Chapter 42: Shanglin Park

It was early spring, and the sunlight shone obliquely into the hall, leaving patches of warm light on the ground. The spring breeze blew past, and the scent of orchids drifted from the Lanlin Hall, adding a touch of elegance to the entire sleeping palace.

Wang Meiren could not care about her haggard complexion and painful body at this moment. She struggled to climb up from the bed, and her slender figure was reflected behind the curtains. She hurriedly reached out to lift the bed curtains, her eyes already streaming with tears: "Your Majesty, why... why would you say that?"

What a picture of a beauty weeping.

If the real Liu Che were standing here, he might truly have softened his heart, but at this moment, Wang Meiren was facing A Jiao.

"You once plotted to harm Our daughter. Letting you live until today is already an act of mercy toward you." A Jiao stood before Wang Meiren with her hands behind her back, her voice cold and devoid of any emotion: "You don't truly believe that by giving birth to a useless son, you can escape this, do you?"

Hearing the Emperor's words, Wang Meiren felt a wave of dizziness. She managed to steady her mind with difficulty and began to plead: "Your Majesty, this concubine already knows she was wrong. Please forgive this concubine for the sake of the little prince I have given birth to."

"Furthermore... isn't Princess Chen doing fine now? And this concubine also heard that Princess Chen was protected by a Goddess because she fell into the water, and even her symptoms of stupidity were cured by the Goddess. It... it can be considered a blessing in disguise."

Wang Meiren's tone showed no sign of reflection at all; it even carried a hint of claiming credit, as if to say, it was thanks to my plotting that Princess Chen received the protection of the Goddess.

It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned this, but as soon as she did, A Jiao felt as if her heart were being cut by a knife.

Everyone else thought A Li had received a blessing in disguise because of the fall, but only A Jiao knew that the real A Li had already perished because of that fall last year.

Therefore, this Wang Meiren was unforgivable!

"Vile woman!" A Jiao scolded sternly: "You actually have no sense of reflection at all, and you are even feeling smug."

Even if Wang Meiren had shown the slightest bit of guilt, or had the idea of atonement, A Jiao might have been able to spare her.

Wang Meiren trembled slightly. She hurriedly knelt on the bed, her beautiful long hair sliding down from her shoulders. In the interplay of light and shadow, she looked pitiful. She choked out: "Your Majesty, it is all this concubine's fault. This concubine will never do this again. Please forgive this concubine this one time."

Even though she said this, Wang Meiren still couldn't understand in her heart why the Emperor was still so angry when Princess Chen was clearly fine.

"You have no next time!" Seeing her like this, A Jiao took a deep breath and had no intention of wasting any more words with her. She raised her voice: "Someone, the evidence that Wang Meiren deliberately plotted to harm Lady Wei and the Jianling Princess is conclusive. Considering Wang Meiren's merit in giving birth to a prince for Us, leave her a whole corpse and bestow upon her poisoned wine."

Su Wen, who was following A Jiao, was not surprised. He waved his hand, and a young attendant came over holding a small bottle containing poisoned wine.

The maids in the Lanlin Hall were also dumbfounded when they heard the Emperor's order. They had originally thought the Emperor had come to bestow rewards upon Wang Meiren, and that they, as servants, could also rise in status along with Wang Meiren's rewards. Who could have imagined that the Emperor had come to kill Wang Meiren.

"No! Your Majesty." Wang Meiren was so frightened that she collapsed on the bed, her voice shrill: "This concubine has just given birth to the second prince for you. You cannot kill this concubine; the little prince cannot be without a mother."

"Your words remind Us: how can the little prince have a mother with such a vicious heart?" A Jiao said coldly: "Rest assured, We will select a responsible foster mother for the little prince."

Wang Meiren looked at the Emperor in disbelief, stunned. The once-gentle lover by her pillow was actually so heartless. She looked up in despair at the handsome monarch and muttered: "In the Emperor's heart, is this concubine's status not even equal to a daughter you never liked?"

This also made A Jiao's heart ache. Liu Che truly had never liked her A Li! Was that why Wang Meiren had been so emboldened to plot against A Li back then?

A Jiao mocked: "What kind of thing are you to compare yourself to Our daughter?"

In fact, A Jiao had always been unable to understand what Liu Che liked about this Wang Meiren. Among the women in the Weiyang Palace before, Wang Meiren's appearance was not the best, and her personality was not as gentle and submissive as the other beauties, yet in these few years, Wang Meiren had been the most favored.

That was why this Wang Meiren had the audacity to covet things that did not belong to her. In the end, the culprit was still Liu Che!

Seeing that Wang Meiren was at death's door and still thinking of Liu Che's love, A Jiao narrowed her eyes, leaned slowly toward her, and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "You actually still believe Liu Che loves you. How foolish."

Wang Meiren was stunned.

A Jiao stopped looking at her, gave a look to the young attendant, and then turned and walked slowly out of the sleeping chamber.

Behind her, the young attendant said in a very shrill voice: "Wang Meiren, please drink the poisoned wine and be on your way."

Wang Meiren was stunned, feeling that her brain was no longer functioning. She couldn't understand what the Emperor meant by the words just now, and she was forced to drink the poisoned wine.

"No, I don't want to, I don't want to die, Your Majesty..." She struggled unwillingly, wanting to run away. Two attendants walked over, held her body down, and forcibly poured the poisoned wine down her throat.

Gradually, there was no more sound in the sleeping chamber.

A Jiao stood outside the hall. She saw the spring breeze blowing the treetops, making a rustling sound, like laughter and also like something else. Having already avenged her daughter, why was there no joy in her heart?

The news of the Emperor bestowing death upon Wang Meiren spread quickly through the Weiyang Palace. Of course, such a matter could not be hidden from Liu Che.

After learning of this, Liu Che suppressed the shock in his heart and waited until A Jiao returned to the Jiaofang Hall before he brought her back to the sleeping chamber with a dark face to begin a "confrontation."

As soon as they entered the sleeping chamber, Liu Che questioned: "Why did you kill Wang Meiren?"

"Did she not deserve to die?" A Jiao sneered: "She plotted to make A Li and Wei Zifu fall into the water. You tell me, if the child in Wei Zifu's womb had been lost, would you not have wanted to kill her?"

At that time, Wei Zifu was also four or five months pregnant. If she had miscarried, the gender of the child could have been determined. If Liu Che at that time had known that his Imperial Eldest Son had been plotted against and lost, he probably could have had Wang Meiren torn apart by five horses.

Liu Che was speechless.

On the surface, no one was harmed in the falling-into-the-water incident last year, and Princess Chen even became clever and intelligent after falling into the water, receiving the protection of the Goddess.

But in reality? A Jiao had lost her daughter, and the child's father hadn't taken the matter to heart at all. If Liu Che had cared about their daughter even a little bit, he shouldn't have easily spared Wang Meiren!

Thinking of this, A Jiao felt even more angry. She looked at Liu Che coldly and said with infinite malice: "Liu Che, actually, I lied to you last time."

She couldn't tell Liu Che the true identity of A Li, couldn't let Liu Che know that his original daughter had already died in that fall, but she now wanted to make Liu Che sad, to make him sad for their child.

Liu Che's expression was somewhat strange: "What did you lie to me about?"

"The one you miscarried last time... was actually a prince." A Jiao's voice was very light, like a whisper, yet it fell on Liu Che's ears like a thunderbolt.

Liu Che opened his eyes wide abruptly, his gaze trembling: "What did you say?"

Looking at the expression of disbelief and inability to accept on his face, A Jiao felt a sense of vengeful pleasure in her heart. She raised her eyebrows and said: "At that time, your condition was not good, so I lied to you and said it was a daughter. But in fact, the imperial physicians, and the maids who were in the Xuanshi Hall at the time, all knew that it was a little prince, our legitimate eldest son."

However, after A Jiao finished speaking, Liu Che's expression calmed down. He looked at the hidden hatred in A Jiao's eyes, his voice somewhat hoarse: "Since you wanted to hide it from me, why tell me now?"

"Because I wanted to see you sad and heartbroken!" A Jiao blurted out, yet a layer of mist inexplicably appeared in her black eyes.

Liu Che witnessed two trails of tears appearing on his own face. He slowly stepped forward, raised his hand, and gently wiped the tears from A Jiao's face. "Since you wanted to see me sad and heartbroken, why didn't you tell me at the time?"

More than a month had passed since the incident, and the time when Liu Che was most sad had already passed. Now that he knew what he had lost was a prince, besides being a bit shocked, he did indeed feel a little regret, but he wouldn't be more sad because of it.

A Jiao turned her head away, not wanting to look at Liu Che, who was wearing her appearance.

"Are you hiding something from me?" After all, they had been husband and wife for many years; Liu Che still understood A Jiao. If there wasn't something going on, why would she be shedding tears for no reason? The sorrow in her eyes was so obvious.

"No." A Jiao's voice was somewhat stiff: "I am just dissatisfied that you still wanted to protect Wang Meiren. Do you like her that much?"

"When did I protect Wang Meiren?" Liu Che felt he had been inexplicably framed: "I was just asking for the reason why you had to kill her."

"The reason is that she once harmed A Li."

Hearing this, Liu Che raised his eyebrows, but he didn't quite believe it in his heart. But seeing that she was unwilling to tell the truth, he didn't pursue it further and explained in a low voice: "I don't like her that much."

A Jiao glanced at him, noncommittal about his explanation.

"I favored her before because I felt she was a bit like you when you were young." He leaned close to A Jiao, looked up, and stared straight at his own face, meeting those clear eyes.

Liu Che knew that the person behind these eyes was his A Jiao.

Wang Meiren's personality was a bit willful, and occasionally she would throw little tantrums at him, very much like the A Jiao who used to argue with him. But Wang Meiren knew how to restrain herself and wouldn't give the Emperor no face like A Jiao did. Such appropriateness was exactly what Liu Che hoped for.

So during that time, Liu Che was quite infatuated with Wang Meiren.

Liu Che thought that if he told A Jiao this explanation, A Jiao would be happy. But he didn't expect A Jiao to push him away expressionlessly, her eyes full of mockery: "In what way is that Wang Meiren like me? Are you blind, or are you deliberately disgusting me?"

Liu Che: "..." Why did he feel that everything he said tonight was wrong?

A Jiao felt annoyed just looking at Liu Che now. She dropped a sentence: "Wang Meiren is already dead, and the second prince is temporarily being cared for by a wet nurse. Think carefully about how you plan to arrange your son in the future. I am going back to the Xuanshi Hall to live today."

After speaking, A Jiao turned and left the sleeping chamber, not listening to Liu Che's pleas behind her at all.

There were actually many sleeping palaces for the Emperor, such as the Xuanshi Hall, where he would stay directly when he was busy. In summer, he would move to the Qingliang Hall; as the name suggests, this sleeping palace was very cool in summer. And in winter, the Emperor would live in the Wenshi Hall.

Since the last unpleasant conversation with Liu Che, A Jiao hadn't been to the Jiaofang Hall for half a month.

Liu Che did want to come to the Xuanshi Hall to find A Jiao, but every time he came, A Jiao would be notified in advance and would leave the Xuanshi Hall directly, leaving Liu Che empty-handed.

She was deliberately avoiding Liu Che.

"Now everyone in the Weiyang Palace is saying that the Empress has fallen out of favor again." Liu Li sat beside A Jiao, eating melon seeds while sharing the gossip she had heard during this time: "They are all saying that you are already tired of the Empress."

A Jiao sneered: "This inner palace has never been peaceful."

"Father even asked me to inquire about your situation yesterday." Liu Li said, not idle, her little mouth "crunching" on melon seeds: "He asked me to ask you when you will forgive him."

"Does he know what he did wrong?" If it were about forgiveness, A Jiao didn't want to forgive Liu Che in this lifetime.

Liu Li spread her hands lightly, then complained: "Sometimes I really admire Father. He can actually say that Wang Meiren is your substitute right to your face."

If Liu Che were really asked to reflect on what he did to make A Jiao angry, he probably couldn't think of it even if he racked his brains. He would even feel that finding a woman like A Jiao to favor was a manifestation of his love for A Jiao.

This is the love of an emperor.

A Jiao sneered and picked up a piece of pastry from the table to eat.

Liu Li tucked her hands and said: "But your PUA tactic is quite clever."

"PUA?" A Jiao didn't quite understand what this meant.

Liu Li pursed her lips, not knowing how to explain the specific meaning to A Jiao, so she said: "It's just that you made him take the initiative to admit his mistake to you; it was done very cleverly."

A Jiao smiled: "Let's not talk about him. We are going to Shanglin Park in two days, and this time we might stay in Shanglin Park for a while."

Liu Li was quite looking forward to this trip to Shanglin Park after hearing A Jiao say this.

Shanglin Park was a garden architecture, expanded by Liu Che in the third year of Jianyuan on the old grounds of the Qin Dynasty. The scale was very large, and according to A Jiao, there were many fun things to play with inside.

Because they were going to Shanglin Park, A Jiao had to face Liu Che. After all, no one was more familiar with Shanglin Park than Liu Che, and many things still needed to be handled by Liu Che.

So, on the night two days before leaving for Shanglin Park, A Jiao returned to the Jiaofang Hall.

Seeing A Jiao, Liu Che was overjoyed, and he even ate a little more at dinner. When returning to the sleeping chamber at night, he would look at A Jiao from time to time, wanting to speak but stopping, like a little daughter-in-law who had been wronged.

After the maids tidied up the sleeping chamber, they withdrew silently.

The candlelight in the hall flickered. Liu Che returned after washing up in the side room, wearing only a thin undergarment. As he walked, the sleeves swayed, unable to cover his skin, which was as fine as congealed fat, particularly eye-catching.

He walked gracefully, carrying a thousand charms, making A Jiao's mouth dry as she watched.

She didn't know if she was originally this good-looking, or if it was because the person in this shell was Liu Che that it became even more dazzling.

Liu Che walked to A Jiao's side, still carrying the fragrance after bathing, his voice crisp and long: "Have you finally forgiven me?" His words seemed to carry a hint of teasing.

A Jiao's eyes fixed, her gaze gathering on his neck. She couldn't help but swallow, and moved a little further away from him before saying: "Do you know why I am angry?"

"You wanted to execute Wang Meiren, so execute her." Liu Che's voice was somewhat thin and cold: "The fact that she once tried to harm A Li is indeed worthy of death."

A Jiao: "..." Now it was A Jiao's turn not to know what to say.

Liu Che sat down beside A Jiao, stroking her hair while saying: "I have thought about it. The second prince will be temporarily raised by a wet nurse. I will take care of him more in the future, so I think no one in the palace will bully him."

"I thought you would keep the second prince by your side and raise him yourself." After all, Liu Che had just lost a son before. If he could adopt the second prince, it would also be a good thing for Liu Che at this time.

Liu Che raised his eyebrows: "That's not necessary." In fact, Liu Che had also thought about adopting the second prince and registering him under A Jiao's name. But if that were the case, this concubine-born prince would become the legitimate eldest son.

Thinking of this, Liu Che was somewhat unwilling in his heart, always feeling that adopting the second prince would be unfair to the son he had lost.

Even though the second prince was also his son.

And there were no other concubines in the Weiyang Palace at this time, so he could only be raised by a wet nurse.

A Jiao was satisfied with Liu Che's answer, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but rise slightly. However, if Liu Che really wanted to adopt the second prince, she wouldn't object, after all, they should find it very difficult to have children again in the future.

The genetic problem that A Li mentioned had been weighing on A Jiao's heart.

When Liu Li heard A Jiao say that the scale of Shanglin Park was very large, she thought it was about the same size as the Weiyang Palace. When she boarded the carriage and followed the main force to Shanglin Park, she realized how big Shanglin Park really was.

There were more than seventy palaces in Shanglin Park, and it spanned five counties. It was said that it could accommodate a thousand chariots and ten thousand cavalry. Not only that, there were forests and giant rocks in Shanglin Park, as well as flowing rivers and all kinds of rare and strange wild animals.

And in the future, Liu Che seemed to have built the Jianzhang Palace in Shanglin Park, adjacent to the current Weiyang Palace.

Liu Li exclaimed in her heart that it was awesome, and then sighed again at Liu Che's spendthrift behavior. Building such a large garden, how much money would that cost?

She didn't know how long the carriage had been traveling. Liu Li leaned out of the carriage window and looked out, vaguely seeing walls surrounding it, guessing in her heart that they should be arriving soon.

Sure enough, after a while, Liu Li heard the sound of conversation outside, and then Wei Qing's voice came from outside the Imperial Chariot: "Your Majesty."

A Jiao heard the sound and raised her hand to lift the curtain: "Is everything in Shanglin Park arranged properly?"

Wei Qing replied: "Everything is arranged properly. Your Majesty can go to the temporary palace to rest for a while."

"Very well." A Jiao nodded: "Let's go."

Wei Qing raised his head slightly, saw Liu Li sitting beside the Emperor, and was slightly stunned. Then he restrained his expression without a trace and directed the driver to continue moving forward into Shanglin Park.

I wonder if Elder Sister came over this year.

Liu Che sat in the carriage behind, and he was followed by a tail that couldn't be shaken off—Liu Ling.

Liu Che originally didn't agree to let Liu Ling come to Shanglin Park, but A Jiao couldn't stand Liu Ling's coquettish pleading, so she agreed to let her come and play together, so Liu Ling sat with the "Empress."

The carriage stopped slowly in front of the temporary palace, and the soldiers lined up neatly on both sides to welcome the arrival of the Emperor and the ministers.

A Jiao took her daughter's hand and stood on the Imperial Chariot, accepting the soldiers' kowtows. The well-trained soldiers' voices were passionate and uniform: "Greetings, My Emperor."

Liu Li only felt A Jiao's hand holding hers tighten, and then heard A Jiao say in a tight voice: "All rise."

The soldiers stood up straight with a clatter, looking at the young and majestic Emperor before them with burning eyes, their hearts full of reverence.

Supported by Su Wen, A Jiao stepped off the Imperial Chariot, then turned and took Liu Li into her arms, leading the ministers behind her into the temporary palace in full view of everyone.

Liu Ling followed Liu Che, and seeing this, she whispered: "The Emperor really dotes on A Li."

Liu Che raised his eyebrows: "That's natural. Don't look at who gave birth to her."

Liu Ling covered her mouth and giggled, but her eyes inadvertently caught Wei Qing, who was lecturing the soldiers. Her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly grabbed Liu Che, pointed at Wei Qing's back, and asked: "A Jiao, who is that person?"

Liu Che looked in the direction of her finger and frowned: "Why do you ask that?"

Liu Ling answered frankly: "That little general looks so handsome. A Ling likes him and wants to get to know him."

Liu Che: "..." Liu Ling taking a fancy to Wei Qing was not a good thing.

He frowned and said: "I don't know him either."

"Then I will ask the Emperor later." Liu Ling's voice was light: "I will have to trouble A Jiao to play matchmaker for A Ling then."

Accommodation arrangements had already been made back in the Weiyang Palace. The Emperor and Empress lived in the largest sleeping palace of the temporary palace, and the marquises were arranged one by one according to their titles.

Liu Li was also arranged in a sleeping palace, and A Jiao specially arranged a maid to serve her.

The journey was exhausting, and both the hunting activities and the activities to inspect the soldiers' training were arranged for the next day.

No matter how luxurious the ancient carriage was, it was still very uncomfortable to sit in. Liu Li lay down to rest after entering the sleeping palace and didn't adjust until the evening.

The evening banquet had already begun. A Jiao saw that Liu Li was uncomfortable, so she didn't wake her up and arranged for a maid to prepare a separate portion for Liu Li and send it to her sleeping palace.

After Liu Li woke up, she ate a little of the dried meat that was sent. She almost broke her teeth and couldn't chew it, so she finally had to give up and just ate some vegetables.

I heard there was a hunting competition tomorrow. If one could win the top prize, one could get the Emperor's reward. So whether it was the soldiers or the brave and battle-hardened marquises, they all planned to show their skills tomorrow.

Liu Li listened to the maid's introduction while walking along the corridor of the temporary palace.

Her parents were still having dinner with other ministers. After sleeping for an afternoon, Liu Li was energetic now, so she planned to stroll around this temporary palace, which looked quite spectacular.

However, it was clearly not a good time for sightseeing. After all, there were no electric lights in ancient times, and even with a lantern, one couldn't see the road ahead clearly.

She walked all the way to the highest position of the temporary palace, stood against the wind and looked into the unknown distance, and suddenly had an urge to shout into the distance.

She put her hands to her mouth, and before she could make a sound, a voice suddenly came from beside her: "Jianling Princess?"

It was pitch black, and Liu Li only vaguely saw a blurred figure beside her. She was about to be scared into the look of the world-famous painting "The Scream." ===== CHAPTER 43 =====

However, it was clearly not a good time for an outing; after all, there were no electric lights in ancient times, and even with lanterns, one could not see the road ahead clearly.

She walked all the way to the highest point of the palace, stood facing the wind, and gazed into the unknown distance, suddenly feeling an urge to shout out toward the horizon.

She placed her hands to her mouth, but before she could make a sound, a voice suddenly came from beside her: "Princess Jianling?"

In this pitch-black darkness, Liu Li could only vaguely see a blurry figure beside her, and she was so startled she looked like the subject of the world-famous painting "The Scream."