Consort Nian's fingertips dug sharply into her palm, but her face remained impassive: "Your Majesty... I've heard a little. I heard that she was attacked by assassins on her way back to the palace from the villa, but fortunately, the guards were excellent, and Consort Yun is unharmed."
"All right?" Yongzheng sneered. "If I hadn't made arrangements beforehand, Yun'er would already be dead."
Consort Nian felt a wave of dizziness. She steadied herself by holding onto the table beside her: "What do you mean by that, Your Majesty? Do you doubt me...?"
"The Nian family!" Emperor Yongzheng suddenly slammed his fist on the table, his voice causing the candlelight in the hall to flicker. "I have investigated thoroughly! Although those assassins had no markings, the arrows they used were specially made by the Northwest Army. And who else could have mobilized these people besides your brother Nian Gengyao, who is currently under house arrest?"
Consort Nian's face turned deathly pale, her lips trembled but she could not utter a word.
She hadn't expected the emperor to investigate so quickly and accurately.
Yongzheng approached step by step, his anger intensifying: "What chills me to the bone is that you dared to use the monthly medicine delivery as an opportunity to secretly contact Nian Gengyao! Out of consideration for our past relationship, I allowed the imperial physicians to treat your brother regularly, yet you used this to pass messages?"
"No...that's not how it is..." Consort Nian staggered backward until her back hit the cold pillar before she stopped.
Tears welled up in her eyes, sliding down her carefully applied rouge and leaving two shocking red marks on her face.
"What happened?" Yongzheng grabbed her wrist, the force so great that she cried out in pain. "Yun'er has done you no wrong, why did you want to kill her? Speak!"
Consort Nian suddenly laughed, a laugh as shrill as an owl's: "No grudge, no enmity? Does Your Majesty truly know nothing? Since she entered the palace, has she even glimpsed a shred of me in your eyes? At the New Year's Eve banquet, she was the only one in your sight, leaving me humiliated in front of all the other concubines!"
Yongzheng released her hand and looked at her coldly: "You're going to kill someone over such a trivial matter?"
"A trivial matter?" Consort Nian's voice suddenly rose. "It's a trivial matter for His Majesty, but for me it's a grave humiliation! Moreover..." Her eyes turned crazed, "Brother is right, you can no longer tolerate our Nian family. First you stripped him of his military power, then you sidelined me... What's next? A death sentence?"
A complex emotion flashed in Yongzheng's eyes, but it quickly returned to its icy tone: "Nian Gengyao formed cliques for personal gain, embezzled public funds, and harbored treacherous intentions. My mere placement of him under house arrest is already an act of extraordinary leniency. As for you... I originally thought you were different from my brother, but I never expected..."
"What didn't you expect?" Consort Nian suddenly rushed forward, grabbing the emperor's dragon robe. "Your Majesty, do you still remember when you were still Prince Yong, whose father served you faithfully? Whose brother helped you ascend the throne? And who..." Her voice choked with emotion, "And who stayed by your side every night during your most difficult times?"
Yongzheng remained silent for a moment. The events of his previous life were too distant. From his ascension to the throne to his rebirth, all he had seen was darkness. The emotions and heartfelt conversations of the past had been completely worn away by the days that followed.
He quickly composed himself: "I have never forgotten the Nian family's contributions. But their merits cannot outweigh their faults. Your actions, brother and sister, have crossed my bottom line."
Consort Nian released her grip, staggered back a few steps, and suddenly burst into laughter: "What a fine example of merits not outweighing demerits! Now that the Emperor is firmly seated on the throne, he naturally has no need for us 'meritorious officials.' Poor me, Nian Xueyao, with such a devoted heart..."
"Enough!" Yongzheng interrupted sharply. "I didn't come here today to hear these things."
"What does Your Majesty wish to hear?" Consort Nian stopped laughing, her eyes flashing with a crazed light. "Hear me how I hate that Lin Yun? Hear me how I conspired with my brother? Or..."
She suddenly lowered her voice, like a viper flicking its tongue, "I've heard that if it doesn't work this time, there will be a next time?"
Yongzheng's pupils contracted sharply, his face turning terrifyingly grim: "So you admitted it after all."
Consort Nian then realized what she had said, but it was too late.
She collapsed to her knees, her long hair disheveled, looking like a madwoman: "It...it was me who did it. But does Your Majesty know why?" She raised her head, her eyes blurry with tears yet filled with determination, "Because I love you...I love you to the point of madness, I love you so much that I can't tolerate you having eyes for anyone else..."
Yongzheng closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, his mind clear: "Nian, you have disappointed me greatly."
He turned and walked towards the palace gate, his voice as cold as ice: "By imperial decree, Consort Nian is of immoral character and has colluded with officials outside the palace. Effective immediately, she is stripped of her title of Consort, demoted to commoner status, and relocated to a side palace. Without my decree, she is not to step out of the palace gates even a single step."
Consort Nian was struck dumb, standing frozen in place as if by lightning.
Suddenly, she let out a piercing scream and lunged at the emperor: "Yinzhen! You can't do this to me! I've given everything for you! You can't—"
Yongzheng stepped aside and shouted to the guards who rushed over upon hearing the commotion, "Stop her!"
Two guards immediately stepped forward and restrained Consort Nian.
She struggled desperately, her hairpins falling to the ground, her long, black hair spreading out and obscuring her contorted face: "You'll regret this! I curse you! I curse you and that bitch to die a horrible death!"
Yongzheng walked out of the palace gate without looking back, followed by Consort Nian's hysterical cries and the sound of things being smashed.
He stood under the eaves, took a deep breath, and coldly said to the kneeling palace servants, "Keep a close eye on her. If anything goes wrong again, you'll be beheaded."
"Yes, sir." The palace servants replied tremblingly.
Yongzheng strode away from Yikun Palace, his back view resolute.
Only the emperor's personal eunuch, Su Peisheng, noticed that blood was seeping from between the emperor's fingers as he clenched his fist, dripping onto the bluestone slab like specks of red plum blossoms.
Inside Yikun Palace, Consort Nian's shrill laughter gradually turned into sobs, and finally fell silent.
When Emerald mustered her courage and looked up, she saw her master slumped on the ground, staring blankly into the void, a strange smile on his lips, as if he had seen something that no one else could see.
"Your Majesty..." Emerald called out, trembling.
Consort Nian slowly turned her head, her eyes devoid of any reason: "Butterflies...so many butterflies...did you see them? Red butterflies..." She reached out to grasp at the empty air, "Brother is right...fly higher...higher..."
Jade and the others exchanged glances, realizing that Consort Nian—no, Commoner Nian—had gone mad.
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