Consort De died, but she lived on in the minds of the entire palace in a way that was far from glorious.
For two whole days, the inner and outer palace were abuzz with talk of Consort De's hypocrisy, her viciousness, her perversion...
Although Consort De had confessed and claimed that her actions had nothing to do with the Duke of Cheng's Mansion, it still implicated them to some extent. The good reputation the Duke of Cheng had painstakingly built was completely ruined.
Consort De had taken the blame alone, and while the Emperor couldn't hold the Duke of Cheng accountable for the same crimes, the Duke wasn't entirely clean either. The Emperor had someone expose that the Duke had been keeping a courtesan outside, and she had even borne him two sons.
This move made people suspect that Consort De was merely a stepping stone used by the Duke of Cheng. His true aim was to pave the way for his two sons by leveraging Consort De's position.
When the scandal was exposed to the public, the Duke of Cheng had no choice but to bring the woman and his two sons into the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng. However, since the woman was a courtesan with no virtue to speak of, she could never become the Duchess.
Thus, the Duke of Cheng announced publicly that he would remarry, but after hearing about Consort De's actions, which noble family would dare to marry their daughter into such a household?
Even those unloving matrons who might have considered scheming against their own daughters wouldn't dare to openly marry off a concubine's daughter to such a place.
Who would want to be scorned and criticized behind their backs for such a decision?
The Duke of Cheng, not wanting his two sons to become illegitimate, had to marry a woman of equal standing to legitimize them and make the courtesan a concubine.
Which noblewoman would be insane enough to do that?
It's not as if she couldn't have children of her own; why would she go and become a stepmother to two boys who were almost her age?
Was she supposed to burn herself to benefit others?
However, the chaos in the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng was a matter for later. Originally, Jiang Xinyue's coronation ceremony as Empress was about to take place, but with so many incidents happening in the palace, not only was the Emperor overwhelmed, but Jiang Xinyue was also very busy.
So many concubines who had been harmed by Consort De needed to be comforted; otherwise, the unrest in the court would affect the people's livelihood.
Consort De had been in power for over a decade, and there were still many who had suffered under her tyranny. A plan had to be drawn up to address their grievances, so they wouldn't feel that those of lower status were left without justice.
How many masters were there in the palace?
The eunuchs and palace maids made up the majority. If they were filled with resentment, it would be a miracle if they didn't rebel, let alone serve quietly.
Once a person harbors resentment, going mad is only a matter of time.
In the early years, before the reign of the Shen family, there was a fallen emperor who had indulged his favorite concubine in killing palace servants. In the end, he was assassinated by the eunuchs around him, and his head was hung at the palace gate.
Then there was the third prince, who, after personally seeing his mother off, begged Jiang Xinyue to send him to the Ancestral Temple. There, he would pray for the Empress, the Former Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and his siblings who had not yet been born or had died young.
It seemed as if he had grown up overnight, his eyes losing their childish innocence and becoming lifeless, devoid of any spark.
Jiang Xinyue couldn't possibly take all the children in the palace under her wing, especially since the third prince had long expressed his desire not to be confined within the luxurious palace. His dream was to travel the world like the renowned painter Xie, traversing all the famous mountains, rivers, and lakes of Great Yan.
Moreover, it was the most dangerous for the third prince to remain in the palace.
The concubines who had lost their children due to Consort De would not feel pity for the son of their enemy.
Jiang Xinyue had to seek the Emperor's permission, and only after he agreed did she take the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince to send the third prince to the Ancestral Temple.
The Ancestral Temple was built outside the palace gates, an independent structure for royal sacrificial rites, giving the impression of being both within the palace and yet distant from its conflicts.
The third prince, with his frail body, knelt on the ground and bowed deeply to Jiang Xinyue, tears in his eyes: "Precious Consort, when I am in the Ancestral Temple, I will pray daily for your and my brothers' health and smooth affairs. Please... please don't visit me often, don't worry about me. The sins my mother committed are such that even a lifetime in confinement wouldn't be enough to atone for them. Precious Consort... take care."
A nearby eunuch wiped his tears and helped him to his feet. Jiang Xinyue watched his small figure, unable to offer any comforting words.
At this moment, any comfort would seem so hollow.
A heavy feeling in her chest made her exhale a sigh of turbid air, and her vision blurred slightly.
Her feelings for the third prince were complex.
The third prince was pitiful, but his plight wasn't caused by others; it was his own mother who inflicted it upon him.
Jiang Xinyue had never used children as pawns, but she had indeed manipulated the third prince several times to make Consort De's facade of kindness crumble before the Emperor.
She had worked to ease the third prince's psychological trauma, encouraging him to speak again, hoping that he would expose Consort De's misdeeds.
But even until Consort De's death, the third prince never mentioned the poisoning she had inflicted upon him. Jiang Xinyue realized then that she had underestimated the depth of the child's love for his mother.
The third prince was too kind.
Such excessive kindness was not suited to survival in the palace.
Moreover, she wasn't a saint; she couldn't raise the son of her enemy.
What right did the Duke of Cheng and Consort De have to possess such a kind and gentle child, yet not cherish him?
The Fourth Prince didn't know what had happened, only that his elder brother's mother had suddenly died, and his elder brother had changed into a completely different person—silent and withdrawn, leaving without even a proper goodbye.
He didn't dare cry loudly, only silently shedding tears.
Seeing this, Qian Sheng quickly wiped his face: "Fourth Prince, you mustn't cry."
The Emperor had ordered that after Consort De's death, her body was not to be buried in the Imperial Tombs for Consorts. Her title was stripped, and she was demoted to a commoner. Her body was sent out of the palace to the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng.
As for how the Duke of Cheng would handle her funeral, that was a matter for the Mansion of the Duke of Cheng, not the Emperor's concern.
Furthermore, the Emperor had decreed that no one was allowed to weep for Consort De. Anyone found crying after her death would be beheaded.
The Fourth Prince wouldn't be beheaded, of course, with the presence of the Imperial Noble Consort, but Qian Sheng was still afraid that word might reach the Emperor's ears and displease him.
After all, their master and servant had finally found a good life, and he didn't want any uncertain factors to jeopardize the Fourth Prince's happiness.
The Fourth Prince sniffled and turned to ask for a hug. Only when Qian Sheng picked him up did he quietly cry, leaning against his grandfather's chest.
That wasn't just his elder brother; he was also his best friend.
"Don't cry!"
Jiang Xinyue, holding the Sixth Prince with one hand, reached out with the other to pat his head: "When you grow up, the third prince will come to understand, and you can visit him often. It's not like you'll never see each other again."
The Fourth Prince wiped his nose and nodded vigorously.
He would grow up and meet his elder brother again.
The autumn was not long, and before Yu Province had even seen rain, Great Yan welcomed another New Year's banquet.
But this year's New Year's banquet was vastly different from previous years.
