———
~ Please support this site by disabling your ad-blocker ❤️ ~
______
Chapter 11
Supported all the way to Kunning Palace, Gu Han raised her eyes to glance at the sky, the last rays of the setting sun had already faded.
Jiu Nian was cautious, Jiu Si was clever. The previous two days when Gu Han went to Kunning Palace for morning greetings, she'd brought Jiu Nian, but today she'd brought Jiu Si and Xiao Fangzi to her side instead. Gu Han didn't know what would happen shortly, so Changchun Pavilion couldn't be left unattended.
Yihe Palace wasn't close. By the time Gu Han arrived, Kunning Palace was already packed with people. She looked up and saw His Majesty sitting in the seat of honor with a coldly sunken expression. The Empress said something unknown to him, and he lowered his eyelids, making his emotions unreadable.
But the atmosphere in the hall was extraordinarily oppressive.
Moreover, this time Gu Han finally saw Consort Shu. She sat properly in her seat, her face like peach blossoms, brilliant as lotus flowers, her eyes seemingly carrying a smile. She and Consort Yuan should both be radiant women, but unlike Consort Yuan's domineering air, Noble Consort Shu seemed more charmingly willful, making people reluctant to refuse her.
At this moment, she lightly knitted her delicate brows, her handkerchief pressed to the tip of her nose. Even the distaste between her brows was more vivid than others'.
In that instant, Gu Han suddenly understood why Noble Consort Shu repeatedly intercepted people, yet His Majesty would indulge her wishes.
In the crowd, Rong Ling discreetly waved at Gu Han. Gu Han composed her emotions and walked to Rong Ling's side. Her gaze passed over the crowd, and Gu Han finally saw the person lying in the courtyard. On the stretcher, covered with a white cloth, half a face was exposed.
The well had not yet dried up, and the corpse had been soaked pale white, lips bluish-purple. Liu Ruoqian had been a slender person, but the figure under the white cloth seemed twice the size of Liu Ruoqian. Through the edge of the white cloth, Gu Han glimpsed some details and discovered the body was even swollen all over from being soaked.
Gu Han only looked once before suddenly withdrawing her gaze. Her complexion became very poor, but Gu Han didn't try to hide it, nor did she need to. She immediately pressed her handkerchief to her lips, turned to the side, and covered the tip of her nose, seeming somewhat nauseous. Her delicate brows lightly furrowed, her face frost-white.
Lu Yu spotted Gu Han in the crowd at a glance.
It wasn't that one night of bedchamber service had given Gu Han any particularly important place in Lu Yu's heart, but having just slept in the same bed last night, Lu Yu's memory wasn't so poor as that.
Moreover, today should have been Gu Han's turn for bedchamber service. She had groomed herself early, her skin like congealed fat rivaling frost and snow, her brows naturally dark without dye. Even though before coming she had deliberately removed several hairpins from her coiffure and changed into plain, elegant clothing, standing in the crowd, she still stood out noticeably.
Lu Yu's gaze paused for a moment on the woman's cheeks. An official's daughter suddenly seeing a corpse, frightened until all color drained from her face, her fingers tightly gripping her attendant's sleeve, yet she wasn't as useless as others, neither crying out nor vomiting. Quite resilient. But precisely this resilience added to her a touch of pitiable tenderness.
Lu Yu almost imperceptibly tapped the armrest and unhurriedly withdrew his gaze.
Rong Ling's face also looked terrible. She didn't understand why they had to move Liu Ruoqian's corpse to the courtyard of Kunning Palace and make them look at it so clearly.
Who wouldn't have nightmares for several days after returning from this?
Rong Ling had arrived earlier than Gu Han and had adjusted somewhat. Seeing Gu Han in such a state, she quickly asked in a low voice:
"Elder sister, are you alright?"
Gu Han imperceptibly concealed the turbulent emotions in her eyes. For a moment, her emotions nearly collapsed. Killing someone and directly facing the horrific state of a corpse were completely different things. Gu Han's fingers trembled lightly. She bit down hard on her tongue. After a long while, seeming to finally recover, she turned her eyes away, not looking at the corpse in the center of the courtyard, and managed to ask:
"Liu... where was she found? How did she..."
Gu Han quickly furrowed her delicate brows, as if unable to continue asking.
Rong Ling lightly raised her chin, gesturing to Gu Han. Following her gaze, Gu Han discovered that Consort Yuan was kneeling in the crowd with a face full of indignation and disgust. Earlier, Gu Han had been so focused on looking at the corpse that she had actually overlooked Consort Yuan.
She heard Rong Ling's lowered voice: "I heard it was in a well beside Hanling Palace. Today the patrolling palace servants smelled a strange odor and that's how they discovered the body."
Discovered near Hanling Palace, the resident of Hanling Palace, Consort Yuan, immediately became a suspect.
Consort Yuan only felt stifled and aggrieved, unlucky and disgusted. Who had done such a thing near her Hanling Palace? She had essentially been sleeping next to a corpse for several full days. Just thinking about this made Consort Yuan shudder with horror, wishing she could hack the person behind this into a thousand pieces!
Gu Han glanced at Consort Yuan, somewhat astonished in her heart, but she said nothing. She stood to the side with Rong Ling, quietly watching how events would unfold.
Under the Empress's gaze, Consort Yuan complained bitterly in her heart. Her entire body was tense, not daring to look at the corpse beside her even once, only protesting her innocence:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, this concubine and Lady Liu had never met before, had no grievance or enmity. Why would this concubine harm her life?"
"Moreover, to dump her corpse near Hanling Palace! Just thinking about this now makes this concubine's whole body go numb. I feel that every corner of Hanling Palace is unclean. What am I to do? Please, Your Majesty, give this concubine justice!"
Having spent so many years in the palace, everyone was skilled at performing. By the end of her speech, Consort Yuan's tears fell on command, rolling down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string, as if she'd suffered the greatest injustice.
The veterans were already accustomed to Consort Yuan being like this. Instead, the newcomers who'd just arrived the palace were somewhat dumbfounded. Consort Yuan was usually domineering and aggressive, yet she could cry at will, she was truly flexible.
Even Gu Han couldn't help being surprised. She glanced at Consort Yuan a few more times and heard her wailing: "With a corpse hidden near Hanling Palace for so long, how can this concubine continue living there!"
The Empress, given a headache by her crying, raised her hand to her forehead and interrupted:
"Enough! Crying and wailing in front of the newly arrived sisters and palace servants, what kind of display is this?!"
Consort Yuan felt very aggrieved inside, only thinking the Empress was making light of it while standing comfortably:
"If that corpse were at Kun…"
‘Slap!’
The Empress suddenly struck the table. Consort Yuan's complaint abruptly stopped. Her face turned deathly pale. In her haste to clear herself of suspicion, she'd nearly spoken words of great disrespect.
Consort Yuan quickly lowered her head: "This concubine misspoke. May Your Majesty forgive me!"
Gu Han finally understood. The corpse was near Hanling Palace, and Consort Yuan had no evidence to prove this matter was unrelated to her, so she could only make a scene unreasonably. Yet no one could say this was definitely Consort Yuan's doing, leaving the Empress with no way to deal with her.
The Empress was too lazy to look at Consort Yuan. Even arguing with her felt like a waste of breath. She looked toward His Majesty at the side and said solemnly:
"Lady Liu disappeared the day before the selection ceremony. Before that, she was unacquainted with any of the rear palace consorts and had no conflicts. Anyone capable of such cruelty must have long-standing grievances with Lady Liu."
Gu Han didn't know whether to feel relieved. According to the Empress's reasoning, she and Liu Ruoqian weren't actually very familiar, and the idea of long-standing grievances was even more absurd. But until this matter was settled, Gu Han could never completely relax.
The Empress paused, seeming somewhat hesitant.
Lu Yu lifted his eyelids and said indifferently: "Continue."
The Empress sighed and swept her gaze over the newly selected concubines before saying:
"Those who could have formed a grudge with Lady Liu would only be these newly arrived sisters."
Gu Han gripped her handkerchief tightly. Round and round, ultimately those suspected were still the same batch of selected concubines.
After the Empress's words fell, the expressions of the newly arrived concubines immediately changed. Some were restless and uneasy, fearing implication. Others furrowed their brows, feeling this was an undeserved disaster.
Rong Ling couldn't help grasping Gu Han's hand, nervous and anxious.
Gu Han lightly pressed her lips together, not worried, because she knew someone couldn't possibly sit idly by.
Sure enough, as soon as the thought formed, someone in the hall couldn't hold back:
"The young ladies-in-waiting stayed in Chuxiu Palace all day, unfamiliar with the palace layout. How could they possibly avoid others and lure the lady in waiting Liu to beside Hanling Palace to kill her?"
Everyone looked toward the voice and saw the Grand Empress Dowager's niece, Zhou Měirén, frowning with a face full of displeasure:
"The incident occurred beside Hanling Palace. With so many people in Hanling Palace, did not a single person notice anything amiss?"
Gu Han almost imperceptibly lowered her eyelids. On the last day of the selection, Beautiful Lady Zhou had been humiliated by Consort Yuan. She was petty, there was no way she wouldn't hold a grudge. Now that the incident occurred beside Hanling Palace, even out of revenge, Beautiful Lady Zhou would hope this matter was related to Consort Yuan.
Consort Yuan's expression was ugly. Seeing that she was out of danger, she no longer cared who was behind Zhou Měirén She sneered coldly:
" Zhou Měirén's words are mistaken. If we say the other ladies in waiting were unfamiliar with the palace, that's one thing, but Zhou Měirén attended palace banquets year after year, you must have explored every corner of the Imperial Palace by now!"
Zhou Měirén, relying on the Grand Empress Dowager being her aunt, had always been proud and arrogant. She couldn't stand being provoked and immediately became angry:
"You're saying I killed her?!"
---
**Author's Note:**
Consort Yuan: Just a Měirén, yet she dares to be so presumptuous. I'll finish her off sooner or later!
Zhou Měirén: Laughable. Don't you know I have connections?
---
Author's Note:
Gu Han: ???
Here are the ranks of imperial consorts:
- Empress (皇后 Huánghoù) — Head of the Imperial Harem
- Imperial Noble Consort (皇贵妃 Huáng Guìfēi) — Rank 1
- Noble Consort, Pure Consort, Virtuous Consort, Worthy Consort (贵妃、淑妃、德妃、贤妃 Guìfēi, Shūfēi, Défēi, Xiánfēi)** — Senior Rank 1 (The Four Consorts, with Noble Consort as the highest)
- Consort (妃 Fēi) — Junior Rank 2
- Bright Deportment, Bright Countenance (昭仪、昭容 Zhāoyí, Zhāoróng) — Senior Rank 3
- Cultivated Deportment, Cultivated Countenance (修仪、修容 Xiūyí, Xiūróng) — Junior Rank 3
- Noble Lady (贵嫔 Guìpín) — Senior Rank 4
- Imperial Concubine (嫔 Pín) — Junior Rank 4
- Beauty (美人 Měirén) — Senior Rank 5
- Talented Lady (才人 Cáirén) — Junior Rank 5
- Precious Grove (宝林 Bǎolín) — Senior Rank 6
- Imperial Woman (御女 Yùnǚ) — Junior Rank 6
- Palace Maid (宫女子 Gōngnǚzǐ) — Senior Rank 7
Read only on https://royaltywrites.com.ng/
We hope you enjoyed this chapter! You can vote for this novel translation and drop a review on Novel Updates!
Show support by clicking on the Support Us button below!❤️
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 Comments
What's on your mind...