Chapter 540 Entering the Palace, the Empress’ Hostility

In the main hall, the Empress sat high up with a dignified look on her face, and Consort Su, Consort Wen, Consort Zhao, Consort Yu, and other beauties were seated on either side of her. It could be said that all the n.o.ble consorts in the imperial harem gathered in the hall. The entire hall was filled with beautiful women of different charms and sweet fragrance. Some of the women were fat, some thin, but all were charming.

Mo Xuetong walked into the hall, looking straight ahead. Even though she was still young, she behaved in an elegant manner and remained a calm att.i.tude. In the face of so many consorts, she did not look nervous at all. Instead, she seemed to have the disposition of a n.o.ble lady, as if she did not care about them at all. The consorts seated high all landed their eyes on her. As they saw her half-angry, half-happy, pretty face, a few of them, who had always thought of themselves as young and beautiful, immediately grew jealous.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.” Standing in the middle of the hall, Mo Xuetong curtsied respectfully to the Empress.

“Consort Xuan, there’s no need for that. I heard that you were in poor health and could not even manage the matters of the inner yard. How are things going after such a big scene?” the Empress asked friendly with a smile, sounding as if she was caring about Mo Xuetong. However, smart as everyone here was, they knew that the Empress was very displeased with Consort Xuan.

The fact that so many concubines of the inner yard in King Xuan’s Manor had been beaten to death had already been spread through the palace. Mo Xuetong realized that the Empress implied that she failed to manage the inner yard. Some of those dead concubines were the Empress’ people, but she did not dare to vent her anger on Feng Yuran, so she blamed Mo Xuetong.

The corners of her lips curled into a gentle smile as Mo Xuetong replied, “Your Majesty, you are right. His Highness’ child had been killed by those concubines in the back yard. I was indeed in the wrong. I apologize, and want you and His Majesty to punish me.” She had intentionally brought up Emperor Zongwen so that the Empress would understand that Emperor Zongwen had already made the decision about this matter.

Her words were neither humble nor arrogant, but she had pushed all the blame to the concubines in the back yard. If the Empress pursued the matter, then the matter that there were the Empress’ people among the concubines who were beaten to death would be exposed. It was reasonable for the whole family of the one who killed the descendants of the royal family to be destroyed, not to mention that the murderers were beaten to death.

Furthermore, the Emperor had already issued edicts. If the Empress continued to pursue the matter, she might anger the Emperor. The Empress who knew Emperor Zongwen well immediately shut her mouth. Her eyes grew cold as she looked at Mo Xuetong, a trace of anger flas.h.i.+ng through her eyes.

“Consort Xuan, you are really a fluent talker. I won’t say any more. You live your own life. Although you are members of the royal family and have extraordinary n.o.ble status, you should give people a chance to live sometimes. You should know that there is a cause and effect in everything. Otherwise, no matter who you are, you can’t avoid the retribution.”

Her words meant that Mo Xuetong was vicious and that she didn’t give others a chance to live when she fought for Feng Yuran’s favor in the back yard. She pushed all the things that Feng Yuran had done to Mo Xuetong.

Mo Xuetong was clear that the Empress was very dissatisfied with her. Considering the matters about the Fifth Princess and King Yan’s Manor, she guessed that the Empress had reached the end of her forbearance. Mo Xuetong put on a gentle smile and pretended not to understand what the Empress was saying. She raised her childish face and said, “Many thanks for your guidance, Your Majesty. I think so, but His Highness said that there were people who wouldn’t remember if you didn’t teach them a lesson. You might as well beat them all up and scare them, and then no one will bully you again.”

The Empress felt stifled when she heard what Mo Xuetong said. However, she knew that Feng Yuran might be the one who said that. As she thought that because the s.l.u.t gave birth to Feng Yuran, the Emperor was still protecting him, but had married off her daughter, the Fifth Princess and even imprisoned King Yan, who was under her protection, the Empress wanted to vent her anger on Mo Xuetong.

However, as the Empress of the country, she knew that what she had said just now had been a little improper. She nodded lightly, a vicious glint in her eyes. It was not time yet. She had to let Mo Xuetong off the hook for the time being and get the maid to lead her to a seat by the side.

Consort Wen sat at the Empress’ right side and was not far from Mo Xuetong’s left. As she watched Mo Xuetong sit down, she said with a gentle smile, “King Xuan is really arrogant. Consort Xuan, you have to advise him not to do things as he wants, or His Majesty will worry about him again. Look at how things have gotten out of hand this time. His Majesty was really furious. I wonder if he has angered His Majesty again.”

Even though she was also talking about the matter that Feng Yuran had asked his people to beat his concubines to death, there was no aggressiveness in her tone unlike that of the Empress. Instead, there was concern in her words, and it made a good impression on people.

Mo Xuetong smiled slightly, and her gaze landed on Consort Wen who was said to be the most popular woman in the imperial harem. She replied softly, “Many thanks for your concern, Your Highness. I will definitely tell His Highness when I return.”

Consort Wen nodded and just smiled, without saying anything else. She was indeed the most popular consort in the imperial harem.

“Since Consort Xuan is too weak to manage the back yard, Your Majesty, you might as well give King Xuan a marriage with a few young and capable ladies. Then they can help Consort Xuan manage the back yard in King Xuan’s Manor. This will prevent something like this from happening again.” Charming laughter could be heard from the side. Consort Yu sat by the side with her hand on her belly and said to the Empress with a smiling face.

Her words were full of hints, which meant that she wanted to send some women to King Xuan’s Manor. Mo Xuetong’s smiling eyes were filled with coldness. As expected, Consort Yu was a restless woman. Now, depending on her unborn baby, she was so arrogant that she dared to answer the Empress’ words at will.

“Something like this has just happened in King Xuan’s Manor. Consort Yu, you had better not ask Her Majesty to make things difficult for them. It’s not good to have too many concubines in the inner yard. They have to clean up the mess,” Consort Wen said with a smile before the Empress could answer.

Her position was above Consort Yu’s, and she was usually kind to others and only had a daughter. As such, even though it was inappropriate for her to answer before the Empress at this moment, no one tried to pick on her. Even Consort Su, who had always been at odds with the Empress, only raised her brows and looked at her, without saying anything.

Mo Xuetong smiled at Consort Wen gratefully. It was more suitable for Consort Wen to say that.

“Alright, I don’t have the heart or energy to deal with the affairs in Old Eight’s yard. I’ll have His Majesty to make decisions in a few days. Let’s not talk about this today. Since Consort Xuan has just recovered, she can’t take care of all these by herself, not to mention these matters. It’s rare for you to come to the imperial palace, so you’d better have fun.”

Suddenly, the Empress had become a benevolent elder. Her gaze landed on Mo Xuetong and it had turned into a bright smile. One could not tell that she had once tried to cause trouble for Mo Xuetong from her expression now. Mo Xuetong could not help but sigh to herself that the people in the palace were too good at acting.

It was obvious that the Empress wanted to kill Mo Xuetong to see revenge for the Fifth Princess and King Yan, but she pretended to care for her.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty.” Mo Xuetong stood up and bowed gently. She could be more gentle and gracious than others. Then she looked up with her watery eyes and looked at the Empress in grat.i.tude. “You will have to take care of the matter about His Highness, Your Majesty.”

She implied that there was still a chance for the Empress to send people to King Xuan’s Manor in the future. Instantly, the smile on the Empress’ face grew even gentler.

“Have a seat. You’ve always been in poor health, so you don’t have to follow the rules. We’re family. I asked you to come to the imperial palace today to relax. You don’t have to accompany us old people. Just go wherever you want, and don’t need to care about me. Look at how weak you’re. Go outside and get some fresh air. I’ve already ask Consort Chu and others to go out.”

No wonder Ling Rui’er and the others had just left the hall. All the women in the hall were looking at Mo Xuetong menacingly. They all had their own plots in their eyes and she didn’t like it. Mo Xuetong did not stand on ceremony, bowed slightly, and said a few grateful words to the Empress before she left, holding a palace maid’s hand.

Mo Ye was waiting outside the hall. When she saw Mo Xuetong approaching, she hurried over to replace the palace maid to hold Mo Xuetong, heading outside.

“What are you talking about, Your Majesty? If you get old, we’ll be too ugly to be seen. Look at you, when you go out with Consort Zhao, you are a pair of sisters who love each other.” Consort Su covered her mouth with a handkerchief, looked at the Empress and then at Consort Zhao sitting by the side, and smiled.

Her words immediately were followed by a burst of compliments.

“That’s right. Your Majesty looks like a 17- or 18-year-old girl? If we go out together, other people would think we are your elder sister!”

“When my mother came to the palace for the first time, she said you were kind and young, looking like Avalokiteshvara. It was totally different from what you said yourself…”

“Sisters, you’re really joking. I’m so old, how can I compare with Consort Zhao? I just thought of Consort Xian when I saw her. At that time, Consort Xian looked younger than Consort Zhao, but I didn’t expect that she would pa.s.s away at such a young age. If it weren’t for the fact that she had an unfortunate life, she would have enjoyed her son’s blessings now.” The Empress seemed to sigh with pity, but the corner of her eyes twitched uncontrollably. She looked away from Consort Zhao’s face with disgust in her eyes.

At the sight of the face similar to that of the b.i.t.c.h, she could not help but be filled with hatred. If not for that b.i.t.c.h, how could she have fallen out of the Emperor’s favor, and then, been treated so harshly? When Consort Su had compared her with this b.i.t.c.h, the Empress was certainly angry.

“Your Majesty, how can I compare with you…” Consort Zhao also knew that the Empress didn’t like her face. This was also the reason why the Empress agreed with the Emperor to give her the Mingyue Palace at that time. She lowered her head and smiled. The He family and Lian An had trouble all the time recently, which made her feel uneasy in the deep palace. Her face looked a little pale, and she seemed to be several years older than when she was just out.

“Consort Zhao, why does your face look so bad? Are you not feeling well? Your Majesty, do you think that Consort Zhao is ill?” Consort Yu shouted as if she had just discovered that.

Everyone’s gaze automatically fell on Consort Zhao’s face. As expected, her complexion was extremely haggard.

“Consort Zhao, you can go to rest first. I’ll ask someone to tell you when the banquet starts.” The Empress didn’t want to see her face, so she immediately pretended to be magnanimous and said with a wave of her hand.

“Your Majesty, I’m not tired.” Consort Zhao refused. She became more and more low-key.

“Consort Zhao, there’s no need to be so polite. Somebody, send Consort Zhao back to rest.” The Empress did not allow her to reject and said with a faint smile to a palace maid standing behind her.

“Consort Zhao, you really don’t have to be so polite. Even if His Majesty comes, he won’t blame you. You don’t have to refuse.” Consort Yu stuck out her belly on in one side as if she was a little tired. She leaned to the other side and joked to Consort Zhao with a smile.

Her words made it seem as if Consort Zhao stayed for the Emperor. Looking at the Empress’ gloomy face, Consort Zhao could only stand up and bid farewell to her and the other high-cla.s.s consorts. She held a palace maid’s hand and slowly left. Behind her, Consort Yu stared at her back with a cold smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

She slightly tilted her head, and a palace maid standing behind her understood. She pretended to take something for Consort Yu and followed Consort Zhao out of the hall.