Chapter 64 This time, it's our turn to be in the dark.
What Emperor Zhaoheng hated most in his life was the infighting within the harem.
Whether it was the late emperor's femme fatale or his own mother, the Empress Dowager of the current dynasty, all the dirty deeds they had done... Emperor Zhaoheng found them utterly disgusting.
His deep, cold eyes looked down at the daffodils in front of him.
Is she... the same way?
"Your Majesty... please believe me..."
Narcissus stared at him, a single tear sliding down her cheek and landing on the carpet in front of her, leaving a slightly darker stain.
She turned to the side, her hands supporting her body slowly clenching.
"Consort Li! I have never offended you since I entered the palace! Why...why are you framing me like this?!"
Consort Li scoffed and said sarcastically, "Narcissus, are you still going to be stubborn even now?"
"Don't you know in your heart whether you did those things or not?"
"Your Majesty, may I ask you," Shui Xian's eyes grew cold, "do you have any real evidence to support your accusations against me?"
Consort Li seemed to have been waiting for these words, "Of course I have them!"
She clapped her hands gently.
Fangfei, who had been waiting outside the hall, immediately bowed her head and walked in, holding a folded piece of paper in her hands.
Consort Li did not show the note to Shui Xian, but went straight forward and presented it to Emperor Zhaoheng on the throne with both hands.
"Your Majesty, this is the note that Consort Jin secretly sent over! It clearly states that the Yi family's rare stone is unusual! Your Majesty should recognize this handwriting!"
Emperor Zhaoheng took the note and slowly unfolded it. The handwriting on it was neat and elegant... It was indeed Narcissus's handwriting.
He had caught a glimpse of her a few times when she was practicing calligraphy at Yongle Palace, and that's how he came to recognize her handwriting.
Note?
Shui Xian was absolutely certain that the note was a forgery by Consort Li.
In order not to leave any evidence, all the information she passed on to Consort Li was delivered orally, and no written record was ever left!
Consort Li... she even had someone imitate her handwriting! How long has Consort Li been preparing for today's situation?!
"Your Majesty!" Shui Xian pleaded, looking at Emperor Zhaoheng on the throne.
She knew that the key to the inner palace was not the truth, but whether Emperor Zhaoheng believed it or not.
"This note must be a forgery! I copied the calligraphy of a great calligrapher from the previous dynasty; this is no secret in the palace!"
"It is not difficult for someone with ulterior motives to imitate my handwriting! How can a note of dubious origin serve as irrefutable evidence?"
Consort Li snorted coldly and immediately turned her attention to Yinzhu, who was standing next to Shuixian, "Notes can be forged, but confessions can't be lied about, can they?"
“Yinzhu, Consort Jin’s personal maid, is her confidante. She must know everything Consort Jin has done! As long as Yinzhu is handed over to the Censorate for strict interrogation, how can we not find out the truth?”
The Department of Cautious Punishment! It's the Department of Cautious Punishment again!
Narcissus was seething with anger, but her face showed grief and indignation at being driven to the brink of despair.
She knelt on the ground, looking at Consort Li with a hint of anger in her eyes.
"Your Highness Consort Li! You keep saying you want to interrogate my personal maid? Fine! Then I'll ask you a question in return!"
"Since you were the one who first questioned and accused me of a crime, why not let the Censorate interrogate you first? To find out whether you are deliberately framing me today?!"
Consort Li never expected Narcissus to say such a thing, and the worst part was... she couldn't refute it!
"You...you're being insolent!"
Narcissus spoke coldly, each word crystal clear.
"How dare you use the Censorate as a tool to settle personal scores and frame others?!"
"Why are you so eager to send my people to such a place? What are your true intentions?! Do you want to extract a confession through torture, or do you want to kill them to silence them?!"
Consort Li was so provoked that she lost her composure and stepped forward to tear at Narcissus.
"You flattering and deceitful woman... I'll tear your mouth apart, you vile wretch!"
"Enough!"
A bright yellow figure stood between Consort Li and Narcissus.
Just as Consort Li's sharp, menacing nails were about to strike Shui Xian, Shui Xian, pale-faced, merely turned her head slightly, one hand still protecting her lower abdomen, her expression one of utter despair...
Emperor Zhaoheng finally lost his temper and stood up to stop him.
Shui Xian seized the moment when his attitude softened, ignored Consort Li, and instead threw herself at Emperor Zhaoheng's feet.
Her tears fell like beads from a broken string, and her voice was filled with desperate pleas:
"Your Majesty, you are wise! Today's events, every single one of them, are clearly aimed at me and the innocent child in my womb!"
"They...they all want to take the mother and keep the child! They want my life, Your Majesty!"
Dressed in plain white, Narcissus was summoned late at night, yet she became even more breathtakingly beautiful.
Her slender body trembled slightly with excitement. She raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't wipe them away.
"I am all alone in this deep palace, with only a handful of people I can truly trust! If even Yinzhu is gone... I..."
"How can I possibly live on in this world? It would be better to... better to just smash my head against this palace wall and die than to be relentlessly pursued like this, living a life worse than death!"
As Narcissus spoke, she actually stood up and rushed towards the dragon pillar in the hall, her profile resolute.
"Xian'er, you mustn't!"
Emperor Zhaoheng was shocked and immediately pulled her into his arms.
Yinzhu rushed forward and clung tightly to Shuixian's leg, crying out, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you can't! For the sake of the little prince, you must take care of yourself!"
Shui Xian nestled in Emperor Zhaoheng's arms and wept bitterly, looking utterly wronged.
Seeing this from a distance, Consort Li instinctively took a step forward.
She couldn't bear to see that vile woman so intimate with Emperor Zhaoheng in front of her, and wished she could go forward and pull that vile woman away with her own hands.
Fangfei secretly pulled her back, afraid that her mistress would impulsively step forward.
Emperor Zhaoheng held the narcissus in his arms, a complex emotion flashing across his eyes.
Narcissus's words struck a chord with him.
Tonight's events are too coincidental; Consort Li has somehow gotten involved with the Yi family.
The Ruan and Yi families should have been in a relationship of checks and balances in the court, but now that their daughters are joining forces in the harem... does this mean that the family forces behind them have also reached some kind of tacit agreement?
This was the last thing he, as an emperor, wanted to see!
However, Consort Li's accusations... ultimately pierced Emperor Zhaoheng's heart like a thorn.
The way Narcissus just countered so clearly and logically was completely different from her usual gentle and naive self...
Is it cleverness or cunning? The line between the two is so blurred at this moment.
Finally, Emperor Zhaoheng took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart.
He released Narcissus, had Silver Pearl help her up, and then said in a deep voice:
"Eunuch Xiao Chuanzi is obsessed with unorthodox poisons. He is immediately handed over to the Censorate for rigorous interrogation. It is imperative to determine whether he is related to Yi Guichun's poisoning and madness! If guilty, he will be severely punished. If innocent, he will be released!"
"Consort Jin..." He looked at the weeping Narcissus with mixed feelings, paused for a moment, "and is confined to Yongle Palace. Without my decree, you are not to step out of the palace gates even once."
"We will make a decision after the truth of the Xiaochuanzi case and all the matters involved today have been revealed!"
He didn't mention Yinzhu, which was tantamount to him tacitly protecting her for the time being.
"As for the Yi family," Emperor Zhaoheng's gaze swept over Yi Guichun, who was kneeling on the ground dressed in coarse cloth.
"After treatment by a renowned physician, her madness has been cured. Considering that she has served me for three years and made contributions to the harem, effective immediately, her rank as a concubine is restored, and she is moved back to Changxin Palace to reflect on her mistakes in seclusion. She is not to be summoned out!"
Upon hearing the verdict, Shui Xian slowly raised her eyes and met the gaze of Emperor Zhaoheng on the dragon throne.
She said nothing, but looked at Emperor Zhaoheng one last time with her eyes brimming with broken tears.
That one glance, filled with silent disappointment, made Emperor Zhaoheng's heart clench, and he even felt as if he had lost her!
His hand clenched tightly, and the note was crushed beyond recognition in his palm!
Shui Xian did not linger any longer. With Yin Zhu's help, she kowtowed to express her gratitude for the emperor's grace and slowly left the suffocating Qianqing Palace.
Behind her, Yi Guichun's joyful, tearful cry could be clearly heard: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, I thank you for your great kindness!"
There was also Yi Shuyao's gentle voice of comfort.
Narcissus still had tear stains on her cheeks. After leaving the main hall, a cool breeze blew by.
She raised her hand to wipe it away and whispered to Yinzhu beside her, "Let's go back to the palace."
......
Upon returning to Yongle Palace, the scene before me was even more chaotic than I had anticipated.
The people from the Censorate have already come and taken Xiao Chuanzi away. The side room where Xiao Chuanzi lived was ransacked.
His treasured medical books were roughly thrown on the ground, trampled with footprints, and his carefully prepared medicinal herbs were scattered everywhere.
A commotion also came from the east side hall.
Consort Tuoba was being led out by several eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department, and her belongings were haphazardly packed and piled up in the courtyard.
She had clearly just been startled awake, her face still showing a look of bewilderment.
She spotted Narcissus being supported by Yinzhu and rushed over anxiously: "Consort Jin! What happened?! Why are they...?"
"Your Highness Consort Jin!" A middle-aged eunuch dressed in the attire of a steward of the Imperial Household Department, with a stern face, immediately stepped forward and stood between Consort Tuoba and Shui Xian.
"By imperial decree, Consort Jin is confined to Yongle Palace! Noble Lady Tuoba, your belongings have been packed. Please come with me immediately to another place!"
This person was one of Consort Li's trusted confidants whom she placed in the Imperial Household Department using her power to assist in managing the six palaces.
Seeing the narcissus swaying precariously, and then at the eunuch's snobbish face, Consort Tuoba trembled with rage: "You..."
Narcissus took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'll follow their instructions. I... I'm fine."
Consort Tuoba glared fiercely at the head eunuch before being led away by the other eunuchs.
Before leaving, she turned back and looked at Narcissus deeply, her eyes filled with worry.
With Yinzhu's help, Narcissus slowly walked towards the main hall.
Wherever they went, palace servants sent by the Imperial Household Department were ransacking the place, turning the once neat and elegant Yongle Palace into a mess.
Seeing all this, Yinzhu felt as if her heart was being torn apart, and her hand supporting Shuixian trembled slightly: "Your Majesty..."
Entering the empty inner room, Narcissus walked alone to the soft couch and sat down, calmly gazing out the window at the courtyard that had been ravaged beyond recognition.
Yinzhu stood anxiously by her side, wanting to offer words of comfort, but unsure of what to say.
After a long while, Narcissus slowly raised her eyes, a dark glint that was hard to conceal flashing in her calm gaze.
“Silver Pearl…look.”
"This time, it's our turn to be in the dark."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com