Treacherous Living In The Imperial Harem Chapter 23

At this time, Empress Ji had come back from Mian Fu Palace, and had changed the Empress's Diyi (the most honorable ceremonial robe with the embroidered patterns of Di bird) that she wore to pay respects just now into a set of light purple palace costume. She tied up her hair loosely, into which a pair of precious Dian (a kind of hairpin) with the patterns of hibiscus flower inlaid with red agate oppositely inserted. And there was also a green hairpin with the patterns of bamboo, plum blossom and lucid ganoderma. When she was supported by a maid to slowly step up, a pair of about a Cun (about 3.3cm) of pure gold pendants beside her ears were almost motionless. It showed that she was super elegant and dignified.

“What a poor girl. Why did you swim to Small Peng Lai?” After Empress Ji who was supported by the maid's hands sat down on her n.o.ble throne, she looked down at Yun Fenghuang underneath who had been kneeling politely, and said indifferently, “This morning, n.o.ble Consort Shu told me that you disappeared. I was quite taken aback by the news! Luckily, you come back safely. Otherwise, I don't know how to explain this to Empress Dowager.”

Yun Fenghuang knew these words were only polite formulas. Probably the Empress got the news that Yun Fenghuang jumped down from Sha Lv Pavilion as soon as she did so, which was as easy as pie for the Empress, the hostess of the whole Imperial Harem.

“Your Highness, please forgive me.” Yun Fenghuang was well-behaved. After she kowtowed, she said cowardly, “After I accidentally fell into the water yesterday, I felt very embarra.s.sed. I planned to go ash.o.r.e secretly after I swam for a while and then plead guilty to His Majesty after I dressed myself up, avoiding being impolite to His Majesty. But I didn't expect that I swam in the wrong direction. Luckily, I accidentally swam to Small Peng Lai. Otherwise, I'm afraid… I'm afraid I wouldn't see Your Highness anymore!”

Empress Ji looked down at her, “You accidentally fell into the water? But I heard that His Majesty's jade pendant accidentally dropped into Tai Ye Pool, and you volunteered to jump into the water to pick it up for His Majesty?”

“… Emperor Chunjia, son of b.i.t.c.h!” Yun Fenghuang cursed inwardly.

“Let's wait and see!!!” She thought.

Yun Fenghuang was resentful in her heart, but she pretended to be confused, “Did His Majesty's jade pendant fell into Tai Ye Pool? I was so preoccupied to dance for His Majesty at that time that I did not notice it… I really deserve to die!”

The Empress said, “Oh? So, you never said that you volunteered to jump into the water to pick up the jade pendant for His Majesty?”

After that, the Empress turned her head and enjoined a maid to Tai Chu Palace to invite Jiang Lan, the eunuch around Emperor Chunjia, here to ask him questions, “I will ask him to tell me what is going on.”

Yun Fenghuang would like to take the opportunity to mention Nian Xuan. One night had past, but she did not know how the maid was now… But wait! This situation was not very dangerous at the moment, but Nian Xuan was stupid, and no one knew whether she could be helpful or not if she came, right?

Therefore, Yun Fenghuang did not say anything. The Empress beckoned to a eunuch to her again, whispered a few instructions to him, and watched him leaving in a hurry like a maid. After that, she sat up straight and continued to ask what happened to Yun Fenghuang last night, “Sha Lv Pavilion is very far away from Small Peng Lai, but it is relatively closer to Small Fang Hu and Small Ying Zhou. Why didn't you go ash.o.r.e until Small Peng Lai? If you went ash.o.r.e on Small Fang Hu or Small Ying Zhou, you would have saved some energy.”

“In the beginning, I wanted to go ash.o.r.e near Yi Jia Palace.” Yun Feng said obediently, “However, it got late later, and I mistook the vegetation on Small Peng Lai for the wood in front of Yi Jia Palace.”

Yi Jia Palace was a palace near Yan Fu Palace. It was diagonally opposite Tai Chu Palace across Tai Ye Pool. Like Yan Lan Palace and Tong Xia Palace, it was the residence of high-ranking concubines.

But there were a few high-ranking concubines in this dynasty, so, there was no hostess in that Palace. Only a few concubines lived in the side halls.

For this reason, the degree of security near it couldn't be comparable to the Empress's Palace, Yan Lan Palace, Tong Xia Palace and other similar palaces where hostesses born in decent families lived.

It was reasonable that Yun Fenghuang wanted to choose there to go ash.o.r.e secretly.

But Empress Ji did not completely dispel her doubts, “Really? Then you should have gone ash.o.r.e on Small Peng Lai in the earlier night, but why did the leading maid of Small Peng Lai say that the maid finding you didn't report to her until almost dawn?”

“My clothes were completely wet at the time, and I didn't know what kind of persons were on the island.” Yun Fenghuang showed a shy expression, “Therefore, after I went ash.o.r.e, I dared not show up immediately. I tried to clean myself up and then went out to seek help. The maid named Liu Hong saw that my clothes were wet and I was frozen to s.h.i.+ver, she immediately prepared hot water to serve me bath and dress. Being busy serving me for a while, she went out to report to the leading maid… I think maybe for this reason, the time was delayed?”

Empress Ji took up the cup to take a sip of tea, and said indifferently, “This is really exhausting.”

“Your Highness, I'm terribly sorry to have troubled you. I really deserve to die.” Yun Fenghuang hastened to apologize humbly.

When the Empress was about to speak, the maid who had been enjoined to invite Jiang Lan here came in, bowing and saying, “Your Highness, Eunuch Jiang comes.”

“I said inviting, didn't I?” Empress Ji raised her jaw slightly, “Why are you so negligent?”

The Empress spoke very politely, but her behaviors showed estrangement. It was not surprising. Jiang Lan was the trusted attendant of Emperor Chunjia, and he had been serving the Emperor since he was a child. Also, he was brought from Fuyang County, so, he didn't stand the same side with the Empress.

In addition, he had witnessed the childhood love between Emperor Chunjia and Consort Yue. Although he had always been respecting Empress Ji very much, he had been being partial to Consort Yue in private. Therefore, it was impossible for Empress Ji to have a favorable view of him.

After a while, Jiang Lan came in. He was two years older than Emperor Chunjia but was half a head shorter than the latter. His heavy and strong figure made him seem to have great physical strength and courage, and his pinched mouth corners revealed that he was a little stubborn. After he saluted primly, he neither raised his head, nor looked at Yun Fenghuang who was kneeling. Instead, he only respectfully asked why the Empress summoned him.

“It's no big deal.” Empress Ji was very kind, and said slowly, “It's only about the jade pendant His Majesty allowed Cheng Gui Yun to jump into the water to pick up yesterday. However, Cheng Gui Yun didn't find it. I enjoined maids to go to Sha Lv Pavilion to find it. However, only a few pieces of broken jade were picked up. I wonder if they are the pieces of the one that was lost by His Majesty.”

As soon as the Empress finished her words, the eunuch who the Empress whispered to before carried a gilt ebony lacquer tray cus.h.i.+oned with a piece of cloth with golden lining. Four to five pieces of broken jade with water drops were put on the tray. They seemed to be washed just now, and also had a smell of pool water.

The eunuch held up the tray before Jiang Lan with a smile and said, “Eunuch Jiang, please have a look.”

Hearing this, Jiang Lan froze for a moment. He had been looking straight down, but now he couldn't help but subconsciously glance at Yun Fenghuang who was not far away from him, and faltered, “It… seems like that one?”

“Eunuch Jiang, you should take a look carefully.” The Empress sitting above sneered lightly, “Cheng Gui Yun who had disappeared all night has already returned, and I will punish her later… The more important thing right now is His Majesty's jade pendant. After all, His Majesty has always been generous. If it is an ordinary object, how could he be willing to allow Cheng Gui to personally jump into the water to pick it up? Since he agreed she did so yesterday, the jade pendant must be his beloved thing. We should try our best to find it back.”

Speaking of this, she raised eyebrows, “Eunuch Jiang, you have been serving His Majesty all day, but can't you tell that whether these broken pieces of jade are the pieces of His Majesty's jade pendant which was dropped into Tai Ye Pool yesterday or not?”

“… Your Highness, I deserve to die.” Jiang Lan's face changed slightly, and he knelt down quickly, “His Majesty has several jade pendants whose colors and texture are similar. Besides, this jade pendant has been broken and incomplete, so, I could not recognize it immediately just now.”

Empress Ji said “Um”, and continued, “Eunuch Jiang, please take it up and take a closer look. If these are the pieces of His Majesty's jade pendant, please tell me what it looks like, and I will look for a jade craftsman to make a similar one to soothe His Majesty! If they are not… Of course, I will enjoin my men to continue to look for it. Eunuch Jiang, how do you think?”

The sweat broke out on Jiang Lan's forehead, “You're right, Your Highness.”

He forced himself to pick up a piece of the broken jade pendant, observed it for a moment, and said, “Your Highness, these are the pieces of the jade pendant His Majesty lost…”

Before he finished his words, Yun Fenghuang beside him suddenly said, “My Highness, Eunuch Jiang is lying. I saw clearly yesterday that His Majesty did not drop anything into Tai Ye Pool!”

At this time, if she hadn't seen that the Empress wanted to make use of this opportunity to destroy the right-hand man of Emperor Chunjia, she would have had no need to survive in the Imperial Harem.

Yun Fenghuang couldn't definitely miss this kind of chance for revenge. As the old saying went, “Take advantage of one's illness to kill him.” She added insult to injury immediately, “Besides, I accidentally fell into the water when I was dancing for His Majesty, instead of picking up the jade pendant! Eunuch Jiang had ulterior motives and he wanted to deliberately murder me… I had been in the pool water for a long time, but no one came to rescue me. I originally thought that Tai Ye Pool was vast, so, no one found me. But now, it seems that Eunuch Jiang did these things on purpose!”

Eunuch Jiang suddenly startled. He did not expect Yun Fenghuang offended him, Emperor Chunjia's trusted eunuch, straightforward so quickly. He could not help but refute, “Cheng Gui, please be cautious with your speech. Since I have no vendetta against you, why would I like to murder you?!”

“I also feel very puzzled.” Yun Fenghuang slightly looked down, looking very sad, and said faintly, “Since I joined the Imperial Harem, I have been speaking and acting cautiously…”

She didn't feel ashamed or uneasy, and continued to say calmly, “I have been working hard and doing my best to serve my hostess! Yesterday, I was informed to Sha Lv Pavilion to accompany His Majesty. I went to the main hall to pay respects before departure… But it seems that Consort Yue hasn't been being like me?”

Yun Fenghuang seemed aggrieved from her words, but in fact she suggested that Jiang Lan was to boost Consort Yue's arrogance. If so, he definitely had reasons to murder Yun Fenghuang. Everyone in the Imperial Harem knew that Consort Yue was anxious to kill Yun Fenghuang no matter what merciless way it was.

“Jerk!” Before Jiang Lan had opportunity to justify himself, the Empress immediately turned hostile, and suddenly slammed her throne, screaming, “Who gives you the courage to frame Cheng Gui. She was cordially invited by Empress Dowager's imperial decree and her grade was t.i.tled by the royal family officially!”

“Besides, you dared to take advantage of His Majesty's jade pendant as the trigger. What's your intention?!”

“Do you want to rebel?!”

“… Your Highness, please forgive me!” Jiang Lan kowtowed, trembling extremely, and begged for mercy repeatedly, “Your Highness, I… I am wronged…”

Empress Ji sneered, “You're wronged? You said that His Majesty lost his jade pendant, and Yun Cheng Gui volunteered to jump down to pick up it, so, she disappeared. But how about the result? I enjoined someone to randomly break a jade pendant and bring it here, and you actually recognized it! Clearly you lied before! In that case, what face do you have to call injustice?!”

She frowned and was exasperated at his failure to make good things, “At that time, Queen Mother of Mercy insisted on letting you stay with His Majesty, because she felt that you were loyal and diligent, and could take good care of His Majesty. But how about the result? Do you deserve the trust of Queen Mother of Mercy, the care of His Majesty over the years, and the respect of me?!”

The Empress questioned him in a majestic manner, but she eventually did nothing to Jiang Lan who was almost scared to death. She just enjoined her trusted attendants to pull him to Chun Yong Palace, “You are the trusted man Queen Mother of Mercy a.s.signed to serve His Majesty. So, I couldn't exceed my duties to punish you. I will send you to see Queen Mother of Mercy, and wait for her decision!”

After the cries for mercy of Jiang Lan died away, Empress Ji took up the cold tea and take a sip of tea slightly, glancing at well-behaved Yun Fenghuang during the whole process, and turned amiable with a smile, “Why are you still kneeling? Stand up quickly.”

Yun Fenghuang quickly said, “Your Highness, I feel guilty for you…”

“It's all the vile eunuch's fault.” Empress Ji waved her hand, “I don't blame you. Instead, as the Empress, I didn't take care of you. It's only been a few days since you joined the Imperial Harem. However, you haven't enjoyed a stable and comfortable life.”

“Your Highness…” Yun Fenghuang quickly tried to figure out the Empress's meaning. Did she either merely strike a pose or suggest that she had been restless since she joined the Imperial Harem and should stop making trouble. When she hesitated how to say, she heard the Empress said, “Forget it. What's done is done. It's useless to say more.”

After thinking a while, she said, “I said yesterday that I would like to raise your grade. I was going to announce it this morning, but I didn't expect that you were lost, stuck on Small Peng Lai, and came back now. Well, we don't have to wait until tomorrow! I will enjoin my attendant to do it later.”

Yun Fenghuang quickly expressed grat.i.tude for her favor, saying repeatedly that Her Highness was generous and other praises. She was young, beautiful and eloquent, so, though the Empress knew the words were intentional flattery, she was happy to hear them.

“The Imperial Harem can't always lack high-ranking concubines.” The Empress Ji seemed to be in a good mood. She took a sip of the tea that the maid had just changed, and said softly, “This group of concubines, including you, were cordially invited to join the Imperial Harem, and are different from the group brought by Concubine Messenger a few months later, so, all of you should take care of His Majesty more carefully and share my cares and burdens!

The Empress said casually but actually thought that Yun Fenghuang dared to offend her own hostess when she joined the Imperial Harem shortly, from which it could be seen that she was difficult to be tame actually. Although she seemed to be respectful to the Empress and well-behaved now, she might change in the future…

The Empress looked down and revealed a smile of encouragement to the young concubine who was showing her loyalty standing underneath, but what she really thought inwardly was that it was so fast that Yun Fenghuang was prompted for two grades during such a few days, so, the young girl deserved to have no opportunity to be prompted in a year or so to become cautious and be fearful to her. Until then, she was suitable for use.

When she was determined and was about to allow Yun Fenghuang to go back, a maid outside reported that Queen Mother of Mercy came.