Chapter 184 - Redeem Yourself By Good Service or Atone with Your Life?

“Apart from seeing Lady Nuan at today’s feast, I only met her on the birthday of Her Highness Princess Yushan,” Song Yixiao said, “Therefore, I don’t know much about this lady’s temperament. Currently, there are two possibilities about her action. Either it was an honest mistake or she did it on purpose!”

She hedged and said, “I think she did it on purpose!”

“Why?”

“Even the side hall is within the imperial palace!” Song Yixiao lowered her head and said, “When I left, I took a look at the door and the wall. They are made of quality wood, so they should be sound-proof. At that time, it was snowing heavily outside! Moreover, during the conversation, Cui Jianlian and I didn’t talk loudly! Therefore, since Lady Nuan could talk of the most important content of the conversation, I suspect that she was eavesdropping against the door! Otherwise, she could only have heard one or two words!”

How could she not consider that someone might be listening on the other side of the wall?

Moreover, Cui Jianlian was not that stupid!

However, neither of them expected this new twist, Lady Nuan.

“Apparently, Lady Nuan did so for a reason. For the moment, I guess she wants to take refuge in the Empress Dowager or Aunt Daiguo!” Song Yixiao said, “I think the former one has the higher chance! You know, the king of Wuhuan only has one child, that is, Lady Nuan. Now she is constrained within the imperial palace. Despite the exalted position of Aunt Daiguo, she is too far away to help Lady Nuan! However, Her Majesty the Empress is directly in charge of the necessities of her life and promotion!”

The Grand Princess suddenly became extremely fretful. She stayed silent for a while and said abruptly, “Can you find a way to get rid of Lady Nuan without being found?”

Song Yixiao was taken aback. “Mother?”

“You are still young. Besides, you were not related to the imperial family, so you didn’t know the fight for the throne in the late dynasty!” The Grand Princess looked at the nearby candles and said with a poker face, “It has been over only 40 years since the Great Rui was established. In other words, when Mother married the late Emperor, the Great Rui was not established yet! They were a couple who underwent hardships together. His Majesty is not the sole son of Mother. Prior to him, Mother had another two sons, who were my brothers!”

“But they had been gone before the Great Rui was established. They were killed in the battle!”

Under the circumstance, in order to compensate the Empress Dowager, also because Emperor Xianjia showed his quality since childhood, “The late Emperor was made the heir of the throne by Emperor Taizu, aka, my grandpa. Hence, His Majesty was fostered as the Grand Imperial Grandson!”

The Grand Princess blinked her eyes faintly and shed a tear, saying in a hoarse voice, “Mother has given birth to three sons and seven daughters for the late Emperor. Two sons were killed in the battlefield and two daughters died young. These ten children are enough to prove the love between mother and the late Emperor! However…”

“However…” The Grand Princess closed her eyes with a sigh. “However, after the late Emperor ascended the throne, he had Noble Consort Shentu, who was good at singing and dancing, and Madame Zhenyuan, who had black hair and fair skin. Only within two years, he just forgot his promise and the decades’ love with Mother!”

Then without the Grand Princess’s further explanation, Song Yixiao could guess that Emperor Xianjia and his mother had suffered a lot even though they laughed last.

“Do you think His Majesty was born weak and sick?” The Grand Princess turned around to wipe the tears and sneered, saying in a low voice, “It’s been imposed upon him. Noble Consort Shentu had two sons and a daughter. Madame Zhenyuan only had two daughters but she raised five imperial sons born by other concubines. Under the circumstance, His Majesty was in a pickle. How dare he get sick?”

Nevertheless, even if Emperor Xianjia was healthy, “Due to the constant conspiracies of those two despicable women, of their children and the adherents, how could His Majesty not get sick? Ordinary people can see a doctor and have a rest in bed before going back to work, but His Majesty couldn’t!”

Emperor Xianjia not only couldn’t see a doctor but also had to feign spiritedness and continue striving for the throne!

Otherwise, as the late Emperor showed partiality for his favored concubines, if the legitimate couldn’t inherit the throne for his health problem, how could Emperor Xianjia be allowed to aim at the throne? Moreover, the officers wouldn’t support an heir who might not live until the day when he ascended the throne!

“If it had not been for the numerous sins that the two women committed, His Majesty wouldn’t have gone that far after ascending the throne!” The Grand Princess was talking about Emperor Xianjia slaughtering his half siblings, but it was not the most important thing. Most importantly, “Helen of Troy happened once during the reign of the late Emperor, which is unbearable for us to recall anymore!”

“What happened back then cannot happen again in the imperial palace of the Great Rui!”

Therefore, “Lady Nuan must die!”

Song Yixiao was speechless.

“Mother, you’ve made a point, but the problem is, I’ve tried my best to doom Cui Jianlian, Madam Jin and the Liu Family to death out of revenge but not cruelty!”

“You want Lady Nuan dead. Why do you leave it to me?”

She wondered in great trepidation whether her confession left an impression of brutality!

The Grand Princess seemed to see through her confusion and said sternly, “His Majesty has suffered a lot in the late dynasty. The reason why he got through was that he wanted to seek revenge for Mother! Therefore, Mother cannot bear to hurt his feelings anymore! Otherwise, given that Lady Nuan is such a beautiful woman and also the princess of Wuhuan, not only Mother but also me, even Daiguo could never let her enter the imperial palace!”

What she actually meant was no matter how the Empress Dowager hated Lady Nuan, she would not do anything against Lady Nuan unless Emperor Xianjia granted the permission!

So it was the case with Jinguo Grand Princess…

Song Yixiao felt so helpless. No matter who killed Lady Nuan, His Majesty would feel hurt anyway!

Moreover, if I succeed in completing the task that you two don’t feel like carrying out, Emperor Xianjia will probably seek revenge on me for his lover!

She couldn’t help feeling frightened. “Does my mother-in-law want to eradicate Lady Nuan through my hands as she believes that I am too cruel and yet doesn’t want to bear grudge between her and Xubai because of me?”

“You don’t need to worry about the aftermath of the incidence at the Lantern Festival Feast anymore! I will handle it for you!” The Grand Princess saw through her hesitation and then slightly frowned, saying, “What you should do next is to think with your brain, which is smart enough to scheme against Cui Jianlian and Madam Jin, about how to exterminate Lady Nuan as soon as possible without arousing His Majesty’s doubt!”

It suddenly reminded Song Yixiao of the medicine mentioned by Wei Mengying before her wedding, which could make the concubines die a natural death.

However, she gave up the thought soon and lowered her head to say, “Mother… Could you please give it a second thought? Perhaps His Majesty let the Empress search the side concubine’s bedroom in the Eastern Palace only out of anger about Cui Jianlian’s behavior instead of obsession with Lady Nuan. Otherwise, why is she only a lady after serving His Majesty for almost a year?”

The Grand Princess took a glance at her. “It happens to prove that Lady Nuan cannot be underestimated! His Majesty is always wise. Captivated by Lady Nuan’s beautiful appearance, despite the objection of Mother, Daiguo and me, His Majesty took her into the imperial palace, but how could he not keep watch on her? If she started to make a fuss right after entering the imperial palace, we wouldn’t need to worry and His Majesty would loathe her naturally!”

Nevertheless, “Lady Nuan has been obedient and meek over the past year. We cannot only find faults with her and His Majesty is not as cautious as one year ago.”

“Then you just wait and see. She will take the opportunity to help the Empress defeat Noble Consort Cui and then further make the Crown Prince dismissed from the heir to the throne!”

“When the position of the heir is available, if she still has no son, the palace will fall into chaos!”

“If she has a son, Prince of Wei, Prince of Liang, Prince of Zhao and Prince of Shu will be doomed then!”

The Grand Prince said sternly, “Such a scourge may shake the state foundation as she exists! What are you hesitating for? Just tell me whether you will do it or not!”

Song Yixiao was so depressed. Lady Nuan was still living in the small Pavilion of Pinglan in the Palace of Lanqiu for the moment. She couldn’t even shake the Palace of Lanqiu, not to mention the state.

After a while, as Song Yixiao still didn’t answer, the Grand Princess seemed to lose patience. “If you didn’t counterplot, the incidence wouldn’t happen today. Neither did Lady Nuan find the opportunity to cross over to the Empress! Such trouble is caused by you! And you refuse to shoulder the responsibility. Then I don’t need to talk with you anymore!”

The Grand Princess hedged and summoned Jiayue. “Go into my bedroom and fetch the third bottle in the hidden drawer!”

Jiayue heard the order and instantly turned frightened, saying in a trembling voice, “Your Highness, that is…”

“Given our relationship, I’ll give you the last chance!” Negligent of Jiayue’s reaction, the Grand Princess only rolled her bracelet on her wrist and stared at Song Yixiao, saying in a calm voice, “Do you intend to redeem yourself by good service or atone with your life?”

According to the Grand Princess, what she asked Jiayue to fetch just went without saying!

Song Yixiao suddenly wrung the silk handkerchief in her hand tightly. Instantly, her face turned ghastly white!

At the moment, in the Pavilion of Pinglan of Palace of Lanqiu of the imperial palace, the new thorn in the eye of Jinguo Grand Princess, Lady Nuan, was lying in the bed with her eyes closed.

With the curtain half rolled up, Qinye prostrated herself on the ottoman with her face full of fret. “You said a few days ago that the Virtuous Consort was one of the four consorts and that we couldn’t confront her at the moment! But today you…”

“The Side Concubine of the Crown Prince is framing Lady of Yan!” Lady Nuan said casually, “And she does it at the cost of her babies. I don’t like it!”

Qinye was dumbfounded to hear and after a while, she said, “You are so kind-hearted! However, no disrespect intended. Now we are not qualified to be in such affairs. Have you heard of this? Even Lady of Yan doesn’t dare to voice out the truth!”

She took the Virtuous Consort as the example. “The Virtuous Consort is not only inferior to the Noble Consort but also gave birth to Princess Yushan only! The Noble Consort has two sons and her elder son is the Crown Prince! How can we offend her? If it were not for the mediation of Her Majesty the Empress, the Noble Consort would…”

“Therefore, His Majesty asked the Noble Consort to go back to the Palace of Xifu and reflect on her misdeed in solitude!” Lady Nuan gave a sweet smile and said in a light tone, “Evidently, what you said is right. His Majesty likes me more than I expected!”

As she opened her eyes and saw that Qinye intended to speak hurriedly, she said softly, “Even you know that I may win the favor from His Majesty! Do you think other people won’t? Like the Empress, Noble Consort, Virtuous Consort…”

“Hence, if I strive for the favor of the emperor recklessly, these people will become my enemies!”

“Even the Empress Dowager and the two grand princesses will set against me!”

Her beautiful eyes glistened with fierceness. “If I don’t want to die before I take any action, I must find a patron beforehand!”

She glimpsed Qinye who was taken aback. “Although what I did offends the Noble Consort, it just fits in exactly with the wishes of the Empress and Daiguo Grand Princess! Just wait and see! The Empress will look after me from now on. Daiguo Grand Princess will change her attitude to me! Only with the support of these two persons can I live until the day when I become the favorite woman of His Majesty!”

“Otherwise, I will be killed soon!”

“You are so wise while I am too stupid to realize your intention!” Qinye pondered for a while and admired Lady Nuan in delight. “Please don’t loathe me considering my loyalty for you!”

The maid thought that the greatest asset of her mistress was beauty but unexpectedly, she was also so wise!

“It won’t make sense if such a woman cannot succeed!”

If Qinye’s kind and compassionate persuasion was to seek gains for unwillingness to be outdone, now she finally acknowledged allegiance sincerely!

Lady Nuan encouraged her with a benign countenance but she was absent-minded about the current conversation. “I disclosed that the Crown Prince’s Side Concubine hurt her babies. Although it helped Madam Song get rid of the enemy, the Crown Prince’s Side Concubine is the niece of the Noble Consort and the cousin of the Crown Prince. Perhaps they both know that it is her fault and that they will vent their anger on Madam Song?”

“I don’t care what consequence Madam Song will face, but she is Xubai’s guise to face outsiders. If anything untoward happens to her, Xubai will be shamed!” Thinking of this, Lady Nuan frowned. “I must conceive an idea!”