It was precisely because of this blood-deep enmity that the Empress Dowager not only still hated the Imperial Noble Consort who had been ordered to die, but also hated the Duke Cheng'en's mansion, which to this day still believed the Imperial Noble Consort was innocent and cried out for justice on her behalf.
After all, Prince Fu had died young, and the Imperial Noble Consort was the one who had started it all.
But Lin Zhen had never known before that the Duke Cheng'en's mansion was still pleading innocence for the Imperial Noble Consort.
There was no way she could have known such things among the common folk.
So when she heard the Empress explain it this way, it suddenly dawned on her, and she finally understood why the Empress Dowager treated the Duke Cheng'en's mansion with such an attitude.
No one would forgive the Duke Cheng'en's mansion under these circumstances.
After all, by pleading innocence for the Imperial Noble Consort who had committed the poisoning, had the Duke Cheng'en's mansion ever considered how innocent Prince Fu was?
The enmity of a murdered son.
Prince Fu had died young, and with these hidden circumstances behind it—wasn't this like driving a knife into the Empress Dowager's heart?
"So that's how it is. Thank you, Sister-in-law," Lin Zhen now understood, her gaze darkening as disgust for the Duke Cheng'en's mansion rose in her heart.
It was clear that not letting that Duke Cheng'en seize her garden and not yielding to him with courtesy had been the right decision.
"The Late Emperor was also…" As Empress, she ought to hold reverence for her sovereign father, but the Empress genuinely liked Lin Zhen's character, so she didn't speak in vague, roundabout terms. Instead, she told Lin Zhen about things the common folk had never known or had been whitewashed, speaking softly, "Mother has harbored this grudge all along because of this matter. She also hates that back then… at a palace banquet, that bowl of poisoned sweet soup was originally meant to be served to Mother. It was the young Prince who, being still a child, picked it up and took two sips, shielding Mother from that assassination attempt. And then," seeing that Lin Zhen enjoyed the fruit nectar, she pushed her own cup toward her as well, sighing, "the Prince also offered the remaining half to the Late Emperor to drink. The Late Emperor was poisoned as well, which caused an uproar and a full-palace investigation that uncovered the poison was the Imperial Noble Consort's doing."
These were details known only to the imperial family. Even in the Prince Fu's mansion, Prince Fu had never told her these things, and Lin Zhen couldn't help but widen her eyes.
She had only heard among the common folk that the Imperial Noble Consort had poisoned the Late Emperor and Prince Fu, and she had wondered whether the Imperial Noble Consort had lost her mind.
The Late Emperor was her pillar of support—why on earth would she poison him for no reason?
So it turned out… the poison was meant for the Empress Dowager, who was then still the Empress.
"She tried to poison Mother?"
Lin Zhen exclaimed in surprise, meeting the Empress's obscure, troubled eyes, and for a long moment said nothing.
"At that time, the Imperial Noble Consort was with child. The Late Emperor was overjoyed, and when her pregnancy was still early, he issued a general amnesty across the realm to pray for blessings for this prince."
The Empress had already been the Crown Princess for many years by then, and had even raised the eldest imperial grandson. She had watched helplessly as the Late Emperor doted on the Imperial Noble Consort's pregnancy, showering it with favor and importance that even surpassed that of the Eastern Palace, and she had been unable to sleep during that period.
After all, compared to the Crown Prince, the Late Emperor clearly favored the Imperial Noble Consort's child more. He had even said to the nobles around him, "Strangely enough, the ones before never meant much to me. Only this one—I wish I could give him the entire world."
The Empress thought of how those words had spread far and wide for all to hear, thought of her own anxiety and trepidation in the Eastern Palace, and then thought of how His Majesty, the current Emperor, had been foolishly happy when he heard those words back then, bustling around the Imperial Noble Consort together with the Late Emperor… Yes.
Both the Late Emperor and His Majesty favored the Imperial Noble Consort, who was as serene as a chrysanthemum, cold and aloof in her purity. They did not favor the Empress, who schemed and calculated for the throne with ruthless determination.
Thinking that the Emperor's preferences had not changed to this day, the Empress lowered her eyes and, without shielding the Late Emperor or the Emperor from blame, said softly to Lin Zhen, "Mother was deeply wronged back then as well."
The world all admired women as pure as snow on mountain peaks.
Which woman wouldn't want to be serene and kind?
But if their mother hadn't racked her brains back then, fighting alongside the Late Emperor through the ranks of princes, then why should the Late Emperor have inherited the throne?
Did the throne just fall into someone's lap on its own?
And why would that so-called pure snow deign to fall into the Late Emperor's palm?
Lin Zhen fell silent at this, then said slowly, "Isn't the faithless, heartless man the more detestable one? If he loves snow on mountain peaks, then why didn't the snow care to be with him while he was rolling around in the mud?"
These words brought a smile even to the Empress's gloomy mood, and she laughed, saying, "I didn't expect you to think that way." Yes—if one was so pure and aloof, why did one only descend to the mortal world when the man enjoyed wealth and honor?
She then told Lin Zhen the rest of the story.
At a palace family banquet, the young Prince Fu took two sips of the sweet soup, found it delicious, and filially offered it to the Late Emperor to drink.
The Late Emperor, though not particularly fond of his youngest son, was in good spirits seeing the boy's filial piety, and the sweet soup was indeed delicious, so he drank the rest.
Not long after, the Late Emperor and Prince Fu both collapsed.
The whole realm was shaken.
When it was discovered that the Imperial Noble Consort had plotted to murder the Empress, everyone felt that this was indeed the way of things.
The Imperial Noble Consort was said to hold a rank equal to the Empress, but she had never truly been the mother of the nation.
The child in her womb was so beloved by the Late Emperor, who said he would give the entire world to this child—such was her overwhelming favor.
If she could poison the Empress to death, she could rise to the top, making her prince more legitimate in name, and even the Late Emperor wouldn't bear to punish her.
After all, the Late Emperor's love for her was true.
Even with conclusive evidence, even with the theft and delivery of the poison into the Imperial Noble Consort's hands thoroughly investigated and clear, even though the Late Emperor himself had vomited several basins of blood after drinking that sweet soup and was thereafter confined to bed, lingering on in suffering—when the Late Emperor learned of all this, he still attempted to shield the Imperial Noble Consort and refused to punish her.
Had it not been for the court officials jointly petitioning to execute the demon consort, throwing the court and the realm into turmoil, the Late Emperor would not have been willing to part with his beloved.
But precisely because the evidence was conclusive, the Imperial Noble Consort had no room for denial, and in the end she suffered a miscarriage from fright and was ordered to commit suicide.
Lin Zhen was not at all surprised that the Imperial Noble Consort had resorted to poisoning in an attempt to murder her own cousin for the sake of the Empress's position.
Had she been a good person, she would not have entered the palace to fight her sister for a husband.
Once she entered the palace to vie for favor, there was no longer any talk of sisterhood.
She only thought—if the young Prince Fu had not drunk those few mouthfuls of sweet soup, would he too have been able to live a long life?
So this… was the reason the Empress Dowager could not let go of her grief, to the point of lying ill in bed even now.
Because the Empress Dowager would feel that Prince Fu's early death was also due to her having taken on the calamity.
"Such a person—Duke Cheng'en's mansion still cries out for her injustice?" Lin Zhen clenched her own hands and asked.
She paused, meeting the Empress's faintly helpless smile, and suddenly remembered something else.
She recalled… that in this very palace there was now one who came from Duke Cheng'en's mansion, counted as the Empress Dowager's own niece, who upon entering the palace became an Imperial Noble Consort, favored above all six palaces.
"His Majesty also believes the Imperial Noble Consort was wronged." The current Emperor had greatly admired the Late Emperor's Imperial Noble Consort, and deeply felt that the matter of her poisoning his mother was full of doubts… When one already enjoyed such overwhelming favor and was about to bear a prince, was there really any need to strike at his mother at such a time?
Had it not been for the conclusive evidence, and had he not been restrained by the fact that as a son he could hardly speak up for a criminal who had caused the Late Emperor to be bedridden from then on, the Emperor would have overturned the Imperial Noble Consort's case and restored her "innocence."
And because he also favored women of noble, pure, and aloof bearing, the Emperor had likewise brought his cousin from Duke Cheng'en's mansion into the palace.
For he had discovered with delight that this cousin bore the same proud, lofty, and solitary air as the former Imperial Noble Consort.
The corner of Lin Zhen's mouth twitched slightly.
She had been married into the imperial family for only a short time, and being a woman, she had not yet met the Emperor—she had only heard these fragments when she came into the palace to see the Empress Dowager and the Empress.
No wonder Prince Fu had told her to rely only on the Empress Dowager and the Empress in the future, without mentioning his imperial elder brother at all.
"I fear… I cannot be on good terms with Duke Cheng'en's mansion."
These words were not only because Duke Cheng'en's mansion held Prince Fu in contempt, but also to make clear to the Empress that she stood on the Empress's side and would not flatter the Imperial Noble Consort now in the palace.
The Empress smiled, and instead gently advised this young but clear-headed girl, "In the future you will be moving about the palace frequently, and you cannot avoid the Imperial Noble Consort. She is the one His Majesty holds dearest in his heart—do not offend her."
She liked Lin Zhen, and knew her days were not easy. How could she bear to let Lin Zhen take her side and offend the Imperial Noble Consort?
As she spoke, the Empress patted the back of the hand of this child younger than her own eldest son, and said softly, "I understand your intentions perfectly. But precisely because I understand, I cannot let you be drawn into the palace's disputes."
The Imperial Noble Consort's pillow talk was formidable indeed.
If she so much as twisted her words before the Emperor, he would likely come to dislike Lin Zhen.
After all, he was His Majesty who sat upon the realm.
"I will follow your counsel." Knowing the Empress cherished her, Lin Zhen agreed.
The Empress studied her for a moment, and only when she saw that Lin Zhen had truly taken her words to heart did she feel at ease.
She then spoke with Lin Zhen about the situation in the palace, and about the imperial kinsmen and nobles connected to Prince Fu's mansion. As she reminisced, she said, "…At the time everyone said it was strange—Prince Fu loved splendor and blossoms, loved to laugh and talk."
Although Prince Fu had always been in poor health, he was not of a gloomy or brooding temperament; on the contrary, he was a man who loved to laugh and was gentle and magnanimous.
The Empress, as his elder sister-in-law, had watched Prince Fu grow up, and could not help but show a trace of maternal affection as she continued to Lin Zhen, "Prince Ning, however, was steady and martial even as a young boy, with no love for idle chatter and song. By temperament they should not have gotten along, yet from childhood the two were closest of brothers. In the future, when Prince Ning returns to the capital in triumph, you will meet him naturally. Their brotherly bond was deep… ah, never mind."
The Empress had meant to say that if Prince Fu's mansion ever encountered trouble, Lin Zhen could also seek help from Prince Ning's mansion, given his friendship with Prince Fu.
But on reflection, by the time one could ask Prince Ning for help, would it not be more convenient to seek aid from the palace?
Moreover, Prince Ning would one day marry and start his own family—how could the responsibilities of Prince Fu's mansion be shifted onto Prince Ning's shoulders?
So the Empress said gently to Lin Zhen, "If there is no time to seek help from the palace, send someone to find the First Prince, and have him assist you."
The First Prince was the Empress's eldest son, who had already established his own household outside the palace. It was only fitting that a nephew run errands for Prince Fu's mansion.
Lin Zhen smiled and agreed.
Only after arranging all these matters did the Empress feel at ease. She further asked Lin Zhen whether anyone in the mansion was causing mischief, and ordered the palace attendants to come in and serve. Just as they were speaking, a palace attendant appeared from behind the door to report, "Consort Zhou has come to pay her respects to Your Grace."
Lin Zhen had just heard a full earful of palace affairs and gradually recalled the matter of Consort Zhou… Although the Noble Consort currently held exclusive favor in the palace, there were still other consorts and concubines.
This Consort Zhou was a consort who had served the Emperor since his days in the Eastern Palace, and she had borne the Emperor his Third Prince.
At present, His Majesty had only three sons—the First Prince and the Second Prince both born of the Empress—and among all the consorts and concubines in the palace, only Consort Zhou had been fortunate enough to bear a child.
This was naturally not to be underestimated.
Lin Zhen, taking to heart her identity as a young widow of the imperial family, resolved not to offend any of the palace consorts. And yet…
When she sat below the Empress and looked across at the gentle-faced, middle-aged beauty in palace attire opposite her, she could not help but feel something was off.
Why did Consort Zhou keep glancing at her subconsciously, looking as though she wanted to speak but held back?