Chapter 1: Wang Baochuan Died

“Empress, the Emperor said he has matters to discuss with the West Palace Empress regarding the military preparedness of the capital, so he won’t be coming.”

The palace maid, Furong, bowed respectfully and offered her greetings.

“Leave.” Wang Baochuan slumped onto the couch, she was used to it.

Since she was crowned Empress, the Emperor had only spent the first two nights in her palace. After that, he always had various excuses for not visiting her.

He was either busy with state affairs in the Imperial Study, or summoning court officials, and when he had free time, he would go to the West Palace Empress to have dinner with her.

He said Dai Zhan was from Xiliang and was not used to the climate and environment of the Central Plains, and that she had no relatives in the palace, so he had to take extra care of her.

Wang Baochuan chuckled bitterly. Dai Zhan had no relatives? She had a son and a daughter to keep her company, while she was the one who had nothing.

She touched her belly and walked dejectedly to the dressing table. She stroked her rough hands, calloused from years of labor, and looked at her aged and yellowed face in the bronze mirror.

Eighteen years, she was only in her early thirties, but she looked at least ten years older than Dai Zhan.

Because she had lived in a cave for many years, dark and damp, and because she had not recovered well from her miscarriage, her lower back ached terribly on rainy days.  She also ate mostly wild vegetables, her body was weak and unable to absorb nutrients.  If she ate too much greasy or meaty food, she would vomit uncontrollably.

Everyone around her advised her to be content. Xue Pinggui was a rare gem, and even after becoming Emperor, he had not abandoned her, his wife from humble beginnings.

They didn’t think about the fact that she was just the daughter of a traitor, her background was not as good as the Xiliang princess.  Moreover, one of the three unfilial acts was to have no heir.  She had no children to rely on, and the Emperor didn’t even dislike her, he was already very kind.

She thought back to that night, when the Emperor shared a bed with her.  Her hand brushed against his back, and he clearly showed a look of disgust and said, “Why are your hands so rough!”

Wang Baochuan’s tears flowed uncontrollably.  When he was wearing coarse cloth and linen, pressing down on her, she only felt sorry for him for his hardships.  But now…

The red candles burned brightly, and she didn’t sleep all night.

At dawn, Wang Baochuan got up and wanted to change clothes and go to greet her father and mother, but she remembered that they had already moved out of the palace.

Her father, as the Prime Minister, held the highest position in the court, yet he had to kneel and crawl into the hall in front of his colleagues…  He was once a successful scholar, who rode his horse to Chang’an, a man of literary spirit!

It was ridiculous.

If she hadn’t insisted on marrying Xue Pinggui, she wouldn’t have ended up like this!

“Your Majesty, I heard that yesterday the Ministry of Justice investigated several murders in the suburbs, and the Minister who was investigated was a student of your father.”

“He… he insisted that he killed those people for your father…” Furong stammered.

They say that when a wall falls, everyone pushes it.  But in the past ten days, court officials have been impeaching the former Prime Minister, Wang Yun, with new charges every day.

Wang Baochuan’s heart skipped a beat.  She knew her father, and his involvement in Wei Hu’s rebellion was a moment of confusion.  As for saying that he killed people indiscriminately, she didn’t believe it.

But at this point, some things were not about whether she believed it or not, but about the Emperor’s opinion.

When she arrived at the West Palace, Xue Pinggui and Dai Zhan were still asleep.  She quietly waited in the hall.

She had no choice but to ask Xue Pinggui to spare her father.

“Empress? Just tell her that I’m not feeling well and ask her to go back!”

Xue Pinggui’s angry voice came from the inner chamber.

“I shouldn’t have been so soft-hearted back then.  The Wang family committed treason, they should have been executed along with their entire family!”

“Your Majesty, don’t be angry.” Dai Zhan comforted him in a soft voice.

Wang Baochuan held back her tears, her legs felt weak.  She saw a scene from the Golden Hall in her mind, her mother and elder sister entered the hall, they had to kneel three times and kowtow nine times, shouting “Long live the Emperor.”

But when Dai Zhan’s mother entered the hall, Xue Pinggui quickly got up to greet her, unwilling to let Dai Zhan’s mother perform the ceremony.

Wang Baochuan sighed deeply.  Thinking about it, she had been eating not wild vegetables for the past eighteen years, but water in her brain.

On the seventeenth day after becoming Empress, Wang Baochuan heard that her father and mother had been sent to Luozhou by the Emperor under the guise of providing for them.

The beggars from Wujiapo had also been sent out of the capital.

It seemed that Xue Pinggui was going to say goodbye to his former impoverished life.  But what would he do with her, his Empress?  Would he confine her to the Cold Palace?

At dinner, Furong brought her a bowl of Osmanthus Lotus Seed Soup, saying that the Emperor knew she had no appetite these days and had made it himself.

“The Emperor also said that he would accompany you to the Imperial Garden to watch the lanterns later.” Furong smiled at Wang Baochuan, while helping her massage her shoulders, she said enviously, “It’s clear that the Emperor cares most about you, Your Majesty.”

“You little girl, you have a sweet mouth.” Wang Baochuan drank a bowl of soup with a worried expression, the sweetness made her feel a little better.

She waited until late at night before Xue Pinggui, smelling of alcohol, arrived.

The night was as cold as water, the autumn wind was biting and cold.  Wang Baochuan was only wearing thin clothes, and as soon as she entered the Imperial Garden, she felt dizzy and her bones were cold.  She wanted to go back to rest, but Xue Pinggui refused, saying that it was rare to have such a good mood, and he wanted to accompany her to watch the lanterns all night.

She had no choice but to instruct Furong to get her a cloak.  Furong agreed and left.

The Imperial Garden was unusually quiet, only the sound of the cold wind could be heard.  The flickering lights in the distance seemed like stars.

Xue Pinggui talked about many things from the past, and when he talked about Xiliang, his eyes were gentle, and his whole person was enveloped in a warm glow.

“Your Majesty, it’s getting late and the dew is heavy, let’s go back.” She hugged her shoulders tightly, wondering why Furong had been gone for an hour and still hadn’t returned with a cloak.

Xue Pinggui seemed not to hear her, and she repeated it again.

Xue Pinggui looked at her coldly, “This is still considered cold?  When I was in the army, I had to stand guard in the cold winter, the snow was half a man’s height!”

“Your Majesty has suffered.” Wang Baochuan shivered, her speech was slurred.

“So you think your days of hardship in the cold cave were difficult, I was fighting wars outside, I wasn’t enjoying myself either, it was all about risking my life.”

Wang Baochuan didn’t know why he was talking about these things, was he trying to say that he had suffered too, so it was only natural for her to suffer in the cold cave?

But she was too cold, her consciousness was becoming blurry.

Thump!

Her legs gave way, and she slid into the lake from the water pavilion.

As she was submerged in the water, she looked into Xue Pinggui’s eyes with complete clarity.

Xue Pinggui watched calmly as she fell into the lake, his eyes were calm, even with a hint of relief.

“Someone! The Empress has fallen into the water!”

After a stick of incense, Xue Pinggui jumped into the water regardless of the cold and rescued her.

Everyone said that the Emperor loved the Empress deeply, but unfortunately, the Empress was unlucky and died after only being Empress for eighteen days.

But she knew that after drinking the lotus seed soup that night, she felt unwell and her consciousness was blurry.  Coincidentally, Xue Pinggui took her to watch the lanterns along the water pavilion, her death was no accident.