Novel Bin Chapter 209: Before and After the Feast (7)
Chapter 209: Before and After the Feast (7)
Translator: Iris
Minglan had heard the stories of Empress Jing An from Old Madam Sheng constantly.
Empress Jing An came from a noble family. She was beautiful and smart, with a talent of writing poems at the age of three and drawing paintings at the age of five. Her poems were extremely magnificent (They were all Tang Poems and Song jambic verse). She became a princess’s wife at fifteen and was conferred the title of empress at twenty. Old Madam Sheng had met Empress Jing An in the imperial palace when she was a little girl. However, Empress Jing An died two years later, at the young age of thirty-seven.
“Why did she pass away at such a young age?” Little Minglan asked.
“Because she shouldn’t have become an empress.” Old Madam Sheng had cherished the memory of Empress Jing An in despondent mood, “Her characters were as pure as the snow lotus on the mountain. Someone said she trusted others so easily, but she was only being sincere. Someone said she knew nothing about schemes, but she only disdained to play those tricks. However, a dirty place like the imperial palace would only pollute her! Hum! Those evil women thought they won! But at last, they all ended up in miserable deaths!”
That was the only time Minglan ever saw her grandmother showing intense hatred on her face.
The official line had claimed that an evil concubine had driven a wedge between the emperor and the empress. After that, Empress Jing An had been addicted into making mirrors. She buried herself in that all day in a small workshop she had opened in the imperial palace. Ever since then, she had kept herself aloof from the affairs of the imperial family and stopped seeing the emperor.
“Making mirrors?” Minglan was surprised.
“That’s right.” Old Madam Sheng grinned, “Empress Jing An claimed that she found a formula in an ancient book for creating glass mirrors which were hundred times better than the bronze mirrors. She was brilliant. It only took one or two years for her works to take shape, unfortunately...” Old Madam Sheng had put on a gloomy face as saying that. Minglan didn’t dare to ask anything. But she knew that Empress Jing An must have deceased before she could make the glass mirror.
“She said that the thing she regretted the most was being famous for her intelligence at a young age.” Old Madam Sheng sobbed out those words in a grief, “She was burdened by her fame!”
Momo Kong had said that Empress Jing An had ordered someone to burn all of her poems and drawings before her death. So not a single piece of her work had been left behind. The followings were the exclusive disclosure from Momo Kong.
After Emperor Wu knew about Empress Jing An’s death, he completely lost his sense and refused to believe that Empress Jing An died of an illness. He then caught all the physicians in the Imperial Hospital and ordered them to perform an autopsy. Anyone who couldn’t find the cause of death would be sentenced to death. Then after nine of the physicians were killed, the tenth physician finally found poison residue inside of Empress Jing An’s corpse. He also deducted that it was a kind of slow poison and Empress Jing An might have been poisoned for over three years.
In the Phoenix Elegance Palace, Emperor Wu sat beside Empress Jing An’s dead body for a whole day and night. Only after a few days, the heroic and wise Emperor Wu suddenly became grumpy and oversensitive, turning into a completely different person who trusted no one. Not only did he do a thorough investigation in the Imperial Palace, which brought deaths to over thousands of imperial concubines and maids, he also sentenced lots of officials and tortured them in the interrogations.
The Imperial Noble Consort was convicted of death, as well as all the people in her family clans. Consort Shu and Consort Li were forced suicide along with their fathers and brothers. The people in their family clans were deprived of their titles of nobility. Consort Zhuang was thrown to the Punishment Department where she was tortured cruelly to death. Then the people of her family clan were also put to death... Nearly all the Imperial Consorts or Concubines above three-class were punished. The unlucky ones of them even got their families killed. Consort Xian was the only one surviving among the Four Imperial Consorts. However, she was killed by her own fear after a few years. Lady of Bright Deportment Wang was the only one who escaped the sentence among the Nine Imperial Concubines. But she was in a confused state of mind afterwards. In brief, half of the women in the Imperial Palace were killed.
Actually, some of those women did have something to do with Empress Jing An’s death, but some of them were actually innocent. However, Emperor Wu was like a crazy beast at that time who would slaughter anyone he saw while no one dared to persuade him. Luckily, Empress Jing An had a little son, who was also known as Emperor Ren. Emperor Wu could still hear some advice from the boy.
The reign of terror had lasted for three years. At the end of the Wu Dynasty, Emperor Wu began to have blind faith in warlocks. He tried to call the spirit of the deceased on the sacrificial altar all night. However, Emperor Wu wasn’t a fool after all. Having killed all those swindlers, he nearly fell into desperation.
On one night, after waking from his dreams all of a sudden, he rode a horse to the Imperial Tomb, cried bitterly and rambled in his speech beside Empress Jing An’s coffin. Then at the day break, he returned to the Imperial Court. Ever since then, it became his habit.
Minglan couldn’t help sighing after hearing the story– If Emperor Wu knew it would end like this, he wouldn’t have let things go this far.
The Imperial Physician stated with certainty that according to Emperor Wu’s condition, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to live to seventy or eighty years old. However, no matter how strong Emperor Wu had been, mourning Empress Jing An every night added load to his body. One day Emperor Wu caught a cold and had a low fever, yet he still insisted daily visit to the Imperial Tomb regardless of the advice from the officials and the eunuchs. The second day after he came back, he had a high fever and deceased before long.
After hearing the whole story, Minglan only sighed deeply. However, Old Madam Sheng truly vented her hatred after telling the whole story.
Due to Empress Jing An’s dying at a young age, the glass mirror was fabricated several decades later than it should be. Only a few years ago when the new emperor had taken the throne, the things left by Empress Jing An which had been sealed up by the last two emperors had finally been revealed. The new emperor ordered the craftsman in the Imperial Chores Department to manufacture the glass according to Empress Jing An’s manuscripts. Soon afterwards, the mirror which could reflect humans’ figures clearly had been fabricated, but not popularized. However, as the emperor’s right-hand man, Gu Tingye had been awarded a full-length mirror and two hand-mirrors inlaid with pearls and jade.
Madam Liu Li and Empress Jing An had both transmigrated to the ancient times. But their fates had been completely different. Minglan believed that they were both likeable persons. However, one succeeded in her life while the other only had a tragic ending. Anyway, Minglan was pretty sure that these two women must have come from modern time.
Other than that, a strange affair happened dozens of years ago. The daughter of the Minister of Ministry of Revenue began to act absurdly after a serious illness. She clamored for opening a shop and doing business all day. After reaching marriageable age, she fooled around with a few princesses, lords and childes. Not only did she have those dissolute behaviors, she even instigated young childes with immoral words.
This girl, notorious for her appalling behaviors, had been despised by everyone. Even though she reached twenty years old, she still hadn’t been engaged to anyone. What’s more, even her father’s career had been ruined because of her, as well as her sisters’ marriages. At last, she had been locked in her family’s ancestral hall. However, she had escaped and sold herself to the brothel. She had even become the most famous prostitute. At that time, she had claimed that, ‘If Madam Liu Li could do this, why couldn’t I?”
However, she had never met her own Gao Qin. The men she had met had been playboys who hadn’t wanted to be responsible for her and even spread out the love affairs between them and this self-abandoned noble lady. As a result, this girl’s family reputation had also been destroyed.
According to the patriarchal system in the ancient times, a girl whose parents were still alive didn’t have the right to sell herself. The moment her family had found her, they had got her back to their house right away. After that, no one had ever heard the news from that girl. It was said that the girl had been drowned in the pond.
Minglan didn’t know those crazy things that girl had done had been due to the effect of the transmigration or a brain damage. Since Minglan didn’t have any precise proofs, she couldn’t be sure that this crazy girl had also come from the modern times.
Perhaps the fate had worked in its own way. Minglan knew that she would never run into another girl who had also come from modern times. Of all the girls who had transmigrated to the ancient times, some had got their fame widespread, some had been unknown to the public. Minglan regarded herself more like the latter type of girl.
In other words, in this age, at some different places, some girls who had also come from modern times were striving for living a good life just like her. They didn’t dare to astound the world nor stand out. But they still lived a fulfilling life and undertook their due obligations. At last, they would finally integrate into the society and live a tranquil and peaceful life.
Well, that sounded not so bad either.
Thinking of that, Minglan suddenly smiled. Zhu shi who happened to glimpse at Minglan found that smile unfamiliar and strange. With Minglan’s eyes twinkling, she bit her lips slightly as if she was keeping an interesting secret. It seemed that the secret amused Minglan a lot. Because right now, Minglan’s face seemed strangely charming with a naughty and mischievous look.
Zhu shi lowered her head and thought secretly, “No wonder Second Brother Ye is captivated by her.’