Chapter 232: Blood Vomiting

A nanny on duty at the second gate quietly made her way to Chengming Hall.

Qiubai was on duty that night.

When Qiubai received the news, she knocked on the inner chamber door despite the late hour.

“...The Dowager Madame vomited blood and fainted. Nanny Sun has sent someone to fetch the imperial physician, but he hasn’t arrived yet,” Qiubai reported.

Zhou Yuanshen swiftly changed clothes.

After a quick wash, Cheng Zhao combed his hair. He was just about to leave when he took Cheng Zhao’s hand.

“You should rest. I’ll go take a look.”

“I’m coming too!”

Zhou Yuanshen tightened his grip slightly. “Wait here for now. If someone happens to be there, you may become the target of their anger.”

Cheng Zhao understood that he was referring to the Emperor.

He was afraid the Emperor might come.

Cheng Zhao clasped his hand in return, squeezing hard. “Yuanshen, be careful!”

Zhou Yuanshen froze for a moment.

Then, instead, he smiled with relief.

It was a rare smile, and it was remarkably charming. He nodded. “Don’t worry.”

He turned and left.

How could Cheng Zhao sleep now? She changed clothes and sat on the heated brick platform by the window.

The few trusted servants who had woken up gathered around her and spoke in low voices.

“How could the Dowager Madame have vomited blood out of nowhere?” Suyue asked. “Could she have fallen ill?”

Though the Dowager Madame had seemed low in spirits lately, there had been no word that she was seriously ill.

Cheng Zhao believed she had been angered into it.

It had to be because of Xian Si. The Dowager Madame must have learned what had happened.

The Dowager Madame had probably intended to offer Huan Qingtang to the Emperor. But the plan had evidently failed, with no possibility of salvaging it.

Her schemes had come to nothing. In a fit of rage, the Dowager Madame had suffered an attack of anger, vomited blood, and fainted.

“Young Madam, shall I go to Shou’an Courtyard and take a look?” Qiubai asked. “I can hide in a tree nearby without anyone noticing.”

“No!” Cheng Zhao said sharply.

Qiubai was highly skilled and could easily gather information.

But Cheng Zhao was afraid the Emperor might come.

If he did, the highly trained imperial guards accompanying him would mistake Qiubai for an assassin. They would kill her on the spot, and no one would be able to protect her.

In a hushed voice, Cheng Zhao told her trusted servants what she believed had happened.

Qiubai broke out in a cold sweat. “This servant would never act rashly. Please rest assured.”

Cheng Zhao could only wait.

She waited until dawn, when Zhou Yuanshen finally returned.

Cheng Zhao had fallen asleep, slumped against the heated brick platform by the window.

Nanny Li hurriedly instructed a maid to brew some strong tea and brought it over. She asked solicitously, “Lord Duke, are you hungry?”

“Has Young Madam had breakfast?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Nanny Li replied. “She only just fell asleep. She was awake the entire night.”

“Don’t disturb her,” Zhou Yuanshen said. “Bring out my court robes. I’m leaving. Tell Young Madam not to go to Shou’an Courtyard and not to ask too many questions.”

Nanny Li acknowledged the order.

Zhou Yuanshen drained the strong tea in one gulp, changed clothes, and left.

Cheng Zhao dozed for a while. When she woke, she learned that Zhou Yuanshen had returned and already gone out again.

She was annoyed with herself. “You should have woken me.”

She wanted to know how the Dowager Madame was doing.

“Lord Duke looked perfectly well and not tired at all,” Nanny Li said. “I assume everything is ‘calm and peaceful.’”

Cheng Zhao cleared her head. “You’re right.”

She pulled herself together and went about her usual household duties.

None of the stewards mentioned the Dowager Madame vomiting blood or the physician being summoned the night before. The news must have been sealed off. Even the gatekeeper, the only steward who knew what had happened, did not let a single word slip.

Zhou Yuanshen returned around noon.

“...The imperial physician said it was nothing serious, merely coughing up blood due to an adverse flow of qi. She needs to rest quietly,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

“Does the Emperor know?”

“He didn’t come again last night. However, I went to the Imperial Study to report to him. I told him that Grandmother probably did not wish to see him for the time being,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao was horrified. “What if he finds out?”

“I said it was only my speculation. If Your Majesty didn’t believe me, he could come to the Duke’s residence again,” Zhou Yuanshen replied. “The Emperor knew the reason. He thought Grandmother was angry with him.

“He was somewhat displeased as well. He said that he had always shown the Dowager Madame the utmost respect and had never forgotten their former affection. If the Dowager Madame couldn’t even make allowances for him in such a small matter, then, in the end, who was the sovereign and who was the subject?”

Cheng Zhao’s eyes widened slightly.

In such a short time, two people who had been “as close as mother and son” had developed a distinction between “sovereign and subject.”

Indeed, people could not allow too many others—or too many interests—to come between them. Once each person took a different position, it became difficult to return to the way things had been.

This also reminded Cheng Zhao that if she wanted a loving relationship with her husband, no third person could be allowed to act as a messenger between them.

Everything had to be explained face-to-face.

She also needed to determine whether someone else’s words carried more weight in their lives than her own.

The Emperor had acted this way because of Consort Wu.

Consort Wu had won the Emperor’s heart. She had not replaced the Empress or any of his other favored consorts; she had replaced the Dowager Madame instead.

Zhou Yuanshen had actually managed to accomplish this. He had found the key to the Dowager Madame’s close relationship with the Emperor and deliberately disrupted it, inserting Consort Wu into the gap.

No one was irreplaceable.

“...What did Grandmother say? Do we need to go attend to her?” Cheng Zhao asked.

“Grandmother doesn’t want anyone else to know that she’s ill,” Zhou Yuanshen said.

When she had been pretending to be sick, she had made sure the entire household knew. Now that she was truly ill, she wanted to keep it secret, afraid that someone might take advantage of her weakness to cause trouble.

Cheng Zhao said no more.

Before long, it was the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month. The clouds were somewhat heavy early that morning, and the sky was gloomy, but the sun emerged before midmorning.

Jin’an Temple was crowded with worshippers.

In a meditation room in the rear courtyard, Cheng Zhao and Second Madam encountered Mrs. Song and her daughters.

Miss Song was tall and beautiful, with a pair of unusually composed eyes. Yet whenever she looked at someone, her gaze was exceptionally gentle.

She was like a celestial maiden who had descended into the mortal world and gathered dust all over herself as she tumbled down—yet, because of it, she had acquired a touch of human warmth and compassion.

Only...

“She looks very kind,” Second Madam remarked on the way back.

Cheng Zhao agreed with her mother-in-law. “Yes.”

“Your maternal uncle has certainly had good luck,” Second Madam said with a smile.

“Vice Minister Song has as well,” Cheng Zhao replied.

Praising someone else while complimenting her own family too—Second Madam smiled knowingly.

Cheng Zhao’s smile faded slightly. She had caught sight of Miss Song’s hand earlier, and it had reminded her of someone she knew.

Perhaps she was simply overthinking it.

When they were descending the mountain, Fan Xiao unexpectedly arrived. After exchanging a few words with them, he went to see the Song women.

To avoid impropriety, Third Miss Song boarded the carriage first while Fan Xiao chatted with Mrs. Song.

Afterward, he came over to speak with Cheng Zhao and Second Madam.

“Has Yuanshen been very busy lately?” Fan Xiao even asked Cheng Zhao.

“Many matters have arisen at court. He has always been busy,” Cheng Zhao replied.

He held several official posts.

“...It’s nothing urgent. I’ll look for him to share a drink another day,” Fan Xiao said with a smile.

“When would he have time to drink with you?” Second Madam said. “And you—your wedding is just around the corner, yet you still have time to go drinking?”

Fan Xiao was speechless.

On the way home, Cheng Zhao kept thinking about Fan Xiao’s expression just then.

He seemed to have something to say, yet also seemed unsure how to begin.

That evening, when she saw Zhou Yuanshen, Cheng Zhao told him everything that had happened, including Fan Xiao’s behavior.

Zhou Yuanshen pondered briefly. “I’ll pay a visit to the Pillar-State Grand General’s residence. You don’t need to wait for me. I’ll sleep in the outer study.”

Guessing that Cheng Zhao was curious, he added, “I’ll come in early tomorrow and tell you what he said.”

Cheng Zhao was speechless.

It wasn’t as though she was that curious.

Zhou Yuanshen left.

At that very moment, Fan Xiao had already been talking with his mother for nearly an hour.