“His Majesty will surely understand Your Majesty’s thoughtful intentions.”
Zhulan whispered softly.
The Empress Dowager let out a slow sigh.
“This old one is growing old. The only thing I cannot let go of now is the Emperor.”
“If the Emperor could have his own heir, even if it meant this old one going to meet the late Emperor immediately, I would gladly accept it.”
Zhulan comforted the Empress Dowager, “His Majesty is blessed by heaven’s fortune. Your Majesty and His Majesty will surely have your wish fulfilled.”
The Empress Dowager glanced at her, “Let it be so.”
“Over these years, this old one has tried countless methods, and I have pleaded bitterly before the Buddha for countless days and nights.”
She looked at Zhulan and shifted the topic, “But this old one has a premonition that this time, it will surely come true.”
“The abbot of Hanshan Temple said that the Woman of Destiny is within Hanshan Temple.”
“It is hateful that those court officials, knowing full well that this old one and the Emperor are in quiet retreat at the temple, have all stopped coming! Hmph! Are they not just afraid that this old one will select their daughters?”
Aunt Zhulan sighed inwardly.
The Empress Dowager and His Majesty share a deep mother-son bond, and has she not also accompanied the two masters from humble beginnings all the way to the present?
In her youth, the Empress Dowager was not a high-ranking consort, nor was she favored; she was merely a low-ranking concubine.
It was only by great fortune that she received a single night of favor from the late Emperor and became pregnant with the Emperor.
The late Emperor had two empresses, several high-ranking consorts, and countless other young palace ladies like the Empress Dowager, resulting in many descendants and particularly brutal struggles for the imperial succession.
There were three legitimate sons alone.
At that time, the Empress Dowager only wanted to protect herself and her son wisely.
But in the harem, one is not free to act as one wishes.
Even if the mother and son did not contend, no one would believe it.
It was then that His Majesty fell victim to a secret plot.
He was poisoned with a “strange toxin” that, it was said, did not impair male dignity but affected his ability to have offspring.
The Empress Dowager was furious. After failing to obtain an antidote, she personally had the consort who administered the poison skinned, dismembered, and her bones ground to dust!
His Majesty ascended the throne at seventeen. In the third year of his reign, the then Lady Chen, now Consort Chen, became pregnant.
At that time, both she and the Empress Dowager thought that the so-called “sterility toxin” was nothing more than that—surely that wretched woman was exaggerating or had been deceived.
His Majesty would surely have many descendants.
Who could have known that, to this day, with His Majesty having reigned for twenty years, he still only had Princess Zhaoyang as his sole daughter.
Only then did they realize that Princess Zhaoyang was the exception, and the strange toxin had indeed taken effect.
Zhulan knew how arduously His Majesty and the Empress Dowager had climbed to their current high positions.
But without an heir, if the throne were to fall to an outsider in the future, would it not be like sewing a wedding dress for another?
Not to mention the Empress Dowager and her son, even Zhulan felt stifled just thinking about it.
With the Emperor unable to produce an heir, it was understandable that court officials, thinking of their own daughters, were unwilling to send them into the palace.
“It is their daughters who lack the fortune to bear a young prince for His Majesty.”
Zhulan said sincerely.
The Empress Dowager was indeed pleased to hear this.
“Zhulan truly understands this old one’s heart.”
She had originally thought that since the abbot said the Woman of Destiny was within Hanshan Temple,
if the Emperor happened to meet the daughter of some official, she could be welcomed into the palace with great honor.
If she could successfully give birth to a prince, even if her status was low, she could rise to become empress by virtue of her son.
Who knew they would be so ungrateful!
The Empress Dowager had no choice but to select an unmarried woman of proper character, appearance, and clean family background from within a ten-mile radius of Hanshan Temple.
This woman’s mother was fertile, so she likely would not be lacking in that regard.
However, to ensure no mishaps occurred, the Empress Dowager immediately decided to have the Emperor and the woman consummate their union in the temple’s side chamber.
The Emperor was no longer the youth once sheltered under the Empress Dowager’s wing. He was now a man of great talent and vision, deep-minded and resolute.
Thus, the Empress Dowager administered an Aphrodisiac Pill to both him and the woman.
“I believe that if the Woman of Destiny and the Emperor unite under the Buddha’s protection, it will surely help fulfill both my and the Emperor’s wishes!”
Zhulan said, “Your Majesty is compassionate; the Buddha will surely understand.”
As she spoke, her expression grew hesitant.
Having served the Empress Dowager for decades, Zhulan was well understood by her.
“Speak your mind.”
Zhulan paused before saying, “His Majesty and that woman have already been at it for over an hour…”
“His Majesty is vigorous, and the woman is experiencing this for the first time. I fear she may not be able to endure it…”
The Empress Dowager fell silent for a moment. “Have Fuquan keep watch with his men to prevent any accidents.”
Zhulan lowered her gaze and bowed. “Yes.”
…
To ensure the act appeared convincing, Zhou Mingyi exchanged a point in the System store for an Aphrodisiac Elixir.
The effects of this elixir were astonishing—not only did it stir desire, but it also caused Zhou Mingyi to emit an irresistible, warm fragrance when aroused.
Even so, Zhou Mingyi still felt her waist and knees growing weak and sore.
Wasn’t it said that the Emperor was thirty-seven this year?
Why did he feel even stronger than the twenty-four-year-old Crown Prince from her previous life?
Zhou Mingyi sat atop Emperor Qianwu, her jade-like arms draped around his neck, her delicate, boneless body trembling like a leaf with nowhere to cling.
Emperor Qianwu’s hands gripped her slender waist tightly, the force so great it left a startling, ambiguous red mark on her snow-white, slender form…
Outside the side chamber, Fuquan waited anxiously.
His Majesty was vigorous, and few of the imperial consorts could withstand him, most fainting within half an hour.
But now… they had been at it for nearly two hours!
Although… if something happened to the woman and ruined His Majesty’s mood, it would be the servants who suffered.
Just then, Zhulan, the Empress Dowager’s attendant, arrived.
Fuquan immediately poured out his troubles to her.
“It’s been almost two hours! His Majesty and that young lady… no, Her Ladyship, still haven’t come out. What should we do, Auntie?”
As Emperor Qianwu’s most trusted eunuch attendant, deeply favored by His Majesty, Fuquan naturally understood the Emperor’s thoughts.
Even though the Empress Dowager had orchestrated this, His Majesty was deep-minded and possessed immense self-control.
This indulgence precisely proved his great fondness for the woman.
That young lady… had an extraordinary destiny and was certain to enter the palace as a consort or imperial concubine.
Auntie Zhulan leaned in slightly and heard the woman’s sweet, melodious voice, like a nightingale emerging from a valley, occasionally punctuated by the Emperor’s hoarse, impassioned groans…
For a moment, she was at a loss on how to respond.
Just then, an imperial guard brought forward a captured woman.
The woman’s mouth was gagged, her expression terrified.
Having served the Empress Dowager for many years, Auntie Zhulan had cultivated an unflappable composure, yet her face paled abruptly upon seeing the girl.
“You…”
“What are you doing here?”
Hearing this, Fuquan sensed something amiss.
Auntie Zhulan quickly brought the girl before the Empress Dowager.
Upon seeing the Empress Dowager, the young, delicate-looking woman turned deathly pale.
With a thud, she knelt. “Noble One, spare my life!”
“I have a beloved, I am not without a betrothal; it was my parents who arranged this behind my back…”
“I beg for mercy, noble one!”
The Empress Dowager’s prayer beads suddenly tightened in her hand.
Frowning, she looked at Zhulan. “What is going on?”
Aunt Zhulan recounted how she had been sent to deliver a message but unexpectedly witnessed the Emperor’s personal guards apprehending this woman.
The Empress Dowager’s expression changed.
The woman she had arranged had secretly tried to flee and was captured by the guards. “Then who is in the side chamber with the Emperor?”
Aunt Zhulan’s forehead beaded with large drops of sweat.
“This… when I arrived, His Majesty was in high spirits, and that young lady…”