After the Retired Emperor Abdicated - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Half a month later, word came from the palace: the beauty Xuan Yun had offered to the Retired Emperor was pregnant. At the same time, His Majesty the Emperor announced to the realm that the Imperial Noble Consort was with child.

That night, I disguised myself and secretly slipped into the General’s Mansion. Pei Jun had only just heard the news of the Imperial Noble Consort’s pregnancy, and in his misery, he had been pouring cup after cup of wine down his own throat.

When he saw it was me, he was completely at a loss, like a child who had gotten into trouble. “Jiang Zhi, I’m sorry. I thought… I didn’t know doing that could also…”

Now that all those petty schemes in my heart were gone, I found him utterly adorable. I deliberately teased him. “Of course doing that couldn’t. Pei Jun, this child isn’t yours.”

Pei Jun froze, crushed the wine cup in his hand, and muttered unconsciously, “Right. You and His Majesty are husband and wife, so of course…”

I cut him off again. “Wrong again. This child isn’t His Majesty’s either.”

“What!” Pei Jun’s eyes went wide, as if he were meeting me for the first time. Then he fell apart all over again. “Right. I don’t even have an official status. What right do I have to demand anything of you? Since you have me, of course you could have someone else. If I refused, naturally you would find someone willing.”

So this was the image I had in his heart now? Calmly and unhurriedly, I dropped another bombshell. “This child belongs to the Retired Emperor.”

Pei Jun was deeply shaken. He took two steps back, and at last, it seemed to dawn on him. He murmured, “Impossible. Jiang Zhi, you’re not that kind of person.”

I stepped forward and gave him a selective confession. “Of course I’m not that kind of person, because the child isn’t mine either. This child belongs to the Emperor and the Imperial Noble Consort. On the day it is born, the Imperial Noble Consort in the palace will die in childbirth…”

Once the Imperial Noble Consort “died in childbirth,” Xuan Yun would stage a grand performance of undying devotion, posthumously elevate the Imperial Noble Consort to Empress, spend the rest of her life guarding the memorial tablet without taking any new consorts, and raise the Imperial Noble Consort’s child to adulthood.

I had once asked Xuan Yun what she would do if this child turned out to be a daughter.

She said, “It doesn’t matter. Am I not a woman too? Besides, I have such a long life ahead of me. I can still live for a long, long time. If it really is a daughter, I will give everything I have and spend my entire life clearing every obstacle for her, so she can become the rightful female emperor. I will never allow there to be a second Xuan Yun in this world.”

I explained my relationship with the Emperor to Pei Jun, but I still did not tell him that Xuan Yun was a woman. It was not that I did not trust him. It was simply that the more people knew this secret, the more dangerous it became.

As for why the Emperor needed to borrow another woman’s womb to have a child, the reason I gave Pei Jun was: “The Emperor can’t do it. He really, really can’t!”

This time, Pei Jun’s voice carried a hint of caution. “Then what about afterward? After the Imperial Noble Consort passes away, where will you go?”

I coughed twice, cleared my throat, and pretended to think very hard. “I seem to remember someone invited me to elope with him. Maybe I should agree? Who was that person again? Why can’t I remember?”

But the person before me did not react with the wild joy I had imagined. Instead, as if still frightened by what might have happened, he held me and made me promise him again and again. “Jiang Zhi, one last time. I will trust you one last time. You can’t lie to me. Promise me, you can’t lie to me… If you can lie to me for a lifetime, then even being lied to is fine.”

Nine months later, “the Imperial Noble Consort gave birth and died from exhaustion.” Xuan Yun and I had spoken it into truth after all. It really was a girl.

Xuan Yun adored her and named her Xu Yang. She held Xu Yang all day long, grinning from ear to ear. “Little one, just sleep peacefully. Watch as your Empress Mother battles this world with wits and courage for your sake!”

After the funeral rites for Empress Xiaozheng Wenshu Zhaode Hehui Duan’an Muyi Zhang were complete, I was finally able to retire after a job well done, leaving the capital with more than a dozen chests of gold, silver, and jewels from Xuan Yun.

These had originally been burial goods for Empress Xiaozheng Wenshu Zhaode Hehui Duan’an Muyi Zhang, but I was not even dead, so what the hell was I supposed to be buried with?

Do not ask why the posthumous title was so ridiculously long. Xuan Yun said that a person only died once in a lifetime, so she absolutely had to send me off in grand style.

Pei Jun and I settled down together at the frontier. No one here knew me, so I asked Pei Jun, “The Imperial Noble Consort is already dead, so who am I?”

Pei Jun hugged me from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder, and listed everything out for me one by one. “You are the sworn younger sister of the current Emperor. Your name is Jiang Zhi. You are twenty years old and were born in the Year of the Rabbit. Tomorrow just happens to be your birthday. The gifts you want are gold, silver banknotes, and a bouquet of flowers. Your favorite food is chestnut cake, and the person you love most is Pei Jun.”

All right. Completely correct.

The End