Chapter 186 He completely misunderstood her
Just then, Fu Lu presented two more lotus lanterns, saying, "Your Majesty, please look, these were retrieved from the lake by my servant."
The Emperor looked at the lotus lanterns, then at the words on them, all words of blessing. Although they were unsigned, he recognized the handwriting as that of Consort Xian. "Did Consort Xian make these two lanterns?"
Fu said, "It should be. Does Your Majesty feel that they look familiar, as if you've seen them somewhere before?"
The Emperor tried hard to recall, “I’ve seen them somewhere before, they seem somewhat familiar. These two lamps are so exquisitely made, I never imagined that Consort Xian’s hands were so skillful.”
“When Your Majesty was still the Crown Prince, you also found a lotus lantern by the lake. It was around this time last year, just after Your Majesty’s birthday. Does Your Majesty remember?” Fu Lu continued, “At that time, I had just started serving Your Majesty. Your Majesty was busy with state affairs, so you certainly don’t remember.”
"You mean that lamp that looks like a peach?" He seemed to remember that.
Fu said, "It's that cup. Your Majesty, take a look at this cup and that cup. Do they look alike? When put together, they both resemble a peach. The design is very ingenious."
The Emperor played with it, "It really is shaped like a peach, with blessings such as wishing you peace and health year after year written on it. So, the lotus lantern from last year was also made by Consort Xian. Today is my birthday, did she give it to me?"
Even if it was Consort Xian who did it, he felt no unease whatsoever. All the women in the palace fawned over him simply because they wanted his favor and coveted his power. They were a bunch of hypocritical women, only the Empress was different from them…
When the Empress met him, fell in love with him, and stayed with him, he was not yet the Crown Prince. At that time, he had nothing and was nobody.
Fu said, "Naturally, it's a gift for the Emperor. Otherwise, why would Consort Xian release lanterns tonight to pray for blessings?"
Xie Shang tossed the lotus lantern to Fu Lu and scoffed, "Her plan is quite clever. If the lantern ends up outside the palace, who knows which pervert will pick it up and start fantasizing. Just because she has some knowledge doesn't mean she's being wicked. Being able to recite those poems from memory, I wonder which lover she's thinking about. She's in my harem and she's still having fantasies. She's lucky she hasn't been caught."
He was forced to marry her back then, and he was also forced to consummate his marriage with Consort Xian. He has always held a grudge about this...
His thoughts seemed to drift far away. He remembered that at that time, he was still the Crown Prince, and she was the Crown Princess. In order to please her mother, she went to her mother's side to pay her respects almost every day, serving tea and water, massaging her shoulders and back, and was extremely attentive. She even tried to seduce him.
In Xie Shang's mind, Jiang Fenghua and Empress Dowager Cheng were both birds of a feather, trying to control him.
She used underhanded means to leak the news that they had not consummated their marriage to the public, causing him to lose face.
He was forced to drink medicine in order to consummate his marriage with her. How could a scheming woman become the empress? He only reluctantly gave her the title of virtuous consort because she had given birth to the imperial heir. He felt that he had not treated her unfairly, and she should behave herself.
He and Consort Xian had only met a few times, so he neither hated nor liked her. If she were honest and dutiful, she could enjoy her later years in the palace and live a life of wealth and honor.
Today, it might not be the palace maids around her reselling handkerchiefs; the handkerchiefs were embroidered by her. What role Consort Xian played in all of this, he had no time to guess, nor did he want to. As long as the women in the harem didn't cause trouble, he could support them all.
He murmured to himself, "I live at the head of the Yangtze River, you live at its tail. I think of you every day but cannot see you, though we both drink from the same Yangtze River. When will this water cease flowing? When will this sorrow end? I only wish your heart were like mine, then our longing would not be in vain."
What's going on in this woman's head? And the palace maids around her, they're all involved in love affairs too. I can tolerate all the excuses they come up with, as long as they don't cause trouble, she'll still be a virtuous consort.
The Jiang family offered no benefit to the emperor, so he completely ignored Jiang Fenghua and never spoke to her again.
Fu was speechless. Couldn't the Empress Consort think of the Emperor as her husband?
The emperor is decisive and ruthless in handling state affairs, but he is somewhat blind to the good and bad of the concubines in the harem.
Fu dared not overstep his bounds, thinking that after this incident, Consort Xian had finally made an appearance before the Emperor and had also sent a lantern to increase her impression. With her looks, if she tried her best, perhaps the Emperor would notice her more. However, the Emperor was preoccupied with state affairs.
When Xie Shang first ascended the throne, there was much controversy surrounding his decision to become emperor. He wanted to prove himself and focused all his attention on state affairs. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager had the final say on the number of women in the harem, and with two Empress Dowagers now in power, he was even less inclined to enter the harem.
Because of Empress Su's influence, Empress Dowager Su's power has surpassed that of Empress Dowager Cheng.
Therefore, Fu dared not offend the Empress. After all, he had not even gained a foothold in front of the Emperor. As a eunuch, who could he help? No one could help him.
Let's mind our own business!
"Which concubine will His Majesty choose tonight?"
The Emperor said, "I won't choose any more concubines. I've been busy with state affairs lately, so there's no need to arrange for any concubines to serve me. Let's go directly to the Imperial Study!"
"Yes," Fu said. Ever since the Emperor became the Crown Prince, he has been busy every day. The Empress Dowager arranged all the concubines in the palace. He should go and meet them all.
Alas! The place the Emperor visits most often is still the Empress's Kunning Palace. It seems that Consort Xian has no chance. Fortunately, she has two children, which can help her retain her position as Consort Xian.
Floating in the sky, Ji Chen saw this scene and became even more excited. So it seemed that Jiang Fenghua would never become empress, and Xie Shang didn't like her at all.
But that's not right!
They've already had a child, so why do they look like they don't know each other? What's going on?
Jiang Fenghua must hold a very important place in Xie Shang's heart. If he becomes emperor, he will definitely make Jiang Fenghua empress. Will Su Tingwan still have a chance then? Will he still be able to remain a prince?
Ji Chen had no idea that he was already dead, that his head had been cut off, and that he was now a wandering ghost, floating in the air, unable to do anything.
He saw Su Tingwan enter the Su family's house, and he followed her inside.
When he went inside, he saw that a mourning hall had been set up, and a person lying in a coffin with their head and body separated.
From a distance, Ji Chen couldn't see clearly. Only when he got closer did he realize that the person lying in the coffin was himself. He was startled and touched his neck, finding it still intact.
He was unaware that several days had passed since he left.
He tried calling out to Su Tingwan, "Third Sister."
But no matter how much she called out, it was no use. Su Tingwan seemed not to hear her, tears welling up in her eyes. "Big brother, I've known you for more than four years. I can only come to see you off on your final journey. I never expected Jiang Fenghua to be so cruel. Even though you were already dead, she still wouldn't let you go. She pushed you onto the guillotine and cut off your head, leaving you with no complete corpse. How could she become so cruel? How could she have changed like this!"
In my dream, Jiang Fenghua was clearly miserable. How come she's so powerful now? Brother, if only you were still alive, I could have you to give me advice. Just like in my dream, you are the prince and I am the empress. We'll work together to deal with Jiang Fenghua and make sure he never gets the emperor's favor.
Big brother, why did you die so easily? What am I supposed to do now that I'm all alone? How can I possibly fight her? Waaaaah…”
Ji Chen thought of his past feelings for Su Tingwan, and seeing that she was the only one who saw him off and kept vigil for him after his death, he was moved to tears. It turned out that they had been together in their past lives, and that she had feelings for him.
He thought Wanwan only liked Xie Shang, and because of Xie Shang's status, he backed down. He never expected that in this life, she also liked him.
"Wanwan, your brother is here. He hasn't left." He called out again.
How could Su Tingwan hear him? After she finished crying, she told people to guard the mourning hall properly and to send him up the mountain to be buried tomorrow, so that it would be worthy of the two of them having known each other.
Ji Chen was no longer sad. Just now, Su Tingwan was talking about a prince and an empress. Did she know about their past lives?
Jiang Fenghua has become so powerful, could it be that Jiang Fenghua also knows about their past lives?
If only he could be resurrected, he would make Jiang Fenghua suffer even more than in his previous life.
In her previous life, Jiang Fenghua never won Xie Shang's favor. In order to take the child away from Wanwan, she deliberately disfigured herself and promised never to appear in front of the emperor again and never to leave Chenxi Palace. Only then did Wanwan return the child to her.
Wanwan returned the child not out of pity, but to watch as Jiang Fenghua ruined the child, and in the end, Jiang Fenghua was even angered to death by her own child.
Ji Chen was overjoyed at the thought of this, but why did he die? Not only could he not participate in the imperial examination, but he also died in such a disgraceful manner.
From the first time Jiang Fenghua met him, he felt that Jiang Fenghua hated him. In the previous life, he and Wanwan killed Jiang Fenghua's maid, forced her to disfigure herself, and threatened her with her child. Is that why she hates him so much?
Could it be that Jiang Fenghua also knows what happened in her past life, which is why she is so powerful?
Wanwan knew this was simply unbelievable. She wondered if Jiang Fenghua had also dreamt of their past life in her dream.
Strangely, he could only follow Su Tingwan and couldn't go to Jiang Fenghua to find out what was going on.
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