Chapter 40
Chapter 40: The Peerless Beauty Wins Completely!
While the young emperor quietly added weight to Gu Nan Xi’s shoulders behind the scenes, everything that happened in the palace was broadcast across Capital—full coverage, no blind spots.
That day, teahouses and taverns were packed to bursting. The only spectacle that could rival it was the frenzy of “snatching a son-in-law” beneath the exam results board, when the Top Scholar paraded through the streets.
In a private room on the second floor of Fu Quan Restaurant, Nation-Guarding General Madam Niu reclined on a soft couch and ordered a Snow-Foam Spleen-Toning Drink.
The Young Madam of Duke Ji’s Residence cracked the window open. The instant the gap appeared, the muffled roar of the street flooded in. “It’s early winter. Why are you drinking Snow-Foam Spleen-Toning Drink?”
Madam Niu lazily ran her tongue over the blisters in her mouth and sighed. “Too much heat today. I’m pressing it down.”
“What’s got you so troubled?”
“Sigh. I just don’t know whether Madam Marquis Yong Chang can leave the palace safely.” Madam Niu’s tone turned grim. “They say Noble Consort Tong is arrogant and overbearing. She doesn’t even put the Empress in her eyes. The harem consorts have suffered under her for ages.”
The Young Madam of Duke Ji’s Residence rolled her eyes, wiping at the corners as if she were the one wronged. “You’re worrying about things that don’t concern you. Does Gu Nan Xi even know who you are? You ache for her, and she wouldn’t thank you even if she did.”
Madam Niu chuckled. “I don’t care whether she knows me. We’ve always watched men keep three wives and four concubines. When have we ever seen a young lady toy with them like playthings? Madam Marquis Yong Chang dares to think what others won’t dare, and she dares to do what others won’t do. Of course I want her to get what she wants.”
The Young Madam of Duke Ji’s Residence tapped Madam Niu’s forehead with her round fan and scolded with a laugh, “If you’ve got the nerve, say that in front of the Nation-Guarding General himself!”
“I wouldn’t dare,” Madam Niu said, grinning shamelessly. “That’s why I can only hope Madam Marquis Yong Chang dares!”
They broke into laughter, the air in the room brightening at once.
From the doorway came a breathless voice. “I could hear you laughing from the stairs. What are you two talking about?”
Madam Cheng hurried in, a fine sheen of sweat across her brow.
Madam Niu pushed a cup of sweet bean soup toward her. “Slow down. We’re not going anywhere. Why are you running like that?”
Young Madam Cheng was still panting, but her eyes shone like lit candles. “Do you know? Noble Consort Tong got scolded by the Empress Dowager!”
“What?!” The Young Madam of Duke Ji’s Residence stared. “Did the sun rise in the west? Noble Consort Tong has Grand Tutor Tong backing her. Since she entered the palace, the Empress Dowager hasn’t even had the heart to speak harshly to her. A scolding?”
Madam Niu jolted so hard she nearly spilled her snow-foam drink.
Young Madam Cheng couldn’t hide her delight, as if she’d been personally honored. “Noble Consort Tong summoned Madam Marquis Yong Chang. They clashed again and again, and Noble Consort Tong got so furious she nearly choked on it. His Majesty worried Madam Marquis Yong Chang would suffer, so the moment court ended, he didn’t even wait on the Imperial Academy Director—he sprinted straight to Yao Chi Palace.”
The Young Madam of Duke Ji’s Residence hissed through her teeth. “His Majesty may be young, but he has the bearing of a wise ruler. Wind or rain, he works in the front hall until noon before he’ll rest. Even when the Noble Consort is unwell, he never breaks that habit.”
“And then?” Madam Niu leaned forward, eyes bright. “What happened?”
Young Madam Cheng let out a snort of laughter. “No one knows what His Majesty said, but Noble Consort Tong stormed out of Yao Chi Palace to run to the Empress Dowager and complain. Who knew she’d get a scolding instead?”
Madam Niu’s gaze sharpened. “So His Majesty stayed in Yao Chi Palace with Madam Marquis Yong Chang the whole time?”
Young Madam Cheng lifted her fan to hide her grin, practically vibrating with gossip. “He dismissed the palace servants. A man and a woman alone in a room—half an hour!”
“His Majesty is that terrifying?!” A man’s shocked shout rose from below the window.
The three women turned. The sound was coming from the teahouse on the first floor.
Madam Niu opened the window wider and leaned out. The teahouse below was already crowded, and now it churned like a boiling pot, voices bubbling over each other until none could be made out clearly—only scattered fragments carried up.
“A palace servant said Madam Marquis Yong Chang was helped out of Yao Chi Palace by His Majesty. When she left the palace, she could barely stand.”
“Sigh, His Majesty really doesn’t know how to cherish a beauty. Someone saw his eyes bloodshot—obviously he went too hard.”
“And it wasn’t just that. Madam Marquis Yong Chang was carried in a palanquin from Yao Chi Palace all the way to the palace gates. Along the road, plenty of palace servants saw her—she looked exhausted.”
The three madams exchanged a look, then spoke as one, solemn as judges. “You can’t judge by appearances, and you can’t measure the sea with a dipper. The Peerless Beauty won completely!”
One of the rumor’s stars, the young emperor, saw Gu Nan Xi off, then returned to the front hall to deal with the work he’d left undone. Only when the sun sank behind the hills did he finally stretch and head to the Empress Dowager’s palace for dinner.
The Empress Dowager had known hardship in her youth, so her meals were nothing like Noble Consort Tong’s extravagance. A bowl of mixed vegetable porridge and a small plate of pickled sides—just that, for mother and son.
The young emperor ate with startling appetite, slurping happily.
“My son’s appetite is excellent today,” the Empress Dowager said, amused.
He set down his chopsticks, cheeks faintly warm. “Empress Dowager, forgive me. The boulder in my heart finally has someone I can rely on. It’s truly a blessing.”
“Oh?” The Empress Dowager rolled her prayer beads between her fingers, indulging him. “And who is this person?”
The young emperor’s eyes were brighter than the stars outside. He smiled, open and boyish. “Sister. When I was little, I always wished I had a sister who could protect me. Back then I was mischievous—I was always getting scolded.”
He sighed, almost reverent. “But when it truly matters, you still have to rely on Sister. Empress Dowager, you were right. Sister really isn’t an ordinary woman.”
The Empress Dowager’s fingers paused on the beads. The Gu Nan Xi in her son’s mouth was nothing like the one in her memory.
Then again… ten years was a long time. People changed. That was only natural.
She pressed the doubt down and had a maid bring out a twin-begonia hairpin from her private treasury. “Send this to the Noble Consort. She swallowed a bellyful of anger today. If you don’t coax her, you’ll pay for it.”
After the young emperor left, the Empress Dowager also ordered a purple-gold phoenix crown delivered to the Empress.
If her son couldn’t keep the bowl of water level, then the mother would steady it for him.
Inside the Imperial Palace, the Empress Dowager was busy soothing her son and her daughters-in-law.
Outside the Imperial Palace, Su Yun Yan, Su Xuan Ming, and the other sons and daughters waited at Marquis Yong Chang Residence, circling Gu Nan Xi with anxious faces.
“Mother, why do you look so weak?” Su Yun Yan’s lashes trembled, tears pooling. She all but dug Gu Nan Xi out of the carriage and carefully lowered her into a bamboo chair. “Did the Noble Consort bully you?”
“Yun Yan, shut up,” Su Yun Ting snapped, already barking orders. “Mother, you’ve suffered. I had someone go to Ding Feng Restaurant for black-chicken soup—best for nourishing yin.”
In his heart, Su Yun Ting fumed. Useless brat. Look how he’d exhausted Mother!
Gu Nan Xi folded her hands over her lower abdomen and sank back with her eyes closed.
When she remembered the young emperor’s earnest instructions and shining expectations, a bleak, weightless despair spread through her.
If staying alive meant bearing the kind of weight a life couldn’t bear… then she might as well not live at all.