"Today is the emperor's birthday, and it's not a big deal for you to stay here." Lin Wan said to Fan Yu, who was eating an orange: "What did the empress say? Why didn't she let you wish the emperor a happy birthday?"
"What can I say." Fan Yu hummed: "She said that when I first entered the palace, I didn't understand the rules and was afraid of offending the master at the birthday banquet. I'm too lazy to argue with her, she can say whatever she wants, but not going to congratulate the emperor doesn't change the fact that I am still the emperor's daughter."
"Is that the Emperor's daughter?" Lin Wan let out a soft snort, her face somewhat chilly: "You think this way and you're greatly mistaken. As an Imperial Princess, why don't you take a look at your third younger sister Zhao Chun? At just three years old, she already has the Marquis of Tongmu County. Think again about your eldest maternal aunt, Princess Duan Yang, and also your third maternal aunt, Princess Wen Zhuang."
Duanyang was beheaded by the Xiongnu, and Wen Zhuang was married off to a Mongolian king as a lowly concubine. Fan Yu's face slowly changed color.
In the imperial family, whether it's the empress or the princes and princesses, those with good fortune are like Empress Wu Zetian of the previous dynasty, while those without good fortune can be found in large numbers in the Da Jue Temple and the Cold Palace. In this most ruthless place under heaven, if you don't fight for yourself, you'll truly be eaten to the bone.
"What can I do? Many things, I think it's useless to argue. The queen is the mistress of the harem..." Fan Yu hung her head in despair.
"Don't talk like that." Lin Wan advised her: "The empress and concubines don't like you, they bully you at will. If you keep going on like this, one day you'll suddenly die of illness or something, I won't be surprised. Now, let me give you some advice. The empress said you've been outside the palace for many years and don't understand the rules, but this is exactly what we can use to our advantage. Haven't you lived in that temple for so many years? Now that you're back, you can confidently go and kowtow to your father, the emperor, and your grandmother, the empress dowager. Say that after praying for blessings at the Great Enlightenment Temple for many years, now that you've returned to the palace, it's only fitting that you bring some of that Buddhist energy and good fortune to the emperor and empress dowager. If you speak cleverly, the emperor and empress dowager will be delighted to hear it. Even if you can't attend banquets as a princess, at least you'll have the chance to kowtow to your father in the future. The more face you show in front of your father, the better it will be for you..."
Fan Yu listened with wide eyes and an open mouth, finally clapping her hands and laughing brightly: "Lin Niangniang, you are truly my lucky star! This method is too good, I'll say it like this, no one can refute me!" As she spoke, she quickly got up to tidy her clothes and hair.
Lin Wan said beside him: "Just this once, next time something happens, figure it out yourself."
This is a place where all help comes at a price. Fan Yu isn't even Lin Wan's biological daughter, so Lin Wan has no obligation to help her.
Shan Yu hastily left the Mirror Moon Pavilion and headed to the Emperor's Jian Zhang Palace. Upon arrival, she was informed that this year's Wan Shou banquet would be held at Jiao Tai Hall due to its grander scale than previous years. Shan Yu had no choice but to lift her skirt and hurry along once again.
Jiaotai Hall is located directly behind the Golden Throne Hall where the emperor holds morning court, it is a venue for grand ceremonies. The selection of imperial consorts, the final examination of successful candidates in the imperial examination, and rituals such as ancestral worship and heaven worship are all held here, the palace is built to be exceptionally grand and majestic.
At this time, inside the great hall, Empress Dowager Tuoba Hong sat shoulder to shoulder in the first seat, with the empress sitting on the left side. Below them were a group of imperial consorts and relatives. Everyone's face was filled with joy, not only for the emperor's birthday but also because of the downfall of Mu Wu Wang, the great scourge that had plagued the emperor for eight whole years.
The cups and chopsticks were crossed, and the emperor Taizong of Tang and the empress were chatting with Empress Dowager Zhangsun, telling her about their journey to the north and the interesting things they had seen. They only briefly mentioned the rebellion by Muwu King. However, Empress Dowager Zhangsun did not seem as lively as the emperor and empress, she looked older than three months ago, and spoke very little at her son's birthday banquet, only slightly nodding to the emperor with a faint smile in response.
The Emperor has made it to today, how difficult it is. Even though Tuoba Yan is already dead, he almost got assassinated by an assassin, fortunately the Emperor was lucky and Lin's child blocked the disaster... The royal family struggled for so long, the Empress Dowager waited for so many years, until today she finally achieved her true victory. Li Guifei was given poisonous wine by her eight years ago, her son resisted the imperial court for eight years, now it has all disappeared like smoke and clouds.
She and Tuoba Hong no longer have to worry about usurping the throne, and they can live a stable life from now on. But somehow, this life is too desolate. The feeling of killing enemies is not as satisfying as expected, but what remains in her heart is the irreparable harm. Li Guifei died, Duanyang and Kang'er did not survive, and Mu Wugong's death cannot change the neglect of the former emperor.
Endless youth is buried in this cannibalistic palace, what's the point of winning anyway?
The Empress Dowager's expression on her face was getting more and more pale, she felt that she was losing all the vivid expressions, a face becoming more and more like a wooden carving.
"Empress Dowager, please have some more of this crystal shrimp dumpling, it's made by that new chef from the imperial kitchen, it's quite extraordinary..." The Empress Dowager's expression remained cold, but the Queen was even more diligent in serving her, personally picking up chopsticks to serve her dishes.
The empress dowager glanced at the queen lightly, nodded and watched her pick up some dishes and put them in her own bowl, but her expression did not become more cordial.
The queen, Xiao Shi, has also become increasingly powerful... Mu Wu Wang fell, but the infighting in the court is far from over. The Xiao family, Shen family, Shangguan family... In order to deal with Mu Wu Wang back then, they had no choice but to support them one by one. Ministers holding great power and meritorious service that shakes the ruler, this is not a good thing.
In the grand hall, everyone was enjoying delicious food and naturally did not know that outside the grand hall, a princess named Zhenyanshun had been ordered by the empress dowager not to participate in the birthday banquet. The double-ring hairpin on her forehead jumped up and down with her running, and when she rushed to the outer palace gate panting, she could already hear the music and dance coming from inside the grand hall, obviously the birthday banquet had started for a while.
Inside the three-zhang-high vermilion palace gate, four small eunuchs were on duty. As soon as they saw Fan Yu, they hurriedly stretched out their hands to block her way: "You're a new little palace maid who just entered the imperial court, right? You're not afraid of bumping into nobles by running around wildly in the palace! Where did you come from? Go back there, this place isn't somewhere that anyone can enter at will."
Fan Yu had followed the Emperor back from Beiting just a few days ago, so naturally more than half of the people in the palace didn't recognize her. She couldn't reason with these little eunuchs, so she thought for a moment and took out a piece of jade pendant from her body and handed it to one of them: "Just let me in, I...I am the daughter of an official, today the Emperor invited the noble ladies into the palace to reward them, I came late, but I must go in..."
Fan Yu was afraid of the empress's power and didn't dare to reveal her true identity. Fortunately, today the emperor granted amnesty to all under heaven and indeed invited many noble ladies and young masters from official families, so this excuse could deceive people.
"Alas, whose foolish young lady is this!" The little eunuch took the jade pendant and his tone softened somewhat. He pointed behind him with one hand and said: "The main hall of Jiaotai Temple is only for imperial consorts, princesses, princes, and other relatives to enter. Miss, you should have gone to the rear hall, that's where subjects belong." Another person stepped forward and said: "Besides, which noble family are you from? Do you have an invitation? The palace rules are strict, we can't just let you in randomly."
Fan Yu was speechless again, and no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't think of a way to respond. Just then, the inner palace door suddenly opened, and a woman in a dark green satin dress emerged from within.
The status of the palace maid was distinguished by the color of her clothes, with darker colors indicating higher positions. Fan Yu looked at the woman who was completely stiff and wondered how she had startled the empress so quickly... That was Mu Chun, a first-class palace maid beside the empress.
Shan Yu bit her lip tightly, she knew how much the Queen hated her. She had originally wanted to sneak in quietly and bypass the Queen to appear directly before the Emperor, but as soon as she stepped into the Jiaotai Temple, she was caught red-handed.
Empress Xiao Yu Yi... She always took pleasure in tormenting Fan Yu, but Fan Yu couldn't dare to accuse her. Fan Yu knew that eight years ago, her mother had committed a heinous crime, so she couldn't blame the empress and didn't want to blame her deceased mother either. What she hated was this palace, where father and son were at odds with each other, and siblings turned against one another. The Gan family was just a sacrifice in the political struggle, and so was she.
She was a slave, but in front of the princess, she had an air of authority, her sharp gaze scanning the little girl who only reached her chest. Fan Yu endured her rudeness, looked up at the sky and muttered: Mother, why were you so naive back then, why did you sacrifice everything for a man who wasn't worth it? You lost the entire Gan family, and your only daughter has to struggle in hardship, but what about him? Did he ever have you in his eyes?
Fan Yu's arms were already held down by the palace maid behind Mu Chun. Her eyes swayed dizzily, and she seemed to see again the piercing red color, that blood, which flowed from that man's body all the way to her hands, no matter how hard she washed, she couldn't wash away the bloody smell...
She hates that man! Mu Wu Wang, that selfish and shameless man. Her mother was a delicate woman from Yi Zhou, but for his sake she dared to commit the great crime of usurping the throne. In fact, in the flames of war on the battlefield, Fan Yu had been recognized by Mu Wu Wang from the very beginning, but Mu Wu Wang did not kill her. He squatted down and looked into her eyes, saying, "I know you are the emperor's daughter, but you are also Gan Mu Yun's daughter, your eyes are exactly like hers... Do you know? I've always missed her..."
Fan Yu remained cold and silent, even when the other party presented her with delicious food and precious treasures to win her over. When the army was defeated, the Qin army surrounded the camp, and Tuoba Yan ordered his trusted followers to take her away, but she rushed into the chaotic army and stabbed a dagger into Tuoba Yan's chest. The man who had plotted to seize power and was infamous in history, of course, died with his eyes open, and what he shouted out was not anger and resentment towards his political enemy Tuoba Hong, but rather he grasped her hand tightly and asked word by word: "Why didn't you forgive me?"
She closed her eyes and stabbed the dagger deeper again: "I will never forgive for my whole life! You said you truly loved my mother, but in the end, you killed her."
The Gan family has been exterminated for nine generations, and now that Emperor Taizong of Tang is here to regret it, what's the use? A man who uses his loved one as a tool to ascend to the throne is no better than a beast. When Fan Yu was starving and being beaten in the Da Jue Temple, the person she hated the most was not her cold-blooded father, nor the cruel and ruthless empress, but Mu Wu Wang, the source of all this tragedy.
