Those were the happiest monts for Lin Roujia after she had entered the palace. Feng Chengbo was very satisfied and often had Madam Lin accompany her daughter for a chat at the palace. The Lin Family took pride in Lin Roujia. Her siblings benefited from her position, and even the emperor had a special concern for his eldest son, because he had the Young Crown Prince first. He would visit Cining Palace when he had no pressing matters, much to Lin Roujia’s delight.
With three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines, the emperor could not show favor to just one woman—especially not the Empress, who needed to be virtuous and generous, free from jealousy. But in her heart, Lin Roujia was always just a little woman who couldn’t bear to be neglected. Thus, the attention she received on account of her son was especially precious to her.
Then, other princes were successively born in the palace. Consort Liu Shu gave birth to Prince the Second, Noble Consort Xia to Prince the Third, and more beautiful won beca concubines. The emperor favored Consort Liu Shu, admired Noble Consort Xia, and was good to both Prince the Second and Prince the Third. Fortunately, the Crown Prince was raised under the emperor’s personal guidance and remained his favorite.
After Noble Consort Xia gave birth to Prince the Third, she passed away quickly, and the emperor raised Prince the Third under the na of the Empress. Lin Roujia was outwardly cordial to Prince the Third but detested him internally. She feared that the child might harbor inappropriate ambitions, and could not help but guard against him everywhere. After all, the Crown Prince was Lin Roujia’s ultimate concern.
But fate cruelly took Lin Roujia’s last hope away from her.
The Crown Prince died at the age of five.
Lin Roujia was almost driven mad. She teetered on the brink of insanity, insisting that Prince the Third was behind all this—otherwise, how could it be that only the Crown Prince t with an accident while both princes had been playing in the Imperial Garden?
The emperor consoled her, but Lin Roujia wished nothing more than for Prince the Third to die imdiately. Then the imperial physician arrived, conducted an examination of the body, and together with testimony from the palace servants, it was determined that the Crown Prince had an intrinsic deficiency and died of a sudden cardiac arrest. Prince the Third was innocent.
Lin Roujia was on the verge of collapse. She knew that so many people, including the imperial physician, couldn’t all be lying, yet this was not the answer she wanted. With Prince the Third not to bla, she had no one to pour her hatred into, and she felt she might die herself.
After the Crown Prince’s death, the emperor was considerate towards Lin Roujia for a ti, acquiescing to her every need. However, an emperor’s patience was limited. As Lin Roujia was persistently gloomy, the emperor gradually stopped visiting Kunning Palace. The struggles within the palace were particularly brutal; taking a single step back could an tumbling into an abyss. For example, Consort Liu Shu, the mother of Prince the Second, started to beco restless during this ti.
If Prince the Second were to be made the Crown Prince, then Consort Liu Shu would beco the mother of the Crown Prince, and it would be only a matter of ti before she replaced Lin Roujia as the Empress. The Empress started to panic, but Feng Chengbo told her there was no need to worry, as she still had Prince the Third. Prince the Third had a temperant similar to the late Noble Consort Xia, was clever and knew when to advance or retreat, and might very well be of use. No matter what, having already lost one Crown Prince, she could not possibly lose her position as Empress too.
Lin Roujia was awakened by Feng Chengbo’s words, like an enlightening sermon. She resolved to safeguard her position and not give anyone an opportunity to take advantage. She began to treat Prince the Third with warmth again, raising him as though she were a compassionate mother. And indeed, Prince the Third did not let her down, growing sharp and always addressing her as "Mother Empress" affectionately, almost making people forget that years earlier, following the Crown Prince’s death, she had desperately wanted to send him to his death.
Sotis, when Lin Roujia looked at the seemingly loving mother-and-son tableau she ford with the Crown Prince, she would mock herself silently, feeling they were nothing more than two pretentious people. She found herself missing her deceased son more than ever and her heart grew colder towards the emperor’s indifference.
It was during this ti that Yin Zhan returned from his victorious campaigns.
Since Lin Roujia beca the Crown Princess Consort, Yin Zhan had left Yanjing City to go to the frontier. Lin Roujia could only learn of his exploits through the palace’s bulletins. Ti passed and as she busied herself with palace intrigues and making compromises, her life underwent enormous changes, and she pushed these matters to the back of her mind. Yin Zhan seed like a distant phantom to her, and when Lin Roujia learned of his return, she remained calm, thinking that, after so many years, she would feel like a stranger upon eting him again.
She didn’t know whether she had overestimated her determination or underestimated her feelings. When she t Yin Zhan again, she realized in an instant that the countless days and nights had not diminished her feelings for him. Yin Zhan still resembled the person from her mories, even more srizing than before. However, Yin Zhan now had a wife, a lady of gentle and good nature, much like her younger self. Seeing her transford self, Lin Roujia felt she could not face Yin Zhan.
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