Elio’s Notes: We’re moving updates to around 2pm UTC daily. 😁
Nalan Xuan had been rigid as a stone statue from the moment Mo Yan began reading the decree. Now his hands and feet turned even colder. He had racked his brains trying to bury this secret as deeply as possible, only for Feng Xuanyi to expose it before everyone in spectacular fashion without giving him the slightest warning. Not only was Feng Xuanyi forcing the entire court to accept something almost unheard of in the world, he expected them to celebrate it joyfully as well.
In an instant, every gaze directed at Nalan Xuan seemed to become sharp and icy—probing, bewildered, astonished—as though everyone were staring at a monster. And he was that monster, stripped naked before the entire hall without warning and left for everyone to inspect and dissect with their eyes. An indescribable chill spread outward from deep within him until it consumed every sense.
Feng Xuanyi’s expression did not change. He remained gentle, though a faint shadow had settled between his brows. Facing the important ministers of the court, he met their gazes without avoidance and looked down over the hall. “Imperial Physician Liu.” Beneath the table, however, his hand quietly closed around Nalan Xuan’s, as though trying to warm that icy palm and still its barely perceptible trembling with his own body heat.
“This minister is here.” Imperial Physician Liu, who had taken Nalan Xuan’s pulse after the assassination attempt and confirmed his pregnancy, hurried out from behind his table and bowed respectfully. He then laid out everything he knew. “My lords, princes, and honored consorts may not be aware that the Changyu Clan descends from an ancient people and is exceedingly rare in this world. Blessed by divine favor, every member of the clan possesses extraordinary qualities. Medical texts and ancient records state that the women of the Changyu Clan possess both the gentleness and tenderness commonly associated with women and the bold spirit and ambition associated with men. The men of the Changyu Clan likewise possess both masculine strength and martial vigor as well as gentleness and grace. In war they may secure the realm; in letters they may govern the state. It is therefore not particularly strange that Virtuous Imperial Noble Lord, as a descendant of the Changyu Clan, is capable of bearing heirs for His Majesty. This minister personally examined Imperial Noble Lord’s pulse some time ago. Imperial Noble Lord is indeed four months pregnant, and every physician of the Imperial Medical Academy can verify it.”
“Four months?! H-how can that be possible?! There wasn’t even the slightest sign—how could he possibly—!” The disbelief was almost vicious. More than a few people looked as though they wanted to tear Nalan Xuan apart and devour him alive, yet all their fury amounted to little more than thunder without rain. They were angry, but none dared act.
“My lords and the honored ladies and gentlemen of the various palaces may not know this, but although men of the Changyu Clan can conceive as ordinary women do, that does not mean the pregnancy becomes visible in the same way. As for whether there will be danger or any other unusual complications, this minister cannot yet say with certainty. All I can do is regulate Imperial Noble Lord’s health with the utmost care while consulting ancient medical texts, in hopes of finding a way to ensure that the imperial bloodline of Hua continues without mishap,” Imperial Physician Liu reported truthfully.
“But—but this…! The Changyu Clan? A man who can carry another person’s child—if that isn’t a monster, then what is?!”
The voice had been extremely quiet, and its contemptuous gaze had been well concealed beneath half-lowered lashes. Yet the hall was so silent that even a needle striking the floor would have sounded like thunder. Spoken there, those words amounted to an unmistakable challenge to imperial authority.
Nalan Xuan had long known that once the truth came out, he would inevitably hear things like this. But being prepared for it and actually hearing it were two different things. He still faltered, his body shrinking instinctively. Feng Xuanyi sensed the movement before he could retreat, catching his arm with one hand while sweeping the other around him and drawing him completely into his embrace, leaving Nalan Xuan nowhere to escape.
“If you do not know how to speak, then you may as well keep your mouth shut forever.” Feng Xuanyi did not turn around or look down at Nalan Xuan in his arms. His expression remained calm as still water while his leisurely gaze swept over everyone in the hall, but the unmistakable coldness beneath it made them all stiffen. “Guiren Bai has spoken improperly, behaved without decorum before the throne, offended her superior, and shown grave disrespect. She is hereby demoted to Proper Seventh-Rank Cainü and confined to the Cold Palace. She may not leave without imperial summons.”
“Your Majesty, this consort knows her mistake! This consort spoke without thinking, Your Majesty!” Guiren Bai hurried into the center of the hall and dropped to her knees with a thud, immediately dissolving into tears, her pitiful face streaked like pear blossoms in the rain.
The abrupt plunge from warmth to freezing tension caught everyone completely off guard. Even though countless guards and palace servants stood waiting on both sides of the hall, not one of them reacted at first.
But an imperial command was as immovable as a mountain, and the emperor’s will was not easily changed. Once the words had left his mouth, there was little chance of taking them back.
Feng Xuanyi’s brows drew together slightly. Guiren Bai’s weeping and pleading were enough to make anyone’s head ache. “What are you all waiting for? Take her away!”
Joy and catastrophe could reverse themselves in a single breath. The sovereign’s heart was impossible to predict, and life and death rested in his hands. Who could have imagined that the emperor who only moments ago had been so gentle, holding a palace banquet as though he merely wished to gather with his consorts, would change his face so quickly? When the guards dragged Guiren Bai away, Feng Xuanyi did not spare her another glance. If anything, he looked irritated, as though she had spoiled his mood. The woman had only recently entered the palace and had not yet managed to use the emperor’s novelty and interest in her to climb higher. She had fallen before she ever truly rose.
That swift, ruthless sequence of decisions successfully silenced everyone. Every strange look and every malicious word disappeared at once. One sentence and one person were enough to make an example for all the rest. Feng Xuanyi had achieved exactly the result he wanted.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty! The continuation of the imperial bloodline is truly a blessing for our Hua Dynasty!” Throughout the hall, everyone bowed in perfect unison and offered heartfelt-sounding congratulations, as though the people who had been shocked, doubtful, disgusted, and contemptuous moments earlier had been someone else entirely.
“We are capable of separating public matters from private ones. The imperial harem is forbidden from interfering in government, and We will not punish a consort’s relatives indiscriminately merely because that consort has behaved improperly. The question is whether all of you can exercise the same distinction between public and private affairs. Minister Bai, what do you say?”
Feng Xuanyi’s calm, emotionless tone terrified Censor-in-Chief Bai. The moment the emperor addressed him directly, his knees nearly gave way. Great beads of sweat rolled down his temples as his entire body trembled. Because his official position had never been particularly high, he rarely had opportunities even to see the emperor, much less speak with him. Under ordinary circumstances, such attention would have inspired endless envy. But now, immediately after his daughter had been sent to the Cold Palace, when he himself could at any moment be implicated for failing to discipline her properly, the emperor’s words sounded less like an honor and more like a death summons.
“This minister would not dare! This minister would never dare! I will remember Your Majesty’s instruction and devote myself wholeheartedly to serving the country, even if it costs me my life.” He finally managed to force out the sentence through his trembling, only for Feng Xuanyi to burst into hearty laughter.
“Why should Minister Bai be so frightened? We have observed your abilities for some time. To obtain such talent is Our good fortune and a blessing for Hua. Report to the Grand Secretariat tomorrow and assume your new post.”
Overnight, Censor-in-Chief Bai had leapt from a Junior Third-Rank Censor-in-Chief to a Junior Second-Rank Academician of the Grand Secretariat. For a man who had committed no serious wrong but had likewise accumulated no extraordinary merit, the promotion jumped two grades and moved him from the outer ranks of court administration into the heart of central government. He had originally hoped to benefit from his daughter entering the palace and winning imperial favor, only to abandon that hope completely when she was thrown into the Cold Palace. Yet Heaven had not barred every road after all. Without warning, his own career had instead vaulted upward.
Elio’s Notes: The Grand Secretariat (內閣) was a central institution of senior scholar-officials in several historical Chinese dynasties. Here, Censor-in-Chief Bai’s promotion to Academician of the Grand Secretariat also raises him from Junior Third Rank to Junior Second Rank.
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