Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Zhen Huan Chronicles, An Ling Rong

“Replying to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager!” Her Majesty the Empress lowered her eyes and answered blandly, “This consort heard it.”

“Since you heard it, don’t do anything that will disappoint the emperor and this Dowager.” Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s tone was somewhat stern. “Back in the prince’s manor, you could do as you pleased. This Dowager couldn’t be bothered to care. Now you’re already in the palace. Whatever you do, weigh it carefully. You’d better not do what you shouldn’t do.”

“This consort understands.” Her Majesty the Empress controlled her slightly trembling hands.

She answered in as calm a tone as she could. “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has misunderstood. This consort has done nothing. Otherwise, how could so many consorts have become pregnant?”

“Hmph, is that so?” Her Majesty the Empress Dowager did not believe it. “It’s best if what the Empress says is true. The palace should add a few more imperial princes.”

“Yes, this consort understands.” “Go back.” “This consort takes her leave!”

Her Majesty the Empress rose and gave a salute. Supported by Jian Qiu, she withdrew from the great hall. After watching her leave, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager could not help sighing softly. “I hope she truly thinks it through and stops doing sinful things.”

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. You’re watching her.” Zhu Xi stepped forward to serve as she spoke. “Her Majesty the Empress is a filial person. She will certainly listen to Your Majesty’s arrangements.”

“It would be best if she truly listened.” Thinking of all the children over these years – pregnant, then lost, pregnant, then lost – Her Majesty the Empress Dowager felt sick at heart. Perhaps the emperor did not want to think too deeply and never considered that only a serious investigation could find the real culprit.

But Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, the champion of palace warfare, had seen every kind of method. How could she fail to see the tricks in it? Now, right under her nose, the Empress was still making little moves against the consorts in the inner palace. How could those actions possibly fool the previous generation’s palace-intrigue master?

“With Your Majesty guiding her, Her Majesty the Empress definitely won’t go wrong,” Zhu Xi said. “Let’s hope so!”

… Yan Qing Hall. Consort Duan had been sitting for an entire day. She still wore a vacant, dazed expression. It was as if she had become a statue – sitting without moving at all, making people worry.

“Your Highness.” Ji Xiang could not bear to watch any longer and stepped forward to persuade her. “Eat a little something, alright? Your body won’t be able to endure this.”

“Ji Xiang.” Consort Duan finally spoke, murmuring a sentence. “I heard wrong. This consort must have heard wrong, right?”

“Your Highness, why deceive yourself?” Looking at the mistress who refused to accept reality, Ji Xiang was helpless. “The news is truly correct. And the emperor, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, and Her Majesty the Empress have all given rewards to the consorts who are with child. Including Consort Hua!”

“No… it can’t be.” Consort Duan shook her head, still unwilling to believe the fact she could not accept. “How could she, Nian Shi Lan, be pregnant? Impossible. Absolutely impossible…”

“It can.” Ji Xiang forced herself to say it. “Right now, the entire inner palace knows Consort Hua is pregnant.”

“No. Absolutely not. Absolutely can’t…”

Unable to accept it, Consort Duan broke down crying. “Anyone can be pregnant, but she, Nian Shi Lan, cannot! She can’t! Heaven, how can you treat this consort like this…!”

“Your Highness!” Ji Xiang felt unbearable pain and bitterness. She could not help feeling sorrow as well. She felt her mistress’s fate was truly too bitter.

Master and servant cried for quite a while. As the sobbing gradually faded, Consort Duan quickly regained a calm mind. Consort Duan wasn’t called “One-Bar Battery” for nothing. In the end, being the one who laughed last and becoming Imperial Noble Consort was absolutely not because she clung to Zhen Huan’s coattails.

It was because she planned her way there step by step.

“Ji Xiang.” Consort Duan wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and ordered, “The palace has happy news. When you have time, pass word down. Tell the people below to keep their eyes on every place at all times. Don’t miss any other information.”

Ji Xiang answered, “Yes, this servant understands.” “This consort wants to see whether they can keep the children in their bellies.” “…” Ji Xiang did not dare respond. She sneaked a glance at her mistress and stood quietly.

“Nian Shi Lan has a child?” Cold light flickered in Consort Duan’s eyes as she continued muttering to herself. “Her having a child is the biggest joke. It’s the royal family’s biggest joke…”

Jing Ren Palace. Her Majesty the Empress was practicing calligraphy. The character “Calm” looked murderous. Each stroke seemed to turn into blades, ready to burst from the paper and slice off heads.

After setting down the brush, Her Majesty the Empress looked at it carefully. Then she turned and left the study. She walked to the couch in the inner hall and sat down.

“Your Majesty, the bird’s nest and lotus seed soup just finished simmering.” Jian Qiu brought it forward, smiling as she offered it. “Your Majesty, have a few bites to tide yourself over.”

“This Empress isn’t hungry at all.” Her Majesty the Empress took the bowl. She stirred it lightly with the spoon.

A faint trace of mockery seeped into her tone. “Every time this Empress returns from Kang Shou Palace, even if this Empress doesn’t eat for three days and three nights, this Empress still won’t feel hungry.”

“Your Majesty, why make yourself suffer?” Jian Qiu said with heartache. “The Empress Dowager is the Empress Dowager, and Your Majesty is Your Majesty. How could Her Majesty the Empress Dowager know Your Majesty’s suffering?”

“Yes, how could she understand this Empress’s pain?” Hatred flashed in the Empress’s eyes as she spoke softly. “This Empress has no child. How do they deserve to have children? This Empress absolutely will not allow them to give birth to children.”

“Your Majesty need not worry.” Jian Qiu answered softly. “They have no fortune and can’t keep their own children. That isn’t Your Majesty’s fault.”

“Yes, they’re all people with no fortune.” The chill in Her Majesty the Empress’s eyes did not lessen. “Noble Lady Bo Er Ji Ji Te – the palace and the outside are both watching her. This Empress won’t move against her for now. As for Consort Hua… “What she gives birth to might not even be human. This Empress can let her be happy for a few days first. The remaining ones are Noble Lady Fu Cha and Noble Lady Shen.

“They’re young, they don’t understand anything, and they’re new to the palace. They surely don’t have much fortune on them. It won’t be easy for them to keep their children.”

“Your Majesty is right,” Jian Qiu said casually. “Winter is almost here. When it’s all ice and snow, who knows what accidents might happen.”

“Mhm.” Her Majesty the Empress was satisfied. She drank three mouthfuls of the bird’s nest and lotus seed soup in a row. “We’ll see whose luck is worse.”

… Sui Yu Pavilion. Zhen Huan thought of Sister Mei’s face, filled with happiness. Without realizing it, her right hand touched her belly.

“My lady.” Liu Zhu came in carrying mung bean cakes, her tone tinged with grievance. “The Imperial Kitchen only gave one portion of snacks, and it’s the most ordinary mung bean cakes. They didn’t even send the lotus starch osmanthus sugar cakes that my lady likes best.”

“The people in the Imperial Kitchen have really been getting more and more perfunctory with us lately.” Huan Bi had always been unable to endure this kind of grievance, and she could not help complaining. “Next time, if we want to eat something, we’ll probably have to use silver to trade for it.”

“Enough.” Zhen Huan reached out, picked up a mung bean cake, and ate it. “Don’t argue with the people in the Imperial Kitchen. If you want to eat something, just use silver to trade for it. This lady isn’t so poor she can’t afford to keep you.”

“My lady, the snacks every day are part of what comes with your rank. Why should we still have to use silver to trade for them?” Huan Bi looked indignant. “Are we going to have to use silver to trade for food from now on? If my lady got pregnant too, that would be great. The snacks from the Imperial Kitchen are all being provided to the pregnant consorts first now.”

“It’s not that easy.” Zhen Huan instantly lost her appetite. She could no longer eat the mung bean cake in front of her.

She pushed the snacks toward them. “Take them and split them. Fill your stomachs first. Later, we’ll go request the meal.”