Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Zhen Huan Chronicles, An Ling Rong

“Yes. She’s only the children’s birth mother, that’s all.”

The Empress Dowager suddenly had an idea, and her smile grew even brighter. “With her background, she really isn’t fit to raise dragon-phoenix twins. The Empress happens to have no children of her own. Royal dragon-phoenix twins can only be raised by the Empress.”… Yan Xi Palace.

The three mistresses nursed their injuries and their pregnancies, and their days passed in deep quiet. Several concubines who had miscarried were grief-stricken and devastated. In their hearts, they hated the master mind to the bone. Especially Zhen Huan and Shen Mei Zhuang, who waited for His Majesty to give them an explanation.

Concubine Jing and Noble Lady Xin were heartbroken over losing their children, but they gradually calmed down. They more or less guessed who the real culprit was. Precisely because they had guessed it, they felt utterly hopeless. They forced down the hatred in their hearts and could only lie low and recover in silence.

Compared to the bustle of the outer court, the inner palace seemed bleak and deserted. Days passed one after another. About half a month later, an imperial edict finally came out of the Imperial Study. Consort Qi had harmed the other concubines.

She was demoted to a commoner and thrown into the Cold Palace. The entire Li Clan was executed. Consort Duan of the Qi Clan had bribed palace maids and eunuchs and added fuel to the tragedy at Yi Mei Garden. She was demoted to a commoner and thrown into the Cold Palace.

The entire Qi Clan had their property confiscated and were exiled to Ning Gu Ta, with no pardon even if a general amnesty was declared! The moment this edict came out, both the outer court and the inner palace erupted in an uproar. After Consort Qi of the Li Clan received the edict, she fainted on the spot from fright. When Consort Duan received the edict, she looked utterly incredulous.

She had always shut her palace gates to recuperate and never went out, yet she had somehow become the scapegoat for the Yi Mei Garden tragedy. “Ji Xiang, I-I heard wrong, didn’t I?” Tears filled Ji Xiang’s eyes as she nodded. “Your Highness, you didn’t hear wrong.

Th-this is all real.”

“How could this be?” Consort Duan was overwhelmed with grief. Deep despair showed in her eyes. “Your Majesty, I was wronged!”

As she let out that wail-like defense, she spat a mouthful of blood. She looked as if her soul had been torn away, and she slowly collapsed.

“Your Highness, Your Highness!” Ji Xiang turned pale with terror. She lunged forward and caught her mistress, who had fainted while vomiting blood. “Someone, help! Hurry, someone! Her Highness has fainted-hurry, someone…!”

No matter how she screamed, not a single person appeared in Yan Qing Hall again. It was as if the entire Yan Qing Hall had been abandoned by everyone. Yi Kun Palace! Hua Consort lay on her bed, staring blankly for a long time.

“I never expected…” Hua Consort muttered to herself. “In the past, I was the one who took the blame for the Empress. Now it’s Consort Qi and Consort Duan. What about the future? Will it be that as long as that old hag Empress commits evil, the concubines in the palace will keep taking the blame for her? She sits high on the Empress’s throne, ruthless and vicious, murdering innocent children, and yet she still makes the concubines shoulder those crimes for her. Why? Just because she’s from the Ula Nara Clan?”

… Nanny Jiang and Song Zhi, who stood guard nearby, lowered their heads when they heard this. Some things a mistress could say, but they had no right to interrupt.

“Yes!” Hua Consort’s eyes revealed a crazed hatred. “That old hag Yi Xiu only has the Ula Nara surname. Otherwise, what right did she have to sit on the Empress’s throne? If the Ula Nara Clan and the Uya Clan hadn’t joined together, how could she possibly be the Empress Dowager’s clan niece? How could the Empress Dowager possibly shield her no matter what…?”

“Your Highness!” Nanny Jiang had no choice but to cut off her mistress’s muttering. In the palace, even if you knew the truth, some things still should not be said aloud.

“Nanny, I know I shouldn’t say this.” A tear slid down Hua Consort’s eye corner, and her voice was thick with hatred. “But I can’t do it. My child nearly left me again. You don’t know how scared I was-how terrified I was that I wouldn’t be able to keep this child. The imperial physician said that even though the child was saved, after he’s born, he’ll still be weak and sickly. That old hag Yi Xiu made me and my child suffer so miserably. I will never let her go for as long as I live!”

By the end, she was screaming out of control. Tears streamed down her face again.

“Your Highness, please don’t get worked up.” Song Zhi jumped in fright and could not help worrying. “Imperial Physician Jiang instructed Your Highness to control your emotions. You can’t have extreme joy or extreme sorrow. It will affect the little prince.”

“Right. I can’t be angry. I can’t be angry.” Hua Consort stroked her belly and hurried to rein in her emotions.

After taking several deep breaths, she spoke again. “I can’t let that poisonous woman Yi Xiu hurt my child again. After the child is born, I will settle the score with her…” A moment later, Hua Consort finally calmed down completely. She suddenly thought of someone and pressed, “Have you found that palace maid who knocked us down?”

“Your Highness, we found her.” Song Zhi replied, “She was a palace maid from Yi Mei Garden, named Yu Ying Er. By the time Zhou Ning Hai finished checking her background, she had already been taken to Jing Ren Palace.”

“As expected-she’s that poisonous Empress’s person!”

… Ting Xi Palace! “No wonder she’s the Empress Dowager.” Li Si Qi’s face showed a mocking smile. “She’s pretty slick at framing people and dumping blame.

If I didn’t already know who the real master mind was, I might actually believe the sacrificial pawns she pushed out were the true culprits.”

“She’s the champion of palace scheming. Tricks like this are nothing.” Little Teapot laughed. “Besides, using others to take the blame isn’t her first time. Master hasn’t forgotten that Consort Duan in Yan Qing Hall already took the blame for them once. This time, in order to make both the outer court and the inner palace believe the Yi Mei Garden culprit was found, she had no choice but to shove Consort Duan out again to take the blame together with Consort Qi. After Consort Duan received the edict, she was so angry she spat blood. On top of that, Hua Consort has tormented her for years. Now she’s lying in Yan Qing Hall, barely clinging to life. She probably won’t last many more days. She could die at any moment.”

“Serves her right!” Li Si Qi sneered. “Once she dared to betray Nian Shi Lan, the Empress Dowager and the emperor stopped treating her like anything. No one likes a traitor. Especially those in power. For subordinates who dare to stab their own people in the back for personal gain, they will never truly accept them or treat them as one of their own. Back then, Nian Shi Lan sincerely treated Qi Yue Bin like an older sister. Yet this ‘older sister’ knew that bowl of medicine had a problem, and she still chose to hand it to Nian Shi Lan with her own hands, causing her to lose a child she’d been carrying for months. That was enough to prove she was vicious too. Besides, the Empress Dowager couldn’t possibly not know she planted spies all over the palace. No matter how you look at it, she wasn’t innocent. In the past, she was willing to become a chess piece and strike at Nian Shi Lan. Now it’s only natural that this chess piece is tossed out again to take the blame. Betray once, and you’ll never be trusted again. She ended up like this, and it’s not worth pitying.”

“That’s true.” Little Teapot nodded in agreement. “If we’re talking about the most innocent person, it should be Consort Qi. This time she took the blame for the Empress, and she has no chance of turning things around again. It might even drag down her son.”

“She chose to rely on the Empress. That means she’s the Empress’s lackey.” Li Si Qi sneered. “A lackey is supposed to share the master’s burdens and solve the master’s problems. Since the Empress is in trouble, Consort Qi, as her lackey, naturally has to pay a price. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Consort Qi bore a son with the Empress’s permission. Now it’s time for her to repay the debt.”

“What Master says is reasonable.” Little Teapot mocked. “If the Empress didn’t think she was too stupid, Consort Qi and her son wouldn’t have survived until now.”

“Speaking of it, the Empress Dowager is still the most ruthless.” Li Si Qi’s gaze turned colder and colder as she continued. “She truly treats human lives like dirt. For the sake of her own interests, anyone can be sacrificed, even her own grandson. It’s precisely because she’s selfish, profit-driven, and utterly inhuman-because she’s indifferent to life-that she indulges the Empress to this point. So when it comes to the sins the Empress has committed, the Empress Dowager must bear at least half the responsibility.”