Chapter 125 - 106: About to Be Promoted Again
Reinforcements arrived and drove back the assailants. After her wounds were hastily bandaged, Jiang Xian was also carried onto a carriage.
The Empress Dowager instructed that the carriage carrying Noble Lady Gu must travel quickly, but smoothly.
Hearing these conflicting demands, the driver instantly felt that his own life was now tied to Noble Lady Gu’s.
Noble Princess Consort Rong hesitated for a moment, then refused to return to her own carriage, climbing into Jiang Xian’s instead. Since she was getting on, her two palace maids naturally followed. Jiang Xian kept her eyes closed, fulfilling her role as a wounded patient. Between being stabbed and having the sword pulled out, she had lost a great deal of blood. Even with the painkilling draught, the dizziness from the blood loss was inevitable, so she could only close her eyes to rest.
But after just a moment with her eyes closed, she started to feel it was hard to breathe.
’What’s going on?’
Jiang Xian opened her eyes to see five people neatly surrounding her. She felt like the King of Wujie from *Journey to the West*, slowly reviving under the watchful eyes of Tang Seng and his three disciples.
Qiu Yun’s face lit up. "You’re awake? Her Highness was so worried!"
Jiang Xian: "...I was about to be suffocated by all of you."
The carriage was small to begin with. With four people crowding around the patient, and the curtains drawn tight—as was proper for ladies of the Imperial Palace—there was no ventilation. Lying down, all she could breathe was carbon dioxide. Upon hearing this, Qiu Yun hurriedly began to fan her, which by contrast made Mian Xia and Zhenqiu seem less attentive.
Seeing Jiang Xian’s confused expression at her complete change in attitude, Qiu Yun explained, "Miss Gu, you saved Her Highness, and you saved this servant as well. In the past, this servant’s heart was muddled, and I wasn’t respectful enough to you. Please, Your Ladyship, punish me."
But Jiang Xian said that wasn’t necessary. "Let me speak with your mistress."
She tilted her head back and looked at Noble Princess Consort Rong, who sat beside her with a tense expression.
Noble Princess Consort Rong was strikingly beautiful, but her tense face made her look fierce. In reality, she was terrified and anxious, but she had to maintain her dignity as a Noble Consort, so she simply kept her face expressionless, her complexion as pale as paper. "If I could trouble Your Highness to lean in a little," Jiang Xian said.
"Am I someone you can order around?"
Noble Princess Consort Rong huffily sat down on the edge of the pallet where Jiang Xian lay. Jiang Xian took her hand and placed it on her own shoulder.
Jiang Xian asked, "Do you feel it?"
"Feel what?" Noble Princess Consort Rong asked.
Jiang Xian said, "My warm blood."
Noble Princess Consort Rong practically leaped away from her. The troublemaker, however, continued regretfully, "It’s a shame it’s bandaged. Otherwise, I could have let you feel it, fresh and warm. Your Highness never believes my blood is warm. Now you’ve seen the proof."
"You... How can you joke about something like this!"
Thanks to Jiang Xian’s jesting, some color finally returned to the Noble Consort’s face.
It was still a long way back to the Imperial Palace. After sitting in silence for a while, the Noble Consort couldn’t help but ask, "You know martial arts?"
Jiang Xian nodded.
"Then why did you want me to call you ’mama’?"
The Yan Chi Ren also called their mothers ’mama’, as well as ’niangqin’. In writing, it wasn’t uncommon to see ’daddy’ and ’mama’ used interchangeably. The term ’mama’ was not a foreign import. Noble Princess Consort Rong was simply curious why Noble Lady Gu would make such a request during that critical moment.
This was no challenge for Jiang Xian.
She smiled faintly. "At the time, I was thinking we should get out of the carriage and flee. Since I know some martial arts, I would have been responsible for covering our retreat. But in a life-or-death struggle like that, I couldn’t help but be a little afraid that I might die before ever becoming a mother. So, I took advantage of you all to fulfill my dream of being a mother for once. Is Your Highness angry?"
"You’re so seriously injured. Even if I were angry, I’d have to wait until later to settle the score."
Noble Princess Consort Rong looked away, her heart a mixture of lingering fear and immense gratitude for Jiang Xian.
Every time she closed her eyes, her mind would flash between two images: one of Noble Lady Gu leading her from the carriage, her swordsmanship fluid and impressive; the other of her taking a sword for the Empress Dowager, her body drenched in blood.
Noble Princess Consort Rong searched her conscience. Her past treatment of Noble Lady Gu had not been the best.
’If Ma Wan Yi had been here, could she have led everyone to safety?’
Since childhood, Noble Princess Consort Rong had hated owing favors. She felt she owed Noble Lady Gu an immense debt, yet she was unwilling to simply repay it with mountains of gold and silver and sever the connection. She stewed in this conflict alone, her pretty face sullen, as if she were sulking at the entire world.
After thinking for a long time, she asked, "Are you hungry? I’ll feed you some restorative tonics. Have them brought out from my luggage."
It was a kind offer from the Noble Consort, and it would be rude for Jiang Xian to refuse.
A moment later, Qiu Yun retrieved a box of bird’s nest from the luggage and prepared it with water. Noble Princess Consort Rong then began to feed it to her, spoonful by spoonful, leaving Jiang Xian utterly bewildered. "Your Highness," she asked, "is bird’s nest helpful for someone who’s been injured?"
"This is a precious beauty tonic sent to the palace specially for Her Highness by General Yun Hui! Even the Imperial Household can’t provide this quality. If they had any, it would go to the Empress Dowager and the Empress," Qiu Yun announced proudly.
’This girl,’ Jiang Xian thought, ’is just as difficult to talk to as Chen Daying.’
Jiang Xian finished the entire bowl of bird’s nest but couldn’t taste anything special about it.
※
At the same time, news of the attack on the Empress Dowager’s procession was rushed back to the Imperial Palace by express courier.
When the Emperor heard that the Empress Dowager and the Noble Consort were both unharmed, but that Noble Lady Gu had been gravely injured shielding the Empress Dowager from a sword, his expression changed instantly.
The ministers below observed the Emperor’s face and each made a quick calculation. Any reports that weren’t absolutely urgent today could wait. Other important matters requiring detailed discussion could just as well be reported tomorrow.
This was especially true for matters that required the Emperor’s decision.
The Emperor was clearly distracted, his thoughts with his beloved concubine. If he hastily agreed to something now, he might change his mind the next day and hold them accountable. That would be a disaster.
The Emperor rose to his feet, then remembered the dozen or so ministers still present. "Is there anything else to report?"
Who would dare to cross him at a time like this? They all said there was nothing.
The Emperor turned and walked away. Before the ministers could even finish their salutations to see him off, the Emperor’s Footprint had vanished.
Liang Yuyin elaborated on the details. "The report came from Prince Xie’s men. He happened to be nearby when the Empress Dowager’s procession was halfway back to the palace. He helped fight off the rebels and captured three of them alive. During the attack, a man in black broke through the ring of guards and lunged with his sword directly at the Empress Dowager. Noble Lady Gu threw herself in front of her, and the tip of the sword pierced her shoulder. When the assailant saw his attack had failed, he chose to flee. Prince Xie was focused on saving people, and with only a few guards of his own, he was unable to apprehend the man."
"Take them for interrogation."
Seeing that Liang Yuyin was about to ask for instructions on the level of torture to be used, the Emperor said coolly, "They dared to make a move on the Empress Dowager, so they must be prepared to be tested. Light punishments will be useless. Don’t worry about the lead going cold. Tell the Commander to pick the one with the tightest lips and ’light the lamp.’"
Liang Yuyin’s expression remained unchanged as he assented, but inwardly he knew the Emperor was truly enraged this time.
No interrogation in the dungeons was without bloodshed. The higher-ups would only order a clear confession, leaving the question of whether the prisoner lived or died to the men carrying out the task. Exalted personages like the Emperor and Empress Dowager would not ordinarily specify a method of torture, as they considered it damaging to their celestial harmony. To put it plainly, it meant, ’Let the executioner’s karma take the hit, not Mine.’
For him to so casually mention lighting the human lamp meant he was beside himself with fury. He had to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, to make the rebels hiding in the shadows understand fear.
"Jiang Xian, daughter of Jiang Ke, the county magistrate of Meize County, is blessed by the heavens and a favored member of the harem. In recognition of her selfless act of saving the Empress Dowager and suffering grave injury, she is to be promoted to the rank of concubine..."
The Emperor was halfway through dictating the verbal edict when he stopped.
’That’s right,’ Liang Yuyin thought to himself. ’Saving the Empress Dowager is a great service, but a promotion to concubine without having borne a child, and this quickly... it might not be a good thing.’
"Wait. Wait for the Mother Empress to return and let her bestow the title. That will prevent gossip in the outer court."
Liang Yuyin: ?
If the Empress Dowager issues a benevolent edict, then even if there is talk in the outer court, it won’t reach the harem.
To question the Emperor’s decision then would be to accuse him of being unfilial.
’Showing favoritism to Mrs. Jiang? Impossible. He’s merely a doting, filial son, listening to his mother’s wishes.’
Having settled on this course of action, the Emperor dispatched the Imperial Physician from the Imperial Hospital most skilled in treating external injuries. He was sent by swift horse out of the city to intercept the Empress Dowager’s returning convoy, so he could examine Noble Lady Gu’s wounds as soon as possible. The Emperor wanted to ensure her promotion would not become a posthumous one.