On hearing these words, the Ninth Princess, as if having just grabbed a lifesaver, rose to her feet with the help of a palacemaid and quickly recovered herself. “That’s right.”
After saying this, she raked faces of the palacemaids and eunuchs in the room with a ferocious look and said, “None of you are to breathe a single word of what you are not supposed to disclose. Otherwise I’ll have all of you beheaded!”
“Your Highness, I heard nothing and won’t say anything to anybody. Please have mercy on me!” implored all palacemaids and eunuchs in horror.
The Ninth Princess was still unsure of their loyalty. If it weren’t for the fact that having all of them executed would arouse others’ suspicions, she would have given the order already.
Though voices of people inside the room were not very loud, people outside, if they pricked up their ears, could still distinguish some key words of the conversation.
The palacemaid named Xiang’er, who was kneeling on the ground, was chilled by what she heard. Originally, she had made up her mind not to disclose anything. However, to her bitter disappointment, she was determined to sacrifice her own life for her mistress, yet the so-called mistress had unhesitatingly decided to abandon her!
Intellectually, she told herself that she originally had not wanted to implicate her mistress, but there was a difference between defending her mistress of her own accord and being abandoned by her mistress. She found this unacceptable no matter how hard she tried to excuse her mistress. ‘Why? Why does Her Highness have so little trust in me? If this is how it’s going to be, I have no other choice…’
“Move.” Palace guards escorted her away.
Seeing them walking out, a palace guard waiting outside said to the captain under his breathe, “Chief, why did you tell Her Highness those things? It’s not likely that she’ll appreciate the kindness.”
“Since we serve the imperial family, we should be of service whenever we can. I informed Her Highness beforehand so that she could make preparations,” the captain replied with a calm face.
Light suddenly dawned on the one who had asked the question. “Your considerations are far more thorough than mine, Chief.”
…
In the Taiqing Palace, after waiting for some time, people saw the guards whisk a palacemaid into the hall.
“Your Majesty, we brought Her Highness’ personal handmaid named Xiang’er here as instructed.”
“So you are Xiang’er? Let me ask you something. Did you or did you not meet palace guards in private, threaten them and have them assassinate Ling Zhang?” the emperor demanded in a stern tone of voice.
A mixture of hesitation and misery appeared on the face of Xiang’er who was kneeling on the ground. “I…I…”
There was an intense struggle going on in her mind, which made her seem quite abnormal. Everybody could tell that she was hiding something.
The emperor furrowed his brow as his eyes went piercing.
The King Hui hastened to yelled at Xiang’er, “What a bold handmaid. You were asked a question and you are supposed to answer it. Why are you being faltering? Is it because you harbor evil intentions?!”
Originally Xiang’er had been hesitating and struggling with her conscience, but the King Hui looked so ferocious that it seemed as if he would eat her alive, and he had also accused her of harboring evil intentions, so Xiang’er, bitterly disappointed, clenched her teeth and heavily kowtowed. Brow against the ground, she replied, “I deserve to die. I know my mistake now. I shouldn’t have intended to cover for the Ninth Princess. I’m the Ninth Princess’ personal handmaid and I don’t want to betray her, but I also don’t dare to lie to Your Majesty. I–I deserve to die ten thousand deaths for my crime.”
“Shut your mouth!” The King Hui flied into a rage. He had never expected that Xiang’er would dare to ignore his warning.
“Shut up! One more word and I’ll have you escorted to your chambers to introspect straight away!” the emperor thundered.
The King Hui replied in anxiety, “Father, this handmaid made that up!”
“I didn’t. The Ninth Princess adores the Marshal. After hearing that the Marshal was betrothed, she was very angry and… and came up with the idea of having his betrothed assassinated. It was her who sent me to threaten the two officers of the Palace Guards. I didn’t have a choice. I tried to dissuade Her Highness from doing the wrong thing, but she wouldn’t listen to me and was bent on having her own way. She coerced the two officers into assassinating Childe Ling halfway, threatening to kill all their family if they refused,” wept Xiang’er.
“You!” The King Hui’s face was dark with rage.
In wrath, the emperor smacked his hand down on to the table. “Bring the Ninth Princess to me!”
…
“Your Highness, some palace guards are coming!”
An eunuch, who had been standing at the gateway to act as a lookout, saw ranks of palace guards hastening menacingly towards the palace of the Ninth Princess. Scared, he immediately ran inside to report.
Countenance of the Ninth Princess abruptly changed and with that she tightly gripped the arm of the palacemaid who was supporting her and, fierce outwardly but shaky inwardly, reprimanded, “Let them come. What’s so scary about palace guards?!”
The eunuch knelt down to the ground and didn’t dare to utter another word.
Soon palace guards arrived, all of whom were somewhat surprised to see that the Ninth Princess was waiting for them in the hall.
“Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence in the Taiqing Palace,” said a palace guard.
“I see.”
The Ninth Princess tightened her grip on her handkerchief and winked at a palacemaid beside her. The palacemaid nervously inclined her head and then guided the princess towards the outside, a large group of eunuchs following in their wake.
The look on her face seemed to be suggesting that she was totally unaware of what was waiting for her in the Taiqing Palace, which astonished the palace guards.
In the Taiqing Palace, all people were somewhat puzzled as they saw the Ninth Princess entering with so many palacemaids and eunuchs.
“Father, may I ask what it is you want to see me about?” asked the Ninth Princess after paying her respect to the emperor.
“Let me ask you something. Did you or did you not coerce two palace guards with the lives of their family into an assassination attempt targeting Ling Zhang?” The emperor fixed her with a penetrating stare.
The Ninth Princess appeared shocked. “What are you talking about, father? Never have I done such a thing.”
“Your equanimity is remarkable, Your Highness. I stand outshined,” said Yuwen Tong in a flinty tone of voice.
The Ninth Princess seemed to be baffled even further. “What’s this supposed to mean, Marshal? You must have heard some slanderous remarks. Be careful not to be fooled by those base characters harboring evil intentions.”
“Exactly what happened?” The emperor’s face slightly softened.
Apart from the emperor, there was also the King Hui. He had worried that his younger sister would impulsively kick up a stink, but now, seeing she was so composed, he inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. ‘As long as younger sister’s composure holds, there’s still a chance of saving the situation!’ he thought.
“Father, younger sister is definitely innocent. You cannot believe this palacemaid’s words.”
“I’m not lying. In order to compel the two officers to submit, Her Highness once sent someone she trusted to their homes to warn them. You’ll find my words true if you have their family questioned, Your Majesty. On top of this, Her Highness also gave the two officers some kind of poison and ordered that they poison themselves if they failed, otherwise she’d have their family executed. This poison was prepared by Xingli, another personal handmaid of Her Highness. Ingredients needed to prepare this kind of poison could still be found in Xingli’s room. I saw her put them away yesterday. They’re hidden right under Xingli’s bed. You’ll know I’m telling the truth if you send someone there to search.”
As the Ninth Princess’ personal handmaid, Xiang’er knew much more inside information than others did, which was also the most lethal for the Ninth Princess. She had gone straight to the heart of the matter, dealing a heavy blow to the Ninth Princess.
“Bullshit!” After hearing these remarks, the Ninth Princess, who had originally seemed calm, failed to keep up her pretence and her face instantly went ghastly pale.
“Your Majesty, I petition you to have Xingli’s room searched immediately and the two assassins’ family brought here to be questioned,” said Yuwen Tong.
Of course the emperor could not reject a request like this.
Though the King Hui intended to stop this from happening, his hands were tied. Yuwen Tong was determined to do this, which was obvious to all people present.
Soon some palace guards went to the room of the palacemaid named Xingli, searched it and then escorted Xingli to the Taiqing Palace. Like Xiang’er had said, there were indeed ingredients of poison in the room. After an imperial physician of the imperial hospital confirmed it, the emperor flied into a temper.
“Unbelievable! What else do you have to say?!” thundered the emperor, face dark with rage.
The Ninth Princess slumped to her knees. “I–I…”
As things stood, it was very clear that the Ninth Princess was the behind-the-scenes mastermind.
The handmaid named Xingli, unable to endure the painful torture, soon made a full confession, which made it unnecessary to summon the two assassins’ family.
Weeping, the Ninth Princess implored, “Father, I’m just unreconciled. I’m much more eligible than a man on all aspects. Why is the Marshal so insistent on marrying a man?”
The corners of Ling Zhang’s mouth involuntarily twitched. Seeing the Ninth Princess pointing at him with a resentful look in her eyes, he said flintily, “So this was why Your Highness wanted me killed? It turns out that in your eyes, you can kill anybody whenever you feel like it.”
The Ninth Princess replied in spite, “You are nothing but a cheap commoner. You are in no position to talk to me like that. You are in no position to compete with me for a man!”
“Shut up!” The emperor couldn’t bear it any more. In heartache and headache, he observed, “All those efforts I made to educate you turn out to be in vain. It never crossed my mind they only served to crack your brains making you an unworthy princess. Your deeds will not go unpunished. Guards, escort the Ninth Princess to the imperial temple. From this day forth, she is to practice Buddhism without tonsure and is not to walk out of the door of the imperial temple without my permission!”
‘The imperial temple? Practice Buddhism without tonsure?’ On hearing the emperor’s order, the Ninth Princess passed out. The King Hui’s face paled visibly.
For a youthful girl, practicing Buddhism without tonsure in the imperial temple would ruin her whole life. The emperor didn’t sentence the Ninth Princess to death, but this punishment was already severe enough for her.
“Father, I’m sure my younger sister merely did that in a momentary confusion. Please have mercy on her.” The King Hui knelt down and interceded with the emperor.
“Confusion? Then she will have enough time to clear her mind in the temple,” responded the emperor apathetically.
He had indeed intended to marry the Ninth Princess to Yuwen Tong so as to keep Yuwen Tong under his control. Had the Ninth Princess succeeded in having Ling Zhang killed, he might have made different arrangements, but she not only had failed in her attempt to kill Ling Zhang but also had been exposed. Only by meting out this punishment would he be able to dissolve Yuwen Tong’s anger. Besides, the Ninth Princess’ conduct had terribly shamed the imperial family. He was already lenient enough with her by having her practice Buddhism in the imperial temple.
The King Hui lapsed into dejection in the knowledge that the die had been cast.
The King Duan was inwardly excited. All civil officials and military officers in the hall, who had been looking on all along, kept silent trying to pretend as if they had not seen anything. Envoys of the Wan Kingdom, however, enjoyed the whole thing very much. ‘This is a scandal involving the imperial family of the Great Yue. If it spreads to other countries, reputation of the emperor of the Great Yue will be terribly undermined.”
“Aiqing Yuwen (Aiqing is a term of endearment used by an emperor or an empress to address an official in feudal China), I hope you find my sentence satisfying,” the emperor said to Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong replied, “That’s a wise and righteous decision, Your Majesty. There’s nothing else I could ask for.”
The emperor inclined his head, looked at Ling Zhang and said, “I’m sorry for the fright my undutiful daughter put you through, Childe Ling. If there’s any particular kinds of compensation you have in mind, all you have to do is ask.”
Ling Zhang rose to his feet and stepped forward. First he paid his respect to the emperor and thanked his kindness, then he said, “You’ve always been so wise, Your Majesty. I don’t dare to claim any compensations. It’s fortunate of me to have been born in the Great Yue, a land ruled by such a sagacious emperor.”
All others were amazed. Clearly they had never expected that Ling Zhang would make these remarks.
The emperor, however, felt very comfortable after hearing these words. No matter Ling Zhang really meant it or not, at least he saved his face, so he commented, “You might not dare to claim compensations, but I’m obliged to make some.”
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