The atmosphere at the banquet was filled with joy, and the smile on Emperor Hongyou's face deepened.

The melodious music continued to play, and the hall gradually regained its lively atmosphere from earlier. Jiang Hongluan timely raised her glass and stood up, leading a group of concubines to congratulate Emperor Hongyou on the peace and prosperity of the four seas. Several princesses and princes also stood up one after another, raising their glasses.

Returning to his seat, Fang Linyuan noticed that Zhao Chu was no longer there.

Turning around, he saw the scene of concubines and heirs enjoying themselves with Emperor Hongyou. Except for Princess Zhao Yu, who rarely appeared in public and resided in the Princess Mansion, Zhao Chu was the only one absent.

Speaking of Princess Zhao Yu, Fang Linyuan had heard rumours about her even when he was stationed at the border.

She was much older than Zhao Jin and had married a general stationed in Fuzhou at a young age, staying away from the capital for many years. Eight years ago, when Fuzhou was invaded by Japanese pirates, her husband led the army to fight for over a year and eventually perished at sea.

With no one in Daxuan capable of commanding the navy, and no one skilled in naval warfare, just when the court was at a loss, news came from Fuzhou that Princess Zhao Yu had led the warships to defeat the pirates.

That battle kept the Japanese invaders at bay for many years, and Princess Zhao Yu was brought back to the capital by the Emperor for care.

Fang Linyuan was curious about how Princess Zhao Yu managed to defeat the Japanese ships that had been unbeatable at sea, but Princess Zhao Yu kept a low profile, and Fang Linyuan had never seen her since returning to the capital.

There were rumours in the market that Princess Zhao Yu was too ashamed to show herself due to her ugly appearance. It was said that she was muscular and hideous, resembling a demon, and her terrifying appearance alone made the Japanese pirates tremble with fear.

Fang Linyuan couldn't help but shake his head at such absurd nonsense.

To win against the strong with the weak, relying on the weak and repeatedly defeated navy of Fuzhou to win against the Japanese pirates, Princess Zhao Yu was already a rare hero! How could rumours about her appearance be used as gossip, and even portrayed her as a monster?

Fang Linyuan shook his head inwardly.

The attendant beside him saw Fang Linyuan return to his seat and smiled as he approached. "Lord Marquis, Fifth Princess just left the seat a while ago, presumably to sober up. Since Her Highness didn't ask the servants to follow, she probably didn't go far. She should be heading towards the Imperial Lake to the west."

Sober up? Zhao Chu didn't touch a drop of alcohol tonight, could he have gotten drunk from drinking tea?

Fang Linyuan didn't really want to bother with him. However, the attendant in front of him was all smiles, showing a very attentive appearance, as if he was certain that Fang Linyuan would go out to look for Zhao Chu.

That left him with no reason to stay seated.

Fang Linyuan put down his wine glass, nodded in thanks, and decided to go out for a stroll, pretending he wanted some fresh air.

"Shall I send two people to accompany Lord Marquis?" the attendant asked again.

Fang Linyuan quickly replied, "No need. Her Highness doesn't like crowds. I'll go by myself."

The attendant didn't insist any further, smiling as he watched Fang Linyuan leave the hall.

The early spring night was still cold, and when the wind blew, the warmth accumulated on Fang Linyuan's body dissipated.

He closed his eyes comfortably.

What did that attendant say just now? Zhao Chu went to the Imperial Lake to the west?

Fang Linyuan turned a corner and headed straight towards the Plum Garden to the east without looking back.

*

As spring approached, the red plum blossoms in the palace had almost withered, leaving only bare branches covered with accumulated snow in the garden.

With no flowers to see, there were no visitors either.

The Plum Garden was desolate, with only the shadows of birds hopping on the snowy ground illuminated by the night, creating a quiet atmosphere. In the depths of the plum forest, the densely intertwined dead branches conveniently blocked the trailing robes.

Only a few faint golden-red spots were visible, like the scattered golden cinnabar plum blossoms that had not yet fully withered in early spring.

Director of the Eastern Factory, Shi Shen, slightly lowered his head and greeted the person he saw with a bow.

Zhao Chu.

Shi Shen had been a eunuch for over thirty years, climbing up from being a lowly servant cleaning chamber pots in the inner court to the position of Director of the Eastern Factory. He strode on thorns every step of the way, acting as a human, a dog, and even a ghost, considering himself as someone who would do whatever it takes.

Naturally, he had long abandoned the notion of loyalty and righteousness, and he wouldn't show any kindness to a discarded concubine and a neglected princess just out of pity.

Yet he had served Zhao Chu’s mother and her daughter, Zhao Yu, upon orders.

When he was falsely accused by the Chief Steward on the Royal Street years ago, he was nearly beaten to death, but it was Empress Dowager Dou who saved his life and sent him to the Eastern Factory.

On the day Empress Dowager Dou was deposed, someone came to say that she wanted to see him. At that time, he was just a captain of the Eastern Factory, and the Eastern Factory was too preoccupied with the invasion of the Jin Yiwei to spare any attention. Surviving under the tutelage of the old director was also a struggle.

He immediately refused Empress Dowager Dou's request.

She was embroiled in the court struggle, bearing the burden of two lives lost, far beyond what a eunuch like him could save.

But the next day, the person came again, without mentioning the request to see her, only handing him a letter.

The letter was written by Empress Dowager Dou herself, and there was no mention of his punishment in it.

In the letter, she said that the Emperor was wary of eunuchs wielding power from the previous dynasty, and the Eastern Factory was no longer what it used to be under the control of the Jin Yiwei. A discarded knife that could be placed in a box could be disposed of, but what would happen to a person who couldn't be put in a box?

Now, with just a word from the Third Prince, a Chief of the Eastern Factory could be easily disposed of, and their lives were as insignificant as grass and leaves, let alone their future. Instead of being a knife waiting to rust to death in a high tower, it was better to make a deal with her, a clear path for both her and the Eastern Factory.

At the end of the letter, she casually mentioned that the letter was in his hands, with the handwriting and signature clearly visible, so there was nothing to worry about.

A deposed empress boldly expressed her ambitions in a letter and handed over evidence of her own vulnerability, as if she were not afraid of death.

The next day, Shi Shen sent her a message, saying there wasn't much he could do.

Empress Dowager Dou didn't ask him to do much.

She asked him to personally go to the Dou Mansion to deliver a letter to the current Prime Minister, and after the Prime Minister read the letter, to personally burn it.

That day, amidst the shocked gaze of the Prime Minister and the flickering flames, Shi Shen saw the contents of the letter on the day it was burned.

"At the end of their rope, the Zhao family took me as their ruler and established the Liang Dynasty."

"What does she mean? Did she tell you? What does she mean!" On that day, Prime Minister Dou stared at the characters on the paper, trembling as he pressed Shi Shen for answers.

But Shi Shen remained silent, staring at the ashes in the firelight.

It wasn't until then that he realized Empress Dowager Dou didn't want to return to the palace but instead aimed to seize power.

That day, he went to the Cold Palace in person and told Empress Dowager Dou that he couldn't do what she asked.

Through the cold bronze gates of the Cold Palace, Empress Dowager Dou calmly said, "When I ascend to the throne, it will be your time to wield power over the court. I promise you the position of Director of the Eastern Factory."

An abandoned woman in the Cold Palace offered Shi Shen a price he couldn't refuse.

With Shi Shen's assistance thereafter, Empress Dowager Dou gradually stirred up the hidden desires of the Dou family and made them believe she wanted to support her elder brother's rise to power, allowing her to manipulate them. With her planning, Shi Shen also toppled the old director and cleared obstacles, stepping into the position of director.

In just ten years, under her control, the shadow of the Dou family began to loom over half the court.

The Emperor remained oblivious, with the shadows of the woman he despised standing behind the courtiers with lowered heads and the memorials presented to him.

However, before her grand plans could be realized, Empress Dowager Dou died sick and alone in the Cold Palace.

She left behind a fifteen-year-old daughter. Despite practicing martial arts with the guards since childhood, she was still just a child raised by palace servants.

Moreover, after Empress Dowager Dou's death, Dou Huairan sent a letter to the Eastern Factory, saying he wanted to retire.

Two years after Prime Minister Dou's death, Dou Huairan, although incapable, had many disciples and supporters left by Prime Minister Dou. Originally in the Ministry of Personnel, holding great power, the Emperor, moved by his loss of close kin, promoted him to the position of Minister of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

He had married the Emperor's half-sister Princess Jia, and his legitimate son carried royal blood. Therefore, he had always dreamed that on the day Empress Dowager Dou realized her ambitions, his son would ascend the throne, becoming an emperor wielding supreme power.

But his dream was shattered in an instant, and in his letter, he raged against Empress Dowager Dou as a weak burden.

Seeing this, Shi Shen didn't see the withered flower as a hope either.

With the decline of the Dou family, they also sought a husband for Zhao Chu. However, Zhao Chu, alone in the Cold Palace for three days, remained kneeling in a trance when the palace guard leader died.

She was just a weak woman who had lost her mother.

But three days later, she left the Cold Palace, kneeling outside the Imperial Study, begging the Emperor to allow her to observe a three-year mourning period for her mother.

The words "mother" angered the Emperor, who flew into a rage and left her kneeling outside the hall for two days. It wasn't until news came from the harem that the Empress had given birth to a child that the Emperor's anger subsided.

That day, Shi Shen happened to pass by the Imperial Study.

It had rained heavily that day, and Zhao Chu knelt in front of the Golden Palace, drenched to the bone. Palace attendants came and went, delivering good news, and the palace lamps swayed lightly in the rain, while laughter echoed faintly from the palace.

Alone, Zhao Chu knelt quietly in the rain, solitary and desolate. The scattered light from the rain fell disorderly on his shoulders.

"Come on, Fifth Princess. The Emperor has granted your request. You may leave now," said Huang Wei, who was always one to flatter those in power.

He held an umbrella, standing arrogantly in front of Zhao Chu.

"In a while, the little princess will be brought to the Imperial Study to see the Emperor. It's a joyous occasion, don't bring any more bad luck."

Everyone thought Zhao Chu was courting disaster.

With Empress Dowager Dou's death, she should have been seeking a good husband to console the Emperor. Instead, she severed her own path.

But that night, under the cover of the night rain and celebration, Zhao Chu found Shi Shen and placed silver in front of him, asking to rent a servant for five days, with payment due upon return.

Shi Shen noticed that the only golden hairpin in his hair was missing.

It must have been exchanged for money.

"Do not cause any more trouble, and I will ensure your safety," Shi Shen reluctantly promised, considering Empress Dowager Dou's face.

"Five days," Zhao Chu insisted, staring at him.

Ignoring his persistence, Shi Shen waved his hand and provided him with a servant.

However, five days later, the Dou family unexpectedly sent a letter, stating their full support for Zhao Chu. Under Zhao Chu's instructions, Dou Huairan, who had been reassigned from his position in the Ministry of Personnel, successfully infiltrated new loyalists.

Everything returned to normal, as if Empress Dowager Dou were still alive.

To this day, Shi Shen still didn't know how Zhao Chu had managed it.

He only knew that the seemingly quiet and reserved flower, freed from the constraints of his mother's cold palace walls, became even more audacious and shrewd.

He purged dissenters for the Dou family and established new allies outside the Dou family in the court. Within three years, his influence extended beyond the capital, reaching the Chu family's businesses along the Grand Canal, constantly supplying silver to the court and the Eastern Factory.

He never imagined that during the three days Zhao Chu spent alone in the Cold Palace, everyone, including himself, thought she was grieving for her deceased mother.

In reality, Zhao Chu had found and destroyed all the records left by Empress Dowager Dou, burning them to ashes over three days.

In the flickering firelight, he memorized all the words on the records.

*

This time, Shi Shen came to see Zhao Chu about Wu Shunde's matter.

Wu Shunde, Zhao Chu's only brother and the public face of the Chu family's business empire, had died a month ago.

He died just as Zhao Chu was about to expand into the shipping industry. Although the Chu family had obtained the documents from the Ministry of Revenue and planned to open a shipyard in the suburbs of the capital, construction had not yet begun when the head of the family unexpectedly passed away.

For the past month, Shi Shen had been investigating the matter for Zhao Chu.

"We've made progress in Wu Shunde's case," Shi Shen said.

He heard Zhao Chu's cool and lazy voice in front of him.

"Just tell me who it is," Zhao Chu said.

"It's Qiu Shuo, the Salt Transport Commissioner," Shi Shen replied.

As he spoke, Zhao Chu paced slowly back and forth, the faint sound of his footsteps echoing in the snow.

"The Imperial Censor for Salt Transportation from Jiangnan who arrived at the end of the year?"

"Yes," Shi Shen confirmed. "He's the one who had the idea for the shipyard."

Zhao Chu's footsteps stopped.

"After Wu Shunde's death, he sent people to inquire multiple times, wanting to buy the shipyard certificate from the Chu family at a low price," Shi Shen said.

"He can't swallow such a big project himself," Zhao Chu remarked. "Who is he planning to give it to?"

Shi Shen's brows furrowed slightly. "During this time, he has met Sang Zhixin the most."

Sang Zhixin, now the Deputy Director of the Secretariat, was the Emperor's most trusted courtier and the top scholar who emerged from a poor family background, discovered and raised by his widowed mother as a laundry worker.

Coincidentally, he was the same age as Empress Dowager Dou.

However, during that time, Empress Dowager Dou's astonishing literary talent and her romantic legend were the talk of the town. The legendary figure who had been selected as a top scholar because of his handsome appearance and later betrothed to the Crown Prince, overshadowed the entire story.

"Sang Zhixin," Zhao Chu chuckled lightly. "Then it's not surprising."

A powerful minister from a humble background, Sang Zhixin had a spotless reputation, praised throughout the capital and Jiangnan for his integrity. But with the capital drenched in wealth, how could he hold onto his large group of supporters without holding onto something?

"Do you intend to dispose of him, Your Highness?" Shi Shen asked. "Qiu Shuo's foundation is unstable now. He hasn't handed over the contract that Sang Zhixin demanded, and he's vulnerable."

But Zhao Chu raised his hand slightly, interrupting him.

"I heard that there has been unrest in Jiangnan recently, and news has reached the capital," he said. "It's called... the Sacred Lotus Sect?"

Shi Shen nodded. "This is also related to Qiu Shuo. He embezzled the government's disaster relief funds last year, and now the people are rioting. If it's not suppressed soon, he'll be in trouble. That's why he's urgently seeking Sang Zhixin's help to clean up the mess."

Zhao Chu smiled.

"So it seems his pockets are quite deep, enough to persuade Sang Zhixin," he noted.

"Does the princess mean..."

"His life is spared," Zhao Chu decided. "I still have use for him."

"Yes," Shi Shen nodded.

Over the years, he had gradually come to trust Zhao Chu's decisions. Zhao Chu didn't like to explain himself, so he didn't ask too many questions. He just followed Zhao Chu's instructions, believing it would surely be right.

He bowed and was about to leave when he heard Zhao Chu suddenly speak again.

"The embezzlement of relief funds... caused many deaths, didn't it?" Zhao Chu mentioned.

Shi Shen didn't understand why the princess suddenly said this.

He looked up at Zhao Chu with suspicion. "Certainly," he replied.

But he saw Zhao Chu standing in the moonlight, with a drooping expression, his face devoid of emotion, unaware of what he was thinking. He twirled a jade bracelet in one hand, unconsciously pacing back and forth, the faint sound of pearls colliding blending with the sound of the snow.

His steps faltered slightly.

"Do you think anyone would feel compassion and want to personally go and clean up the mess?" he asked.

Shi Shen chuckled at the notion.

"Such a person wouldn't survive three days in the court. Without my subordinates acting, Qiu Shuo would devour him whole..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw the princess's icy gaze land on him, so cold and menacing it could almost drip poison, prompting him to fall silent immediately.

His words had displeased the princess.

Shi Shen quickly lowered his head in a serious manner, admitting his mistake, "I spoke out of turn."

But the icy stare upon him did not waver.

Even the wolves in the Eastern Factory, who feasted on bones and blood, felt a chill under such scrutiny.

Shi Shen quickly added, "Rest assured, Princess. If anyone dares to disrupt your plans in such a manner, I will make sure they disappear without a trace, without hindrance to you in the slightest."

But the gaze only grew colder and sharper.

"...Your Royal Higness?"

Shi Shen was completely puzzled by Zhao Chu's intentions.

After a moment of silence, he finally heard Zhao Chu's voice.

"Did I ask you to kill anyone?"

"No," Shi Shen hurriedly replied.

There was a sound of rustling as Zhao Chu retrieved the jade bracelet back onto her wrist.

"In that case, don't take matters into your own hands."

--

Author's Note:

Shi Shen: ?

Also, writing up to this point, I really want to shout out loud that Empress Dou was an unexpected surprise in my outline! I also hope that everyone can see her sorrowful yet extremely courageous life through fragmented memories and the mouths of different people.

 

Translator : DarNan