Wish You All the Best - Chapter 65
Chapter 65
The bead curtain had eight panels reaching to the floor. In the summer, they were pasted with blue gauze over the intricate mother-of-pearl lattice to act as a partition and shield against flies. This winter, because the weather in the capital was abnormally cold, they had been covered with a thick layer of heavy satin featuring a "Jade Hall and Wealth" floral pattern. Originally placed before the bed to block the draft, the Old Madam found it stuffy, so she had it moved to the head of the bed, partitioning off a small room. A separate bed was laid inside, where Jiafu would sleep when she stayed for the night.
The Emperor had traveled in plain clothes, accompanied only by Li Yuangui and two personal bodyguards. It was not until they arrived outside the Pei residence that Pei Quan realized the imperial presence had graced them. He hurriedly adjusted his attire and led his family out to welcome him, the ground filling with kneeling figures. Xiao Lie spoke only a few words, noting that the Old Madam was a person of noble standing and virtuous reputation. Her eldest grandson was currently away on official business, and having heard she was ill, he could not rest easy and had left the palace to visit, ordering that all overly formal rituals be dispensed with.
Pei Quan was moved to tears. After being told to rise, he hurriedly led Xiao Lie toward the Northern Hall where the Old Madam resided. All female relatives were ordered to withdraw. Accompanied by two imperial physicians, they entered. Seeing the Old Madam was awake, Pei Quan hurried forward to assist her, but Xiao Lie stepped ahead, stopping him and telling the Old Madam to remain lying down.
Old Madam Pei called her son over to help her sit up slowly.
Though her face was extremely haggard, her gaze remained clear. She said, "A lowly old woman like me, how can I dare to trouble Your Majesty to leave the palace for a visit? I am overcome with fear at such a breach of protocol." As she spoke, she had Pei Quan support her further so she could perform a gesture of prostration while on the bed, before leaning back against the carved headboard.
Xiao Lie ordered the accompanying physicians, Hu and another, to treat her. Just as the two physicians moved to step forward, Old Madam Pei shook her head. "I gratefully accept Your Majesty's kindness, but there is no need to trouble the physicians further. These two possess the skill to bring the dead back to life and have been running here every day; they have been very diligent, but I know the state of my own body well enough."
After speaking a few more sentences, her breathing became labored, and she stopped.
Xiao Lie’s face showed signs of sorrow, and he remained silent. The inner chamber fell into a heavy quiet.
A moment later, Xiao Lie looked toward Li Yuangui, who was standing behind him.
Li Yuangui stepped forward and said, "His Majesty has left the palace tonight out of gratitude for the Old Madam’s past care. Both physicians, you may withdraw. Minister Pei, you and I shall also step outside to wait."
Pei Quan hurriedly complied. Together with the physicians, he bowed to Xiao Lie and withdrew from the chamber. He dismissed everyone else and retreated far away, leaving only Li Yuangui standing outside the Northern Hall, waiting for the Emperor to emerge.
Inside the room, only Xiao Lie and the elderly woman lying on the sickbed remained. As the candlelight flickered, Xiao Lie stood up, went to the bedside, bent down, and whispered, "Old Madam, if there is anything you cannot let go of, let me know. As long as I can do it, I will grant it without question."
Old Madam Pei, whose eyes had been half-closed as if in a daze, slowly lifted her lids. She met the Emperor’s gaze for a long moment and parted her lips slightly, answering with a question of her own: "Your Majesty, when did you discover Youan’s identity, and how did you come to know it?"
Jiafu stood breathlessly behind the bead curtain. Suddenly hearing the Old Madam ask this, though she could not see the expression on her face, she could sense the shift.
The Old Madam’s tone had changed. When speaking to the Emperor, she was no longer as respectful and cautious as she had been before Pei Quan and the others. Now, it sounded almost like a reproach, as if the man standing before her bed was not the supreme ruler of the world, but merely a younger kinsman.
She was asking the Emperor how he knew "Youan’s identity." Jiafu knew Pei Youan was an illegitimate son brought home by the Duke of Wei, but how did the Emperor know? What did this have to do with him? What did the Old Madam mean by asking this so suddenly?
Jiafu felt a sense of shock.
But the Emperor’s reaction was the start of something truly terrifying.
She peered through a slit in the curtain.
There was not a trace of surprise in Xiao Lie’s expression, nor a hint of the anger one might expect from being addressed with such irreverence.
He simply gazed at the old woman on the bed. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "When I returned to Yunnan, the Tibetan border was in turmoil, so I led my troops to suppress the rebellion. A year later, when I returned to Wuding after the pacification, I received the news that Wenjing had died of illness at Ci’en Temple months earlier..."
His voice, naturally deep, broke off abruptly, as if he could not control his emotions.
The Old Madam remained silent.
A moment later, Xiao Lie spoke again, his voice trembling as he changed "I" (the imperial "Zhen") to "I" (a personal, commoner's pronoun): "I knew clearly that when I left Ci’en Temple, Wenjing’s plague was already improving. Physician Mei told me himself that she only needed time to recuperate and would fully recover. I was in Tibet, believing she had returned to the palace. I never, ever imagined..."
He took a deep breath, as if trying to calm himself.
"Later, I sent men to inquire quietly and learned that shortly after I left, her condition worsened. Half a year later, she died in the temple. I simply could not believe it. This weighed on my heart; I could not let it go. Years later, I secretly left Yunnan and found Physician Mei, who had retired to his hometown. You know, Old Madam, that I once did Physician Mei a great kindness. He was near death at the time, and before he passed, he finally confessed to me that not long after I left, Wenjing discovered she was pregnant..."
"It was all my fault. I am the one who killed Wenjing..."
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were filled with regret and grief.
The room went silent again.
Jiafu, hidden behind the curtain, held her breath, her heart racing. She could not believe what she was hearing.
……
In the second year of Tianxi, a great flood struck the capital, followed by an outbreak of plague. Although the newly ascended Emperor Tianxi ordered the Imperial Medical Bureau to do everything possible to combat the epidemic, hundreds died daily inside and outside the capital. The imperial palace was not spared; as it spread, even the young Empress was infected. With several palace members already dead, the Emperor, following the advice of his ministers, decided to move to the Western Garden, hundreds of miles away. To prevent further spread, officials suggested sending Empress Pei Wenjing to the royal Ci’en Temple to recuperate.
Pei Wenjing was not only exceptionally beautiful but also brilliant and gifted, with a photographic memory. Emperor Tianxi loved her deeply and was loath to leave her behind in her critical state, but as Emperor, he bore the weight of the nation. Yielding to the pressure of his officials, he had to endure the pain of sending her to the temple.
Her condition grew worse. Physician Mei, who had accompanied her to the temple, was helpless. Emperor Tianxi was anxious, wishing to visit several times, but was prevented by his officials.
It was then that Xiao Lie risked his life, slipping out of Yunnan in secret, traveling day and night to reach the capital. He disguised himself as a guard and infiltrated the temple, bringing Physician Mei medicinal herbs from the indigenous tribes of Yunnan.
Perhaps it was not yet Pei Wenjing’s time to die, or perhaps for other reasons, her condition began to improve. For those months, Xiao Lie stayed hidden in the temple, never leaving, until finally, her health stabilized and he secretly departed, returning to Yunnan.
"The late Emperor was of high status and could not risk a personal visit. When I went to visit the patient, the palace servants who were there were trembling, avoiding the place for fear of the plague. Only you, upon hearing she was critically ill, were willing to risk your life, secretly leaving Yunnan to bring her medicine. For this devotion to Wenjing, I am grateful."
Tears glimmered in Old Madam Pei’s eyes.
"But I know my daughter. Wenjing had been dignified and prudent since childhood. As Empress, did she not understand the stakes? Even if she still held onto some youthful sentiment for you, I refuse to believe my daughter would lose her sense of propriety and do such a thing! Your Majesty, you saved Wenjing’s life then, but her life was truly taken by you afterward!"
"Wenjing is gone. Regardless of how beastly I may be, I would never dare to insult her spirit. You are right, Old Madam—it was indeed a moment of impulse where I forced myself upon her. I had been so careful, and I never, ever imagined that after I left, she would be pregnant. It was I who harmed her."
Xiao Lie’s eyes turned red. He looked at the old woman on the bed, lowered his body, and finally, with both knees hitting the ground, he knelt firmly before her.
"By the time I learned the truth from Physician Mei, it was years later. By then, Youan had already become the Duke’s son. There was nothing I could do..."
Jiafu stared at the Emperor kneeling before Old Madam Pei. Though she understood everything, it felt impossible—she was plunged into utter horror.
Old Madam Pei, seemingly lost in her own emotions, acted as if she did not see him. She let him kneel there in silence for a long time before saying: "Your Majesty, when Wenjing first learned she was pregnant, she tried to take harsh medicine, but the child would not be miscarried. She could not bear to kill him in the end. Using the excuse of recuperating, she stayed in the temple to give birth to him. Two days after he was born, Wenjing suffered a fatal hemorrhage and died. The baby was premature—only seven or eight months along. At the time, I thought that even if the child survived, he would not be long-lived. Unable to bear the thought of him being abandoned and suffering, I brought him home and raised him under the name of my eldest son..."
"Your Majesty, do you know? From the very first day I decided to bring him home and raise him, I never thought of letting you know his connection to you. I originally thought I would let this child live a few good years, and even if he passed away, I would have fulfilled my promise to Wenjing. But I never imagined that Heaven’s will would be so unpredictable. Youan grew up. At sixteen, he believed he was my son’s illegitimate child; disgusted by his identity, he chose to tarnish his reputation and leave the capital. When he was severely wounded, he was saved by you. Then I knew you must have learned his identity. Since then, I have lived in constant fear..."
Perhaps due to the emotional strain, the Old Madam suddenly began to cough, her face turning deathly pale.
Xiao Lie scrambled up from the floor and stepped forward to support her, rubbing her back.
Old Madam Pei’s breathing gradually steadied, and she waved her hand: "Your Majesty, you have ascended the throne and become the master of the world. But for Youan, this may not be a blessing. You must realize that to love him is to distance yourself from him—as if he were not your son; that is how you protect him. But you have not! All these years, I have watched how you treat Youan with closeness. I suppose you never intended to let Youan know his parentage. But have you thought? What if one day his identity is revealed? Where would you place him? How would Youan face himself? And what would those around you think?"
The room fell into silence again.
After a moment, Xiao Lie raised his head, gritted his teeth, and said, word by word: "He is the son born to me by the woman I love most in this world. I will never tolerate anyone harming a hair on his head. Rest assured, Old Madam.”