Just as the eunuch from the Office of Punishments finished speaking, a palace maid entered to report:
“Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”
Zhen Huan glanced at the eunuch.
The man immediately began swearing oaths.
“This servant guarantees that no word has leaked outside!”
Zhen Huan trusted his abilities well enough.
She said nothing further, merely instructing Fuga to escort him out.
Ever since returning from Cining Palace that day, Fuca Langhua had been unable to stop thinking about one detail.
The assignment of the First Prince’s attendants had been handled personally by Sulian.
Once that thought entered her mind, suspicion followed.
Over the past two days, she had casually brought up the servants taken away by the Empress Dowager.
Every single time, Sulian became distracted and uneasy.
With each reaction, Fuca’s suspicions deepened.
Back then, Sulian had repeatedly urged her to retrieve those servants from the Empress Dowager’s custody.
Why?
Could Sulian herself be involved?
Was she afraid the truth would come out?
Once she began viewing matters through that lens, years of memories suddenly took on a different meaning.
Sulian had always implied that the First Prince threatened Yonglian’s future.
She had constantly warned her that Ruyi and Gao Xiyue might endanger her position.
In fact, under Sulian’s persuasion, Fuca had committed the one act she regretted most in her life:
Adding Lingling Incense to the bracelets gifted to Gao Xiyue and Ruyi.
Sulian had accompanied her from her maiden home.
She had never once questioned her loyalty.
But if even Sulian could be a problem…
Who could she trust?
And if Sulian truly believed that the First Prince stood in Yonglian’s way…
Wouldn’t she be capable of acting behind her mistress’s back?
Suddenly, Fuca remembered something.
Shortly after Hongli’s accession—roughly a year ago—her mother had visited the palace.
After marriage, she had seen her family less and less.
After entering the palace, she had only seen her mother that one time.
As a result, she remembered the occasion vividly.
At the time, she had just become Empress.
She had been proud and confident.
Yet her mother had seemed strangely dissatisfied.
She remembered her mother saying many things.
And suddenly, Fuca felt she had grasped the root of the matter.
Besides herself, whose orders would Sulian obey?
Sulian had been chosen personally by her mother.
Her masters had never been just one person.
There had always been two.
Fuca.
And her mother.
What exactly had her mother said?
Fuca remembered telling her that all she needed to do was be a good Empress.
Her mother had immediately rejected that idea.
“No,” she had said.
“You must do certain things.”
At the time, Fuca had not understood.
Her mother had never elaborated.
But what else had she said?
What exactly had she said?
Fuca thought and thought.
So long that evening arrived.
So long that Sulian entered to ask whether she wished to eat dinner.
The moment she looked at Sulian’s face, the forgotten memory suddenly resurfaced.
Her mother’s exact words.
“A proper wife does not need to dirty her own hands. There are always servants beneath her willing to do such things.”
Sulian shifted uneasily under her gaze.
Forcing a smile, she asked:
“Your Majesty… is something wrong?”
Fuca closed her eyes.
Then suddenly asked:
“Sulian, why did you attack the First Prince behind my back?”
The certainty in her voice startled Sulian.
Believing the truth had already been exposed, she immediately collapsed to her knees.
“Your Majesty! This servant only did it for your own good!”
Fuca had only intended to test her.
She never expected the accusation to be true.
A surge of fury rushed straight to her head.
“For my good?
I am the mistress of the harem!
Whatever happens in this palace reflects my failures.
And the First Prince is only a child.
You harmed a child and dare say it was for my sake?”
Crawling forward on her knees, Sulian clutched at the hem of Fuca’s robe.
Tears streamed down her face.
“The First Prince is the eldest son.
As long as he exists, he will threaten the Second Prince’s position!”
“Even so, I would never become the sort of vicious person who harms children!”
“I know! I know!
Which is why this servant handled such dirty matters on your behalf—”
Fuca finally lost all patience.
She jerked her robe free.
“You are my dowry maid.
The chief maid of Changchun Palace.
What you do is what I do!”
Closing her eyes, she fought back tears.
She no longer wanted to hear Sulian’s explanations.
After a long silence, she collapsed weakly into a chair.
“This cannot be hidden from the Empress Dowager.
I cannot save you.”
Looking at Sulian’s terrified face, Fuca felt her heart ache.
Sulian had served her for so many years.
“I will ask the Empress Dowager not to punish your family.
It is the only thing I can still do for you.”
When Fuca Langhua arrived at Cining Palace, she requested a private audience.
Zhen Huan raised an eyebrow.
At a time like this, a secret conversation could only mean one thing.
It concerned the First Prince.
She dismissed the attendants.
The moment the room was empty, Fuca knelt.
“This servant has committed crimes and has come to beg forgiveness from Imperial Mother.”
“Oh?
And what crimes have you committed?”
“First, I failed in my duties as Empress and allowed the First Prince to suffer mistreatment.
Second…”
She paused.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself onward.
“Second, I failed to properly govern my servants.
My chief maid Sulian, seeking to protect my position as Empress, bribed the First Prince’s attendants and caused the disaster we see today.”
Zhen Huan studied her carefully.
She had never seen Fuca look so exhausted.
But was this the truth?
Or merely a sacrifice of a pawn to save the king?
“If I recall correctly, Sulian is your dowry maid.”
“Yes.
Precisely because she was loyal to me.
After sensing my dissatisfaction toward the First Prince, she committed this terrible act.
Ultimately, the fault still lies with me.”
“You were dissatisfied with the First Prince?”
Fuca smiled bitterly.
“I resented Noble Consort Zhe for bearing the eldest son before I could.
And Yonghuang himself is proud and competitive.
Therefore, I did not particularly like him.
But I swear I never once intended to mistreat him.”
As Fuca spoke, Zhen Huan quietly weighed her words.
After all, Fuca had been married to Hongli for many years.
The First Prince and Third Prince had both been born safely.
Yonghuang, a child who had lost his mother, had nevertheless grown to this age unharmed.
Looking beyond him, Fuca’s conduct had generally been fair.
The Noble Consort title for Gao Xiyue had originally been her recommendation.
Whenever Ruyi embarrassed herself, Fuca had usually been the one smoothing things over.
Even the neglected consorts received opportunities to appear before the Emperor thanks to her arrangements.
Judging from all this, Fuca truly was a competent Empress.
Moreover, when Zhen Huan had taken away those servants, Fuca had shown no resistance whatsoever.
Not even the slightest change in expression.
If she truly possessed the composure to remain calm while her own scheme was unraveling, she would hardly have employed such a crude method against the First Prince in the first place.
Gradually, the balance in Zhen Huan’s mind tilted.
Meanwhile, Fuca waited.
And waited.
Never before had time seemed so slow.
Sweat soaked through her back.
Every passing second felt like a century.
Finally, she heard the Empress Dowager speak.
“I will believe you this once.
But if the Empress becomes entangled in such matters again, remember the example of Ulanara, the late Emperor’s Empress.”
At last, judgment had come.
Relief washed over Fuca.
“Thank you, Imperial Mother.
This servant will be cautious and diligent from this day forward.”
Zhen Huan mentally reviewed Hongli’s harem.
Gao Xiyue was reckless.
Pure Consort was timid.
Consort Xian was even less suitable.
The remaining women held ranks too low to matter.
In the end, only Fuca Langhua possessed the temperament necessary to govern the harem.
And to prevent Hongli from suddenly losing his mind and handing authority to Ruyi, it would be best if this matter remained hidden.
After all, Hongli had never intended to investigate in the first place.
“Think carefully.
Is there anything else you wish to confess?
I will help you conceal matters only this once.
Miss this opportunity, and you may explain things to the Emperor yourself.”
Immediately, Fuca thought of the bracelets.
The bracelets containing Lingling Incense.
Her breathing became uneven.
Should she tell the truth?
This matter differed from the First Prince’s case.
She had known.
She had approved it.
And her pride as a daughter of the Fuca clan would never allow her to place the blame solely on a servant.
Yet if she remained silent…
The Empress Dowager’s warning still echoed in her ears.
There would be no second chance.
If the truth emerged later, the Emperor would inevitably resent her because of Ruyi.
And the Empress Dowager would never protect her again.
After a long pause, she spoke.
“I have never mistreated princes born to other women.
Nor have I deliberately oppressed the Emperor’s consorts.
For years I have done my duty.
Yet there is one matter that has weighed heavily on my conscience.”
And then, for the first time in years, she spoke aloud the humiliation she had always buried.
“When I first married the Emperor, I suffered the disgrace of the Jiangxue Pavilion incident.
Then, on our wedding night, the Emperor refused to consummate our marriage because of Consort Xian.
I became frightened.
Terrified they would threaten my position.
So when they came to offer tea, I gifted Gao Xiyue and Ruyi bracelets containing Lingling Incense.”
She had believed she would never speak those words aloud again.
Yet now she had.
Whether to lessen her guilt or because she had carried the pain too long, she could not say.
For her part, Zhen Huan was stunned.
This was the first time she had heard about Hongli refusing to consummate his marriage.
Seriously?
Was he insane?
At the time, Noble Consort Zhe was already his concubine.
What kind of ridiculous “one true love” fantasy was he acting out?
Trying to imagine herself in Fuca’s position, Zhen Huan almost felt secondhand rage.
Honestly, with behavior like that, she could hardly blame Fuca for giving Ruyi contraceptive bracelets.
The pair of them really had been infuriating.
Poor Gao Xiyue, though.
She had simply become collateral damage.
After a moment, Zhen Huan sighed.
“Langhua.
You are Empress now.
You have sons and daughters.
As long as you perform your duties well and avoid mistakes, no one can threaten your position.
No matter how special Ruyi may be, the day you became Empress was the day she could never surpass you.”
She continued:
“Look at the favored consort of the Shunzhi Emperor.
Her favor was unparalleled.
Yet Empress Xiaohuizhang committed no errors.
She remained Empress her entire life and eventually became Empress Dowager.
As long as you are without fault, you have the Fuca clan and you have me.
Others may compete for favor.
They may compete for higher rank.
But who can truly surpass you?”
And as for children…
“The Emperor is still young.
More children will continue to be born.
Think of the late Emperor.
Did he inherit the throne because his mother’s family was powerful?
Because his mother was favored?
What you should focus on is raising your son well.
Guarding against Gao Xiyue and Ruyi serves only to increase your own sins.”
By now, tears streamed freely down Fuca’s face.
All these years, her mother had constantly warned her that others would threaten her position.
Yet at the beginning, she herself had believed exactly what the Empress Dowager was saying now.
That if she fulfilled her duties properly, nobody could surpass her.
Somewhere along the way, she had lost sight of that belief.
And now, finally, someone had validated it.
It felt as though a stone that had pressed against her heart for years had finally been lifted.
She could breathe again.
Watching her weep, Zhen Huan couldn’t help feeling sympathetic.
It seemed Fuca had been suppressing herself for far longer than anyone realized.
When the tears finally subsided, Zhen Huan spoke again.
“Very well.
I will help you resolve this matter too.
In the future, remember to be a good Empress.”
Fuca immediately agreed.
Then hesitantly asked about Sulian.
“She intended to harm an imperial heir.
She cannot be allowed to live.
Even if you plead for her, it changes nothing.”
“This servant understands.
I only wish to ask that her family not be implicated.
She served me for many years.
I would like to do this one final thing for her.”
Since Zhen Huan had always believed punishment should not extend to innocent relatives, she readily agreed.
After thanking her repeatedly, Fuca finally departed.
As she stepped out of Cining Palace and looked toward the setting sun, she suddenly realized how beautiful the weather was.
For the first time in years, she felt light.
After she left, Zhen Huan instructed Fuga:
“Tell the Office of Punishments to investigate thoroughly.
Confirm beyond doubt that the Empress knew nothing.”
She had no intention of harming Sulian’s family.
But using them to frighten Sulian into telling the truth was another matter entirely.
She needed certainty.
A few days later, the results arrived.
Sulian never changed her story.
The Empress truly had known nothing.
The case was officially concluded as a matter of servants failing in their duties.
The ringleaders were punished.
The others were beaten and sent to the Laundry Bureau.
As for Sulian, the public explanation was that she had reached the proper age to leave palace service and return to the Fuca household for marriage.
In reality, she was quietly executed.
The Fuca family took her body home for burial.
When Fuca Langhua learned of Sulian’s death, she sat alone for a very long time.
In the end, she sent a large sum of silver to Sulian’s mother.
It was the last thing she could do to honor a bond that had lasted so many years.