Translator: Jalyss
Editor: Odyssey
Chapter 37
Consort De, no, she should be called Imperial Concubine Wu now. When Imperial Concubine Wu heard Kangxi’s decree, her eyes widened in disbelief. After a long while, her mind went blank. She lay there by the bed in a daze.
She slowly let go of Yinzuo’s hand, and sat on the ground with a limp body. She was unable to hide her emotions anymore.
A series of blows came one after another. Imperial Concubine Wu lost her composure. She couldn’t believe that she had fallen to such a point. She covered her face in a daze. It was as if she was in a nightmare and she couldn’t wake up no matter what. She could only keep struggling and fall into a deep swamp.
What did she hear?
Yinzuo… Yinzuo was still unconscious, and the emperor unexpectedly made him Prince Rong’s successor. Prince Rong was the son of Empress Xiaoxian, that short-lived ghost who died before his first birthday!
No, it was impossible.
A successor, inheriting… How could such a ridiculous thing happen?
Little Six was her lifelong hope. How could he be someone else’s son? How could he not recognise her as his mother or the emperor as his imperial father?!
In the palace, she and Yinzuo would depend on each other for life.
Imperial Concubine Wu couldn’t imagine Yinzuo leaving her. She gritted her teeth. It took her great perseverance to not faint.
Yinzuo was her darling. She would rely on him for the rest of her life. Without him, what was the use of planning with all her heart? It was not like making a wedding dress for someone else!
The fourth prince was no longer her child! Moyaqi’s body was weak and she had to take good care of her… No matter how noble and favoured a princess was, what was the use of one?
She only had Yinzuo.
Imperial Concubine Wu’s eyes were bloodshot. She no longer cared about her demotion, venting her anger on others, or questioning the source of the sachet.
She called out to the emperor sadly. She staggered to her knees, grabbed Kangxi’s clothes tightly, and said hysterically and incoherently, “Your Majesty, the imperial doctor said that Yinzuo will be fine. He will be fine! You have punished this concubine, and this concubine accepts this, but Yinzuo is so young. How can you be willing to make him the successor… Yinzuo is only four years old. How will he live in the future when he leaves his imperial father and mother?!”
Kangxi waved away Imperial Concubine Wu’s grip with a flick of his hand. He looked at her and his tone was calm but cold. “Little Six will still be raised in the palace, and he will still call Us imperial father. He will continue to eat and wear the same things as the other princes. Except for the modification of his genealogy in the imperial records, and the matter of changing his title, there will be no other changes.”
His implication was that once the imperial decree was issued, there was no room to return to his former standing!
Imperial Concubine Wu let go weakly, her face pale. She opened her mouth mechanically. Her heart was swept by a wave of despair. She had hit a dead end and didn’t think of trying to change the outcome.
The sixth prince had suffered a lot at a young age. The fighting within the harem was not unrelated to the existence of Imperial Concubine Wu. With the imperial decree, the four-year-old could successfully escape from the treacherous mess of the harem and stay away from all the plotting. He could be safe and smooth. Was this outcome not because of the emperor’s loving fatherly heart?
In addition, after being poisoned, it didn’t matter what the aftermath was. Nobody would dare to be negligent.
— Yinzuo was already Second Rank Prince Rong and everyone in the palace, except the crown prince, should treat him courteously. In the future, when he made great achievements, or when the new emperor ascended the throne, he could always be a prince of first rank…
Yun Xiu gathered up her cloak, looked at the sleepy toddler on the bed, lowered her eyes, and was lost in thought.
The reality and her dream had split and were running in different directions. Yinzuo survived and Consort De also suffered bitterly. She had been deprived of her title and put under house arrest for two months.
It was all retribution.
Imperial Concubine Wu sounded ten thousand times better than Consort De!
She suppressed the joy in her heart. She then caught a glimpse of her restless older son from the corner of her eye. Yinqi was wringing his fingers and looking at her secretly. His black eyes were moist. “Mother, your son is wrong.”
After crying just now, Yun Xiu leaned ‘weakly’ on the soft chair. She held Yinqi’s hand, coaxed him, and wiped his red rabbit eyes.
What thoughts could he have had as a small child? Yinqi discovered what was wrong with Yinzuo, and then told the crown prince. He was nothing but sincere in his actions and she knew this.
She didn’t blame Little Five for saving Yinzuo, but…
When she saw the tearful Yinqi who looked extremely wronged, Yun Xiu was angry, hurt, and felt it was a bit funny. She pinched his ears, but she didn’t use any strength at all. She whispered, “You were capable. You obviously saved Little Six, but she attacked you from the beginning, so you couldn’t respond! In the end, mother stood up for you. Are you ashamed?”
Yinqi was stunned again.
When he looked at his majestic mother, he forgot to shed tears. He muttered and choked out a few words. “Mother, you are pretending to cry.”
Yun Xiu: “…”
The angry Consort Yi snorted. She didn’t plan to talk to this unlucky child any more.
Fortunately, this unlucky kid finally came to admit his mistake now!
She deeply reflected on herself.
Even Little Five, who was well-behaved, still had to be taught when the time came.
Yun Xiu suppressed the smile on her lips. She asked him in a low voice, “So you also know that you are wrong. Where did you go wrong?”
Yinqi racked his brains for a while. When he was about to answer, Imperial Concubine Wu suddenly developed an unprecedented strength. She got up and rushed towards Yun Xiu.
Her frighteningly white face was filled with intense hatred. Her hands were twisted into claws. They were aimed at Yun Xiu’s neck, and she was about to scratch her—
Wen Yuan turned pale with shock, and shouted, “Consort!”
Yun Xiu looked at the disheveled woman indifferently. She showed a sarcastic smile and did not show the slightest bit of fear.
Kangxi didn’t initially notice it in time. It was too late to react. In an instant, his phoenix eyes were so black that one couldn’t see the bottom. He angrily yelled, “Mrs. Wuya! Servant!”
Fortunately, Wet Nurse Dong and Wen Yuan were standing in front of her. They narrowly blocked Imperial Concubine Wu’s movements. Then, palace maids and eunuchs swarmed over. They grabbed Imperial Concubine Wu in a hurry. For a while, it was absolutely chaotic.
…
The empress dowager hurried over with the help of Wet Nurse Qian. When she stepped into the hall, she saw this scene play out.
Shocked and stunned, she said loudly, “Stop—”
The empress dowager could not speak Chinese. She spoke Mongolian every day. After being married into the palace for so many years, she naturally knew some Manchu. Therefore, at least communication was not a problem.
She made a sound of anger. The next moment, the palace servants let go of Imperial Concubine Wu, and the servants of Yuqing Palace knelt down. “Your servant pays respects to the Empress Dowager…”
Kangxi looked at Yun Xiu with worry, then strode out. “Imperial mother, why are you here?”
“The revered elder missed Little Six, so she sent Us over to have a look.” The empress dowager suppressed her anger and said loudly, “If We had not come, Yinqi would have been bullied to death! And Baocheng, this is Baocheng’s Yuqing Palace!”
The empress dowager was honest and kind. She was not a strong person, although she was the official wife of his father, she was highly respected by Kangxi.
She didn’t have the prestige of the great empress dowager. She was always smiling, entertaining her grandchildren, cultivating birds and flowers, and rarely got involved in the affairs of the harem. Over the years, she had almost never been angry.
Now the empress dowager was angry. This caused the palace servants to kneel down. Kangxi quickly supported her. and blamed himself. “Imperial mother, it was Our negligence…”
“Yinzuo was involved in an accident and the palace is in chaos. We understand.” The empress dowager sighed. Then, her gaze fell on the embarrassed Imperial Concubine Wu. She pointed at her and said angrily, “Consort De, even if the sixth prince is unconscious, this is not a place for you to mess around!”
When the empress dowager said ‘Consort De’, it was a sharp sword that pierced straight into Imperial Concubine Wu’s heart.
She finally couldn’t hold on any longer, and fell on the ground, passing out.
When Kangxi saw this, he was full of anger and had nowhere to vent it. He said repeatedly, “Okay, okay. Someone come and take Mrs. Wuya back to Yonghe Palace. You follow her and make sure she is cured of her madness!”
The word “cure” was emphasised by the emperor, which had a rather sinister feeling. The imperial doctor who was named shrank like a quail. After hearing the emperor’s words, he took the order while trembling. He carried the medicine box on his back and fled.
Yun Xiu nodded lightly to Wen Yuan. Wen Yuan understood. She walked quickly to Wet Nurse Qian, who was serving the empress dowager, and whispered something in a low voice.
Wet Nurse Qian restrained her surprise. She immediately reported it to the empress dowager. The empress dowager was stunned for a moment. After a long time, she sighed. “That’s fine, that’s fine.”
If Little Six survived the catastrophe, good days would be sure to come…
“Yinqi, it’s boring here. Go back to Yikun Palace with your mother, and play with Little Nine for a while. Don’t you need to eat?” She turned her head to talk to Yinqi. She then said a few caring words out of concern for Yun Xiu, and then finally took the crown prince’s hand. “Good child, you must be tired. We will look after Yinzuo. You should go rest!”
Yun Xiu smiled softly, glanced at the emperor, and then gave her respects.
“We will ask Liang Jiugong to follow you, and We asked the imperial doctor to come and take a look.” Kangxi’s face softened a little, and he turned to look at the palace servants. “Serve carefully. Don’t slack in the slightest…”
Liang Jiugong took the lead. After a while, the hall returned to silence.
The empress dowager took a few steps forward and touched Yinzuo’s hot forehead. She stopped mentioning Imperial Concubine Wu and sighed again.
“That poisonous sachet…”
“Imperial mother, We have already sent someone to investigate. We will just wait for Yinzuo to wake up.” Kangxi said in a low voice with murderous intent in his eyes, “Little Six should know where the sachet came from.”
The empress dowager clasped her hands together, nodded slightly, and recited a sentence of a Buddhist prayer. “The one with such hatred actually put their hands on a prince.”
While she was speaking, Yinzuo opened his eyes in a daze. He saw a hazy figure and subconsciously clutched the clothes on his chest. “Liu…Wet Nurse Liu…” The movements of his eyes dimmed a lot.
—The sixth prince, no, Prince Rong was awake?!
***
As early as when the crown prince summoned the entire imperial hospital, the concubines and young masters of the harem got the news. Shock and speculation pervaded. They suddenly noticed the signs of a storm coming, and their hearts were filled with suspicion.
Consort De, who gave birth less than two days ago, went to Yuqing Palace. Consort Yi, who had not finished the confinement period, also went to Yuqing Palace. Even the empress dowager got up in a hurry!
As for Consort Rong… Because of the third prince, she understood the general situation, so she was quite calm. Consort Hui had already sent people to inquire several times, and even the eldest prince had no time to comfort her, so she went back and forth with a sullen face. She ended up pacing around the palace.
If there was one person who did care about this matter and was looking forward to it, it would be the imperial noble consort who was about to come back to Chengqian Palace.
A few hours passed. The two imperial decrees were made known to the six palaces.
Consort De was demoted to the position of Imperial Concubine. Her title was taken away. The sixth prince would be the successor of Prince Rong and gained the title Second Rank Prince.
When the imperial noble consort heard this, she was shocked for a long time. She then covered her mouth and laughed. “Imperial Concubine Wu. Mrs. Wuya!”
Imperial Concubine Wu! That bitch finally got what was coming.
After laughing, she quickly restrained the smile on her lips and murmured, “It’s not the sound of the funeral bell. What a fate…”
The whispers were full of unwillingness. They finally scattered into nothing and melted into the wind.
Outside the palace, Suo Etu stopped grinding ink. His complexion softened at first, then turned blue again.
Thousands of plots, miscalculations, and oversights… It was the crown prince who extended a helping hand, and by coincidence, his plan was ruined!
Although the ending was not satisfactory, the sixth prince was going to inherit the title, so his worries were finally settled.
When he thought about it this way, after hearing what the crown prince had done, Suo Etu raised his hand and slapped them heavily on the table.
“Your Highness is confused!”
——————
The author has something to say:
Small theater:
Yun Xiu cried until the pear blossoms rained down and Kangxi was very distressed.
Crown Prince: Wow, We have learned something.
Little Five: Wow, mother is pretending to cry
…
Yinqi, danger!
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Bubble Tea Translations 
Well, what did she expect when she first schemed against an unborn baby
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