Chapter Ninety: The Fate of Two Women

The Empress Dowager of the imperial clan had taken the heir apparent hostage, and the Empress was instantly overcome with rage. She pointed at the woman and stepped forward. "You venomous creature! Let him go!"

Alarmed, the Empress Dowager cried, "If any of you move again, I will kill him first!" As she spoke, she pressed the dagger tighter against the heir apparent's throat, and blood began to seep from the wound.

Seeing the plight of his elder brother, the young prince was gripped with anxiety. Yet he was even more afraid that the Empress, carried away by fury, would rush forward recklessly and provoke the hostage-taker. Taking a deep breath, he hurriedly tried to calm her. "Your Majesty, please suppress your anger! The crown prince is still in her hands!"

After hearing him out, the Empress turned and gave him a reassuring smile. "Do not worry. Your mother is here, and all will be well."

Then she looked back at the Empress Dowager and said coldly, "You should know the crown prince is not my own son. Do you think seizing him can threaten me? Let me tell you this: the late emperor had more than one child. Even if the crown prince were to suffer an accident, I still have the fifth prince in my hands, and he can inherit the throne. But you? You have only this single card to play. Once the crown prince dies, your son will never have any chance of taking the throne. Would you really dare do it? I do not believe you."

With that, she walked step by step toward the Empress Dowager.

The young prince understood that the Empress was engaged in a contest of nerves, not that she truly did not care about her eldest brother's safety. But if the Empress Dowager truly lashed out in desperation and acted without restraint, then his brother might well be in mortal danger today.

Thinking of this, his heart pounded harder, and he secretly wiped the cold sweat from his brow.

The Empress had no idea what worried him. Even if she had known, it might have been impossible to alter her resolve now. She continued to press forward, each step firm and decisive.

Watching her approach, the Empress Dowager roared, "I warn you, do not come any closer, or I will drag you down with me!"

By this point, the crown prince in her grasp had already been frightened beyond tears, his eyes vacant and unfocused. Clearly the shock had overwhelmed him, and his instinct for self-protection had driven him into a numb, frozen state.

After delivering her threat, the Empress Dowager truly saw the Empress stop only a few paces away. Then the Empress said, "I have already made myself perfectly clear. You cannot threaten me. Since you are my elder, I will give you one more chance. Release the crown prince now, and I can spare your life. Otherwise, I will send you to accompany the late emperor in death!"

When the Empress Dowager remained silent, the Empress went on, "I will count to three. If you still do not let him go, do not blame me for being ruthless."

"One!"

"Two!"

Before the word three could leave her lips, a sudden turn of events broke the stalemate. The Empress Dowager abruptly thrust the crown prince toward the Empress with all her strength, and the Empress instinctively caught him.

At that very moment, the Empress Dowager launched her attack. She surged forward two quick steps and, taking advantage of the Empress being off guard as she received the child, laid the dagger across the Empress's throat. Then she burst into wild laughter.

After the laughter faded, the Empress Dowager said mockingly, "The Empress's warning was quite right. What use is a crown prince who can be discarded at will? Far less useful than you, the one and only Empress. So long as you are in my hands, let me see who in this palace still dares make things difficult for me. Afterward, I shall use your name to depose the crown prince and establish the Prince of Fu as emperor. That will also accord with ancestral law and ritual. I must thank you, Empress, for coming so promptly; you have truly brought me a splendid gift!"

The Empress, now held hostage, showed no sign of panic. Across from her, the young prince, who had witnessed it all, seemed to catch a faint, almost imperceptible smile flickering over her face.

As soon as the Empress Dowager finished speaking, the Empress replied, "I must admit that among the women of this inner court, when it comes to cunning schemes and underhanded methods, none is your equal. I am completely outmatched. I have no complaint about being used by you; I can only blame myself for being too foolish. However..."

At the word however, the Empress Dowager felt a faint unease and subconsciously cut in. "However what? Your life is still in my hands. You had better behave yourself."

Those words were, in truth, self-comforting more than threatening. Her heart was unsettled, and she was trying to steady herself while warning the Empress not to act rashly.

When she finished, the Empress smiled.

It was like a blossom opening in full splendor, and the young prince standing opposite had never before realized that the Empress's smile could be so captivating.

After a soft, brief laugh, the Empress drew back her smile, and her expression suddenly turned ice-cold. She spoke again. "I will tell you now what however means!"

Her voice rose as she continued, "However, you would never in your wildest dreams imagine that I would use my own life to plot against you. This round, you have lost!"

With that, she drew from her person a short blade nearly a foot long and cried out, "Your Majesty, I have avenged you!" Then, without the slightest hesitation, she drove it downward with all her strength into her own abdomen.

Two sharp sounds followed in quick succession as the blade entered flesh. The first was the dagger piercing the Empress's body; the second came from the force of its momentum, as it also tore through the body of the Empress Dowager, who had no time to evade.

The agony of the wound did not make the Empress scream. Instead, she laughed madly and said in broken gasps, "Wh-what do you say now? Y-you... you were the one... who fell into my scheme, weren't you?"

The instant the blade entered her, the Empress Dowager let out a shriek. She could only force out, "You... you mad w-woman..." before consciousness fled her, and she collapsed to the ground together with the Empress.

Everything had happened far too suddenly for the young prince to react. By the time he came to his senses, it was all over. He hurried forward, crying out, "Mother!" as he ran to where the Empress had fallen.

When he reached her, the ground around them was already stained red with the blood of both the Empress Dowager and the Empress. With fierce force, he pulled the Empress Dowager free from the blade, and blood splashed across his face. He paid it no mind, wiping it away carelessly.

Then he looked to the Empress. He did not move the blade from her body, for he knew that if it were removed now, she would certainly not survive. Hurriedly, he said, "Mother, hold on. I will go at once to fetch the imperial physicians for you."

Just as he was about to rise and seek help, the Empress's faint voice drifted to him. "Y-you don't need to..."

Hearing this, he quickly bent down and supported her so that she leaned against his chest. He tried to comfort her at once. "Mother, do not be agitated. Say nothing more. The physicians will surely find a way to save you!"

As soon as he finished, the Empress gave a slight shake of her head and, in broken sentences, said, "No... no use... I had already... smeared poison on... this long blade. I did it... in the hope that... I might have a chance... to strike this venomous woman dead in one blow. Today... I have finally... achieved my wish... I die without regret. You and the crown prince... must love... each other as brothers from now on. I... I am going... to see your father..." When she finished speaking, her breath left her body, and she died on the spot.

The young prince was deeply moved by her final act. He had never imagined that the Empress would choose such a method, trading her own life for the enemy's. He was truly heartbroken for this woman whom he had once hated, but whom he now revered without measure, and for the tragic fate she had met.

Holding the Empress's gradually cooling body, he felt tears slip unbidden from his eyes. He lifted his head and roared in grief, "No! Mother!"

Because his emotions were too violently stirred, once the cry had left him, his vision went black and he collapsed stiffly to the ground.

Aside from him, the only other person present was the crown prince. Already terrified senseless by all that had unfolded before him, he dared not come near. Tears streamed from his eyes as he crouched helplessly on the ground, sobbing in a small voice.

Thus ended a palace intrigue that had begun swiftly and ended just as fast, yet would send ripples through the years to come. No one had foreseen such a conclusion at the outset. With the simultaneous deaths of the Empress and the Empress Dowager, the two most powerful women in the inner court, the palace itself grew all the more treacherous, and the entire realm all the more unstable.

When the young prince opened his eyes again, it was already noon the following day. The moment he woke, pain surged through him as he recalled the sight of the Empress breathing her last in his arms. With anguish, he cried, "Mother..." and once more tears welled in his eyes.

At the sound of his voice, someone hurried forward and said consolingly, "Your Highness, the Empress has already passed away. Please restrain your grief and take care of your body!"

Hearing this, the young prince slowly turned his head and looked at the speaker. It was Wei Xiaobao. He knew this was not the time to mourn. Taking a deep breath, he said to Wei Xiaobao, "Where is the crown prince now? I must see him and discuss the matter of ascending the throne with him."