Don’t beat him... he’s quite fine... bring him over for me to take a look."

At those words, Princess Consort Yi was clearly terrified.

The Empress was a clever woman. Seeing this, she gave a bitter little smile. "Don’t worry. I will not raise him and force mother and son apart."

She had only thought of Brother Yuan. In this life she acknowledged only the child that came from her own womb; no matter how good another’s child might be, she would not raise him. Besides, she would not live much longer, and she did not wish to be drawn again into the matter of choosing an heir.

Princess Consort Yi said, "Please forgive me, Your Ladyship, it is this concubine’s fault..."

The Empress waved her hand, cutting her off. "You are not at fault; you’ve done quite well... The rain has eased—you may go. I am tired."

"Yes, this concubine takes her leave." Princess Consort Yi hurriedly left with the Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince was a mischievous child. Before leaving, he still pointed at the Empress and howled, "Bad bad, eat Empress Liang!"

Princess Consort Yi quickened her pace; as soon as she stepped out of the Empress’s bedchamber she clapped a hand over the Eighth Prince’s mouth. How could this wretched child be so lacking in sense? If Emperor Jingyuan were to find out, the future fate of mother and son would likely be grim.

Back in her own quarters, Princess Consort Yi was ill at ease, fearing Emperor Jingyuan would become angry at them because of this.

And the events in the Empress’s palace soon reached Emperor Jingyuan’s ears.

Emperor Jingyuan was greatly astonished... Shaohua had actually smiled, and had said such words.

"Advancing hand in hand, never abandoning each other"—back then, they too had once sworn such oaths.

But however many vows among the mountains and seas, all had been destroyed by the Rong bandits!

He could face other women, yet he could not face her... He did not wish to stain her, nor did he wish her, after learning the truth, to look down on him.

"...This time the Empress has contracted a febrile illness, and her body has been further depleted. But if she is carefully nursed, even though her lifespan will be somewhat shortened, she will not pass away too early." Doctor Shao spoke tremblingly, afraid that some turn of phrase might provoke Emperor Jingyuan to fury.

This Emperor bore very much the stamp of Emperor Jingwu: he loved killing, and sometimes would kill without any reason at all. Inside and outside the palace, none dared not fear him.

Emperor Jingyuan already knew that the Empress’s life would not be long, yet hearing these words, he still felt great pain. "Tell Mrs. Wu to take good care of the Empress. As long as the Empress keeps living well, Min Shu can continue living comfortably at Yuanzi Pharmacy."

Otherwise, even if Min Shu had done no wrong, he would still make Min Shu’s life worse than death.

He added, "So long as she can extend the Empress’s lifespan, it is not impossible for me to show leniency to Min Shu."

These words were spoken for the Chief Eunuch to hear. The Chief Eunuch answered, "Yes, this old slave will inform Mrs. Wu."

Emperor Jingyuan asked again, "How has Yuanzi Pharmacy been doing these past few years?"

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