The Beloved Imperial Consort Chapter 148

“Speak up, do you know anything about the matter today? What is He Lian House planning?” Consort Shu stared at He Lian Min Min, her face filled with displeasure. Such a big matter, yet she had been left in the dark. Did they take her seriously or not?

He Lian Min Min knew that her family had not handled things correctly as they had gone straight to Imperial Noble Consort and Fu Zhaoyi to plead their case, bypassing His Sixth Highness and Consort Shu. It was only natural for Consort Shu to be furious.

He Lian Zhang naturally wouldn’t recommend He Lian Wei Rui to Consort Shu. Her Ladyship was always aligned with His Highness. As long as His Highness did not agree, she would not want to force the issue. It was much more challenging to get the Sixth Highness to agree to marry He Lian Wei Rui into the family than to ask Yuancheng Emperor to grant them marriage.

Unless he had the courage and was unafraid of rehoming his own head, he could tell Consort Shu about the Phoenix stick right under the eyes and ears of Yuancheng Emperor in the palace. This matter could indeed be accomplished then. However, the Emperor’s furry would follow, and accusations such as ‘coveting the throne’ would be then considered only as a minor charge.

Hence things got weird and all this beating around the bush had made the legitimate mother-in-law, Consort Shu, left out in the cold. Even after returning to the palace, she was unable to shake off her anger.

“Your Ladyship, this is Qie’s fault. Qie is ashamed.” He Lian Min Min genuinely felt guilty. If it weren’t for her own inadequacies, He Lian House wouldn’t find any leverage to use and hastily abandon her without a second thought.

“Qie’s shu sister had met His Highness once at Anguo Temple, and couldn’t stop thinking about him afterward. Although Qie has….attended upon His Highness several times in the residence, there is no pregnancy in sight. As a result, Qie’s family became anxious and agreed to the request of Qie’s sister, beginning to think of ways to send her to the household to help Qie out. If she can have a child, father said that the child would be recorded under Qie’s name.”

The matter of the Phoenix stick mustn’t be revealed to Consort Shu. If she were to learn about it, she would force His Highness to bring He Lian Wei Rui into the household. Right now, she could only use half-truths to gloss over the matter, at most making Consort Shu think that He Lian House was fervent and more focused on self-interest.

Upon hearing that He Lian House was so impatient, Consort Shu indeed frowned, “How long has it been since you married into the family? How can He Lian Zhang be so ignorant?” Furthermore, they didn’t even understand the protocols. Consort Shu was already dissatisfied with He Lian House.

“Qie has also only heard a little about this matter. Qie will have Mother enter the palace tomorrow to apologize to Your Ladyship.”

“Apologies are unnecessary. Let Madam He Lian enter the palace earlier. Bengong has something to discuss with her in detail.”

“Yes, Your Ladyship. Qie will pass the news to Qie’s family upon return.” He Lian Min Min’s heart was delighted. While things were just beginning on that side, Consort Shu was already dissatisfied on this side. Can this be considered as Sir He Lian sacrificing the greater good for a small gain?

He Lian Zhang was a sly old fox and naturally would not overlook such an important figure as Consort Shu. So the next day, when they went to the palace to apologize, not only did Madam He Lian arrive, but also He Lian Zhan’s secondary wife, Lady Lu, who was He Lian Wei Rui’s foster mother.

Someone who could stand on equal footing with Madam He Lian couldn’t be a simple person. Lady Lu was resourceful, the words she spoke were humble and polite. She described He Lian Wei Rui’s affection for His Highness in a way that even Consort Shu was moved. During the subsequent apology, Lady Lu wiped away her tears and only said that He Lian Wei Rui and Zong Zheng Ying were acquainted through literary society, and their friendship gradually developed as they got to know each other. As He Lian Wei Rui couldn’t bear to let go of her feelings for His Highness, she asked the princess for help and that’s how yesterday’s absurd incident happened.

Consort Shu was not a fool. Although this explanation sounded reasonable, there were too many suspicious points that couldn’t be easily covered. Seeing Madam He Lian’s contempt toward Lady Lu, and not bothering to talk to her the entire time, Consort Shu wondered if there were any internal power struggles happening in He Lian House. He Lian Wei Rui’s entry into the household might be just a result of competition between the principal and the secondary wife. By associating with an imperial prince, one’s status would naturally skyrocket, and power and influence would be all within reach. As for He Lian Zhang, with two daughters in the Sixth Highness’s household, how could he not be pleased?

Consort Shu also came from a prominent clan. Upon thinking this way, she easily misunderstood the situation as being related to the internal strife within the clan. The principal wife had already taken her (Consort Shu’s) route, so the secondary wife naturally knew that it was not an easy path to follow, especially at this time. They met with the Eighth Prince’s Selection, became anxious, and had to find another way establish connections, which explained everything. However, He Lian House didn’t handle things well. The care of appearances was not throughout enough, which caused her to become aware of something amiss.

Consort Shu didn’t care if He Lian Wei Rui would enter the household or not. She was just a mere woman and had little impact on Zong Zheng Lin. If her son took a fancy to her, he can just take her in. If he didn’t fancy her, she could go back where she came from. The incident with Zeng Yu had left Consort Shu with a deep-seated dislike for women who were overly persistent and pestering.

On this side, after understanding the situation, Consort Shu released the two of them from the palace.

——

In the evening while Yuancheng Emperor was flipping over the tablet, he noticed that the number of tablets was a bit off and fewer than usual. “What happened?”

Wang Rui, the Deputy Chief of the Evaluation Office of the Inner Palace, lowered his fly-whisk and stepped closer to respond to the Emperor.

“Replying to Your Majesty, it’s Her Ladyship Consort Shu’s time of the month. Her Ladyship Zhaoyi caught a cold, so she took the initiative to have her tablet removed. Hua Meiren¹ and Zhang Jieyu² had a dispute during the day and were confined by the Imperial Noble Consort for three days.”

As it was the Consort Shu’s time of the month, which made her inconvenient to serve, Yuancheng Emperor, who had originally intended to go to her palace went to Fu Zhaoyi’s instead. Taking the initiative to remove the tablet was a sensible move. The actions of ice beauty were quite refreshing. After spending half an hour there, the Emperor finally went to settle in Consort Qi’s place.

After seeing that the matter was accomplished, Wang Rui stifled a smile and secretly went to the Noble Consort’s palace to receive his reward.

The next day, Yuancheng Emperor unexpectedly assigned a new task to the Imperial Noble Consort, instructing her to keep an eye out for fine women from prominent families for the princes. As far as the imperial family was concerned, the inner yard could never have too many women who could bear children.

Having already received a verbal edict from the Empress Dowager, and now with the Emperor giving his own orders, this matter had become something that had to be taken seriously. As a result, the Selection for the Eighth Prince became inevitably lively, and the number of chosen women doubled.

Mu Xi Yao observed the whole situation from the sidelines, remaining an aloof bystander. He Lian Zhang’s plan has been successful thus far.

The sly old fox successfully muddied the waters, making it unnecessary for He Lian Wei Rui to enter the Eighth Prince’s household. By making the candidate for marriage unclear, with a little more effort, who could guarantee that she wouldn’t be able to enter the Sixth Prince’s household?

Sir He Lian was truly hardworking, much more diligent than her, the second player. Mu Xi Yao cast a casual glance at the motionless float and pouted, feeling discontent with having to wait.

This woman was already impatient to hold the fishing rod without moving. But now she found an excuse and gently lifted the tail of the rod with her right hand, lightly hitting the water surface with its front end, causing ripples to spread across the calm lake.

Sir Wei, who stood beside her and also held a fishing rod, fishing earnestly, wore an obvious expression of disapproval on his face.

Mu Xi Yao found a beautiful name for her unreasonable behavior: “Relax your mind and enjoy the beautiful scenery of the rippling waves. It will help sharpen your wits to better deal with the ceaseless tricks of He Lian House.”

The fishing rod in the hand of Sir Wei shook slightly and his lips pursed tightly in a solemn manner. If Mistress Yao continued to make trouble like this, there would be no hope for the full fish feast today. Just now, Wei Zhen had patted his chest and promised the Young Master he would catch five flower groupers and five stone tail fish each. But now this goal…he felt that he had to change his spot, preferably as far away from his Mistress as possible. It would be best to go to the other side of the bank to achieve this goal.

“Sir Wei, why aren’t the fish Your Highness caught biting the hook? Qie’s been sitting here for a long time. Could it be that the fish are hungry?”

Boss could catch fish effortlessly, but why is it that when it was her turn, there wasn’t even a single hatchling in sight? It would be better to have Boss here. Wei Zhen also seemed to be not good at fishing.

Mu Xi Yao completely ignored her own unreasonable interference and directly labeled Wei Zhen as a bad fisher.

“If Sir Wei is also unable to catch any fish, then let’s switch to using the nets and start scooping them. We cannot afford to delay lunch.” Without waiting for Wei Zhen to respond, Mu Xi Yao muttered to herself and then turned around to order people to get started.

Wei Zhen had no choice but to put down the fishing rod and for the first time experience the sorrow of returning empty-handed. What does it mean to ‘been sitting here for a long time’? Mistress Yao, you’ve just set up your posture. This subordinate has just thrown the bait and the string wasn’t even tight yet. Your patience…..

When Mu Xi Yao took people out for fishing, except for Sir Wei, who somewhat believed in her words, everyone else had already anticipated that it would be such a situation. Upon hearing her orders, they proficiently took out all kinds of fishing equipment and swarmed toward the edge of the pond.

Wei Zhen stared in amazement as he watched everyone displaying their skills, and it took him a while to realize that it must have taken a lot of practice from people of Mistress Yao’s courtyard to achieve this level of expertise….

Cheng Qing, watching the plump and fresh fish flopping energetically in the nets, immediately cheered, his two chubby legs jumping up and down with vigor. He shouted and insisted that Wei Zhen take him to the pond to join the fun.

“Sir Wei, take this mischievous monkey with you to play at the back.” She had someone catch a few small fish and put them in a bucket for Cheng Qing to play with. He was but a little guy; even if you give him a big fish, he wouldn’t be able to hold onto it.

Mu Xi Yao believed that her son’s ‘small in stature but big in heart’ trait was inherited from Great Boss. That man had always been ambitious. Descendants of the imperial family indeed possessed exceptional talents. None of them were content to stay put. Her son was particularly outstanding in this regard.

After picking and choosing, Mu Xi Yao finally selected the best ingredients and headed straight to the kitchen with satisfaction. As for the rest that she didn’t like, she rewarded them to her servants so they could also taste something new from time to time.

Mu Xi Yao had made up her mind to enjoy this meal, and then write a letter to the Boss after afternoon nap. It was a perfect chance to ‘express her innermost feelings’ and ‘share her pain of separation’.

Inside the reddish-purple pavilion, Zhu Jin had finally collected all the information about He Lian House. She compiled them into a document, which she presented to Wan Jing Wen for reading.

Wan Jing Wen quickly scanned through the top-secret information, crumpled the paper into a ball, and burst out laughing so hard that her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.

“He Lian Min Min is considered a discarded pawn by He Lian House!” Wan Jing Wen laughed hysterically. The Primary Empress of Jianan Emperor in her previous life had been reduced to such a state by her own family! “Heaven finally repays a crime. What goes around comes around.”

Seeing her Mistress’s abrupt shift of expression and maniacal laugh, Zhu Jin dared not interrupt and quietly waited with a lowered head for her to calm down. Though she did not understand why her Mistress hated He Lian Principal Consort so much and had even secretly plotted against her during her maiden days, she knew that her Mistress was not necessarily feeling well at the moment. Otherwise, tears would not have welled up in her eyes.

After releasing her emotions, Wang Jin Wen wiped away her tears with a silk handkerchief. In this life, she was uncertain about many things due to various twists and turns. However, she did not expect heaven to be so generous to her in the most critical matter.

“Zhu Jin, it’s time.”

For the sake of her poor child, Wan Jing Wen had waited too long for this revenge.

“Spread the word. Do you understand how to phrase it?”

“Yes, Mistress has taught this servant to say, ‘The Sixth Prince’s Princess Consort carries an illness from birth that is difficult for normal people to detect. She was born with a cold womb and is infertile’.”

“But now you need to add one more sentence.” Wan Jing Wen looked at the woman with a sinister expression in the bronze mirror and turned her head in disgust.

“He Lian House had noticed something amiss and, with the intention to deceive, they wanted to send He Lian Wei Rui into the household to remedy the situation.”

Zhu Jin’s body trembled, and her palms sweated. If her Mistress’s words were spread, the He Lian House would be guilty of a great crime of deceiving the Emperor! If Yuancheng Emperor believed it, the prestigious clan of He Lian with the lives of nearly a thousand people would be wiped out in the blink of an eye…..

Translation notes:

[1] Meiren refers to a rank of the imperial concubine.

[2] Jieyu refers to a rank of the imperial concubine.

Relationship Diagram  (by Sith Kazar)

Previous Chapter | Table of contents | Next Chapter