The Eunuch Has A Wife - Chapter 62

The Bai family is now in a situation where they cannot escape, no matter what. It seems they are determined to court death, refusing to consider any other path.

Bai Li, kneeling on the ground, suddenly looked up and laughed, seemingly indifferent to the impending disaster.

The ministers, observing this scene, began to suspect that there might be a twist in the tale. Their hesitation gave Bai Li the opportunity to speak.

“I had anticipated this day would come. Why don’t you, this venomous woman, tell everyone why I am impotent? Isn’t it because you poisoned my wine on our wedding night with a drug that would render me sterile? I had foreseen this, hahaha…”

Bai Li appeared maniacal, his eyes glaring fiercely at Zhou Luo’er.

“Preposterous! Drag him out of here!” the Emperor shouted, unable to bear the sight of these two tearing into each other, finding the whole situation utterly distressing.

However, Bai Li’s next words shocked everyone in the court, including the Emperor.

“Do you think harming me will secure your peace? Haha, you have your strategies, but I have my own. If I am impotent, you shall bear no children either…”

As two imperial guards began to escort Bai Li out, the Emperor, coming to his senses, quickly ordered, “Wait.”

He glanced coldly at Zhou Luo’er and then at the despondent Bai Li, instructing the chief eunuch beside him, “Summon the imperial physicians.”

If this adopted daughter of his truly cannot bear children, then the situation becomes complicated.

The chief eunuch hurried off to carry out the order. The people in the chamber maintained a tense silence, soon broken by the arrival of several imperial physicians following the chief eunuch.

After paying their respects, the Emperor, with a weary wave, ordered, “Examine the princess immediately.”

After a thorough examination, the physicians exchanged glances and came to a conclusion.

“No, it can’t be…” Zhou Luo’er collapsed to the ground in despair. How could this be? She was about to become the Emperor. This couldn’t be true.

The diagnosis was grim: difficulty in conceiving, likely infertile.

These eight words struck like a thunderbolt, stunning the Emperor and the entire court.

It seemed as if heaven itself was against the Zhou dynasty.

The Emperor, known for his ruthlessness, had purged all direct relatives upon ascending the throne, leaving no close heirs.

Perhaps due to his past atrocities, the Emperor had three sons, all of whom were either dead or severely injured.

Now, with Zhou Luo’er, his only princess, unable to bear children, the royal lineage was in jeopardy. Adopting an heir was out of the question—it would be unseemly.

The ministers exchanged worried glances, realizing the gravity of the situation. If any child could be adopted to the throne, chaos would ensue, with everyone vying to place their own child in that position.

It was a dire predicament!

This was a sign of impending dynastic collapse!

“Actually, besides this venomous woman, my aunt and cousin are still alive. Unlike her, my cousin was not raised by my father and me but by my aunt herself, and she is here in the capital.” Bai Li said with a hint of satisfaction, revealing another purpose of his visit besides exposing Zhou Luo’er.

He wanted to inform everyone that there was another princess, healthy and alive.

The Emperor was momentarily confused.

The Minister of Rites, seeing this, whispered a reminder, “Your Majesty, his aunt should be… Consort Bai, and his cousin, perhaps a princess?”

The Minister of Rites himself was unsure, as one crisis seemed to follow another.

Consort Bai? Bai Hongmo!

The Emperor recalled the gentle and scholarly woman from his memories, who, despite her military family background, was refined and delicate.

But did she bear him a child?

The Emperor glanced at Bai Li; he had no recollection of this.

Wait, didn’t Bai Hongmo die in the cold palace twenty years ago?

At this thought, he shuddered and looked towards the chief eunuch standing by.

“Is that woman still alive? Was she pregnant when she was banished to the cold palace? Did you know about this?” The Emperor demanded, recalling that the chief eunuch had handled the matter back then.

The chief eunuch stiffened, then knelt and kowtowed several times before replying, “Your Majesty, I truly did not know Consort Bai was still alive. However, she was indeed pregnant when she was banished to the cold palace. I sent her a bowl of abortifacient and then left her to her fate. I know nothing more, Your Majesty, please forgive me…”

This revelation sent shockwaves through the court.

Consort Bai, banished to the cold palace, had indeed been pregnant. What of the child she carried?

Wait, Bai Li mentioned his cousin, meaning a princess. If Consort Bai and her child had survived, then this dire situation might still have a solution.

Overwhelmed, the Emperor grabbed a stack of memorials and hurled them at the chief eunuch, “You dog! I’ll have you skinned…”

But he was too weak, the memorials barely traveled half a step before he collapsed in a fit of rage.

“Your Majesty…”

“Summon the physicians…”

The chamber erupted into chaos, with the chief eunuch at the forefront, a glint of dark satisfaction in his eyes. She had finally returned, and the day he had waited for had come.

Over twenty years ago, the Emperor was just a prince without even a surname, only given the name “A’cai” by his master, meaning a servant.

“You can’t be without a surname. A’cai, you are to become a great chief eunuch. Why not take my surname, Bai?”

Back then, the prince needed the support of the powerful Bai family and was happy to humor the youngest daughter of the Bai family, casually agreeing.

“Don’t eat leftovers, I’ll have someone heat them for you.”

“Get up, you don’t need to kneel all the time.”

“Your prince is truly wicked, can you stand? Here’s some medicine for your wounds.”

“I don’t want to live anymore, please watch over my child for the Empress.”

The chief eunuch’s eyes moistened. He had been a servant all his life, only the young lady of the Bai family had treated him as a human being.

But that gentle and kind woman had been worn down by the master’s cruelty, the once carefree young lady of the Bai family, a fairy-like figure, had become a condemned consort in the cold palace, her eyes devoid of life.

So he told her: Don’t give up, your brother Bai Shu is still alive, you can live, this child can live, there are many people in this world who wish you well, the Empress cares for you.

(And I care for you too, but he dared not say it, as if even thinking it would defile the beautiful Miss Bai.)

The chief eunuch glanced at the unconscious Emperor. This man had destroyed her, and now karma had come full circle.

“Leave Physician Jiang, the rest of you may go.”

The Empress and the chief eunuch exchanged a glance, dismissing everyone.

With the Emperor unconscious, the eldest prince’s fate uncertain, the third prince severely injured, and Zhou Luo’er unable to bear children, the court was in turmoil.

Consort Lin, unwillingly, looked at the unconscious Emperor and had no choice but to leave.

In the palace, with the Emperor incapacitated, the Empress, with the support of the chief eunuch, held sway for the time being, and no one could argue otherwise.

Physician Jiang knelt on the ground, not daring to look up. He knew why the Emperor’s health had suddenly deteriorated—it was because of the medicine the chief eunuch had taken from him. He didn’t know how much the Emperor had consumed, but it had led to this state.

The Empress, clearly aware, asked, “I heard from the chief eunuch that His Majesty became like this after taking the medicine you prescribed?”

“I dare not, Your Majesty, please forgive me! I repeatedly warned the chief eunuch to control the dosage, I had no idea His Majesty’s health was so severely compromised!” Physician Jiang pleaded for mercy, trying to exonerate himself.

The chief eunuch narrowed his eyes. Control the dosage? He had controlled it well, simply by brewing dozens of doses into one bowl.

The potent aphrodisiac, consumed without restraint by the Emperor, had led to this. Even if the physicians found out the cause, who would dare to speak up?

Many years ago, from the first time he fetched medicine from Physician Jiang, this day had been destined.

The three princes’ rivalry had intensified, and they had fanned the flames, biding their time for twenty years. Now, the moment was almost at hand.

The Empress seemed uninterested in punishing anyone.

She frowned slightly and said calmly, “You may go, Physician Jiang. Inform everyone that His Majesty has woken but is too weak and needs rest. I will personally attend to him here.”

Physician Jiang, trembling with fear, stood up and left without another thought.

In the chamber, only the unconscious Emperor, the Empress, and the chief eunuch remained.

The chief eunuch stepped forward, producing a bright yellow edict from his sleeve, “Your Majesty, summon Consort Bai and the princess to the palace for an audience.”

The Empress took the edict, read it, and then looked at the chief eunuch.

Understanding her gaze, the chief eunuch walked to the Emperor’s bedside, retrieved the imperial seal from the jade box by the pillow, and respectfully handed it to the Empress.

Without hesitation, the Empress completed the final step, and the chief eunuch left the palace with the edict.

After the chief eunuch’s departure, the chamber fell silent. The Empress picked up the still steaming medicine bowl from the table. What had the physician said?

Ah, to carefully feed it to His Majesty, ensuring his breathing remained unobstructed.

She carried the bowl to the side, slowly pouring the medicine into a flower pot.

Turning back to look at the Emperor’s tightly shut eyes, his breathing unobstructed, she scoffed.

The Empress then pulled the quilt over the Emperor’s head, finally feeling a sense of relief.

In the capital, at the largest restaurant, Lou Shang Lou.

The chief eunuch, bearing the edict, met with Bai Hongmo and Bai Zhi.

“Your Highness, I have finally seen you again.”

“Chief Eunuch, please rise.”

“Foster father.”

Bai Zhi’s eyes reddened as she gazed at the chief eunuch, her expression filled with longing.

The chief eunuch’s eyes also moistened as he looked at Bai Hongmo, his emotions complex.

The air grew still for a moment before the chief eunuch, regaining his composure, turned to Bai Zhi, “Princess, you honor me too much…”

Bai Hongmo personally helped him up, smiling, “You deserve to be called foster father.”

Bai Zhi nodded beside her, “Mother is right. No matter if I am a princess or not, you will always be my foster father.”

The chief eunuch sighed, no longer refusing the title. He presented the edict, “Come with me to the palace, the Empress is waiting to see you.”

With that, he sighed inwardly. The Empress… must have been waiting anxiously.

His own feelings would remain buried, like ashes at the bottom of a pot, not to be brought up and tarnish anything. This lifetime, it would have to be enough.