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Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 106
The candles in Changchun Hall remained unextinguished. Gu Han lay on the bed tossing and turning, as if Ding Cáirén's final mournful cry kept lingering in her ears.
A flash of irritation crossed her eyes. The night was clearly deep, yet she couldn't sleep.
From the moment the Empress planned to harm her child, she and the Empress had stood on opposite sides, destined for a fight to the death. She was petty and especially vindictive. Just thinking of how the Empress had harmed her to this extent yet remained unscathed, a desire for revenge arose in her heart, leaving her unable to sleep peacefully.
Whether it was harming Ding Cáirén or Fang Han, Gu Han felt no guilt whatsoever.
Ding Cáirén was a chess piece in the Empress's hand, who knew when she would be used against her? As for Fang Han, he was clearly the Empress's person. She had killed an enemy's person—why would she feel uneasy?
She wouldn't.
Every step she took was deeply considered. She had long known what she was doing, and the results were indeed as she had intended.
Whether the Empress would fall or not, she didn't care at all.
As long as she could confine the Empress and disrupt her recent moves, that was enough. She wanted to safely give birth to the child in her womb, no one could stop her!
Gu Han turned over. She was sorting through why she felt irritated. After a while, she had her answer.
The legitimate son was noble, at least more noble than her child or Ding Cáirén's child. That's why, even when evidence vaguely pointed to the Empress, the Emperor still chose to protect her with all his might.
Gu Han's hand rested on her lower abdomen, continuously stroking it gently. The Empress wanted to pave the way for the child in her womb, and Gu Han thought the same. She also couldn't accept that her child, upon being born, would be inferior to others.
Gu Han calmly and rationally admonished herself—don't be hasty.
At least wait. Since the Empress chose to act to pave the way for the legitimate son, the child in her womb wasn't the biggest obstacle on the legitimate son's path.
Gu Han knew her immediate priority was to first give birth to the child in her womb. Everything else could wait.
A dreamless night.
The next day, Gu Han woke under someone's gaze. Opening her eyes, she saw the Emperor sitting beside the bed. He leaned against the bed frame, quietly watching her, his eyes and brows still showing some fatigue.
The dark circles under his eyes clearly told Gu Han he hadn't slept all night.
Gu Han was stunned before frowning and attempting to sit up. Her movements were somewhat difficult. Lu Yu raised his hand to help her. After Gu Han sat up, Lu Yu released his hand. The two looked at each other without words.
After a long while, Gu Han looked up at him and asked softly:
"Is Your Majesty blaming me?"
Blaming her for pressuring him yesterday.
Lu Yu shook his head. He extended his hand toward Gu Han. Gu Han paused before pressing her lips and hesitantly placing her hand in his. As their hands intertwined, Gu Han heard Lu Yu's hoarse, low voice: "You wanting justice for yourself is not wrong."
Lu Yu raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, saying somewhat wearily:
"I was just thinking that my fortune with children seems rather poor."
He now had two sons and one daughter. Aside from the eldest prince, both the young princess and young prince were plagued by illness, constantly requiring medicine. Just as there were now three pregnant women in the palace, before Lu Yu could rejoice, Ding Cáirén had already miscarried.
And Gu Han's pregnancy was also secretly coveted.
When the late Emperor was his age, he'd already had many princes. He had merely been one among them, only receiving some attention from the late Emperor thanks to his mother's favor.
Gu Han couldn't respond to these words. The Emperor's fortune with children wasn't poor at all, clearly someone was scheming behind the scenes.
And she was among those scheming, so Gu Han could only say: "I will do everything in my power to protect him."
She took the Emperor's hand and placed it on her lower abdomen. Whether the child within sensed it or not, at that moment he stretched his foot. Both Lu Yu and Gu Han felt it clearly. Both were startled.
Lu Yu stared blankly at her abdomen: "This is..."
Nanny Zhao happened to enter. Seeing this scene, she smiled:
"This is the young prince knowing His Majesty has come and greeting His Majesty!"
When women were pregnant, they often appeared in undignified states. Lu Yu actually had very little contact with pregnant women. Gu Han was the person he had had the most contact with. This was the first time he'd felt fetal movement, to the point where for that instant he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.
Due to this incident, Lu Yu stayed at Changchun Hall all afternoon. Eventually, he ended up holding Gu Han and somehow fell asleep leaning against the bed.
Nanny Zhao sighed sympathetically: "His Majesty is exhausted."
Otherwise, he wouldn't have fallen asleep so unguardedly. Moreover, Nanny Zhao discreetly glanced at Her Ladyship, this also represented that deep down, the Emperor trusted Her Ladyship.
Gu Han carefully moved the Emperor to the bed. She raised her hand to her lips, signaling palace servants to keep quiet. She rarely saw Lu Yu sleeping. For a moment, she raised her hand to stroke his brow, her voice very soft:
"Have Liu An return to fetch a set of His Majesty's change of clothes."
After tucking in the brocade quilt, Gu Han was helped by Jiu Nian out of the inner hall, yielding it to the Emperor. When she reached the covered corridor, she saw Zhongsheng Hall was sending people to clean the main hall of Yihe Palace.
Jiu Si said: "This is preparation for Your Ladyship's palace move."
Gu Han leaned against the railing, responding unhurriedly. Suddenly, she glanced toward the eastern direction:
"What's that commotion about?"
Jiu Si hesitated before saying slowly: "Tomorrow that Yaomo princess will enter the palace. Zhongsheng Hall is cleaning the palace hall."
Gu Han raised an eyebrow:
"She's entering the palace? At what rank?"
Actually, the Emperor had already issued the edict at yesterday's banquet, but Gu Han's mind hadn't been on it at all. Jiu Si touched her nose and said quietly:
"Noble Lady (Guipin)"
"His Majesty bestowed her a title, taking the character 'Yao.'"
Gu Han shook her head. This title was perfunctory enough. From this, one could see the Emperor hadn't taken this princess to heart.
Otherwise, this rank alone was somewhat low.
Gu Han felt this rank was low, but others didn't think so. Jiu Si muttered: "When Your Ladyship's batch of selected ladies entered the palace, the highest rank was Měirén. This one enters the palace as Noble Lady and even receives a title. His Majesty is elevating her too much."
Gu Han shook her head. The Emperor wasn't elevating her, this was giving face to Yaomo.
Gu Han didn't care about Noble Lady Yao's rank, but she frowned at her palace residence: "Who chose her accommodations?"
Jiu Si, not knowing what her mistress was thinking, said:
"The Empress is being punished, so it should be Consort Shu's arrangement."
Quling Palace and Yihe Palace were only a short distance apart. For the Emperor to come to Yihe Palace, he had to pass Quling Palace. Similarly, if the Emperor went to Quling Palace, Yihe Palace could see it clearly.
Consort Yao's temperament was clearly domineering at a glance. Regarding having such a person move in next door, Gu Han wasn't at all welcoming.
But unfortunately, this wasn't her decision to make.
Lu Yu was awakened before the evening meal. Upon waking, he no longer showed the fatigue from before sleep, nor those exposed emotions. However, during the meal, he still occasionally glanced at Gu Han's belly. Gu Han was somewhat helpless:
"Your Majesty has been staring at me all day."
Called out, Lu Yu had to withdraw his gaze. When leaving Changchun Hall, he was still somewhat reluctant. He glanced at the main hall of Yihe Palace, paused, and asked: "Yihe Palace is rather far. Would you like to change palaces?"
From Yangxin Hall to Yihe Palace took a quarter hour longer than going to Yi'an Palace. Now that she'd been promoted to Xiūróng, she was also mistress of a palace. This was a good opportunity to change to a closer palace.
Gu Han had to admit she was tempted for a moment, but quickly shook her head and declined:
"I'm accustomed to living in Yihe Palace. Moreover, there's no one else in Yihe Palace, so I enjoy the peace."
But she didn't completely close the door, glancing at the Emperor: "Of course, if Your Majesty can find a palace closer to you with no other consorts residing there, I would be very happy to move."
Lu Yu's temple twitched. Look at what she was saying, she was basically saying she disliked the other consorts in his harem.
He rolled his eyes irritably: "There aren't that many good things in the world."
Palaces close to Yangxin Hall almost all housed consorts. For the moment, he truly didn't know where to find her an unoccupied Palace. Forget it, it just meant he'd have to walk a bit farther when coming to see her.
The woman was lazy. Expecting her to come to Yangxin Hall to find him? Unless she had a favor to ask of him.
Upon leaving Yihe Palace, Lu Yu noticed palace servants going in and out of a nearby palace, the commotion quite disturbing. Lu Yu frowned:
"What's going on?"
Liu An quickly replied: "Zhongsheng Hall is cleaning the palace for Noble Lady Yao."
Lu Yu glanced at Quling Palace, then back at Yihe Palace. Thinking of Qiya's reckless temperament yesterday, he couldn't help frowning:
"Have Zhongsheng Hall change palaces. Farther from Yihe Palace."
Liu An wanted to speak but hesitated.
Lu Yu glanced at him: "Speak if you have something to say."
Liu An lowered his head:
"Having Noble Lady Yao reside in Quling Palace was arranged by Consort Shu."
Lu Yu paused. Consort Shu was temporarily managing the six palaces in place of the Empress. If he had someone change palaces now, it would inevitably diminish Consort Shu's authority in the palace. Lu Yu's eyelids drooped impatiently:
"Change it."
Liu An was somewhat surprised but didn't delay a moment in sending someone to instruct Zhongsheng Hall.
Lu Yu remained silent along the way. Upon returning to Yangxin Hall, he suddenly said:
"In the past, Consort Shu acted with propriety."
But today, Consort Shu clearly had selfish motives, directly targeting Gu Han.
Liu An didn't know how to respond. After a long while, he asked the doubt he'd long harbored:
"Since Your Majesty wants to protect Zhao Xiūróng, why still show her such favor without the slightest concealment?"
It was even intensifying. Wasn't this roasting Zhao Xiūróng over fire?
After a long while, Lu Yu's voice sounded in the hall:
"I don't know either."
"I just feel that anything less would wrong her."
And he couldn't bear to keep her in Changchun Hall forever.
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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