Chapter 74: Two Empresses

Zhu Cilang had barely rested for a moment in Zhongcui Palace when Empress Zhou of Kunning Palace sent a palace maid to summon him for an audience.

Empress Zhou had been worried sick about Zhu Cilang day and night this past period, eating poorly and sleeping badly, and had grown noticeably thinner.

The moment Zhu Cilang saw how gaunt Empress Zhou looked, his heart ached as if it had been squeezed. He knew that Empress Zhou had become this way entirely because of him.

Zhu Cilang choked up and said, "Mother, you've grown thin. You must take care of yourself, so that your son can rest easy."

Seeing Zhu Cilang arrive, Empress Zhou felt greatly comforted, and a long-missed smile appeared on her face. She rose to her feet, took Zhu Cilang's hand, and had him sit down beside her.

She studied him as she spoke: "My son has been tanned by the sun, but he looks sturdier. Now that my son has returned safe and sound, your mother can rest at ease."

Zhu Cilang looked at this young and beautiful legal mother, feeling deeply guilty, and said apologetically, "Mother, last time your son left in such a hurry. You won't blame your son, will you?"

Empress Zhou feigned anger and said, "How could your mother not blame you? Under the pretext of visiting your imperial aunt, you secretly slipped out of the palace, and even led troops out of the city — you reckless little thing!"

Zhu Cilang gave an awkward smile and had Wu Zhong behind him present the prepared gifts. When dealing with women, only gifts could dissolve everything.

Zhu Cilang had redeemed the jewelry and such that Empress Zhou had previously sponsored him with, and had also prepared some gold, jade, and a few small gifts.

Seeing this large pile of items, Empress Zhou was first startled, then gently poked Zhu Cilang's forehead with her jade-like finger and laughed: "How did my son come back from a trip and get rich?"

Zhu Cilang smiled and said, "Your son captured quite a bit of supplies and silver on this campaign, so he did indeed make a small fortune."

Empress Zhou frowned slightly and asked, "Supplies from the slave bandits?"

Zhu Cilang quickly explained, "Your son heard that Mother once moved to Daxing City with Grandfather in her youth. These gifts were purchased specially by your son's orders from Daxing City — they are not spoils from the slave bandits. Please rest assured, Mother!"

Hearing this, Empress Zhou's face brightened again as she said, "For one so young, my son is so thoughtful. Whoever's daughter marries you in the future will truly be fortunate!"

Zhu Cilang felt somewhat embarrassed and didn't know how to respond, when a crisp and pleasant voice came from outside: "Who's getting married?"

The newcomer was Empress Yi'an. She was tall and elegant, with a face like Guanyin, eyes like autumn waves, lips like red cherries, and fine white teeth.

Empress Yi'an was a clever woman. She had guessed that Zhu Cilang would surely be summoned by Empress Zhou upon returning to the palace, so upon hearing that the Crown Prince had come out of the Qianqing Palace, she immediately set out for Kunning Palace.

However, her residence, Ciqing Palace, was near the Donghua Gate, while Kunning Palace lay at the opposite end of the imperial palace — one in the south and one in the north — so it took her considerable time to arrive.

Seeing it was Empress Yi'an, Zhu Cilang hurried forward to pay his respects and said, "Cilang wishes Imperial Aunt peace and well-being!"

Empress Zhou also greeted her with a bow and said, "This younger sister pays respects to her imperial sister-in-law. I was just thinking of sending someone to Ciqing Palace to invite you over."

Empress Yi'an nodded to Empress Zhou, then cupped Zhu Cilang's face in both hands. With tears glistening in her eyes, she said, "The Crown Prince has been tanned and grown thinner, but he looks even more spirited."

Among the three surviving princes of the Chongzhen Emperor, Empress Yi'an showed special care and attention to Zhu Cilang, treating him as her own son. This was not because of his status as Crown Prince, but because of an incident that had happened several years earlier.

When Zhu Cilang was three or four years old, he often went to the Directorate of the Imperial Horses near the Donghua Gate, pestering Cao Huachun to pick out a small horse for him to practice riding and archery. By chance, this was right next to Empress Yi'an's Ciqing Palace.

Zhu Cilang saw that the gates of Ciqing Palace were wide open and noisy sounds were coming from within, so he slipped in to take a look — and what he saw was no small matter.

Chen Derun, a remnant of Wei Zhongxian's faction and chief eunuch of the harem, coveted Empress Zhang's beauty and youth, and wanted to form a "table-mate" union with her to share in her wealth. Empress Zhang sternly refused and rebuked this dead eunuch.

Unexpectedly, this dead eunuch was bold enough to defy heaven. Taking advantage of early morning when palace attendants were presenting washing implements to serve Empress Zhang, the dead eunuch Chen Derun, under the pretext of having matters to report, barged directly into Empress Zhang's bedchamber.

Empress Zhang was terrified by him and also furious. She berated him and ordered people to drive him out. But relying on his status as chief eunuch of the palace, no eunuch or palace maid dared to lay hands on him. He even audaciously berated this widowed Empress Zhang on the spot.

Zhu Cilang happened to be there and witnessed all of this with his own eyes. He immediately picked up a small flower bed with a potted plant from Ciqing Palace and, in a running motion, performed a one-handed over-the-shoulder slam dunk.

Zhu Cilang closed in, then suddenly leaped up and slammed the small flower bed hard onto the back of the old eunuch's head. On the spot, the pot shattered and the skull cracked, blood splattered everywhere, and the old eunuch passed out cold.

The matter later reached the Chongzhen Emperor, who flew into a rage. He gave Chen Derun a severe beating, stripped him of his post as chief eunuch, and demoted him to growing vegetables at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing.

No one knew who started it, but people in the palace always liked to demote offending eunuchs to grow vegetables at the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing. First there was Li Fang during the Longqing era, then Feng Bao, Companion to the Wanli Emperor, then Cao Huachun, and now this Chen Derun.

Cao Huachun was lucky — framed by Wei Zhongxian, he was sent to Nanjing to grow vegetables for a few years, but once his master Chongzhen became emperor, he was immediately recalled, rising from the lowest point of his life to its peak.

Zhu Cilang looked at Empress Zhang before him, feeling inexplicably moved and helpless. Though Empress Zhang appeared to be in decent spirits, Zhu Cilang noticed that she seemed to be forcing herself to stay cheerful.

Empress Zhang was still immersed in grief over the destruction of De Mausoleum; only seeing Zhu Cilang return to the palace had lifted her mood somewhat.

The ancients always valued being laid to rest in peace. After De Mausoleum was destroyed, the court had no money to repair it, which made Empress Zhang even more grief-stricken. De Mausoleum was not only the imperial tomb of her husband, the Tianqi Emperor, but also the place where she would rest after her own death.

The Chongzhen Emperor was also anxious. With Qing troops invading the borders, war required vast amounts of grain and money, and the Ministry of Revenue could barely make ends meet — where would extra silver be found to spend on De Mausoleum?

After the two Empresses exchanged pleasantries for a while, Empress Zhou finally said, "My son, quickly tell your mother and your imperial aunt about what happened to you out there."

Zhu Cilang recounted everything one by one — from beheading the Duke of Cheng before the Xizhi Gate of Beijing, to encountering soldiers and bandits on the road, the Battle of Shijingshan, the bloody battle at Liangxiang, the unrest in the city, and the execution of traitors.

Zhu Cilang was like a professional storyteller, narrating with twists and turns, vivid and colorful. The two young women, Empress Zhou and Empress Yi'an, listened with great relish — sometimes sorrowful, sometimes terrified, sometimes clapping and cheering.

In the end, both sighed deeply. They had never imagined that the common people of the capital region lived in such hardship, and their hatred for the Jianzhou barbarians grew even stronger.

These two Empresses — one the Empress of the Tianqi Emperor, the other the Empress of the Chongzhen Emperor — had both been born into humble households and had lived ordinary commoner lives since childhood, so they were deeply moved by the suffering of the people.

Though they never participated in court politics, they often reminded their respective husbands to care about the hardships of the common people. They enjoyed excellent reputations among the populace, both being virtuous Empresses of their generation.

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Author's note: Apologies — there's an error in Chapter 9. It said Empress Zhang lived in Duanben Palace, but in fact at this time it was still called Ciqing Palace. Historically, it was only when Zhu Cilang was fifteen and preparing to take a consort that he moved to Ciqing Palace, and it was renamed Duanben Palace.

The Duanben Palace of today no longer exists — the parking lot north of the Qing History Museum in the Forbidden City is the site of the former Duanben Palace.

The previous chapter was an extra update. When I posted it last night, there was a problem with the Qidian system and it wouldn't display. In the early morning I deleted it and reposted, and only then did it show up.

After this chapter there will be another one tonight. The trial recommendation ran into some bots, and I'm feeling unhappy about it, so today I'm doing three updates.