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Chapter 110

Come night, after Zhuang Laoyan and Feng Jin finished their evening meal, they went to bed. Since she was currently pregnant, he did not have thoughts of doing anything else. That said, wrapped in night’s cold blankets, he found lying next to a woman who allowed him to sleep peacefully a comfortable affair.

In the middle of the night, when he was about to fall asleep, halfway between wakefulness and the land of dreams, Feng Jin suddenly heard Zhuang Laoyan cry out softly. He opened his eyes. Heard her draw in a breath. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Did this concubine wake your honored self up?” Zhuang Laoyan sucked in another breath. “My leg is cramping up a little. It’ll be fine in a moment, so Your Majesty should go back to sleep.”

At those words, Feng Jin sat up. Reached out to hold her little calf. When he detected an abnormal protrusion and depression, he massaged it lightly. “Try to endure it. After it’s massaged for a while, it will feel better.” The little leg felt smooth and tender. But he did not have any amorous intentions. As he looked at her expression, one of desperately attempting to suppress the pain, he said in a gentle voice, “This child is too naughty. This shows that he is intelligent.”

“What does a child like him know?” blurted Zhuang Laoyan. He was merely deficient in calcium. Since the other party didn’t know what that was, she was tactful and did not mention it.

Seeing Zhuang Laoyan perk up after their child was mentioned, Feng Jin smiled in a helpless manner. He put down her little leg, which no longer hurt. Lay down and pulled her into his arms. “It seems that in the future, We cannot say anything bad about him. Otherwise you would definitely come up with a pile of reasons refuting it.”

“That-that’s not it. You’re this child’s father. It’s the so-called ‘strict father and warm mother.’ You’re in charge of being strict with our child, and this concubine is in charge of treating our child gently.”

“Would our child fear Us in the future?” said Feng Jin, recalling the empress dowager all of a sudden. She had always been strict with him, as though the most important thing to her was for him to become the crown prince and ascend the throne.

They had long since lost the emotions and bond shared by a mother and her son. His imperial mother wanted to protect the Ye family, whereas he wanted to be an emperor who could make his own decisions. As such, they always had conflicting views.

With a mother like Zhuang Laoyan, who protected her child, their child was more fortunate than he had been.

“That won’t happen. If you treat someone with sincerity, they would notice it unless they are a fool.” She yawned. “This concubine trusts that we’ll teach our child properly.”

“Sleep.” Feng Jin patted her back. Her use of the word “our” comforted him.

Early the next morning, Feng Jin hurried to attend morning court. However, he did not mention the Su family at all. The court officials were smart enough not to bring up this topic, a case which had long since been settled. Even though news of Noble Consort Shu’s suicide attempt had spread, the officials wouldn’t be so foolish to mention this either.

The past few years, the emperor had grown ever more imposing. It was to the point that they dared not anger him. All they could do was perform their duties in a well-behaved manner and not provoke the emperor’s rage.

Court concluded. When Feng Jin had just arrived at Qianzheng Palace, the empress arrived as well. He shifted his gaze to the empress who donned a gown with phoenix patterns. “Why have you come, Empress?”

She looked at the emperor who wore a calm expression. At that moment, she wondered when he had stopped calling her “Caifu” and switched to calling her “Empress.” She forced her expression to normalcy. “Your Majesty, Noble Consort Shu has awoken. However, she doesn’t appear too well.”

“Have people serve her properly.” Feng Jin’s expression did not change. He grabbed a memorial and flipped it open. Immersed himself with it, not sparing the empress a single glance. “She is a noble consort and ought to have the appearance of one.”

Maybe it was because his expression was too serene that the empress felt flustered. As such, she could not help but say, “Your Majesty, then the Su family…”

“What does the Su family have to do with Noble Consort Shu?” Raising his head, Feng Jin cast a glance at the empress. “You don’t have to trouble yourself over those other matters. Just manage the harem properly. Oh, that’s right. Have people watch over Xihe Palace well.”

“Understood.” The empress felt stifled in her heart. She curtsied. “Then this concubine asks to be excused.”

“Mm.”

The empress lifted her head and saw that the emperor had already turned his attention back to the memorial. And she stepped foot outside Qianzheng Palace without a sound.

“Heyu, have people instruct the Department of the Palace’s staff not to slight Anqing Palace,” said the empress as she gazed at the imperial gardens ahead. “If this palace discovers that anyone is insufficient in their service, issue them and their peers death by caning.”

After Heyu sounded her acknowledgement, she said in a puzzled manner, “Your Majesty, Noble Consort Shu has already been abandoned. Why are you expending so much effort for her?”

“We are all women. Why must this palace make things difficult for her in this regard?” The empress looked at the sprouts of the flowers and plants around, expression somewhat apathetic. Noble Consort Shu had already fallen. In the future, who knows what state the Zhao family will be in?

“This concubine greets Your Majesty the empress.”

The empress gazed at the beautiful woman before her. After a moment in a daze, she asked, “Why is Wanyi Qian here?”

“Responding to Your Majesty, this concubine was ill in recent days and stayed indoors. Since the weather seemed good these past two days, this concubine wanted to come outside for a breath of fresh air.” Wanyi Qian curtsied. “Never had this concubine expected to encounter Your Majesty the empress.”

“Mm. People who stay shut indoors for too long can become insane. It’s good to come outside for some fresh air to avoid that happening, where one doesn’t know what ought and ought not to be done.” The empress nodded a hint. “Stand up. There’s no need to be so courteous.”

Using the hand of a palace maid for support, Wanyi Qian stood upright with a graceful bearing. The empress observed her. She resembled Noble Consort Shu when the latter had first received the emperor’s favor. But compared to Noble Consort Shu, Wanyi Qian was still lacking in many areas.

“This concubine will engrave Your Majesty the empress’ words to memory.” Once again, Wanyi Qian performed a curtsy. Then she raised her head and smiled at the empress. “Word has it that Her Highness Noble Consort Shu was unwell. Has she recovered completely yet?”

“Why don’t you head to Anqing Palace for a look?” said the empress with indifference. “This palace has matters to attend to. You may withdraw.”

“Understood.” Although Wanyi Qian’s complexion changed ever so slightly, she could only do as told and withdraw. She had wanted to pass by this path, but since the empress told her to leave, she could only leave.

“This Wanyi Qian is actually…” Heyu smiled in disdain. Yet, as a servant, she must not comment on the masters.

“She thinks she has a chance now,” said the empress, ice-cold. “She’s just a jumping clown.” Even if Noble Consort Shu had fallen out of favor, there were still Consort Zhao and Consort Rou around. When would it be her turn? Originally, I thought she was intelligent. Now, I no longer find that to be the case.

A few days after Noble Consort Shu had awoken, her father and elder brother were dragged off to be beheaded. Ever since then, Anqing Palace seemed to grow deathly still. Even its palace maids and court eunuchs didn’t step through the front doors or move about often.

The first month of the year passed in such a fashion. Gradually, the palace adapted to Noble Consort Shu no longer being favored. However, Xiuyi Su dared not act willfully or speak bluntly anymore. It was to the point that she was too afraid to go places where there were many people around. Without Noble Consort Shu’s protection, she had become just an unfavored xiuyi.

At this time, something not too significant yet not too insignificant occurred in Xihe Palace: One of the eunuchs in charge of tending to the flowers discovered something amiss in the soil of the flowerpots. In the end, Zhuang Laoyan summoned an imperial physician to take a look at it. And he discovered that the soil had actually been infused with some sort of drug. The soil seemed normal at a glance, but if one was exposed to it for too long, one would grow weak to the point of suffering from many nightmares.

The eunuch in charge of tending to the flowers had worked as a gardener for many years. He noticed many specks on the leaves of the flowers and sensed that something was wrong. They were extremely lucky. It was no surprise when Zhuang Laoyan rewarded him, and even promoted his rank.

Naturally, Zhuang Laoyan would not suffer in silence. Since the perpetrator had such means, Zhuang Laoyan was not afraid of escalating the situation. She sent people to inform both the emperor and the supervising staff of the Department of the Palace.

The soil used for the flowers could not be changed as one wished. Otherwise, said flowers could die. However, if one wanted to grow new flowers, getting new soil and flowerpots was inevitable. There was nothing tainting the surface of the flowerpots. Mixed inside the soil proved a different story. It was thus clear that the perpetrator was careful in their actions. The flowerpots and soil needed to be inspected, but it was unknown if the inspector had accidentally been careless or intentionally turned a blind eye, allowing someone to take advantage of this opportunity.   

A grim smile on her face, Zhuang Laoyan gazed at the flowers in the courtyard. Finding an experienced specialist in raising flowers had not been in vain. Just who was able to use this rare opportunity?

“What did you say? There were harmful substances found in the flowerpots of Consort Zhao’s residence?” The empress’ expression changed at once. In a flash, she turned to the emperor who sat to her side. Panic-stricken, she said, “Your Majesty, how could someone use such a method?”

Calm and collected, Feng Jin looked at her. “If you don’t know, how could We know?” Then he said to the servants accompanying him, “Make for Xihe Palace.” Originally, he had come to the empress’ residence to talk about matters regarding Zhuang Laoyan. Never did he expect that before he could even tread on that topic, such a thing would happen.

As the empress’ heart thrashed against her chest, she followed the emperor out. She rejoiced in secret that nothing happened to Zhuang Laoyan. If that eunuch hadn’t noticed something amiss with the soil, things would be very troublesome for her.

Gazing at the emperor moving forward in large strides, she sighed. This was her fortune as well as her lamentable situation.

Sorry for the lateness guys! I had a doctor’s appointment.

I forgot to ask this before, but what are your theories on who did this?

Next release is Saturday, July 31, 2021.

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Thirty-third chapter of The Times Spent in Pretense is out! You can read it here. It’s weekly now!

By the way, I have a new BL novel project, with my own summary below:

By the emperor’s decree, Fu Ming is to marry Jin Yi and become his male wife. The initial reception is cold. Can the two sort things out between them, the winter departing and the snow thawing?

If you’re interested, you can find it here.

Also, plugging me and my friends’ website focused on BL! Click here if you’re interested.