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Translator's note: Finally there are advance chapters availaible on Kofi
Chapter 124
No one from Chonghui Palace came.
After waiting a quarter hour, even after Lu Yu arrived, there was still no sign of Ling Zhāoróng. Gu Han reached this conclusion in her heart.
Gu Han's mood was somewhat complicated. She glanced at the Emperor's grim expression, thinking that if the Emperor knew the person he had never suspected—Ling Zhāoróng, was actually the one who hated the Empress most, she wondered what he would think.
But these matters had nothing to do with Gu Han. That Ling Zhāoróng had someone pass her a message—Gu Han herself had been quite surprised. Her thoughts couldn't help returning to half a month ago:
Jiu Si went to the imperial kitchen to fetch food as usual. Though given Gu Han's current imperial favor, the imperial kitchen would send a young eunuch to personally deliver meals, sometimes when Gu Han wanted extra dishes, Jiu Si had to make the trip herself.
Jiu Si was often at Yihe Palace and found it boring, so she never delegated the task of fetching food to others—after all, these were things Her Ladyship would be eating.
Entering the imperial kitchen, Jiu Si first ordered the dishes:
"...Lychee pork, seven-star fish ball soup, wine-braised spare ribs. Her Ladyship's appetite hasn't been good recently—please put in some effort, Eunuch."
The dishes Jiu Si mentioned were all ones Her Ladyship had picked at recently. Perhaps because she hadn't touched any fish during pregnancy, she now increasingly craved it, even fish ball soup tasted very fresh to her.
The imperial kitchen didn't dare neglect her. They had Jiu Si wait a moment while Imperial Chef Li personally rolled up his sleeves to work.
The imperial kitchen had planted a locust tree whose shade blocked the sun. Beneath it was a stone table. Jiu Si was led there to sit. But just as she sat down, she heard the kitchen eunuch obsequiously leading a palace maid in.
Jiu Si glanced over and discovered it was a palace maid from Chonghui Palace—Fu Ling.
Jiu Si pursed her lips. In her heart, Her Ladyship was naturally the best, but Ling Zhāoróng's status in the palace had always been special. Fu Ling's treatment was within expectations. Jiu Si collected her thoughts. After a moment, she heard footsteps approaching.
Fu Ling also sat by the stone table. Neither of them spoke.
Only when the eunuch came to summon Jiu Si did Fu Ling also rise with her. The two inadvertently bumped into each other. Jiu Si's expression changed slightly but quickly returned to normal. She frowned and glanced at Fu Ling.
Fu Ling looked apologetic: "I was thinking about something and thought he was calling me. Did I hurt you?"
Jiu Si didn't want to talk to her more:
"It's fine."
She was led away by the eunuch, but her hand in her sleeve was tightly clenched, as if gripping something.
Fu Ling glanced at her retreating figure, her eyes lowering listlessly. The message had been sent, but it couldn't make her feel any better.
Upon returning to Yihe Palace, Jiu Si handed that slip of paper to Gu Han, vividly describing everything that had happened at the imperial kitchen, then leaned in to ask:
"Your Ladyship, what did Ling Zhāoróng say?"
Gu Han only glanced once at the note before suddenly sitting up straight. After a long while, having finished reading all the information on the note, she directly took a candle flame and burned the paper.
Seeing this, Jiu Si immediately fell silent and asked nothing more.
Gu Han didn't say much to her either, only instructing: "Tell Xiao Fangzi, the people watching Kunning Palace don't need to continue."
Translator's Note: guys remember Xiao means ‘little’ in English. I noticed I have been using the both recently.
Jiu Nian didn't understand. Looking at the ashes of the burned note, she realized something:
"This servant will go at once."
Gu Han's eyes darkened as she glanced in Chonghui Palace's direction. She had once speculated whether the eldest prince's incident might have been Ling Zhāoróng's doing, but without evidence, she'd quickly abandoned that thought.
But today, the letter Ling Zhāoróng sent confirmed her speculation.
The note contained only a few short sentences, yet they were shocking to Gu Han. As for what Ling Zhāoróng said about eliminating a hidden threat for her, Gu Han didn't take it to heart at all. The hatred between Ling Zhāoróng and the Empress was irreconcilable.
That she wanted to drag the Empress down with her before dying was merely her taking revenge. Gu Han had no need to rush forward feeling this was a favor to her.
Ling Zhāoróng obviously knew this too. So she handed over all the network of connections she'd buried in the palace over the years, requesting only one thing—that after her death, within Gu Han's capabilities, she would look after the eldest princess.
Gu Han quickly realized this was a profitable deal.
If she were asked to raise the princess as her own, Gu Han would have hesitated several times. She had no hobby of raising other people's children. But merely looking after her? That didn't matter. She was an imperial princess to begin with and could enjoy wealth and honor.
Most importantly, what Ling Zhāoróng was entrusting was a princess. If it were a prince, Gu Han would never have agreed.
Gu Han agreed to Ling Zhāoróng's request. Though she didn't understand why Ling Zhāoróng wouldn't give this network to the young princess but instead made a deal with her, she'd clearly gotten the better end of the bargain and was too lazy to think about the reason.
Not only did she not understand, Fu Ling also didn't comprehend:
"Your Ladyship said you'd found a good place for the young princess, so why not leave this network to her?"
Ling Zhāoróng looked as if she'd heard something funny. After a bout of coughing, she laughed weakly several times:
"Why do you think they obey my commands?"
Fu Ling was momentarily speechless. Ling Zhāoróng answered for her: "Because I am Ling Zhāoróng."
The Emperor trusted her. Even though she wasn't favored in the palace, her status could be called transcendent. Those people obeyed her commands because they were seeking shelter under a great tree.
But once she was gone, what would the princess have?
Sickly, not knowing how long she could live—to stake their chips on an ignorant little girl, they'd have to be mad.
Zhao Xiūróng had ability, imperial favor, and imperial heirs. Only then would those people obey her commands. And this network was merely icing on the cake for Zhao Xiūróng, best to have it, but fine without it too.
Unlike others—if she gave this network to someone else, who knew if it would embolden that person to climb upward using other methods?
At that point, would that person still value the princess?
Ling Zhāoróng didn't want complications. She coughed and managed to sit up. Though speaking was difficult, her eyes were extraordinarily calm:
"Once the Empress is gone, Consort Shu will also lose her original purpose. At that time, only Zhao Xiūróng will dominate the harem. Even if newly selected ladies enter the palace next year, it won't change anything. Moreover, she's a smart person, she won't let herself fall into danger."
Ling Zhāoróng's breathing grew heavier. She murmured:
"...Ten years... only ten years..."
As long as Zhao Xiūróng could protect the princess for ten years, when the princess came of age and left the palace to establish her own household, then no matter how chaotic the harem became, it would have nothing to do with her princess.
She didn't want Zhao Xiūróng to raise the princess for this very reason, she couldn't put all her eggs in one basket.
...
Her thoughts returning, Gu Han heard palace servants say: "Physician Yu has arrived!"
Physician Yu was responsible for the Empress's pregnancy. No one understood the Empress's condition better than him. Gu Han finally focused her attention, placing all her concentration on the delivery room. As for Ling Zhāoróng?
Ling Zhāoróng wouldn't miss any opportunity.
Even if unexpected changes occurred now, Ling Zhāoróng had surely prepared comprehensive countermeasures.
It wasn't that Gu Han had confidence in Ling Zhāoróng—rather, she could only comfort herself this way now. Gu Han glanced at the delivery room, almost imperceptibly frowning. Not only her— Zhou Bin's expression was also very strange.
Suddenly, Gu Han felt someone tug at her sleeve. She looked sideways at Zhou Bin, who lowered her voice, somewhat hesitant:
"Why is there no sound?"
Gu Han pressed her lips together, not knowing how to answer. Since entering the palace, she had only experienced two harem births—once was Lady Yu, once was herself.
When Lady Yu gave birth, she'd screamed heart-rendingly. She herself had been the same. No matter how well she had taken care of herself during pregnancy, the pain of childbirth felt like her body was being split in two. Even though the nannies said shouting randomly would only waste strength, the pain in her bones made it impossible not to.
But now with the Empress giving birth, there wasn't a trace of sound from inside the delivery room.
Gu Han didn't think the Empress wasn't in pain. There was only one reason for such silence, the Empress had no strength to cry out in pain. Or perhaps she had no consciousness to feel the pain.
Whichever it was, in the current situation, it wasn't a good thing.
Inside Kunning Palace, everyone was uneasy. In the delivery room, Physician Yu had just taken the Empress's pulse when his legs went completely soft. The nannies in the delivery room didn't dare speak. After quite a while, someone finally asked:
"Her Ladyship has fainted—what should we do?"
The nanny's face looked mournful. If something happened to Her Ladyship, none of them would fare well.
What she didn't say was that given Her Ladyship's physical condition, even if she woke now, she might not have the strength to give birth. But such inauspicious words—she didn't dare speak them aloud.
The amniotic fluid had already broken. They couldn't delay the birth. Physician Yu wiped his face and directly used acupuncture to forcibly wake Her Ladyship.
The nannies also displayed their various abilities. Bucket after bucket of hot water and ginseng soup were continuously sent into the delivery room. The Empress woke, but her eyes remained unfocused. The midwife's hands were trembling. After a chaotic scramble, someone finally emerged from the delivery room trembling and fell to their knees with a thud:
"Your—Your Majesty... Her Ladyship's condition is very bad. If—if there's an emergency, then we servants must... preserve the mother or preserve the child..."
Everyone in the hall gasped in shock, covering their mouths with worried, shocked expressions. But what they actually thought in their hearts—no one truly knew.
Lu Yu's entire aura was terrifyingly oppressive. The nanny's cold sweat kept falling.
Consort Shu's eyes flickered slightly. She stepped forward, saying softly:
"Your Majesty must make a decision quickly!"
There was simply no time for Lu Yu to hesitate.
Lu Yu clearly knew the Empress's condition couldn't be good, otherwise the nanny wouldn't dare say such words. But Lu Yu couldn't possibly say to preserve the mother or preserve the child. He could only say grimly, word by word:
"I want both mother and child safe!"
The nanny returned to the delivery room with tears of despair. Actually, everyone knew the answer. As long as the Emperor didn't explicitly say to preserve the Empress, once a choice had to be made, they would certainly preserve the prince.
For a moment, everyone in the hall had somewhat off expressions. Lu Yu irritably flicked his sleeve. A teacup on the table was knocked by his sleeve and fell to the ground with a crash, rolling under Gu Han's skirt.
The cup still had tea in it, splashing and wetting Gu Han's hem. Lu Yu clearly hadn't expected this and frowned.
Gu Han stepped back to prevent the tea from further soiling her shoes and socks. She had already been holding Ze'er all day and had now been standing so long her legs were somewhat sore. Just as she moved, her body swayed unsteadily. Fortunately, Jiu Nian was quick to support her.
Lu Yu subconsciously spoke:
"Grant Zhao Xiūróng a seat."
An ill-timed command that made everyone's expressions vary.
Consort Shu subconsciously looked at the Emperor, gripping her handkerchief tightly, unable to believe in her heart these were words the Emperor would say. She pressed her lips and glanced at Gu Han.
Gu Han was obviously also taken aback. She stepped forward and bowed:
"The Empress's current condition is unclear. I'm worried and couldn't sit comfortably anyway."
The day the eldest prince had his incident, Gu Han had told him she hated the Empress terribly. How could she be worried about her?
The words were indeed false, but Gu Han's words also brought Lu Yu to his senses. Knowing this wasn't proper, he subconsciously glanced at Consort Shu, but quickly abandoned the thought of having Consort Shu sit as well. He stepped forward to help Gu Han up, no longer mentioning granting a seat.
But even so, Consort Shu had detected that moment's glance. She lowered her eyes, concealing the embarrassment that flashed through them.
---
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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