The Daily Life of a Concubine

Chapter 79 - It's All Over

After the empress returned to the palace, she exempted all pregnant concubines from paying their respects. In fact, the only concubine who wasn't pregnant was Xian Fei. Even though the empress harbored some resentment towards her, she still released her from the obligation. The empress dowager had not yet returned from the summer palace, claiming she was waiting to return to the capital with Prince Duan. As a dutiful daughter-in-law, the empress could not insist, so she returned to the palace alone, preferring to manage palace affairs without the dowager's interference.

The absence of the empress dowager was a relief for the empress, who wished she'd never return.

Since the empress's audience with the court, everyone knew she was pregnant. Even the still-recovering Lan Guifei threw a tantrum upon hearing the news. Only the emperor's personal intervention could calm her down.

However, Bai Jingxian wasn't afraid. If Lan Guifei dared to confront her, Bai Jingxian would just retaliate by taking out her anger on Lan Guifei's family. News from outside the palace confirmed her suspicions: the emperor intended to use her pregnancy to deal with Lan Guifei.

"How cold-hearted," she thought. Since he was using her, she had no qualms about cooperating, so long as she could secure her position in the palace afterward. As it turned out, the emperor was using the rebellion in Jiangnan to undermine the influence of Lan Guifei's family, the Tan family. The Tans were deeply entrenched in the imperial court, with numerous disciples spread across the realm. The emperor saw them as a threat that had to be neutralized.

Lan Guifei, blinded by love, was completely unaware of the emperor's moves. She pressured her family to rally the court against Bai Jingxian, accusing her of being an enchantress who'd ensnared the emperor, especially because she was pregnant with twins while others bore only one child.

But Lan Guifei's efforts were in vain. As the Tan family lost power, her position weakened, and any plans she had to harm Bai Jingxian were no longer within her control.

As the days passed, the pregnant concubines' bellies grew. Bai Jingxian's stomach, carrying twins, was noticeably larger than the empress's, and the imperial physician predicted that she would give birth before the empress. Though the empress's stomach wasn't as big as Bai Jingxian's, it was still larger than the other concubines'. Some speculated that the empress might also be carrying twins, but the physicians had confirmed it was a single child.

Bai Jingxian suspected something was amiss but attributed it to the empress's medicinal regimen. After all, she had secretly instructed Wang Momo to administer additional medicine to ensure the empress would conceive.

As winter approached, the empress dowager finally returned to the palace and summoned all the concubines. Upon seeing the empress's belly, the empress dowager's eyes flashed with something unreadable—a look both the empress and De Fei noticed.

After the formalities, the empress dowager dismissed the concubines but kept Xian Fei behind. As Bai Jingxian left, she glanced back at the empress dowager. Though it was her first time meeting the dowager, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about her.

When the room was cleared, the empress dowager turned to Xian Fei and said, "The Zhang family is no more."

Xian Fei was stunned. "What do you mean? Not long ago, my cousin told me the Zhang family had earned merit in Jiangnan and intended to have the third prince's lineage transferred to me." She was referring to her son, the third prince, who, due to Shu Fei's manipulations, was no longer officially recognized as her own child.

"Merit? Ha!" The empress dowager laughed bitterly. "The Zhang family has been wiped out. Jiangnan wasn't an opportunity for them—it was their grave. Zhang Wenke, you've schemed so much, but did you foresee this day? All your family is gone, and have you earned the emperor's love?"

The empress dowager's eyes were filled with sorrow. Had the emperor not used Prince Duan as leverage against her, she would never have returned to the capital. She could only hope her son, Prince Duan, would eventually return. Though the emperor's unsavory actions would remain hidden from the public, her son's hopes for the throne were now shattered.

"Look at the pregnant concubines around you, Zhang Wenke. Are you happy?" The empress dowager's eyes were filled with hatred as she glared at Xian Fei .

"This can't be true! It's impossible," Zhang Wenke stammered. She refused to believe it, thinking of the intimacy and affection she shared with her cousin. How could he have allowed this to happen? He knew she had given up her family for him. Why would he betray her over something so trivial?

"Impossible?" The empress dowager, now more aware than ever, shot back. "Tell me, was it you who caused Wen Shu's downfall?" She had kept close watch over her household, so for Wen Shu (Shu Fei) to have succeeded in her schemes, someone must have helped her.

The empress dowager's worst fears were confirmed.

She had never forgotten her status as a daughter of the Zhang family. All she had done was for the advancement of her family. But her family's younger generation had let her down.

Zhang Wenke stumbled back in fear at the empress dowager's anger, eventually collapsing to the floor.

Seeing her like this, the empress dowager laughed bitterly. "Karma has finally caught up with the Zhang family, and you're the one to blame!" In her fury, the empress dowager grabbed a teacup and hurled it at Xian Fei, striking her on the shoulder.

Xian Fei cried out in pain, clutching her shoulder.

"Do you know what you've caused? The emperor executed Wen Shu, and on that same day, all the remaining Zhang family members were beaten to death. The youngest was barely a newborn!" The empress dowager's tears soaked through her clothes as she spoke.

"Do you know about the Zhang family's bloodpool?" she continued, her voice growing more unstable. "That pool was built for you! But did you know? When it was constructed, the emperor told the Zhang family that it would be filled with Zhang family blood if they ever defied imperial authority. Now, it's brimming with their blood, nourishing a lotus blossom as white as the one you loved."

The empress dowager, trembling, stood up and approached Zhang Wenke slowly. "Do you want to see it? Your brothers, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces—their blood fills the pool. And the lotus... It's blooming beautifully, just as you liked it."