The Beloved Imperial Consort Chapter 140

“Mistress, are you all right?” Mo Lan looked at Mu Xi Yao’s swollen calf with distress while gently massaging it for her.

After washing her hands, Mu Xi Yao took the fragrant fruit that Hui Lan handed over and replied, unconcerned, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing.” She took a bite, and the cold juice flowed down her throat, revitalizing her a little.

“Where is Chun Lan? Have you asked the physician to come? Send her a box of the ointment that His Highness gave Qie last time.”

That little girl had her arms twisted by people and knelt under the sun for almost half an hour. Even if her knees weren’t bruised, her face must have been sunburned.

Mu Xi Yao has learned well the sinister ways of the Imperial Harem, with Zong Zheng Ying’s tortuous methods. The Princess of Great Wei was nothing but a malicious woman who had been corrupted by the Inner Palace.

“Mistress, why endure this? His Highness will surely not be pleased if he finds out.” Just a moment ago, Mistress was forced to bend her knees to pay obeisance for half a cup of tea’s time. If His Highness was here, he would never tolerate such a thing happening.

Mu Xi Yao tilted her head to look at the lotus pond outside the window, where the flowers had already withered and the leaves were wilted. The entire pond had no scenery worth mentioning.

“Mo Lan, you can’t always rely on His Highness for everything. Besides, His Highness shouldn’t get involved in this matter.” As soon as Zong Zheng Lin left Shengjing, she was ‘bullied’. If the Sixth Highness rushed to seek revenge on her behalf immediately upon his return, he would surely displease Yuancheng Emperor.

“Don’t underestimate the women raised in the Imperial Harem. Since she could pick this time, she must have good judgment.” Zong Zheng Lin had already used his authority to suppress her once before; if he did it again, the Sixth Highness would act unrighteously.

“The more arrogant Her Fourth Highness is, the better. Your Mistress, I, fear that she would be overly cautious and not ruthless enough in her methods.”

If everyone followed the rules, this battle between women would be a drawn-out entanglement, which is not what Mu Xi Yao wanted.

Mu Xi Yao has always thought that a combination of hardness and softness¹ was a good approach. She has played the ‘hard’ part before, but it seems like she hasn’t practiced the ‘soft’ part enough. Finally, Zong Zheng Ying with her domineering personality appeared. Regardless, she must cooperate with her, right?

How much ‘bad news’ would it take to make Yuancheng Emperor utterly disappointed with this fourth imperial daughter whom he cherished a bit? Mu Xi Yao’s eyes were dark and shiny, and she began to devise plans in her mind…..

———

The palace, in the imperial study.

Yuancheng Emperor looked at Zong Zheng Han who had a dignified bearing in front of him and nodded in appreciation, “You’ve done a good job with your recent task. Is there any reward you want?”

Although the question was asked casually, Zong Zheng Han didn’t dare to be even slightly careless. “Imperial Father, it’s the duty of your son-subject to handle the tasks. There’s no need for additional rewards. When other brothers do their tasks well, Imperial Father also praises them with few words, which is enough to encourage your son-subject to keep improving.”

“Eight Brother spoke extremely well. Imperial Father, your sons all hope to share your worries and will perform duties diligently.” At the moment, Crown Prince held complete dominance in Shengjing. Without hindrance from Zong Zheng Ming and Zong Zheng Lin, even the words he spoke came out easier and quicker.

“Second brother has indeed been much more diligent in the past few days. It seems like he has made progress once again.” Nowadays, Zong Zheng Chun’s influence had declined. Those barefoot were not afraid of those who wore shoes², hence when dealing with Crown Prince, his attitude was even worse. How could he be an idle prince with peace of mind when his archenemy taunts him in his face?

He would have to live in constant fear of danger. Once Zong Zheng Hui ascends to the throne, the first person he will want to eliminate, without any doubt, would be him, who grew up rivaling him for more than a decade. This made Zong Zheng Chun unable to relax and detest Mu Xi Yao even more.

Yuancheng Emperor’s words stirred up everyone’s open spears and hidden arrows³. The Chief Eunuch-In-Charge, Gu Chang De, looked straight ahead and pretended not to have heard anything.

These Imperial Highnesses were always thinking of suppressing their opponents, which had already caused extreme dissatisfaction in His Majesty.

“Enough.” Yuancheng Emperor’s memorial fell on the table, interrupting what the Crown Prince was about to say. “Zhen is asking Eighth. Are you all Eigth?” This was a faint sign of anger.

The Crown Prince quickly apologized, casting a sidelong glance at Zong Zheng Chun’s foolish look of resentment. Although he was interrupted by Yuancheng Emperor, he felt quite pleased inside.

“It’s fine if you don’t want a reward. Zhen will bear it in mind, and when the time comes Zhen will reward you all at once.” Yuancheng Emperor looked at his youngest son, feeling very satisfied with him.

“Eighth, since your consort-mother passed away, your household has become much quieter. Now that it’s been brought up, Zhen will have Imperial Noble Consort choose a virtuous maiden to enter your household so that there will be someone attentive to take care of you.” After the passing of Ping Xiuyi, a smile was hardly ever seen on the face of the youngest son. If it weren’t for the fact that his demeanor was still relatively amiable, Yuancheng Emperor would have thought that he had another son who was like Sixth.

Although Zong Zheng Lin had improved a lot compared to the past, his temperament was still colder than others. If he did not have the eldest son, and that lass Mu’shi to bring a lively atmosphere to the household, he would probably be eating a vegetarian diet and chanting sutras now!

Yuancheng Emperor placed quite an importance on the positions of the principal wife and two cefeis in his sons’ harem. With Mu Xi Yao as a successful example, the Emperor planned to introduce a decent woman into his youngest son’s household. However, he didn’t have time to select one himself, so he could only instruct Imperial Noble Consort to choose carefully.

Zong Zheng Han had long felt that his inner yard lacked people, so when Emperor mentioned it first, he was naturally happy to accept and quickly thanked Emperor for his grace.

After leaving the imperial study, Crown Prince patted Zong Zheng Han on the shoulder, as if envious.

“Eighth, your treatment is almost on par with that fellow Sixth. Among us brothers, only his cefei was personally selected by Imperial Father. The rest of the women were introduced to the household only because they were pleasing to the eyes of Their Ladyships, and because they pitied us, brothers, for not having anyone to attend to us. But this time, your cefei can also be regarded as an exception. Her Ladyship Imperial Noble Consort would personally choose the candidate, which shows how much Imperial Father values you. Speaking of that Mu’shi, the person chosen by Imperial Father is indeed different. Tsk, tsk….” Crown Prince didn’t hide his lecherous gaze, and his intentions toward Zong Zheng Lin’s cefei were obvious.

“What are you talking about, Your Highness Crown Prince? His Majesty was just looking out for this younger brother because of his loss of consort-mother.”

Zong Zheng Han, as if not understanding Crown Prince’s intention to provoke conflict with his words, just followed along with the conversation. If Zong Zheng Lin was so easy to deal with, Zong Zheng Chun, who was in his thirties, would not be depressed by his inability to achieve his ambitions now. Crown Prince seemed to think that he was simple-minded since he wanted him to pick a fight with Zong Zheng Lin out of jealousy.

Then there was that Mu’shi. He had investigated her for a while. She was capable and not easy to take care of. If cefei selected this time could have half of Mu’shi’s ability, his, Zong Zheng Han’s, inner yard could also be worry-free.

Seeing him pretend to be confused and not take the bait, the Crown Prince sneered inwardly but continued to engage in an amiable chat with him.

Zong Zheng Chun had no hope of ascending to the throne. The only remaining brothers were Fifth Brother Zong Zheng Ming, Sixth Brother Zong Zheng Lin, and Eighth Brother Zong Zheng Han. Among them, only Zong Zheng Han was still inexperienced. Maybe he could try to win him over. The other two had already hardened their wings⁴ with an attitude of not being willing to be lectured or corrected. They had clearly no intention to submit to him. This content belongs to thehlifestyle.com, if you see this translation elsewhere, it’s been stolen!

Despite being younger than Crown Prince, Zong Zheng Han had far sharper eyes than him. Seeing Crown Prince suddenly fall silent, he did not speak first.

Zong Zheng Hui’s abilities were mediocre, and he was especially jealous of capable and competent people. How could such a person be worthy of the crown prince’s position? If he did not possess the advantage of being a di son, Yuancheng Emperor would probably treat him worse than Zong Zheng Chun. That good-for-nothing had recently successively come up with two rare farming gadgets in the Ministry of Works, which Yuancheng Emperor attached great importance to and ordered the Ministry of Work to try to promote them.

After this day, the news that Imperial Noble Consort would select a cefei for Eighth Prince spread throughout Shengjing. After the well-known Mu’shi from the Sixth Prince’s residence, who else could rise to prominence and become wealthy overnight?

As various prominent families in Shengjing were busy pulling strings and competing for the position of the prince’s cefei, a highly confidential conversation was taking place in the He Lian household, a long-established and prestigious clan.

Translation notes:

[1] A combination of hardness and softness “刚柔并济” is a Chinese idiom that is used to describe exercising a combination of inflexibility and yielding, the balance of strength and gentleness.

[2] Barefooted people are not afraid of those who wear shoes is an idiom that refers to the poor, who have nothing to lose, and do not fear those in power.

[3] Open spears and hidden arrows is a phrase that refers to both open and covert attacks.

[4] Hardened wings is a Chinese metaphor that means to leave the nest. It is used to describe a person who is not only independent but one who no longer obeys others and seeks no advice from those who are maybe more experienced.

Relationship Diagram  (by Sith Kazar)

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