Chapter 16: The Empress Really Doesn’t Put the Emperor in Her Eyes

“Mm!”

Zhu Jun’an clung to his aunt’s neck, obediently leaning against her chest.

His tear-swollen eyes looked toward his father, Zhu Xuanyuan. He blinked once, then secretly tattled to his aunt.

“Daddy’s bad!”

Then, turning to see Madam Zhu, he added, “Grandmother’s bad too!”

And then he glanced at Second Uncle Zhu Longyuan, Fourth Uncle Zhu Chunjun, and Little Uncle Zhu Chengying. “Second Uncle bad! Fourth Uncle bad! Little Uncle bad!”

That soft little milky voice, trying to sound fierce while declaring everyone bad, made the entire hall burst into laughter.

Zhu Wuhuan couldn’t help laughing either.

She pinched the little one’s cheek. “So everyone’s bad? In our little Jun’an’s eyes, there isn’t a single good person in this room?”

Zhu Jun’an’s face was full of grievance. “They told Mama to leave! Mama wouldn’t leave! Mama cried! I cried too! But they didn’t listen. They wouldn’t listen! They tried to make Mama leave!”

Hearing the innocent words of the child, no one in the hall could laugh anymore.

Earlier, had they really tried to drive Chen Yulan away?

No—they only wanted to save her, to have her return to her family and find a way to live.

But in the eyes of a child, it was just his mother crying and refusing to go, while everyone else pressed her to leave—so everyone was bad.

As the mother, Chen Yulan couldn’t help turning her head, tears streaming from her eyes.

Zhu Wuhuan gently stroked the little one’s cheek. “Your mother isn’t leaving. Since Aunt is back, she won’t go. She’ll stay with you forever.”

The child didn’t understand complicated reasoning, but this he understood.

Aunt had returned to support him and Mama!

With Aunt here, no one could drive Mama away!

Zhu Jun’an bounced excitedly in her arms, murmuring “Aunt is the best” and “I love Aunt.” His tear-dampened face glowed with the most innocent and adorable smile.

Zhu Xuanyuan, seeing how content his son was, had been willing to let the boy stay close to his sister. But now, watching him bounce around like a little monkey in her arms, he worried that his delicate sister couldn’t hold him steadily.

He hurried forward to take the boy.

“Daddy’s bad, don’t want Daddy!”

Zhu Jun’an buried his head in his aunt’s neck, clinging tightly to her, absolutely refusing to let his father pull him away.

Zhu Wuhuan held the little one close. “It’s fine, Big Brother. I can carry him.”

Seeing she wasn’t strained, Zhu Xuanyuan gave in and only patted his son’s back. “Behave. If you bounce too much, Aunt won’t be able to hold you steady, and you’ll fall.”

Zhu Jun’an only stuck his little bottom out toward him, ignoring him.

Zhu Xuanyuan shook his head helplessly.

Looking at his sister, his eyes carried a faint hope. “Just now, Little Sister, you said our sister-in-law doesn’t need to return to her family… could it be that His Majesty…”

“The Emperor has pardoned the Zhu family of the death sentence.”

Zhu Wuhuan did not keep them guessing, but spoke plainly.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief!

“Wuhuan, is this true?”

Madam Zhu trembled so much she could hardly hold her teacup, wondering if she’d heard wrong!

How could the Emperor pardon the Zhu family?

He had declared in court, before all the civil and military officials, that the Zhu family would be executed in three days. How could he suddenly reverse his decree?

Yet seeing the smile on Zhu Wuhuan’s face, though it was hard to believe, they were overwhelmed with joy!

Just moments ago, when they saw Wuhuan return, they thought she had only come to see them off on their last journey.

But she had returned to tell them this glorious news!

“Mother, here is the edict. If you don’t believe me, see with your own eyes.”

Still cradling the child steadily in one arm, Zhu Wuhuan took the decree from Suqiu with the other and handed it to her eldest brother.

“Big Brother, open it and show Mother.”

Zhu Xuanyuan looked at the scroll wrapped in black cloth and nearly choked.

Who wrapped an imperial decree in black cloth?

So mischievous!

No wonder none of them had realized earlier that what Suqiu carried was an edict!

He stepped back, not daring to touch it, bowing respectfully. “Your Majesty the Empress, please wait while this guilty subject prepares an incense table and kneels to hear you proclaim the decree—”

“Big Brother, don’t! There are no outsiders here.”

Zhu Wuhuan tugged his arm, stopping him and the others who were already preparing to change clothes to formally receive the edict.

She lifted her chin slightly, motioning toward the empty courtyard.

“Look—the courtyard is empty. I deliberately kept the guards outside because I didn’t want all this kneeling and ritual. It’s too troublesome.”

She simply tore away the black cloth and slapped the decree onto the table.

“Here, just read it like this.”

“…” The hall instantly fell silent.

Madam Zhu and her sons exchanged glances, then looked back at Zhu Wuhuan, their eyes faintly reproachful. “Wuhuan, this is disrespectful toward His Majesty…”

“Respect or not, what difference does it make?”

Zhu Wuhuan cut her off, her gaze sweeping over the room.

Her voice deepened.

“No matter how loyal you are, when Father was accused of treason, did the Emperor trust him? Did he give him the slightest benefit of the doubt? He decreed our execution without hesitation. Did he spare even a shred of consideration?”

The room fell silent once again.

How could they not harbor grievances against the Emperor, who had ordered their entire clan executed?

For generations, the Zhu family had been loyal. From their ancestors onward, they had been devoted to the dynasty and its emperors, fighting on battlefields, wrapping their bodies in horsehide!

Those battlefields were graves for countless enemies—and the eternal resting place for Zhu men, generation after generation.

Decades of loyalty, and not a sliver of trust in return.

As soon as the border report arrived, the Emperor decreed that all seventy-six members of their household be put to death!

Even had he first imprisoned them, waiting a few months for definite word from the frontier before condemning them, they might have borne it.

But the Emperor had left them no time, no face whatsoever!

After a heavy silence, Madam Zhu wiped her tears and signaled her sons to look at the decree. Then she sat beside Zhu Wuhuan, holding her hand.

“Wuhuan, do you resent His Majesty?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

Zhu Wuhuan answered blandly, fingers gently holding her little nephew’s soft hand.

Madam Zhu sighed softly.

She pulled Zhu Wuhuan into her arms.

“My child, I don’t know what bitterness you suffered in the palace to obtain this pardon, nor what humiliations you endured after the accusation of treason. I don’t know how the Emperor treated you upon his return…”

She lowered her gaze to the crown of Zhu Wuhuan’s head.

“So if you resent him, I will not blame you. I will not force you to let it go.”

“But I must tell you this: you and the Emperor are husband and wife. Unless you die, you cannot cut that bond. As long as you live, you must respect him, honor him, yield to him. Whatever bitterness you hold, you must swallow it. Before him, you must wear a smile…”

“If you do not, if he grows angry, he could snuff you out in an instant, leaving not even a corpse behind.”

Her hand stroked Zhu Wuhuan’s hair again and again.

“Does it feel suffocating? Yes, it does.

“But suffocating though it is, we must endure.

“For this world belongs to the Emperor. Because your husband is the Emperor.”