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Chapter 12
Regarding Zhou Měirén’s anger, Consort Yuan only said lightly:
"Such matters without evidence, I dare not speak carelessly."
Combined with how Zhou Měirén had just thrown dirty water at Hanling Palace, Consort Yuan's words were like a hard slap across Zhou Měirén's face, making her cheeks burn painfully.
In verbal sparring, Zhou Měirén naturally couldn't match Consort Yuan. She was immediately rendered speechless. After a long while, she turned her head away and said stubbornly:
"This concubine merely raised a suspicion. Consort Yuan is far too aggressive!"
Consort Yuan sneered inwardly. A milk-smelling little girl, the Grand Empress Dowager was still away performing Buddhist devotions and wouldn't return to the palace until Mid-Autumn Festival at the earliest. Yet without her backing present in the palace, she still dared be so presumptuous!
Consort Yuan concealed the coldness in her eyes. There were many ways to deal with Zhou Měirén. She didn't continue the verbal battle with Zhou Měirén at this moment. When she raised her head to look at His Majesty and the Empress again, tears streamed down her face:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! This matter is clearly someone framing this concubine. The person behind this has an exceedingly vicious heart. I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter and give this concubine justice. Now even a Měirén dares speak such wild words to this concubine. If the truth isn't uncovered, how can this concubine continue to stand in the palace in the future!"
Zhou Měirén's face turned livid with anger.
Gu Han and Rong Ling exchanged glances, both clicking their tongues inwardly.
Consort Yuan was truly difficult to deal with. Even her plea of innocence carried barbs. She didn't say a single word about being innocent, yet her attitude was extraordinarily candid. She begged the Empress to thoroughly investigate, clearly showing she had no guilty conscience whatsoever.
In just this brief exchange, Gu Han understood clearly, Zhou Měirén was no match for Consort Yuan at all. Once Consort Yuan stopped caring about Zhou Měirén's backing, Zhou Měirén couldn't even last one round against her.
Gu Han's gaze almost imperceptibly fell on Consort Yuan.
She and Consort Yuan had no grievance or enmity, but regarding Liu Ruoqian's matter, as long as the final conclusion wasn't that Liu Ruoqian accidentally fell into the well, then someone must take the blame.
The right time, place, and people.
At least for now, Gu Han couldn't find anyone more suitable than Consort Yuan.
The Empress in the high seat felt irritated. Consort Shu lazily raised her hand to cover the corner of her lips with her handkerchief, then said in a light, coquettish voice:
"This clamor is giving this concubine a headache. Since Elder Sister Empress has already made a decision, just have people questioned directly. The hour grows late, and His Majesty still has morning court tomorrow."
She directly ignored Consort Yuan and Zhou Měirén. Or rather, Consort Yuan and Zhou Měirén weren't worth her attention in the first place. Even Liu Ruoqian's life was dispensable in her eyes.
From beginning to end, all she cared about was whether this matter would drag on too long and affect His Majesty's rest.
Consort Shu's attitude was careless. No matter how delicate and tender her features were, they couldn't conceal the trace of impatient indifference in her words.
Gu Han imperceptibly glanced at His Majesty and saw his emotions showed no change at all, no reaction whatsoever to Consort Shu's words. She didn't know if he saw nothing wrong with what Consort Shu said, or if he had long grown accustomed to her being like this.
Gu Han lowered her eyelids, concealing the emotions in her eyes.
The Empress also issued orders to summon the matrons from Chuxiu Palace and all the palace servants who had been serving in Chuxiu Palace at that time.
Very quickly, they discovered that Liu Ruoqian had disappeared the day before leaving the palace.
During this time, Rong Ling gripped Gu Han's hand tightly and asked nervously in a low voice: "Elder sister, will this matter implicate us?"
Rong Ling had watched the spectacle with trembling fear. Now seeing the Empress placing suspicion on them, she naturally became uneasy.
Gu Han looked at her once more, then lowered her eyes as if nothing were amiss and consoled her softly:
"Don't worry. As long as we truthfully account for our whereabouts that day, it has nothing to do with us."
Not only did the palace servants of Chuxiu Palace need to be questioned, these newly arrived consorts also had to account for their movements that day one by one.
The day before leaving the palace, because the matrons hadn't supervised strictly, almost all the ladies in waiting had left Chuxiu Palace. Seeing it would soon be her turn to answer, Gu Han quickly calculated in her mind how to respond in the way most advantageous to herself.
That day, she had only returned to Chuxiu Palace around dinner time. This, the palace maid A'You and Rong Ling had both seen with their own eyes. There was no way to falsify it.
"Gu Cáirén."
The Empress's voice brought Gu Han back to reality. It was her turn. Everyone in the hall turned their gazes to her.
Gu Han slightly raised her eyes and inadvertently met His Majesty's gaze. His expression was very bland, revealing none of his emotions. Undeniably, His Majesty possessed exceptionally fine features, one in a hundred. Yesterday Gu Han had only seen him smile a few times.
It was when she'd inadvertently touched him, making him somewhat pleased, that he had curved his lips in a very faint smile.
However, those who have been in a position of power for a long time often have a somewhat cold and aloof demeanor when they don't smile. Even when they do smile, they reveal a subtle and elusive distance. All their gentleness is natural and merely superficial.
Gu Han understood clearly in her heart, she couldn't rely on His Majesty.
In that instant, Gu Han's heart was extraordinarily calm. She seemed somewhat surprised, her eyes suddenly brightening, burning so intensely one couldn't ignore them. Lu Yu's hand resting on the armrest paused, but very quickly the woman withdrew her gaze. With a corpse beside her, she still felt somewhat uncomfortable, but her voice was quite steady:
"In response to Your Majesty, this concubine remembers that day after the midday meal, the matron said we would soon leave the palace. We need not to study etiquette in the afternoon and could also leave Chuxiu Palace to walk around. But noon was too hot, so this concubine napped for a while as usual before leaving Chuxiu Palace. I strolled around the Imperial Garden and returned to Chuxiu Palace around dinner time."
The Empress interrupted her: "What time did you leave?"
When the previous people answered, they'd racked their brains, wishing they could specify the exact hour and moment. But Gu Han only smiled bitterly and shook her head:
"This concubine can't remember clearly. I only remember the sun wasn't very fierce at that time."
Unless necessary, no one would remember the precise time of doing something minor.
The Empress suddenly looked at Gu Han. According to her account, she'd left Chuxiu Palace for no more than half an hour. It took a quarter-hour just to walk from Chuxiu Palace to the Imperial Garden. Time-wise, she truly didn't have much opportunity to act.
The Empress was merely going through the motions. She lowered her eyes and asked:
"How was your relationship with Lady Liu normally?"
Gu Han lightly pressed her lips together. One could see she was somewhat nervous, but she still said gently: "Apart from studying etiquette together, we had no interactions."
Just as the Empress was about to question the next person, someone suddenly interjected:
"You shared a room with Baolin Rong and had a good relationship. Why didn't you two go to the Imperial Garden together that day?"
Gu Han looked up and saw the speaker was a consort wearing light purple palace attire. Her expression was calm, as if merely asking out of curiosity, but being curious at this moment seemed somewhat ill-intentioned.
From two days of morning greetings, Gu Han knew who this person was, the mistress of Zhaoyang Palace, Xiuyi He.
Gu Han was puzzled in her heart. She had never even spoken to this Xiuyi He. Why would she make things difficult for her at this time?
Everyone was waiting for Gu Han's answer. Gu Han merely pressed her lips for a moment, looking somewhat embarrassed. Xiuyi He raised an eyebrow and said in a pleasant tone:
"Is this question very difficult to answer?"
Rong Ling's cheeks flushed alternately red and white. She didn't know why Xiuyi He was making things difficult for Elder Sister Gu, but she knew Elder Sister Gu wasn't speaking to spare her feelings. She bit her lip and stepped forward:
"This has nothing to do with Elder Sister Gu. It was this concubine's fault."
Seeing her step forward, Xiuyi He frowned very quickly, a trace of coldness flashing almost imperceptibly in her eyes.
Rong Ling twisted her handkerchief, saying somewhat uneasily: "Because of certain matters, this concubine didn't wish to leave the palace. That day Elder Sister Gu did ask this concubine, wanting me to go out and clear my mind, but this concubine refused her."
With these words, all the newly arrived concubines understood.
Rong Ling had been publicly slapped by Zhou Měirén. Young ladies were thin-skinned, so naturally she didn't even want to go out.
Rong Ling hadn't left the palace, so naturally had no suspicion. Alone in the palace, remembering Gu Han's kindness, she naturally wanted to speak up for Gu Han:
"That day Elder Sister Gu only went out for a short while. When she returned, she was clean. Elder Sister Gu had no relationship with Lady Liu. If Elder Sister Gu had harmed Lady Liu, Lady Liu couldn't possibly have been unguarded. Elder Sister Gu also couldn't possibly have returned so clean."
Only at this moment did Gu Han's hand, which had been tightly clutching the handkerchief in her sleeve, finally relax slightly.
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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
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TRANSLATOR
Hi guys, i hope that you are enjoying this novel because i am, i am already in chapter 74, i had so many sleepless nights because i just wanted to know what happens next all the time😁 if you have any questions about a character or i made a mistake somewhere, please do let me know in the comment section. i currently have no editor.
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