~ Please support this site by disabling your ad-blocker ❤️ ~
______
Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..." Today, we join together in remembrance of Jesus’ death on the cross and the profound sacrifice that changed the world forever. Have a blessed and reflective Easter season.
Chapter 76
The Empress didn't rush to refute Liu Yue. She narrowed her eyes and asked:
"What did I have you do?"
Having come this far, Liu Yue simply revealed everything: "The Empress had this servant tamper with the path from Changchun Hall to Rongcui Hall tonight."
"As soon as news came that Lady Yu had died, this servant guessed what the Empress wanted to do. She deliberately chose nighttime because in the dark, people inevitably overlook what's beneath their feet. And today it rained heavily, after the chaos, all evidence would be washed completely clean!"
Before others could react with shock and uncertainty, the Empress let out a cold laugh:
"Absurd!"
"According to you, Lady Yu's death was also my doing?"
Liu Yue had no evidence and didn't dare speak carelessly, but that didn't stop her from stating her deductions:
"This servant doesn't know, but when this servant received the order, news of Lady Yu's death hadn't yet spread!"
Only after she'd tampered with the path did Lady Yu die. Clearly, someone had deliberately used Lady Yu's life as a pretext, all so Noble Lady Zhao would leave the palace.
The Empress shook her head and stopped paying attention to Liu Yue. She said to Lu Yu:
"This consort has never done such a thing. I request Your Majesty conduct a thorough investigation. If you don't return justice to me, I fear the sisters here will find it difficult to trust me again."
She spoke candidly and firmly, clearly unafraid of the Emperor's investigation.
As for Lady Lin, the Empress frowned: "This consort believes Lady Lin would never do such a thing. I ask Your Majesty to see clearly."
Lu Yu looked at her deeply and nodded to Liu An.
Liu An immediately bowed and withdrew. Before leaving, he had someone cover Liu Yue's mouth and drag her away. Plotting to harm an imperial heir was already a capital crime, confession couldn't save her.
The hall fell completely silent. Consort Shu couldn't help but glance at the Empress. The Empress was indeed very calm. Because of her attitude, everyone's suspicions of her had mostly dissipated. But Consort Shu felt this matter wasn't so simple.
What kind of person was the Empress?
No one knew better than Consort Shu. She dared assert that with Lady Lin in the Cold Palace, when it came to controlling the Cold Palace, even Lady He who resided there probably couldn't compare to the Empress. Such chaos had erupted in the Cold Palace, even involving Lady Lin and herself, could the Empress know nothing about it?
If the mastermind truly wasn't the Empress, then why had she allowed things to develop this way without the slightest intervention?
What was the Empress after?
Could she really want to eliminate the imperial heir in Noble Lady Zhao's womb?
Consort Shu casually lowered her eyelids. The moment this thought surfaced, she rejected it.
Based on her understanding of the Empress, she wouldn't easily strike at an imperial heir, even if Noble Lady Zhao's favor was somewhat dazzling and couldn't help but inspire wariness.
But all of this still wasn't enough to make the Empress act.
They'd been adversaries for so long, she knew well that as long as the Empress could secure her own position, no one could easily touch her, including the Emperor.
So what was the Empress trying to do?
For the first time, Consort Shu couldn't guess the Empress's intentions. Her heart sank deeper and deeper. During this period, her mind had ultimately been somewhat focused on the imperial heir in Noble Lady Zhao's womb, which had led to her negligence regarding the Empress.
Liu An went to investigate, but the result was that the Empress hadn't sent anyone to the Cold Palace recently at all. Even Lady Lin hadn't sent anyone to Kunning Palace seeking help. Their most recent contact had been the Empress instructing the Imperial Medical Bureau to take extra care of Lady Lin's health.
At the same time, Lady Lin was recuperating in her hall and rarely came out to walk around. Instead, it was Lady He who had actively sought out Lady Lin.
Looking at it superficially, this was completely opposite to what Liu Yue said about Lady Lin trying to win over Lady He. It looked more like Lady He deliberately trying to find a scapegoat.
The Empress lowered her eyes, her expression bland. No one could guess what she was thinking now.
She remained bowing. Even after Liu An finished speaking, Lu Yu didn't let her rise. He seemed to have forgotten about the Empress and asked Liu An:
"What did Lady He say?"
Liu An shook his head: "Lady He's testimony is the same as Liu Yue's, both accuse the Empress."
The trail seemed to end here.
Lu Yu's lips curled, his face radiating coldness:
"Who else has approached the Cold Palace?"
The Cold Palace had only one gate. The main gate was closed year-round, with guards posted at the door. Moreover, there were imperial guards patrolling the palace. If an outsider had truly approached the Cold Palace, it would be hard to hide.
However, Liu An hesitated for a moment, as if uncertain whether to speak.
Lu Yu narrowed his eyes at him. Liu An sighed inwardly before bowing even lower, head down:
"In response to Your Majesty, this servant has discovered that recently, aside from people from the Zhongsheng Hall, only people from Chonghui Palace have had contact with the Cold Palace."
At this, not only were the consorts surprised, even Lu Yu's expression paused. He furrowed his brows tightly:
"What did you say?"
Liu An had to repeat: "People from Chonghui Palace have had contact with the Cold Palace."
Chonghui Palace housed a rather special person, Zhāoróng Ling. Since the new consorts entered the palace, they'd never seen this Zhāoróng Ling. They had heard her health wasn't good and she was currently resting quietly in the palace.
She had a biological little princess under her care who was similarly frail. The consorts had never seen her either, but this Zhāoróng Ling enjoyed exceptional trust from the Emperor.
This point didn't need anyone to spell out, the harem consorts could all sense it.
When Concubine Chen was first demoted, the Emperor didn't even consider, he directly issued an edict sending the First Prince to Chonghui Palace. So many incidents had occurred in the harem, yet Zhāoróng Ling never appeared, and the Emperor never inquired.
Not only that, even the Empress and others ignored Zhāoróng Ling. From this, even the new consorts understood that Zhāoróng Ling's status in the harem was special.
Even if she wasn't as high-profile as the former Imperial Concubine De, wasn't as favored as Consort Shu, didn't wield power over the six palaces like the Empress, when the harem consorts mentioned her, every single one felt wary.
Lu Yu didn't even think before saying:
"Impossible."
Liu An lowered his head and fell silent.
After the words fell, Lu Yu came to his senses and realized his words were inappropriate. Even when the Empress, mistress of the harem, was implicated, he had doubts and took action to investigate. Now that Zhāoróng Ling was under suspicion, he naturally couldn't dismiss it with just one sentence.
Lu Yu's brows darkened as he asked: "What were Chonghui Palace's people doing at the Cold Palace?"
Liu An lowered his head:
"Some days ago, the First Prince was flying a kite in the palace. The string broke and it fell into the Cold Palace. Chonghui Palace's people went in to retrieve the kite."
Lu Yu didn't know what to say for a moment.
Even though he did indeed trust Zhāoróng Ling, he had to admit, all of this was too coincidental.
How precious was the First Prince's status? What servant would dare let him casually approach the Cold Palace? The Cold Palace didn't just house consorts he'd demoted. What if one of them went mad and rushed out, injuring the First Prince? Who could bear that responsibility?
Moreover, aside from the Zhongsheng Hall, only Chonghui Palace had approached the Cold Palace. This made it impossible for Chonghui Palace to escape suspicion.
At the same time, Gu Han also received the news.
Gu Han imperceptibly furrowed her delicate brows, never imagining this matter would actually involve Zhāoróng Ling. Zhou Měirén was also surprised:
"I've never even seen Zhāoróng Ling. I heard her health has been poor all along, she seems to still be bedridden recuperating. You have no conflict with her either. How could this matter be connected to her?"
Gu Han couldn't say for certain either, but she glanced at Jiu Nian's expression and could roughly guess the situation in the outer hall.
The Emperor didn't believe Zhāoróng Ling was responsible, but for the moment couldn't produce evidence proving this matter was unrelated to her.
Gu Han hadn't cared about this before, but now she suddenly grew curious, the Emperor was absolutely a suspicious and cold person. Why would he trust Zhāoróng Ling so much?
Was there something in all this that she didn't know about?
But regarding today's incident, Gu Han didn't think it was Zhāoróng Ling's doing. Anyone who earned the Emperor's trust absolutely wouldn't be a fool. What benefit would there be for Zhāoróng Ling in harming her?
Zhāoróng Ling had no prince under her care. As for the First Prince, his birth mother on the jade register was still Concubine Chen.
Moreover, Zhāoróng Ling's health was poor, she was bedridden all year-round. Even if she wasn't like Consort Shu, she was still destined to have difficulty conceiving.
Such a person wouldn't easily destroy the Emperor's trust in her.
Zhou Měirén suddenly remembered something, her expression changing: "There's rarely any news about Zhāoróng Ling in the palace. I didn't think of it just now, Rongcui Hall is right in Chonghui Palace."
This way, it seemed Zhāoróng Ling's suspicion was growing.
Not only her, people outside the hall also remembered this and began discussing it quietly. Consort Shu imperceptibly glanced at the Empress. No wonder, so her target wasn't Noble Lady Zhao at all.
Consort Shu rarely stood on the same side as the Empress:
"Speaking of which, this consort also hasn't seen Zhāoróng Ling in a long time. Since this matter involves Zhāoróng Ling, why not have Your Majesty invite her here? The sisters who entered the palace later still haven't met Zhāoróng Ling."
The Empress and Consort Shu's gazes met in the air, then quickly shifted away. The Empress took up the thread:
"Consort Shu is right. Inviting Zhāoróng Ling to clarify this matter and clear her of suspicion so the sisters don't misunderstand her would also be a good thing."
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)
.jpeg)
0 Comments
What's on your mind...