Chapter 76: The Sickly Prime Minister Poisoned to Death by Her Beloved

Xiao Jinse spoke of wild ambition, but when it truly came down to a choice between two, she still felt that the throne was far less important than her own princess. Xinyi and the other confidantes watched this with utter frustration, hating her for not seizing the opportunity.

Yet the emperor might not be anxious, but the eunuchs were. There was nothing they could do.

The outcome of this palace coup was unexpected. The Imperial City descended into chaos for days with the gates sealed shut, and no one knew exactly what was happening inside. In the end, the emperor vanished, and Xiao Jinse, commanding heavy troops, stood high above, overlooking the assembled ministers.

Those with the hardest fists called the shots, so most people could only swallow their tears and stay silent. A few staunchly loyal ministers stuck out their necks and demanded, “What about His Majesty? Where has His Majesty gone?”

Xiao Jinse let out a cold laugh and said, “As you all can see, His Majesty has gone missing.”

The crowd: “…”

Wasn’t that obvious?

Thus, everyone searched painstakingly for a month and found nothing. The situation was a complete mess, like a pot of porridge, forcing them to bow to the one with the hardest fists.

They were convinced Xiao Jinse had kidnapped the emperor. They could bow their heads, but they couldn’t let the Prime Minister take the throne. They’d die first.

The old ministers wept their hearts out: “Prime Minister, the nation cannot go a single day without a ruler!”

The Prime Minister took a sip of the tea her princess had brought back from Jiangnan as a gift. She smiled more warmly than a spring breeze and said solemnly, “You are right. The nation truly cannot go a single day without a ruler.”

Her smile was off, but her words were barely human. The old ministers stayed vigilant while wondering if her conscience had finally stirred and she was ready to release the tormented emperor.

Just as they wept with tears streaming down their faces, the Prime Minister waved her hand amiably and said that since there had been no word from His Majesty for so long, they should select a new sovereign.

The crowd: “…”

The Prime Minister sipped her tea, her expression profound and inscrutable. She added that if His Majesty returned to court someday, they could restore power to him.

It was over.

The crowd felt as if struck by thunder on a clear day. Since the wicked thief dared make such a guarantee, His Majesty was probably no longer of this world.

They grieved for half an hour before starting to consider the greater good of the realm and selecting a new ruler. Unfortunately, the imperial family hadn’t produced many heirs in recent generations. After picking through them, they found no suitable candidate. The Prime Minister spoke up: “I happen to have a couple of suggestions.”

The crowd’s hair stood on end instantly, their instincts screaming trap.

The Prime Minister gave a skin-deep smile and offered two choices: a newborn infant just a month old, or the Eldest Princess.

The crowd: “…”

They desperately wanted to rush forward and strangle the Prime Minister but held back with all their might.

Her ambition to control the court was plain as day. An infant knew nothing; it would still be the Prime Minister calling the shots. What chance would they have then?

The rational ministers naturally chose the Eldest Princess, even though Great End had stood for a century without a single precedent of a woman ascending the throne.

Some refused to submit and openly declined to kneel in court. Xiao Jinse was the first to kneel, dropping to her knees with a drawn-out voice: one bow, then another.

“Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live forever!”

She was the first to kneel before the new sovereign.

Xiao Jinse’s talents were nothing short of brilliant. Given the circumstances at the time, nearly everyone thought she would declare herself ruler. Yet she presented the imperial seal with both hands and quietly stepped back, handing over the vast mountains and rivers.

Her kneel represented half the civil and military officials, one hundred thousand troops, the borderlands, the thousand-li stretch of Jiangnan, and the submission of the four seas.

It was an auspicious day divined by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory after half a month’s calculations—clear skies for miles. They had just paid respects at the previous emperor’s Imperial Mausoleum, and now came the court of civil and military officials. The vast hall was solemn and silent, every step audible as a pin drop.

Shi Qingyi stood at the highest point, with the mountains and rivers of the realm prostrated at her feet.

After a long while, Xiao Jinse heard footsteps. In the hushed court, that person extended a hand toward her.

From the bright yellow dragon robe emerged a fair wrist. Before the civil and military officials, she walked unreservedly to Xiao Jinse’s side.

They were ruler and minister bound by unbreakable loyalty, and also an unspoken intimacy.

The piercing sunlight filtered through the fluttering yellow banners onto the white marble. Xiao Jinse borrowed Shi Qingyi’s hand to stand, releasing it immediately. She then slipped her hand into her sleeve and silently curled her fingertips.

The ascension rituals were tedious. By the time the ancestral and heavenly sacrifices were complete, dusk had fallen. Exhausted from the day as the sun set in the west, the newly ascended emperor dismissed the guards and maids, cleared everything from the imperial desk, and kept the Prime Minister behind under the pretext of discussing state affairs.

The new emperor held Xiao Jinse’s hand tightly—perhaps out of concern for her health, she walked slowly, step by step up the nine-tiered dais.

This went beyond the position for chief ministers. Any further would be—

Xiao Jinse halted. Walking a bit slower behind the new sovereign, she looked up helplessly and called, “Your Majesty, this minister—”

By ancestral rites, a minister could go no further.

To proceed would be utter treason.

Shi Qingyi did not stop, only gripping her hand tighter. Thus, as if possessed, she followed her up. All those tedious rules paled in comparison to her princess.

Prime Minister Xiao wore deep purple official robes that day, buttoned meticulously at the collar—dignified, solemn, rigid, and adhering strictly to etiquette.

Then the new emperor stripped her bare, piece by piece.

Xiao Jinse’s knuckles unconsciously clenched her sleeves. With a hoarse voice, she called, “Princess…”

The beauty’s eyes reddened at the corners, pitiful and alluring, resisting yet yielding.

Her mouth said it was improper and against decorum, but her hands very honestly clung to the other’s neck, refusing to let go. Her eyes were clear as a pristine spring, making Shi Qingyi unable to hold back a laugh.

The throne was always lofty. The hall’s doors stood open to the world, revealing the towering mountains beyond the Imperial City and drifting clouds, the vermilion Wanren Palace Walls eternally vibrant.

Her pale skin glowed white under the sunlight, stirring pity. The bright yellow dragon robe absorbed the woman’s fragrance. Xiao Jinse’s eyes brimmed with moist red as she tremulously clung to Shi Qingyi’s shoulders, like a fragile flower in a storm.

“Mm, Princess… what if someone comes? What then?”

She lightly nipped at Shi Qingyi’s long hair, then her ear and neck, pressing close to her ear. Even her breaths came in fragmented gasps, unable to form a complete sentence.

Though the hall doors gaped wide, offering a view of the vast mountains and rivers beyond, the new emperor had long ordered the surroundings sealed—no one would dare approach without eyes.

“Then let it be known to all, and install you as Empress of the central palace.”

With the new emperor’s movements, the jade pendants on her crown chimed softly. Xiao Jinse was struck dumb by the words “Empress of the central palace,” speechless for a moment. Only after a long pause did she tremblingly reach out to brush aside the emperor’s crown pendants, revealing that radiant, proud face.

“Princess…” Even as she was bullied relentlessly, she still asked in broken gasps, “D-Does Your Majesty mean that?”

Perhaps from her frailty or the overwhelming fullness in her heart, her long-held wish fulfilled in an instant—she could scarcely believe her ears. Her voice quivered, half-cry, half-laugh.

“Princess, d-don’t deceive me. I’ll take it seriously…”

Shi Qingyi pressed her sweat-dampened forehead to hers, consciously gentle to let her recover and feel pleasure. Until Xiao Jinse, enduring her shame, leaned in herself.

“Princess, are you truly deceiving me?” The voice renowned across the land for its calm composure now trembled faintly. Yet in her moist eyes pooled not just shame’s red, but a chilling ruthlessness.

Only when the one embracing her let out a muffled, satisfied laugh and nuzzled her nose tip did clarity come: “The world says the Prime Minister is erudite and supremely talented, yet she doesn’t know that an emperor’s word is no jest?”

An emperor’s word was gold; a promise worth a thousand.

Thus—

Xiao Jinse suddenly lifted her gaze, staring in disbelief at the person before her. Shi Qingyi held her atop the imperial desk, kissing her tearful eyes with cherishing tenderness and heartache.

Her voice like a sigh: “Silly Jinse.”

The palace coup ended happily for all—save for the wildly exaggerated rumors outside. Some said the Prime Minister seduced the ruler with her beauty; others that Her Majesty traded on her charms. Amid these titillating tales was Gu Ciyan’s supposed suicide to follow the late emperor, which seemed unimportant by comparison.

What glory in life? In death, one was mere fodder for gossip.

In late November that year, on the Female Emperor’s birthday amid swirling snow, she magnanimously skipped any lavish palace banquet and took a retinue to the Suburban Palace instead.

—The Prime Minister’s health was poor; she couldn’t stand the winter chill. The Suburban Palace had many hot springs, beneficial for her condition.

Winter nights fell early. The night-watch maids dozed with lanterns in hand as everyone slept. At the mountain’s base, a carriage slipped away under cover of darkness toward the distance.

Escorted by the imperial forest guards via a mountain path, the carriage held only two people.

In the vast snowstorm, a disheveled-bearded man stared at the distant peaks, eyes open. In his arms lay the comatose Gu Ciyan. Sitting in that prison cart, he suddenly felt life had reached its end.

Bloody tears trickled slowly from his dry eyes.

“…Aunt.”

That call vanished into the long wind, unheard by any.

The Female Emperor stood in her splendid robes amid the snow, her sleeve hiding the hand clasped tightly with the Prime Minister’s.

She led Xiao Jinse slowly back, her footprints breaking trail in the snow, murmuring as if to herself.

“Dodder is also called rootless grass. When I wandered alone, I was a pitiable thing without a branch to cling to. Being your caged goldfinch dodder was still just rootless grass. This was what my ancestors, father, mother, and brothers guarded their whole lives. I couldn’t betray them. I wanted to preserve both, but you didn’t give me the chance. Jinse, you wanted the best of both worlds, and so did I.”

So I schemed against you, used you, fulfilled my selfish desires, and claimed this supreme position.

“I sent him to guard my father, mother, and imperial brother’s tombs, never to leave half a step for the rest of his life. Let him keep them company.”

From then on, Shi Ji was no more. He and Gu Ciyan would end their days in the Imperial Mausoleum, taking those secrets to the grave.

Xiao Jinse squeezed her hand, trying to pass her warmth.

Her voice soft and gentle: “Princess, I know.”

The Female Emperor suddenly smiled helplessly, sighing with a touch of melancholy: “No, you don’t.”

That night, snow reflected moonlight across the vast heavens and earth. Even someone as shrewd as Xiao Jinse felt a flicker of bewilderment.

The bewilderment faded quickly. By late December, at New Year’s, the Female Emperor returned to the palace with the Prime Minister. After a night of tender coaxing, when Xiao Jinse awoke next, she found herself in a pitch-black secret chamber.

The heavy chains on her body clanged faintly.