Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Zhen Huan Chronicles, An Ling Rong

“Stop joking. The late emperor wasn’t a fool. If the child wasn’t his, how could he not know?”

“Some things aren’t so easy to say!”

… It was a mess – a complete mess! The entire capital was full of scandalous gossip. Even if people did not want to listen, they could not avoid it. The rumors spread far too fast.

The Imperial Study!

“Bastards – who did this?!!”

The emperor flew into a rage and nearly smashed the entire Imperial Study.

“What is going on?”

His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Su Pei Sheng with a man-eating look. “How could there be a portrait of the Empress Dowager, and…” Trembling with fury, he pointed at the portrait labeled Long Ke Duo’s concubine Li Si’er. “Investigate! Find out the truth for me!

Where the hell is Xia Yi? Tell him to get in here!”

“This servant is here!”

Xia Yi came scrambling in and dropped to his knees. “Your Majesty, this servant learned the news and immediately sent men to investigate. All we know is that these portraits appeared suddenly, as if out of thin air. More than a dozen main streets had them scattered down, and it happened at the same time.

And at the time, no one saw anyone, and no one saw anyone make a move.”

“Ridiculous!”

The emperor roared, snatching up a teacup from the imperial desk and smashing it hard onto the floor. His furious voice echoed through the room. “How could there be no one? Would these things just appear out of thin air by themselves?

I don’t want to hear excuses. I want you to find the master mind. Arrest them all!”

“This servant obeys!”

“Get out. Out, right now. This instant!”

“This servant takes his leave!”

Xia Yi wished he could vanish on the spot. He left the Imperial Study as fast as he could.

“Damned beasts!”

Staring at the two portraits, the emperor’s eyes flashed with thick killing intent. He seized the two portraits and, with a vicious aura around him, strode toward Kang Shou Palace. The matter had not yet spread into the inner palace. At the very least, the Empress Dowager did not know about it.

When she saw the emperor walk in with a dark face, the Empress Dowager, who had been in a good mood, could not help feeling irritated.

“What is wrong with the emperor?”

“It seems the Empress Dowager still doesn’t know what happened.”

The emperor showed her no respect at all and flung the two portraits straight at her.

“Emperor!”

The Empress Dowager’s face changed sharply as anger rose. “Do you have any respect for this dowager at all?”

“Empress Dowager, look at those two portraits first.”

The emperor clenched his teeth. “I’d like to ask instead – do you and Long Ke Duo have any respect for Imperial Father and me?”

“Y-you… what nonsense are you spouting?”

The Empress Dowager suddenly felt a guilty panic. She could not even be bothered to stay angry. She quickly took the two portraits from Zhu Xi. The moment she saw them clearly, her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

Especially when she saw the words Long Ke Duo’s concubine Li Si’er, then looked at her own portrait from her younger years. Whether or not the portrait said Madam Uya, even if it did not write her clan name at all, anyone could recognize that it was her. Most importantly, she and Long Ke Duo’s concubine Li Si’er looked exactly the same. Th-this… Shocked and furious, her face flushed red as if her head were about to explode.

She suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood, crying in grief and rage, “How could he do this!”

“Empress Dowager!”

Zhu Xi turned pale and hurried to support the Empress Dowager as she nearly collapsed. The emperor watched his birth mother cough blood, and he was not worried at all. Instead, he felt nothing but suffocation and coldness. The Empress Dowager was not vomiting blood because Long Ke Duo had humiliated Imperial Father and him.

She was vomiting blood because she felt Long Ke Duo had betrayed her. Leaning weakly against Zhu Xi, the Empress Dowager met the emperor’s icy gaze and hatred stirred in her heart. So he really was a white-eyed wolf, raised without gratitude. He would not worry about her or feel pain for her.

Forcing down all kinds of emotions, the Empress Dowager asked faintly, looking drained, “What does the emperor plan to do?”

“What do I plan to do?”

The fire in the emperor’s heart flared again. He roared, “Does the Empress Dowager know that everyone outside – the whole capital – has seen these two portraits? Your little affair with Long Ke Duo is something everyone knows now. Do you know that everyone outside is questioning whether I, the Sixth Prince, and the Fourteenth Lord might be Long Ke Duo’s sons?

My bloodline is being questioned, and you’re asking me what I plan to do? I should be asking you – did you ever put Imperial Father in your eyes at all…”

“N-no… how could this happen?”

Only now did the Empress Dowager understand what had happened. Her face was full of disbelief as she shrieked, “Who is trying to destroy this dowager…” Her cry cut off abruptly. The Empress Dowager fainted from rage. Kang Shou Palace fell into complete chaos.

The emperor, furious enough to kill, did not stay. He flicked his sleeve and left…. The consorts in the harem soon learned of it. Everyone was shocked and stunned, but they all kept their mouths shut and did not dare mention a single word.

Of course, the happiest person was Li Si Qi. When she heard the Empress Dowager not only vomited blood but even fainted, she felt deeply satisfied. That old woman – back then, her son had been taken away and sent to Consort Tong to be raised. She should have known long ago how much she hated Consort Tong for that.

She had been soaked by the rain herself and tasted that pain and bitterness. Yet now that she sat high above, she still did the disgusting thing of snatching other people’s children. What made her even more hateful was that, back then, even though Consort Tong raised her son, she still gave her the rank of Noble Lady as compensation. But now, when she made a move, she not only wanted to steal the child – she wanted to kill the child’s birth mother too.

It showed that the Empress Dowager’s viciousness ran in her bones. Otherwise, she would not have indulged the Empress all this time – that distant “niece” who had no real connection at all – in harming her own bloodline grandsons.

“Mistress, both the Empress and the Empress Dowager have fallen.”

Little Teapot said, “The harem will be quiet for a while. But the portrait incident will definitely affect the emperor. Did we make too big of a commotion this time?”

“This is nothing.”

Li Si Qi looked disdainful. “That dog emperor fought his way through the Nine Princes struggle. If he can’t even control something like this, he might as well stop sitting on the throne.”

“Mistress doesn’t care, but the emperor is having a terrible headache over it. The late emperor and he have both lost face.”

“It’s just losing face.”

Li Si Qi answered calmly. “What emperor’s background isn’t doubted? Besides, whether the royal scandal is true or false, no one will use it as an excuse to rebel. As long as no one rebels, it’s nothing to the emperor.”

“That’s true!”

… The emperor was still seething with rage, so he naturally had no interest in going to the harem. Who would have thought Consort Hua chose this moment to give birth. When the news came, the three mistresses of Yan Xi Palace did not go in person. Each of them sent their personal nanny as a representative.

The other consorts all went in person. The Empress, looking unwell, appeared at Yi Kun Palace with Qian Qiu supporting her. When they saw the Empress’s pale face, like a sick person’s, the consorts could not help jumping in fright. These days the Empress had excused morning greetings, and no one expected her to be so seriously ill.

“This concubine pays respects to the Empress.”

“Rise.”

The Empress forced a stiff smile and instructed, “Consort Hua is giving birth. We will wait here.”

“Yes!”

The consorts waited obediently. Before long, Consort Hua’s painful cries sounded from the birthing room. The consorts could only wait patiently. After who knew how long, sudden chaos erupted inside.

“Catch her – catch her!”

“She wants to harm Her Highness and the little prince! Catch her!”

“No, this servant didn’t! It wasn’t me…”

“You filthy bitch, you dared harm Her Highness! You’re looking for death!”

… The messy voices made everyone outside understand that something had happened in the birthing room.