After finally treating all the scrapes on the Emperor's body, Wang Dequan realized his own back was soaked with cold sweat.
"Your Majesty..." Tang Shiliang, who had accompanied the imperial physicians to the Imperial Hospital, stumbled as he spoke, "The Empress... the Empress is near death. She's in the Imperial Hospital now, crying out that she must see you one last time before she dies."
The Emperor's hand paused as he was arranging Jiang Xinyue's hair. After a long silence, he smiled at Jiang Xinyue and said, "Go to bed early tonight. Don't wait up for me."
Whether or not the Empress survived the night, the Emperor needed to prepare many things in advance and discuss matters with his confidants.
Jiang Xinyue pressed her heavily bandaged hand against the hem of the Emperor's robe, looking up at him pitifully. "Your Majesty, when the fire broke out today, that falling beam should have crushed me. The Empress saved me. She even gave me her water-soaked handkerchief. No matter what the Empress has done to me in the past... I... I forgive her."
As she spoke, tears began to fall. "So... so I humbly beg Your Majesty, could you please give the Empress some final dignity?"
The frail beauty blinked her clear eyes. The Xuanwu Emperor bent down and kissed the tip of her nose. "I understand. Don't worry about these things. I know what to do."
In the Imperial Hospital, Fen Yun knelt beside the Empress's small bed. Her face bandaged, she wept so hard that blood seeped through her wounds. She desperately tried to spark the Empress's will to live: "Your Majesty, please look! The Fifth Prince is here! The Fifth Prince is still so young, he can't be without you! Please open your eyes and look at the Fifth Prince!"
The Fifth Prince, only a year and a half old, was led over by an elderly nanny, tottering uncertainly. He didn't understand why his mother was lying there, but he could see that both his mother and Aunt Fen Yun's faces were injured and bleeding.
He knew his mother was hurt.
The Fifth Prince's lips quivered, and he burst into loud sobs: "Mo... Mother... Ge... Get... Waaah... Get up..."
The Empress's hand twitched, and with great effort, she opened her eyes. She looked at the Fifth Prince and gave him a weak smile.
Then she turned to Fen Yun: "Take good care of the Fifth Prince, Fen Yun... Don't oppose Senior Concubine Xian. My fate today... it's all my own doing. I trusted those I shouldn't have, loved those I shouldn't have. I... I accept it."
Fen Yun bowed her head, weeping with immense sorrow: "Your Majesty, please live. I'll help you raise the Fifth Prince together."
Tears rolled down the corners of the Empress's eyes. "I can't go on. Take the Fifth Prince to wait in Hexi Palace."
She always saw shadows of her two sons in the Fifth Prince, and she sincerely hoped he would grow up healthy and happy.
"When the Fifth Prince grows up, don't teach him hatred... Don't let anyone manipulate him into thinking Senior Concubine Xian killed me. I only want... I only want him to live well, do you understand?"
Knowing Fen Yun's loyalty to her, she feared Fen Yun might harbor resentment and use the Fifth Prince to seek revenge for her in the future. Fighting through her pain, she continued: "Even if... even if revenge must be taken, my only enemy is Consort De. She's the one who robbed me of my chance to be a mother. Fen Yun... she's the only one I truly hate."
Fen Yun wept so hard she nearly fainted, hugging the Fifth Prince and nodding repeatedly: "Your Majesty, I will take good care of the Fifth Prince. I won't let anyone harm him."
This was her mistress's last wish in this world, and she would never let her down.
Not only was the Empress beyond saving, but she had also refused the imperial physicians' attempts to prolong her life, sending them all away.
She was using this resolute method to show the Emperor her determination to die.
The Imperial Hospital was dimly lit, and the medicine room where the Empress lay was now empty.
In the flickering lamplight, the Empress lay quietly on the bamboo bed, as if already dead.
But when the Xuanwu Emperor approached the bedside, she seemed to sense his presence and opened her eyes.
Her disfigured face had been wrapped in silk, leaving only half of her undamaged face exposed.
The Emperor remained silent, saying nothing. It was the Empress who softly chuckled: "I'm about to die. After being husband and wife for over a decade, does Your Majesty have nothing to say to me in the end?"
The Xuanwu Emperor raised his hand, straightening her newly changed clothes and using his fingers to smooth her disheveled hair. But from beginning to end, he didn't utter a word.
The Empress understood his silence. Her gaze towards the Emperor was gentle and reluctant: "Your Majesty, I've been in the palace for fifteen years. I bore you the late Crown Prince and the Second Prince, but perhaps they didn't want to be part of the royal family and left me early. Now I'm going to join them..."
She could barely continue, choking up: "Your Majesty, my only wish is for you to stay healthy, live a long life, and forever be hand in hand with your beloved, living a blissful and happy life."
Those near death speak kindly.
The Emperor took a deep breath and held her hand: "Don't say so much. Why won't you let the imperial physicians prolong your life?"
Wouldn't it be better to live a bit longer?
The Empress shook her head: "I don't want to look at this face in the mirror every day. I'm afraid I might leave this world harboring resentment towards the palace."
How much longer could she live even with life-extending treatments?
Three days? Five days?
Or three months, five months?
What would be the point?
It was better to use her death to secure the greatest benefits for the Fifth Prince and Senior Concubine Xian while the Emperor felt guilty.
"All my life, I've strictly adhered to the rules and responsibilities of being an Empress, never causing trouble for Your Majesty. I've never regretted marrying you and becoming your Empress. But I... I only have one regret..."
The Emperor looked at her: "Is it about the Fifth Prince?"
The Empress nodded tearfully: "I shouldn't have taken the Fifth Prince away from Court Lady Lan, leaving the child and keeping the mother. He was so young when he lost his birth mother. I... I beg Your Majesty... please let Senior Concubine Xian raise the Fifth Prince, can you?"
She used all her remaining strength to grip the Emperor's hand, her undamaged half-face covered in tears: "In this harem, only Senior Concubine Xian truly has a big heart. Only she will genuinely care for the Fifth Prince. Your Majesty... I can hand over evidence of the Zhu family's plans for rebellion in Chang'an, I only ask that Your Majesty grant me this one request."
The news of the Zhu family's planned rebellion hit the Xuanwu Emperor like a bolt from the blue.
He knew the Zhu family had always been unruly and disobedient to the court's orders, but they always managed to find suitable excuses to fob off the Emperor, so he had never directly confronted them.
He never knew that the Zhu family not only wanted to be the local tyrants of Chang'an but also aspired to rule the entire empire.
The Empress had no energy left to explain how the Zhu family had managed to deceive everyone and evade the court's tight surveillance to secretly plot rebellion.
But as a daughter of the Zhu family, she had concrete evidence, and the Emperor couldn't possibly not want it.
