MFURCC -Chapter 48 The Empress’ Suppression

The fact that Liuzheng was a woman always drew mixed opinions.

Some praised her as a heroine, a model for women.

But others criticized her for defying the “Three Obediences and Four Virtues,” saying that disguising herself as a man to follow her brother into the army was a disgrace to her gender.

As a court official, such attacks naturally put her at a disadvantage.

In this situation, Liuzheng needed to “stand tall.”

She had to show people that although she was a woman, she was not inferior to men.

She could serve in the court and achieve merit just like any man.

Yet Empress Cihui stripped her of the opportunity to appear formally in court after returning from her command—her first real chance to step onto the court stage—and categorized her among the inner palace women.

This was undoubtedly a signal to the world: no matter how great a woman’s accomplishments, she was not worthy of standing on equal footing with men.

It made Liuzheng’s path forward difficult.

The Empress’ intentions were truly malicious.

Liuzheng had not offended her; otherwise, the Empress would have had no reason to act this way.

But Liuzheng knew she had never wronged the Empress, which meant the offense must have been against someone close to her.

So Liuzheng began to distance herself from the Empress.

She first considered the Crown Prince.

Liuzheng had already aligned herself with Prince Su, though the world did not yet know.

If the Empress acted on the Crown Prince’s behalf, she should have sought to win Liuzheng over, not suppress her.

So the Crown Prince was ruled out.

Liuzheng carefully traced the Empress’ other connections and soon came across her maternal clan, the Shen family.

The Shen family had also produced a female general—Shen Tinglan.

Years ago, Shen Tinglan had gone to the battlefield and had a minor conflict with Liuzheng.

The dispute arose during the Battle of Canglan Pass.

At that time, Shen Tinglan wanted to launch a night raid on the enemy forces, but Liuzheng disagreed.

The army’s supplies had not yet arrived, and the soldiers were already starving. Asking them to conduct a night assault in the freezing cold was extremely unreasonable.

Liuzheng argued that they should wait for the supplies to arrive and reorganize the army after winter.

But Shen Tinglan thought they could not delay any longer, and the two quarreled.

Because the Shen family was powerful, and Shen Tinglan’s aunt was Empress Cihui, while Liuzheng had climbed her way up on her own…

In the end, Liuzheng was outnumbered and could not win the argument.

Shen Tinglan led her ten thousand troops anyway.

The result, of course, was a disastrous defeat.

Not only were all ten thousand soldiers lost, but two cities fell as well.

Afterwards, Shen Tinglan was recalled to the capital and the two never met again.

But Liuzheng knew that once Shen Tinglan returned to the capital, she was placed under house arrest at General Shen’s residence.

Now, Liuzheng had returned victorious from her campaign and had been appointed to command upon her return, while Shen Tinglan was still confined…

It was possible that the Empress held a grudge against her for this.

Beyond that, Liuzheng could think of no other reason.

“Shen Tinglan.”

Liuzheng lightly tapped the name twice with her middle fingertip, her gaze sharpening.

She remembered that in her previous life, five years after her death, Shen Tinglan was betrothed to Prince Su.

At first, Prince Su resisted the imperial decree.

But ultimately, he still married Shen Tinglan.

The Empress Dowager had also issued an edict, commanding him to take Shen Tinglan as his princess consort.

On the wedding day, Liuzheng had watched from afar.

The procession stretched ten miles, magnificent and grand.

In this life… Liuzheng was still alive and had already aligned herself with Prince Su.

If Prince Su followed the same path as in her previous life and married Shen Tinglan, then Shen Tinglan would become her superior in rank.

Liuzheng winced at the thought.

She genuinely disliked Shen Tinglan.

Back then, seeing the enemy could not withstand the Jin forces, Shen Tinglan fled Canglan Pass first to save herself…

In truth, that battle was not necessarily doomed. If they had resisted, they could have delayed the enemy until reinforcements arrived.

Although there would still have been casualties, not all ten thousand soldiers would have died.

But Shen Tinglan, as the commander, fled, and the army collapsed, resulting in that horrific massacre.

Liuzheng still remembered the sight of the Canglan River running red with the blood of ten thousand soldiers.

Even more, she remembered her shock and disbelief when she learned that Shen Tinglan had merely been placed under house arrest.

Liuzheng knew she could never blindly obey Shen Tinglan.

She could not forgive Shen Tinglan on behalf of those ten thousand soldiers.

Fortunately, Prince Su’s marriage to Shen Tinglan was five years away.

As long as she proved herself capable, in five years, she would be in a strong position.

By then, even if Shen Tinglan became Prince Su’s consort, Liuzheng would not have to obey her.

“Miss, it’s late. You should rest. Even if your body can endure, your eyes cannot.”

Nanny Jiang came to advise her.

Liuzheng had already clarified her thoughts.

She nodded and burned the papers with her notes.

Only after the last scrap of paper had turned to ash did Liuzheng return to her chamber.

Yet even lying down, she could not sleep.

She was thinking about how to break the deadlock.

For her first appearance in court, she had to go. She could not go to the inner palace to chat with the other inner palace women alongside the Empress.

Soon, Liuzheng remembered something.

On the eve of the Qiqiao Festival, a major event had occurred.

She had nearly forgotten!

Her eyes lit up, bright even in the darkness.

A faint smile curved her lips as she finally fell asleep, reassured.

The next morning, after Liuzheng finished her morning routine and was about to, as usual, go “mooch breakfast” at her grandmother’s place, Nanny Qi, who served Madam, came over.

On the day Liuzheng was poisoned, Madam had thought Nanny Qi was utterly useless.

But there was no one else reliable nearby at the time, so Nanny Qi still remained in charge of Madam’s household affairs.

“Miss,”

Nanny Qi stepped forward and bowed respectfully. This time, unlike before, her bow was sincere, flawless, without a trace of negligence.

It was clear that Nanny Qi had become very cautious and insecure—she no longer dared to be careless or disregard Liuzheng as she once had.

Liuzheng’s smile didn’t waver.

“Nanny Qi, you came so early. May I ask the reason?”

“It’s Madam. She wishes to invite you to join her for breakfast.”

Liuzheng had no time to concern herself with Madam today; she had something more important to attend to.

“I’ve already promised Grandmother to have breakfast with her. Please tell Madam I’ll go tomorrow instead.”

“This…”

Nanny Qi’s face fell.

“Madam got up early and personally made the mustard tofu buns you love… if you don’t go, she’ll be upset.”

Liuzheng said, “Then why not invite Mother to Grandmother’s courtyard? The three generations of us can have breakfast together.”

“……”

“The hour is getting late. I must go to Grandmother’s place now. Nanny Qi, please go back and inform her. Both Grandmother and I are waiting for her.”

Without waiting for Nanny Qi to respond, she walked off with Nanny Jiang.

Nanny Qi had no choice but to return and report.

When Madam heard Nanny Qi’s report, she was so angry she threw the buns she was holding.

“Bastard! That damn bastard! Even when I personally invite her to eat, she refuses!”

These past two days, Madam had tried everything to make the Old Madam relent and accept Ruan Yunzheng back, but the Old Madam stubbornly refused.

That’s when she thought of Liuzheng.

Liuzheng was the key person; if she spoke up, the Old Madam wouldn’t say much.

But Liuzheng wouldn’t even see her!

And Madam had gotten up early to make her buns herself!

“Feed them to the dogs! All of them!”

Even a dog would be more loyal than Liuzheng!

Madam trembled with rage.

Nanny Qi quickly said, “But if the Old Madam is expecting the buns, we can’t just ignore it… we should send them over.”

Madam closed her eyes briefly, then finally spoke: “Pack the buns in a food box and deliver them to the main courtyard of the Old Madam’s residence.”

“Yes…”

When Madam arrived at the main courtyard, seeing the Tingyun Courtyard, which was twice the size of Tingzhu Courtyard, she felt uneasy.

Originally, this should have been her courtyard.

Yet, though irritated, Madam was not impatient.

The Old Madam was of advanced age and wouldn’t last many more years.

Although she appeared spirited now, once aging truly set in, it would happen fast—just a blink of an eye.

When that time came, wouldn’t this Tingyun Courtyard belong to her?

Or, when Changzheng’s legs recovered and she took over Liuzheng’s official post and military accomplishments, and the household had to look to her face again, returning to Tingyun Courtyard would only take her word.

Madam didn’t want to stir up trouble over a courtyard at this moment.

Even though she hadn’t gone out recently, she knew her reputation had suffered greatly because of Ruan Liuzheng.

Nanny Liu had gone to the estate, and Nanny Qi, not the sharpest, couldn’t possibly repair her reputation alone.

She needed Ruan Yunzheng, both because she missed her and because she needed her as an ally.

Thus, after greeting the Old Madam and taking her seat, Madam quickly brought up Ruan Yunzheng.

“Speaking of buns, I wonder if Yunzheng over there can get some. She loves buns just like you do.”

Madam forced the connection between the buns and Ruan Yunzheng.

Liuzheng, however, smiled: “Mother, you may be mistaken. Only Sister Yunzheng loves buns. After I turned four, I stopped eating them.”

Madam’s expression stiffened.

“How could you not love…”

Then she suddenly remembered: when Liuzheng was very young, she had loved buns.

But when she was four, she once ate too quickly, choked, and her face turned blue.

It was the Old Madam who acted decisively, turned her upside down, and pressed on her legs to push the bun from her throat.

At that time, Madam had even scolded Liuzheng, calling her useless for choking on a bun.

After that, Liuzheng never ate buns again.

It had been so long, Madam had completely forgotten.

Now, she felt both embarrassed and furious.

Why did Liuzheng have to bring this up in front of the Old Madam?

Wasn’t this practically asking to be scolded?

Sure enough, the Old Madam’s expression darkened.

“Yaoyao stopped loving buns long ago. Did you forget? She nearly died from one! And you, as her mother, didn’t care, and even scolded her. A four-year-old child, barely able to speak properly—how could she understand anything?”

She continued: “If you really can’t part with your adopted daughter, then take your belongings and go live with her at Changlong Temple. When Changzheng’s legs recover, you two can return!”

Madam hurriedly replied, “Daughter-in-law had no such intention. I must stay to take care of you and Changzheng.”

The Old Madam sneered.

“If you have no such intention, why do you keep acting on her behalf?”

“Daughter-in-law won’t mention it again…”

“Enough! Go back and take care of your business. I still have things to discuss with Yaoyao.”

She dismissed Madam outright.

The servants of Tingyun Courtyard whispered among themselves: “Madam again didn’t finish her breakfast before being scolded away by the Old Madam.”

“Yes, same as last time. I wonder if next time she can at least finish breakfast before being driven off.”

“Shall we place a bet?”

The servants secretly placed wagers. Neither Madam nor the Old Madam knew, but Yuliu, mingling with the servants in the outer courtyard, soon heard about it.

She reported the matter to Liuzheng.