Chapter Thirty-Six: The Empress Dowager's Private Treasury

In the days that followed, he spent his days practicing martial arts and honing his skills, while at night he made his way to the Empress Dowager’s chambers to fulfill his obligations. His life was thus simple, unadorned, and frankly rather dull.

Yet human desire is like a boulder tumbling down a mountainside—once it begins, it is near impossible to halt its descent...

At first, the Empress Dowager had tried her utmost to maintain what little remained of her so-called dignity, but now that dignity had long since been cast aside. She had entered the palace in her youth, appointed Empress at the tender age of sixteen. Even then, Emperor Shengyuan was already plagued by illness, and so, barely two years into her reign as Empress, she was widowed and became the Empress Dowager, secluded deep within the palace ever since.

When had she ever known the warmth of a passionate embrace or the sweetness of affection? Especially after tasting the delights of earthly pleasure, she yearned for nothing more than to nestle docilely in the arms of a certain scoundrel, relishing the tenderness she had never before experienced, so content she could scarcely bring herself to move...

Xu Boqing held the beautiful woman in his arms, gazing at the pale light beyond the window, a faint bitterness welling up inside him. Over these past days, he had considered various ways to make money—making soap, concocting gunpowder—but upon further reflection, he remembered how poor his chemistry grades had been in his previous life; he really was hopeless at it. He could plagiarize a few poems, perhaps, but poetry requires time to spread and ferment, its value uncertain, and it could not be easily turned into cash in the short term.

For the sake of his second uncle’s family...

If he had to live off a woman, so be it...

The Empress Dowager, nuzzling her cheek against his chest, suddenly heard a barely audible sigh. She looked up and saw that the thief who had stolen not only her body but her heart now wore a face full of melancholy.

“Hmph, have you grown weary of being with me?”

“How could I?” Xu Boqing drew the lovely woman closer, his cheek brushing gently against her forehead as he murmured, “It must be the blessing of eight lifetimes that brought me your favor, my lady. I can’t get enough of you—how could I ever tire of you?”

“Hmph...” The Empress Dowager had never heard such direct words of affection. Biting his shoulder playfully, she asked, half-shy, half-reproachful, “Then what are you so troubled about?”

Though she knew, deep down, that the scoundrel was only saying sweet things to amuse her, she still could not resist the feeling.

Xu Boqing pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and sighed. “I was lamenting that in this world, one cannot take a step without money.”

“Cannot take a step without money?” The Empress Dowager’s eyes flashed with surprise. She raised her head to look straight into his eyes. “I’d like to know, what has happened that makes you sigh so?”

Xu Boqing paused deliberately, then recounted his recent experience at the Imperial Prison.

“How dare the Ministry of Justice!” When the Empress Dowager heard about the open bribery to ransom prisoners, her eyes darkened with anger. She sat up, ready to dress, and said coldly, “I must speak to the Emperor and have him rectify these corrupt practices in the Ministry.”

“No, don’t...” Xu Boqing quickly calmed her, and under her questioning gaze, he explained with a sigh, “Your Majesty, the women of the inner palace must not interfere in state affairs.”

“I am the Empress Dowager!” she said, unconcerned. “Though I am not his blood mother, in name I am still the Emperor’s mother. Is there any harm in me advising him to set the court to rights?”

“While that’s true, it’s not that simple,” Xu Boqing explained patiently. “The six ministries are managed directly by the Emperor. If you criticize the Ministry of Justice, you’ll only put him in a difficult position. Besides... the Imperial Prison has become a well-established business. The Ministry is involved from top to bottom, the network is vast, and without evidence, even if you report it to the Emperor, nothing will change.”

The Empress Dowager was no fool. Hearing this, she calmed down and frowned slightly. “Then what are we to do?”

“We can’t deal with the Ministry,” Xu Boqing replied, shaking his head. “All they’re after is money. Three thousand two hundred taels of silver is not a small sum, but not impossible to gather. I’ll think of something...”

“Silver...” The Empress Dowager mused for a moment, then suddenly smiled, her eyes sparkling as she tugged Xu Boqing’s hand, trying to pull him from the bed. “Little rogue, get up. There’s no shortage of silver in Cining Palace!”

Xu Boqing saw she had already thrown on her robe and, feigning ignorance, followed suit.

The Empress Dowager rummaged at the head of her phoenix couch and produced three boxes, each the size of a human head.

Opening the first, it was filled with exquisite jade, pearls, emeralds, and jewelry of the finest craftsmanship, each piece worth far more than mere gold or silver.

She opened the second box—inside was a thick stack of banknotes, both silver and gold.

When she saw the third box, she blushed slightly and made no move to open it.

She explained, “Though I have been secluded in the palace for many years, I am still the Empress Dowager. My annual allowance has never been reduced, and I am often gifted with jewels and ornaments. Aside from the gifts I bestow on servants for festivals and the New Year, I have no use for these treasures. They only take up space, so Chief Huang exchanges them for banknotes.”

She handed the thick stack of notes to Xu Boqing, her alabaster neck raised with a teasing smile. “Here, for your diligent service to me, I bestow these upon you.”

Xu Boqing glanced at the stack—most were notes for a thousand taels, some even for ten thousand, totaling perhaps no less than two hundred thousand taels! After some thought, he realized it was only natural that the Empress Dowager, having lived in Cining Palace for sixteen years (not counting the years before she became Empress), should have amassed such wealth.

He could not help but marvel—he had never managed to find a wealthy patroness in his previous life, but in this one, his dream had come true...

But then, if the first box held jewelry and the second served as her private treasury, what, he wondered, could be in the third box?

“Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty,” Xu Boqing replied with a grin, accepting the stack of notes. He pulled out a few for a thousand taels, returning the rest to the treasury.

“Why put them back?”

“I don’t need so much.”

“Well... take what you need in future.”

“Very well...” Xu Boqing nodded, closed the two boxes, and returned them to their place. As he reached for the third box, he noticed a flicker of embarrassment on the Empress Dowager’s face.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Your Majesty, what’s in this third box?”

“Nothing... just some daily necessities,” she replied, eyes evasive, cheeks tinged pink.

“May I have a look?” Xu Boqing reached out, but before he could open it, the Empress Dowager, like a kitten guarding her food, instinctively tried to snatch it away.

“No, that’s—” Before she could finish, her hand slipped, and the box fell to the floor, out rolling a green jade ruyi...

Both of them were stunned into silence.

The Empress Dowager’s beautiful face was now flushed as red as if soaked in blood.

Xu Boqing chuckled, nonchalantly kicked the object aside, and sidled up behind her, whispering softly, “You won’t need that anymore...”

The Empress Dowager let out a surprised gasp, her balance lost, and could only steady herself with both hands on the headboard...

“You...”

Just as they were caught up in each other’s warmth and bliss, a matron’s voice suddenly rang out from outside, loud and clear: “Empress Zhang of Kunning Palace and Noble Consort Liu of Yongning Palace have come to visit...”

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager’s body went limp. She turned back with a look of plaintive entreaty.

“You... you... hurry and get dressed...”

“Just say you’re unwell and won’t receive visitors.”

“No, I... I arranged to view the flowers with them today.”

Xu Boqing understood the urgency of the situation. After a brief, mischievous tease, he withdrew. Seeing the Empress Dowager’s shaky hands as she dressed, he thoughtfully helped her with her clothes.

The Empress Dowager hurried to the dressing table, shot him a look, and then called out, “Come in.”