Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Woman of the Wu Clan (Part One)

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His Majesty Li Er considered the matter for a moment before ordering, “Choose a palace maid and bestow her upon Fang Jun.”

He intended to inspect Fang Jun’s “wares” first, then decide how best to deal with him.

Ordinarily, whenever a prince or princess reached marriageable age, the palace ladies-in-waiting would arrange for someone to “test the marriage”—in other words, to examine the physical condition of the future princess consort or prince consort. But Princess Gaoyang was still young. Even if he personally arranged her marriage, the wedding would have to wait another two or three years. The palace had not yet put such matters on the agenda, leaving Li Er no choice but to overstep his bounds and handle it himself...

Wang De asked no questions. He merely bowed and said respectfully, “Your Majesty’s will shall be done.” He was about to withdraw and choose someone when Li Er called him back.

Li Er’s expression remained conflicted for quite some time before he finally made up his mind. “The second daughter of Wu Shiyue entered the palace just last month, did she not? Give her to Fang Jun...”

To be honest, His Majesty Li Er was truly torn. He was more than a little reluctant to part with her...

The girl from the Wu family was only fourteen, just at the age when a girl’s hair was formally pinned up. She was the daughter of the meritorious official Wu Shiyue, blessed with a face like a flower and a graceful, willowy figure. In particular, judging by Li Er’s experience with a hundred women, she possessed a naturally alluring beauty and an enchantment in every gesture—an exceedingly rare seductress.

All men loved beauty, and Li Er was no exception.

Yet although the Wu girl had been in the palace for more than a month, he had not favored her even once. The reason was a thorn lodged in his heart.

“The woman who will rule as King Wu!”

This was a prophecy that had recently begun circulating through the palace. No one knew where it had originated, but several palace maids and eunuchs had already been beaten to death because of it.

In this age, people placed extraordinary faith in ghosts, gods, and prophecies. Even a wise and mighty emperor was not immune. Thus, those words had become a sharp thorn in Li Er’s heart.

There was only one person in the palace who could possibly be linked to the phrase “the woman who will rule as King Wu,” and for that reason he had even considered killing the Wu girl.

But she was, after all, the daughter of a meritorious official. To kill her over a baseless accusation would invite trouble from the officials and censors—and even Li Er himself could not bring his heart to it.

Since that was the case, why not send her to Fang Jun? Once she was out of the palace, how could she ever become “the woman who will rule as King Wu”?

One stroke, and the matter would be settled. What the eye did not see, the heart would not grieve over.

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Yet although the trouble would be sent away, Li Er was still reluctant to part with her. The Wu girl was so captivating and delicate that anyone who looked upon her could not help but feel tenderness toward her. If he brought her into his chambers, she would surely be a treasure in bed...

Princess Gaoyang had no idea of the indecent thoughts in her father’s heart. But the princess was clever enough to understand immediately why he intended to give Fang Jun a palace maid. Her eyes turned thoughtfully, and she said, “Then I shall take my leave.”

Li Er was somewhat absentminded. He nodded and murmured his assent, then said to Li Junxian, “Go and summon His Highness the Prince of Wei.”

Li Junxian accepted the order and departed.

Princess Gaoyang also left the Divine Dragon Hall, but she did not return to her own chambers. Instead, she took a roundabout route and went straight to the Palace of the Rear Court.

* * *

When the imperial palace was constructed in ancient times, its layout centered upon a north-south axis, with the remaining palace districts extending east and west from it. Along the central meridian stood not only the court where the sovereign attended to affairs of state, but also the sleeping quarters of the emperor and empress. The palace districts built on either side of those chambers complemented them and resembled two arms protecting the imperial residence. These two districts were therefore collectively known as the Rear Court, where all consorts below the rank of Jieyu resided.

The Rear Court had one gate on the west and two on the east. A great granary stood in the north, while the Tower of the Hundred Arts rose atop the high walls in the northeast. The central section housed the Bureau of Palace Women and its training grounds. The Imperial Attendant Office occupied the south, where a pavilion called Violet Orchid stood.

In Fragrant Beauty Garden, at the northwest corner of the Rear Court, the accumulated snow had only just been swept away. Ice grains and frozen clumps still scattered across the flagstone path, while the empty courtyard lay desolate beneath the withered trees.

A palace maid knelt upon the cold, unyielding stones. Her thin palace robes had been pressed tightly against her body by the wind, outlining her slender waist and sharply defined shoulders. She looked as fragile as a magnolia swaying in the bitter winter wind.

Her cloudlike black hair had been coiled atop her head into a bun, though several hairpins had shifted and her temples were disheveled.

Her delicate face, lovely as a flower carved from jade, had been chilled until it was tinged blue. Yet she still pressed her bloodless, petal-shaped lips tightly together, stubbornly lifting her pale, graceful neck like a swan’s. Despite the bleakness of her beauty, her expression was filled with resolve, and her cool, lovely eyes glared fixedly at the stout palace woman before her.

“I wonder what crime I have committed?”

Her voice was clear, sweet, and pleasing to the ear, though it trembled faintly—whether from fear or from the cold, it was impossible to say.

But the stubbornness in her expression showed not the slightest sign of retreat, even beneath weather cold enough to freeze the marrow.

“You committed a crime and do not even know it? You wretched slut, do you know that the garment you ruined by washing and fading was Lady Xiao’s favorite? She gave me a vicious scolding because of you! Wu girl, you still dare talk back?”

The palace woman was broad and heavyset, with thick brows and large eyes. She looked like someone possessed of great strength. The angrier she became, the louder she shouted. Then she reached out and struck the Wu girl hard across the face.

The woman’s five fingers were thick and stubby, like five radish ends. At once, the Wu girl’s skin-white, tender cheek swelled red.

The Wu girl let out a muffled groan of pain, but bit down fiercely on her lip until it bled. Tears shimmered in her beautiful eyes, yet she forced herself not to let them fall. Through clenched teeth, she said bitterly, “You filthy, vicious harridan—remember today’s humiliation. One day, I shall repay it a hundredfold.”

The palace woman flew into a rage and raised her hand to strike again. But when their eyes met unexpectedly, an inexplicable shiver ran through her, and she found herself unable to bring her palm down.

She had been frightened by the icy severity in the eyes of this seemingly delicate and timid young maid.

A thought rose uncontrollably in her mind: This girl possessed beauty fit for a kingdom, and courage to match. Who could say she would never rise to prominence? For the women of the palace, all it took was a single moment of imperial favor to soar from a low branch and become a phoenix. If she offended the girl too severely today, would she not be ruined if the girl ever gained the upper hand?

Yet the thought had barely surfaced before she dismissed it herself.

Why?

Because the Wu girl was supposedly the daughter of a meritorious official—but that official had died young, and at home she had been bullied and despised by her two half-brothers. She had no powerful family behind her. Though the emperor himself had ordered her brought into the palace, he had merely glanced at her before sending her off to the Rear Court, where he had ignored her ever since. She had not yet served him in his bed, which clearly meant she had offended him in some way. She had no future.

A worthless little wretch with neither backing nor prospects—here in the Rear Court, on this tiny patch of ground, was she really going to fear that such a dead fish might somehow come back to life?

Truly, the longer one lived in the world, the more timid one became. When she had first entered the palace, she had dared to claw the face of her immediate superior until it looked as though peach blossoms had bloomed across it. All she had received was a beating with a rod, and once she had endured that, she had been able to roam the Rear Court without hindrance.

And now look at her. A mere few threatening words from a little wretch, and she had actually grown afraid...

Embarrassed and enraged, the palace woman shouted, “You little slut! Who do you think you are? What good is a pretty face here in the Rear Court? Let me tell you plainly: even if I beat you to death and threw you down a well, no one would ask a single question! You worthless whore—save that face of yours for seducing men in your next life!”

With that, she struck her hard across the face again.

The blow left the Wu girl’s head ringing. A salty warmth gathered at the corner of her mouth. When she reached up to touch it, her fingers came away red.

No matter how stubborn her nature, she was still only a fourteen-year-old girl. Though her pride soared higher than the heavens, under blow after cruel blow she finally collapsed completely. Her resolve to endure humiliation and avenge herself melted away like the snow beneath her knees. Tears streamed down her face in endless strands, and she burst into loud sobs.

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