The Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 83

In the fifteenth year of Yuanning, when the capital city of Yu was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms, Xiao Huaixu died.

Before that, Liu Qingtang had not visited him for a very long time, or rather, ever since she had someone force-feed him medicine, rendering him unable to speak and only able to lie in bed waiting to die, she had never been to Chang'an Palace again.

The reason she suddenly thought of visiting him after so long was because this year was the autumn of the fifteenth year of Yuan Ning, the year she was given a cup of poisoned wine and died in her previous life.

The air was filled with the fragrance of osmanthus. Qin Shu had specially transplanted many osmanthus trees for Liu Qingtang in Cixi Palace, so every day when Liu Qingtang walked among them, her whole body was permeated with the fragrance of osmanthus.

Before going to Chang'an Palace, Liu Qingtang picked a laurel branch in full bloom. As she entered Chang'an Palace and walked into the emperor's bedchamber with its curtains hanging low, the strong smell of medicine was immediately dispelled by the fragrance of laurel.

Liu Qingtang casually tucked the osmanthus branch into the headboard and took a step back to sit on the chair that the palace servants had brought to the bedside.

"You all get out," Liu Qingtang said calmly, smoothing her long sleeves.

Unable to walk and tormented by his illness, Xiao Huaixu was terribly thin, his cheeks sunken and his wrists slender. Even though Qin Shu ordered the best medicine to keep him alive, he looked like he was nearing the end of his life.

Xiao Huaixu hadn't opened his eyes until he heard Liu Qingtang's voice, at which point he suddenly opened them and laboriously turned his head to look at her.

After watching for a while, he suddenly revealed an excited and fierce expression, seemingly wanting to reach out and grab Liu Qingtang. However, his hand was raised to a little point and then fell limply down. Apart from hoarse shouts, he couldn't say anything.

Liu Qingtang watched him struggle in vain for a while, and finally he gave up and lay there dejectedly. Liu Qingtang seemed to be looking at him, but then again, she wasn't; she was just looking through him at some distant place.

"In the twentieth year of Anyuan, I entered the palace as Empress and first met you in Fengxian Hall." Liu Qingtang glanced at the osmanthus tree by the bedside, her tone calm, and without caring whether Xiao Huaixu was listening, she continued, "I actually didn't like you, and I hated your father. At that time, I just wanted to see what kind of person made my sister, whom I regarded as a mother, willing to abandon my father, brother, and me, and insist on entering the palace."

“When I was very young, I always hoped that my sister would come back. However, I waited for many years, but she not only did not come back, but she did not even bring back a message. When I wanted to go to the palace to see her, I was told that she did not want to see the Liu family. At that time, I was full of indignation and anger, and I vowed that I would never have this sister again. Even if she died, I would never shed a tear. Then, one day, she suddenly really died.”

"I have a long memory, and I still remember clearly how gentle my sister was. My mother passed away not long after I was born, and my father was so heartbroken and depressed that he had no heart to care for me. My brother was still young. Only my sister, from that time on, took care of me like a mother, sleeping with me and teaching me to walk and talk. I heard from the servants that my sister was only eleven or twelve years old at that time, but she was already learning to manage the household. She was gentle and intelligent, and all the servants in the Liu family liked her."

“I like her very much too. I’m always obedient and well-behaved in front of her. I hope she can stay with me forever. But she met your father and had to go to the palace for him. The night before she went to the palace, she knelt in front of her father’s study all night. Her father held my brother and me in his arms and sat in the study all night without sleeping. Later, I ran out and used a knife to cut her own handmade wedding dress, trying to stop her. Of course, I couldn’t stop her. She went out wearing a wedding dress sent from the palace.”

“I held up her wedding dress, which I had torn, and shouted at her, telling her never to come back and that it would be best if she died. So, that was the last time I saw her. I really regretted saying those words to her. I regretted it and wanted to see her, but she refused to see me. I thought she must be angry with me and no longer liked me, her sister.”

“But I’m just scared. Father said that the emperor wants to marry a girl from the Liu family, maybe because he doesn’t want the Liu family to grow stronger. He doesn’t really like my sister and wants to marry her. I’m afraid that if my sister enters the harem, she will be bullied without us by her side. It’s not just because I don’t want her to leave.”

"The image of her leaving home in tears, and the scene of me entering the palace years later only to see her name on a memorial tablet in the Fengxian Hall—so many years have passed, so many lifetimes have gone by, yet I still can't forget it." Liu Qingtang suddenly smiled, looking at Xiao Huaixu with a questioning gaze, and said, "Are you wondering why it's two lifetimes?"

“That’s because I’m a reborn vengeful ghost.” Liu Qingtang’s smile deepened. “Want to know why I’m a vengeful ghost? Because you killed me once, I died, but came back to life, so I’m seeking revenge on you.”

"I can tell from your eyes that you don't believe me, but I don't need you to. Why bother trying to persuade a dying man?" Some things, when kept buried in your heart for too long, need to be shared with someone. Xiao Huaixu is about to die and can't say anything, so isn't he the best listener? Liu Qingtang ignored Xiao Huaixu's current appearance, only thinking about what kind of person he was, gradually eroding the last bit of tenderness and pity she had for him.

“Actually, my father didn’t want me to enter the palace, but he couldn’t disobey the emperor’s order, and I chose to enter the palace myself. Because for so many years, ‘entering the palace to take care of you’ was my sister’s only request to me. How could I bear to let her die with such disappointment?”

“In my past life, I thought this way, only to realize I was wrong when I died, and then I hated my sister again. But not long ago, Qin Shu asked Eunuch Fu, the old eunuch who serves you, about something. He said that the decree that made me enter the palace to succeed as empress was not issued by the late empress, but was fabricated by the late emperor in her name. Even my sister’s death was due to your father’s imprisonment.”

"I finally managed to harden my heart and forget that you have my sister's blood in your body, thinking that you would suffer like this until you die. But now I have discovered this secret again. My sister has never given up on us. I am so happy. The knot in our hearts from two lifetimes has finally been untied."

“I’m so happy, how could I bear to see my nephew continue to suffer here like a living dead? That’s why I came to see you today, so that you can also end this suffering.” After Liu Qingtang finished speaking, Xiao Huaixu seemed to understand something and became excited again. He didn’t want to die like this.

Liu Qingtang didn't look at him, but instead smiled and sighed, "Today is an extremely special day for me. It's fitting that you die today, as if you're being buried with me from my past life." After saying that, he got up and didn't look at him again.

"Hmph..." Xiao Huaixu raised his head but then slumped back onto the pillow, watching helplessly as Liu Qingtang turned and left without a backward glance, his heart filled with resentment and bitterness. Regardless of what Liu Qingtang meant by saying those things, he still felt that his current predicament was all their fault.

It was Liu Qingtang's fault for falling in love with a filthy eunuch and being unwilling to give up power; it was his pathetic and hateful useless father who only knew how to be jealous; it was his gentle and weak mother who only thought about the Liu family; it was the fault of those two useless chief ministers; it was the fault of the traitorous officials who recognized the enemy and made them their masters; it was the fault of the Liu family... They were all wrong, only he did nothing wrong!

Despite his reluctance, Xiao Huaixu still died. In the end, the only thing that remained in his open eyes was the osmanthus branch that Liu Qingtang had placed on the bedside table.

In the fifteenth year of Yuanning, Emperor Xiao Huaixu died, and Empress Dowager Liu honored Prince Chun's heir, Xiao Le'an, as the young emperor and changed the country's name to Pingqing.

Emperor Huo had no sons, and the only son of the Xiao family remaining was an eight-year-old boy named Xiao Le'an, who was able to ascend the throne. Lady Liu had no intention of declaring herself empress, and the officials no longer disputed the matter.

In the first year of Pingqing, just when everyone thought that Empress Dowager Liu would treat the new emperor, who was the same age as Emperor Huo when he ascended the throne, in the same way she had supported Emperor Huo's regency fifteen years ago, she suddenly proposed that the two chief ministers, Liu Qingrong and Feng Yunxu, along with three other councilors, establish a supervisory office to help the emperor handle state affairs until he turned sixteen.

Afterwards, having arranged everything, the Empress Dowager, along with a group of palace servants from Cining Palace, went to the Imperial Water Villa to reside permanently. She handed over all the power she had cultivated in the palace for many years to her subordinates, leaving with utter nonchalance.

Liu Qingtang ignored the heated discussions among Yujing officials about her behavior, only meeting with friends and relatives before leaving Yujing and having a deep conversation with her father and brother all night.

"From now on, I will no longer concern myself with matters of state. Brother, as the Grand Secretary, you must be mindful of your position and know when to advance and when to retreat."

"Of course, Qingtang, just do what you want to do. Father's intentional silence and your timely retirement were all for the protection of the Liu family. Now that I am all alone, I will leave these matters to my brother. Besides, I believe that the child you, Sushu, and Qin Shu have raised will be a wise and good emperor."

After Liu Qingrong finished speaking, he looked expectantly at his younger sister, waiting for her to give him some more instructions, such as showing concern for her brother. However, after listening to him finish speaking, Liu Qingtang nodded indifferently, sighed, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at the study, saying, "I wonder what Father and Qin Shu are talking about. They haven't finished talking for so long."

"Qingtang," Liu Qingrong called out, clearing her throat.

Liu Qingtang raised an eyebrow and gave him an impatient look, then ignored him and continued staring at the study door. Fortunately, Liu Qingrong was quite used to his sister's hypocritical behavior, just like their father's, and immediately smiled and said, "Sister, who knows when you'll be back? Is there anything else you want to tell your brother?"

"You're such a grown-up, what don't you know? Do I have to tell you?" Liu Qingtang leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs, and looked her brother up and down, criticizing him. "What do you mean by saying I don't know when I'll be back? Yushui Manor isn't that far. I'll be back in half a day. Why are you making it sound like I'm not coming back? Do you really want your little sister to stay away from home?"

"Of course not, I'm just afraid that you'll get so carried away that you'll forget about your poor father and brothers waiting for you at home. I'm just reminding you to come home and visit us often." Liu Qingrong said seriously as soon as she heard her sister's tone, which seemed to be trying to pick a fight. "Also, Qingtang, even though you've left the palace, it's really not appropriate for you to be sitting like that. You know, you haven't sat like that since you entered the palace."

"You're already out of the palace, why worry about all that? What's wrong with crossing your legs? As long as Qin Shu doesn't mind." Liu Qingtang slammed the table. "But you, why haven't you married your sister-in-law yet? What's wrong with you? Look at how old you are, thirty-five! Your sister-in-law is the same age as Qin Shu and is twenty-eight now. As a man, you should take the initiative. If you keep going like this, when will I ever have a little nephew or niece?!"

Liu Qingtang got anxious and agitated when she talked about this, and just as she was about to continue, her future sister-in-law, Xi Lan, walked in dressed in men's clothing. Even though she had already revealed her female identity, she still liked to dress as a man, and when she did, she looked exactly like a handsome and aloof man. It was said that when she went out with Liu Qingrong at the Flower Festival, she was even pelted with handkerchiefs and flowers by girls.

"younger sister."

"It's sister-in-law! You're back from the army?"

"Ah."

Watching her younger sister, who had been so fierce towards her, turn around and fawn over her sister-in-law, and seeing how well the two women seemed to get along, Liu Qingrong, who was always being bullied, didn't know which side to be jealous of.

"Your brother is silly, sentimental and prone to lamenting the passing of spring and autumn, he's absolutely terrible."

"That's right, that's how it is. Although he's always pretended to be very good since he was a child, and now all the court officials think he's mature and shrewd, in reality he's just a terrible and foul-mouthed man in front of us."

Why are my sister and her sweetheart suddenly talking bad about him? Liu Qingrong looked at them talking as if no one else was around and her face was somewhat resentful.

“But even though he’s so awful, I still like him. From now on, he’s mine, so please stop talking about him, little sister.”