In sleep, I am 17 again.
Before me, in a cradle, wrapped in fine linen, is the pale body of my daughter. I stand rigid and expressionless as others wail.
There is a smell of incense blended together with death in the air. It suffocates me.
I blink, and in the next moment, I am sitting down being comforted by Mu Jinyan and Yang Nuying. They tells me, I will have more children.
The Emperor seems as distraught as me. He confers Xiulan as Princess Shaoying of the First Rank.
As he is leaving, I see him glance between the Empress, Mu Jinyan and the empty cradle. There is a twinkle of coldness in his eyes.
I am sitting in a chair as Mu Jinyan is proclaiming her innocence. She says it is all fabricated by me. I look in horror at her. I act the part of the docile consort, horrified by her sister's actions.
The next moment, I give Yingyu a poisoned treat. Give it to Nursemaid Rong, I say. No one must ever know of what we have done. She is a liability to us.