Chapter 189 - 190: Death Exemption Token
The Empress harshly reprimanded Wen Zhaorong in front of everyone and ordered her to a month of seclusion to reflect on her actions.
For that month, she would not be permitted to serve the Emperor.
To Wen Zhaorong, this was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue.
But she dared not openly defy the Empress, so she could only offer her thanks with a wronged expression and leave.
The moment she stepped out of Fengyi Palace, she could no longer hold back, covering her face with a silk handkerchief and bursting into tears.
The other Concubines were quite sympathetic when they saw this.
Everyone knew perfectly well that Wen Zhaorong had done nothing wrong. The Empress was simply venting her anger on an innocent party.
But what could they do? She was the one and only Empress.
She sat upon that throne, and whether her actions were right or wrong, it was not the place of mere Concubines to comment. No matter how indignant they felt, they could only suffer in silence.
Due to her pregnancy, Hua Qingqing had been granted special permission to rest peacefully at Moon Viewing Pavilion, exempting her from paying daily respects to the Empress.
Hua Qingqing was not present when Wen Zhaorong was punished.
She only learned of the matter afterward, which made her even more determined to climb higher.
’Only by attaining a higher station can I protect the people I want to protect.’
Hua Qingqing personally went to visit Xi Xiang, who was still recovering.
Thanks to the Medical Woman’s treatment, Xi Xiang’s life was no longer in danger, but she still required a long period of recuperation.
Hua Qingqing reassured her.
"Your only job is to focus on your recovery. Don’t worry about anything else."
"When you’ve recovered, the position of Chief Palace Maid at Moon Viewing Pavilion will still be yours."
Xi Xiang’s greatest fear was that her position as Hua Jieyu’s Chief Palace Maid would be given to someone else while she was recovering.
After all, Hua Jieyu was pregnant and enjoying the height of the Emperor’s favor; many palace maids were desperate to get close to her.
Now, with Hua Jieyu’s personal promise, the heavy weight on Xi Xiang’s heart was finally lifted.
"Rest assured, Your Ladyship. This servant will recover as quickly as possible to continue serving you!"
The Emperor did not choose a concubine for the night.
Yet, the Emperor’s Dragon Carriage stopped at the entrance of Moon Viewing Pavilion.
Hua Qingqing hurried forward to greet him, performing a graceful curtsy. Her eyes were filled with adoration as she gazed at the Emperor.
"Your Majesty."
She was genuinely surprised. She hadn’t expected the Emperor to visit her tonight.
After all, she was still pregnant. Even if the Emperor came, he couldn’t do much of anything. They could only lie under the covers and talk.
The Emperor took her hand, leading her inside as he said with a smile.
"I haven’t seen you in several days and was growing worried, so I came to see you. How have you been? Have you felt any discomfort these past few days?"
Hua Qingqing said softly, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am doing well."
’Don’t get your hopes up,’ she told herself. ’Perhaps the Emperor is just here for a short visit and will leave soon.’
However, what happened next exceeded her expectations. The Emperor was actually staying the night.
When the Emperor expressed his intention to undress and retire for the night, Hua Qingqing couldn’t control her emotions, and a look of obvious shock appeared on her beautiful face.
Seeing her expression, the Emperor immediately understood what was on her mind.
He chuckled, amused. "I don’t need to do *that* every night. There’s no need to feel pressured."
Hua Qingqing’s face instantly turned scarlet with embarrassment.
"I... I will help you change your clothes."
News that the Emperor was staying the night at Moon Viewing Pavilion quickly spread throughout the harem.
This infuriated many of the Concubines.
The Emperor had ignored so many other Concubines, yet he chose to spend the night with the pregnant Hua Jieyu. It was more than enough to show his favoritism.
She was already this favored, and she hadn’t even given birth to his child.
What would happen once the child was born?!
...
After several rounds of investigation, the Secretariat and the Ministry of Justice were still unable to uncover any new clues.
The case of the Crown Prince’s murder could only be closed with the conclusion that it was an act of revenge by mountain bandits.
Thus, the suspicion cast upon Prince Zhao was cleared, and the Emperor rescinded his decree of confinement.
Just then, a memorial from Luo Yun, the County Magistrate of Fu’an County, was presented to the Emperor.
The Emperor learned that Prince Zhao had cracked a case involving the Gao, Deng, and Cao families embezzling public funds. He had also returned the confiscated spoils to the people, earning him widespread praise from the locals.
The Emperor was overjoyed. He immediately summoned Prince Zhao to the palace, praised him profusely, and bestowed upon him countless silks and satins, gold and jewels, and an Iron Certificate.
This Iron Certificate was the same as the Red Book Iron Certificate often seen in television dramas of later eras—essentially, a Death Exemption Token.
Whoever held it could be pardoned from ten death sentences.
It was like giving Prince Zhao ten extra lives.
When the Empress heard this, she nearly died of rage on the spot.
Prince Zhao was already hard enough to kill. With ten more lives, wouldn’t he be able to ascend to the heavens?!
This was also what many people in Shangjing City were thinking.
They already considered Prince Zhao a strange, cruel, and treacherous man who was best not provoked.
Now that Prince Zhao had an imperially-bestowed Iron Certificate, his fearsomeness had been cranked up several more levels.
Who would dare to provoke him now?
Prince Zhao returned to the Prince Mansion with a cart full of rewards.
He tossed the list of rewards in front of Hua Manman and told her to sort everything out.
Hua Manman picked up the list, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the four words at the very top: "Red Book Iron Certificate."
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
’This... is this the legendary Death Exemption Token?’
The Iron Certificate was kept in a brocade box.
Hua Manman deliberately opened the box and lifted out the Iron Certificate to admire it.
With this in hand, as long as Prince Zhao didn’t commit treason, no one could convict him of a crime.
’This is a treasure you couldn’t buy even if you were the biggest whale in a pay-to-win game!’
Hua Manman carefully put the Iron Certificate back, thinking to herself, ’The Emperor is truly good to Prince Zhao.’
’He knows Prince Zhao has an unusual personality and offends people easily. Giving him the Red Book Iron Certificate is a blatant message to the entire world—’
’—Prince Zhao is not to be trifled with, so don’t cross him.’
Judging by Prince Zhao’s expression, however, he didn’t seem particularly interested in this Iron Certificate.
He leaned back lazily. "The Saint has arranged a task for me. He wants me to serve as a teacher at Chongwen Hall, where I’ll be responsible for teaching Military Strategy, horse riding, and archery."
Chongwen Hall was where the princes studied. To put it bluntly, it was the Royal Family’s private school.
The instructors who taught at Chongwen Hall were, without exception, the most prestigious scholars of the day.
Naturally, none of these great scholars were young.
Prince Zhao, by comparison, was far too young.
Hua Manman was very surprised. "Why would the Saint suddenly give you such an assignment?"
Li Ji replied, "Who knows? Maybe he saw that I was too bored and decided to find something for me to do."
Hua Manman secretly rubbed her hands together. ’If Prince Zhao is teaching at Chongwen Hall, he won’t have time to watch me do my lessons every day.’
’Doesn’t that mean my days of paradise are about to begin?!’
Li Ji heard her inner thoughts and looked at her with a faint, unreadable smile.
"If I’m not in the Prince Mansion, you’ll miss me terribly, won’t you?"
The moment Hua Manman saw his devilish smile, her internal alarms went off.
’This damned man is definitely up to something again!’
She smiled flawlessly. "Of course I will miss you very much, my Prince. But you are a great man, and a man’s ambitions should not be confined to one place."
"I hope to see the day you spread your wings and soar, achieving your grand ambitions."