The Double-Chapter 753 - 224: Peace of Mind_5

Jiang Li looked at the dowry list and thought that, for the Chief Minister’s Daughter, it was not considered low, but it was not particularly high either. Many items were those that Ye Zhenzhen had brought with her in previous years. Jiang Li didn’t mind, as she never cared about the amount of the dowry. However, she couldn’t help feeling sorry for the real Miss Jiang the Second; it was difficult enough to have retrieved her mother’s belongings, only for them to end up with someone else—herself, the usurper.

The days passed uneventfully until Jiang Li received news from Zhao Ke: Prince of Xia County, Yin Zhan, no longer needed to return to Yunzhong.

When Jiang Li heard this news, she wasn’t very surprised, probably because Ji Heng had already warned her that the Yin Household was not as peaceful as it appeared on the surface. Still, she asked, "Why?"

Zhao Ke replied, "They say that winter has come and that the journey from Yanjing to Yunzhong is difficult due to heavy snows, making it hard for troops and horses to travel. It wastes provisions, and there’s no need to defend Yunzhong. Instead, we should guard against Prince Cheng’s power rising again. Yanjing City is the place that’s truly in danger."

Jiang Li smiled faintly. The reason given was neither particularly good nor bad. It was clear that Yin Zhan truly wished to stay in Yanjing City, and he probably realized from the last marriage bestowed by Emperor Hongxiao that the emperor had grown suspicious of the Yin Household. Yin Zhan no longer concealed his ambition, even if he had to be blatant to remain.

Yin Zhan and Prince Cheng were different. Emperor Hongxiao had prepared for many years to deal with Prince Cheng, using him as a bargaining chip. But Yin Zhan had only returned to Yanjing City much later, and for many years, the imperial court had nearly forgotten him. If it weren’t for his surprising valor during the recent rehabilitation, no one in the imperial audience hall would have taken him seriously. For Yin Zhan, Emperor Hongxiao was unprepared and had no understanding, so he could not act rashly. The method of lying in wait like catching turtles in a jar, waiting for others to walk into a trap, was not applicable to Yin Zhan.

Both sides were in a deadlock.

Worries started to grow in Jiang Li’s heart. She wondered how long these peaceful days would last. Once they were over, the Duke Residence and the Jiang Family would inevitably be implicated.

She could only hope for peace.

...

Deep within the palace, after the bloom of countless flowers, there was now a different kind of desolation.

In the garden, almost all the flowers had faded. Even the evergreen trees appeared to be covered in dust under the gloomy skies. Winter in Yanjing City was approaching rapidly, and the winter days always seemed too long. People tended to long for the arrival of early spring before winter had even passed.

The young emperor stood with his hands behind his back, outside the Imperial Mausoleum, heavily guarded by soldiers. He stood in front of a gravestone, beneath which lay his birth mother, Noble Consort Xia.

Inside the deep palace, various rumors circulated about Noble Consort Xia. Many of the old palace servants had either died or dispersed, leaving few to tell her tale. Therefore, the glories of the past were seldom mentioned. Born a prince, Emperor Hongxiao had witnessed the changing tides of the Northern Yan Dynasty, through several tumultuous periods. As an emperor, he should have been indifferent to these events, but as a son, remembering his mother was natural.

Unlike Empress Dowager Liu’s boldness and beauty in her youth, and unlike the Empress Dowager’s gentle and dignified nature, Noble Consort Xia was cunning, intelligent, beautiful, and treated her servants kindly. She was smart, decisive, knew when to advance and when to retreat, and was an engaging person. The emperor admired her.

But perhaps the words "beauty brings misfortune" are a curse, as Noble Consort Xia died of illness shortly after giving birth to him. Emperor Hongxiao did not know what his birth mother looked like. He could only find her image in the works of court painters, and he could only piece together what she was like from the fragmented and unreliable rumors. Even so, whenever he stood in front of his mother’s tomb, his memories were nothing but a void.

The Late Emperor entrusted him to the empress, who at that time had her own Crown Prince and was not fond of him. After the Crown Prince’s untimely death, the empress even believed for a time that he was the murderer, until a court physician cleared his name, proving that the Crown Prince had an inherent deficiency and died of a sudden heart condition.

But the suspicious gazes of all those around him, including his father, at that time, are something he cannot forget to this day. Sometimes he wakes from dreams in the middle of the night, the profound sadness and despair vivid in his mind.

Thereafter, the emperor made him Crown Prince, and as Prince Cheng and his mother became more and more arrogant, the empress used him as a bargaining chip to fight them and retain her own position. For the time being, they were in the same boat; he and the empress could not afford to break ties. At least on the surface, they had to appear loving, so as not to give others an opportunity.

Emperor Hongxiao could not remember when he and the Empress Dowager had seemed particularly close, as if they were a true mother and son. But in his heart, the past had never passed, and he had never truly moved on from those events. So when he heard about Jiang Li’s plight, his fury was understandable. He had gradually learned how to be a true emperor, but how to be a son was something that had been taken from him at a very young age.

"Mother," the emperor’s expression was distant, with an imperceptible fragility. His voice also seemed to be empty as he said, "How are you doing now?"

...

Within the Cining Palace, the incense smoke curled, and Mei Xiang took small steps forward until she was beside the person kneeling in front of the Buddha statue, whispering, "Empress Dowager, a scout has just returned. His Majesty has gone to the Imperial Mausoleum, before Noble Consort Xia’s tomb."

The Empress Dowager, who was in the midst of tapping a wooden fish while dressed in silk clothes, paused. In the midst of the swirling smoke, a faint, gentle smile appeared on her face.

She sighed softly, "Truly a thankless white-eyed wolf."

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