Chapter 203 - 178: Empress

Spring passed and autumn came. By the time the Empress’s pregnancy was confirmed, the leaves in the Imperial Garden had turned from green to yellow.

A joyous air filled all of Jianzhang Palace.

At that moment, Jiang Xian was presenting the finalized ledgers to report on official matters. The Empress, though as dignified as ever, wore a look of uncertainty on her delicate, youthful face. "Gu Zhaoyi," she asked, "could you tell me what it was like when you were pregnant with the Eldest Prince?"

Sensing the anxiety in the Empress’s voice, Jiang Xian shared some advice and things to watch out for. When she finished, she smiled. "However, after seeing Fu Jin’s reaction, I realize I was worrying for nothing."

"Why is that?"

"Just a moment ago, when I mentioned the discomforts of pregnancy, Fu Jin looked terribly anxious. And when I said that one needn’t avoid any foods as long as it’s all in moderation, she looked ready to jump up and argue with me, terrified I might lead Your Majesty astray. With such a considerate palace maid by your side, how could you possibly not be well cared for?"

The Empress turned and saw Fu Jin standing behind her, her face flushing red at the comment.

She smiled and shook her head. "You have experience, Gu Zhaoyi. Fu Jin is still just a young woman."

"I was born with a strong constitution. Your Majesty’s health, however, is precious and warrants greater care."

"Less precious and more burdensome, I’m afraid. The Mid-Autumn Festival and the memorial rites for the late Emperor are both fast approaching, and there is no room for error. With no adult princes at court, I can’t entrust everything to the Ministry of Rites. I must oversee much of it myself, and Princess Consort Zhang will be busy as well. I’ve considered promoting Lu Ronghua to help, but I’m afraid she’ll only stir up trouble."

With one major event after another in the harem, managing it all was no less demanding than the Emperor’s duties.

The Emperor and Empress were one entity; it was a position of both power and duty.

Jiang Xian said, "Lu Ronghua comes from an aristocratic family. Surely with a little guidance, she could help ease Your Majesty’s burden."

The Empress glanced at her. "Easy for you to say! I’m thinking of you. Didn’t she constantly cause trouble for you in the past?"

’Oh, so that’s what this is about!’

The Empress was clear about who she favored. While she wasn’t as overtly warm to her confidantes as a Noble Consort might be, she always looked out for Jiang Xian in official matters, ensuring she was never at a disadvantage. Jiang Xian knew just how rare such a superior was and repaid her with unwavering loyalty. In all their years together, they had never once been at odds.

Jiang Xian said she didn’t mind. "I’m always either in Jianzhang Palace or Zhaoyang Palace. Lu Ronghua wouldn’t dare come to either place to bother me. Besides, my rank is higher than hers now. She has to formally greet me whenever she sees me, so she hasn’t willingly approached me in a long time."

Only then did the Empress recall the difference in their ranks.

The days in the harem passed one after another. Whether a Rong Hua or a Zhaoyi, no concubine could threaten her position as Empress. She had simply grown accustomed to protecting Gu Zhaoyi, with her humble origins, from being bullied.

"Now that I am finally with child, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager can finally be at ease."

The Empress placed a hand on her own stomach, then squeezed Jiang Xian’s hand. "You don’t need to worry that our relationship will change because of our children. That will be a matter between the two of them. And even if it becomes an issue, that won’t be for another ten years or so. By the time the children are grown, it will be up to their Imperial Father to handle them."

The Empress said she hoped to have a son on her first try. Once she had a legitimate heir, the number of eyes fixed on her belly would decrease significantly, and she would have fulfilled her duty as the Emperor’s first wife. "If he is bright and sensible, with exceptional talents, I will of course be overjoyed. No mother wishes ill for her son. But he is so small right now... so small that I fear even the sounds of celebration outside are too loud and might startle him."

The Empress trailed off, but her grip on Jiang Xian’s hand tightened slightly.

It wasn’t enough to be painful, but it was firm enough for Jiang Xian to feel the gravity of her next words. "For our own sakes, and for our children’s, the two of us must never grow distant."

"This concubine understands."

The two were on good terms and usually spoke informally in private.

But for this single reply, Jiang Xian had used the formal self-address of a concubine, answering with solemn gravity.

A leader never spoke too plainly, and a fool who needed every word explained would never have made it into the Empress’s presence. What she was conveying to Jiang Xian was a stark truth about the stakes involved: The Yan Chi dynasty prioritized the eldest legitimate son, but the Crown Prince was always chosen based on merit. If the legitimate prince turned out to be mediocre while another prince was brilliant enough to win the Emperor’s favor, the legitimate son who was not named Crown Prince would find himself in a perilous and awkward position.

Prince Xie was the perfect example.

He wasn’t even the legitimate son, but simply because he was a fine scholar, the late Emperor had favored him and groomed him as a potential successor for a time. That alone had been reason enough for the new emperor to want him dead.

The only way to avoid such a fate was if the princes had been close since childhood and their respective mothers were on good terms.

A foundation of affection would breed trust, ensuring that whoever ultimately ascended the throne would treat the other kindly.

* * *

As she walked out of Jianzhang Palace, Jiang Xian had only one thought: ’The Empress has lost more weight.’

The Empress disliked extravagance. While always maintaining the dignity of the Royal Family, her daily attire was as simple and unadorned as possible. For instance, her jewelry and cosmetics were all top-quality imperial-use items from the Imperial Household. Yet, consider someone like Noble Princess Consort Rong: her demands for rouge were so precise that they included the specific variety of rose used. The fashionable colors in the Capital changed annually, and she had exacting standards for each shade, not to mention the numerous beautifying ingredients she had added.

These were luxuries not covered by the official allowances; one had to pay for them with their own silver.

The Empress could have had them for the asking, of course, but she had no interest. The cosmetics on her vanity were only the most basic necessities.

To put it in modern terms, it was like having only one pressed powder, one eyebrow pencil, one lipstick, and one liquid foundation... just one of each, using the exact same products day after day. ’Last time, I asked the Empress why she didn’t get more,’ Jiang Xian recalled. ’The collection she gifted me is larger than what she keeps for herself.’

"To think Her Majesty the Empress is so austere. She truly is a model for the realm."

It was a rare, sensible comment from Chen Cairen.

—During major festivals, lower-ranking concubines were often promoted as a group. Though they lacked the Emperor’s Holy Favor, they still received this benevolence. And so Chen Changzai, living quietly in a corner of Bihua Palace, had been elevated to the rank of Chen Cairen.

"The Empress said she already has more than enough decisions to make each day," Jiang Xian explained. "She simply doesn’t have the mental energy to sit at her vanity and decide which rouge to wear."

A person’s energy is finite; if it is spent in one area, there is less for others.

The Empress never bothered to change the jewelry issued to her each quarter by the Imperial Household. But today, when the Empress held her hand, Jiang Xian noticed her ring and bracelet were of a new design. She had grown so thin that her old ring was too loose and her bracelet too large. They had to be melted down and reforged. That was how Jiang Xian knew she had lost weight.

’She’s lost so much weight right after becoming pregnant... can the Empress truly endure this?’

Jiang Xian’s anxiety was not unfounded. Not only were the Mid-Autumn Festival and the memorial for the late Emperor approaching, but a new selection of concubines was also imminent. The harem had not welcomed new women in a long time, and the Emperor did not have many heirs. Since the court officials could not blame the Emperor, they could only submit memorials arguing that there were "not enough concubines of sufficient quality." Thus, after deliberations, it was decided that new women would enter the palace this year, giving officials who had no daughters of the right age during the last selection a chance to offer them to the harem.

Even if the Empress delegated much of the responsibility for the selection, she couldn’t wash her hands of it entirely.

Jiang Xian glanced back at the distant, shrinking form of Jianzhang Palace, a sense of worry growing in her heart.

However, while the Empress had no love for power, her sense of duty was immense. She buckled down and began to organize the details of the selection. Meanwhile, Jiang Xian found herself caught up in another matter entirely: her stepmother, Ms. Zhang, had sent in a request for an audience and arrived at the palace to pour out her grievances. All because of the upcoming selection, the threshold to the Jiang family home was about to be trampled flat by visitors!