Chapter 38: Binding the Dragon

After giving his final instructions, Chu Yan stood up and walked toward the exit. Passing by Empress Zhang, who stood with a slender and graceful figure, he remarked, "Follow me out to see your husband and check if he has come to his senses."

Empress Zhang lowered her head in silence. Only after he had walked several paces did she follow.

Princess Qinghe hurried a few steps to catch up with her sister-in-law. The two women exchanged a glance, both remaining wordless.

Once outside, the Prince of Qian’s personal guards had moved away from the entrance, avoiding looking at their faces. Qinghe, however, could no longer concern herself with such rigid decorum; her gaze bypassed the towering figure of Chu Yan to rest upon her imperial brother in the courtyard.

Without needing an order from the Prince of Qian, the two guards holding the Emperor forced him forward.

"Imperial Brother..."

Qinghe’s mind went blank. How could this man before her still look anything like an emperor?

His hair was disheveled, his face bruised and swollen, and his bright yellow robe embroidered with coiled dragons had been stripped away, leaving him in nothing but his white inner garments. His expression was one of defeat and bitter grief, full of rage yet daring not to speak.

Where was the majesty of the Son of Heaven?

"Your Majesty—"

Empress Zhang took two steps toward the Yongning Emperor but stopped, held back by overwhelming concerns. Her expression was a complex mix of sorrow and resentment. Despite the fact that the Yongning Emperor had previously tried to drag her to her death with him, they had been a married couple for ten years. Seeing him reduced to a miserable prisoner of the Prince of Qian, she could not help but feel a chilling sense of despair.

"Are you awake yet?" Chu Yan asked in a detached tone.

The Yongning Emperor could not utter a single word; he remained silent.

Chu Yan continued, "I do not care whether you live or die, but if you perish, rebellions will arise everywhere under your banner. Therefore, you cannot die. You must live to prove to the world that the Shun Dynasty has fallen."

"If you die, I will slaughter your entire clan, including your sons."

His words reached the ears of Princess Qinghe and Empress Zhang, chilling them to the bone. The Yongning Emperor finally raised his head and glared at him with fury.

Chu Yan ignored him and asked those around him, "Is there a place in the imperial palace to house him?"

A moment later, Xia Shouzhong replied hurriedly, "Your Highness, Prince of Qian, near the palace wall in front of the Cining Palace, where the Empress Dowager resides, there is a pavilion that overlooks the great river outside the city. It is called the Pavilion of River Gazing. It is isolated from the inner court and is perfect for lodging!"

"Very well."

Chu Yan nodded and said to him, "Go and select a few palace maids and eunuchs to serve the Emperor. And her—" he pointed to Consort Wu—"along with a few more of the Emperor's consorts, send them in to keep him company."

The Yongning Emperor seemed to realize something and shot a sharp look at the Empress.

There were consorts, but no Empress?!

Facing her husband’s piercing gaze, Empress Zhang remained expressionless, not saying a word.

"Great King!" Consort Wu knelt in a panic. "I am also willing to serve the Great King!"

"Too late."

Clad in armor, Chu Yan strode out of the Changchun Palace, ignoring the pleading Consort Wu.

Behind him, the guards withdrew in an orderly fashion. Two of them hoisted the Yongning Emperor up and carried him away, while two others approached Consort Wu, gesturing toward the door to signal her to follow.

"Great King!!"

Consort Wu burst into tears. She had hoped to wait and see; the new Emperor had many consorts, and she was not guaranteed favor. If she could stay with the Yongning Emperor, and with the Empress, Noble Consort Wu, and Noble Lady Zhou gone, she might have enjoyed his affection alone.

Who would have thought that the Prince of Qian would imprison the Emperor in the Pavilion of River Gazing instead of granting him a title and letting him live outside the palace!

"Come with us."

When she hesitated, the two guards immediately took action, grabbing her by the shoulders and dragging her out.

Within moments, the Changchun Palace returned to its usual stillness.

The remaining Noble Consort Wu and Noble Lady Zhou were terrified into silence. Had they hesitated for even a moment, they would have been dragged away by the Prince of Qian’s soldiers to be thrown into the Pavilion of River Gazing, where they might never emerge for years.

They looked toward the Empress, seeing her lips pressed tightly shut, not uttering a sound.

Noble Lady Zhou looked on with disdain, thinking to herself, "What is the point of playing the virtuous martyr now? Being chosen by the new Emperor is your good fortune; are you not satisfied going from Empress to Noble Consort? You are far too lucky... It is no wonder—you were so beautiful that the Empress Dowager chose you to be Empress, and now the Prince of Qian has taken a fancy to you and forced you to be his consort... Hmph, when you go to serve the new Emperor, let’s see if you can still keep up that air of the mother of the nation."

Though she muttered to herself, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, her own future secured. A smile appeared on her delicate face as she snapped at the palace maids, "What are you standing there for? No work to be done?!"

The senior palace ladies and maids ignored her, knowing she had always been overbearing, relying on the Emperor's favor to look down even on the Noble Consorts. Now, she was no longer a Noble Lady, but merely a low-ranking attendant.

Wang Chengen, the head eunuch of the Cining Palace, stepped forward and bowed to Jia Yuanchun, the virtuous consort who had remained quiet throughout. He smiled ingratiatingly, "My Lady, please give us your orders. We have moved palace consorts to other quarters before; we will follow the old palace rules, and there will be no chaos!"

Jia Yuanchun looked at them, seeing the powerful eunuchs who once made all the consorts grovel now waiting for her to command. She dared not make decisions on her own.

"My Lady." Jia Yuanchun hurried a few steps to Empress Zhang, bowed, and asked respectfully as she always had, "The Prince of Qian has ordered us to move the consorts to the Eastern Palace. I dare not act without authority; please instruct me."

Years of living cautiously in the palace had conditioned her to follow the commands of the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the Emperor.

Qinghe glanced secretly at her sister-in-law, seeing her blank expression finally flicker.

"Why must you ask me?" Empress Zhang said. "You are now the mistress of the six palaces; even I, the Empress Dowager, and the Dowagers must listen to you." She looked deeply at the Virtuous Consort. "You must also go and move the Dowagers to the Eastern Palace later."

Jia Yuanchun was stunned.

She had served the Dowager for ten full years, and now she was being forced to move her elsewhere?!

On one side was the Prince of Qian’s decree; on the other, filial piety.

"The Empress Dowager is already sixty-five this year. How can this be done?!"

Qinghe suddenly woke from her stupor. The Eastern Palace was cramped; how could the Empress Dowager endure living there with nearly two hundred other consorts? She had been so terrified of the Prince of Qian earlier that she hadn't thought of this, and now it was too late for regrets!

"My Lady," Wang Chengen said, "if you cannot bear it, you may leave it to us servants."

The Prince of Qian was just outside the palace; their lives were no longer their own to decide!

With tears in her eyes, Jia Yuanchun said to him, "Go and see to it, but remember not to frighten the Dowagers."

"Yes, My Lady."

Wang Chengen bowed to her, as well as to Empress Zhang and Princess Qinghe, before moving to consult with the other head eunuchs and scribes on how to move so many consorts within a single day and how to arrange them once they arrived at the Eastern Palace.

Someone suddenly said, "Dai Quan from the Eastern Palace has not appeared yet."

"Hmph, who cares if he shows up? When we lead the people into the Eastern Palace, does he dare block us? If he does, we will deal with him along with everyone else in the Eastern Palace and report back to the Prince of Qian!"

"There are also a few Taoist priests in the Eastern Palace. Will it be appropriate for the consorts to live with them..."

"Forget the Taoists. Remember, these women are no longer consorts—they are all just prisoners of the Prince of Qian!"

"Ah, I keep forgetting. I keep thinking of the Empress as the Empress, not realizing they are no longer the Prince of Qian's consorts!"

After Wang Chengen and the others finalized their plan, they reported back to Jia Yuanchun and Empress Zhang. Upon receiving permission, they immediately issued orders, mobilizing half the eunuchs and maids in the palace. They assigned monitors to each palace to search the quarters of every consort one by one!

In an instant, the sounds of weeping and wailing shook the entire imperial palace.