Shen Tinghe was walking hand in hand with Xie Yanzhao along the corridor back to the Eastern Palace when hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind them.
“Greetings to His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
Li Xingwei, the chief eunuch who personally attended Emperor Chonghe, bowed respectfully, slightly out of breath.
“His Majesty has given an oral decree requesting the Crown Princess to come to Qianzheng Palace for an audience.”
Shen Tinghe froze for a moment. Why was His Majesty summoning her?
She looked at Xie Yanzhao beside her.
His expression remained unchanged, and he did not loosen his grip on her hand. Instead, his fingers tightened slightly. His voice was calm and emotionless.
“What matter requires the Crown Princess to be summoned alone? I will accompany her.”
Li Xingwei lowered his head, his voice clearly troubled.
“Your Highness, His Majesty only instructed that the Crown Princess enter the palace alone to speak with him.”
Xie Yanzhao raised his eyes slightly, his gaze seemingly sweeping casually over Li Xingwei.
That single glance was enough to make the eunuch, who had served before the Emperor for many years, feel a chill run down his spine. His legs even trembled slightly.
Everyone in the imperial court knew very well that, in the current dynasty, the true pillar of the realm had long since become the Crown Prince.
The Emperor no longer concerned himself with state affairs, while the Crown Prince governed the country in his stead. His authority and influence had already surpassed, almost imperceptibly, that of the Emperor who remained deep within the inner palace.
Yet the Son of Heaven was still the Son of Heaven. Li Xingwei had no choice but to deliver the imperial command, but neither did he dare offend the Crown Prince’s authority.
Feeling the strength of Xie Yanzhao’s grip and the displeasure emanating from him, Shen Tinghe quickly placed her other hand over the back of his and gently pressed her fingertips against his palm in reassurance. She leaned toward him and whispered,
“Since Father Emperor specifically instructed me to go, I’ll just make a trip there. Nothing will happen.”
Xie Yanzhao’s brows remained tightly furrowed, his thin lips pressed into a straight line.
Shen Tinghe hooked her arm around his and led him a few steps away. Li Xingwei immediately turned around and faced away, understanding the situation perfectly.
She softened her voice.
“Brother, Father Emperor is still both our sovereign and our father. It wouldn’t be proper to reject him so directly. I’ll go and come right back. It won’t take long.”
Xie Yanzhao stared at her for a moment before finally letting out a helpless sigh. He raised his hand and tucked a strand of hair, disheveled by the night breeze, behind her ear.
“I’ll see you to the palace entrance.”
His tone was firm and left no room for argument.
“Okay.”
The three of them soon arrived at Qianzheng Palace.
The hall was brightly lit, yet strangely quiet, filled with the faint fragrance of sandalwood.
Li Xingwei led Shen Tinghe inside, while Xie Yanzhao stood beneath the jade steps outside the palace gate with his hands behind his back. His tall, straight figure stood like a pine tree, blending into the darkness of the night.
Inside the palace, Emperor Chonghe was not wearing his imperial robes. Instead, he wore a plain blue-green Daoist robe and stood with his back to the palace doors before a large Taiji diagram hanging on the wall.
His long hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, giving him an almost otherworldly, immortal-like appearance.
“Your son greets Father Emperor.”
Shen Tinghe bowed in greeting.
Hearing her voice, Emperor Chonghe turned around. His face still wore that familiar gentle smile, though the fine lines at the corners of his eyes were especially clear beneath the lamplight.
“You may rise.”
“In the blink of an eye, A-Yuan has grown so much. You are already A-Yan’s Crown Princess.”
When Shen Tinghe was young, she often accompanied her mother into the palace. Back then, Emperor Chonghe had still been her maternal uncle. In her memories, he had always worn a warm and generous smile, often giving her pastries and toys.
But as she grew older and came to understand the ways of the world, that former sense of familiarity had become clouded by complicated emotions.
“Father Emperor summoned me here. May I ask what you require of me?” Shen Tinghe asked.
Emperor Chonghe walked over to a nearby rosewood table and picked up a palm-sized box decorated with an exquisitely crafted peony design.
He opened the lid.
Inside lay a jade pendant.
The jade was warm and lustrous, resembling white mutton-fat jade. It had been carved into the shape of a hehuan flower, with a natural spot of vivid red at the center that looked like cinnabar. A traditional bright-yellow palace cord was tied to it.
“This belonged to A-Yan’s mother.”
Emperor Chonghe’s gaze rested on the jade pendant, as though he were looking through it and into a distant past.
“When she was alive, she once said that this jade should be kept for A-Yan’s future wife. Now that I am giving it to you, I suppose… it fulfills her wish.”
Li Xingwei respectfully took the box and presented it to Shen Tinghe.
Shen Tinghe lifted the jade pendant with both hands. It felt warm against her skin.
The hehuan flower symbolized marital harmony and the union of husband and wife.
For a moment, the image of the late Empress Ye Shengchao seemed to appear before her eyes.
She had been a woman whose brows and eyes carried both the heroic spirit of a military family and the dignified elegance of the imperial palace.
When Shen Tinghe was little, the late Empress would often hold her on her lap and point to the flowers and plants in the courtyard, teaching her their names. Her smile had been bright and open, and she had doted on Shen Tinghe as though she were her own daughter.
Emperor Chonghe gazed at the jade pendant in her hands, his expression somewhat dazed, as if he too had fallen into memories of the past.
The only woman the Emperor had ever loved and married had once been his childhood sweetheart and the love of his life.
She was also the one whose loss had left him with a debt that even a lifetime of praying to the gods and Buddha could never repay.
“All right.”
He waved his hand, his voice suddenly carrying a trace of weariness.
“I called you here only to give you this. You may leave.”
Shen Tinghe bowed.
“Your son-in-law takes her leave, Father Emperor.”
She turned around, the warm jade clasped in her hand, and slowly walked toward the palace doors.
Just as she was about to leave, Emperor Chonghe’s low voice came from behind her.
“A-Yuan.”
Shen Tinghe stopped.
“Yan’er truly cares about you. You have a long life ahead of you together. The two of you must remember to have more trust and more understanding for one another.”
Do not end up like me and A-Ling.
Those unspoken words remained unsaid.
With her back to him, Shen Tinghe replied softly but clearly,
“Your son remembers Father Emperor’s teachings. I will certainly stand united with His Highness and share the same heart and purpose.”
After Shen Tinghe left, Emperor Chonghe sat alone in the vast, empty hall.
After a very long time, he finally murmured, as though he were asking Li Xingwei or perhaps asking himself
“I pray to the gods and Buddha every day. After I die… will I still be able to see A-Ling?”
Li Xingwei did not know how to answer. He could only lower his head and stand quietly at the side.
Shen Tinghe stepped out of Qianzheng Palace. The night breeze brushed against her face, bringing with it a trace of coolness.
She knew some of what had happened in the past.
At the beginning, the Emperor and Empress had shared a deep and devoted love. They had even sworn that they would spend their entire lives together, with only each other.
But the Emperor could not withstand the pressure from the court officials, so he took several consorts, telling the late Empress that he was merely doing so to silence the ministers.
Later, people in the harem competed for his favor and plotted against him. He was drugged and ended up having relations with another woman.
Even if he had been unwilling and had genuinely been the victim of a scheme, once a crack appeared between two people, it was difficult to repair.
The late Empress unilaterally cut off contact with him.
The Emperor, in turn, developed a stubborn streak. It was almost as though he were deliberately trying to spite the Empress. He took more and more women into the harem.
The estrangement between the two of them grew deeper and deeper.
The late Empress had been such a proud and radiant woman, yet in the loneliness of the deep palace, she eventually exhausted all the vitality within her.
On the night she passed away, the only people beside her deathbed were eight-year-old Xie Yanzhao and four-year-old Shen Tinghe.
Shen Tinghe would never forget how Xie Yanzhao held her tightly that night, whispering into her ear again and again,
“Yuanyuan, I only have you now. Don’t leave me.”
The moment Shen Tinghe stepped out, Xie Yanzhao had already walked toward her. He naturally took her hand.
“What did Father Emperor say to you?”
She opened her palm, revealing the hehuan jade pendant.
“Father Emperor gave me Mother’s keepsake.”
Xie Yanzhao’s gaze sharpened.
He took the pendant and examined it carefully for a moment.
He remained silent, then personally tied the jade pendant to the crimson palace cord around Shen Tinghe’s waist. His movements were meticulous and solemn.
“If Mother knew that you were wearing it, she would certainly be happy.”
Shen Tinghe noticed that his mood seemed somewhat low. She moved closer of her own accord and wrapped both arms around his.
“Father Emperor also told you to treat me well, cherish me, trust me, and be good only to me. Did you remember all that?”