After leaving Qinzheng Hall, Lin Qingyu headed right to Fengyi Palace to see the empress. The maid didn’t even take a message; she just said, “She won’t see you, Physician Lin. Please return.”
“I went to Jinyang Palace two days ago.”
The maid abruptly froze.
“I’d like to tell the empress some things about the sixth prince. Can you help me do so?”
After the maid had relayed that message, Lin Qingyu was invited into Fengyi Palace. The empress was already despondent over her inability to reunite with her son on New Year’s Eve, and when she heard that Lin Qingyu had information regarding Xiao Li, she pushed aside even her personal grudge against him. “Did something happen to Li-er at Jinyang Palace?”
“Not necessarily,” Lin Qingyu said slowly.
“What do you mean?” the empress demanded, concerned. “Is Li-er not leading a good life?”
Lin Qingyu shook his head. “No—not at all. When I saw His Highness, he was squatting in the snow, wearing only his inner robes and eating snow by the handful.”
Tears immediately formed in the eyes of the perpetually calm empress. “H-how could that be? Laifu! Quick, get me Laifu!”
The empress couldn’t leave the palace to see her son; she could only have the eunuch Laifu take gifts to Jinyang Palace occasionally. The gifts the empress chose were all the best, and Laifu had always reported that the sixth prince was treated extremely well. The empress had never doubted that, although her Li-er wasn’t growing up in the palace like the other princes, he was still living the extravagant life of the son of a rich family. Who knew that these servants had been lying to her all these years?
Prostrating himself in front of the empress, Laifu screeched, “I’m innocent, Your Majesty! Every time I go to Jinyang Palace, the sixth prince is being treated well! I didn’t know—I really didn’t know!”
The empress had already lost all reason and was about to have the eunuch tortured, but Lin Qingyu stopped her. “Laifu has always been your most loyal servant and confidant, Your Majesty. The problem must be with Jinyang Palace. The emperor hasn’t visited in years, making the servants lazy. They don’t earn much money either, so they naturally find other ways to gain riches.”
When the empress thought of her son’s life in the side palace, she couldn’t stop crying. “They’re bullying Li-er for not knowing right from wrong, for not being able to speak… My Li-er…”
Even if she was the mother of the nation, the empress was only a normal mother in that moment. But when she cried, she didn’t scream and wail like others; instead, she let her tears flow silently down her face. A maid gave her a clean handkerchief, saying softly, “Please take care of yourself, Your Majesty. Should you fall ill, who else could the sixth prince depend on?”
The empress wiped her tears and drew herself up. “You’re right. I still need to punish those servants in Jinyang Palace.”
“Even if you changed all of the servants in Jinyang Palace, how could you guarantee that the new ones wouldn’t treat His Highness the same way?” Lin Qingyu asked.
The empress glared at him. “What do you think I should do, then?”
“The best plan would be to bring His Highness home. That way, Your Majesty can care for him personally.”
The empress let out an odd laugh. “Do you think I don’t want to? You saw what happened today. The emperor doesn’t even want to see Li-er during the New Year’s Eve feast. How could he allow me to take care of Li-er here?”
Lin Qingyu pretended to mull it over. “The emperor’s heart may not change, but Your Majesty might persuade the crown prince and implore him to ask.”
“The crown prince?” the empress said coldly. “I thought you were smart. Why would the crown prince or Noble Consort Chen speak up for me? They’d rather that Li-er stay as far from the palace as possible.”
“That means that when Your Majesty becomes the empress dowager one day, you’ll still have to bear the pain of being separated from your son,” Lin Qingyu said coolly.
The empress seemed to catch Lin Qingyu’s drift. Her heart nearly stopped, and she dismissed the servants, then asked uncertainly, “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“I believe you know your fate much more clearly than I do. And you understand what the sixth prince’s fate will be once the crown prince takes the throne.”
“How dare you?!” The empress’s gaze was sharp and cold with anger. “How dare you discuss this with me?! Do you not fear execution?”
Lin Qingyu was calm. “I’m only relaying what the young marquess couldn’t stop worrying about, even in death.”
The empress froze. “Wancheng…?”
“Your Majesty viewed the young marquess as your own son, and he always thought of you and the sixth prince. He worried about your life in the palace—worried that Noble Consort Chen would bully you. He told me to do everything to try and help you.”
The empress only looked at him coldly. “If you really cared about Wancheng, why did you marry someone else before his bones even cooled in the earth?!”
Lin Qingyu sighed quietly. “If I hadn’t done that, how could I have helped you?”
The empress closed her eyes briefly, then looked at Lin Qingyu again. The man in front of her was remarkably beautiful. He stood tall and proud, and his eyes were as dark as pits, as if they were luring people closer in the hopes of drowning them.
Lin Qingyu might have had his own plans, but one thing was certain—if Xiao Cheng took the throne, her Li-er would never return.
After weighing the consequences, the empress said calmly, “What do you want me to do?”