Chapter 53
Grand Dowager Empress Wu
The Palace
“What is she doing?”
“Answering to Her Highness. She has been kneeling at the Dragon Palace since the previous night. She is asking for mercy on behalf of Her Highness Wei.”
The Grand Dowager observed Grand Consort Shu in disapproval. “Has the emperor left for the morning court?”
“Yes, Your Highness. It is believed he shall announce his decree on Her Highness Wei’s fate about now.”
The Grand Dowager led her entourage to where Grand Consort Shu knelt.
“Greetings to Her Highness!” Grand Consort Shu’s entourage greeted the Grand Dowager. Only the entourage of the lower ranked person was supposed to pass greetings.
“Greetings, Your Highness.” The Grand Consort Shu stayed on her knees and bowed a little.
“What is taking place here?”
Grand Consort Shu shrugged.
The Grand Dowager felt irritation knife her. It was unbelievable how the lowly woman was still indecent. Surely, a pig was always a pig, even if you took it into the palace.
“You are asking for mercy on behalf of a past palace maid, who so happened to be from a traitorous nation. Grand Consort Shu, have you no fear? Have you not thought about what would happen if people got wind of it? Obviously, you would be acquitted with her.”
Grand Consort Shu frowned, clearly taken back. “I am the mother of the emperor. Why would I be charged for treason?”
The Grand Dowager smirked. “Firstly, you used to call her Li’er. The meaning is ‘disloyal’.”
Grand Consort was quick to shake her head. “Disloyalty? That was not the character I was using. Li Lian has been nothing but loyal.”
“Do not take me for a fool. You knew she was not loyal. That was why you nicknamed her that. Secondly, you privately asked the servants who treated Her Highness Wei in Yi Yuan to observe her. Clearly, you believed there was something amiss about her.”
“Yes… I mean no. I did not…” Grand Consort Shu stumbled on her words.
“If you suspected something about her, why did you not share that with your beloved son?”
“I tell everything to Yu’er.”
“Yes, but you did not tell him this because you and your palace maid were conspiring against Nevoria.”
“Never!” she shrieked.
“Where is the evidence?”
“How dare you! It is despicable.”
The Grand Dowager grinned in enjoyment. “Now, Grand Consort Shu, I have evidence and witnesses, but where are yours?”
“You wretched old woman!” she lashed.
“Good. Hao. Even those words will be held against you. How dare you speak to me like that? You think you are untouchable just because you are the mother of the emperor?”
The Grand Consort shu began to cry. “You are a wicked old woman!”
The Grand Dowager Empress laughed. What a scene it was for her.
“Your sins can be counted on more than one hand, so how dare you dress in white? You are well aware that Noble Consort Qi committed a serious crime against the emperor, as the woman of the Inner Court, yet you still mourn her?”
“Yes, because she was a friend. Am I not allowed to mourn for a friend?”
The Heavens were good to Nevoria when they made sure Yuwen Hong did not have the small brain of his mother. He would be the worst emperor in history if he were like her.
“What an impertinent and insolent woman,” Grand Dowager snapped, chastising harshly. “Get up now and go back to your palace!”
“I will not!”
“Hao. Stay there! I bet you would love to rot in the dungeon when you get charged as the accomplice!”
With those words, the Grand Consort Shu bawled in tears as she stood and trudged back to her palace.
“Make sure to remove those mourning garments!” Grand Dowager instructed after her.
Unbelievable! The unruly woman always got her upset. Grand Consort Shu was undeserving of her position.
“Here, here, Your Highness. Please do not lose your good mood because of her. Remember, your health is fragile.” Grand Dowager’s court lady tried to calm her down.
The old woman took a deep breath and nodded. It was not worth it when she still had bigger matters to attend to.
“Is what I asked you to prepare ready?”
“Yes, they are waiting at the dungeon.”
“Did you speak to the Minister of Law in advance?”
“Yes, it took a lot of convincing, but he gave consent for us to enter.”
The Grand Dowager Empress laughed to herself. Even in that day and age, there was nothing gold and riches could not do, especially when it came to swaying someone.
“It is amusing that the emperor thought he could keep anyone from seeing his prisoned lover. Where there is an opening, there is a way.”
The Grand Dowager led the way to the dungeon. The place was isolated at the back of the palace.
“Your Highness, should we get you a palanquin? The afternoon sun is becoming hot and we must watch your health.”
“I am in good spirits. No problem walking.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The dungeon stunk more than what the old woman remembered. The Prison Guard showed them to the dark cell where Li Lian was locked in, opened it for them, and left.
Grand Dowager Empress instructed her retinue to wait in the corridor and entered by herself.
She found Li Lian sitting behind a small eating table. Li Lian was dressed in rags and her hair was frizzled all over. She had lost colour and appeared to be in the worst state the Grand Dowager had ever seen her in.
No greetings came from Li Lian. Disrespectful but expected.
“Interesting,” Grand Dowager started, “this place suits you best.”
An angry stare threw daggers at the Grand Dowager.
“Now, now, do not be angry when I have come to help.”
“What do you want?” Li Lian went to the point.
“Speaking informally to me? I guess you are seeking death sooner than later.”
Li Lian did not respond.
The Grand Dowager smiled smugly. “I will get to the point. Where to start?” The Grand Dowager pretended to think. “Ah, I know where. Let us start with talking about the damage you have caused.” The Grand Dowager looked down at Li Lian in a demeaning manner. “People are protesting for your death, you were not yet ordained as the empress after all. Yesterday, rebels lit your Phoenix Palace. You have been rejected by the people and lost face.
“Also, it is rumoured you killed Noble Consort Qi. Your knife is considered the weapon of murder. Now, she is partly a saint in the eyes of people and you have become the scapegoat for everything. And then Cai Wenjin, the poor child is motherless again.”
Li Lian winced at the mention of Cai Wenjin.
“Moreover, Wei Li Lian, Grand Consort Shu may be acquitted with you. After all, she admitted you as her palace maid and helped present you to the emperor.”
“They cannot do that,” Li Lian protested.
“Why,” the Grand Dowager chuckled, “because you said so? They are crying for the emperor to think on duty first, above anything else.”
Li Lian gritted her teeth in frustration.
“It is a bedlam. They are using this opportunity to ask for the Dowager Empress Wang to be released as there is no one eligible to lead the Inner Court. After all, there is no valid reason she was locked up that is directly unlawful, except the personal hatred the emperor held against her. Thus, no one understands why she was locked up, validly.”
“Dowager Empress Wang was imprisoned in the Cold Palace for all her vile acts over the years.”
“What evidence can you provide to prove that? You cannot even prove your innocence on not killing Noble Consort Qi.”
Surprise shone on Li Lian. “So, you do believe that I did not kill her?”
“Of course. I know you the best in this palace. Even better than the emperor,” she proclaimed proudly. “However, what I know to be true does not matter, it is not that I have any intentions to help you leave this place. Well, unless… you are not breathing.”
Grand Dowager chuckled at the sight of Li Lian fisting her hand.
“Life is unfair, isn’t it? You are here just because of your father. You did not kill anyone, you did not make many women die due to miscarriages, you did not sleep with another man who is not the emperor. Yet, everyone is wishing that you get dismembered for death.”
Li Lian took a while to reply. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you stole Luo Meng’s child from me, my grandchild, my reason for living.”
Li Lian squinted her eyes in disbelief. “That cannot be the reason. I do not believe you.”
“Your Highness!” The Court Lady interrupted them.
“What is it?”
“The emperor has passed his verdict.”
“Is it?” Grand Dowager couldn’t help letting her excitement drip into her words.
“It is death by the Dragon Poison, Your Highness.”
Li Lian’s face was slapped by surprise, then shock, and lastly, immense hurt.
“What did I tell you on the day you knelt on behalf of your brother, Li Lian?” The Grand Dowager noted a tear recklessly kissing Li Lian’s cheek. “All right, since you are emotional, never mind that.”
The Grand Dowager turned and called out to her court lady. “Bring what I prepared.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
A palace maid entered holding a tray and on the centre of it was a bowl with a reddish-brown concoction. The bowl was laid on the small table before Li Lian. Bowing to the Grand Dowager, the maid exited.
Li Lian wearily eyed the concoction.
“What a pity. Your mother abandoned you. Yuwen Hong abandoned you. You are alone and no one wants you.”
The words undoubtedly had a huge effect on Li Lian. It was as if fire had been added to oiled wood because she broke down. She heaved and coughed as more tears submerged her face.
The Grand Dowager was taken back by the display, but everyone had a weakness after all.
“Listen to my words, Li Lian. Don't give people who don't want you the satisfaction to have control over your life. Are you willing to die in the hands of Yuwen Hong’s poison?”
Li Lian continued to shake as she cried silently.
“The Dragon Poison is the worst of the worst. It is given to deranged criminals with severe crimes of killing more than a dozen people.”
The Grand Dowager pulled out a cloth and covered her nose. The dungeon was an inhumane place. The disgusting smell and uncleanliness was unbearable.
“It will take its time to consume your body,” the old woman droned, “days, months, years. Who knows, but all that time you will suffer and wish for your death. Nobody has ever let the poison kill them. They all committed suicide by banging their head to that wall or begging the Palace Guard for the sword. You will not be able to bear it.”
The Grand Dowager bent and pushed the concoction toward Li Lian. “Since we had a sort of cordial relationship, this is my present to you. I'm giving you your power back. With this, no one will have a say on when you will die and how you will die because you can decide that for yourself.”
Li Lian wearily eyed the concoction.
“Do not worry. It's not painful. You will leave this earth in the same way you doze off to sleep.”
Li Lian slowly reached for the concoction.
Satisfied with that, the Grand Dowager said her last words to the prisoner.
“Farewell, Wei Li Lian."
She could not wait to walk out of the horrible dungeon. Looking back as she exited, she was delighted to see Li Lian lift the bowl to her lips.
Li Lian had asked why the Grand Dowager Empress was doing this. Truth was the Grand Dowager was trying to save the emperor.
If he killed Li Lian, he would regret and possibly lose his sanity. His obsession for the woman had a vice grip on him.
If Yuwen Hong lost his mind, Nevoria would be stranded and there would be mayhem. Everyone would vye for the throne, the peace and tranquillity the Grand Dowager was privileged with would be threatened.
In the past, the Grand Dowager would have loved to dethrone her grandson and replace him with her clan’s puppet. However, times had changed, she was now old and all she wished for was to rest in peace.
S.V