Translator: Jalyss
Editor: Odyssey
Chapter 57
Liang Jiugong quickly led Wan Yue into the main hall. There was no trace of surprise on her delicate face. She had a rough understanding of the situation.
With the arrival of Wan Yue, countless pairs of eyes fell on her.
Wan Yue’s heart was calm, but her steps were slightly hesitant, and her face showed a little fear. She knelt on the ground, first greeted her masters, and then whispered, “It’s true.”
Cining Palace fell into silence again, and an uneasy atmosphere brewed and filled the air. This atmosphere smothered the extremely shocked Consort Hui.
March 27th? Did the hospital have records?
How was this possible!
“Anyone can take the ointment. The master and the servant have joined forces to implicate Us. What if someone in Yongshou Palace fell and was injured, or Noble Lady Liang herself was injured?” She was filled with hatred and anger in her heart. She calmed down, closed her eyes, and said with tears in her eyelashes, “A child as young as Yinsi doesn’t understand anything and is easily instigated by all of you. Nowadays, right can be called wrong, and wrong can be right… If you insist on making false accusations, what can We do?”
Consort Hui said this frankly and gritted her teeth, hoping that the revered elder and the emperor would find out that she was wronged.
She didn’t know anything about the bruises. She was clearly being plotted against!
This clear conscience made it difficult for people to judge for a while. Even the angry great empress dowager felt a little hesitant in her heart.
Wan Yue was an old servant who had served the noble consort personally before entering the palace. She had been a palace maid for many years and had seen many problems.
Recalling the noble consort’s instructions to her before leaving, Wan Yue knelt on the ground, kowtowed again, looked at Consort Hui, and said calmly, “Consort Hui, even if this servant had the courage, this servant would not dare to frame Consort Hui. Because the eighth prince is young, the noble consort specially ordered me to take an ointment with mild medicinal properties to nourish and rejuvenate the skin. May this servant ask how adults apply it?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Noble Lady Liang wiped her red and swollen eyes and said softly, “If the Consort doesn’t believe it, just go to the box at the end of this concubine’s bed and find out! Half of the medicine has been used, and there is half left. The imperial doctor will check. You’ll know if it’s true or false.”
The crown prince held Yinsi’s hand and suddenly felt angry.
Only half of the medicine was left…
Those insolent slaves! How dare they!
Kangxi said calmly, “Go to the imperial hospital to check the records and call the imperial doctor on duty. In addition, get the medicine from Noble Lady Liang’s bedroom.”
At this time, no one dared to waste a moment. Liang Jiugong glanced at the little eunuch, who was running errands for him ran out of the palace door as if there was a ghost chasing him.
Soon, the imperial doctor on duty arrived panting, and handed the records and ointment to the emperor.
After finally catching his breath, the imperial doctor carefully opened the lid, came forward and smelled it carefully, then dipped his index finger in a little. He pondered for a long time, and said, “Reporting to Revered Elder and His Majesty, it looks like the ointment has solidified for at least half a year. If this doctor’s predicition is correct, this substance is warm in nature and is specially used to treat trauma in young children. Because young children’s skin is tender, it will not cause irritation…”
Hearing this, Consort Hui’s eyes darkened, and she felt that the situation was over. Her nails dug deeply into her flesh.
How could this be?
Was Yinsi really injured?
But why didn’t the nanny come to report it?!
She almost wanted to vomit blood, and her eyes wanted to kill those unscrupulous servants. Those bitches!
Consort Hui didn’t know this, but the nanny in the lead trembled all over.
Like a bolt from the blue, she finally remembered what happened around March 27th.
That day, the eldest prince carried the eighth prince in his arms and happily told the Consort that he had surpassed the crown prince in riding and shooting…and then, he held the eighth prince’s waist against corner of the table for at least half an hour!
That night, she checked the eighth prince’s lower back. It was undamaged. Under the light, she could only see a slight green color. It was far from the point where medicine was required, so she no longer took it to heart.
In the next three days, she only wiped the hands and feet for the young master, but did not wipe his body again…
Was it possible that the eighth prince’s injury worsened the next few days?
…
The nanny immediately stopped complaining.
What should she do? Should she tell the truth to the emperor and clear herself of the charges, and say that the eldest prince’s negligence caused all this?
No, it could not be done.
Now she was the only one who would be dead. If she implicated the eldest prince, Consort Hui would not let go of her relatives outside the palace.
The nanny’s face turned pale, and the words ‘the eldest prince’ were stuck in her throat. She finally swallowed them.
“This servant is guilty.” She slumped down and murmured, “This servant pleads guilty… This servant shouldn’t have been negligent… shouldn’t have been…”
…
There were witnesses, physical evidence, and the nanny had confessed. Now that this had happened, the great empress dowager could not help but not believe it.
If the noble consort and Noble Lady Liang joined forces to plot against Consot Hui, why would they wait until seven or eight months before revealing the matter?
How could they expect that Yinsi would disappear today?
All these coincidences collided in one place today. They were no longer merely coincidences.
Moreover, the medicine could not be faked in any way, nor could the files of Imperial Hospital. When the great empress dowager thought of this, she became sullen and stopped turning her prayer beads. Slight fatigue appeared on her old face. “Consort Hui, you are confused.”
The disappearance of the eighth prince was already a big deal, but who would have thought that Yinsi would be treated like this by an unsrupulous servant. Even if Noble Lady Liang had a lowly background, and Yinsi was raised by Consort Hui since he was born, he was also a noble prince, and he should not tolerate being bullied like this by his subordinates!
As his adoptive mother, how could she be indifferent to Little Eight and not control the people around her?
Kangxi was silent for a long time, with a storm brewing in his eyes. The emperor had already looked like this when Wan Yue testified.
At that moment, he looked deeply at Consort Hui and sighed. “What a loving mother. Needless to say, about how you treat Yinti, you also take good care of Moyaqi and cared about her matters. But what about Yinsi? Just because he has been living in Yanxi Palace for a long time, you can just let him go and let the servants bully him?”
Kangxi did not reprimand her, but his disappointment was palpable. Consort Hui suddenly felt panicked.
As long as the emperor still remembered her merits… As long as she could keep Yinsi…
She took a deep breath, tried her best to maintain her usual dignity. She smiled bitterly, and said, “Your Majesty, it’s all this concubine’s fault! This concubine has been busy with palace affairs recently, and this concubine held the fifth princess’ one month ceremony. This concubine is exhausted, so this concubine neglected Little Eight for a while and didn’t realise that those despicable servants were at work…”
She said sadly, with a look of shame on her face. She then leaned down and said, “You should adminster punishment.”
Yun Xiu flipped the aqua blue clothes and smiled. Consort Hui used this trick very skillfully.
But being skilled didn’t mean that it woud be effective. If it backfired, would it be worth the loss?
Seeing Kangxi’s sullen face and his eyes becoming more and more disappointed, the great empress dowager sighed and spoke first.
“Since you are busy with palace affairs, We suppose you don’t have time to take care of Yinsi. Emperor, let Us make the decision to let Noble Lady Liang temporarily raise Yinsi. The mother and son will move out of Yanxi Palace and temporarily live in the side hall of Cining Palace. What do you think?”
The fact that the word ‘temporary’ was used twice almost clearly indicated that Noble Lady Liang would be promoted to Imperial Concubine in the near future.
Even if it was against the rules now, no one would object to the instructions given by the great empress dowager. Only Consort Hui wanted to object, but she did not dare to speak. She could only swallow the bitter pill with a pale face.
Yun Xiu was a little surprised to hear this.
It was within her expectations that the eighth prince would be looked after by his biological mother, but them moving to the side hall of Cining Palace… It may be a good thing for the eighth prince, but it may not be a good thing for Noble Lady Liang.
The great empress dowager lived in Cining Palace. If the emperor wanted to summon Noble Lady Liang, he must first get through the great empress dowager.
She raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Noble Lady Liang.
Those foggy almond eyes were full of satisfaction and surprise, and there was no trace of reluctance. Yun Xiu looked at her for a long time and suddenly realised, no wonder the noble consort had sought her out. She had such a temperament.
Like Imperial Concubine Cheng, her heart and eyes were full of her son, but Imperial Concubine Cheng was stronger, and Noble Lady Liang was softer.
Noble Lady Liang in her dream, and later Consort Liang, Mrs. Wei, had always been a transparent person in the palace when the eighth prince was not in the spotlight. Later, when the eighth sage king came to power, he favoured his biological mother and promoted her from imperial concubine to consort. Yun Xiu had never heard of any negative about Mrs. Wei.
Noble Lady Liang had a beautiful life, but after the birth of the eighth prince, the emperor became indifferent to her. Later, after she was granted the title of Consort, Yun Xiu did not visit her.
Now, Noble Lady Liang was in her prime…
Thinking about this, Yun Xiu withdrew her gaze and looked at Kangxi. She took some time to relax, and felt as if she was watching a play.
…
it had been a long time since that dream, and Yun Xiu gradually became indifferent to the emperor’s favour. She was able to ignore the discomfort in her heart and no longer took it seriously.
As for the usual bouts of jealousy and occasional bouts of jealousy, she knew best in her heart how much of it was true and how much of it was false.
Would the emperor feel sorry for Noble Lady Liang?
—Unexpectedly, Kangxi’s face remained calm.
As if aware of Yun Xiu’s gaze, the emperor looked sideways and met her eyes again. The anger in his eyes disappeared slightly, and after a while, there was a slight smile.
That look seemed to imply that he had been waiting for her to look over at him. He then turned his head with satisfaction and straightened his face again.
Yun Xiu: “…”
After hearing the great empress dowager’s declaration, Kangxi nodded imperceptibly, and continued, “If you pass on the order, We will do as Revered Elder said.”
“Drag those despicable servants down and take them to the Department of Punishment.” As he spoke, he glanced at Consort Hui, who was pale and wilting, and said coldly, “Consort Hui, Mrs. Nala. For your poor control and neglecting your duties, you will be fined more than half a year as a warning. In addition, Little Ten is about to be a month old… You give the palace power to the Noble Consort to handle the palace affairs. This way, you won’t be overloaded. Are We right?”
After hearing the slight sarcasm in the emperor’s words, combined with the content of the punishment, Consort Hui felt a sense of forboding rush through her body.
The fine was nothing but a loss of face. But the handing over palace affairs to the noble consort… It was a disguised seizure of power!
The emperor finally became dissatisfied with her.
When Consort Hui thought that she had fallen into the noble consort’s plan today, and that without the help of Yinsi, she would not have to delegate power to her. Her heart was filled with anger, resentment, and hatred.
There was also Consort Yi, who was not receptive to her suggestions. Even if she tied Mrs. Guoluoluo to her side, Consort Hui was no longer happy.
How absurd was it for happy events follow tragic events immediately?
She forced a laugh and said, “Your Majesty is absolutely right. This concubine… will accept the punishment.”
After returning to the palace, Yun Xiu had lunch in a good mood. She was about to go to Yongshou Palace to share the morning pleasures with the noble consort . At that moment, Liang Jiugong quickly came to say hello.
“Steward Liang.” Yun Xiu saw that he was alone and didn’t have anyone with him. He didn’t look like he was here to deliver a reward, so she asked, “What is it?”
“The emperor is approving the papers, and sent this servant to Yikun Palace.” Liang Jiugong lowered his voice, with a complicated expression on his face. “This servant has a message to pass on…”
Hearing this, Yun Xiu straightened her expression. Wet Nurse Dong and the others held their breaths in awe and lowered their heads respectfully.
The emperor said—”
Liang Jiugong coughed, then suppressed the soreness of his teeth and read out, “We feel that Mrs. Wei is far inferior to you.”
——–
The author has something to say:
[Little Theater]
Emperor: Xiuxiu is looking at me! She must be jealous! Quickly, say something sweet to appease her.
Emperor: Why are you so pessimistic? We feel that this fickle behaviour can still be salvaged…
Liang Jiugong: Hehe.
<< Previous | Chapter Index | Next >>
Bubble Tea Translations 