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Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 103
Qiya was well-protected by her maids, but she was quite dissatisfied with her rescuer. She turned to look back at the man, about to say something, when she heard people call him "Your Majesty." Qiya paused, staring blankly at Lu Yu:
"You're the Emperor?"
Consort Shu watched this farce coldly before finally speaking: "Impudent! How dare you shout and yell in His Majesty's presence?"
Having been scolded, Qiya's eyes widened. When she turned to look at Consort Shu, she was startled. The woman wore magnificent palace robes, standing beside the Emperor, they seemed a perfectly matched couple. Without needing to ask, one could tell her status was noble. She asked hesitantly:
"Are you the Empress?"
As the words fell, the surroundings immediately fell silent for a moment. Qiya looked up in confusion, not knowing what she'd said wrong.
Liu An was suddenly choked up, coughing so hard he nearly coughed up his lungs. Lu Yu frowned ever so slightly. Far away at the hall entrance, Gu Han imperceptibly raised an eyebrow and spoke up:
"The princess has mistaken the person. Before you is Consort Shu of the palace."
Gu Han's words broke the silence. Consort Shu finally recovered from her daze and went along: "I am not."
Lu Yu turned to look at Gu Han. Seeing her about to come over, he quickly walked over to support her, saying in a deep voice:
"The path here is slippery. What are you coming here for?"
Gu Han glanced at the water stains on the bridge and stopped her steps. She addressed the embarrassed-looking Qiya: "Since the princess has come to the capital, you should understand more about it to avoid making yourself a laughingstock."
Wrapped in a cloak, Qiya's eyes flashed with admiration when the woman first appeared. Upon seeing her prominent belly, she paused, wanting to ask who she was, but thinking of the joke she'd just made, she ultimately didn't ask.
Gu Han paid her no more attention, only covering her mouth as she looked at Lu Yu: "Isn't Your Majesty going to change into dry clothes?"
At these words, Lu Yu couldn't help but darken his face again, especially seeing Gu Han covering her mouth as if secretly laughing. Lu Yu felt both exasperated and also had some elusive emotion flash by too quickly for him to identify.
He released his hand, instructing Jiu Nian to "support your mistress into the hall" before turning to enter the side hall.
Gu Han bowed slightly toward Consort Shu, but was stopped by her:
"Enough. You don't even need to bow before His Majesty. I cannot accept it either. Go inside quickly."
Zhou Měirén hurried over to pull Gu Han back while asking in a low voice: "Why did you get involved in this?!"
Gu Han lowered her eyes. She just wanted to see more clearly. There was nothing on the bridge, the ground was even, with no reason for someone to suddenly fall. Was that princess falling into the water just a coincidence?
Consort Shu glanced at Qiya. Others could leave, but as the banquet was her responsibility, she couldn't just leave Qiya there:
"Take the princess to change into clean clothes."
Qiya was led away surrounded by people. At that moment, she looked back in the direction the Emperor had left and suddenly said to the maid beside her: "The Emperor of the Central Plains is really handsome."
The maid crossed her hands and placed them on her shoulders, performing a salute:
"This is not Yaomo. Princess, please don't speak like this anymore."
Qiya frowned and snorted lightly. As if thinking of something, her eyes rolled around and she happily curved her lips. After a moment, she instructed: "Go ask Brother about that palace consort with the big belly just now, who is she?"
The Emperor's treatment of that woman was clearly gentle, completely different from his impatience with her.
Qiya had always been pursued by men in Yaomo and felt somewhat uncomfortable, but couldn't stop feeling pleased: "Brother said I would marry the Emperor of the Central Plains. He's the first person who saw me and still showed me no favor. Truly worthy of being the Emperor of the Central Plains."
Having seen too many people pursue her for her beauty, suddenly encountering someone like Lu Yu, to say Qiya wasn't curious would be a lie.
Gu Han didn't know what she was thinking. Returning to the hall, she indeed saw Ding Cáirén. Drawing closer, she heard Ding Cáirén saying sarcastically: "Pulling a man into the water in broad daylight under everyone's eyes, rarely seen in a lifetime."
Ding Cáirén wasn't showing yet, but her airs were even more exaggerated than Gu Han's. She glanced at Gu Han, her expression somewhat awkward as she turned her head away.
Zhou Měirén looked back and forth curiously: "What happened at the vacation palace? Why does she seem to avoid you?"
Toward others, Ding Cáirén couldn't wait to broadcast her pregnancy to everyone. Only toward Gu Han did she seem somewhat uncomfortable.
Gu Han shook her head: "I don't know."
She was telling the truth. At the vacation palace, she and Ding Cáirén had almost no interaction.
Due to the incident before the banquet, the hall buzzed with low whispers. Gu Han added a jade hairpin as her wager for the riddles, then didn't look that way again. She glanced at the high seat, summoned Little Fangzi, and asked imperceptibly while arranging her hair:
"Any movement from Kunning Palace?"
Xiao Fangzi shook his head, lowering his voice: "No movement."
Understanding the implication, Gu Han's eyes flickered slightly. Yaomo envoys had come, yet the Empress didn't appear?
Gu Han lowered her eyes and instructed calmly:
"Spread word of what the Yaomo princess just said."
As for which statement, Little Fangzi knew perfectly well. He silently withdrew. Before the Emperor had finished changing and returned, he was standing behind Gu Han again.
Kunning Palace.
The Empress wore simple clothing, reclining on a soft couch. At a glance, one could tell she had no intention of attending tonight's palace banquet. Her unhurried expression lasted until Mu Qiu hurried in. Mu Qiu whispered something in her ear.
The emotion in the Empress's eyes grew indifferent: "She didn't deny it?"
Mu Qiu's expression was troubled:
"It was Consort Zhao who stepped forward to explain."
The Empress suddenly curved her lips, seemingly carrying a trace of mockery.
******
After Lu Yu returned, the palace banquet officially began. With the Empress absent, Consort Shu sat in the position closest to the Emperor.
Just as the strings began to play, an announcement came:
"Her Majesty the Empress arrives."
Gu Han curved her lips and looked up toward the hall entrance. Like everyone else, she seemed surprised as she stood. The Empress attended in full regalia, that bearing, just standing there, displayed her noble status.
Noble Consort Shu gave Ya Luo a look. She narrowed her eyes meeting the Empress's gaze, very naturally stepped down from her position to bow to the Empress. Before the Empress could say anything, a palace maid quickly added another seat beside it. Noble Consort Shu directly said with a charming laugh:
"Not having seen Your Majesty all this time, I thought Your Majesty wasn't coming today."
Lu Yu acted as if he couldn't see the confrontation beneath their smiling faces and said blandly:
"All sit down."
The Empress smiled as she took her seat.
Below the platform, Qiya said to her brother: "The Emperor of the Central Plains is truly blessed."
Looking up, all those gentle and charming consorts were refined beauties that Yaomo's climate couldn't nurture.
Aside from these incidents, the palace banquet proceeded quite peacefully. Even Gu Han exchanged a few laughs with those beside her. Inadvertently looking up, she suddenly saw the Emperor glance at her. Just as Gu Han was wondering why, Liu An stepped forward. In his hands he held a bright yellow imperial edict.
Gu Han was startled. She raised her hand to touch her sleeve, this set of palace robes was what the Emperor had Liu An personally deliver to Changchun Hall today.
After Liu An finished reading the edict, Gu Han still hadn't quite reacted. Jiu Nian discreetly pushed her. Only then did Gu Han come to her senses and step forward. Just as she was about to kneel to receive the edict, Lu Yu from the high platform said:
"You need not kneel."
So Gu Han stood there while Liu An came forward to hand the edict to her. Liu An smiled and bowed:
"Congratulations, Xiūróng."
Gu Han held the edict as she returned to her seat, only then somewhat coming to her senses. The Emperor had promoted her rank?
Third-rank Xiūróng, mistress of a palace. Most importantly, after the imperial heir in her womb was born, she could personally raise the child!
The Empress's eyes seemed to change slightly. She turned to look at Lu Yu, saying somewhat hesitantly in a low voice:
"Why would Your Majesty suddenly promote Zhao Xiūróng?”
As the words fell, the Empress saw the Emperor lift his eyelids to glance at her, his gaze indifferent: "Suddenly?"
The Empress paused, then heard the Emperor continue coldly:
"She just suffered a grievance some days ago and nearly met with disaster. If not for the Mid-Autumn Festival, I would have issued the edict long ago. Does the Empress still find it sudden?"
The Empress sighed: "Your Majesty is right. Zhao Xiūróng has indeed been wronged."
She shared the Emperor's feelings, but inside her sleeves, she had long since imperceptibly clenched her palms.
Having clearly heard the conversation between the two, Consort Shu wanted to curve her lips but somehow couldn't manage it. She coldly glanced at the Empress. Zhao Xiūróng's third-rank position could truly be said to be caused by her own hand.
Congratulations came from all around. Gu Han gently lowered her eyes and smiled. She was very clear how this Xiūróng position came about. In the end, the Emperor still carried some meaning of compensation.
Gu Han's condition was heavy. She returned to the palace early. The Emperor didn't stop her either.
This Mid-Autumn banquet proceeded so peacefully that Gu Han was somewhat surprised. Returning to Changchun Hall, Gu Han sat on the soft couch, looking at the treasure register and seal sent from the imperial presence, somewhat dazed. Her gaze fell on the brocade box beside them.
Xiao Wenzi's respectful words still lingered in her ears:
"This was personally painted by His Majesty and ordered from the palace kiln. There is only one in the world, ground from mutton-fat warm jade. His Majesty said this is a belated birthday gift for Your Ladyship."
In the brocade box quietly lay a mutton-fat warm jade orchid hairpin.
Jiu Nian couldn't suppress her emotions, saying with raised brows: "This way, Your Ladyship can move to the main hall of Yihe Palace tomorrow."
Gu Han responded distractedly. Jiu Nian paused, following her mistress's gaze. She was slightly stunned. After a while, she tentatively asked:
"What is Your Ladyship thinking about?"
Gu Han kept her eyelids lowered. She raised her hand to trace over the orchid hairpin, saying: "I'm thinking about what His Majesty is really thinking."
Jiu Nian couldn't say. Just from the scene before her eyes, Jiu Nian couldn't say the Emperor treated her mistress without sincerity. But to say the Emperor treated her mistress well, that day the Emperor had indeed let the true culprit who harmed her mistress go.
These contradictions were the reason for her mistress's complex emotions.
Gu Han picked up the jade hairpin and discovered characters seemed to be carved at its base. Looking closer, she found the words "Han'er" carved there. Given this intimate name, the Emperor couldn't possibly have palace servants carve it. The only explanation, these two characters were personally carved by the Emperor.
Gu Han gripped the jade hairpin tightly. Suddenly, she asked Jiu Nian:
"Where is Little Fangzi?"
"Didn't Your Ladyship send Little Fangzi out?" Jiu Nian was surprised. She paused, seeming to read something from her mistress's expression. Jiu Nian asked: "Does Your Ladyship want this servant to call Little Fangzi back?"
Should she call Little Fangzi back?
Gu Han could actually understand why the Emperor didn't deal with the Empress, but Gu Han couldn't accept that the Empress, having nearly harmed her, could emerge completely clean.
Gu Han pressed her lips together for a long while. Finally, she placed the orchid hairpin back in the brocade box and said softly:
"No need."
Night gradually deepened. The palace banquet at Moonplucking Tower had long since dispersed. Everything around was quiet. The wind was almost nonexistent. Just when even the palace servants patrolling and keeping watch couldn't muster any energy, a scream suddenly pierced the sky, breaking the soundless stillness.
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
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