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Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 104
Gu Han was awakened by Jiu Nian. As candles were lit, she threw on an outer robe and rushed outside. Nanny Zhao stopped her and draped a cloak over her:
"Your Ladyship is too careless. No matter what has happened, you must be mindful of your condition."
Only then did Gu Han notice that at some point, a light drizzle had begun falling outside. Her steps paused as she turned to look at Nanny Zhao: "Nanny mentioned yesterday that your legs were aching. With today's rain, it will likely be even more difficult to bear. Before bed, don't forget to have Xiao Chun apply the medicinal plaster."
Nanny Zhao was stunned before shaking her head:
"This servant was just rambling. It's not worth Your Ladyship remembering."
Gu Han said nothing more, nodded to her, and hurriedly left.
After she departed, Xiao Chun supported Nanny Zhao, saying crisply: "Nanny, let this servant help you inside to rest."
Nanny Zhao gazed at Her Ladyship's retreating figure and suddenly sighed softly. Xiao Chun looked at her uncomprehendingly. Nanny Zhao shook her head wistfully:
"Even the purest person, after going through this palace, must be stained by wind and frost."
She had seen too much while serving Her Ladyship. Now that she was old, with some matters, she'd rather remain muddled and not see too clearly.
In Linhua Hall, when Gu Han arrived, she was met with a thick smell of blood and Cáirén's continuous painful moans and screams from within. Gu Han's breathing lightened as she instinctively raised her hand to cover her nose and mouth.
Looking up, she saw the Emperor still wearing yesterday's clothes, unchanged and unwashed. He stared expressionlessly toward the inner hall.
Gu Han's heart skipped a beat. The next moment, Zhou Měirén pulled her aside:
"Why are you standing there dazed? Standing there, aren't you afraid of being bumped into?"
Gu Han came to her senses and responded vaguely.
Yihe Palace and Linhua Hall were very far apart. Gu Han had arrived relatively late. Many consorts stood in the hall with grave expressions, waiting for the results. Intermittent screams kept sounding by their ears. When the physician emerged drenched in cold sweat, Gu Han looked up to see that half the sand in the hourglass in the hall had fallen.
From when Gu Han received the news until now, a full half hour had passed.
The physician knelt on the ground:
"This subject did his best."
Ding Cáirén 's grief-stricken voice suddenly rang out from within the hall, weighing heavily and oppressively on everyone present.
Consort Shu frowned at Ding Cáirén's maid:
"At the banquet, your mistress was perfectly fine. How could something suddenly happen?"
The palace maid knelt weeping: "Your Ladyship, please see clearly, this servant doesn't know either! After this servant attended to my mistress's washing and lying down, only the time it takes to burn a stick of incense had passed when my mistress suddenly cried out in pain. When this servant lit the lamp to look, the bedding was already stained with blood. This servant didn't dare delay even a moment and summoned the physician."
Consort Shu found it utterly absurd:
"Could Ding Cáirén have miscarried for no reason at all?!"
The palace maid didn't dare respond to such words—wouldn't that be saying they servants had failed in their duties?
Finally, the physician spoke: "Ding Cáirén must have mistakenly consumed something cold, which led to the miscarriage. Ding Cáirén 's pregnancy has never been stable. This subject had told Ding Cáirén to be cautious with any cold substances."
"But aside from at the banquet, my mistress consumed nothing after returning."
Consort Shu narrowed her eyes and sneered:
"You mean Ding Cáirén 's incident was caused by the banquet?"
"This servant wouldn't dare!" The palace maid kept her head firmly lowered, trembling with fear.
Among the crowd, Zhou Měirén carefully poked Gu Han, asking in a low voice: "Who does Your Ladyship think did this today?"
Gu Han lowered her eyes and shook her head:
"Who knows."
The physician still examined everything in Linhua Hall. When checking the incense burner, the physician paused for a long time. Even Lu Yu looked over: "Is there a problem with the incense?"
The physician leaned in to sniff lightly, then suddenly raised his hand to touch the bottom of the incense burner. When his hand emerged, everyone could clearly see a layer of ash-white powder on it. The physician's expression immediately changed:
"Your Majesty, this is musk powder!"
Yuan Cáirén said in shock: "Even the incense burner in the inner hall had problems. It seems among Ding Cáirén's servants, someone isn't very obedient."
An insider was one thing. After the physician examined the leftover food from Moonplucking Tower tonight, his expression also changed slightly:
"Ding Cáirén 's bowl of egg custard also contained residue of safflower powder."
Lu Yu suddenly thought of something, his tone especially cold: "Check Zhao Xiūróng's food!"
Gu Han paused before looking up at the Emperor, not expecting him to think of her first.
But the imperial kitchen servants stammered:
"Your Majesty, the food at Zhao Xiūróng's table was untouched. After it was removed, it was distributed among the palace servants below."
Consort Shu glanced at Gu Han, narrowing her eyes: "Untouched?"
Gu Han looked up to meet her gaze:
"Since becoming pregnant, when outside, I never touch anything that goes into my mouth."
Lu Yu recalled that even the incense burners in Changchun Hall had long been removed at her instruction. She had always been cautious in these matters.
The physician asked the imperial kitchen servant: "Even a little residue will do."
There was some of that. Cleaning up after the banquet was a major undertaking. Palace servants quickly brought the items. The physician first examined that same bowl of egg custard, and sure enough, in the small amount of residue remaining, he also detected safflower powder.
As for the other foods, they were all normal.
Gu Han suddenly looked up sharply, demanding of the physician: "What did you say?!"
The physician repeated his words:
"Zhao Xiūróng's portion of egg custard was also laced with safflower, and moreover, the amount was even greater than Ding Cáirén 's portion. Fortunately, Your Ladyship was cautious, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable."
All color immediately drained from Gu Han's face. She looked up at the Emperor with lingering fear.
Lu Yu's expression was terrifyingly dark. He suddenly grabbed the cup beside him and hurled it at the feet of the imperial kitchen servant. The sharp crash frightened the palace servant into trembling:
"This is the fine work the imperial kitchen does?!"
Eunuch Liu from the imperial kitchen kowtowed: "This servant has failed in his duty. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness!"
"Who handled this egg custard?"
Eunuch Liu didn't dare conceal anything: "Your Majesty, it was another imperial chef from the kitchen named Fang Han."
Lu Yu closed his eyes:
"Bring him here."
Eunuch Liu found it difficult to speak. After a long while, he said with a mournful face:
"When this servant came, he already sent people to search but couldn't find him."
These somewhat familiar words fell. The people in the hall couldn't help exchanging glances. Lu Yu's breathing also paused for a moment. He looked at Liu An:
"What are you standing there for?"
After Liu An left with people, Gu Han heard Zhou Měirén ask in terror: "The person Liu An brings back won't be another corpse, will it?"
Worried Gu Han didn't know, she specifically added:
"That time you nearly miscarried, the circumstances were almost identical to today's."
Gu Han frowned, saying coldly word by word: "That's quite the coincidence indeed."
Zhou Měirén finally realized something was wrong and abruptly fell silent.
When Liu An had people carry in Fang Han's corpse, Lu Yu couldn't help glancing at Gu Han. This glance happened to meet the woman's almond eyes. She bit her lip. Those eyes seemed to have shooting stars flash through them before finally returning to calm. She simply quietly lowered her eyelids.
Liu An also found it very dramatic. After a long silence, he said: "Your Majesty, this servant found Fang Han's body in the lake beside Moonplucking Tower."
"He was also struck from behind with a blunt object."
This word "also" caused many people in the hall to cast glances toward Gu Han, whether intentionally or not.
Liu An also realized he'd misspoken. He shrank his head, somewhat afraid to look at the Emperor.
Just then, Eunuch Liu from the imperial kitchen said hesitantly: "Fang Han and Eunuch Yang from Kunning Palace are from the same hometown."
Actually, he'd put it quite tactfully. Eunuch Liu had always known Fang Han was someone from Kunning Palace. Fang Han had also used this connection to lord over others in the imperial kitchen, somewhat opposing him.
Honestly, Fang Han's death was also something of a good thing for Eunuch Liu.
As soon as Eunuch Liu's words came out, the entire hall was shocked. Ding Cáirén had just been helped out from the inner hall when she heard this. She staggered and stumbled before the Emperor, directly kneeling down. The blood beneath her dripped drop by drop from the inner hall to before Lu Yu.
This scene left people afraid to speak.
Lu Yu clenched his hand, averting his gaze from Ding Cáirén and scolding the palace servants beside her: "Nonsense! Hurry and help your mistress back to lie down!"
"I won't go back!"
Before the palace servants could step forward, Ding Cáirén tearfully interrupted the Emperor's words.
She was still in pain, her body continuously wanting to curl up, a dark red behind her. She hurt so much her head was covered in cold sweat. She cried out:
"I won't go back! Your Majesty! I won't go back!"
"Since learning of my pregnancy, I became arrogant and acted improperly, earning Your Majesty's disgust. But all the wrongs are mine, they should never be blamed on my child! I beg Your Majesty!... I beg Your Majesty!"
"Regardless of who harmed my child, I beg Your Majesty to give justice for our unborn child!"
Ding Cáirén cried until her back bent. She looked up at Lu Yu, tears falling like strings of pearls. Her tearful words brought a sense of desolation to the entire hall:
"...I waited for this child for seven whole years. I looked forward to a child who would call me Mother Consort, who would play and frolic endlessly at my knees. I made so many new clothes for him, found so many folk toys for children, but all these... he never got to see with his own eyes!"
She knocked her head hard on the ground, continuously murmuring: "I beg Your Majesty... I beg Your Majesty... You are his imperial father!"
Ding Cáirén 's entire body went limp on the ground. Her forehead struck the floor with dull thuds. The smell of blood left her in wretched disarray, making a mess everywhere, yet Lu Yu didn't dare look at her.
The twisted bloodstains from the inner hall to his feet seemed to remind him that even though he had never anticipated this child, it was still his imperial heir.
Lu Yu's gaze swept over everyone. All harbored their own thoughts while awaiting his answer. Only that woman in the cloak kept her head lowered, preventing him from seeing her expression clearly.
Lu Yu closed his eyes and said in a deep voice:
"Where is the Empress?”
.
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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