Chapter 1159: Chapter 995: Yun Niang

"This woman was as beautiful as a flower, like a fairy descending to the mortal world. The moment I saw her, I was struck as though by a celestial being. After I asked carefully, I learned that she was a palace maid from Chonghua Palace. From then on, I took Yun Niang into the harem. I had originally intended to grant her a title, but unexpectedly Yun Niang soon became pregnant. I was overjoyed and planned to wait until Yun Niang gave birth to a royal son, then promote her rank together with him."

Reading this, Gu Chengyu guessed Yun Niang’s identity; she must be Prince Jing’s mother.

He had heard before that Prince Jing’s mother was a palace maid; now it seemed that this Yun Niang was precisely that person.

He continued reading, "My heart was full of joy, eagerly awaiting the birth of the child in Yun Niang’s womb, and I secretly decided that if it were a boy, I would make him Crown Prince. No matter how many hardships and obstacles lay ahead, I would never retreat. Yun Niang’s temperament was cold, but after she conceived, because of my careful care, she gradually accepted me. Yet the good days did not last long. Mother discovered that Yun Niang was the daughter of the Fourth Prince of the former dynasty, a true remnant of the previous regime, who must by no means enter the palace as a concubine, nor was I allowed any contact with her; she even wished to kill Yun Niang and the fetus in her womb."

Seeing this, Gu Chengyu could not help a sigh; what a melodramatic plot! However, did this Yun Niang herself know her own origins?

If she knew her background, then her entering the palace as a palace maid—was that really a coincidence? Or was entering the palace in the first place driven by some ulterior motive?

Moreover, judging from those lines just now, Yun Niang seemed unwilling to become the Emperor’s concubine; there must be more hidden behind this.

Did the Emperor fail to investigate Yun Niang’s identity beforehand, or did he deliberately conceal it? Logically, any woman favored by the Emperor must have her background investigated to see if there were any problems.

Even before entering the palace, palace maids also had to have their identities checked; that would mean Yun Niang’s background could stand up to scrutiny, wouldn’t it?

Who knew how the Empress Dowager back then had uncovered the truth; all the twists and turns therein were known only to those involved. Yet the Emperor did not mention it here, perhaps thinking it not that important.

Still, the Empress Dowager’s worries were only natural. Who could tell whether Yun Niang had deliberately approached the Emperor? After all, she was a remnant of the former dynasty; if she intended to restore the Qing Dynasty and plot against the Emperor, wouldn’t it be as easy as turning her hand?

After all, according to the letter, the Emperor was infatuated with this woman, even wanting to bypass the Central Palace and pass the position of Crown Prince to Prince Jing.

Furthermore, the fetus in her belly was also a hidden danger. For the sake of the realm and of the Emperor’s safety, the Empress Dowager would certainly not allow Yun Niang and her child to remain.

"I begged Mother to allow Yun Niang to give birth to Zhao Yu. But Yun Niang, while pregnant, was always depressed, with poor appetite, causing her body to grow more and more frail. The Imperial Physician clearly stated that if she continued to weaken like this, then when the time of delivery came, everything would depend solely on Yun Niang’s fate. Though my heart ached, there was nothing I could do, because Yun Niang was no longer willing to see me."

Gu Chengyu clicked his tongue in astonishment; he could more or less guess what Yun Niang was thinking.

Regardless of what Yun Niang’s purpose had been in entering the palace, in the end she had become the concubine of her enemy and was even to bear a royal son for that enemy—how could she possibly feel at ease?

Tormented by guilt on one hand, while on the other enduring the predatory gazes of the Empress Dowager and the concubines, her health declining day by day—it was hardly surprising.

Reading up to this point, Gu Chengyu suddenly recalled that Prince Jing’s body seemed to have carried a severe poison from the moment he was born. Could it have been the Empress Dowager’s doing? After all, she had been determined to put mother and child to death.

"As expected, on the day of childbirth, Yun Niang died of hemorrhage. She only had time to leave a few last instructions before she went. And her dying wish was that she wanted only for Zhao Yu to become an idle Prince, to live out his life in wealth and leisure until his end, and that he must never take part in the struggle for the Crown Prince. Furthermore, she asked for no title for herself, for she had no face to confront the ancestors. She spoke resolutely; if I did not agree to her request, she would not be able to rest in peace even in death."

"Naturally, I agreed to her, and I was determined to fulfill my promise. Yet it was not until that day that I discovered Yun Niang had already been suffering from deadly poison. I had hated, and I had regretted, but in the end I was still helpless."

Gu Chengyu felt that Yun Niang was truly a clever woman. Knowing the Empress Dowager wanted to kill both mother and child and that she herself would not survive, this was her indirect way of asking the Emperor to protect Prince Jing.

If in the following years the Emperor had not treated Prince Jing with such coldness, even to the point of apparent neglect, the Empress Dowager might not have tolerated Prince Jing living on in this world.

As a result, although the Empress Dowager later passed away, the estrangement between father and son had already sunk deep. Even if the Emperor wanted to mend their relationship, Prince Jing no longer wished to accept it.

After all, Prince Jing’s temperament was somewhat stubborn and his thoughts extremely delicate. Perhaps the Emperor’s deliberate distancing in the past had wounded him, making him unwilling to accept the Emperor’s goodwill any longer.

Then there was that mentality of "the more you look down on me, the more I will prove myself." Prince Jing was exactly in such a state now. Why did the other Princes all have the right to inherit the realm, while he did not? Was it because they despised his lowly birth?

It felt as if the Emperor looked down on his origins, so his misunderstanding of the Emperor only deepened.

But then, why did the Emperor write in another imperial edict that as soon as Prince Jing showed any unusual move, he must be eliminated? Why not, as with the Third Prince, instruct the new Emperor to spare Prince Jing’s life?

The Emperor’s feelings for Yun Niang were so deep; one would expect him to extend his love to her son and show Prince Jing some mercy.

Gu Chengyu patiently read on and soon saw the answer to the doubt he had just had.

Heh! A man may say with his mouth that he loves this woman the most, even looking as if he is ready to abandon the realm for her, but in the end he still overturns all his previous promises.

"Though I deeply love Yun Niang, as the Monarch of Dayan, for the sake of the realm and the world, I must shoulder the duty of guarding the dynasty. Yu’er, from the moment you were born, your body carried deadly poison. The Imperial Physicians have treated you for many years and you remain uncured; you must by no means become the Monarch of Dayan. Yu’er, if you become merely an idle Prince, I will naturally ensure you live a life of peace and smooth fortune."

"Yet afterward I discovered that you were secretly stirring, already extending your hand into the court. I truly had no choice but to send you away to a distant fief. Had you kept within bounds, that would have been the end of it. But you were unwilling, dissatisfied; in that case, you can only come down early to accompany your mother and me."

These were the Emperor’s recollections, filled with happiness, grief, and bitterness, an explanation of why he had been so cold toward Prince Jing these past years.

What followed was what the Emperor wanted to say to Prince Jing; between the lines one could see the Emperor’s heartbreak and helplessness.

The Emperor believed that since Prince Jing’s body had not recovered, he was truly unfit to be an Emperor. All the more since Yun Niang’s dying wish had been that she did not want Prince Jing to be Emperor at all.

The Emperor had to consider the realm and the world, and also the last wish of the woman he loved most; he was indeed caught in a difficult dilemma.

In the end, however, the Emperor still chose the realm. He did not dare to gamble, and thus could only go against Yun Niang’s final wish.

Gu Chengyu slipped the letter back into the envelope. He had already read it; as for whether it would ever fall into Prince Jing’s hands in the future, that was unknown.

But if that time came, it would also be the moment Prince Jing descended to the Yellow Springs.

His curiosity satisfied, what troubled him now was whether he should publicly read out that other imperial edict by which the Emperor passed on the throne.

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