Chapter 129: The Emperor's Suspicion

Lin Miaomiao did not know why, but seeing the pale face of Imperial Noble Consort Xianrou, Yuan Chuxia, made her feel uneasy.

Emperor Yongchang and Yuan Chuxia sat on the dais. After Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe finished their kowtows, they were permitted to leave the palace. Before departing, Lin Miaomiao glanced back at Yuan Chuxia, who offered a gentle, elegant smile. As Yuan Chuxia waved at them, Lin Miaomiao felt a pang of sorrow; the moment the waving stopped, the consort pressed a handkerchief to her mouth and began to cough violently.

Lin Miaomiao stole a look at Li Yanhe, whose lips were curled into a bitter smile. She knew that smile held far too much meaning.

As they exited the consort’s palace, they encountered Crown Prince Li Hanwen at a corner. The Crown Prince was no longer his former self—that elegant, refined gentleman. Now, he appeared to be struggling. He looked at Lin Miaomiao and said, "I have long heard of your benevolence, Princess. Things are not well with my fourth brother; would you be willing to visit him on my behalf?"

Hearing this, Li Yanhe instinctively pulled Lin Miaomiao behind him, casting a cold glare at the Crown Prince.

Lin Miaomiao patted Li Yanhe’s shoulder and said, "It makes no difference to me. If you wish for me to go, I will go." She offered a beautiful, curved smile and added, "I, too, wish to do something for the Fourth Prince." After bowing to the Crown Prince, she said, "Your Highness, please take care of yourself."

The Crown Prince returned her bow, and Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe left one after the other. The sky was grey, and the biting winter cold had covered Beijing in frost; standing still for too long left a layer of white ice on one’s hair. The Crown Prince stood there for a long time, watched by his wife, Princess Consort Hu, who wondered what he was thinking.

After a long while, the Crown Prince wore a faint, enigmatic smile as the sky began to brighten and the sun rose. "Strategizing from within, yet hiding one's edge," he murmured, before casting a sinister look toward Li Yanhe’s departing form.

After leaving the palace, Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe took a carriage to the Fourth Prince’s residence, where the Fourth Prince, Li Deren, was under house arrest. Upon entering, they found a palace servant mocking the dying prince. They stood there unnoticed for a long time until the eunuch finished his tirade and barked at Li Deren, "Get up and eat your meal!"

The attendants present saw the icy expression on Prince Shengxuan’s face, and his Princess looked no different. As the eunuch turned, he caught sight of them. Having spent so much time with Li Yanhe, Lin Miaomiao had adopted his cold demeanor, her beautiful face now etched with a chilling frost.

"You are truly bold. I know not who incited you to humiliate a prince so. Even if the Fourth Prince has erred, he is not for the likes of you lowly slaves to insult and abuse," Lin Miaomiao said, her voice clear and indifferent. "I do not know what you take the Imperial family for, nor do I know what you consider the Heavens to be."

Li Deren, hearing her voice, slowly drifted back to consciousness and looked up at her.

Lin Miaomiao had already sent for a physician. As Li Deren weakly sat up, she smiled beautifully and said, "If you can sit up, it seems you are not beyond saving." While she directed her attendants to care for the prince, Li Yanhe stared coldly at his guards and commanded, "Why are you still standing there? Drag them out and beat them to death."

News of their visit reached Emperor Yongchang, who looked at the frail, trembling Yuan Chuxia, whose health was failing rapidly. The Duke of Zhen, a prestigious clan, had been wiped out overnight, leaving not a single woman or child behind. Princess Li Anyi had divorced her husband, and upon learning of her adopted daughter’s plight, Yuan Chuxia had vomited blood and fainted.

Lying on her sickbed, Yuan Chuxia listened to the Emperor speaking with the imperial physicians, a cynical smile on her lips. "Cease your pretense," she said to the Emperor. "By what right do you treat my son and daughter this way?" Her voice was hoarse from illness, and she swayed as she forced herself to sit upright.

The Emperor lowered his gaze in silence. Tears streamed down Yuan Chuxia’s face. "Enough. My life is nearing its end; let us part ways with dignity."

The Emperor’s eyes widened in rage. "I do not permit you to die. Even the King of Hell shall not take you."

Yuan Chuxia heaved a heavy sigh that pained the Emperor’s heart. "Chuxia, have I not been good to you? Since the Empress passed, there has been no other Empress, only you. For all these years, my harem has been sparse. Have I not been good to you? Why do you always wish to leave me?"

Yuan Chuxia looked up. "The youth I loved is gone, so there is no reason for me to remain."

The Emperor replied, "If you die, your son will never leave the capital. Furthermore, when I am gone, I intend to pass the throne to him."

Yuan Chuxia offered a mocking smile. "Can you truly bring yourself to do it?"

The Emperor’s composure finally broke, and he swept out of the room. Just as Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhe had left, news arrived that they had visited the Fourth Prince. Yuan Chuxia licked her pale lips and said, "What is it? Do you wish to say my son can no longer suppress his ambition and seeks the throne?"

The Emperor remained silent. Yuan Chuxia sneered, "Speak if you must. Who forced you to forbid him from leaving the capital? If this city descends into chaos, do not blame him. He is a prince with a fiefdom; it is only his father who refuses to honor his promises." She picked up a teacup, took a sip, and smashed it against the table.

The news of the Emperor’s retreat from the Consort’s chambers spread, and everyone knew he had been rebuffed. Bai Qiu, who followed the Emperor, trembled, not daring to utter a word.

When the Emperor opened the door to the study, he found Li Zheng sitting there lazily. "Well?" the Emperor asked curiously. "Has the matter of the Duke of Zhen’s residence been settled?"

Li Zheng waved his hand dismissively. "To resolve it cleanly and thoroughly, the Duke of Zhen alone is not enough." He looked at the Emperor. "Which of those noble clans is not involved? They all covet the merit of supporting a future emperor to ensure their family’s glory. How could it be just the Duke of Zhen?"

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. Li Zheng continued, "If you act, the Crown Prince’s position will likely be lost."

"He is my son," the Emperor countered. "How could he not be interested in this position?"

"He has no interest," Li Zheng replied. "Compared to being Emperor, a feudal lord enjoys far greater freedom. Compared to Your Majesty’s suspicion, being an idle prince is much easier. He has a wife and children now; he has a home of his own."

The Emperor glared. "How do you know this?"

"Some days ago, General Yuan Sihan entered the palace. Imperial Noble Consort Xianrou gave the general her token, and the general subsequently gave it to the Second Prince."

The Emperor’s voice turned hoarse. "You mean to say the token for the hundred thousand troops is no longer in Chuxia’s hands?"

Li Zheng nodded. "It changed hands the moment Concubine Cao harassed Lin Miaomiao."

It was true. Lin Miaomiao’s palace visit that day had been too coincidental, and Li Yanhe, who usually doted on his wife, had been absent from her side. The Emperor’s eyes narrowed, his rage reaching a breaking point. Li Zheng sighed and departed.

That night, the Emperor visited the daughter sent by the Grand Secretary—the niece of the late Empress and the Crown Prince’s maternal kin. By doing so, the Emperor gave the Crown Prince’s faction a chance to breathe. The woman was granted the title of Lady Sun. This move struck a blow to the Seventh Prince’s faction.

Crown Prince Li Hanwen breathed a sigh of relief in the Eastern Palace, and his agents secretly infiltrated the Fourth Prince’s residence. Seeing the eunuchs sent by the Crown Prince, Li Deren knew the Crown Prince had recovered, and he, too, breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Miaomiao sent Nanny Zhao with silver to the Fourth Prince; looking at the gift, Li Deren silently mouthed, "Thank you."