Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C112

Within Cining Palace, a gathering of Consort Dowagers and Concubines listened intently to the movements from the front court.

An empress being instated!

This was the greatest extravagance and aspiration in the life of a woman within the harem.

Everyone present, even the Empress Dowager, had never experienced the honor of an empress's inauguration. She had ascended to the position of Empress Dowager from the rank of Consort.

Hearing the music and the resounding chimes of bells and drums from the front court, it was as if they were transported back to the time when they first entered the palace.

The palace walls were heavy, and entering the palace gates was like plunging into a bottomless sea.

After a lifetime of struggle, everything ultimately amounted to nothing.

Therefore, after the sounds from the front court subsided, a hint of desolation appeared on everyone's faces, except for the Empress Dowager, who still smiled.

"The Empress will be arriving shortly, so all of you should be joyous."

First, she would pay respects to the Empress Dowager, then proceed to the Penglai Hall to pay respects to the Emperor Emeritus. By the time this series of rituals was completed, it was already noon.

But it did not end there. Mei Wushuang still had to ascend her throne at Fengqi Palace and receive the homage of the titled ladies.

***

From this day forward, Mei Wushuang could no longer be lazy.

As Empress, she had to manage the palace affairs and pay her respects to the Empress Dowager every day.

The Emperor Emeritus's relocation to another palace had been decided, but the specific palaces where the Empress Dowager and the Consort Dowagers would reside were yet to be determined. These decisions all fell to Wushuang.

Once the locations were settled, the next step would be to renovate the palaces in the West Garden.

As a royal forbidden garden, the West Garden was only visited a few times a year. A short stay was fine, but for a long-term residence, renovations were naturally necessary.

By the time these matters were settled, another year would almost have passed. Historically, palace relocations never occurred at the year's end; they could only be carried out after the New Year festivities.

At the Grand Court Assembly on New Year's Day, the new Emperor changed the reign title to Qianwu. Thus, the Taihe era passed, and the new Qianwu era began.

***

The palace was exceptionally lively during this New Year festival.

No matter what they thought in their hearts, at least on the surface, Prince Zhao, Prince Han, and the various Consort Dowagers and Concubines were all quite obedient.

Yes, Prince Zhao had returned, only arriving in the tenth month.

It was said that the matters in the southern barbarian borderlands were not yet resolved. Emperor Qianwu valued him highly and planned to have Prince Zhao garrison the southern border, but this year was out of the question; he would go after the new year began next year.

With Prince Zhao having a destination, Prince Han felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. However, he had not yet found a good place to go, but he had already expressed goodwill to Emperor Qianwu, implying that he would do his part if the court needed him anywhere, only stopping short of saying that he didn't mind guarding the frontier like Prince Zhao, as long as he didn't have to stay in the capital under the Emperor's watchful eyes.

In truth, Prince Zhao and Prince Han had tried to find the Emperor Emeritus, but ever since his abdication, the Emperor Emeritus had been recuperating in Penglai Hall. He rarely saw even his own sons, let alone his concubines. Previously, some ministers whose political views differed from the new Emperor had tried to find the Emperor Emeritus to 'persuade' the new Emperor, but the Emperor Emeritus refused to see them.

He presented a picture of one who, having abdicated, no longer wished to interfere in political affairs. After several attempts, everyone gave up on trying to use the Emperor Emeritus to suppress the new Emperor.

The Emperor Emeritus was very happy during this New Year festival.

In his early years, the Emperor Emeritus never showed his emotions, but now that he had abdicated, his emotions were much more obvious.

In fact, the Emperor Emeritus was truly ill, and not using it as an excuse. Wushuang learned this from Emperor Qianwu, and it was the reason why the Emperor Emeritus was in such a hurry to pass on the throne.

It was both acting in accordance with the situation and because his body could no longer support it.

In her previous life, there was no early abdication. Wushuang guessed that something must have happened in between to make the Emperor Emeritus determined to abdicate early.

Only Emperor Qianwu knew that in his previous life, he had no son, and at that time, his headaches were severe. Others might not have known, but his imperial father could not have been unaware, so his imperial father had been hesitant about whether to choose him as the successor to the throne.

Of course, this was his speculation based on what Wushuang had said, but he felt that his guess should be very close to the truth.

Because he had been hesitant, he only hastily decided on his enthronement shortly before his imperial father's death. And without prior preparation, unlike this life where everything was a natural progression, although he ascended the throne, the process was quite fraught with setbacks.

So, he had to thank her for being able to ascend the throne ahead of time in this life.

***

A new year, a new atmosphere.

As the Emperor Emeritus moved to his palace, the Consort Dowagers and Concubines also moved to the West Garden one by one. After the Grand Empress Dowager also moved to the West Garden, the entire palace instantly emptied.

With everything that needed to be done completed, and it being the first year of the new Emperor's reign, the ministers began to submit memorials suggesting that His Majesty should widely select beautiful women to fill the harem, so as to produce imperial heirs and lay the foundation for the inheritance of the country.

At first, Wushuang didn't know about this. It was only when she overheard a palace maid that she learned what the court had been up to recently.

She held it in for two days, refraining from asking him, but in the end, she couldn't help but secretly tell Ji Yang about it.

She didn't know what Ji Yang had said to him, but the next day, Emperor Qianwu held her down on the dragon bed and spanked her bottom.

"You don't tell this Emperor, and instead seek him out to complain, is that it?"

"You don't even live in your own Fengqi Palace, but sleep on this Emperor's dragon bed every day. Where am I supposed to put the newly selected women?"

How wronged Wushuang felt. It was clearly the previous court discussing the selection of new women; how had it become her fault?

As for her complaining to Ji Yang?

That was absolutely not the case. She had merely told him about it, and then Zuo'er sat on his stomach, and she sat beside him. Mother and son looked at him expectantly, everything unsaid was understood.

Was there even a need to complain? That was looking down on people too much.

But how ruthless Emperor Qianwu was. He wouldn't listen to her explanations, and anyway, he found ways to spank her bottom, finally concluding with the sentence, "You don't need to concern yourself with this matter; this Emperor will handle it."

What was his handling of it?

With the sentence, "Having just ascended the throne, it is not appropriate to be extravagant," he informed the assembled ministers that he had no plans to fill the harem for the time being.

Why were the ministers so interested in the Emperor filling the harem?

There must be benefits involved.

Which family doesn't have daughters? Who wouldn't want a high-ranking concubine from their family? Now that His Majesty's harem only has the Empress, if new women were to enter, there would inevitably be many advantages. Who knew, they might even enter the palace and immediately obtain a Concubine position, which was better than slowly accumulating seniority after entering the palace later.

So, could Emperor Qianwu's words dispel their thoughts?

Clearly, they could not.

But His Majesty insisted, so the assembled ministers turned their attention to the Emperor Emeritus.

They went to the West Garden to request an audience several times before finally seeing the Emperor Emeritus. The Emperor Emeritus didn't promise anything, only saying that he would ask the Emperor's opinion.

Since moving into the West Garden, the Emperor Emeritus's spirits had improved day by day, and in his leisure, he had even taken up fishing.

Every day, when the sun was good, he would go to the lake to fish for an hour or two. Most of the fish he caught were eaten by himself, or given to the Consort Dowagers and Concubines to eat. Of course, he also didn't forget to show filial piety to the Grand Empress Dowager.

When Emperor Qianwu brought Wushuang and their son to visit the Emperor Emeritus, he was fishing by the lake.

Wushuang led Zuo'er to pay respects to the Grand Empress Dowager.

Now Zuo'er could already walk. He had learned to walk early, mastering it a little after one year old. Now, with only three months until he turned two, he walked with considerable ease.

Walking had opened up a new world for him. Every day, as soon as he opened his eyes, he wanted to go outside and play. If you asked him what he wanted to play with, there was nothing specific. A flower, an ant hole, a small tree root could hold his attention for a long time.

Seeing the Empress arrive with the First Prince, the Grand Empress Dowager quickly instructed people to lead them in.

"Zuo'er is here! Let Great-Grandmother take a look."

Zuo'er hastily let go of the wet nurse's hand and ran towards the Grand Empress Dowager.

"Great-Grandmother," he said in his childish voice.

"So good. Listen to how smoothly this little mouth speaks. Some children are almost three years old and still can't speak clearly, nor are their legs as nimble as his..."

"The Grand Empress Dowager is praising him."

"How can this be considered praise? He is a good grandson; Great-Grandmother is delighted just looking at him."

Wushuang spoke with the Grand Empress Dowager, asking if she had been eating well recently, if she had been sleeping well, and if there was anything she needed. In truth, she wasn't very good at these polite pleasantries, but having become the Empress, she had to learn to do them.

However, towards the Grand Empress Dowager, she genuinely wanted to show filial piety. It was just a pity that every time she asked, the Grand Empress Dowager always said that everything was fine, making her feel like she was just going through the motions.

How could the Grand Empress Dowager not see through it?

Such a young person, not even twenty yet, had already become the Empress.

Everyone said she was lucky, and indeed she was.

She had married Prince Wei. Although Prince Wei's temperament was cold, he was good to his wife. When Prince Wei became the Crown Prince, she was the Crown Princess. After Prince Wei ascended the throne, she became the Empress.

Although her background wasn't high, and she hadn't even learned the art of perfunctory greetings from noble ladies. When they came to pay their respects to her in the palace, she would watch them speak to her in a serious manner while wearing their court attire. She slowly improved, but still didn't seem very skilled at these pleasantries.

Perhaps it was because she had been in the palace for a long time and had seen too many masked people, the Grand Empress Dowager now preferred seeing someone who wasn't so clever.

Just like the little one in her arms. She even thought that perhaps Commandery Princess Minghui's child would be just as adorable. She hadn't sent a letter there recently and should ask if Commandery Princess Minghui had any good news after her marriage.

"Grand Empress Dowager, Consort Dowager Wu and Consort Dowager Li have come to pay their respects."

The Grand Empress Dowager exclaimed in surprise, "Why have they come?"

Even though she said that, the Grand Empress Dowager still instructed the palace maids to lead them in, but she glanced at Wushuang with a slight furrow of her brow.

The Empress's status was higher than these Consort Dowagers, but they were elders, so Wushuang still stood up and bowed slightly in greeting.

With a few more people, the hall immediately became lively.

Seeing that there were many people, Wushuang had Xiaohong take the wet nurse and lead Zuo'er out to play.

After some polite exchanges, amidst the Grand Empress Dowager's slight sigh, Consort Dowager Wu and Consort Dowager Li indeed turned the topic to the matter of the new Emperor enriching his harem.

"Logically speaking, this is a good thing. The Emperor enriching his harem is necessary for the sake of producing offspring for the royal family."

"I heard that the Emperor said that since he just ascended the throne, he doesn't plan to hold the draft this year to avoid extravagance and waste. Empress, you should also advise the Emperor to think of the country and its people."

Wushuang now understood that Consort Dowager Wu and Consort Dowager Li harbored quite a bit of resentment because Prince Zhao and Prince Han had been sent away. Not daring to vent their anger on Emperor Qianwu, they were seizing the opportunity to vent it on her.

However, she had considered it. If it were her from her previous life, she would probably still be concerned about public opinion and how others viewed her. Perhaps it was because she had been living smoothly and happily for too long in this life, or perhaps it was due to Ji Yang's influence, but she really didn't care about these things.

Just as Ji Yang had said, whether he chose concubines or not was their family matter. These people were just creating a disturbance on the sidelines, either for their own benefit or meddling in other people's business.

Indeed!

However, these words could not be said openly, so Wushuang simply picked up her teacup and smiled shallowly in a standard manner, "The inner palace cannot interfere in politics. How this matter is handled still depends on His Majesty's decision."

"How can this be considered politics? Expanding the harem for the Emperor is the duty of the Empress of the inner palace," Consort Dowager Li raised her eyebrows and said.

"But His Majesty said that he won't let this concubine manage this matter, and he will handle it himself."

Consort Dowager Li's smile froze at the corner of her lips. Although Wushuang's eyes contained a faint grievance, she could still see that this Empress had someone to rely on and was full of confidence.

Didn't you hear her mentioning 'His Majesty' with every other sentence? She's just pushing the blame for her jealousy onto the Emperor. The key is that the new Emperor dotes on her. He only had this one by his side when he was still residing in the Prince's mansion, and now that he has become the Emperor, he still only has this one by his side.

"In this old one's opinion, aren't you all just idle!"

The Grand Empress Dowager suddenly spoke, "Each of you is a Consort Dowager. Instead of running over here to worry about the Emperor's harem, you should spend more time inquiring about the Retired Emperor's health."

It seemed that the Grand Empress Dowager said these words with a smile, but they were undeniably heavy.

Even as a Consort Dowager, she was, in name, only a concubine mother, and certainly not his birth mother. What right did a concubine mother have to interfere in her son's bedchamber affairs?

Consort Dowager Wu and Consort Dowager Li hastily silenced themselves, then said in somewhat embarrassed whispers, "It just came up in conversation. After all, the Emperor's affairs are also matters of state."

"I never saw you concerning yourselves with matters of state before, yet now you're suddenly so interested. The Empress is right; the inner palace must not interfere in politics, especially now that you've both moved to the Western Garden." The Grand Empress Dowager frowned and waved her hand. "Very well, you two may leave. This old one is weary."

Seeing this, Consort Dowager Wu and the others quickly stood up and retreated in a dispirited manner.

After everyone had left, Sulan said to the Grand Empress Dowager with a smile, "This servant heard that the Li family has a daughter of marriageable age and wishes to send her into the palace. No wonder Consort Dowager Li was so talkative today."

Logically speaking, even if Sulan had something to say to the Empress Dowager, she should have said it in private. How could she say such a thing in Mei Wushuang's presence?

Since she said it, it was clearly meant for her to hear.

"Thank you, Grand Empress Dowager, for defusing this awkward situation for this concubine."

The Grand Empress Dowager laughed. "What awkward situation? This old one simply finds them annoying. Since the Emperor intends not to expand his harem, he naturally has his reasons. We, who are halfway in the grave, will not concern ourselves with such trivial matters. However, the matter of producing imperial heirs cannot be neglected. As Empress, you should pay more attention to it."

After leaving that place, Meifang asked, "Your Majesty, what did the Grand Empress Dowager mean?"

With Meifang's constant practice, she no longer stuttered as much. It was also thanks to the method Wushuang taught her, having her speak a few words at a time. Unless one knew her well, one wouldn't even notice her stutter.

And she was still practicing, mainly by listening to how others spoke, learning from them, and pondering the meaning behind their words. Despite being a quiet person, Meifang knew that she wasn't as thoughtful as Linglong or as clever as Xiaohong, and she wanted to learn to be more intelligent and quick-witted.

Wushuang didn't really want her to be that clever, as long as she was well. However, she knew Meifang's personality; she might not listen if she said that. So, she changed her approach and told her to ask if she didn't understand something, whether it was her, Xiaohong, or Linglong. This would also help her practice speaking.

"The Grand Empress Dowager's meaning..." Wushuang paused, then smiled. "There are many layers of meaning in her words."

No wonder she could become the Grand Empress Dowager; such simple words contained so many layers of meaning.

She was both telling her that she wouldn't meddle in the Emperor's harem affairs and reminding her that while the Emperor's reluctance to choose consorts was a family matter, it was also a matter of state. This matter clearly wouldn't be resolved anytime soon; even if it quieted down this year, it would be brought up again next year, so she needed to be prepared.

And the best way for her to respond was to start with the issue of offspring.

"The Grand Empress Dowager is telling me that I should consider having a prince or a princess."

Meifang was stunned, unable to understand how these two things could be related.

Wushuang couldn't help but laugh at her expression.

***

After the Empress left, Sulan lowered her voice and said, "Why did the Grand Empress Dowager say such things to Her Majesty the Empress?"

Wushuang could understand, and Sulan naturally could as well, even understanding more deeply. Clearly, the meaning the Grand Empress Dowager was conveying was not quite in line with her status.

"Sulan, what do you think the inner palace should be like?" the Grand Empress Dowager asked suddenly.

Sulan was taken aback by the question.

The Grand Empress Dowager gazed at the warm sunlight outside the window and sighed softly, "When I entered the palace, there were already many people here. I had neither a face that could topple kingdoms nor an outstanding family background. I was able to attain the position of Worthy Consort solely because Emperor Xuanzong found me docile and undemanding."

"Back when Empress Wenxian was still a Noble Consort, I thought, all these people in the palace are truly an eyesore. When it came to the time of the Emperor Emertitus, and Consort Chen entered the palace, I had that feeling again."

"Tell me, what good is it for a den of women in this palace to fight for position, to fight for their children, to fight and bicker all day long? In my life, I have never obtained a wholehearted love, but I have seen it a few times. Alas, fate and destiny, their fates were not good, they did not meet the right time. Now I see another, and I hope she has a good outcome."

Sulan hesitated and said, "Is the Grand Empress Dowager speaking of Her Majesty the Empress and His Majesty?"

The Grand Empress Dowager did not answer directly, but instead stood up and said, "When one grows old, one always likes to overthink. I hope my Commandery Princess Minghui can be well, and I also hope that others can be well, just like this, well and good, how wonderful."