Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 411 Blood Debt

A moment later, Yan Ciwan appeared in the courtyard. It was the dead of winter, and snowflakes were falling heavily.

There were many people standing in the courtyard. Among them, the three people that Yan Ciwan was most familiar with were Li Xuanhe and Li Mingguang. In addition, there was a middle-aged man wearing a bright yellow round-necked blue robe. Judging from the nine-dragon jade belt at his waist, he was Emperor Wen, Li Jing.

They all stared at the tightly closed door in front of them, looking extremely uneasy.

A woman's painful screams came from behind the door.

Yan Ciwan immediately recognized the voice as that of Empress Liang.

A moment later, the door was suddenly pulled open, and Consort Jiang, her hands covered in blood, ran out and knelt down on the snow. She quickly said, "Her Majesty the Empress is having a difficult childbirth and is bleeding heavily. The midwife said it is very dangerous and we need to call a doctor immediately."

Li Jing's expression changed drastically, and he immediately roared at the eunuchs following behind him, "Go and summon the imperial physician!"

After saying that, he ignored the people around him and strode into the delivery room.

Li Xuanhe hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he couldn't resist his worry for his mother and followed her inside.

Li Baizhou stepped forward to help Consort Jiang up. He was horrified when he saw the bloodstains on her hands. He asked in a low voice, "Will Her Majesty the Empress be alright?"

Consort Jiang was still trembling: "They say good people are rewarded. The Empress is such a good person, she will surely be saved from misfortune."

It's unclear whether she was saying this to her son or to herself.

Everyone in the courtyard was filled with anxiety, silently praying that Empress Liang and her child would be safe.

However, Yan Ciwan, who already knew the course of history, was well aware that Empress Liang died in the winter of the eleventh year of Tiansheng, the cause of death being postpartum hemorrhage caused by difficult childbirth.

Yan Ciwan looked up at the night sky. Snowflakes were falling all around, piercing through her body and landing on the ground. They were trampled by the imperial physicians who rushed over, leaving many messy footprints in the snow.

Moments later, heart-wrenching cries echoed from the delivery room.

Yan Ciwan had heard of Empress Liang's deeds. She was originally a young lady from the Liang family in the Eastern Capital, and her maiden name was Liang Tingqiu. Fifteen years ago, a civil war broke out in the Chang'an Palace, resulting in many deaths. At that time, Li Jing was not yet Emperor Wen; he was just a seventeen-year-old third prince.

To save his life, Li Jing took advantage of the chaos to escape from the palace and fled to Luoyang under the protection of his subordinates.

Li Jing was taken in by the head of the Liang family and was able to stay there. It was there that he met Liang Tingqiu, the daughter of the head of the Liang family. The two fell in love and got married with the head of the Liang family as their witness. Three years later, they had a son named Li Xuanhe.

After the palace turmoil ended, Xie Zhan personally came to Luoyang, found Li Jing, and welcomed him back to Chang'an in a grand manner.

With Xie Zhan's support, Li Jing ascended the throne and became Emperor Wen, as recorded in history. Liang Tingqiu was made empress, and his eldest son, Li Xuanhe, was made crown prince.

Li Jing met Liang Tingqiu during the lowest point of his life. The two became a couple who had gone through thick and thin together, and their love was stronger than gold.

It is said that Xie Zhan wanted Li Jing to make Xie's daughter empress, but Li Jing refused. Li Jing insisted on making his first wife the empress. Although Emperor Wen eventually made Liang Tingqiu empress, he was also forced to make Xie's daughter a concubine.

At this moment, Li Jing was devastated by the sudden death of his wife of many years, and soon screams came from inside the house.

"Oh no! The Sage has fainted!"

A cold wind blows, and snowflakes dance wildly.

Yan Ciwan's vision then became blurred.

When the snowflakes dispersed, she found herself in a bedchamber. Li Jing was lying on the bed, and although he was only thirty-two years old, his temples had already turned white.

The death of his wife dealt him a heavy blow; he seemed to have aged more than ten years overnight. Dressed in plain white mourning clothes, Li Xuanhe knelt before the bed, holding a bowl of medicine in his hands, and said in a hoarse voice, "Father, Mother has passed away, and I only have you left. Please take care of yourself. This is the medicine prescribed for you by the imperial physician. Please drink some."

Li Jing turned his eyes to look at Li Xuanhe, and seeing that he looked haggard and had lost a lot of weight, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

He reached out his hand: "Help me up."

Li Xuanhe immediately put down the medicine bowl, carefully helped his father sit up, and then handed the medicine bowl to his father.

Li Jing pushed the medicine bowl away: "I'm feeling unwell emotionally; it's a mental illness. Medicine won't help. Take it away."

"Then I'll have someone send some rice porridge over. You haven't eaten much these past two days; how can your body handle it?"

Li Jing slowly shook his head: "I have no appetite, I can't eat. Where is Jiang Yan?"

"She is keeping vigil for her mother."

Li Jing's eyes were bloodshot, and his gaze gradually turned sinister: "Jiang Yan said she would take good care of the Empress, but the Empress died along with her unborn child. This was her dereliction of duty. Pass down the order to strip her of her rank of Consort, throw her into prison, and execute her on a later date as a warning to others."

Li Xuanhe hurriedly advised, "Absolutely not! The Empress's death has nothing to do with Consort Jiang. She is innocent! Your son has already investigated and found that the reason why the Empress's hemorrhage was unstoppable was because someone poisoned her medicine. The person who poisoned her was the midwife, Lady Yan."

"Where is Lady Yan? I want her to be torn to pieces!"

"When I found Lady Yan, she had already drowned in Taiye Pond. I suspect she was silenced."

Li Jing clenched his right fist and pounded it hard on the bed: "She died too easily!"

He was so excited that his breathing became rapid and his face flushed an unnatural red.

Li Xuanhe gently patted his back, helping him catch his breath, and said, "Your Majesty, I sent people to find Yan's house. Her house was suddenly destroyed by fire three days ago, and the whole family was burned to death. The clues went cold with Yan."

Li Jing took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He slowly said, "Qiu Niang lives in the inner palace, so no one outside the palace has any motive to kill her. The person who wants to kill her must be in the inner palace. She is gentle and kind to everyone and never makes enemies. There is only one person in the entire inner palace who hates her."

Even without Li Jing mentioning the name, Li Xuanhe could guess that the person he was referring to was Consort Xie.

Back then, Li Jing refused to make Xie the empress and insisted on making Liang the empress. This matter became a thorn in Consort Xie's side, and over the years Consort Xie has often targeted Empress Liang openly and secretly.

Li Jing's eyes were filled with hatred: "Over the years, Qiu Niang has been very tolerant of Xie Shi. I never expected that this vicious woman Xie Shi would take such a big step forward and now dare to poison Qiu Niang. I will definitely make her pay for Qiu Niang's life!"

Li Xuanhe also wanted to avenge his mother, but reason told him that now was not the time.

He whispered his advice: "But we don't have any solid evidence right now. We can't convict Consort Xie just by guessing. Xie Zhan is currently very powerful in the court. If we take action now, our chances of success are very low."

Li Jing said, enunciating each word clearly, "Bear with it for now. One day, I will slaughter the entire Xie family and make them pay for their crimes in blood!"

Li Xuanhe nodded, then pleaded, "My mother was on good terms with Consort Jiang. If she were still alive, she would certainly not be able to bear seeing Consort Jiang die so young. I beg you, Father, to spare Consort Jiang's life for my mother's sake."

Li Jing closed his eyes, recalling his wife's voice and smile, and felt a dull ache in his heart again.

After a long silence, he finally spoke: "I'll do as you say."

"Thank you for your mercy, Father Emperor."