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Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 105
During the palace banquet, not long after Gu Han left, the Empress also claimed to feel unwell and departed. Now that news of Ding Cáirén 's miscarriage had spread, the Empress still hadn't appeared.
As soon as Lu Yu spoke, someone immediately went to Kunning Palace to request her presence.
In Kunning Palace, Mu Qiu attended to Her Majesty as she finished her medicine. Just as the Empress was about to rise, Mu Qiu stopped her, looking worriedly at Her Majesty's lower abdomen: "Your Majesty just finished your medicine. It's inadvisable to get out of bed and move about."
The Empress bent forward, gripping tightly the corner of the brocade quilt, seemingly in considerable pain. She was tormented until her face was deathly pale. After a moment, she said expressionlessly:
"With Ding Cáirén 's miscarriage, if I'm not present, that would invite suspicion."
In her urgency, Mu Qiu spoke without thinking: "She's merely a Cáirén. What she carried was fake anyway, how could she be more important than Your Majesty and the young prince?!"
"Silence!"
The Empress sharply interrupted her words, her expression somewhat troubled.
Mu Qiu fell silent.
She knew why Her Majesty had lost composure. Ding Cáirén had been an excellent chess piece, but before this piece could serve its purpose, it was wasted, squandering so much of Her Majesty's effort. Now, not knowing who had struck at Ding Cáirén or for what purpose, no wonder Her Majesty couldn't sit still.
The Empress's emotional loss of control seemed to make her breathing suddenly tighten. After a while, she recovered somewhat. At the same time, sounds came from outside the hall. The Empress pulled her lips in a light sneer:
"It seems now, whether to go to Linhua Hall or not, the decision isn't ours to make at all."
Mu Qiu turned to look at the palace servant carefully entering to report, her face darkening: "To dare point the finger at Her Majesty, what audacity!"
The Empress sat before her vanity table, applying heavy foundation to conceal her pallid complexion, before rising with Mu Qiu's help:
"Daring to harm an imperial heir already shows she's recklessly bold."
The palanquin was arranged before Kunning Palace. Liu An personally came to request the Empress. The Empress merely glanced at him, too lazy for pleasantries, and directly boarded the palanquin. Liu An scratched his head and had people lift the platform. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt Her Majesty's movements when boarding seemed somewhat awkward.
In Linhua Hall, Ding Cáirén was helped to sit. She stared vacantly at the space above, that appearance making one's heart ache.
As soon as the Empress stepped in, Ding Cáirén fixed her gaze on her. Those eyes were fierce, completely unlike her usual frivolous foolishness, as if ready at any moment to tear a piece of flesh from her body.
The Empress imperceptibly narrowed her eyes. She didn't like such gazes.
Mu Qiu's grooming skills went without saying. When the Empress bowed to Lu Yu, one could only see she was slightly uncomfortable, not a trace of the weakness that had left her barely able to straighten her back in Kunning Palace. She asked:
"I don't know what Your Majesty has discovered that would have Eunuch Liu personally request my presence?"
Lu Yu looked directly at her expressionlessly: "The food at the palace banquet was tampered with, and the imperial chef who did the tampering died an unnatural death."
The Empress looked up in confusion:
"What does an imperial chef have to do with me?"
Lu Yu stated plainly: "This imperial chef and Yang Lin from your palace are from the same hometown and were on very good terms. Does the Empress have anything to say?"
Having heard this, the Empress only found it laughable:
"Your Majesty, handling trivial palace matters daily already exhausts my energy. Where would I have the leisure to concern myself with whom a servant befriends? Just because this imperial chef was friendly with a servant from my palace, I'm under suspicion?"
She spoke unhurriedly, even scoffing at this reasoning. Ding Cáirén couldn't accept her treating it so lightly. She suddenly lunged forward, startling even Lu Yu into standing. Fortunately, Mu Qiu was quick to intercept her:
"Impudent!"
Having just miscarried, Ding Cáirén couldn't withstand Mu Qiu's push and fell directly to the ground. But this only made her heart more resentful. She hated the Empress to the bone, her eyes splitting with rage: "If not you, then who?!"
"Placing musk in my palace without a trace! Besides you, who else in this palace has such far-reaching methods!"
"Tampering with my food, you think that because you didn't host this banquet, you can't be traced?! You've managed the harem for so many years! Which corner of this harem don't you know like the back of your hand?! To pave the way for the child in your womb, what wouldn't you do?! You're utterly conscienceless! You madwoman! Bitch!"
Ding Cáirén felt she was going mad. Upon emerging and hearing that Fang Han was connected to Kunning Palace, she had almost immediately locked her suspicion on the Empress.
As she said, who in this harem could accomplish this?
Whoever harmed her must have had something to gain!
Of the only two in the palace with imperial heirs, that sickly Ling Zhāoróng couldn't possibly have acted. Consort Chen was long past her former glory. Yè Xiūróng lacked the capability. As for Zhao Xiūróng, though she was indeed greatly favored, how long had she been in the palace? Where would she have such methods?!
Moreover, how similar was this scene to what happened at Changchun Hall a month ago?
That day, the culprit identified was the Empress! It was only because the Empress's palace maid was eloquent and pushed all responsibility onto Rong Bǎolín, and there was no absolute evidence, that the Empress escaped!
How much time had passed? And they were already using the same trick again?!
The Empress hadn't expected Ding Cáirén to be so bold either. She looked coldly at Ding Cáirén, who was pressed to the ground but still struggling incessantly:
"Your Majesty! Don't indulge her any longer! First harming Zhao Xiūróng, now harming me! Who will she harm next?! Since she's carrying the legitimate son, how can she tolerate other princes' existence!"
Her voice was hoarse as she shouted: "Your Majesty! Such a vicious-hearted person must not be kept! Otherwise, the harem will never have a day of peace!"
Gu Han looked at this scene in shock, stunned by Ding Cáirén .
She only knew Ding Cáirén 's pregnancy had been a scheme from the start. She had merely hastened today's arrival, both avoiding the risk of this pregnancy being used against her and dragging the Empress down with it. She didn't care at all whether this time could topple the Empress, as long as she planted seeds of doubt about the Empress in the Emperor's heart, that was enough.
But she had overlooked Ding Cáirén 's attachment to this pregnancy. The miscarriage had caused Ding Cáirén to lose her reason. She forgot hierarchical rules, wanting nothing more than mutual destruction with the Empress.
Every word she spoke wanted the Emperor to execute the Empress to atone for her child's death.
But everyone knew this was impossible. So Ding Cáirén had recklessly thrown herself at the Empress. Having failed, she now wept bitterly for all to see.
The Empress ignored Ding Cáirén and looked directly at the Emperor: "Does Your Majesty also believe today's matter was done by me?"
She straightened her back. Every curse and insult from Ding Cáirén enraged her to the extreme, but she suppressed her emotions and stared fixedly at the Emperor, as if waiting for his answer.
At this moment, Gu Han stepped forward. Her abdomen was prominently swollen, making kneeling difficult. Lu Yu rarely required her to bow, but now could only watch helplessly as she knelt. Lu Yu clenched his palms. He heard the woman ask softly:
"I've always had a question. That day when I nearly miscarried, after waking, palace servants informed me that the culprit who harmed me was the already-deceased Rong Bǎolín. Then who harmed Xiao Zezi?"
She wasn't hysterical like Ding Cáirén, nor as forceful as the Empress. She simply knelt there quietly, yet Lu Yu was acutely aware she was pressuring him.
He and the woman both clearly understood that Rong Bǎolín that day had merely taken the blame.
The Empress frowned coldly: "Is Zhao Xiūróng also suspecting me?"
Gu Han lowered her eyes:
"I wouldn't dare."
The Empress seemed to find it absurd. She pulled at the corners of her lips, her eyes drooping listlessly:
"Whether you or Ding Cáirén, you both claim I harmed you, where's the evidence?"
Gu Han looked up to meet the Empress's gaze: "May I ask Your Majesty, that day your palace maid said those accessories were all bestowed upon Rong Bǎolín, where are the records? Not only yours, but Rong Bǎolín's palace should also have records. Could Your Majesty bring out the records for comparison?"
That day, someone had deliberately let others take the blame. Those uninvolved wouldn't inquire further. Few thought of the records, but Gu Han couldn't afford to overlook them.
The Empress narrowed her eyes. Mu Qiu's expression also changed for a moment. After a pause, the Empress said:
"Lost."
Gu Han seemed to find it amusing, yet she couldn't laugh. She pulled at her lips: "What a coincidence."
As soon as Gu Han woke, she had instructed Liu An to search Wanxi Hall for the records. Even if the Empress later remembered and went for the records, it was already too late.
As for Kunning Palace's copy, it could only be "lost."
Ding Cáirén lay on the ground laughing hollowly: "Dead men tell no tales, hahaha... The Empress, this trick never fails!"
Mu Qiu didn't dare casually scold Gu Han, but she had no such courtesy toward Ding Cáirén, who had nearly collided with her mistress. She said with disgust:
"Madwoman! How dare you casually slander Her Majesty?!"
As the Empress and Gu Han's eyes met, she suddenly understood who was behind today's events.
Planting someone in Linhua Hall—she could indeed do it, but Gu Han could equally do it. Palace servant assignments all went through Zhongsheng Hall. Xie Chang'an was at Zhongsheng Hall. For Gu Han to hide musk in Linhua Hall was too simple.
Unfortunately, others didn't know this and would only overlook Gu Han.
She had been wrong. Since entering the palace, Gu Han had actually been quite well-behaved, rarely acting against others. She had assumed Gu Han had been too well-protected by her family, that even with some methods, she retained some kindness and wouldn't be able to act.
But today, she finally understood. It wasn't that Gu Han couldn't act, it was that previously, with the Emperor protecting her, she didn't need to dirty her hands.
Look—now, once she felt the Emperor unreliable, Gu Han immediately stood on her own, not caring whether her hands would be dirtied, even if it meant harming an unborn child, she would still take revenge.
The Empress's eyes deepened. And her word "lost" had made her suspicion paramount. Lu Yu couldn't ignore it either. He seemed somewhat weary:
"The Empress plotted to harm an imperial heir—an unforgivable crime. Confined to Kunning Palace until after giving birth to the child in her womb, then punishment shall be administered!"
As the words fell, Lu Yu looked at Gu Han.
Gu Han had no objection to this outcome. Ding Cáirén had already miscarried. The Emperor couldn't disregard another imperial heir, even if he wanted to, the court and the Empress Dowager wouldn't agree.
But Ding Cáirén couldn't accept this result. She looked at the Emperor in disbelief:
"Your Majesty! She killed my child!"
Lu Yu suddenly challenged her: "Then what would you have?"
"A life for a life! I want her to atone for my child's death!" Knowing it was impossible, Ding Cáirén still cried out these words. The Empress was only three months pregnant. By the time she gave birth, nearly seven more months would pass.
The time was too long. Who knew what would happen during that period!
If by then the Emperor had long forgotten today's events and only cared about the joy of the legitimate son, wouldn't her child have died in vain?
Ding Cáirén crawled on her knees toward the Emperor, grasping his sleeve. Her face was full of grief, looking at the Emperor with bitter pleading.
However, Lu Yu only lowered his eyes and bit by bit removed her hand.
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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