Chapter 86 Su Tingwan secretly met Su Qingqing
"Mother Empress has not done anything to wrong Father Emperor," Xie Shang said boldly.
“Father, you should go and see what kind of life Mother is living in Kunning Palace. When I was little, I heard her often crying, crying every night. After crying, she would laugh. While you were in the palaces of Consort Su, or even Consort Yan, Consort Wang, Consort Ya, or other women, she guarded that place alone for more than twenty years. No matter what mistakes she made, Father, you should go and see her.”
Mentioning the Empress, the Emperor suddenly recalled how she had played the zither just now; she had been just as dazzling and radiant thirty years ago.
He had once been fond of her and attracted to her.
"Shang'er, do you hate me too?" The emperor seemed exhausted and aged considerably in an instant.
Xie Shang was stunned, and after a moment he said against his will, "Your subject does not hate."
The emperor was too lazy to play games with him. Over the years, the empress had schemed against him for his sake. He could not deny that Prince Heng was the most outstanding among all his princes.
"Father, let me play chess with you." This was Xie Shang's dream since childhood, and he also wanted to test the emperor's attitude towards him.
He honed his chess skills so he could play against his father; he practiced martial arts so he could spar with his father; he studied military strategy so he could accompany his father on the battlefield. He always wanted to achieve something to impress his father, but his father just couldn't see it.
He imagined that, like other children, his father would ask him what books he had read, how well he was practicing his handwriting, and whether his martial arts skills had improved...
This time, the emperor did not refuse him. On the chessboard, Xie Shang played with ease, leaving the emperor with no way to defend himself.
He never imagined that his son would grow into such a towering tree.
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Meanwhile, Su Tingwan, who was being punished by kneeling, saw that no one was watching over her and quietly slipped away to the Cold Palace.
Even though Su Qingqing has fallen on hard times and lost everything in the Cold Palace, she still maintains her dignity. She has already found a way to send a message out of the palace to inform the Su family.
Over the past few days, she had thought everything through and realized that she had fallen into her own trap. The other person had turned the tables on her, leaving her completely defenseless, while Jiang Fenghua had managed to distance herself the most.
"Aunt." Su Tingwan's face was streaked with tears, and she felt wronged. "Wanwan has finally seen you."
Seeing her disheveled state, Su Qingqing slapped her across the face. "Useless trash, what face do you have to cry? I've been dragged down like this because of you. What kind of place is the palace? Every corner is watched. How did you end up in the Cold Palace?"
Su Tingwan could only swallow her bitterness.
"The Empress is holding a banquet, everyone went over there, so I sneaked here, Aunt, I..."
Su Tingwan recounted what had happened that day, saying, "What should I do? A Shang doesn't like me anymore; he doesn't care about me anymore."
"That poisonous Empress hates me, that's why she's taking it out on you." Su Qingqing was furious when she mentioned the Empress. Over the years, she had wanted to take the Empress's place, but she had never succeeded. Although the Emperor did not like the Empress, he would not allow any other concubine to take that position.
"Now that things have come to this, Wanwan, our only hope for rescue lies with the Su family. I'm imprisoned, but you are free." She continued, "Think carefully about what has happened since you married Prince Heng. Prince Heng clearly doted on you, so why did he later fall for Jiang Fenghua..."
Su Tingwan's eyes were filled with hatred. Thinking of Jiang Fenghua's gaze today, she said, "Aunt, it's all because of Jiang Fenghua. She must be the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. I think I've fallen into her trap..."
Su Qingqing was so angry that her chest ached. "You only realized you'd fallen into someone's trap now? Where were you before? You're making me so angry!"
"Aunt, I know now." She recounted what had happened at the Prince's mansion.
Consort Su said, "Yunfang told you to do this? You wretch, I thought she could help you, but she knows how to enjoy herself. In the end, you're the one who took the blame."
"It has nothing to do with Aunt Yunfang. She has been helping me all along. It was Jiang Fenghua who deliberately seduced me. I acted impulsively and used her name to buy some things." Su Tingwan still believed in Yunfang. After all, Yunfang had been helping her deal with Jiang Fenghua for so long, and even taught her how to win over Xie Shang.
"Are the things you buy for yourself? Are all the clothes and jewelry for yourself? How much food can you eat by yourself every time you go to a restaurant?"
Su Tingwan then remembered, "Yunfang also liked it, so... she bought it too. Every time we go out to eat, she orders what she likes to eat."
"Fool! She's a servant, a maid. How can a servant eat at the same table as her master? You even buy her clothes and jewelry. Are you the master, or is she the master?" Consort Su was furious. "How could our Su family produce such a fool like you? I really don't know what Xie Shang likes about you."
Su Tingwan immediately bristled upon hearing this, "Wasn't Aunt Yunfang sent by my aunt to help me? Didn't my aunt say that she's one of our own and that I can trust her? Xie Shang likes me... my true self."
For a moment, she couldn't say what Xie Shang liked about her, nor did she know what she was really like. Su Tingwan suddenly realized that she didn't have a real self, and everything was just an act, but she truly liked Xie Shang.
“Aunt, he will never love me again. He has fallen for Jiang Fenghua now. It was Jiang Fenghua who seduced him and made him change his mind.” Su Tingwan was extremely aggrieved. “He clearly said that he only loved me. Why did he betray me? What did I do wrong?”
Consort Su could only sneer, "Wanwan, you still dream that Xie Shang will only love you for the rest of his life? A man's love is the least valuable thing. He is a prince, a king. It's only a matter of time before he has a harem of wives and concubines. The most practical thing for me is to hold power firmly in my hands."
"But he clearly said..."
“He said he only liked you, but now he likes Jiang Fenghua. In the future, he will like Li Fenghua and Zhang Fenghua. What will you do?” Consort Su thought she was still young and patiently advised her, “We only have the best guarantee if we hold power in our hands. As long as you protect your status as a concubine, as long as you are still Prince Heng’s concubine, you still have a chance to turn things around.”
Unbeknownst to Su Tingwan, ever since she secretly ran away to the Cold Palace, her whereabouts had been monitored, and their conversations had also reached Jiang Fenghua's ears.
Jiang Fenghua didn't care at all after hearing this.
Xie Shang didn't return from Chengqian Palace until almost dawn. Jiang Fenghua was half asleep when she suddenly felt someone hug her waist tightly.
She tried to turn over, but Xie Shang said in a low voice, "Ruan Ruan, don't move. I just want to hug you. We'll leave the palace in a bit."
Jiang Fenghua obeyed and stopped moving. She closed her eyes and continued to sleep, seemingly carefree.
They had breakfast at the palace before preparing to return to the Prince Heng's residence.
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