Chapter 11 Promotes Her Rank
Chapter Eleven: Promotion of Her Rank
The next morning, inside Changxiu Palace.
The palace maid Yingchun stumbled into the hall, lifting her skirt. She almost tripped over the threshold. Consort Zhuang was doing her makeup in front of the mirror when she saw her maidservant in such a state. She frowned and said, "What's wrong? Why are you so flustered? Don't you know any manners?"
Panting, Yingchun hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness: "This servant has been disrespectful, please punish me, Your Majesty."
Seeing her sweating and panting, Consort Zhuang ultimately said nothing, after all, Yingchun had been by her side since childhood: "Get up, be more careful in the future, what happened outside?" As she spoke, she picked up the gold hairpin that the Emperor had bestowed upon her during the Spring Festival and began to compare and dress up in front of the mirror.
"Your Majesty, Consort Song was demoted to a commoner yesterday and banished to the Cold Palace!"
Consort Zhuang abruptly stood up, her hairpin clattering to the ground in her panic: "What did you say?! The Emperor's decree? What is it for?" Her heart tightened, and she gripped her handkerchief tightly, looking anxiously at Yingchun, afraid she had misheard. Could it be that the matter had been exposed?!
Yingchun continued in a low voice, "It is said that she was involved in the plot to murder the Prince of Ning. Tinghe confessed that Consort Song ordered her to lead Consort Su to the side hall. Consort Song has never confessed, but the Emperor immediately issued an edict yesterday to send her to the Cold Palace."
Consort Zhuang, upon hearing that she was not implicated, slowly sat back down on the stool, secretly relieved: "At least she knows what's good for her. Send a message to Father, asking him to properly appease the Assistant Minister of War."
“This servant understands,” Yingchun replied softly. “No one, Consort Song, would ever imagine that Tinghe was originally one of our people.”
Consort Zhuang nodded to Yingchun: "Tell Father to send people to keep a close eye on Tinghe's family." Her tone was calm, but every word was chilling.
Yingchun understood immediately and replied, "This servant understands."
Seeing that Consort Zhuang's expression had softened slightly, she cautiously spoke again: "There is one more thing... Yesterday, Consort Su was about to leave the palace, but the Emperor suddenly ordered the palace gates to be sealed off, and... and even issued an edict to promote her to Consort Su."
Consort Zhuang glared at her suddenly: "What did you say?! That vile woman! How could the Emperor do such a thing! The case of the Prince of Ning's heir has not yet been investigated. Even if Song Liuzheng led her to the side hall, she is still the prime suspect!"
Yingchun was so frightened that she knelt down again: "Your Majesty, please calm down! The Emperor said that Consort Su copied scriptures and prayed for blessings every day during her confinement, and she also contributed to the great victory in the Southwest..."
"Absurd!" Consort Zhuang abruptly swept her dressing case aside, scattering gold hairpins and jade ornaments across the floor. The palace servants attending her knelt down in fear. Consort Zhuang gritted her teeth and said, "The Prince of Ning's heir died under mysterious circumstances, and the Emperor is just trying to fob us off like this? Can copying a few pages of scriptures really cover up the suspicion of murdering the imperial heir? The Emperor clearly still has his eye on that vile woman!" She stood up abruptly. "I will go to see the Emperor right now and ask him why he is so biased!"
Yingchun hurriedly stopped her: "Your Majesty, please think it over! You and Consort Song have always been in frequent contact. Now that Consort Song is in trouble, if Your Majesty does not investigate Consort Song, but instead confronts the Emperor to question her, wouldn't that arouse suspicion that Your Majesty is targeting Consort Su? Moreover, since the Emperor has already stated that he will thoroughly investigate the case of the Heir Apparent, if Your Majesty goes now, it will only make it seem like you are questioning His Majesty's will, which would be a loss for Your Majesty."
She lowered her voice and continued to persuade, "The Su family has only been promoted to the rank of Consort, and is still below you. There is plenty of time in the future, so why rush things? Right now, it is the Princess Consort of Ning who should be anxious, not Your Highness."
Consort Zhuang stopped upon hearing this, taking Yingchun's words to heart. The fierceness in her eyes softened slightly: "You're right, going now would easily arouse suspicion." She suddenly clenched her handkerchief tightly, "Do you think the Emperor might suspect me because of the Song family's matter?"
After dismissing everyone around her, Yingchun said softly, "Your Highness is overthinking it. Yesterday, Fuqu was silenced by the thieves arranged by the master, so it will not implicate Your Highness. Besides, the Crown Prince is the biological son of Princess Ning. How could an aunt murder her own nephew? We should not suspect Your Highness. Moreover, no one knows that the Second Miss is a concubine's daughter. She was raised under the Madam's name since childhood and is not born to the same mother as Your Highness."
"That's true," Consort Zhuang said, a mocking smile playing on her lips as she recalled her timid half-sister. "If she weren't useful, given her mother's background as a courtesan, she should have been married off to an old merchant long ago to earn some money for my dowry. Instead, she's now married to Prince Ning and become a princess."
Yingchun smiled and said, "The Second Miss still thinks that Madam treats her like a precious jewel. Little does she know that every time Madam sees her, she recalls all the ways that Aunt Chen seduced Master back then."
A cold glint flashed in Consort Zhuang's eyes: "That vile maidservant, she used the same seductive manner back then, making Father linger and causing Mother to weep every night." She dug her fingertips into her palms. "Now Su Su looks exactly like her!"
Meanwhile, Su Su, whom Consort Zhuang hated with a passion, was kneeling to receive the imperial edict. She stood there stunned as she listened to the edict, wondering what Li Qianche was trying to do. He was preventing her from leaving the palace and instead promoting her rank. This was completely unlike his usual style. He had just demoted her and then promoted her rank so soon after. This had never happened in the palace before.
Shen Gaoyi smiled and reminded her, "Is Consort Su overjoyed?"
Su Su suddenly came to her senses and accepted the bright yellow scroll with both hands: "Your Majesty, I accept the imperial decree and thank you for your grace."
“These are all gifts from His Majesty.” Shen Gaoyi gestured to the side, and eight eunuchs behind him filed in carrying vermilion trays. The trays were filled with glittering gold, silver and jade jewelry, dozens of newly presented Shu brocades, and a tray of shining gold ingots. Among them lay the white jade hairpin that she had not chosen that day.
Su Su's gaze lingered on the jade hairpin for a moment, then she lowered her eyes and curtsied, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your generous reward."
“Now that Your Majesty has ascended the throne, Changxin Palace is still a bit too remote,” Shen Gaoyi said, bowing. “Why not move to a side hall of Changchun Palace? The scenery there is pleasant, and it’s also close to Yangxin Hall.”
"No need to trouble yourself," Su Su politely declined. "Changxin Palace suits my taste perfectly. Moving around would only add to the trouble." She thought to herself: This place is far from trouble, which is just right for her to keep a low profile and plan for the future.
Shen Gaoyi said with a bitter face, "But... if His Majesty asks, this servant really has no way to explain." Thinking of the twenty strokes of the cane last time, the old wound on his buttocks throbbed with pain again.
"Don't worry, Father-in-law," Su Su smiled lightly. "If the Emperor holds me accountable, I will take full responsibility."
After Shen Gaoyi left dejectedly, clutching his buttocks, Su Su pondered in confusion, "Why does Eunuch Shen always protect the back of his robe?"
Chunlan was also puzzled. She followed Su Su into the inner hall and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, does His Majesty's action mean that he believes in your innocence?"
Su Su gently shook her head: "If you truly believe me, then you should restore my position as Imperial Concubine." She looked at the faint morning light outside the window, "Your actions now are quite unpredictable." Moreover, in her previous life, there was no such event as her decision to leave the palace, and her current promotion is completely different from the trajectory of her previous life.
Suddenly, Qiuju rushed in, almost tripping over the threshold.
Su Su quickly stepped forward to support him: "Watch your step, what's the matter that you're so flustered?"
Qiuju gasped for breath, "Your Majesty, the reason the palace was sealed off yesterday was to investigate the case of the Prince of Ning's heir! Fuqu, who used to serve Your Majesty, was released from the palace before she was old enough to leave, and she was murdered in an alley outside the palace last night!"
Su Su suddenly stood up: "Fu Qu? She's related to the death of the Crown Prince?" Fu Qu was honest, well-behaved, and low-key when she was in her palace, so she hadn't paid much attention to her. Was she actually a spy planted by someone else next to her?
"I heard that on the night of the Winter Solstice banquet, Fuqu falsely conveyed the Empress's decree and sent away the palace servants guarding the Crown Prince," Qiuju said urgently. "That's why the Empress didn't see a single person when she went to the side hall."
Su Su sneered, "What a traitor! Or was she planted by someone else to be by my side? I was blind to people and never properly investigated the people around me before." In the past, she treated her servants kindly and never investigated the backgrounds of the palace servants in detail. Now she realized that she had been too naive.
Chunlan gently comforted her, "Your Majesty is benevolent; it is these servants who are ungrateful."
Qiuju then reported: "There is another important matter. The palace maid who led you to the Winter Solstice banquet was originally from Consort Song's palace. Yesterday, His Majesty interrogated the palace maid involved, and she has confessed that she was instructed by Consort Song to deliberately lead Your Highness to that side hall. In his great anger, His Majesty has issued an edict to banish Consort Song to the Cold Palace."
Su Su was shocked upon hearing this. Song Liuzheng? It was actually her who plotted to harm the Prince of Ning's heir? But she always followed Consort Zhuang's lead, and her father was even a disciple of Consort Zhuang's father. How could she commit such a treasonous act? Unless... all of this was instigated by Consort Zhuang to frame her? But why would Consort Zhuang kill her own nephew? The intricacies of this matter were truly perplexing.
"Did Song Liuzheng confess to having any other accomplices?" Su Su pressed.
Qiuju shook her head: "No. I heard that Consort Song was still trying to frame Your Highness until the very end, insisting that you were the one who harmed the Crown Prince."
Su Su chuckled upon hearing this, but her eyes held a chilling glint: "What a loyal dog, even at the very end he didn't forget to drag me down with him for his master."
She then instructed Chunlan: "Now that we have more money, try to send a message to your brother and ask him to secretly investigate the relationship between Consort Zhuang and Princess Ning."
Chunlan was slightly taken aback: "Does Your Highness suspect... that Consort Zhuang would actually plot against her own nephew?"
Su Su's eyes were deep and unfathomable: "It's too early to say for sure. But this matter is strange in many ways, so let my brother investigate first. We'll make further plans once we have some clues."
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