Chapter 101
Time flied and it was already the tenth lunar month . When I was strolling in the imperial garden with my two kids, the maid of the Grand Empress Dowager hurriedly sought me and told me the Grand Empress Dowager invited me over .
The Grand Empress Dowager hadn’t paid much attention to the harem for a long time . Usually, she only sent over some maids to deliver me a message if there was anything for me to note . If she asked me over in such a haste way, something big must have happened .
I might already have a guess . I tried to stay cool, asked the maids to take Qi Wei and Qi Hao back to Xing Sheng Palace, then headed to the Grand Empress Dowager’s with the maid .
The maid excused herself after she led me to the outside of the palace, and whispered to me, “Her Majesty wants Your Majesty to enter alone . ”
I was confused so I coughed slightly, then entered the gate .
Inside the inner palace, the old lady stood facing the window, with a walking stick in her hand, her back straight in a way I had barely seen . She slowly turned around as she heard my footsteps, “Empress, you’re here . ”
Her voice wasn’t loud but was imperatorial enough, completely different from the tender and kindness she usually showed .
My heart skipped a beat and reverently replied, asking carefully what she wanted me for .
The old lady pointed to the desk next to her, “It came from the north . You should have a look . ”
I picked up the secret report on the desk and my back sweated as I read it .
The secret report put it simply . In the beginning, everything about the north tour was steady, and every troop won its battle . After the Northern Desert recovered from the shock, they quickly maneuvered soldiers from all over the country, and the war went into stalemate . Then Qi Sheng was suddenly assassinated in the army . Though he was not struck anywhere lethal, he was cut by a knife, which was soaked with strong toxic . And there wasn’t any antidote in the army so Qi Sheng was immediately defeated .
If the Emperor died in the war, not only would the army turn into a tumble, so would the imperial court .
Luckily, though Qi Sheng was poisoned, he still kept a clear mind and immediately hid the fact he was assassinated and poisoned . He instructed the army to stop at a small city in the Northern Desert to rest . In the meanwhile, he sent the weapon of the assassin back to Sheng City, asking the imperial hospital to develop an antidote .
I looked up at the old lady and asked in a trembling voice, “Has the imperial hospital worked out the antidote?”
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The old lady retained a firm face, but the sadness in her voice could not be hidden, “They are already working on it . But even if they can work it out today, it’ll take at least ten days to deliver it to the Emperor . I don’t know…”
She wasn’t able to finish it but I had already understood . The sub-textual meaning was that even if the antidote was delivered, Qi Sheng might not be able to use it because he was gone by then .
So the death warrior of Bathroom Lord did succeed? Qi Sheng was really going to die like this?
I didn’t know whether I was nervous or anxious, surprised or shocked . It felt all kinds of emotions surged inside me but I felt nothing in my heart . All I could do was stood there in trance .
The old lady saw me like this and her eyes swollen . She whispered, “Good girl, you should be strong . ”
My lips trembled and it was hard to say anything . Old lady, I didn’t need to be strong now . I needed to stay calm!
Qi Sheng only had one son, Qi Hao . Though he was only one-and-half-year-old, he was a legitimate heir to the throne . With the support of the Zhang Family and Bathroom Lord, if there was no major accident, he would be the next emperor .
If my son became the emperor, then I, as his mother, would be promoted to the Empress Dowager! And an Empress Dowager with true power! The knife that had been hanging above me could finally be removed and my life wouldn’t be counted on Qi Sheng anymore .
It was an absolutely joyous event, so how come I felt a bit sad and unwell? Was I too immersed in the play?
The old lady looked deeply sorrowful . She took a few steps forward and took me by arms . She grieved, “Pengpeng, you have to stay strong . The emperor still needs you . ”
I was left in a daze and looked at the old lady confusedly . Qi Sheng still needed me?
Her eyes fixed on me, “Sheng’er wants you there . ”
I was shocked and almost jumped off the ground . I was suddenly out of the play . Heck, that couldn’t be it . Even if the Emperor died and wanted someone to be buried alive with him, shouldn’t that be the job of the concubines? I had never heard that the Empress had to be buried alive as well .
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“He wants me there?” I asked hesitantly .
The old lady nodded solemnly, her eyes swollen, as if she was about to cry . She took another letter from her pocket and gave it to me, “This is from Sheng’er . ”
What I just read was a secret document, written by Qi Sheng’s henchman, which could be regarded as an internal memo . What I was holding now was a private letter .
Internal memo or private letter, it was both sent to the Grand Empress Dowager first, which showed that Qi Sheng really trusted his grandma .
There was only one sentence on the letter: in this moment of life and death, I only seek to see you again .
I had lived in Da Ming Palace for a while . Qi Sheng slurred on my writing, and held my hand to teach me . I was really familiar with his writings . There were only scribbles on the paper, but I could be sure it was from Qi Sheng .
I looked at the paper and was struck dumb .
The old lady said in a hoarse voice, “According to the rites, the Empress can’t leave the palace at this time, let alone the battlefield . But this is what Sheng’er…” She paused, took a deep breath and continued, “Maybe this will be your last encounter . If he wants to meet you, you should go . ”
I suddenly realized it and looked up at the old lady .
Before I could say anything, she continued, “Don’t worry . I will take care of Wei’er and Hao’er . As long as I’m still alive, no one dares to do anything in Sheng City!”
At this moment, I was finally able to shed some tears .
Go to hell! I would never believe that I mattered so much to Qi Sheng, as if he couldn’t die peacefully if he didn’t get to see me before he died .
There were so many conspiracies in it .
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First, since Qi Sheng already knew from Yang Yu what Bathroom Lord was planning to do, he must be better guarded, so why was he assassinated and poisoned?
Second, if Bathroom Lord was lucky enough to succeed, since Qi Sheng was still alive, why didn’t he punish Bathroom Lord? Bathroom Lord wasn’t even mentioned in the secret report?
There were so many things that didn’t make sense .
I quickly ran through all things in my heart, and wiped my tears to pretend to be strong . I nodded without hesitation, “I’ll go . I’ll immediately head to the Northern Desert .
The old lady looked at me, nodded, and was finally reassured .
As soon as I returned to Xing Sheng Palace, I received a message from the Empress Dowager, Qi Sheng was indeed assassinated and poisoned .
Only at this point was I fully convinced of the fact . Then I started to wonder why the Grand Empress Dowager and Qi Sheng forced me to Jiangbei .
To think on the brighter side, Qi Sheng truly wanted to meet me and give me some instructions . But having me travelled thousands of miles only to have a few words sounded too romantic and didn’t seem to be something Qi Sheng would do .
To think on the negative side, they might fear the future emperor was too weak and his mother too strong, and the power would be controlled by my family, so they wanted to take the chance and eliminate me .
As I contemplated on the matter, I was increasingly convinced that what they were really trying to do was “kill the mother and keep the son” .
And Qi Sheng wrote an emotional letter for this, which was definitely intended to mess around with my mind . On the letter I didn’t get to read, who knew how the grandma and grandson planned to deal with me?”
So should I go or not?
If I went there, I might die . If I didn’t, it was almost like our feud was brought to the surface ahead of time . If Qi Sheng didn’t die, I would have no other way around . I wasn’t even confident that I could handle the Grand Empress Dowager . If anything happened, I might die before Qi Sheng did .
This old lady, she was too clever .
I lay on my bed and thought for a whole night . The next day when I looked in the mirror, I saw someone extremely exhausted and pale .
Xie Yi was shocked and she inquired, “Your Majesty, what is happening with you?”
I didn’t have the mood to answer, and instructed her to ask the Grand Empress Dowager whether the antidote was ready .
The moment Xie Yi left, I instructed Fu’er to send a message to Lv Li in Zhao wang’s mansion .
Two days later, the Empress suddenly caught a cold, and was too weak to get out of bed . After diagnosis, the imperial doctor said that it wasn’t anything serious, but the Empress needed quiet rest . The Emperor wasn’t in the palace and the Empress was suddenly ill, some people in the palace grew anxious .
At the critical moment, it was someone old and respected stood up to take charge .
The Grand Empress Dowager not only decisively took over all matters in the palace, but also took the prince Qi Hao and the princess Qi Wei into her own palace . The palace settled down with her in charge . The Empress rested according to doctor’s instruction . The gate of Xing Sheng Palace was closed and no visitor was allowed .
In the meantime, I, Zhang Pengpeng, dressed up as a man, secretly left Sheng City and headed north with my maid Xie Yi and more than twenty strong and skillful guards to protect me .
Along the way, we whipped on the horseback and drove in an extremely fast pace . Not a few days later, we arrived at the bank of Wan River . A ship was already waiting . After we were aboard, the ship immediately sailed towards the bank of Jiangbei .
After we crossed the Wan River, we still travelled day and night without a break, and kept heading north along Taixing, Yuzhou, and Xiaozhan . We planned to leave the country at Jingyang, then head straight to where Qi Sheng stationed right now, Pingning City of the Northern Desert .
It was already the seventeenth day of the tenth lunar month . I had already been on the horseback for eight days after I left Sheng City . The inner side of my thighs were seriously bruised, and I almost lost half of my life .
After we took a rest along a forest at noon, I couldn’t get on the horseback anymore no matter how hard I tried . Xie Yi supported me with her body alongside me . She pleaded, “Your Majesty, please take a rest . ”
I shook off her, and tried to climbed up with my hands on the saddle . I fell down again . Then I heard the captain of the guards whispered, “Sorry, Your Majesty . ” Then he put his hands under my arms, and gently lifted me up to the horseback .