Rebirth of the Treacherous Official’s Madam

For a moment, the imperial court from top to bottom were all very panic-stricken.

The six palaces have many storms. For generations, it has always been as such. The imperial consorts that enter to the serve the imperial family, although as wives and concubines of the imperial clan, appear as if having great wealth and honor, but amidst the raging battles, there were too many that were unable to obtain a good end.

Just, when the great majority of the imperial consorts meet with mishap, if not having offended the emperor, then it was just having gotten schemed against, either quick or slow poison.

After all, regardless how dirty and vicious the methods were in private, on the surface, the imperial consorts and concubines of the imperial harem still jointly served one husband, addressing one another as sisters, even needing to do their best to put on a virtuous and harmonious attitude.

As such, when this ‘assassination attempt’ came out, it was practically a shocking news.

On one hand, under what kind of circumstance, would one encounter an assassination in the palace where weapons clashed? Secondly, even if Xuan Emperor immediately issued a decree to seal off the six palaces, the decrees for imposing martial law and searching the palace further directly leaked out a heavy ominous air.

The twentieth of the third month was Shouan Hall’s Consort Dowager Mei’s birthday. Consort Dowager Mei’s own son, Ping Junwang and his wife brought along their children into the palace to celebrate Consort Dowager Mei’s birthday. Consort Dowager Mei came from an influential scholar family, her personality extremely quiet and docile. Although her imperial favor was average, she nevertheless had a bit of good luck, obtaining a son at thirty, precisely the current Ping Junwang.

Ping Junwang’s temperament was also like his mother, wholeheartedly devoted to studying, extremely gentle and amiable. The conflicts in the inner palace during the previous emperor’s reign weren’t considered too serious to begin with, and this pair of mother and son were also of this kind of temperament, so their days have always been very tranquil and peaceful.

Ever since Xuan Emperor ascended the throne, Consort Dowager Mei never once grandly celebrated her birthday. Every year, on the day of, it was just Ping Junwang’s whole family requesting a decree to enter the palace, intimately eating a meal together.

However, this year’s meal, they weren’t able to enjoy. According to Ping Jun-wangfei, who got forced to stay overnight in the palace that day, only able to leave the palace the next morning, starting from the evening of the twentieth, the turmoil in the inner palace was just like sudden rainfall.

A moment ago, she was still holding her little daughter, happily chatting with Consort Dowager Mei, yet in the next moment, she just suddenly heard heavy and disorderly footsteps sound outside, followed by the clanging metallic sound of the soldier’s armor heading towards Shouan Hall like flowing water.

At the time, even Consort Dowager Mei’s complexion all changed. Ping Junwang hurriedly went out to ask, learning that Changchun Palace’s Noble Consort Zhu got attacked by assassins, thus Xuan Emperor mobilized the Yulin army and imperial guards to jointly seal off the six palaces and search for the assassins.

Consort Dowager Mei, as an imperial concubine of the previous emperor that didn’t have much favor, Shouan Hall’s location was already in the relatively secluded southwest side. However, at the time, Ping Junwang and his wife roughly swept a glance, also making out that the soldiers sent over to patrol and guard were at least twenty people. Their uniforms were clearly the Yulin army and the imperial guards’ mixed together. As for how many people there will be over at Changchun Palace that had met with assassins, as well as Zhaoyang Hall, one really didn’t dare to imagine.

Afterwards, for the entire night, the six palaces were all restless and alarmed, the entire palace brightly lit. Ping Jun-wangfei held her own two children, practically unable to close her eyes for the entire night, thinking don’t know how many times inside, was it Noble Consort Zhu or Xuan Emperor that met with assassin? Could it be that there will be a revolt?

Just, these words absolutely can’t come out of the mouth. Moreover, prior to leaving the palace the next day, Ping Junwang and his family even briefly met with the emperor in Ganyuan Hall. Seeing that Xuan Emperor was indeed safe and sound, they finally relaxed. However, they could also tell that this usually tolerant and magnanimous emperor’s complexion was practically unprecedentedly unsightly, as if anger, disappointment, grief, exhaustion, and so on, all mixing together.

Ping Junwang and his wife have already been terrified for a whole night. At the time, they further didn’t dare to ask or say anything excessive, and could only repeatedly ask Xuan Emperor to take care of his dragon body out of concern. Xuan Emperor also didn’t say anything, merely pacifying a few words before ordering their family to leave the palace.

Just, Xuan Emperor not saying anything made the officials even more on guard than if he’d said something.

TN: All translations outside of are stolen and reposted without permission!

Not saying meant that even if a whole night had gone by after Changchun Palace’s assassination attempt, there still wasn’t a conclusion. But, Xuan Emperor moving a thousand soldiers from the Yulin army into the palace, and on the twenty-first of the third month, once again be absent from court, it was nevertheless witnessed by everyone.

This level was much more serious than ordinary disturbances of the inner palace.

Noble Consort Zhu got attacked by assassins, yet the assassins weren’t caught overnight. This was already very serious, because this just meant that there were still killers hidden in the inner palace where Xuan Emperor slept. Furthermore, behind the assassins, there will certainly be someone instructing and assisting them.

And an even more serious implication was that Xuan Emperor even immediately mobilized the Yulin army that directly belonged to the emperor after the incident, and not just using the imperial guards that were specifically in charge of the imperial palace’s defense. On one hand, it meant that the thoroughness of this search of the inner palace has already made the imperial guards be short on hands, and on the other hand, it was just Xuan Emperor having produced suspicion towards the imperial guards.

The current commander of the imperial guards, Jin Lin, five years ago, when he was still the vice commander, he once guarded Jingning Palace before, also having once given pointers to his Highness Qin Wang in equestrian archery.

If this bit still wasn’t enough to let the court officials realize that the Changchun Palace incident this time will soon shake the world, then the decree on the twenty-second can also explain everything.

On the twenty-second of the third month, Xuan Emperor still didn’t hold a court session. The cabinet ministers of the inner cabinet, along with the right and left ministers of the Central Secretariat entered the palace under imperial orders. Xuan Emperor once again issued a decree, once again imposing martial law on the four gates of the capital, also summoning the Director of the Zongjing Bureau into the palace to assist in tracking down and interrogations for the Changchun Palace assassination case.

Empress Wen’s duties as the central palace were temporarily suspended. Qin Wang, Wu Wang, and the various princes were also all stripped of their assignments. Xuan Emperor also had the intention of not attending court for a few more days, ordering the inner cabinet to use blue markings to substitute the red markings^[1].

Reaching this step, from the cabinet ministers of the inner cabinet above, down to the officials of the six ministries below, everyone all realized, afraid Xuan Emperor firmly believes that the empress and Qin Wang have colluded in wanting to throw stones at the Zhu family, taking advantage of the situation to eliminate Noble Consort Zhu.

When the news first came out, high officials and nobles in the capital were also bewildered, also heavily discussing. Quite a few felt that the empress, and even Qin Wang, wanted to throughly eliminate Noble Consort Zhu in one breath, but there were also quite a few that believed that the incident this time in Changchun Palace perhaps was Noble Consort Zhu’s own scheme to win pity, wanting to save her maiden family from declining. As for the rest, such as palace servants holding grudges, the Zhu family’s old enemies, or even talks of ghosts and spirits causing mischief, and such random sayings also existed, but the people that believed it were much fewer.

All in all, the views outside were either the empress being the mastermind, or the noble consort scheming against herself to win pity. The believers on each side were practically half and half.

However, this kind of balance didn’t last for very long. On the twenty-fourth of the third month, after the Zongjing Bureau got involved, another news that had leaked out instead let the discussions in the capital further lean towards the former, because when Noble Consort Zhu got attacked by assassins, it was truly the white blade entering, the red blade coming out. Her little finger on her left hand that tried to block in a panic got cut off a segment, her right arm and right abdomen also each suffering a wound. And Noble Consort Zhu’s stunningly beautiful face that she was the most proud of also received two cuts.

This kind of injury, especially where there’s even cuts on the face, it’s no wonder Xuan Emperor was furious, and it’s also no wonder Xuan Emperor didn’t suspect that this was Changchun Palace’s own scheme.

However, just as the imperial court and the people were all enthusiastically discussing, increasingly leaning towards the empress being the culprit, feeling that the central palace perhaps will soon change owner or be left empty, on the twenty-seventh of the third month, another alarming turn of events came from Zhaoyang Hall.

Empress Wen, in front of the Director of the Zongjing Bureau and an accompanying elder of the imperial clan, as well as Xuan Emperor, who was her husband of more than twenty years, attempted to commit suicide by ramming against a pillar in order to prove her innocence.

Although, at the time, the eunuchs and palace maids serving to the side risked their life to block, and Empress Wen didn’t really die, the central palace’s determination still shocked Xuan Emperor and several people of the Zongjing Bureau.

Because worn under the empress’s phoenix gown was a plain white inner garment, and on the plain white garment was a letter tearfully written in blood, stating her innocence. And because of how great the force was when ramming against the pillar, blood immediately splattered out from the head, passing out on the spot. If not for one of the eunuchs, when instinctively blocking, grabbing onto a corner of the empress’s gown, slightly easing the force, Empress Wen’s skull certainly will have shattered into pieces, dying on the spot.

In Xuan Emperor’s harem, the only one that once practiced a bit of archery was just Noble Consort Zhu alone. The rest of the women, including Empress Wen, were all the slender and weak type that lacked in strength. As such, it can be said that this move of Empress Wen’s certainly won’t have any elements of acting, really holding the resolution to die.

For this matter to reach this step, the inner palace and front court were all left in silence.

Because the assassins that tried to assassinate Noble Consort Zhu have already all been found on the twenty-sixth. Unexpectedly, yet also unsurprisingly, the eunuch that did it, as well as the people closely related to him, all have already died. Moreover, it was all dying from arsenic.

All of a sudden, thoroughly losing all the witnesses that can talk, no matter how they search and investigate, it was also nothing more than just circumstantial evidence of dead objects. For the most part, from the moment the corpses were found, whether it’s Xuan Emperor, or the people of the Zongjing Bureau, they were all aware that for the rest, they can only rely on interrogating the suspects.

Whether it’s coercing, or tricking, afraid it’ll be difficult for the actual truth of this matter to come out.

Yet, in the end, before Xuan Emperor could even finish asking, Empress Wen already splattered blood in Zhaoyang Hall.

They were ultimately married since youth, and although Empress Wen was far inferior to Noble Consort Zhu in beauty and charm, her abilities also not considered too outstanding, she similarly didn’t have too many faults either.

If Empress Wen had really plotted against Noble Consort Zhu, then this kind of questioning wasn’t overboard, but if Empress Wen really was innocent, then after suffering such a humiliation and censure, for her to have no choice but to seek death to prove her innocence, how pitiful was she.

Ever since Xuan Emperor ascended the throne, it was his first time this deeply experiencing such a difficult choice and such powerlessness.

Thus, while Zhaoyang Hall and Changchun Palace were both recuperating, Xuan Emperor also fell ill for a few days, only returning to court at the beginning of the fourth month. Changchun Palace’s assassination attempt got concluded as palace servants harboring grudges, ending up with nothing definite.

And at this time, the Prime Minister, the Ying Duke, put forward a memorandum that has been brewing for a long time already——requesting Xuan Emperor to establish the heir apparent, to stabilize the foundation of the country, and to the pacify the people of the world.

This memorandum can be said to be very daring. Aside from shocking the officials in court at the time, it also widely spread among the scholars, becoming the example of a wise official’s loyal warning.

Because this memorandum also directly pointed out that Xuan Emperor has overly favored Changchun Palace for many years, ignoring the conflict among the imperial consorts, the superiority and inferiority unclear, also endlessly wavering among the numerous sons. Such cases were the true reason behind the current situation.

This reasoning, Xuan Emperor didn’t necessary not understand inside. Just, previously, the imperial harem appeared harmonious, and between his sons, there were also no extreme conflicts. As such, he just continued to ignore and not mention. All the way until the incident of Renshun Crown Prince’s vermillion umbrella occurred did Xuan Emperor have no choice but to slightly balance the inner palace.

Just, he really didn’t expect that there would be this current situation.

On the fourth of the fourth month, Xuan Emperor issued a decree for the four princes, including Empress Wen’s biological di son, Zhao Wang, to select a location outside the palace and establish a manor.

In other words, Xuan Emperor still didn’t clearly show his inclination towards the heir apparent position, but at the same time, Xuan Emperor had another decree, and that was just ordering the Ministry of Rites and Zongjing Bureau to prepare the regulations for the imperial candidate selection in the second half of the year, wanting to select consorts for Qin Wang, Wu Wang, and Wei Wang within Tianxu year 14.

Once this news came out, the topic of discussion throughout the capital immediately just changed from the truth of Changchun Palace’s assassination attempt to their own children’s marriage arrangement, especially those families that didn’t want to let their daughter participate in the selection. Those that didn’t have an engagement immediately started marriage discussions, and those with an engagement also shifted the date ahead of time.

For instance, the Yu family.

[1] I’m assuming this is referring to the notes and markings on the memorandums. Red represents the emperor’s markings.