———
~ Please support this site by disabling your ad-blocker ❤️ ~
______
Translator's note: Finally there is advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Translator's note: Finally there is advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 62
A voice tinged with anger arrived. Everyone startled and turned to bow respectfully. Seeing His Majesty arrive, Gu Han's heart immediately sank.
Gu Han lowered her eyelids in courtesy. Rong Bǎolín still clung to her feet, trembling all over, sobbing quietly, utterly pitiful and disheveled. Just this scene before her eyes meant Gu Han couldn't possibly defend Concubine Zhou.
Concubine Zhou's eyes flickered. She knelt by the lake from afar.
Lu Yu approached and only then realized how difficult Gu Han's position had been. Concubine Zhou looked at him with some guilty conscience but still held her neck stiff, wearing an expression that said she had done nothing wrong. Rong Bǎolín wept pitifully. He felt somewhat irritated and wanted to turn and leave.
Rong Bǎolín was soaking wet, having dampened much of Gu Han's hem as well. Lu Yu frowned imperceptibly, stepped forward, and helped Gu Han up. Gu Han looked at him with considerable surprise. Lu Yu didn't notice, only lowering his gaze toward Rong Bǎolín:
"Let go."
Rong Bǎolín's crying suddenly stopped. She looked up at His Majesty through tear-blurred eyes. With this upward glance, Gu Han stood right beside for comparison. Lu Yu immediately realized why yesterday he had felt Rong Bǎolín's features seemed somewhat familiar.
Recalling that yesterday he had even been momentarily distracted by this, Lu Yu immediately felt stifled.
The woman beside him was completely oblivious, even looking toward Rong Bǎolín somewhat at a loss, utterly unaware someone nearby was deliberately imitating her. Lu Yu's expression darkened. Not giving Rong Bǎolín a chance to react, he directly pulled Gu Han over.
Gu Han nearly stumbled. She half-leaned on Lu Yu's shoulder, barely managing to stand steady, looking at him rather bewildered:
"Your Majesty?"
Lu Yu felt stifled, but meeting Gu Han's gaze, he couldn't say anything. He could only say awkwardly: "It's nothing."
He didn't first deal with Rong Bǎolín and Concubine Zhou's matter, instead scolding Gu Han:
"It's dangerous near the lake. Why did you get involved? Weren't you afraid they would implicate you?"
In the heat of angry struggle, where was there reason? She was standing so close, if someone made a mistake, wouldn't she suffer for nothing?
Gu Han fell silent. Actually, she was still several steps from the lake's edge, and at that moment, who had the presence of mind to consider such things? But she still appreciated His Majesty's concern and care.
She swept a glance around, lowered her eyes, not wanting to flirt with His Majesty at such a time.
Having Jiu Nian escort Gu Han aside, Lu Yu finally freed his hands to handle this matter. He looked at Consort Zhou with some headache:
"In broad daylight, you had someone throw her into the lake. Did you consider the consequences?"
Concubine Zhou said through gritted teeth: "She kept using palace rules to pressure this concubine, even calling this concubine a madwoman. This concubine was already very displeased, with her attitude, how could this concubine let her off lightly?!"
Why she was displeased, Lu Yu knew perfectly well. He nearly laughed in anger:
"Just because I went to her palace?"
Hearing this, Concubine Zhou became furious. These were clearly two separate matters, why did everyone insist on conflating them? She suddenly raised her head to look directly at His Majesty, eyes red as she said:
"Cousin can go to her palace, I can't control that. But yesterday Cousin clearly intended to see me, yet she intercepted you. Does Cousin truly not know she deliberately meant to humiliate me?!"
No matter how concubine Zhou convinced herself that she would sought this result herself and couldn't blame anyone, how could she not resent His Majesty?!
Tears poured down Concubine Zhou's face. She hastily wiped them away. When she could see clearly again, she took a deep breath:
"I know Cousin doesn't like me. My entering the palace is entirely Aunt's grace. But just because Aunt is here, does that make me the one who can be wronged?!"
She called him "Cousin" with every breath, yet completely lacking her former admiration. Question after question left Lu Yu speechless. After a long while, he could only manage to say:
"Insolent."
Concubine Zhou kept her neck stiff and said nothing. Did she truly not see clearly?
Previously, Consort Shu's cat had nearly disfigured her. If this had happened to any other consort, even just to stabilize people's hearts, Cousin would have punished Consort Shu. But with her, Cousin had protected Consort Shu throughout.
Because Cousin knew that with Aunt here, no one in the palace dared let her suffer grievances.
Yesterday was the same. Perhaps because Rong Bǎolín had miscarried before, Cousin felt some compassion for her. So when Rong Bǎolín intercepted him yesterday, Cousin had gone along with it naturally.
Also because Cousin felt that with Aunt here, she wouldn't truly suffer grievances.
But how would Cousin know, she had been proud since childhood, and the only grievances she had ever suffered were all personally given by Cousin!
The weak naturally gained sympathy and compassion, what kind of logic was that?!
Since Cousin felt that with Aunt here she wouldn't truly suffer grievances, then she would truly be presumptuous this once. Otherwise, how many more times would yesterday's incident repeat?
Gu Han glanced at Concubine Zhou, inexplicable emotion in her eyes. She knew that after these words today, there would never be any possibility of affection between Concubine Zhou and His Majesty.
Concubine Zhou dared to love and hate, and had the confidence to speak the unspoken truth. Since His Majesty didn't like her, she wouldn't wag her tail begging. When she had admired His Majesty, she'd been flamboyantly open about it. When giving up, she was equally decisive and clean.
Undeniably, Gu Han envied her somewhat.
When His Majesty's "insolent" fell, Gu Han couldn't hear much rebuke in it. After silence hung in the air for a long while, she heard His Majesty say heavily:
"Send Rong Bǎolín back to her palace."
Rong Bǎolín looked up mournfully: "Your Majesty?!"
Lu Yu was vexed and irritated now, impatient to look at Rong Bǎolín's face. Thinking how he had frequently visited Changchun Pavilion yet hadn't recognized the resemblance in Rong Bǎolín's features yesterday, he felt somewhat guilty toward Gu Han.
This guilt made Lu Yu not particularly want to speak with Rong Bǎolín. Ultimately, Lu Yu was willful, and he had long been accustomed to turning a blind eye to others' grievances.
Concubine Zhou's special status meant Lu Yu had to show some consideration. But what claim did Rong Bǎolín have?
Rong Bǎolín was forcibly led away. Lu Yu glanced at Concubine Zhou before withdrawing his gaze:
"You publicly persecuted a concubine. If I don't punish you, I cannot pacify people's hearts. Remove the concubine rank, demote to Měirén."
He had to give everyone an explanation.
Concubine Zhou remained unmoved. She simply didn't care about this one rank's rise or fall. Aside from a few more people bowing to her, what impact did it have?
She had once cared about the Měirén rank when entering the palace because she cared about His Majesty, always wanting to compare her position in his heart. Now having abandoned such thoughts, everything else became unimportant as well.
The farce ended hastily. Consort Shu stood watching from afar. Looking at the now-demoted Zhou Měirén, she suddenly felt rather listless. To His Majesty, there were only a few distinctions, those he had invested some thought in and those he hadn't, the useful and the useless.
With such an Emperor, who in this palace didn't suffer some grievances?
Consort Shu had just turned to leave when her peripheral vision caught His Majesty walking toward Concubine Zhao, straightening her collar. The gesture wasn't particularly gentle, yet was preferential treatment others couldn't obtain. She heard His Majesty say quietly:
"I'll escort you back."
Consort Shu's steps suddenly paused. Concubine Zhao should be considered somewhat fortunate, because in this palace, she was among the very few who had made His Majesty invest some genuine thought.
Gu Han was shocked. She hesitated somewhat, glancing toward Zhou Měirén. Lu Yu frowned, suddenly recalling the scene he had witnessed when dismounting from the imperial carriage. His temples twitched. Not giving Gu Han a chance to struggle further, he directly pulled her away.
After they left, Beauty Zhou was helped to her feet. With everyone gone, the maid at her side said with heartache:
"Why did Mistress antagonize His Majesty?"
Beauty Zhou said expressionlessly: "I wasn't antagonizing him."
Every sentence she had said was what she had long wanted to say. She had just seized this opportunity to speak out.
The servant knew she was proud, no one could make her bow. Such pride was naturally good, but in this palace it seemed out of place. The servant sighed quietly:
"What will we do in the future?"
Sighing aside, Ah You had followed Zhou Měirén too long and was accustomed to her ways. No matter what, with the Lord and Lady there, even if His Majesty didn't consider the monk's face he'd consider the Buddha's. He wouldn't truly mistreat Mistress. So Ah You wasn't very worried.
To this, Beauty Zhou only smiled slightly:
"I don't have His Majesty's regard. Whether I antagonize him or not doesn't matter. If it had been Imperial Concubine Zhao summoned yesterday, do you think today's incident would have happened?"
Ah You was still hesitating, but Zhou Měirén directly told her the answer:
"It wouldn't."
She said it with certainty.
Ah You didn't understand, muttering quietly: "How can Mistress be so sure?"
Zhou said nothing more. Even though her emotions hadn't yet settled, she'd seen clearly, after His Majesty arrived, no matter how pitifully Rong Bǎolín cried, His Majesty's gaze had first fallen on Concubine Zhao.
On another side, Gu Han was escorted back to Changchun Pavilion by Lu Yu. She occasionally glanced at him sideways, somewhat suspicious. At this hour, shouldn't His Majesty return to handle court affairs? Why had he followed her into Changchun Pavilion?
Lu Yu wore a stern expression, silently entering the inner chamber. Gu Han glanced at Jiu Si, having her withdraw to prepare tea. She sat beside His Majesty, hesitated for a moment, then asked softly:
"Is Your Majesty still troubled by what just happened?"
Yes, and no.
Lu Yu glanced at her and suddenly said: "In the future, stay away from Rong Bǎolín."
Gu Han was completely baffled, this hint leaving her unable to grasp the thread. If His Majesty had mentioned Zhou Měirén, she could understand somewhat, after all, Zhou's scene today had indeed been quite dramatic. But she had long since distanced herself from Rong Bǎolín. Where did His Majesty's reminder come from?
She was utterly perplexed, finally frowning in confusion:
"This concubine doesn't understand. Why does Your Majesty say this?"
Lu Yu was stumped. How could he explain?
Should he say that Rong Bǎolín was deliberately imitating her appearance and mannerisms to win favor? Just discovering this had made Lu Yu feel like he had swallowed a fly. If Gu Han, the person being imitated, found out, who knew how stifled she'd feel.
Especially since Gu Han had always treated Rong Bǎolín well after entering the palace.
Regardless of whether Lu Yu had used Rong Bǎolín or not, his initial impression of her had indeed been due to that phrase "she's often with Gu Cáirén."
Lu Yu didn't know how to tell her. He could only repeat:
"Don't worry about these things. In any case, keep your distance from her."
Gu Han was baffled, but after today's incident, she couldn't get close Rong Bǎolín anyway. So she acknowledged it perfunctorily:
"This concubine will remember."
Lu Yu kept her company through the noon meal before leaving. After he departed, Jiu Nian said hesitantly:
"This servant may know why His Majesty wants Mistress to stay away from Rong Bǎolín."
Gu Han looked at her. Jiu Nian hesitated before voicing her discovery, saying quietly: "Anyway, at first glance, her features resemble Mistress's by seventy percent. If she changed into robes similar to Mistress's..."
Before Jiu Nian finished speaking, Gu Han's expression had already darkened.
---
Author's Note:
Kunning Palace: Empress
Yi'an Palace: Consort Shu
Xianleng Palace: Imperial Consort De
Zhaoyang Palace → Main Hall: Xiuyi He
Zhaoyang Palace → Side Hall: Rong Baolin
Yihe Palace → Changchun Pavilion: Female Lead
Rongcui Hall: Beauty Miao
Cuizhu Pavilion: Beauty Lin
Changning Courtyard: Zhou Meiren
Hanleng Palace → (Main Hall transferred to Side Hall): Talented Lady Yuan
Also appearing: Noble Lady Lin, Liu Baolin
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/
TRANSLATOR
please vote on novel updates
Hi guys, please if you have any questions about a character or i made a mistake somewhere, please do not hesitate to let me know in the comment section. i currently have no editor.
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...