When the capital fell, Princess Consort Fu Ling, carrying an infant, escaped to Jiangnan under the protection of the wang fu’s servants and the Ying Guo Gong fu’s guards. When Emperor Changzhi first ascended the throne, Fu Ling was established as the empress. The couple originally had a good relationship, but to win over Jiangnan’s scholarly families, the emperor took several noble women as concubines, and the rear palace quickly became a battlefield.
The empress was gentle on the outside but strong inside, not adept at scheming, and after suffering several cold shoulders, the imperial couple gradually became estranged.
Yan Xiaohan initially paid no attention to the palace intrigues until last year’s year-end, when the princess suddenly developed smallpox with severe symptoms, nearly dying. The empress fell seriously ill because of this.
After hearing about it, Yan Xiaohan investigated privately and unexpectedly discovered a palace maid in the empress’s palace who was secretly passing messages to other concubines.
Under interrogation, the maid confessed to wiping the princess’s hands with a handkerchief brought from outside. When her testimony was presented, Emperor Changzhi was furious but ultimately just sent the concubine to the Cold Palace.
From then on, Yan Xiaohan understood what kind of life the empress was living in the palace. Without a strong family backing, the empress naturally became a target for other concubines to provoke.
Not long after, that concubine inexplicably hanged herself in the Cold Palace. Subsequently, Yan Xiaohan would spend some time each month checking on the empress’s situation. He was not deliberately secretive and didn’t mind others asking – he was legitimately family with Fu Shen, so supporting Fu Shen’s sister was naturally justified.
Needless to say, with just this action, the empress’s life in the palace immediately improved.
Concubine Xue’s father was one of the four Jiangnan scholars who participated in the Yanying Hall discussions. She was also the most favored among the concubines.
Yan Xiaohan asked the eunuch and learned that the empress was just melancholic, with no other plans. He abandoned the idea of preemptive prevention, only instructing the servants to be more careful and avoid being schemed against.
