Chapter 25 Returning to the Palace
"Your Majesty, although I am a woman, I also wish to contribute my meager strength to the country and its people."
"Your Majesty, I am willing to sacrifice the life of the child in my womb to protect Your Majesty from the suffering caused by the calamity of Heaven's will! Has Your Majesty not seen such determination?!"
"Not to mention that I had absolutely no reason to harm the Fourth Princess, even if I did have the intention to harm the imperial heir, why would I sacrifice my own child!"
This statement left the emperor with no room for doubt.
Fearing that the more he listened, the more he would be misled, the emperor simply stood up and interrupted the concubine's weeping.
"Until I find out the truth, Consort, you should rest and recuperate in Jinle Palace."
"If you are sick, you should rest quietly. During this period, no one is allowed to enter or leave Jinle Palace, so as not to disturb the Consort's rest."
The emperor flicked his sleeve, giving the imperial concubine no further chance to explain.
That night, a dramatic change took place in the imperial harem.
The concubines gathered in the palace of the Virtuous Consort, discussing among themselves why the Noble Consort had been taken to the Shou'an Palace late at night and then confined to the Jinle Palace by His Majesty this morning.
Unlike the Imperial Concubine, the Virtuous Concubine always had a cheerful and easy-going demeanor, so the women in the palace rarely restrained themselves in front of her.
Consort Xian glanced at Consort Xu, who was sitting at the end of the table, without making a sound, and raised her eyebrows slightly.
Consort Wang and Consort Xiao, who were previously on good terms with the Imperial Concubine, did not dare to join in the fun, but Consort Xu was the only one who showed up.
It seems that the news of Consort Xu and the Imperial Concubine's complete falling out is true.
The virtuous concubine gave Consort Song a meaningful look, and the latter immediately understood.
“Sister Wan, you should know more about the Consort’s affairs than we sisters do. Why don’t you share it with everyone and have some fun together?”
Consort Xu's original name was Xu Wanwan, and the Imperial Concubine's name also contained the character "Wan". Because it was not allowed to clash with the Imperial Concubine's maiden name, Consort Xu did not even have a complete name in the harem.
When Consort Song suddenly called out "Sister Wan," it gave her the illusion that the Imperial Concubine had really fallen off the platform and was unable to get up.
"I remember that the last time everyone gathered together and chatted about the secrets of the harem, the Noble Consort was here."
"The wicked concubine Jiang caused chaos in the harem and disrupted the court. We used to talk about her even more enthusiastically than we do now, didn't we, Consort Xian?"
Someone muttered something under their breath.
"It's really bad luck to do anything for her."
Fortunately, Consort Xian understood the deeper meaning in her words, and smiled knowingly.
Consort Xu rose and bowed, "I have some urgent matters to attend to in the palace, so I will take my leave now."
Seeing this, Consort Song also began to find excuses to send the other women present back to the palace. After the women had mostly dispersed, she asked Consort Xian about the meaning behind Consort Xu's words.
"The celestial signs of that year foretold that Jiang was a demonic concubine descended to earth, how is that any different from the situation we are in now?"
Consort Xian poured herself another bowl of tea and gestured for Consort Song to sit down and talk.
"What my sister means is that the Imperial Concubine tried the same old trick, but ended up shooting herself in the foot."
"The Imperial Concubine holds a high position and has the Fifth Prince by her side. Why would she want to kill a princess? It makes no sense."
Song Zhaoyi was a little annoyed. "Sister, please don't laugh at me. I'm waiting for your guidance."
Consort Xian smiled helplessly, her eyes filled with pity as she looked at Consort Song.
"If I'm not mistaken, this must be a scheme set up by the Fourth Princess."
"In order to avenge her mother, she used the same method to scheme against the Imperial Concubine and her unborn child."
Consort Song looked enlightened and continued speaking.
"So, the princess is indeed incredibly courageous, willing to risk her life for the cause."
"Isn't the Fourth Princess's extraordinary performance at the Grand Court Assembly enough to demonstrate her exceptional courage?"
Consort Xian flicked Song Zhaoyi's forehead with her finger, "With a brain like yours, if it weren't for my protection, you would have been eaten clean in this palace sooner or later."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Why don't we help the princess now and take this opportunity to get her to join us in our conspiracy?"
Consort Xian nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, you've learned to apply what you've learned to other situations."
This matter might have been somewhat difficult originally, but the fact that the princess was assassinated at Lingshan Temple on New Year's Eve was just the right timing.
Consort Xian summoned her maid to do her hair and makeup. After the Empress Dowager finished her afternoon nap, she went to Shou'an Palace to meet her.
There was no need for beating around the bush in front of the Empress Dowager. Consort Xian went straight to the point and brought up the matter of the princess's assassination attempt.
"Your Majesty, even if the princess is indeed a person destined for disaster, as the Imperial Observatory says, she should not have died at the hands of those assassins."
"The assassin is incredibly audacious in trying to harm the princess. This is a disrespect to our imperial family. If the princess is unfortunately killed, what face will our imperial family have left?"
The Empress Dowager was already dissatisfied with Liu Xi's forced departure from the palace, and the Consort Xian's words hit the nail on the head.
"The virtuous consort is sensible and considerate of the overall situation; she truly deserves the title of virtuous."
"I will inform the Emperor and ask him to bring the princess back to the palace as soon as possible."
"Now that the Imperial Concubine is confined to her quarters, there is no one to manage the affairs of the six palaces. In my opinion, it would be better to hand over the power to assist in managing the six palaces to the Virtuous Concubine for the time being."
Upon hearing this, Consort Xian rose and knelt down, bowing her body to the ground.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will do my utmost to manage the inner palace well and will never disappoint you."
Inside Lingshan Temple, Liu Xi soon heard the news that the emperor was going to bring her back to the palace.
Not only that, she also heard that the Imperial Concubine had been stripped of her power to manage the six palaces and was confined to Jinle Palace.
Things went much more smoothly than she had planned, and Liu Xi could roughly guess that it was someone in the palace who had kicked her when she was down who had helped her a great deal.
At the Mingzheng Hall, the emperor only dispatched Huo Lin with the Imperial Guards to Lingshan Temple to bring the princess back to the palace. However, when Huo Lin was ready to depart, he encountered Liu Yu at the gate of the imperial city.
After a few days apart, Liu Yu had completely transformed. Now, dressed in magnificent robes and wearing a noble crown, he exuded the majesty befitting royalty as he stood with his arms outstretched.
Liu Yu pleaded with the Empress Dowager for most of the day before he was finally allowed to accompany the Imperial Guards to Lingshan Temple.
He didn't give Huo Lin a friendly look, only coldly urging everyone to set off quickly.
Liu Yu regarded Huo Lin as an enemy, but Huo Lin only regarded the Seventh Prince as the princess's beloved younger brother. Because of this affection, Huo Lin was particularly tolerant of Liu Yu.
Huo Lin mounted his horse, and the rest of the men followed closely behind. Liu Yu remained silent the entire way, only increasing the speed of his horse.
What should have been a half-day journey took a group of people just over an hour to reach the foot of Lingshan Temple.
Before Liu Xi could come out of Lingshan Temple, Liu Yu jumped off his horse and rushed into the courtyard.
"Sister!"
Hearing the noise, Liu Xi pushed open the door and peeked out. The next second, Liu Yu suddenly rushed into Liu Xi's line of sight and hugged her tightly.
What shocked Liu Xi the most was that during the grand court assembly, she stood next to Liu Yu, and the child was as tall as her.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Yu had already darted half a head out.
Liu Xi reached out and gently patted Liu Yu's back, "Alright, alright, you're such a grown-up, don't act like a child."
"Sister, do you know how worried and scared I am?"
"You left the palace without a word, leaving me alone in the Yi Huai Pavilion. I finally received news about my sister, only to find out that she had been assassinated."
Liu Yu sniffed, and tears fell onto Liu Xi's shoulder.
"Sister, you're perfectly fine. Don't cry. People outside will laugh at you."
"Let them look. I'm just being affectionate with my sister. What do I care what they do?"
Just then, Huo Lin walked in through the courtyard gate.
"Fourth Princess, Seventh Prince, the carriage is ready and we can depart at any time."
Liu Xi glanced at Liu Yu on her shoulder, then looked up at Huo Lin.
"General, you must be tired from your journey. Why don't you come inside, have some tea, and rest for a while?"
Liu Yu immediately straightened up, somewhat displeased.
"No, we must set off for the palace immediately. Every moment we linger outside will make things more dangerous for my sister."
As he spoke, he grabbed Liu Xi's forearm.
"Sister, shall we go back to the palace to rest?"
Seeing this, Huo Lin echoed the sentiment.
"Seventh Prince is right. The princess has been assassinated twice near Lingshan Temple, which shows that this place is indeed not safe."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xi could only shrug and concede.
"Alright...then...Zhixiang!"
Zhi Xiang was on the verge of tears, with two smears of black charcoal ash on her face. "Princess, what should we do with the undercooked sweet potatoes?"
The weather had been gloomy for several days, but the day Liu Xi returned to the palace was sunny and bright.
Liu Xi sat in the carriage, with Zhi Xiang beside her carrying several charred sweet potatoes in the hem of her robe.
Liu Yu refused to ride along no matter what, insisting on squeezing in with Liu Xi.
Huo Lin could only tie the imperial horse that Liu Yu had brought from the palace to the back of his own horse and travel with it.
Inside the carriage, Liu Yu stared intently at Liu Xi, as if she would vanish in a flash if he wasn't paying attention.
The atmosphere inside the car was eerily quiet. Liu Xi sensed some awkwardness and took a few deep breaths before thinking of a suitable topic.
"Ayu, I heard that Father has allowed you to study in the Imperial Study?"
Liu Yu nodded, "My brothers have all been very friendly to me."
Liu Xi looked doubtful.
"Really? Including the Fifth Prince?"
Hearing Liu Xi mention Liu Yan, Liu Yu became even more furious.
"His Majesty has placed the Fifth Prince under house arrest for speaking out against the princess."
"again?!"
Liu Xi didn't know whether she should laugh or not, laughing at how stupid she must have been to be killed by such a pig-headed person in her past life.
"If this continues, the Fifth Prince might as well find a room to stay in the Censorate."
Liu Yu was stunned for a moment. What was Liu Xi's reaction?
There was no pity, no worry, only mockery and disdain on their faces.
"Sister, aren't you worried about Fifth Prince?"
"Why should I worry about him when he brought this on himself? He's not a good person anyway."
By the time Liu Xi realized what she was saying, the somewhat absurd words had already slipped from her lips and were gone forever.
She coughed a few times to cover up her embarrassment.
"Let's not talk about him anymore. Let's get back to A-Yu. What good things have you been learning lately?"
Liu Yu was taken aback by this sudden surprise. His previously droopy lips quickly turned up, and he leaped from the gloom into the bright sunshine.
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