Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Majestic soldiers were stationed on the city walls, the morning glow spread across the sky, and dull old bells rang. On this auspicious day and time, the coronation ceremony of the new emperor was being held.
With the sound of solemn bells, the emperor, wearing a black dragon robe walked forward.
At the highest point, the emperor turned around, opened his hands, and all the civil and military officials bowed their heads and knelt.
“——Long live the emperor!”
The deafening sound echoed throughout the hall.
Watching the kneeling civil and military officials, the new emperor Jing Yuan’s heart was filled with various emotions. He had escaped death so many times, and now, the world was truly his.
The coronation ceremony was finally coming to an end. The eunuch who had been following him was promoted to the chief steward and whispered to him about the next procedures. But Jing Yuan’s mind was no longer here and had flown to the harem. He wanted to pay a visit to his mother, Concubine Xiao. No, from now on, she would be the most noble and respected Empress Dowager.
Back then, the emperor was born to a guilty concubine in the harem and was the late emperor’s least favorite son among all his children. If it weren’t for Concubine Xiao’s protection at the cost of losing the emperor’s favor, he would have probably died in the conspiracy of the concubines in the harem.
Concubine Xiao’s original name was Jiang Shining. She was the youngest daughter of Jiang Zhen, the prefect of Nancheng. She had fair skin, delicate eyebrows, and a charming smile like the beauty in a painting. The late emperor fell in love with her at first sight. She entered the palace at the age of seventeen and was favored by the emperor. She was promoted to concubine in a few years. Unfortunately, Concubine Xiao’s first pregnancy was miscarried due to the frame-up of other concubines, and she missed the opportunity to be promoted to Cefei[1] by virtue of her son.
After that, Concubine Xiao accidentally met the least favored seventh prince Jing Yuan, who was only four years old at the time. Concubine Xiao begged the emperor to give him to her to raise, which made the late emperor so angry that he did not step into Concubine Xiao’s palace for a year.
Two years later, Concubine Xiao finally regained favor and gave birth to the ninth prince Jing Xuan.
Jing Yuan once worried that Concubine Xiao would ignore him after giving birth to her own child, but Concubine Xiao treated him as her own son, raised him as her eldest son, never showed favoritism, and showed great care for him. Jing Xuan was still young at that time, but Jing Yuan saw with his own eyes that Concubine Xiao, who used to be non-competitive, had to arm herself and become strong for the safety of her two sons. Jing Yuan knew that he was not the most loved by his father, and he could only rely on his mother’s status. Concubine Xiao also gave up almost everything for his future and finally raised them both up after all the ups and downs.
Finally, one year before the late emperor’s death, Concubine Xiao was promoted to Imperial Concubine Xiao, and Jing Yuan had also grown up. His natural emperor’s fate and temperament, and his careful planning, finally made the seriously ill late emperor realize that the situation was hopeless, and he had no choice but to make him the crown prince. Jing Xuan naturally became an Imperial Prince – and he was the one with the best ending and treatment among his many brothers.
As time passed, Jing Yuan calculated the time. By now, the concubines in the harem should have paid their respects to the Empress Dowager. He was thinking about how proud his mother would be when he went to meet her. They had finally survived all those hardships and obstacles and became the real winners.
As soon as the ceremony got over, Jing Yuan ordered the eunuch to change his clothes quickly, as he simply couldn’t wait even a moment.
At this moment, Jing Yuan saw Aunt Su Ye, who usually stayed beside his Concubine mother, rushing in with a pale face. Several guards were unable to stop the woman who already seemed a little crazy.
“Aunt Su Ye, what’s wrong?” Jing Yuan frowned and asked others to let her in. “What does mother want?”
Aunt Su Ye knelt in front of Jing Yuan with sore legs.
“Your Majesty…” She cried sharply, “The Empress Dowager has passed away——!”
A thunderclap suddenly exploded in Jing Yuan’s mind, and the voices of the people around him suddenly disappeared. With a blank mind, he rushed to the harem palace.
When he arrived at Jiang Shining’s Jinghe Palace, he saw rows of weeping and trembling palace maids and eunuchs kneeling from the main gate to the inside of the palace. Jing Yuan came into the palace and saw Jiang Shining lying on the bed wearing the empress dowager’s luxurious robe. Her skin was still as tight and fair as it was a dozen years ago, but those beautiful eyes that captivated people could never open again.
“——Mother!” the new emperor called out sadly.
He knelt beside the bed, and the eunuchs who followed him quickly knelt down. The emperor stretched out his hand tremblingly, holding Jiang Shining’s slender fingers, only to feel the coldness in his palm.
The emperor trembled and pressed his cheek against the back of Jiang Shining’s hand. For a moment, he lost his mind due to the huge shock and sadness. Only then could others vaguely remember that this new emperor with vicious and courageous means was actually still very young.
The eunuchs and palace maids in the room knelt on the ground, not daring to breathe, they were all terribly scared. At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the front hall, followed by the eunuchs’ persuasive voices.
“Yu Wang, you can’t do that—”
Before the emperor’s servant finished speaking, Jing Xuan, wearing the Imperial Prince’s red robe, had already lifted the curtain and rushed in.
“Mother, Mother!”
As if awakened by Jing Xuan’s voice, Jing Yuan let go of Jiang Shining’s hand, then he stood up, and regained his pride and calmness. The pair of eyes that were originally covered with sadness and looked a little misty had returned to clarity, as if the person who was feeling sad at his mother’s bedside just now was not him.
When Jing Xuan took the position in front of his mother and knelt beside the bed, Jing Yuan put his hands behind his back, narrowed his eyes slightly, and slowly looked at everyone in the room with a domineering look.
“Where are the people who serve the Queen Mother personally?” he said grimly.
The room was shaking with fear. At this moment, a guard rushed in and saluted, “Your Majesty, I just caught a suspicious person in the backyard. After identification by the servants, this person is Qiu Kui, the maidservant beside the late emperor!”
The emperor didn’t say anything, but the eunuch in charge who was kneeling beside him had already given a fierce look to the guards to bring the person over. After a while, a palace maid with torn clothes was carried from the door and thrown into the hall.
Jing Yuan naturally recognized the people around the late emperor. He pursed his lips and said, “Qiu Kui, why are you in the Queen Mother’s Palace?”
The palace maid Qiu Kui’s hair was disheveled and her clothes were in disarray because of the struggle just now. She was panting, as she raised her eyes and looked directly at Jing Yuan. Not only was she not afraid, but there was a hint of a desperate smirk on the corner of her mouth.
“Your Majesty, you are so smart. Do you still feel confused about some things?” The maid knew that she would not live to see tomorrow, but she did not cry or make a fuss. Instead, she was unusually calm. “The late emperor was seriously ill for three years and had always refused to make you the crown prince. Why do you think he changed his mind half a year ago?”
Jing Yuan’s eyebrows knitted tightly in an instant. Seeing this, the palace maid laughed happily.
“The late emperor told Imperial Noble Concubine Xiao that if she wanted you to be crowned as the crown prince, she must be buried alive with him!” She murmured to herself, “From the day you were crowned the crown prince, the late emperor supervised the Imperial Noble Concubine to take poison every day until she fell ill today… Could it be that you didn’t know anything about this?”
The emperor’s brain buzzed, and at the same time, Yu Wang, whose face was already covered with tears, opened his eyes wide and turned his head slowly in disbelief.
“…What did you say? Mother, she——!”
Qiu Kui looked at Jing Xuan, and her eyes clearly showed how much she hated Jiang Shining and her sons.
“Yes, Your Highness.” She said softly, “If you want to blame someone, blame your own mother for loving her adopted son more!” After saying this heart-piercing remark, Qiu Kui raised her head and called out, “Your Majesty, I will come to you right away to report!”
It was too late for the guards to stop her. The maid had already crushed the pill under her tongue and committed suicide by taking the poison.
After Qiu Kui died, the entire Jinghe Palace was in a dead silence. The servants knelt on the ground with their heads buried deep in their chests, not daring to make a sound even though they were choking with fear.
Everyone had witnessed how Jing Yuan dealt with the other three princes who had always been hostile to him. His methods were as vicious and cruel as those of the late emperor. Everyone knew that only Imperial Noble Concubine Xiao could control him, but now that the person had passed away and had been poisoned to death, it was very possible that Jing Yuan would bury all the servants in the palace with him to vent his anger.
At this time, Jing Xuan stood up shakily. No matter how precocious the son of the royal family was, he was only seventeen years old. At this moment, he punched Jing Yuan, grabbed his dragon robe collar and roared, “Jing Yuan, give me back my mother! Give me back my mother!”
Jing Yuan was a man of both civil and military talents, but he did not block the blow and his fair cheeks flushed slightly. The servants in the palace were almost scared to death. Not to mention that the emperor was the supreme ruler, who from ancient times to the present dared to pull the dragon robe and roar like this? Jing Yuan was a man who would never give up on any flaws, and he had a very strong self-esteem. It was hard to predict what he would do after being humiliated in public like this.
The guards immediately stepped forward to separate the two. Jing Xuan was kind and gentle and was good to the servants. At this moment, the eunuch Zhang Qingning was the most senior among the servants. Thinking of the young prince’s usual kindness, Zhang Qingning kowtowed desperately with tears in his eyes, risking his head.
“Your Majesty, the prince was so angry that he lost his temper. Please don’t be impulsive…”
Jing Yuan stood there motionless, but Jing Xuan was pulled away. He took two steps back and fell in front of the bed. Seeing Jiang Shining, whose face looked calm and seemed to be just sleeping, he felt useless and powerless and burst into tears.
The emperor’s eyes were calm, and his face was as cold and stern as usual. He turned his head and looked at Jiang Shining who was sleeping on the bed, without even a muscle twitching around his mouth.
“All the servants who served the late emperor should be beaten to death.” He spoke, enunciating each word. And each word was chilling. He stared at Jiang Shining, as if he wanted to say something, but his body swayed slightly. He then closed his eyes and took a moment to calm down before whispering, “The Queen Mother passed away. I summon the Minister of Rites to meet me and discuss the funeral arrangements with me.”
“Hmm…”
Looking at Jing Xuan who had already collapsed, Jing Yuan’s lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something. But he was restless, and his soul seemed to have gone with his mother. In this state, people could only see his fragility. How could he comfort his brother?
Amid Jing Xuan’s suppressed crying, Jing Yuan turned away from Jinghe Palace.
He really wanted to stay here forever, wanted to see his mother more, and he also wanted to cry as hard as Jing Xuan, but he couldn’t.
He was the emperor now.
Jiang Shining used her life to get him everything he had now. Even if his heart was broken, he would never let anyone look down on him.
The author has something to say:
A new novel is starting! The five books that the heroine traveled through are all fictional, so I tried my best to avoid real names_(:з」∠)_ Originally, the first two chapters were one chapter, but the words were too full, so it can only be divided into two chapters.
The heroine has already traveled through five books, and the story will unfold in a new world. However, when it is necessary to introduce the characters, it will be summarized in about one chapter.
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[1] In ancient China, both Cefei and concubines were secondary wives or consorts of men, but Cefei held a higher status than a regular concubine. Cefei were essentially secondary wives, often the highest-ranking consorts below the principal wife (Wangfei in the case of a prince). Concubines, on the other hand, occupied a lower position, often viewed as servants or mistresses, with less formal status and fewer rights.
