Chapter 985: Cold Palace....
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Concubine Lan and the Second Prince were deeply rooted in the palace. Even if Ning Yuanbo’s residence was convicted and imprisoned, it still couldn’t shake their status. Yin Huaixi knew better than anyone else that the root of the problem had to be eliminated. He had kept Ning Yuanbo alive firstly to force the King of Liang to rebel, and secondly to use the King of Liang to eliminate Concubine Lan and the Second Prince.
Yin Huaixi retaliated and attacked Concubine Lan’s family with the same crime. Even the ashes had been scattered, so it was impossible for the ashes to rise again.
It had been three days since Concubine Lan had been sent to the cold palace.
It was completely different from the cold palace she had invited herself into previously. This place was dark and rotten, and the smell of decay and mold lingered, exuding a sinister and ominous aura.
On the beam, a large net made of spiderwebs tightly wrapped around her. No matter how unwillingly and angrily she screamed and cursed, it did not matter.
At this moment, the dilapidated door was pushed open with a creak.
“Is someone here?!” Concubine Lan muttered and looked up in a daze.
A beam of light from the open door suddenly pierced into her eyes. A graceful and noble figure stood in the light and slowly walked towards her with high and mighty steps.
Concubine Lan’s eyes hurt from this dazzling figure, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
She blinked hard, and the blurry figure in front of her gradually cleared.
Empress Ning looked at her arrogantly, as if she was looking at an ant that could be crushed with a raise of her foot.
She slowly squatted down.
“You’re really in a sorry state!” Empress Ning’s slender fingers gently tidied the messy hair by Concubine Lan’s cheek.
Concubine Lan felt that the hand by her cheek was extremely cold. “What do you want?”
Empress Ning’s compassionate expression suddenly became ferocious. “What do I want to do?!” Her fair fingers suddenly pinched Concubine Lan’s chin at lightning speed. “Have you forgotten that hundreds of lives have been lost because of the Ning Residence? My father and brother died on the battlefield, but they were covered in filth. Also, my son died young not long after I was born.”
Concubine Lan saw a pair of hateful eyes on her calm face. They looked like they wanted to devour her.
“The hatred of my entire family being exterminated, and the pain and animosity of losing a son.” Empress Ning’s voice seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth. There was a ferociousness of grinding her teeth. “I’ve never forgotten them.”
Concubine Lan screamed in panic, “You, let go of me. Get lost quickly!” She shook her head hard, wanting to break free from Empress Ning’s grip. “I didn’t do anything related to the Ning Residence. It was the Xu Residence. The emperor’s eldest son died prematurely, and it was also Concubine Yang’s doing. It has nothing to do with me. Every injustice has its perpetrator and every debt has its debtor. You…
Imperial Concubine Shu was stripped of her title and sentenced to death. As she had lost her title, her mother’s surname was Yang, so she was called Concubine Yang. This was the general naming convention of those concubines who had been doted on and then lost their favor.
Empress Ning had been sealed in the palace for many years and often took care of flowers and plants. There were calluses on her fingers, and the rough calluses hurt Concubine Lan’s cheeks, almost crushing them.
“You’re right. Every injustice has its perpetrator, and every debt has its debtor. Therefore…” Empress Ning chuckled. In the empty and dead cold palace, accompanied by the clanging doors and windows, she looked strange and cold.
“I’m here to look for you!”
Concubine Lan subconsciously shook her head in denial. “It wasn’t me…”
“You’re like a vicious viper that’s hiding in a hole all the time. Did you think I couldn’t find you?” Empress Ning grabbed her neck. “Did you think that I wouldn’t know you were helping to encourage it from behind?”
Her grip was very strong. In just a moment, Concubine Lan’s face turned red and her eyes rolled back. “Let go of me, no…”
Empress Ning admired her terrified expression when she was on the verge of death.
Just as Concubine Lan thought that she would be strangled to death by Empress Ning, Empress Ning suddenly let go and slowly stood up. She tidied her clothes. “I won’t kill you easily. I’ll let you see Ning Yuanbo’s blood splatter in the residence. I’ll let you see your most beloved son suffer the pain of a thousand knives and ten thousand cuts until he’s tortured to death bit by bit.’
Concubine Lan clutched her neck and lay on the ground, breathing heavily. A broken voice came from her throat. “No, don’t. If— If there’s anything, come at me…”
“I know that you still have something to rely on.” Empress Ning stared at her with a fierce gaze. “Even if you’re stripped of your title and sent to the cold palace, you can still pass and quietly contact Ning Yuanbo’s old subordinates in the court.”
Concubine Lan’s eyes suddenly opened, and a sentence kept echoing in her mind. Had the person she had arranged been discovered? How was that possible? It was impossible, impossible…
Empress Ning saw through her thoughts. “That dog slave is quite loyal to you.
He would rather die than confess. I could only chop him up and feed him to the
dogs.”
Concubine Lan’s body couldn’t help but go limp. Before she could heave a sigh of relief.
“However.” Empress Ning changed the topic, and her light voice made Concubine Lan’s heart rise to her throat again. Then, she heard the cold voice in her ear ring out. “This palace has always had a vine that when pulled, produces a string of gourds. I followed the vine and found many interesting things. ”
Concubine Lan’s face turned pale.
Empress Ning looked at her forced calm expression and felt a burst of joy. “Why don’t you let me guess what your final reliance is?”
Concubine Lan subconsciously held her breath.
Empress Ning smiled. “After the emperor fell seriously ill, you regained control of the harem and did your best to act as a concubine who kept to herself. You spared no effort to push the Second Prince to the court and accumulated a lot of reputation for virtue.”
Compared to her and Imperial Concubine Xu, who were jumping up and down in the court, Concubine Lan had suddenly become a model concubine.
Others only thought that since Ning Yuanbo’s residence was in jail and Concubine Lan did not have the support of her mother’s clan, she naturally had to keep a low profile.
But!
Empress Ning had fought with Concubine Lan for decades. All these years, in Yi
Kun Palace, she had repeatedly reviewed everyone and everything related to Concubine Lan. She had carefully broken them open and analyzed them.
The person who knew one best would always be one’s enemy.
Concubine Lan quickly calmed down. “The harem can’t do political work, and I’m just a concubine. Is that wrong?”
She simply hated the fact that Duke Xu was too stupid.
Back then, Duke Xu was originally a small general under Duke Ning. When he exposed Duke Ning’s mistakes on the battlefield, it was inevitable that people would accuse him of being ungrateful.
Seeing that the emperor was about to banish the Empress, Duke Xu immediately stood up to plead for Empress Ning.
At that time, Duke Xu had contributed to the rescue. He was in the limelight, and there were still many ministers in the court who were on good terms with Duke Ning, as well as some old subordinates. With Duke Xu in front of them, these people naturally did not have any scruples and pleaded for Empress Ning.
Later on, even the Empress Dowager stood up to protect the Empress, so the emperor did not banish the Empress.
Thus, Concubine Lan lost the chance to eliminate the root of the problem..