Chapter 27
The fourth prince had just finished saying he missed his mother when his mother arrived very quickly.
Outside, announcements were made one after another. The other concubines in the palace were not as eager as Consort Rong and Consort Shu. They followed the procedures and waited for the emperor's approval before entering.
Xue Jin'an pulled out the original descriptions and compared them one by one with the descriptions of the visitor.
The third to arrive was Consort De, the birth mother of the First Prince, and the daughter of Lin Ruofu, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. She was not dressed in palace attire, but in a black riding outfit, and she was also holding a black riding whip in her hand. She strode in, and the arrogance and unrestrainedness in her eyes added a bit of attraction to her not particularly outstanding appearance. She looked exceptionally dashing and capable.
The original novel mentions that Consort De had three main hobbies: drinking, playing cards, and horseback riding.
However, she was not good at drinking, had poor sportsmanship when playing cards, and was only truly skilled at horseback riding. The emperor also liked her riding. He did not visit Qing'an Palace often, but whenever there was a hunting event, Consort De would always be there. He even specially set aside a place in the palace's animal garden for her to raise pets and ride horses. Consort De would spend her time there whenever she had nothing to do.
Therefore, horseback riding was Consort De's true love among her three great hobbies. She loved it so much that even the imprisonment of the eldest prince in August could not stop her from going on the autumn hunt in September.
Following closely behind Consort De was Consort Xian, the birth mother of the Third Prince. Before she even arrived, her voice could be heard, repeatedly calling out "Your Majesty." Upon entering, she immediately asked the Emperor, "Are you alright?" Then, she turned around and began to reprimand the eunuchs, maids, and guards beside her. She even showed no mercy to Li Hechun, sternly rebuking him, "For failing to protect His Majesty, you deserve to die!"
Although Consort Xian came from a military family and her father and brothers were all big and burly, especially her brother Qian Dezhong, who was like Li Kui reincarnated, she herself was a stunningly beautiful woman who was completely different from her family and was in no way inferior to the three thousand beauties in the harem.
Even her domineering manner when scolding people is quite pleasing to the eye. Of course, this beauty does not make the person she scolds feel good.
Li Hechun, the chief eunuch, had served the emperor for over twenty years. He hadn't been reprimanded like this in years, and his chrysanthemum smile was almost gone. He raised his hand and slapped his face twice, then hunched his back and lowered his head, obscuring his expression. Only his delicate, humble voice could be heard saying, "This servant deserves to die, this servant deserves to die."
"What a bunch of useless trash." Consort Xian rolled her eyes and added another comment before finally letting it go.
...Hmm, this is exactly what the original story is like. Xue Jin'an quickly scanned the scene where Consort Xian appeared. In the story, Consort Xian would always reprimand the people around the emperor, saying that they did not take good care of the emperor, and so on. As the emperor's personal eunuch, Li Hechun was naturally the one who was reprimanded the most.
The Third Prince was known as a brute among the princes, and his martial prowess was also recognized as the best among them. After coming of age, he entered the Weihu Camp of the Southwest Army, where his uncle, General Qian Dezhong, was stationed, to train. He earned a lot of military merits and took the opportunity to gather a lot of military households' influence.
Unfortunately, the court has always been dominated by scholars who manipulate power. The Third Prince had no decent advisors and was unable to participate in the political struggles. When the First Prince and the Fifth Prince were locked in a fierce battle, he was winning hearts and minds in the military. When the Ninth Prince rose rapidly and challenged the Second Prince, he was still winning hearts and minds in the military. When the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince were also brought to the forefront, he was still winning hearts and minds in the military.
In the end, the fifth prince went mad, the eldest prince was imprisoned, the ninth prince was reprimanded by the emperor for the Cui Zui incident, and the second prince rebelled and was executed. He believed that he was now the eldest of the usable princes and the one most "appreciated and loved" by his father, and that he was ready and that his younger brothers should all recommend him to take the throne.
So, he jumped too high, and his three younger brothers, the fourth, sixth, and eighth, fanned the flames and directly flattered him to death with accusations of "his merits overshadowing the emperor" and "his desire to seize the imperial robes."
The emperor was old and had just experienced the rebellion of the second prince, so he was at his most nervous. A spy from the Imperial Clothing Bureau reported that a Taoist priest had predicted that the third prince's destiny was "purple aura coming from the east, his nobility beyond words." His virtuous reputation began to spread among the people, and even the ministers praised him highly. Naturally, the emperor was unhappy and ordered an investigation. Unexpectedly, they found that the third prince's residence had privately made weapons and dragon robes, and that everything in his home was out of line.
The emperor was furious and ordered the Imperial Guards to surround the prince's residence, threatening to depose him. Just as the court officials and princes persuaded him to stop, he received news that three thousand soldiers from the Tiger Guard were rescuing the third prince. That was bad enough, but the third prince said he would explain to the emperor, but instead he led these three thousand well-equipped soldiers to storm the palace!
...In the end, the third prince was shot to death by a hail of arrows in front of the Qian Yuan Palace.
After the death of the Third Prince, Consort Xian was also hanged in Yonghe Palace, with Li Hechun personally overseeing the execution.
In the original novel, this part of the story does not actually describe the emperor ordering the execution of Consort Xian. When Li Hechun later reports Consort Xian's death, he uses the phrase "she hanged herself out of fear of punishment." The emperor's reaction is to stand alone on the steps for a long time in a daze.
Therefore, the mainstream view among readers is that Consort Xian's death was Li Hechun's revenge for personal grudges. It also formally demonstrates that the emperor is old and powerless, his control over power is not as good as before, and even his confidants are restless.
Xue Jin'an was so clear about the readers' thoughts on this topic because the otaku had a strange feeling about the emperor and even wrote a long review and analysis of several thousand words. Because the novel platform always had random comments, he specially backed up the original manuscript in his notes.
That being said, the Third Prince seems to be evenly matched with the Second Prince in the Imperial Study, but in reality, the First Prince has shifted his focus to the court, while his younger brothers haven't matured yet. To put it bluntly, it's just a case of "when the cat's away, the mice will play."
After Consort De and Consort Xian, Consort Zhen made her grand entrance. The Fourth Prince inherited his elegant and noble appearance from his mother. However, despite their similar features, Consort Zhen had a somewhat bitter look. One hundred and eight exquisitely crafted red agate prayer beads, engraved with Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures, were wrapped around her right wrist three times, completely covering that area of skin.
She was also twirling a string of emerald green jade Buddhist prayer beads in her hand, and her whole body was covered with the sandalwood fragrance from years of worshipping Buddha. Her lowered eyes and contemplative demeanor made her look as compassionate and benevolent as a Bodhisattva in a Buddhist shrine. Even the vermilion mole under her eye, which should have been a dashing feature, looked dignified and solemn.
"This concubine greets Your Majesty." Consort Zhen curtsied.
The emperor unconsciously sat up straight, his imposing aura softening slightly, and nodded, saying, "No need for formalities, please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Consort Zhen stood up, but did not sit down immediately. Instead, she glanced at the group of princes, her gaze sweeping over each one.
The fourth prince immediately peeked out from behind the third prince, sniffling and looking for comfort with a pitiful expression, "Mother..."
Before he could even utter the word "Consort," Consort Zhen turned her gaze away and landed on Xue Jin'an, who was sitting on a stool in the corner. Xue Jin'an felt particularly awkward being sandwiched between two pairs of embracing mothers and sons, and his seat was right in the center of the hall, which greatly affected the grand entrance of the other consorts.
So when Li Hechun led the two ladies to their seats and asked the eunuch to clear away the empty stools left by the Fifth Prince, Xue Jin'an very consciously followed suit, carrying his stool to the corner as well, and then began to sit and watch the show.
Everyone who watched his actions gasped in shock, and even Li Hechun carefully observed the emperor's expression.
emperor:"……"
Having already witnessed Xue Jin'an's ability to choke people, the emperor chose to turn his gaze away rather than bother with her.
Li Hechun hissed inwardly, secretly elevating the Seventh Prince's status. Regardless of whether the Seventh Prince's behavior just now was genuinely due to a lack of understanding or a deliberate attempt to signal, it was clear that His Majesty had not pursued the matter.
It's unclear whether it stemmed from guilt and lingering affection for Consort Zhen, or from His Majesty's desire to make amends after learning of the Seventh Prince's experiences over the years—
Li Hechun realized he was thinking too far ahead, so he quickly stopped himself and cursed himself in his heart: I'm really getting old and useless. I can't even control what I think anymore. I keep bringing up those deadly old things... I'd better forget them quickly. If I accidentally let it slip one day, I'll be done for!
In short, it doesn't matter what His Majesty's reasons are, and he doesn't need to know. All he needs to know is that His Majesty's tolerance towards the Seventh Prince far surpasses that of the other princes.
If what Master said is true, and the Empress Dowager wants to personally choose a mentor for the Seventh Prince, and even chooses Cui Zai... perhaps the Seventh Prince's suffering is truly about to end. Li Hechun glanced at Xue Jin'an subtly, already pondering how to subtly present himself when the Empress Dowager mentions this matter.
As for the possibility that His Majesty might reject the Empress Dowager's proposal, Li Hechun never even considered it.
After all, she was the Empress Dowager, His Majesty's grandmother, the only elder His Majesty respected, and a woman who had devoted most of her life to the stability of the Great Qi Dynasty! Unless the Empress Dowager wanted to return to the court and share power with His Majesty, His Majesty would not refuse any request she made, even if it was just to find a companion to bring some health to the grave of the founding emperor. At most, he would offer a few words of advice to take care of his health.
Xue Jin'an noticed Li Hechun's furtive glances and felt that behind that smiling face lay ulterior motives, making Xue Jin'an eager to connect to his Bluetooth.
But Xue Jin'an was poor and could only sigh at his own limited abilities.
Besides Li Hechun, Xue Jin'an also felt the other princes standing around casting glances of surprise, envy, or jealousy—well, the emotions were too complex, and Xue Jin'an, whose battery was almost depleted, simply didn't want to analyze them.
Since none of them said anything, Xue Jin'an simply ignored them and focused on watching the family drama in front of him.
The sixth prince, who had cried in front of his brothers, belatedly felt embarrassed. At the same time, he was still shaken by the assassination attempt that had occurred earlier. He wanted to stay in his mother's arms and not get up, but Consort Shu did not allow him to. She gently but not forcefully separated them.
The sixth prince pouted and was about to start crying again, but Consort Shu simply raised a finger. After a breath, the sixth prince managed to hold back his tears. Even though he was unwilling, he obediently took the handkerchief handed to him by his mother and began to clean his messy face.
After that, Consort Shu chatted casually with the Emperor and Consort Rong.
Consort Shu's demeanor was too cold, while the Sixth Prince's obedient actions were truly heartbreaking. As a result, the whole scene gave the impression that Consort Shu was being too harsh on the Sixth Prince.
However, Xue Jin'an's high-definition camera clearly and accurately discovered that Consort Shu's gaze was always subtly falling on the Sixth Prince's face. When the Sixth Prince consciously cleaned up and was about to put away his handkerchief, she deftly took it in her hand and very accurately cleaned up every trace she had missed.
On the contrary, Consort Rong, who was holding the Fifth Prince's hand affectionately, reddened her eyes and looked on the verge of tears when she mentioned the assassin and the Fifth Prince's injuries, appearing to be extremely heartbroken and loving. However, she did not notice that the Fifth Prince's hand was slowly placed on the wound on his waist.
The analgesic effect of the wound medicine was fading, and the spiciness of the hemostatic medicine itself seeped into the wound, causing intense pain. The Fifth Prince pursed his lips and his face paled.
Without comparison, there is no harm. Even Xue Jin'an, who doesn't understand human expressions, can tell who is good and who is bad from the details.
If it weren't for the fact that the Fifth Prince was tied up as Consort Rong's tool, Xue Jin'an would have liked to rummage through the Fifth Prince's cloth bag and take out the fruit and melon seeds to eat.
This is an essential piece of equipment for humans to enjoy watching the excitement in novels.
So, the Fifth Prince clearly had his own bag, but he didn't want people to notice that he always carried medicine for injuries. Why did he use his bag to cover it up? If others asked, he could just make up some lies to get by. The Fifth Prince was a master at lying through his teeth.
Xue Jin'an couldn't help but mutter a few complaints to himself, then cleared away his emotional baggage with a little rocket, and opened his memo to start copying skills.
My body is in Cao's camp, but my heart is with Han. (Get it!)
Playing the victim, got it!
Playing the victim, got it!
...
Just then, Xue Jin'an felt Consort Zhen's gaze and noticed that her gaze started from the blood dragon wood bracelet on her wrist.
"Baoning," Consort Zhen murmured, her voice gentle and tender, like the wind, "I heard that the assassin attacked you first, but luckily you were quick-witted and escaped, even killing the assassin in return. Were you injured?"
Xue Jin'an truly didn't understand the art of human speech, but he wasn't a fool. He clearly sensed that after Consort Zhen finished speaking, the Emperor and Consort Rong's gazes were fixed on him.
Xue Jin'an silently reopened the memo: using someone else to do the dirty work, sowing discord, spreading rumors... got it.
"The Empress Dowager has arrived—" A young eunuch suddenly announced from outside.
The emperor rose from his seat and strode out to greet them personally, followed by Consort Rong, Consort Shu, Consort Zhen, and the princes in order of seniority and rank.
Xue Jin'an also got up, but he strictly followed the textbook rule of "three steps to greet and seven steps to see off," and after taking three steps, he stood still and quietly watched the princes' backs disappear into the distance.
The Sixth Prince noticed this scene and hesitated for a moment. He saw that the other princes did not seem to want to remind him. The Third Prince even sneered gloatingly, while the Fifth Brother, who seemed to be the closest to his Seventh Brother, walked past with a gloomy face and no expression, making the Sixth Prince not dare to call out to him.
The sixth prince hesitated for a moment, then turned back and whispered a reminder, "Seventh brother, let's go."
Xue Jin'an tilted her head. "Why?"
When the sixth prince spoke to his seventh brother for the first time, he was very nervous and started to stutter. He stammered and struggled to say a single sentence: "Didn't you...didn't you hear? The ancestor is here! We have to go out and greet him!"
“I took three steps,” Xue Jin’an said, pointing precisely at the spot where he stepped, counting for him, “One, two, three, three steps.”
The sixth prince's maternal grandfather was the Minister of Rites, and he had a wealth of knowledge about etiquette. He was stunned for a moment before realizing that he meant "to greet someone three steps out," and immediately shook his head, "No! No! It's not the same!"
"What's different?" Xue Jin'an asked.
"Well, that, we, the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager..." The Sixth Prince wanted to explain to Xue Jin'an, but the more anxious he became, the more he stuttered, and the more he stuttered, the more chaotic his language became. He was so anxious that he was sweating profusely.
Then, the culprit suddenly said, "The Empress Dowager has entered the Imperial Study."
"Oh dear!" Unable to understand, the Sixth Prince stamped his foot and simply grabbed Xue Jin'an and pulled him out. Even with a ferocious expression, he couldn't budge Xue Jin'an.
He couldn't help but grin and say, "Let's go."
“Okay.” Xue Jin’an didn’t understand, but he obediently carried out the command he entered.
When the two came out, the Empress Dowager had already reached the central courtyard. The bodies of the two assassins had long been dragged away, and only a pool of water left by the bloodstains on the ground indicated that they had once existed.
At this moment, the sixth prince was glad that he had many brothers, so that he could blend in without looking too abrupt.
The Empress Dowager was helped in by another woman in palace attire. Granny Su stepped back and followed behind. Lu Bingzhu returned at some point and stood with Granny Su, holding the blood-stained guard uniform in his hand.
The woman in palace attire was only in her early thirties, but the color of her clothes was overly formal, making her look old-fashioned. If you didn't look at her face and hair, you would think she was from the same generation as the Empress Dowager.
She was speaking softly with her eyes lowered, "Grandma, watch out for the steps."
Unsurprisingly, this is Consort Min, from the Jiang family, known for its "three dukes and marquises, and two grand secretaries." The Jiang family were former officials of the previous dynasty, and had produced five prime ministers. At its peak, they were known as "half the court of Jiang." However, Emperor Li ascended the throne and nearly slaughtered the entire Jiang family. In the end, the once-prosperous Jiang family was reduced to only two branches, with fewer than five people in total, young and old.
Emperor Li was tyrannical, favoring treacherous officials, engaging in extravagant construction projects, and repeatedly increasing taxes, causing widespread suffering among the people. As a result, heroes from all over the land rose up in rebellion, and Emperor Qiyuan was one of them, but also the least prominent, because he had no noble family background. The entire rebel force was just a makeshift group of wandering knights and impoverished people who could no longer bear the oppression.
It was the Jiang family's discerning eye that allowed them to invest without hesitation, providing both money and manpower, giving this makeshift organization a chance to establish itself. Later, when Emperor Qiyuan ascended the throne, he bestowed two titles of duke upon them: one was his father-in-law, Old Master Zhong, who was granted the title of Duke of Ning, and the other was Old Master Jiang, who was granted the title of Duke of Fu.
In addition, the two branches of the Jiang family were respectively granted the titles of Marquis of Annan and Marquis of Huaiyin, and the titles were not reduced for three generations. The Marquis of Annan inherited the title until the fourth generation when it was reduced to Earl of Annan. He was the elder brother of Consort Min's twin brother. The Marquis of Huaiyin's lineage had only one son for two generations, and the third generation had only one daughter. She was granted the title of Princess and married the newly appointed third-ranked scholar. Their only child took the surname Jiang.
However, this child did not inherit the title, because he was too promising. He passed the imperial examination and entered the imperial court. He then rose through the ranks from Hanlin to Minister. At the age of forty, he succeeded his uncle, the former Marquis of Annan, who was also the father of Consort Min, and entered the cabinet. He then rose to a position second only to the emperor.
This person is none other than Grand Secretary Jiang Wen.
The Jiang family was prominent, even more so than the Ningguo Mansion. The two families had been related by marriage, but after many generations, the relationship had become extremely distant. If they insisted on claiming kinship, they could call the Empress Dowager their great-aunt.
Consort Min was two years older than the Emperor. She entered the palace with Empress Xiaojingyi and was granted the rank of Consort. After giving birth to Princess Baoyi, she was promoted to Noble Consort. Later, she gave birth to twins, the Second Prince and the Second Princess, and was promoted to Imperial Noble Consort.
However, the Second Princess accidentally fell into the water and died when she was six years old. Now, Consort Min only has the Second Prince Xue Peilan and Princess Baoyi Xue Muyun as her children. Yes, that's right. In the end, the mastermind behind the scenes who joined forces with the female lead to kill the male lead, supported the young emperor to ascend the throne, and became the regent is this Princess Baoyi.
Chu Wenjing entered the Ministry of Justice after cracking a major human trafficking case and rescuing Princess Baoyi's daughter; Cui Zui had spent some time at the Princess's residence before his rebellion in the Northwest Army...
"As expected of a major villain, his presence is already overwhelming even before we've met him," Xue Jin'an thought to herself.
"Grand Empress Dowager, what brings you here?" The Emperor stepped forward and took the Empress Dowager's other hand, complaining affectionately, "This little matter has bothered you. I really have raised a bunch of useless people."
“This matter is probably no small thing.” The Empress Dowager patted the Emperor’s hand and gestured to what Lu Bingzhu was holding. The latter immediately stepped forward and reported, “Now that the palace gates are closed and no one can enter or leave, that person must still be hiding in the palace, dressed as a servant and mixed among the eunuchs and palace maids.”
The emperor's face was grim. The fact that the assassin was able to escape even when being chased by Lu Bingzhu meant that, besides his exceptional lightness skills, he must have been prepared beforehand and had already changed his clothes underneath. This basically confirmed that someone in the inner palace was involved.
"Since that's the case, then let's search the palace, starting with Cining Palace!" The Empress Dowager made the final decision. She glanced around the room and said, "I want to see what kind of three-headed, six-armed person is stirring up trouble here."
With the Empress Dowager leading the search, starting with the Cining Palace, no one else dared to object. The entire Imperial Guard was mobilized, and in the blink of an eye, the entire palace was turned upside down. Finally, a corpse was brought out from the dry well that Shouquan had mentioned was very close to the Cold Palace.
Lu Bingzhu said coldly, "This servant tracked down there and examined it carefully, but there was no body in the dry well at the time. Has the identity of that body been determined?"
The Imperial Guard Commander reported, "It is Aunt Cuiyun from Yihe Palace, who has been dead for several days."
"What?! Cuiyun is dead?!" Consort Rong suddenly stood up, her expression even more surprised than Consort Zhen herself.
Consort Min feigned thought, then casually remarked, "This name sounds familiar...it seems to be...someone from Zhaoyang Palace?"
"It was because I felt sorry for her that I wanted to come to her side." Consort Zhen frowned and put the green prayer beads in her hand aside. She said slowly, "I haven't seen Cuiyun for quite a few days. I found out that she had tampered with Xuan'er's calming incense, which caused Xuan'er to have nightmares for several days. So I punished her and banished her from Yihe Palace. I haven't seen her since."
The emperor glanced at her, neither saying whether he believed her nor not, but simply asked, "Who was the last person to see her?"
The Imperial Guard Commander reported: "According to the investigation, Eunuch Wei from the small kitchen was the last person to see Cuiyun. However, Eunuch Wei said that Aunt Cuiyun took the crystal cake from him, saying that she was going to see the Seventh Prince."
As expected, they came for me. Xue Jin'an, who had anticipated this, calmly accepted Qi Qi's gaze.
Xue Jin'an activated the skills he had just learned from Consort Zhen, even mimicking her light and airy tone perfectly: "A spy came from Minghua Palace and carried out an assassination attempt in the Imperial Study. Only the Sixth Prince was injured; a person who had ill intentions towards the princes also appeared in Yihe Palace, but the assassin who kidnapped the Fifth Prince disappeared, and her body appeared."
"What a coincidence." Xue Jin'an even extracted the Fifth Prince's facial expression data and chuckled sarcastically.
The hall fell silent abruptly, making the boy's barely suppressed, excited voice all the more jarring.
"So my calming incense was tampered with?" The Fourth Prince tugged at the Third Prince's clothes, looking smug. "See? I knew I couldn't possibly be so afraid of that little wolf cub Xue Jin'an that I couldn't sleep!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
