Only five days later, news arrived from the Hall of Mental Cultivation: Wang Qin, the emperor’s chief attendant eunuch, had suddenly gone mad while on duty. His outrageous behavior had infuriated the emperor.
Delighted, Zhen Huan instructed Fuga to help her dress and do her hair.
She was going to watch the drama unfold.
No—she corrected herself.
She was going to check on her son.
When she arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, she found palace maids and eunuchs kneeling across the floor. Broken teacups and shattered ornaments littered the ground.
Outside the hall, Wang Qin—his outer robes gone, dressed only in his undergarments—was tied to a bench and being caned. Though his mouth had been stuffed to silence him, his muffled cries could still be heard inside.
Feigning ignorance, Zhen Huan stepped forward.
“What happened? Why is the emperor so angry?”
No matter how furious Hongli was, he would never direct his anger at his imperial mother. He rose to greet her respectfully.
“Why has Imperial Mother come?”
“I heard that the emperor was in a great rage at the Hall of Mental Cultivation and worried you might harm your health.”
She glanced outside.
“Is that Wang Qin? Isn’t he your deputy chief eunuch? What could he possibly have done to provoke such fury?”
“That wretch,” Hongli spat.
“What did he do?”
Hongli’s expression darkened.
“The matter is too disgraceful to speak aloud before Imperial Mother.”
Zhen Huan thought to herself:
I don’t mind hearing it at all. Could you please get to the point?
Naturally, she couldn’t say that out loud.
Instead, she sat quietly and looked at him with what appeared to be maternal concern.
After a moment, Hongli seemed to calm down slightly. Since his mother had come out of concern for him, he glanced behind him.
A handsome young eunuch immediately stepped forward and bowed.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, Wang Qin suddenly lost his senses while on duty. He tore at his own clothes, attempted to grab the eunuchs and palace maids around him, and uttered several treasonous remarks. That is what enraged His Majesty.”
Zhen Huan raised an eyebrow.
This eunuch was clever.
For Hongli to be this furious, more must have happened.
Clearly, there were details Hongli didn’t wish to discuss.
Yet the young eunuch had explained the situation perfectly without revealing anything inappropriate.
Sure enough, she noticed Hongli cast the eunuch an approving look.
Very well.
If he didn’t want to say more, she wouldn’t press him.
She could more or less guess that Hongli had received quite a fright today.
“How could he suddenly lose his mind? Has the emperor investigated the cause?”
“I had the imperial physicians examine him. They believe he may have consumed something unusual. I’ve already sent people to search his quarters.”
As he spoke, the investigators returned.
“Reporting to Your Majesty: a box of pills was found in Wang Qin’s room.”
The imperial physician immediately took the box and carefully examined its contents.
“This appears to be a prohibited medicine known as Shu’aning Pills.
“It is said to replenish kidney qi and temporarily enhance virility.
“It was banned during the previous dynasty because anyone who consumed it and then inhaled ambergris incense would experience hallucinations and heightened arousal.
“It was once used by imperial consorts to compete for favor and was therefore prohibited.
“Though it still circulates among commoners, few people know its effects nowadays because ambergris is an imperial tribute item.”
Zhen Huan smoothly picked up the conversation.
“I heard that Wang Qin was to be married soon. Could his use of this medicine be connected to that?
“Perhaps the emperor should summon the palace maid involved. What if someone intended harm toward the Son of Heaven?”
Hongli nodded immediately and ordered the maid to be brought in.
He Wan arrived shortly afterward and knelt in the center of the hall.
Hongli asked whether she knew anything about the prohibited medicine.
She looked bewildered.
“This servant knows nothing about any medicine.”
“Would Wang Qin take such a thing for no reason?” Hongli asked sharply. “Were you not with him?”
Realizing what kind of medicine they were discussing, He Wan’s face turned deathly pale, and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“This servant truly knows nothing of what medicine Eunuch Wang consumed.
“But last night, Eunuch Wang did ask me to meet him in secret after midnight.
“I… I was too frightened to go.”
Zhen Huan tilted her head as though puzzled.
“Frightened? Weren’t you and Wang Qin mutually willing to marry? What is there to fear?”
He Wan immediately burst into tears.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, I only agreed to marry Eunuch Wang because he threatened to find an excuse to beat both me and my younger sister to death.
“I believed His Majesty is wise and just. If I could tell him the truth, he would surely help me.
“But Eunuch Wang is the deputy chief eunuch serving before the emperor. There was no way for me to bypass him and seek an audience.
“I had no choice but to agree.
“Yesterday, he told me to meet him after midnight and said he had obtained something special that he wanted to try.
“I was terrified.”
By the end of her explanation, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
Hongli’s face darkened.
Not because a young woman’s life had nearly been ruined.
But because the marriage he himself had arranged had been coerced by Wang Qin.
The entire affair made him look foolish and damaged his dignity.
Zhen Huan sighed softly.
“This poor girl has suffered greatly.
“Fortunately, they had not yet married.
“The emperor’s wisdom exposed Wang Qin’s true nature in time and saved a young woman’s future.”
Hongli’s expression eased noticeably.
He felt that his mother was helping him save face, offering him a graceful way out.
Naturally, he accepted it.
“That scoundrel Wang Qin dared deceive his sovereign.
“Since he forced you into this arrangement, I hereby dissolve your engagement.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Having enjoyed enough of the spectacle and seeing events unfold exactly as she had planned—better, in fact—and with He Wan now free of her unwanted engagement, Zhen Huan had no intention of staying to watch the punishment.
She had no such peculiar tastes.
“Wang Qin must have grown overconfident.
“He secretly took prohibited medicine last night and reported for duty before its effects had worn off.
“His audacity knows no bounds. The emperor should punish him severely.
“As for this palace maid, she is quite pitiful.
“Why not let her come serve at the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility instead?”
After all, having once been engaged to a eunuch involved in such a scandal, He Wan would likely become the subject of endless gossip.
Better to bring her under the Empress Dowager’s protection.
He Wan gratefully accepted.
Hongli, for his part, had little interest in the fate of an ordinary palace maid.
He rose to escort his mother out.
By the time they stepped outside, Wang Qin was barely clinging to life.
Zhen Huan didn’t spare him a single glance.
She knew that pain only truly mattered when it struck close to home.
And today, the blade had cut directly into Hongli himself.
Wang Qin was finished.
After speaking with He Wan that night, Zhen Huan had secretly ordered her trusted servants to gather evidence of Wang Qin’s crimes.
A man bold enough to do this surely had many other misdeeds to his name.
And if they couldn’t find evidence?
Well, she could always fabricate some.
But during the investigation, one of the eunuchs monitoring Wang Qin reported that he had been searching outside the palace for a medicine called Ajisu Pills.
Though Wang Qin was a eunuch, his lust knew no limits.
So Zhen Huan changed her plan.
She arranged for word of another medicine to reach Wang Qin and subtly guided him toward finding the very pills that had led to today’s disaster.
She wanted him to suffer the consequences of his own actions.
And Hongli—who had arranged the marriage in the first place—deserved to be disgusted by the entire affair as well.
After all, only when the matter touched Hongli personally would he truly punish someone.
Of course, when Wang Qin received the medicine yesterday, he had been eager to test its effects.
So when he summoned He Wan that evening, she deliberately suggested that he take the medicine first and wait for her.
When night fell, she never appeared.
Wang Qin searched for her everywhere but couldn’t find her.
The medicine itself didn’t rob a person of reason.
In the end, Wang Qin returned to his quarters in frustration, planning to deal with her after his shift the next day.
Unfortunately for him, he would never live that long.
Looking up at the clear sky above, Zhen Huan felt exceptionally pleased.
After escorting the Empress Dowager away, Hongli returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
“Stop holding back,” he ordered coldly.
“Beat him to death.”
Not long afterward, the executioners reported that Wang Qin had breathed his last.
Only then did Hongli pick up his tea and take a satisfied sip.
Earlier that day, Wang Qin had suddenly gone mad while on duty.
Not only had he torn off his own clothes, but dressed only in his undergarments, he had lunged at the palace maids and eunuchs nearby.
Everyone in the hall had been horrified.
In the chaos, that audacious fool had even rushed toward the emperor himself.
Fortunately, one of the eunuchs present stepped in front of Hongli and kicked Wang Qin away.
Only then had the imperial guards managed to subdue him.
Recalling the incident, Hongli looked toward the handsome young eunuch standing nearby.
“You did well.
“You’re quick-witted, and today you rendered meritorious service by protecting your sovereign.
“You shall take over Wang Qin’s position as deputy chief eunuch of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
“If I remember correctly, you’re Li Yu’s apprentice. Your name is…”
Joy flashed across the eunuch’s face as he immediately knelt to express his gratitude.
“Jinzhong, Your Majesty.
“This servant is called Jinzhong.”