Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Zhen Huan Chronicles – An Ling Rong

Zhen Huan was carried back to Sui Yu Pavilion. Wen Shi Chu had already been waiting there for a long time. After a flurry of chaos, he finally got the chance to take her pulse and examine her.

“Your Highness, your leg injury will heal in a few days.” Wen Shi Chu lowered his voice. “I brought a bottle of medicinal wine. Rub it in every day, and you’ll recover faster.”

“Does she need to drink medicine?” Liu Zhu asked softly.

“I’ll prescribe some calming medicine,” Wen Shi Chu replied. “That way Your Highness can sleep peacefully at night.”

“All right. Thank you for the prescription, Imperial Physician Wen.”

“As I should.”

When he turned to leave, he still couldn’t help glancing at the figure on the bed. Unfortunately, her eyes were closed, and a flicker of disappointment passed through him. After he left, Zhen Huan finally opened her eyes, hatred written all over her face.

“Your Highness!” Jin Xi looked heartbroken. “It’s lucky it’s only a flesh wound. You’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

“I hate this!” Zhen Huan’s eyes reddened. “Noble Consort Hua and Consort Li have gone too far! I will never let them off!”

“Your Highness, heal first,” Jin Xi soothed gently. “We can plan everything else slowly.”

“Huan’er, Huan’er, how is she?” Shen Mei Zhuang’s voice came from outside.

She hurried in, worry in her tone. “Huan’er, is your leg badly hurt?”

“Sister Mei Zhuang!” Meeting her concerned gaze, tears overflowed in Zhen Huan’s eyes. “They bullied me too much.”

“Huan’er, you’re just too stubborn.” Shen Mei Zhuang sat beside her, helplessness on her face. “You know Consort Li is the shameless, reckless type. What’s the point of fighting her back and forth? And she’s thrown in with Noble Consort Hua. She has someone protecting her, so you’re the one who’ll suffer more easily. And now you’ve suffered, haven’t you? From now on, when you see Consort Li, go around her and don’t stoop to her level.”

“It’s not that I want to argue with her. She’s clearly doing it on purpose,” Zhen Huan said as tears slid down the corners of her eyes. “She’s set on opposing me. She won’t bully anyone else, she just won’t let me go.”

“She has no favor, and when she sees you being favored, it makes her miserable, so she looks for trouble,” Shen Mei Zhuang said softly. “And Noble Consort Hua backs her up. To keep this from happening again, Huan’er, don’t argue with her anymore.”

“No matter how you put it, it’s still them being arrogant and tyrannical.” The resentment in Zhen Huan’s eyes would not fade. “Sister Mei Zhuang, I can’t accept it. If I don’t swallow this anger, I can’t let it go.”

Shen Mei Zhuang froze for a moment. “Huan’er, what do you mean?”

“I want revenge.” Zhen Huan ground the words out. “Noble Consort Hua is someone I can’t touch right now, but I won’t spare Consort Li. Otherwise she’ll really think I’m easy to bully.”

“She has gone too far.” Shen Mei Zhuang nodded. “It’s fine to teach her a lesson. But it won’t be easy to deal with her. We have to think of a good way. We can’t let anyone suspect us.”

“Right. We’ll plan it carefully.” Zhen Huan wiped her tears away. “This time, I will make her pay.”

“The dragon-and-phoenix twins doom their father and brothers?”

“How could that be? Dragon-and-phoenix twins are an auspicious omen!”

“I heard that at the twins’ full-month celebration, the Fourth Prince nearly lost his life!”

“Wasn’t the Fourth Prince in the gardens the whole time?”

“They’re real brothers. What does it matter where he is?”

“I think someone poisoned the Fourth Prince on purpose.”

Elsewhere, several young eunuchs were discussing it too.

“The Fourth Prince is way too unlucky. Even in the gardens, he almost got doomed to death by the Sixth Prince!”

“That’s obviously poison. If it were ‘doom,’ wouldn’t he just drop dead on the spot?”

“If the dragon-and-phoenix twins really doomed their father and brothers, they should’ve doomed the Fourth Prince the moment they were born.”

“People say they doom their father and brothers, so why is the Emperor fine?”

“Someone clearly tried to harm the Fourth Prince, then framed the Sixth Prince!”

“It’s right there in the open. Someone wants the Emperor to hate the Sixth Prince!”

“Dragon-and-phoenix twins are an auspicious omen. Who would still be so ruthless?”

“Idiot. Someone’s jealous.”

The entire rear palace was talking about it. No one was stupid. More or less, they could see the scheme behind it.

“That’s quite bold,” Consort Jing said with a smile. “But this time, it’ll probably backfire.”

“The method is simple,” Noble Lady Xin said with a light laugh. “If the Fourth Prince had died the moment the twins were born, maybe it could’ve worked. But the twins are already a year old. The Emperor is fine, and the Fourth Prince is safe and sound, and neither of them has even been sick. Using the ‘doom their father and brothers’ trick now is just laughable.”

“Maybe it’s just a way to smear the twins,” Consort Jing said, smiling faintly. “Maybe she knows this won’t affect them much right away. But later? With her methods, there will definitely be follow-up moves. If enough ‘accidents’ and ‘coincidences’ happen, everyone’s impression of the twins will only get worse and worse. Then she’ll have what she wants.”

“Your Highness is right.” Noble Lady Xin nodded. “That person always strikes one move after another. She won’t let the twins go, especially now that she has a child in her belly.”

“Yes.” Consort Jing’s smile vanished. “When she had no child, she still wouldn’t let other consorts give birth safely. Now that she’s pregnant, she’ll be even less willing to spare the princes in the palace. The Third Prince has been adopted out, so he no longer qualifies. The Fourth Prince and Fifth Prince are both being raised outside and don’t have the Emperor’s favor. That leaves only the Sixth Prince in the palace. Of course he becomes the thorn in her eye. Using this kind of method is completely normal for her.”

“Actually…” Noble Lady Xin paused, then continued, “this method is so obvious that anyone with eyes can see it. She’s relying on the child in her belly, so her courage keeps growing. I don’t know how the Emperor will deal with it.”

“Deal with it?” Consort Jing’s eyes flashed with mockery. “Do you think that’s possible? Just watch. It’ll be left unresolved again.”

In the Imperial Study, the Emperor stared hard at the memorial in front of him, as if he could kill the person written on it. After a long moment, he finally came back to himself and gave a cold order. “Purge everyone in the gardens. Anyone transferred in afterward, investigate them thoroughly.

I will not allow this kind of thing to happen again.”

“Yes!” Su Pei Sheng answered at once.

The Emperor thought of the messy rumors in the rear palace and immediately frowned. “Send down an order. If anyone dares to discuss the Fourth Prince or the dragon-and-phoenix twins again, throw them all into the Xin Zhe Ku.”

“Yes!”

“How is Yong Shou Palace?” the Emperor asked. “Has any news come back?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Yong Shou Palace is very quiet,” Su Pei Sheng replied quickly. “But I heard Consort Xian is furious and heartbroken. She cried and said she’d rather they poison her or curse her. The Sixth Prince and Princess Wen Ning are so young, yet they have to bear this kind of humiliation to their name.”

“The three of them have been wronged.” Hearing that, the Emperor felt uneasy as well.

Thinking of the one who made the move, a cold glint flashed in the Emperor’s eyes.

“Go to the private treasury and pick out some good things. Send them to Consort Xian and the three of them.”

“Yes!”

“Add another one thousand taels.”

“Yes!”

Su Pei Sheng clicked his tongue inwardly. Consort Xian really was skilled. Not long after, Yong Shou Palace received generous rewards. This time, none of the consorts were jealous.

Instead, they sympathized with the mother and her two children even more. When the Emperor sent rewards at a time like this, it meant the matter would have no outcome. The rewards were simply to make the wronged side swallow their anger.