Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 496 Wrath

When Consort Qu arrived uninvited, Meng Shu was playing chess with Consort Chun.

Upon hearing the news from Funing Palace, Meng Shu looked up at the deep twilight outside the window and sighed softly after a long while: "Qu Chongyuan's move was truly swift and decisive."

Consort Chun paused for a moment, then continued, "Given her family background, her path in the palace was already difficult to advance further; reaching the rank of Consort was her limit. Now that the Third Prince is embroiled in rumors and has become the target of public criticism, and she herself has damaged her health during childbirth, making it unlikely that she will be able to have children again. Rather than staying in the palace and being manipulated by others, it would be better for her to voluntarily leave and exchange it for a peaceful life for the rest of her days."

As she spoke, she looked up at Meng Shu, her fingertips lightly brushing over the tangled pieces on the chessboard. Suddenly, she reached out and disrupted the game, mixing the black and white pieces together.

"In fact, if we can leave this palace wall like this, without having to scheme or worry anymore, it might not be such a bad thing."

Meng Shu lowered her eyes to look at the scattered chess pieces, a trace of melancholy flashing in them. She remained silent for a long while. She simply bent down in silence and carefully gathered the chess pieces one by one into the chess box.

Green Willow brought in freshly warmed tea and reported, "Your Majesty, Dong Ming just reported that His Majesty remained silent in the palace for a long time before finally granting Consort Qu's request to go to Puji Temple with her son tomorrow. He also specifically instructed the temple to take good care of them and to provide them with the same monthly allowance as a concubine. In addition, the Yeting Palace has already arrested several palace servants who spread the most rumors in the palace, either punishing them with caning or sending them to the laundry department. Now the palace is completely quiet."

Consort Chun rose and stepped out of the flower hall, saying to Meng Shu, "She is very perceptive. Before she left, she asked you and me about this matter. If she and her son behave themselves in the future, there is no need to make things difficult for her anymore."

......

Renming Hall.

The empress looked dejected and swept the teacups on the table to the ground.

Hearing the commotion inside the palace, Zhixue, who was guarding outside the door, felt her heart clench. She quickly whispered through the palace door, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Although His Majesty did not reveal anything earlier, if the ministers use the celestial phenomena to offer their advice, they may still have an opportunity."

The Empress did not respond, but stared at the porcelain shards on the ground, her chest heaving violently. She had been planning for a long time, but she had not expected that Consort Qu would be so "resigned" to her fate and directly request to leave the palace, cutting off her way of stirring up trouble in the harem with rumors. How could she not be angry?

But what was even more infuriating was yet to come. Because the emperor was usually diligent, he unusually suspended court for the entire day the following day, so the remonstrances that Marquis Zhenbei had prepared in advance obviously had no chance to be uttered.

The aftermath will be left aside for now; at this moment, inside the Zhaoqing Hall...

Consort Qing's tone was full of disbelief and astonishment: "The winds in the palace have really changed quickly. Yesterday, there were rumors all over the palace about Consort Jin. We were just thinking of finding some excuses to make the rumors even bigger. But today, the winds have changed. Consort Qu actually admitted it directly and even asked to take the Third Prince out of the palace to cultivate. Is she really willing to accept this?"

Yang Baolin said, “Your Majesty, the Third Prince was born with a birthmark on his face, which already makes him easy to gossip about. Now he has run into the terrifying rumors of being the ‘source of calamity.’ All the spearheads in the palace are aimed at Chunxi Palace. What can she do even if she is unwilling? If she stays in the palace, she will either be disliked by the Emperor or become a target for others. Either way, she will not have a good ending.”

I think she made a very wise move.

Leaving the palace voluntarily would both protect the Third Prince and provide him with a peaceful, secluded life—better than being manipulated by others within the palace. Once the Third Prince is safely raised, he can eventually be granted a princely title; wouldn't that bring even greater security?

Consort Qing remained silent for a long while before suddenly sneering, "It's also because the Emperor doesn't care about her and the Third Prince at all. If he had even the slightest bit of concern, he wouldn't have let them go unpunished. If Consort Jin were to request to leave the palace..."

She shook her head and said resentfully, "Tell me, why does the Emperor... favor Consort Jin so much?"

Consort Jin, she is clearly... not at all like her sister.

The unspoken words were filled with sorrow and bitterness.

Consort Qing lowered her eyes and looked at the pipa not far away. Suddenly, memories of the past surged up like a tide.

She grew up following in her older sister's footsteps, but everyone's attention was always on her sister. But her sister was clearly just an illegitimate daughter of the Duke's family! Why was she more dazzling than her? She was only about the same age as the Emperor, yet the Emperor's gaze always fell on her sister.

She didn't like the pipa, but her older sister played it very well.

She then forced herself to practice diligently every day.

She disliked composing poems and painting, but her elder sister's talent was unparalleled in the capital.

She then asked her mother to hire a renowned teacher to instruct her.

She was sensitive to the cold and disliked plum blossoms the most. Their crisp, cold fragrance in winter always reminded her of the resentment of being overshadowed by her older sister.

But the Emperor brought her into the palace, and she became Consort Mei—how ironic. When she lost that title, no one knew that she had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After Yang Baolin left, Granny Yu came in to serve her.

Consort Qing looked up at her, her eyes veiled with tears. "Granny, there are so many women in this palace. Consort Jin and Consort Chun have never been sincere to the Emperor, and the Empress only covets her power as Empress. Only I, who grew up with the Emperor, even when I was exiled to the Northwest, he always took care of me. But after finally entering the palace, why... does he no longer like me?"

Granny Yu stood there, saying nothing.

She had just returned from the Funing Palace. At this moment, her eyes were lowered, and her slightly cloudy old eyes were filled with resentment and venom.

Half an hour ago.

Inside the Fu Ning Palace, the Emperor's face was icy, his eyes blazing with fury, and even the veins on his forehead throbbed with rage.

Jingming, who was standing guard to the side, was terrified. Seeing the emperor's chest heaving violently, he was afraid that the emperor would get angry and hurt his health. He wanted to ask the imperial physician to come and wait for him several times, but he was afraid of offending the emperor. So he could only suppress his anxiety, lower his head and dare not breathe.

Since the passing of Empress Dowager Zhou, everything has gone wrong. First, more than ten prefectures and counties in the north reported severe droughts, causing farmers to abandon their fields and flee the famine. Then, the Imperial Astronomical Bureau presented a celestial report of "Mars guarding the heart," causing panic in the court and the inner palace.

Fortunately, Consort Qu requested to leave the palace, which suppressed the rumors in the harem.

He was just about to catch his breath and focus on dealing with the drought in the north when his hand happened to touch the memorial that Tong Bo had handed him a couple of days ago on the imperial desk. But after just one glance, it was like a bucket of ice water being poured over his head!

......

As night fell, Jingming hurriedly crossed the palace path carrying a palace lantern and arrived at Lingcui Palace.

Upon seeing Green Willow standing guard outside the palace, he hurriedly said, "Quickly, Miss Green Willow, please inform Consort Jin that the Emperor has summoned you urgently!"

Seeing his flustered expression, Green Willow dared not delay and quickly led him to the Jade Hall. As soon as they stepped into the hall, Jingming hurried forward and bowed to Meng Shu, who was tidying up her books with her eyes down. "Your Majesty, the Emperor is waiting for you in the Funing Palace. Please come with me immediately!"

On the way to Funing Palace, Meng Shu slowly spoke: "Why is Eunuch Jing so flustered? What happened? You may tell me."

Jingming tightened his grip on the palace lantern, his tone heavy: "Your Majesty, this servant dares not conceal the truth. Ever since His Majesty saw Madam Zhou's portrait here, he has harbored doubts and secretly sent Lord Tong Bo to thoroughly investigate the background of the eldest daughter of the Duke of Qing's mansion. Just now, after reading Lord Tong's report on the investigation, His Majesty flew into a rage, and several teacups in the hall were smashed."

"The Emperor has already sent someone to summon Lord Zhou Bai to the palace overnight, and Lady Zhou is also among those summoned."

However, as a woman, it is inconvenient for Madam Zhou to enter the palace late at night. His Majesty specifically sent me to invite you over. With you here, Madam Zhou will not be too frightened.”

Meng Shu understood and quickened her pace.