Chapter 395 The Suspicious History of Consort Zhao
“Who is Consort Zhao?” Lying in the arms of Feng Yuran, Mo Xuetong asked. It was rare that both of them were free in the afternoon and thus they took a nap together. Mo Xuetong knew that Emperor Zongwen sent a huge portion of official doc.u.ments secretly to King Xuan’s manor for Feng Yuran to read privately. He was indeed busy!
She wondered how much disbelief those court officials would be when they knew all their doc.u.ments were signed and read by Feng Yuran, especially since they had disdain for the flamboyant and incompetent demeanor he put up.
“Consort Zhao?” The gentle smile of Feng Yuran turned cold as his pupils turned dark upon hearing this name. He snickered, “Tong’er won’t know that Consort Zhao is my mother’s sister.”
He was obviously a little angry and cold!
“The birth daughter of He family?” Mo Xuetong pulled his hand over and rubbed it on her face, asking him with a little surprise.
Consort Xian was the adopted daughter of He family and not a real family member. This woman must then be the biological daughter! No wonder He Yuxiu mentioned Consort Zhao time after time, smiling in the process. She did want something from her.
“Yes, as they were afraid that their wealth would run out, He family sent their biological daughter together with their adopted daughter, allowing the two to look after each other in the palace.” Feng Yuran explained coldly, his chilly smile hanging on his face as he blinked. He lowered his eyes, hiding the emotions in them.
She knew he must be sad as he thought of Consort Xian.
Mo Xuetong hugged his muscular waist and buried her head in his chest, rubbing it on. She comforted him gently, “Consort Zhao is merely a replacement of Mother, not the real one. See, she barely left the palace for all these years. In the mind of the Emperor, she was merely the woman like Mother.”
How could a favored concubine not leave the palace at all, especially when she belonged to the He family? With the temperament of the He family, it was hard for Mo Xuetong to imagine Consort Zhao to be a cold individual. If she was truly doted and chose not to show off, it would be akin to walking at night in a gown, something extremely depressing.
Since Consort Zhao never left Mingyue Palace for the past 10 years, she must be imprisoned by Emperor Zongwen.
How could a favored concubine be treated like this!
Of course, from another aspect, the rumor about her being favored must be largely untrue!
Thinking a little deeper, she realized that Consort Zhao caught the attention of the Emperor more than ten years ago, around the time when Consort Xian died. The two were sisters and the Emperor visited her once or twice per month, not much… Regardless, Consort Zhao seemed like a replacement of Consort Xian.
“She is already dead! It’s too late to think about it now!” Feng Yuran complained out of frustration and closed his eyes. He did not let go of his hand and grabbed Mo Xuetong tightly, his face stone cold.
He would never forget the death of his mother. During that warm morning, he saw his mother turn cold in front of him, without any warmth emitting from that small body and only the smile of her lingering in his ears. However, the memories of her smile would not be able to warm her body.
What was that man doing? He was flirting with other women, and didn’t even see his mother for one last time!
It was amusing to him. Before, he thought that he was the happiest kid in the world, with Father and Mother who loved him dearly and everything he wanted. However, everything turned cold when that bowl of soup was sent in. The warmth was lost from his world together with the cold body of his mother.
“Yuran, Yuran, how are you?” Feeling the stiffness of Feng Yuran, Mo Xuetong pushed him aside carefully and struggled to get out. She turned around to examine his expression.
“I’m fine.” Feng Yuran heaved a sigh of relief as he suppressed his frustration. He lifted his eyes to look at Mo Xuetong, full of concern in his eyes as his heart turned warm again. He felt a slight pain, a slight itch, and a tinge of warmth in his heard as he patted her slim shoulder and pulled her to his body, laughing. “So what’s the deal with He family?”
“He family wanted to flatter their Consort Zhao and see your aunt. Since they wanted to go into the palace, I shall help him and see how powerful that Consort Zhao really is!” Mo Xuetong’s lips curved into a smile as her red cherry lips gave off seductive vibes, as if she was quite amused by the drama.
Consort Zhao seemed like a difficult character but she did not know what role she played in the affairs of He family. Mo Xuetong hoped that she was not the mastermind that harmed Feng Yuran in his previous life.
Her flirtatious look made Feng Yuran inevitably relax as he pinched her upright nose. “You want to enjoy their drama?”
“Why did you pinch me again!” Mo Xuetong pushed away his big hand and covered her nose with the other hand, exclaiming, “I merely wanted to enjoy their drama. Who asked them to come and visit you from time to time, not respecting me as the Lady at all?”
“So sour! Are you jealous?” Feng Yuran was stunned for a while before laughing. His handsome gaze focused on Mo Xuetong, full of happiness without a tinge of his depressed self just now.
Seeing his arrogant look, Mo Xuetong gritted her teeth. “Sour, my foot.”
Suddenly, the sound of her teeth gritting turned into a peal of slight laughter as she feigned graciousness, saying.
“I’m not jealous! I’m the most gracious. Tell your cousins that there’s no need to watch you secretly anymore. I shall bring them in tomorrow and send them to your back garden. This is so to appease a certain someone who keeps wanting to lure them in.”
“Darling, I didn’t want to lure them in. They wanted to sneak in by themselves. Darling, you must protect me from them or I would not be able to face you anymore.” Feng Yuran gave a timid look as he turned around, pus.h.i.+ng Mo Xuetong under him. He kissed her lips gently and teased her, and the gentleness written all over his eyes could almost drown Mo Xuetong.
This man was a luring peach blossom!
Seeing the mocking smile of Feng Yuran, Mo Xuetong blushed as she turned sober, realizing that she had been staring at him for a while.
“Aren’t you an expert at attracting these bees and b.u.t.terflies? This group in the back garden came just for you, and you plan to leave them like this?” Seeing his indecent look, Mo Xuetong pulled him up.
“Don’t worry, it won’t take long. You will not need to feel wronged anymore, darling.” Feng Yuran was addicted to calling her darling tonight as he spoke of it more often. Looking at the beauty under him, he felt l.u.s.ty as his heart heated up. Immediately, he flipped over and got up from Mo Xuetong’s body, complaining, “Don’t move!”
Sensing the changes of his body, Mo Xuetong’s face burnt. This man was really annoying. It was fine just now, but why did he suddenly…
“What kind of person is Consort Zhao?” To divert his attention, Mo Xuetong blushed and deliberately changed the topic.
She had a feeling that this matter regarding Consort Zhao and He family would not be so simple. The b.l.o.o.d.y case committed by Feng Yuran in her previous life laid on her heart like a heavy stone. She figured that the matter was 100% related to this mysterious Consort Zhao. She must investigate and resolve this matter before Feng Yuran got mad.
“Consort Zhao was around the age of Mother and is the proper daughter of He family. She entered the palace soon after Mother entered. Initially, Father did not notice her, letting her stay in the side palace of Mother’s palace. I heard that she was extremely nice to Mother, tending to Mother’s needs every day when she was pregnant. She was approved by Father and was somehow allocated the position of concubine. However, she was not favored but she did save the face of He family through Mother’s position.
“Afterwards, He family was met with trouble and Mother did not protect them, Concubine Zhao as well. She agreed to whatever Mother said. Later, He family was chased out and they did not communicate again. Mother was then met with that incident and I almost died too. I was sent away and Concubine Zhao became Consort Zhao, staying in Mingyue Palace now.” Feng Yuran frowned as he realized that Consort Zhao was indeed suspicious!
“Was Consort Zhao never jealous of your mother?” Mo Xuetong asked puzzledly.
“No, Consort Zhao was always very respectful to Mother. She said that it was because she entered the palace through Mother and did not serve Father initially, only giving her the t.i.tle of a concubine. She followed Mother from time to time and did not attempt to seduce Father. She was rumored to be very ladylike, and many servants of Mother praised her.”
Feng Yuran frowned slightly.
The more he spoke, the more suspicious he became. He was young initially and did not understand the mind of women, merely feeling that Aunt Zhao was someone likable. When he re-entered the palace, he only saw Consort Zhao once. Even though he felt that she had a gentle voice, he felt separation from her. As his mother had died, and since he did not like the He family, he never remembered the low-key Consort Zhao.
As he explained the matter, he felt very doubtful! His handsome face turned gloomy.
Was there really such a good woman in this world? Someone who could give up his husband and be gentle and gracious to another woman? The two women shared the same husband but only one was doted, with the other not even serving the husband in bed. She merely followed his mother, as if she were her servant!
Would this environment create a gentle and gracious woman?
Mo Xuetong felt amused. With the fact that Consort Zhao was favored all these years, she seemed to be an intelligent woman. She had seen such a woman before, and that was Mo Xuemin. She was gentle normally and seemed sincere to her, merely destroying her in one last blow.
Such a woman could only be described as evil and vicious. Mo Xuetong was 100% sure that Consort Xian’s death in her previous life was related to this woman. Perhaps He family sent her into the palace for an evil motive. Consort Xian had little attachment to He family, who might commit the crime for their position…
“I shall order my man to investigate the matter about Consort Xian.” Feng Yuran pushed Mo Xuetong aside and sat upright, wearing his coat outside.
“Alright, help me investigate the Yu family as well.” Mo Xuetong squinted lazily as she pulled his s.h.i.+rt, pursing her tiny mouth at his gloomy but handsome face.
Seeing her coquettish look, Feng Yuran sighed and relaxed, pulling her face instead as he appeased her, “OK, there is a separate doc.u.ment for Yu family. I shall let Feng Yue bring the doc.u.ment over for you to examine carefully.”
“Help me choose some practical ones.” Mo Xuetong complained coyly. She knew that Feng Yuran had a lot of doc.u.ments, with every single one more than three books in volume. It was really time-consuming to read them.
“Don’t worry, I will only pick the important ones.” Feng Yuran took his jade belt from the screen and tied it around his waist. “I will bring one about Princess Royal too. You can read it as well.”
Princess Royal’s doc.u.ments. Mo Xuetong’s heart jumped as she stared at Feng Yuran with her watery eyes.
“Similar to what you imagined. I shall tell you the entire truth in case your mind wanders off. However, you must promise me not to act rashly!” Feng Yuran tied his belt and squatted in front of the bed, kissing her lips gently and dotingly.
“OK!” Mo Xuetong’s heart was filled with sweetness as she wrapped her hands around his neck, nodding obediently.