47. Going crazy
Consort Shu's Palace
"Bang--"
A fine teacup was smashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.
"Bitch! They're all bitches!" Qi Xunyuan, who was Consort Shu not long ago but is now Consort Qi, swept all the rouge and powder off the dressing table like a madwoman. She overturned the bronze mirror with a loud crash. "I'm going to kill that little bastard! Kill her whole family!"
The palace maids knelt on the ground, trembling.
The head palace maid, Chun Tao, mustered her courage and advised, "Your Highness, please calm down and take care of your health..."
"Get out!" Qi Xunyuan slapped Chuntao across the face, sending her sprawling to the ground. "You dare to come and laugh at me?!"
Her carefully styled hair was now disheveled, and her gold hairpin hung askew: "In all my years in the palace, I have never suffered such humiliation!"
She dug her fingers deep into the flesh of her palms, blood seeping through her fingers: "That little bitch... I will make her wish she were dead!"
The hall was in a mess.
The priceless brocade curtains were torn to shreds, and the glass lamps, a tribute from the Western Regions, were shattered on the ground.
Qi Xunyuan paced back and forth in the hall like a madwoman, her skirt sweeping across the shards on the floor with a sickening sound.
"Jin Lanyue... Jin Lanyue!" With each utterance of this name, the muscles in her face contorted more. "I will make you pay the price!"
She dared not hate the emperor, nor did she dare hate the Marquis of Beiding, who had just almost impeached the Qi family.
So she could only hate a three-year-old child and blame all the mistakes on her.
She rushed to the dressing table, grabbed a pair of gold scissors, and smashed them hard against her reflection in the bronze mirror: "If I could win His Majesty's favor, I wouldn't be in this situation!"
The palace maids were terrified, but none of them dared to step forward to stop them.
Only after Qi Xunyuan had vented her anger and collapsed to the ground did someone tremblingly hand her a handkerchief: "Your Highness, your hand is bleeding..."
Qi Xunyuan looked at the wound on her hand caused by the shards, and frantically smeared the blood on the handkerchief: "Good, good blood... Go, give this handkerchief to His Majesty, and tell him that I am filled with remorse and have mutilated myself to show my resolve."
She was furious.
Having been in the palace for so many years, she may have already become mentally unstable.
At first, she longed for the emperor's favor, but soon she discovered that the emperor did not love her at all.
Or rather, he didn't love any of the women in his harem.
She was very unwilling, but after she had a son, this unwillingness temporarily disappeared.
She thought, if the emperor doesn't love her, then how could he not love his son?
But she soon realized that she really couldn't see how much the emperor loved his only son, the young prince.
Once, after giving birth to a prince, she thought she had everything under control and would be able to ascend to the position of empress.
But after so many years, the emperor showed no intention of making her his official wife.
Even the virtuous concubine who only gave birth to a worthless daughter could be on equal footing with her.
She was so unwilling to accept it.
This sense of resentment intensified.
She wanted to attract the emperor's attention, she wanted power, she wanted the supreme favor of being second only to the emperor.
But the emperor ignored her.
So she forced her son to attract the emperor's attention, but the emperor didn't give the young prince much attention either.
The more resentment grew, the more it slowly evolved into a twisted hatred.
Every time she suffered a setback outside, her desire to control the young prince deepened.
Gradually, she began to blame the young prince for these misdeeds, blaming him for not being smart enough or ambitious enough.
Otherwise, why wouldn't he receive his father's love?
It's all his fault!
But he was her son, whom she had carried for ten months and given birth to with great difficulty, and she loved him too.
But she couldn't allow him to leave her, to defy her...
These complex emotions gradually drove her to madness.
-
Imperial Study
Wei Xiuming put down his vermilion brush and looked up at the young prince standing in the center of the hall.
The five-year-old stood upright, but couldn't hide his slightly trembling fingers.
"Jiayou." Wei Xiuming beckoned him to come forward. "Come here."
The young prince approached cautiously, stopping three steps away from the imperial desk, and respectfully bowed: "Your subject greets Your Majesty."
"No need for formalities." Wei Xiuming pondered for a moment. "Do you resent me for punishing your mother?"
The young prince suddenly looked up, a hint of panic flashing in his dark eyes, before quickly lowering his head again: "Your subject dares not... Mother Consort has done something wrong and should be punished."
Wei Xiuming's eyes flickered slightly. He stood up, walked to the young prince, and squatted down to look him in the eye. "I'm asking whether you harbor resentment, not whether you dare to harbor resentment."
The young prince bit his lip, and after a long while, he whispered, "Your subject has no resentment... Mother... she shouldn't have treated Little Moon like that, she shouldn't have..."
Before she could finish speaking, tears were already welling up in her eyes.
He was afraid of Qi Xunyuan, but she was, after all, his mother.
A child's deep-seated affection and love for their mother is difficult to suppress.
Wei Xiuming simply reached out and wiped away the tears on his face: "In that case, go with your father to see your mother."
-
Consort Qi's Palace
The hall was in a mess and had not yet been cleaned up.
Qi Xunyuan was re-dressing in front of the bronze mirror, her jade comb idly combing her disheveled long hair.
"Your Majesty, please don't be too sad..." the head palace maid Chun Tao advised cautiously.
Qi Xunyuan sneered and slammed the jade comb heavily onto the dressing table: "Heartbroken? Why should I be heartbroken?"
She stared at her slightly haggard face in the bronze mirror, her eyes fierce: "I still have a prince. As long as he is a prince, I still have a chance to turn things around."
She suddenly turned around and grabbed Chun Tao's wrist: "Don't you think so? As long as Jia You still acknowledges me as his mother, His Majesty will have to give me some face..."
"He was born from my womb, and he is destined to be under my control for life. He cannot disobey me, absolutely not!"
"Although he's not very useful anymore, it's okay. I'll train him slowly, and he'll eventually become docile, obedient, and lovable..."
"Your Majesty!" Chun Tao looked at her in horror.
Qi Xunyuan, however, remained oblivious, continuing to mutter to herself, "Once this storm passes, I'll have my own way... That little slut from the Marquis of Beiding's mansion, I'll definitely take her..."
"presumptuous!"
A furious shout exploded like a thunderclap.
Qi Xunyuan turned around abruptly and saw Wei Xiuming holding the little prince standing at the palace gate, his face terribly gloomy.
The young prince stared at her, his eyes wide.
"Your Majesty..." Qi Xunyuan hurriedly stood up, but accidentally knocked over the dressing stool. "This concubine was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival..."
"I brought Jiayou here today to see if you were truly repentant," Wei Xiuming sneered. "I never expected to hear such 'heartfelt words'!"
The young prince clung tightly to his father's neck, his face deathly pale.
Qi Xunyuan then realized that her words had been overheard, and her face turned ashen: "Your Majesty, please understand! I was just confused for a moment..."
"A moment of folly?" Wei Xiuming laughed angrily. "I see you are perfectly clear-headed! How dare you use my prince as a bargaining chip in your power struggle!"
Qi Xunyuan knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty! I know I was wrong! Jiayou, please plead for my mother!"
The young prince buried his face in his father's shoulder, his body trembling slightly.
Wei Xiuming patted his back reassuringly, but when he turned to Qi Xunyuan, his eyes were as cold as ice: "From today onwards, Jiayou will move to Chonghua Palace to live alone. Without my permission, you are not allowed to see him again!"
"Your Majesty!" Qi Xunyuan suddenly looked up, her expression twisted with panic. "This won't do! Absolutely not!!"
"No room for negotiation." Wei Xiuming gave her no room to bargain.
Qi Xunyuan crawled forward on her knees, trying to grab Wei Xiuming's robe: "You can't treat me like this! Jiayou is my life!"
Wei Xiuming stepped aside and said coldly, "I have already issued an order to thoroughly investigate the Qi family. If you still want to protect your maternal clan, you'd better behave yourself!"
After saying that, he turned and left with the little prince in his arms, never looking at Qi Xunyuan, who was slumped on the ground, again.
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