Reign of the Phoenix

Chapter 45 – The Retired Emperor’s Son of First Wife
Yan Feng grew visibly extremely angry. “You two father and son are simply too much! One said ‘whatever’, while the other uses such excuses like ‘not worthy’ to refuse me. You two are slapping my face!”

Chiyun Nan instantly stood up from his seat, then knelt down and banged his head on the ground. “My bastard son is truly unworthy of Princess. I have neglected his discipline over the years and let him develop a wanton and reckless character. I don’t want him to tarnish the reputation of Princess Jingrong.”

Yan Feng spoke, his voice frosty, “Are you rejecting me? If this gets out, how will my little sister face other people? At that time, will anyone ever listen to my words anymore?”

Chiyun Nan quickly said, “Please calm your anger, Your Majesty. I will go consult with His Majesty the Retired Emperor.”

Yan Feng’s tone mellowed down, “Now that sounds better. Hurry and go, we must make it grand.”

Retired Emperor Yan Han and Yan Feng’s mother, Empress Dowager Xiao, were enjoying tea while chatting leisurely in Jingci Palace. Originally, Empress Dowager Xiao was supposed to be only a concubine dowager, but because she was the current emperor’s birth mother, which was a very noble identity, so she was especially titled Imperial Empress Dowager Xiaoci.

They were chatting, a eunuch came in and reported, “Reporting to Your Majesty, Commandery Prince Yan requests a meeting.”

Yan Han dusted his sleeves. “Quickly invite him in.”

Upon his entrance, Chiyun Nan paid his respects to Yan Han and Empress Dowager Xiao. Full of smiles, Yan Han let him take the seat next to him. “Oh my, what’s with the wind today? It actually blows our Commandery Prince Yan here. You never come without a cause, so what is it today?”

Chiyun Nan cupped his fists. “What else if it’s not the marriage of my little child. His Majesty the Emperor thought highly of him and wanted to marry Princess Jingrong to him, but how can he be worthy of Princess? I’ve come to ask you for a favor, please persuade the emperor to revoke his order.”

On the contrary, Yan Han visibly perked up. “Goodness! That child Chiyun is truly my delight. No one could be more suitable for my Jingrong.”

Empress Dowager Xiao, on the other hand, said loftily with a dark face, “As if our Jingrong is unworthy of their Chiyun family!”

Chiyun Nan looked at the retired emperor, seemingly hesitant to say something.

The retired emperor understood his look. He said to Empress Dowager Xiao, “You go see Jingrong, I have something to discuss with Commandery Prince Yan.”

Empress Dowager Xiao left with an unhappy face.

Yan Han dismissed everyone else and asked worriedly, “You seem to have some difficulty? There’s no one around, so you can tell me.”

Chiyun Nan knelt on the ground. “I ask for your forgiveness, as I’ve hidden something from you for a very long time, and I have no choice but to say it now. Chiyun Yuexuan he… he is your son.”

Yan Han’s hands suddenly shook, the tea spilled out from his cup. “I once heard from an old palace nurse that my empress had been wrongly accused that year. In the Cold Palace, she gave birth to a son of mine, and then that boy mysteriously went missing. I didn’t believe it then, but it turns out to be real!”

Yan Han’s hands trembled intensely as excitement took over him. The two then began to talk about the event over twenty years ago.

……

Yan Han’s empress, Ning Yuetong, was the daughter of Ning Zezhi who had been the imperial counsellor back then. Beautiful, quiet, and well-versed in literature, Ning Yuetong was deeply favored by Yan Han.

However, despite the favor, Ning Yuetong couldn’t give birth to an heir after four years in the palace, while the concubines who entered the same time as her all had their own children. Imperial Physician Gao Dehong diagnosed her and said it was the Cold Womb disease, and it would take a long time of medication before she could recover.

Ning Yuetong and Virtuous Consort Yu were as close as sisters. They often stayed together and chatted in their free time. Virtuous Consort Yu originally wasn’t favored, but being close to the empress as she was, she also received Yan Han’s attention.

Soon, Virtuous Consort Yu was diagnosed with a happy pulse. Yan Han was absolutely delighted and favored her even more. No one could expect that one month later, Virtuous Consort Yu had a miscarriage. After an investigation, Imperial Physician Gao Dehong expiscated musk in her everyday nutritious soup. He immediately reported this to Yan Han.

Yan Han was shocked. He recalled Moral Consort Xu coming to him not long ago, saying her sister-in-law back at home was in poor health and needed some musk for her medicine. It was difficult to buy authentic musk outside as this was a rare and precious medicinal material, so she asked Yan Han to bestow some upon her.

Yan Han summoned Moral Consort Xu and deliberately probed, “Did you send the musk you asked from me the other day to your family? Is it enough?”

Moral Consort Xu stammered, “Err… Reporting to Your Majesty, the material… has been delivered. If Your Majesty is willing to grant me a little more, I will be very grateful!”

Yan Han slapped the table. “Moral Consort, is there anything you’re lying to me about? Have you heard that my Virtuous Consort had an unexpected miscarriage two days ago? Imperial Physician Gao said there was musk in her nutritious soup. All of the musk in this palace is strictly controlled. If you don’t tell me clearly about the whereabouts of the musk you took, don’t blame me for being unkind to you.”

Moral Consort Xu was so frightened that her entire body trembled, but she refused to speak.

After a long silence, Moral Consort Xu wiped her tears. “Even if I tell you the truth, Your Majesty won’t believe me anyway. I know I won’t be able to escape this sin no matter how much I defend myself. That musk… was for Her Majesty the Empress. She even warned me not to tell anyone about this.”

Yan Feng was shocked speechless. He couldn’t bring himself to believe that the dignified and demure Ning Yuetong could have done such a thing. He was determined to find out the truth by carrying out a private investigation.

Yan Han summoned Ning Yuetong’s maid-in-waiting to inquire the whereabouts of the musk, which the maid denied the existence of. After that, she confessed under torture that in order to protect the empress’ benefits, she stole the musk and snuck it into Virtuous Consort Yu’s soup. Yan Han naturally wouldn’t believe her so easily. However, since he couldn’t get anything else out of her mouth, he ordered for Ning Yuetong’s Chaolu Palace to be searched.

In a hidden place in Ning Yuetong’s sleeping chamber, a small pack of half-filled musk was found. That was when another maid-in-waiting serving Ning Yuetong also confessed that she had secretly added musk to Virtuous Consort Yu’s soup per Ning Yuetong’s order.

All evidence pointed to Ning Yuetong. Yan Han was furious, but he still held a glimmer of hope that Ning Yuetong didn’t do it. To his dismay, Ning Yuetong didn’t do anything to defend herself, instead only staring at him with tearful and bitter eyes.

Killing the heirs of the emperor was a felony that called for the nine familial exterminations. However, Yan Han only banished Ning Yuetong to the Cold Palace.

In the Cold Palace, Ning Yuetong pondered over and over, trying to figure out who it was that wanted to harm her. At the same time, the harem’s internal fighting and scheming as well as Yan Han’s apathy greatly grieved her. In her despair, she caressed her lower abdomen, where a little life was already sprouting quietly. Ning Yuetong had wanted to share this good news with Yan Han some time ago, but her palace nurse feared that it might be a misjudgment, which would disappoint him if it was, and told her to wait a little more before telling him.

A few days ago, the nurse diagnosed that the fetus was stable and told Ning Yuetong that she could now inform Yan Han. Yet again, this plan was delayed due to Virtuous Consort Yu’s miscarriage. She thought that breaking the news of her own pregnancy would hurt the fragile Virtuous Consort Yu, so she decided to hide it for some more time. Ning Yuetong could never have expected that, before she could tell him of this child, she was already trapped inside the Cold Palace.

It had been raining for days, just like Ning Yuetong’s eyes that never stopped shedding tears for one moment. Nurse Yu’s heart ached as she comforted her, “Please don’t be so sad, Empress, you’re pregnant with child. Even if you don’t care for your own health, you still need to think for our little prince.”

Nurse Yu was an old palace maid, but despite the word “old,” she was only 30 years old. That year when she was 25, she could have left the palace to get married, but she chose to stay on as she was used to life in the palace. Nurse Yu had served several masters, and Ning Yuetong’s kindness and generosity were the reason for her willingness to remain by her side. Nurse Yu knew clearly that her master was being plotted against, but she had no way to exonerate the empress, so she followed her to the Cold Palace.

The people in the palace were generally snobs who only acted in their self-interest. When Ning Yuetong was still the glorious empress, everybody strived to curry favor with her. Now that she had fallen to the mud, no one came to visit her. They all ran very far away, afraid of getting involved with her.

Once a master fell, even the servants stepped on them. All the food delivered to Ning Yuetong were leftovers. As a proud person, Ning Yuetong naturally didn’t eat them. The humiliation birthed suicidal thoughts and her body thinned down by the day.

Nurse Yu took out her own money to exchange for the ingredients in the kitchen, then personally cooked for Ning Yuetong every day. Nurse Yu’s loyalty deeply moved Ning Yuetong and kindled her hope. She was determined to give birth to the baby even if she had to give her life for it.

As the days passed, Ning Yuetong’s body gradually became heavier. Fortunately, nobody came to the Cold Palace except for the little eunuch who delivered necessities. Moreover, Ning Yuetong wore baggy clothes so that no one noticed her growing belly.

One day, the Imperial Kitchen suddenly made an exception to deliver a pot of chicken soup. Ning Yuetong frowned and Nurse Yu’s mood also grew heavy. They knew that the person who framed Ning Yuetong had lost patience and wanted to make their move again.

Nurse Yu was a sharp-witted person. Under her meticulous protection, Ning Yuetong evaded all kinds of schemes and conspiracies until the day she gave birth. It was, fortunately, a heavily rainy night when the sound of rain was loud enough to hide the crying of an infant. Ning Yuetong successfully delivered a healthy baby boy who inherited her phoenix eyes.

Ning Yuetong gave the baby a hasty kiss and wrapped him up tightly in cloth. Taking off the jade phoenix leaf from her neck, she hung it on the baby, before resolutely handing him to the nurse. In the courtyard, a few little eunuchs, who they had spent a lot of money to bribe, were waiting. They hid Nurse Yu and the baby inside a big garbage barrel and transported it out of the palace.

Ning Yuetong had soon instructed Nurse Yu to entrust the baby to the wife of Grand General Chiyun Nan. The Chiyun family and the Ning family had a tight relationship, and Madam Chiyun and Ning Yuetong had been close friends before they were married. Ning Yuetong never felt safer than entrust her baby to Madam Chiyun. In addition, her father said that Madam Chiyun was also pregnant, so it was most appropriate for her to adopt the child. Ning Yuetong attached a letter to Madam Chiyun, telling her never to disclose the identity of the baby boy to the world. Ning Yuetong didn’t want her child dragged into the endless struggles for the throne among the imperial family.

After sending the baby away, Ning Yuetong became depressed. When Nurse Yu returned several days later, she found Ning Yuetong hanging off the beam, dead from suicide. However, Nurse Yu refused to believe that Ning Yuetong comitted suicide.

When Yan Han heard of it, he was already weeping without a sound. In actuality, he had always loved Ning Yuetong, and punishing her had been but an act against his own will, as such a felony must be handled with so many eyes staring at them. Therefore, he had no choice but to send her to reflect in the Cold Palace, but he had still been waiting for a chance to take her out of there.

……

Chiyun Nan had intended to take this secret to his grave, but Yan Feng’s forceful attitude to decree the marriage left him with no choice but to reveal Chiyun Yuexuan’s identity.

After much grieving, Yan Han came to his senses. “Commandery Prince Yan, you shouldn’t have kept it from me all this time. If you had told me sooner, Yuetong might not have to die.”

Chiyun Nan looked ashamed. “Please forgive me, Your Majesty. The empress left a message, and I dared not go against her wishes. In fact, I did give you a chance. When Xuan’er was little, I brought him to the palace often and even made him wear the phoenix leaf pendant that the empress left him. I thought if you could recognize him yourself, it wouldn’t count as breaking the promise on my part, goodness…”

Chiyun Nan sighed and added, “I’ve always believed that one day, you would see the phoenix leaf on him, but do you still remember that event when he was ten years old? He snuck out of the palace with His Majesty and was kidnapped by the bandits. After he escaped and returned home, that jade piece was already gone, so I stopped trying.”

Yan Han’s eyes reddened. “I do remember. That year, in order to save Yan Feng, he lured the bad people away. I only regarded it as he saved my son’s life, but never could I have imagined that he was my son, too, and my first wife’s son to boot.”

The grief nearly drowned Yan Han. Chiyun Nan softly comforted him, “Without that jade leaf, the proof of Xuan’er identity, you might haven’t found my words believable anyway.”

Yan Han wiped away his tears. “Ever since Yuexuan was a little boy, I’ve always taken a liking to him. Perhaps that’s the natural affection between those bonded by blood. Whenever I see his eyes, it reminds me of Yuetong. And there I think to myself, how does this child look so much like my empress?”

Chiyun Nan shook his head and sighed with emotions. “At the moment, you need to stop His Majesty from betrothing Princess Jingrong to Xuan’er. As for the future, we can plan it slowly.”

Yan Han nodded. “I want to receive my Xuan’er as soon as possible. Thank you, Commandery Prince Yan, for bringing up my son to be so outstanding. I’m ashamed to have failed my wife and my child.”

Chiyun Nan looked troubled.”I don’t think this is the right time yet to reunite you two. That child is too headstrong, he won’t be able to accept it if he knows what had happened to his birth mother.”

Yan Han said between sobs, “No, I can’t wait any longer to bring him back to his roots. I must return what I owe my wife and child. Not to mention, he is my only son of first wife, this country should have been passed down to him!”

Chiyun Nan patted Yan Han’s shoulder. “His Majesty the Emperor is a virtuous monarch. Also, I know Xuan’er too well. He doesn’t care about fame and wealth, nor does he have a competitive character. As for announcing his identity, you can’t be too anxious. Let me think of a way so that Xuan’er will slowly come to terms with it first.”

Yan Han nodded and asked, “By the way, if Xuan’er is my son, then what about the child your madam was pregnant with?”

Chiyun Nan cupped his fists. “To make sure no one would notice and ensure Xuan’er’s safety, my wife sent our child to her brother’s family. The child has joined the Chiyun army as well, he’s called Wu Siyuan.”