Green Mountain-Chapter 689 - 545: Phoenix Crown and Wedding Robe (Part 2)

The Empress looked at the cold dishes on the table: "Little Stone, being estranged from me since childhood, forsook even the throne for me, his mother. Last time he came to Kunning Palace, he cried for an hour, saying he dreamt of me wearing white, standing somewhere very high, the wind blowing my sleeves like they were about to fly away... Such a grown-up, still wiping tears."

She held Wu Yun and went to the West Warm Pavilion, walked to the dressing table, and opened the bottom drawer. Inside were not jewels, but several faded little clothes, a well-worn wooden sword, and a stack of red calligraphy practice sheets with crooked handwriting.

The Empress stood in a trance for a long time, then softly said to Aunt Yuan Jin, "Aunt Yuan Jin, help me grind the ink; I want to write a letter to Little Stone."

Aunt Yuan Jin agreed.

The Empress stood before the desk, contemplating for a long time, and finally picked up the pen to write. As soon as she wrote "My son, upon seeing this letter," a drop of water suddenly fell on the ink, smearing it.

She crumpled the paper into a ball and replaced it with a new one.

She wrote about how he, at a hundred days old, grabbed her jade pendant and wouldn't let go, how at five years old he chased butterflies in the Imperial Garden and ended up covered in mud, how at twelve he cooked her a burnt bowl of lotus seed soup for the first time.

Towards the end, her hand trembled slightly: "Little Stone, we should have been a typical mother and child, with me stitching little clothes for you, making little wooden swords, counting stars on summer nights together."

The Empress folded the letter and handed it to Aunt Yuan Jin: "Don't use the posthouse; send it to Jinling through the old trade route of the family."

With that, she held Wu Yun and walked towards the East Warm Pavilion.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion, in her sight was a screen with gilded double happiness characters. In front of the screen was a table, on the table were two red candlesticks and an incense burner.

In the northwest corner was the dragon-phoenix wedding bed, adorned with colorful silk canopies and a hundred children tapestry, on which lay red satin dragon-phoenix quilts.

The East Warm Pavilion was where the Emperor and Empress were wed, and its arrangements had remained unchanged, reserved for their shared nights.

After twenty-six years, it seemed everything had changed, yet this place still retained the appearance from their wedding day, red with joy yet burdened.

The Empress came to the screen, hanging on the wooden frame was the phoenix crown and wedding robe she wore on her wedding day, now somewhat worn.

Holding Wu Yun, she stood on tiptoe to touch the east pearls on the phoenix crown: "Even these east pearls have dimmed. I still remember clearly, when this phoenix crown was made, the Ministry of Rites advised on the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes, but he insisted on Twelve Dragons and Nine Phoenixes; for the sideburn ornaments, they only allowed six panels, but he added to eight; for the robe, they said to only embroider dragon patterns, but he insisted on dragon and phoenix patterns... Never before had he been this meticulous, concerning himself with such minor matters."

Aunt Yuan Jin's expression was complicated: "Madam, you should have explained to His Majesty long ago that your admiration for Prince Jing was only brotherly, and it was always His Majesty in your heart."

The Empress avoided answering and only smiled, "Aunt Yuan Jin, it's been so long since you called me that. I remember as a child you would always call me this. Madam, stop climbing trees. Madam, it's time to eat. Madam, how did you make the schoolmaster this angry again... Those times were good, but once you entered the palace, you became so rigid."

Aunt Yuan Jin fell silent, speechless.

The Empress gently stroked the embroidery, softly lamenting with her back to her, "How many women dream of the phoenix crown and wedding robe, yet cannot obtain it... Aunt Yuan Jin, bring me pen and ink; I wish to write an edict."

Aunt Yuan Jin refused to leave the Empress's side, turned her head, and shouted outside the East Warm Pavilion, "Bring pens, ink, paper, and an inkstone."

Moments later, a female servant brought a table over. The Empress set Wu Yun down, touched its head, "Good Wu Yun, go play. Chuntao, take it to eat some snacks; it only ate a piece of fish at night and must still be hungry."

Once Chuntao left, the Empress stood deliberating at the desk for a long time, finally picking up the pen, wrote the edict, each stroke seriously, with dignified handwriting.

After finishing the last stroke, she spoke again to Aunt Yuan Jin: "Aunt Yuan Jin, fetch my seal."

Aunt Yuan Jin hesitated, unwilling to leave.

The Empress smiled and said: "It's just a few steps, are you worried something will happen to me? You can't keep watch over me every day."

Gritting her teeth, Aunt Yuan Jin turned and left; she kept the Empress's seal, unknown to others where it was kept.

She quickly went to the back hall, retrieved the Empress's seal from a hidden compartment under the bed, and rushed back. Yet upon returning to the main hall, she saw from afar the Empress drinking something.

"Madam!" Aunt Yuan Jin was suddenly shocked in her heart.

The next moment, the Empress gracefully fell, lying on the reflective green gold bricks. Her hair splayed like a fan, and beside her lay a white porcelain bottle, making a crisp sound as it hit the bricks.

Aunt Yuan Jin shouted loudly: "Summon the Imperial Physician, quickly summon the Imperial Physician!"

She flashed to the Empress's side, picked up the porcelain bottle, smelled it, and urgently said: "Madam, who gave this to you? How did you come to have poison in hand?"

"No need to trouble them, it cannot be cured," the Empress's complexion was calm, quietly looking at the East Warm Pavilion's ceiling: "Aunt Yuan Jin, when you leave the palace, remember what I've said, find a way to have Princess Yongchun and her Zhou Zhuoyuan buried together."

Aunt Yuan Jin grieved, "At such a time, still thinking of others?"

The Empress smiled, "Also, tell my father I don't want to be buried in the Changping Imperial Mausoleum, I want to be buried in a place with mountains, sea, sunrise, and sunset... Let him find a way, and trouble you to take me to see."

Aunt Yuan Jin was overwhelmed with sorrow, shouting: "Where is the Imperial Physician? Why has the Imperial Doctor not arrived yet!"

The Empress tried to raise her hand to touch the wrinkles on Aunt Yuan Jin's face but couldn't lift it. She looked at the gilded character of happiness on the East Warm Pavilion's screen and slowly closed her eyes: "The dearest in marriage, husband and wife unacquainted as emperor and empress... May we not meet again in the next life."

Aunt Yuan Jin cried out heartbreakingly "Madam!"

At this moment, Wu Yun followed the sound and froze at the threshold of the East Warm Pavilion. It walked step by step to her, lowered its head to touch the Empress's nose, full of sorrow.

Outside Kunning Palace, footsteps echoed. Four night-shift imperial physicians arrived with medicine chests, even the Jiefan Guard burst in, controlling all female servants inside Kunning Palace.

The chaotic steps forced Wu Yun to weave left and right. It watched the Empress surrounded by a crowd, silently left the East Warm Pavilion, turning back every few steps.

Finally, through the gaps in the crowd, it took one last look at the Empress's face, then turned and left the main hall, leaped onto the wall, disappearing among the glazed golden tiles into the night.

The vast Forbidden City was in turmoil until late into the night.

Until the little eunuch striking the watch drum quietly reported the hour of 1 AM, the lights in Kunning Palace were extinguished.

Wu Xiu, holding a piece of Xuan paper, hurriedly arrived outside Renshou Palace. No lights were lit here; through the moonlight, he could barely see Emperor Ning sitting behind a gauze curtain, meditating with closed eyes.

Wu Xiu stepped over the threshold, knelt before the imperial seat, offering the piece of Xuan paper with both hands, and whispered: "Your Majesty, the Empress has passed away. Except for Aunt Yuan Jin, all who knew have been beaten to death; Consort Xue is under house arrest in Yikun Palace, ensuring the outside world doesn't know what happened." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Behind the gauze, the emperor did not respond.

Wu Xiu continued, "Tomorrow, the court ministers will quietly hand over the Xue Family's criminal evidence to the Hu Family, to vent anger... The Imperial Decree for the promotion of Wang Xun, valued by the Hu Family, to Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, is also drafted."

Emperor Ning still did not respond, only the gauze screen swayed slightly.

After waiting for a long time, Wu Xiu said again: "The Empress also left an edict."

Emperor Ning finally spoke slowly, "Read."

Wu Xiu lowered his head and read by moonlight: "On the wedding day of any man in the Ning Dynasty, regardless of being a scholar, or a farmer, all may wear the ninth-rank official uniform, don an official position, and equip a leather belt, thus becoming the bridegroom. On the day of any woman in the Ning Dynasty's marriage, be she a duke's daughter or a common girl, all may don the phoenix crown and wedding robe..."

At this point, he quietly looked up, the Ning Emperor behind the gauze screen still like a deity, his emotions unreadable.

This edict neither sought justice nor complaint, made no mention of the future, nor made any references to the past, no word about herself, no word about the Ning Emperor.

After an unknown length of silence, Emperor Ning hoarsely said, "Approved."