The Beloved Imperial Consort Chapter 172

Mu Xi Yao, enveloped in awkwardness, was caught by Zong Zheng Lin. Despite making a fuss, she ultimately couldn’t save her face and was forced to act as if nothing had happened in front of Mo Lan, deluding both herself and others.

Zhao Momo and Mo Lan had on several occasions stumbled upon the two masters sharing private moments in the study. What they hadn’t anticipated, however, was witnessing… such a display of ‘mutual affection’ from the two during the Young Master’s Draw Lots Ceremony. Indeed, it was a situation that could make one feel mortified.

Moreover, at this time, in the stark light of day, the mere thought of it was enough to make one’s cheeks redden.

Mu Xi Yao dallied and took her time before finally getting tidied up. The flower spirit from the morning had now transformed into an elegant and charming beauty. This drastic change in aura finally made Zong Zheng Lin nod in approval.

To avoid encountering anyone on the way and revealing that they, who were supposed to be greeting guests at the front, were instead hiding together in the inner yard, Mu Xi Yao left before Zong Zheng Lin, steadily making her way back to Danruo Courtyard in a sedan chair. If she wasn’t mistaken, Di Wu Yu Ying should have already arrived, but, unfortunately, she was caught up by the Sixth Highness’s sudden whims, missing the meeting agreed upon in their correspondence.

Zhao Momo and Mo Lan followed beside the sedan chair, with two female guards in disguise as servant girls trailing close behind. The group had just passed the corner of the garden when someone suddenly charged out from the side, nearly colliding with them.

The two female guards reacted swiftly, positioning themselves in front of Mu Xi Yao in the blink of an eye, while the plainly dressed little servant girl was so frightened that she became stupefied, standing frozen in the middle of the path, staring at them, unsure what to do.

“Which courtyard do you belong to? Daring to offend Cefei, do you wish to lose your head?” Zhao Momo was furious. If it weren’t for the alertness of those carrying the sedan chair at the front, who detected something amiss and stopped at once, moving cleverly to the side, this trip could have easily resulted in an incident.

Should there be any mishap with the Mistress during the Young Master’s first birthday banquet, it would be another distressing matter once word got out.

“Replying to Momo, this servant is Dan Zhu, a second-class servant girl in Mistress An’s courtyard. Just now, this servant went back to fetch a cloak for her Mistress and was knocked unconscious by someone while passing through the garden. This servant had just come to and, out of fright beside herself, this servant rashly ran out, thereby disturbing Cefei’s sedan chair. This servant begs Momo to show mercy and spare this servant this once. This servant pleads for Cefei’s grace.”

After being scolded by Zhao Momo like this, the servant girl came back to her senses. Terrified, she immediately knelt down and kept kowtowing, her arms tightly clutching the cloak, her shoulders shaking violently.

Mu Xi Yao lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and saw the person bowed down on the ground, with half of their garment soaked in mud. The cloak they were holding also bore obvious circular stains around the hood’s edge. Looking closer, her eyes were red, and there appeared to be traces of blood on the left side of her forehead.

“Stand up and come closer to reply, have no fear,” Mu Xi Yao indicated for the others to let the little servant girl come forward, watching her as she quivered, with head hung low, inching closer in small steps.

Indeed, there were wounds on her forehead, with the middle already bruising. This servant girl bore no ill will, as the jade pendant has remained calm and quiet, showing no reaction at all.

“Where were you knocked down? How long were you unconscious?”

Was it customary for the prince’s residence to have issues every time there was a celebration? Mu Xi Yao’s brows lifted slightly as various speculations began to form in her mind.

Today was her son’s first birthday celebration, and the little one was not yet suited for eating longevity noodles. Not having cake has already been a slight to little bun; it made no sense for someone to cause trouble on top of that.

“Replying to Cefei, this servant was suddenly struck on the head near an artificial hill not far from Mingyue Lake. This servant only caught a glimpse of a figure in light green clothes, but couldn’t make out anything else.” Recalling the sudden blow, Dan Zhu was still shaken by the incident, wondering who she had offended to deserve such a vicious deed.

“As for how long, this servant doesn’t know. All this servant remembers is taking the cloak and leaving, and it was still around a quarter past hour of Si¹.”

Mu Xi Yao nodded, excusing her from the punishment for the collision. She then instructed Mo Lan to take her to clean up in the courtyard, change into clean clothes, treat the wound on her forehead, and send her back to An’shi’s courtyard.

“Follow Mo Lan; your Mistress won’t blame you for this. If you feel scared about today’s incident, you can talk to your Mistress about it. She will not ignore it.”

Dan Zhu tearfully thanked Mu Xi Yao for her grace and was led to walk at the rear. Her eyes stared at Mu Xi Yao’s sedan chair, filled with deep gratitude.

She had thought she would be severely reprimanded by Cefei and receive a harsh beating. Yet, unexpectedly, she found herself relying on Cefei to speak on her behalf to her Mistress to avoid punishment. Otherwise, for this soiled cloak alone, even all her possessions combined would not suffice to make amends.

Her father had passed away early, leaving her family reliant on her mother’s handicrafts to make ends meet. Now, with her brother preparing to attend school and her mother bedridden due to illness from relentless toil, the responsibility of supporting her family fell to her. Through her service in the prince’s residence, she was able to send back one tael of silver each month. Yet, purchasing medicine from the Jishan Pharmacy posed a challenge.

Living in such straitened times, if she were to lose this job or fail to compensate Mistress An’s cloak due to lack of money and being taken to the authorities, her entire family would truly be pushed into a situation with no way out.

She entered the residence after being selected by the Chief Steward and had her servitude contract² pawned. After being assigned to Mistress An’s courtyard, what she often heard about was lively happenings in Danruo Courtyard and Mu Cefei, who made all the other mistresses in the inner yard green with envy.

In the courtyard, whispers circulated that Cefei was harsh and very strict, leveraging His Highness’s favor to behave arrogantly, even daring to oppress and bully the principal consort. Some even said she engaged in sorcery, bewitching His Highness and winning over the hearts of palace nobles, which allowed her to flaunt her power within the residence, acting untouchable and above all.

However, upon meeting her, she felt an overwhelming sense of shame and found herself lacking the courage to face her directly. Indeed, one should not believe baseless rumors and mistake a good person for a fierce witch.

Mu Xi Yao and her party had just returned to the courtyard and had barely sat down for the time it took to drink half a cup of tea when Ruo Lan rushed in with urgent news, reporting that something had happened to Miss Yu Ying.

“What happened?” Mu Xi Yao pushed away the longan and jujube porridge Mo Lan had brought, her voice filled with urgency, “Is Yu Ying alright?”

“Don’t worry, Mistress; Miss Yu Ying is fine. It was another lady in her company who was discovered unconscious beside Mingyue Lake.”

Another unconscious incident? Mu Xi Yao was instinctively put on alert. Once might be a feud, but twice could not be so easily brushed off.

“Momo, take some people and bring Miss Yu Ying and her party to the courtyard. We must get to the bottom of this matter. Check which lady it is and whether she’s hurt. Be cautious on your way, avoid drawing attention, and keep matters discreet. Take a sedan chair with you; if the young lady hasn’t awakened, we might need to call the imperial physician and examine her.”

The person came as a guest with Di Wu Yu Ying, and it was in waiting for her that they spent time playing and amusing themselves in the garden. With something like this happening, if no explanation was provided, it would be unacceptable from any standpoint.

Mu Xi Yao stood at the doorway, anxiously looking out. It was a while before she spotted Di Wu Yu Ying, frowning, followed by two ladies from prestigious families, and at the end, a sedan chair carrying someone. It seemed the young lady had either not yet awakened or was still too dazed and unable to walk properly.

“Mu…” Upon seeing Mu Xi Yao, Di Wu Yu Ying’s brow immediately relaxed, as if she had finally found someone who could take charge, bringing her instant peace of mind. Accustomed to calling her ‘Mu-jiejie’ in private, she suddenly became aware of the others around them and realized it was inappropriate to address her so. She swiftly corrected herself and called her formally “Cefei” and curtsied to pay her respect.

Mu Xiyao pulled the person to their feet, not engaging in the usual warm and affectionate banter. Instead, she wore a serious expression, excused the other two from paying respects, and instructed people to carefully move the lying girl into her room.

“Let’s talk inside.” After taking everyone into the inner room and seating them, she served each person a cup of tea to calm their nerves. Only then did Mu Xi Yao approach the couch bed to closely examine the girl who, despite having her eyes open, still looked terrified.

Translation notes:

[1] Hour of Si refers to 9-11 am.

[2] A servitude contract refers to a contract where an individual would sell themselves or a family member into servitude.

Relationship Diagram  (by Sith Kazar)

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