Chapter 265: Chapter 262: So Painful
Emperor Yuan Hui stormed away in fury, and Lin Yushu followed suit, leaving Yongning Palace in sudden silence. For reasons unknown, Emperor Yuan Hui had Winter Snow and Summer Bamboo reassigned to serve her. The two maids had suffered injuries during the rebellion at the Marquis Mansion, fortunately not severe, but they had been imprisoned in the dungeons ever since.
Fearing the many eyes and ears in Yongning Palace, Winter Snow sent the palace maids away to prepare the meals. The maids serving Feng Shu in Yongning Palace were on tenterhooks, terrified of making even the slightest mistake. When Feng Shu expressed willingness to eat, they breathed a great sigh of relief. Two maids went to fetch the meal, two others tidied the courtyard and handled the menial tasks, while Winter Snow stood guard outside the hall.
Inside the hall, Summer Bamboo attended to Feng Shu.
"Are you from the Marquis Mansion?" Feng Shu asked Zhang Lingzheng.
"Yes!" Zhang Lingzheng didn’t deny it. From the moment Emperor Yuan Hui imprisoned Feng Shu in Yongning Palace, Zhang Lingzheng understood his intentions—it was nothing short of the greatest mockery under heaven.
Feng Shu was Xie Zhang’s newlywed wife, having exchanged vows under heaven and earth. Now, with her husband newly deceased and herself imprisoned in Yongning Palace, people would laugh if word of the new emperor’s actions got out.
"Why did Yuwen Jing dare to stage a coup? He has always feared the Marquis Mansion and has been sidelined by the aristocratic clans, holding no real power. Now that the General has returned to the Capital City, is there no one who can restrain him?" Since her imprisonment, Feng Shu knew little of the outside world. She could not yet discern whether Lin Yushu was friend or foe. Zhang Lingzheng had concealed her pregnancy, leaving Feng Shu with no choice but to trust him. Furthermore, Fengyu had escaped danger several times, all thanks to Zhang Lingzheng’s critical contributions.
"Over the past two years, Jinyi Guard Commander Chen Mo has nearly gained full control over the Jinyi Guard. Many clans’ heirs are within the Jinyi Guard, yet these heirs differ from those of the Kyoto Capital Guard. They are the most highly esteemed scions of their clans and are guaranteed esteemed positions in their family hierarchies in the future. Chen Mo himself was a chess piece planted by the aristocratic clans beside the late emperor. But this chess piece betrayed them, maneuvering between the clans and the emperor, and has long since become the blade of the current emperor. The Forbidden Army, on the other hand, is led by Lin Cheng and Zhang Bolan. Lin Cheng, being a scion of the Lin Family, cannot entirely sever his ties to them. The clans assumed the Lin Family’s influence over Lin Cheng would keep him in check. Yet ever since Lin Cheng married Princess Huaying, the clans have sought to strip him of his position as head of the Imperial Guards. Before they could act, the emperor launched his coup. The clans have grown complacent over the years, monopolizing economic resources and emptying the state treasury, neglecting their control over the Forbidden Army and the Jinyi Guard. As long as he controls the Forbidden Army and the Jinyi Guard, with the city gates sealed tight, he fears no one." Zhang Lingzheng sighed and said, "He’s a gambler. No one could have predicted he’d genuinely take action. Victory belongs to kings, defeat to rebels—he gambled, and he won. He’s even prepared to take the entire city down with him if he lost. He’s truly mad."
"The late emperor... who killed him?" A terrifying thought took root in Feng Shu’s mind. The Marquis could not possibly have killed the late emperor. Xie Zhang once said that when Xie Jue requested to return to Ningzhou to mobilize troops, the Marquis refused, fearing it would incite division between sovereign and minister. How could he have killed the late emperor?
"The Marchioness, on her deathbed, said that the emperor murdered his own father and framed the Marquis. These words were heard by all the guests in the mansion, yet now no one dares speak of it. Moreover, the claim that the Marquis killed the late emperor was personally witnessed by many."
Zhang Lingzheng said, "Young Madam, at this moment, you must find a way to protect the child in your womb. If the emperor discovers your pregnancy, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Feng Shu’s heart thudded heavily as her palm rested against her lower abdomen.
Within her grew her brother’s child.
No matter how difficult the path ahead, she would persevere to ensure the child’s safety.
"He now rules the world, the palace defenses are impregnable, and I am imprisoned in Yongning Palace. Escaping is as difficult as ascending to the heavens. What should I do?" With Yuwen Jing controlling the entire palace city, she had tried requesting to attend mourning at Xiangguo Temple but anticipated his furious reaction. In three months, when her abdomen began to swell, there would be no way to hide it.
"I have a plan, but it will require the Young Madam to endure great grievance!" Zhang Lingzheng hesitated slightly, as though reluctant to put it into words.
"Speak!"
"The emperor is determined to obtain the Young Madam... You might as well turn the tables and engage with the emperor tactfully. Right now, your pregnancy is only half a month along. In a month’s time, I can devise a way to obscure the pulse readings and make the emperor believe the child is his. Both you and the child can remain safe." Zhang Lingzheng, feeling deeply ashamed, dared not lift his head. He knew how much this plan wronged Feng Shu and could not bear to meet her gaze. He simply knelt on the ground, kowtowing. Aside from this, he knew of no way to safeguard the child.
Summer Bamboo was enraged. "You bastard! What do you take my lady for?!"
Zhang Lingzheng dared not argue. He knew he was asking Feng Shu to bear humiliation for the sake of the child. Fully aware of the disgrace, he resolved to accept any reprimand from Feng Shu.
"My brother has just passed, not even seven days yet. And you want me to give myself to the man who killed my husband? To let our child call a traitor father?" Feng Shu’s face turned deathly pale. "When the child grows up, how will I explain? How do I tell them, the man they called father all their life was their true father’s murderer? Should I tell them their mother endured this humiliation, bowed to the enemy, just so they could live? How could they ever bear this truth?"