As expected, Fuga didn’t even have to wait until the next day.
The conversation between Ruyi and Giuseppe Castiglione that Fuga had overheard at noon had, by afternoon, already turned into rumors that Consort Xian and the Emperor had quarreled.
Fuga was thoroughly shocked.
“To actually say something like that… both His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress would be displeased. Just how much nerve does Consort Xian have?”
What Fuga didn’t know was that Consort Xian had done things far bolder than that.
She had even dared, after Hongli was already angry, to reach out and pull away a ladder while he was still sitting on it.
If Hongli had truly lost his balance and fallen, the extermination of Ruyi’s entire clan would merely have become the “small price” for one of her emotional outbursts.
The disagreement between Ruyi and Hongli lasted several days.
Then one day Fuga arrived with a particularly strange expression.
“Your Majesty… those two are listening to opera together right now.”
“Listening to opera?”
Zhen Huan frowned.
“The Emperor is still in mourning. Never mind. Tell all the servants attending them to keep their mouths shut. No one is to spread this outside. If the Emperor wishes to do as he pleases, let him.”
Unexpectedly, Fuga’s expression became even stranger.
“I’m afraid… it’s already too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“His Majesty only invited Consort Xian from among the harem women… but he invited quite a number of imperial clanswomen and noble ladies to attend as well…”
For a moment, Zhen Huan thought she had misheard.
Had Hongli lost his mind?
No one particularly cared whether he was genuinely grieving his father’s death.
But at the very least, he shouldn’t be leaving obvious faults for people to seize upon.
Watching opera with his favorite concubine during the mourning period was bad enough.
But inviting imperial relatives and noblewomen to witness it?
What exactly was he trying to accomplish?!
Fuga hesitated before continuing.
“And… His Majesty and Consort Xian were behaving very intimately. They were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and… and feeding pastries to one another.”
Zhen Huan almost doubted her own hearing.
Even outside a mourning period, openly flirting with a concubine in front of so many noblewomen would be inappropriate.
Did he think all those women were blind and deaf?
And where exactly was the Empress’s dignity supposed to go?
Zhen Huan truly had no desire to involve herself in the chaos generated by these two lunatics.
After some thought, she remembered that she had previously reminded Empress Fuca about the issue of meat dishes during the mourning period.
Surely the Empress hadn’t forgotten proper protocol after only such a short time.
“Go. Go find the Empress and see whether she knows about this.”
Fuga acknowledged the order and hurried off.
Inside Changchun Palace, the Empress nearly dropped her teacup upon hearing the news.
She genuinely had not imagined the Emperor capable of such absurd behavior.
Whether it was summoning noblewomen to watch opera during the mourning period or behaving improperly with a consort in front of them, both actions resembled something a foolish ruler would do.
Fuca Langhua thanked Fuga sincerely and said:
“After this matter is resolved, I will personally visit the Empress Dowager to pay my respects. Both to apologize and to plead guilty.”
After all, the incident had occurred within the harem.
Even if it had been entirely the Emperor’s decision, she still bore responsibility for failing to notice it and for failing to remonstrate.
After sending Fuga away, Fuca immediately called for attendants.
“Go summon His Majesty. Tell him… tell him…”
At first she wanted to claim that she had suddenly fallen ill.
But then she reconsidered.
If malicious people later used that excuse to claim Heaven had sent punishment because of the Emperor’s improper conduct, the matter would only become more serious.
“No. Help me change clothes. I will go myself.”
Meanwhile, Ruyi was still sitting intimately beside Hongli.
Delicately lifting a piece of pastry with fingers adorned by nail guards, she was just about to feed it into the Emperor’s mouth.
At that moment, an attendant entered and announced:
“Your Majesty, Her Majesty the Empress has arrived.”
Though Hongli had no idea why Fuca Langhua had suddenly come, he would never slight the Empress publicly.
Naturally, he ordered that she be admitted.
Ruyi could only shift away, separating the shoulders that had been pressed closely against Hongli’s.
Then she joined the assembled noblewomen in paying respects to the Empress.
After entering, Fuca first saluted the Emperor.
Then she allowed everyone else to rise.
Maintaining a pleasant smile, she spoke in a voice loud enough for every person present to hear clearly.
“Before I came here, Yonglian had just awakened from a nap.
He said that in his dream, the late Emperor was praising Your Majesty’s filial piety.”
The room instantly fell silent.
Fuca continued smoothly:
“The late Emperor said that ordinarily, activities such as opera performances would be inappropriate during the mourning period.
However, he himself had suddenly developed a strong desire to hear opera.
Therefore, he informed Yonglian through a dream.
Originally, he only intended for Your Majesty to arrange a private performance.
Yet Your Majesty, placing filial devotion above concern for your own reputation, arranged such a lively performance for the late Emperor to enjoy.
However, after listening for so long, the late Emperor is now fully satisfied.”
At this point, her smile deepened.
“He instructed that Your Majesty disperse the gathering.
He does not wish Your Majesty to damage your reputation out of excessive filial devotion.”
For a brief moment, the entire hall fell into stunned silence.
Everyone present understood exactly what the Empress was doing.
She was handing the Emperor a ladder to climb down from.
A very absurd ladder.
But a ladder nonetheless.
And under the circumstances, it was probably the only ladder available.