Chapter 113: Vision
Translator's note: Unfortunately my internet connection last week wasn't stable enough to work on anything; pardon the lack of updates. I have reliable internet again, and should have tomorrow's chapter up on time as well.
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Lu Pingwan sat on the low bed, her fingers twisting the handkerchief unceasingly. The night before, she'd had a dream; in the dream, she'd returned to her youth, to when she had yet to become the Princess Ling, and was admiring flowers along with her companion.
In the dream, Lu Pingwan felt that the two had made fast friends, an affection as if they'd grown to adulthood together. But when she'd woken up, she couldn't even recall that person's face.
Others had admired the flowers and recited poetry, but what sort of talent for poetry recitation could a child have had? They could only watch dumbly. Watch the flower petals ruffled by the breeze, the butterflies alight in the centres of the flowers. But then, suddenly, a wild wind had risen, and the flower petals had been blown all about, and even her companion had disappeared. The Lu Pingwan of the dream had hurried to go looking, but she'd only taken a few steps, when she'd seen a familiar figure.
The bearing of an immortal, attired in an unsullied robe of white. Identical to the Supreme Yuanhe who hung on the wall and to whom she made offerings to day after day. Lu Pingwan was shocked; decades of memories spilled into her mind, and the scenery changed in an instant as well; she sat, once more, on the prayer mat in the Cining Palace, and the Supreme Yuanhe walked out from within the painting, alighting elegantly by her side.
"You are the current Empress Dowager of the Great Li?" the Supreme asked?
The gender of the Supreme Yuanhe in the painting had never been clear, but now, when she spoke, Lu Pingwan knew that the Supreme Yuanhe was a woman as well. Suddenly thinking of Jiang Changbai, Lu Pingwan, thinking the Supreme was about to make a violent criticism, hurriedly kowtowed. "Bai'er ascended the throne with no other alternative; I beg of you not to fault her. If someone must be punished, I'm fulling willing to withstand it all for her."
Lu Pingwan didn't remember what else she'd said, but she remembered the Supreme Yuanhe had waved her hand gently, and, without her own say, her body stood up. By the time she woke, the surroundings were pitch black, and all had returned to desolation, only a single sentence imprinted firmly in her mind.
"Shejin is wild in its ambitions as a wolf; it cannot be allowed even a moment to breathe."
In the drowsiness of sleep, Song Juguang's words from the day before rang in Lu Pingwan's ears. She struggled for a long, long time, and in the end, said, "An Lian, go ask for her majesty."
"Of course."
Lu Pingwan had only given birth to Jiang Changbai, and had raised her herself from her infancy. An Lian had seen Jiang Changbai grow to adulthood int he same way, and An Lian hadn't been able to bear seeing the estrangement between mother and daughter these past two years. Now that Lu Pingwan was willing to see Jiang Changbai, An Lian was overjoyed.
The pale tile floor of the Cining Palace seeped chill, and the shadows of the hanging flowers outside the window were cast at an angle on the lattice; suddenly, they were overlaid with the fluttering flower petals from the dream.
"Her majesty has arrived!"
The doors groaned as they opened, and Lu Pingwan saw a bright yellow hem sweep over the threshold. Jiang Changbai wore the imperial headdress, its beads swaying faintly, refracting glimmers from the early morning sunlight, but they couldn't hide the dark circles beneath her eyes.
When Jiang Changbai had heard An Lian's words, she'd been overjoyed, and, before she'd even taken off her court attire, she'd raced to the Cining Palace.
"This child pays her respects to her Imperial Mother," Jiang Changbai said, making full obeisance, her head kowtowing the floor with a clear sound.
Where no one could see, the rims of Jiang Changbai's eyes had already turned red. She didn't know what Lu Pingwan wanted to speak to her about; she assumed, even, that her mind had finally changed, and she was no longer irate with her. In all this time, Jiang Changbai had sat in the court alone, and though she her position was high and her might was great, she still felt lonely.
"Ah, get on up." Lu Pingwan was counting a new set of prayer beads, and the pleasant scent had dissipated about the hall. "This mourner has heard that you intend to send that Shejin marriage alliance princess back?"
Jiang Changbai stumbled as she rose, the jade pendant on her waist letting out a clear sound. She raised a hand, about to support herself on the table, but, when she met Lu Pingwan's cool gaze, she was locked in place. Only now did she realise that she could no longer throw herself into Lu Pingwan's embrace and pout as she had in her youth, the imperial headdress separating them in two utterly different worlds. "Imperial Mother hasn't asked about politics in so long, so how come today..."
"This mourner was given a vision by the Supreme Yuanhe last night," Lu Pingwan cut her off, the prayer beads in her hand suddenly striking the table. "Shejin is ambitious as a wild wolf; if the tiger is allowed to return to the mountain, it will most certainly lead to great calamity!"
The sparrows that had landed on the eaves burst into flight; Jiang Changbai caught a glimpse of the tea that had splashed on the table, and she suddenly laughed lowly. "The Supreme's vision—Imperial Mother must know, Liang Jiwen was restricted in all ways in Shejin; when she arrived in the Great Li, she was no different from a refugee. It was this child who gave her a new life."
Lu Pingwan's fingers suddenly tightened, the agarwood beads pressing deep marks into her palm. "Regardless, she's Shejinese, and the blood in her veins is that of Shejin; Shejin has harassed the Great Li's borders for years, now—could she avoid that tradition?"
"Imperial Mother doesn't even know how many meals this child eats per day, yet you're so careful with this person from Shejin." A cold laugh rose from behind Jiang Changbai's imperial headdress, and she said, "Could it be that Song Juguang came to speak of this yesterday?"
Bang!
The prayer beads in Lu Pingwan's hand struck the table, and in a flash, flew all about. "This mourner has lived so long, and this was the first time I was given a vision by the Supreme; this person absolutely mustn't return."
"Imperial Mother!" Jiang Changbai, suddenly agitated, her face somewhat pale, perhaps from not having eaten breakfast yet that day, said, "If not Liang Jiwen, it would be someone else, and she, at least, is a bit more trustworthy.
"Since Imperial Mother believes in the Supreme Yuanhe," Jiang Changbai's voice was icy, "there's no harm in asking for this child, were the decades of casualties among commoners from war were deserved?"
Having finished speaking, Jiang Changbai flicked her sleeves and left, and the reunion of mother and daughter after two years ended with tear tracks. Xun Zhu, seeing the scene, hurriedly followed after, and was startled by the chill emanating from Jiang Changbai such that she only dared to follow behind her at a two metre distance.
The early morning mist in the Cining Palace had yet to fully dissipate, and a few drops of water dripped onto the table. When Lu Pingwan leaned over to touch them, cold tear stains met her fingers, and in a shock, she thought that this was the first time her daughter had cried before her since she'd ascended the throne.
"Your majesty, it's time for your medicine," An Lian said.
By chance, at the same time, the sound of breaking porcelain sounded from the main hall. Lu Pingwan, brows furrowed, raced through the rear corridor, and saw that Jiang Changbai had turned back, and had turn down that portrait on the wall down. The bright yellow Dragon Robe had been torn by the censer, and revealed moon-pale inner robes.
"Bixia, do you wish to destroy the Cining Palace?" Lu Pingwan, unable to help clenching her hands, questioned.
Jiang Changbai spun on her heel. "Your child sees that Imperial Mother has been baselessly addled by this thing! Because of the Supreme, you haven't seen this child for two years, and because of this Supreme, you'll interfere with politics. If, some day, someone disguised as the Supreme wishes for you to kill this child, would you even hesitate to to stab this child through the heart?"
"Will you really destroy this ritual hall?" Lu Pingwan suddenly advanced, an understanding rising in her eyes. "Or do you wish to destroy that sentence of 'you're doing the right thing'?"
Jiang Changbai's eyes were bloodshot, and the body beneath the bright yellow Dragon Robe trembled faintly. She didn't reply to Lu Pingwan's question, and said only, "If this Supreme Yuanhe truly can manifest herself, then where was she during the drought in Boyang? When war arose all about, when the lives of the common people were like trampled grass, where was she?
"This child believes only in herself, and has never believed in these terrible gods."
Jiang Changbai stood the midst of a mess; the skirts of her Dragon Robe were sullied with incense ash, and she looked as frail as paper. Only now did Lu Pingwan suddenly realise that her daughter was half a head taller than she was, and that princess who could only reach the altar table by standing on tiptoe had now already been forged into a sharp blade by time.
"Get the hell out," Lu Pingwan said, dully.
Jiang Changbai paced along the Palace paths by herself. She felt blood roil in her chest, and no matter what, she couldn't calm down. That Song Juguang had entered the Cining Palace the day before, she'd long since known, but she hadn't imagined that she'd collude with her own mother to give her such a gift.
Of course Jiang Changbai didn't believe in some Supreme's visions; she thought that Song Juguang and Lu Pingwan had joined together to put on an act for her. Song Juguang had only enacted such a scheme on seeing that she couldn't convince her.
In the past, the court had been filled with ministers from the former regime, and though she'd been the noble Emperor, if she'd wanted to put policy into effect, she'd been restricted at every turn. Now, the restrictions in the court had shrunk, and all matters were done with her blessing, but the person comparatively closer to her wished to oppose her.
The past few days, Song Juguang had explained herself fully to her, and Jiang Changbai had truly believed she was unawaveringly loyal. But now that the two weren't in alignment, Song Juguang wanted to collude with the Empress Dowager to exert pressure on her, and the guardedness in Jiang Changbai's mind increased.
She laughed at herself, and lamented that she really had become the lonely one of imperial reference.
Jiang Changbai suddenly stopped, and turned to look at Xun Zhu. "Summon Liang Jiwen to the imperial study to speak with Us."
When Liang Jiwen met Su Ya again, it was already two days to her departure. No longer feigning illness by letting blood, and under the care of the imperial physicians, Su Ya's face had already grown rosy, and she was as healthy as she'd been when she'd been the favoured princess. Seeing Liang Jiwen, she was a bit astonished. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
Yet Liang Jiwen said with a smile, "It's only thanks to Jiejie's desire to remain here that I had the chance to return to my homeland. The day after next, I'll depart for the journey; how could I not come see you?"
"Depart?" Su Ya's pupils widened faintly, "where are you going?"
Su Ya only knew that Jiang Changbai had allowed her request not to return to Shejin, but she didn't know that Liang Jiwen had replaced her position of Envoy. Suddenly hearing this news, she couldn't repress the shock on her face. So, though she was asking a question she already knew the answer to, she wanted to hear a different one from Liang Jiwen.
But Liang Jiwen only said lightly, "Of course to Shejin."
"Is the Great Li's Emperor forcing you to return?" Su Ya asked. She couldn't understand someone who'd wish to return to such a cutthroat place; before, when she'd had the King of Shejin's protection, she hadn't felt it, but in the past year, she'd truly tasted the fluctuations of friendship. To say nothing of the struggle for position between the princes, if one wished to survive in the Royal Palace, they'd have to be even more cautious.
In the end, Liang Jiwen hadn't guessed Su Ya would ask that. She pulled out a chair for herself and sat down, and then poured herself a cup of tea. "How could Jiejie ask that? Of course I wanted to return of my own accord. At first, her majesty didn't agree, and it was only after begging for a long while that I received permission."
The expression on Su Ya's face was rather complicated, and it was only when a thread of kindness suddenly rose in her heart that she said, "Do you even know what the situation is like in the Shejin Royal Palace now?"
"I wanted to ask you as well, why is it that you wish to stay in the Great Li?" Liang Jiwen didn't pay Su Ya's question any mind, but rather answered it with a question.
Su Yan lowered her gaze, a degree of self-mockery in her voice. "Royal Father has been unconscious, and I've long since lost my support; in comparison to returning and being manipulated, it would be better to remain here. Even if my identity is no longer respected, I may as well be free. I've heard that, in the Great Li, women can enter the keju, and perhaps in a few years, I'll be able to earn an official position."
Yet hearing this, Liang Jiwen laughed. "You aren't as proficient as I am in the language of the Great Li; I wasn't able to pass the exams last year—if you want to pass them, you'd probably have to wait more than a decade."
"More than a decade is fine, and so's two; at least there's hope. If I remain in Shejin, in the end, all I could manage would be the fate of marrying and birthing children. In the past, I'd never considered that, but only once I came to the Great Li did I realise how wretchedly the women of Shejin live.
"A few days ago, I saw those two maids who waited on you—"
"I know," Liang Jiwen interrupted her aptly, "I saw them a good while ago."
Su Ya had originally intended to curry Liang Jiwen's favour, but being suddenly cut off like this, she didn't know what to do. She lowered her head and thought for a long while, and, as if having made some sort of decision, she rose, and riffled about in her luggage. Only after another long while did she pull out a jade pendant, passing it to Jiang Jiwen. "Take this."
"This is?" Liang Jiwen took the jade pendant, a thread of puzzlement rising on her face.
"It was left to me by my Consort Mother," Su Ya looked at the jade pendant as she spoke, her expression full of unwillingness. "My Consort Mother didn't leave much behind, and I carry them all on me. But the only thing that could verify my identity is this; if you are bullied in the Royal Palace, you can take this and go find my maternal uncle."
Hearing this, Liang Jiwen raised her gaze, and the expression looking at Su Ya was full of shock. But before she could speak, Su Ya continued, "My maternal uncle might not help you, but it's better than nothing. Right now, the Shejin Royal Palace truly isn't peaceful."
Liang Jiwen looked at Su Ya in disbelief; the arrogant, domineering older sister in her memory had grown a bit gentle. She'd come today only wanting to see Su Ya; she hadn't imagined she'd say such things to her.
"I don't want it," Liang Jiwen refused firmly, and forcibly placed the jade pendant back in Su Ya's hands. "What would it be, for me to take your Consort Mother's things?"
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